Weekly Round-up (27/02/12)

For a change this week, rugby is first up on the agenda as after yesterday's results, football is not something I really want to talk about. The Six Nations returned after a two week break and saw the Irish comfortably beat Italy to get their tournament back on track following a loss against the Welsh on the opening weekend. Hopefully this result can give the Emerald Isle confidence going forward ahead of their game against France this coming Sunday. Staying with the French, they too also won this weekend with a tight win over Scotland. So far, I have been impressed with Scotland this Six Nations despite losing all three games. If they were not let down by mistakes every game, their performances may have garnered at least two points, if not more. The game of the weekend was undeniably England vs Wales, which ended in controversy as England were adamant they had crossed the whitewash leaving Toby Flood with a chance to draw the game with his conversion attempt. However, the TMO gave a decision of no try due to "inconclusive" evidence. After the game, though, angles suggested that England may well have scored. In a way though, I am sure Flood is secretly pleased the try was not given as had he missed the resulting conversion, he would have been slated in the Sunday papers. Furthermore, the result of a draw would have stopped England winning a Grand Slam, much like the loss has, meaning little would have changed bar one point in the table.

In football this week, Liverpool won the Carling Cup on penalties over Championship side Cardiff. Reds fans seem to be slightly getting carried away following the victory, with many hailing it the beginning of a new era after winning a tournament where the bigger teams often field their youngsters. I remember a few years ago when Spurs won and I was ridiculed for celebrating the win by my dad, a Liverpool fan. Yesterday, I got a call from him telling me what an amazing inveiglement it was. Funny how views can change. Elsewhere, there was a London derby which we really do not need to go into much detail about except that Spurs played really well for forty minutes, and we all know that's when it truly matters.

Turning our attention to golf, and Rory McIlroy missed out on the chance to become World No. 1 after losing to Hunter Mahan in the final of the WGC Match Play final. McIlroy needn't be too despondent as he will surely be the official best in the world at some point this year. However, I hope he does not let that get to him in a similar way to his US Open triumph last year. Since then, McIlroy has begun to believe the hype despite only having won the same amount of majors as golfing luminaries like Louis Oosthuizen, Todd Hamilton and Shaun Micheel. Maybe Rory should take a leaf out of countryman Darren Clarke's book and just enjoy every moment of being a major winner.

Weekly Round-up (20/02/12)

The weekend saw the FA Cup move on to its fifth round, which on paper seemed to hand easy ties to most of the Premier League Clubs involved. Stoke, Liverpool, Everton and Bolton all dispatched their lower league opponents with consummate ease. However, the north-south divide was in force as the Premier League clubs from Southern England struggled. Arsenal went down 2-0 away to Sunderland to cap an abysmal week following Wednesday's 4-0 drubbing at A.C. Milan. The Gunners' next game is against Tottenham, with many fans believing Arsenal are there for the taking. However, I for one disagree with this, as after two poor games, Arsenal have to play well at some point. Staying with Spurs, they also didn't have the best of weekends as the majority of the team looked disinterested during their 1-1 draw with League 1 Stevenage at Broadhall Way on Sunday. As a Spurs fan, it was annoying to see a vastly superior team struggle against lower league opposition. However, credit were it is due to Stevenage, who played really well and are still yet to concede a goal in this year's tournament despite entering in round one. Chelsea also drew against lower league opposition as Championship side Birmingham forced a replay to increase the pressure on AVB. His weekend started well as Guus Hiddink, long speculated to replace him at Chelsea, was announced as manager at mega-rich Russians Anzhi Makhachkala. However, the Portuguese manager must be feeling the strain with Chelsea fans expectant of silverware after their recent successes in both league and cup. Norwich also went down to a Championship side in the form of Leicester despite having home advantage. Whilst fans may be disappointed not to have gone further in the cup, Norwich can now solely focus on consolidate their 8th place in the Premier League, and maybe even climb higher up the table.

Elsewhere in sport this weekend, there was the soap opera that was Dereck Chisora in Munich. Friday afternoon's weigh-in saw the drama begin as Chisora slapped opponent Vitali Klitschko. This bought widespread condemnation and a fine upon Chisora. Then there was the pre-fight spit drenching of Klitschko's brother, Wladimir. However, none of this pointed to the drama that would unfold between Chisora and former world champion David Haye in a post-fight press conference. Haye, who was at the fight covering it for television, was incensed with comments from first the Klitschko camp, then from Chisora himself. The two traded verbal blows before Chisora marched up to Haye, and shortly after the two began brawling. The end result was that Haye's manager, Adam Booth, had a cut on his head, Chisora was arrested and the reputation of both boxers, as well as British boxing, lie broken on the floor in tatters. Whilst I do not condone the actions of Saturday night and think that Chisora and Haye should be swiftly forgotten, I would like to seem them get it on in the ring. However, rather than the fight lining their back pockets, maybe the proceeds should go to charity. Sport Relief, is there still time to organise it? Just to point out, somewhere in the midst of all this, there was a boxing match where Chisora, who was given no chance, took Vitali Klitschko the distance only to be beaten by a unanimous points decision. Its such a shame that a brave performance was tarnished by Chisora's frankly yobbish behaviour.

Weekly Round-up (13/02/12)

This week I feel the need to open with an apology to a one Mr. L. Saha of Tottenham Hotspur. In last week's post, I bemoaned Harry Redknapp's decision to sign a striker "blighted by injuries" and who may have been considered past his best. On his home debut for Spurs, The Frenchman scored two well taken goals and showed signs of a superb understanding with strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor. All I can hope for now is that Saha continues his Spurs career in similar fashion as we look to consolidate third place and maybe even push for the title.

Ahead of us this week in football is the return of the Champions League. The first legs of the round of 16 ties are split over this week and next, with the sole English club playing this week being Arsenal. The Gunners have a tough game against reigning Italian champions AC Milan. It is worth noting, however, that the Rossoneri were knocked out by Arsenal's North London rivals Tottenham. Judging by the gulf in class in some of the ties, such as Lyon vs APOEL Nicosia, it could be argued that this tie is the eye-catching one of the round.

At the weekend, a Six Nations game was called off for the first time due to bad weather as the France-Ireland match was postponed due to a frozen pitch. I for one am glad the game did not go ahead as Ireland will - hopefully- not have to suffer the ignominy of losing back-to-back games in the championship for the first time as their next game will now be against Italy. Saying that, the Azzurri put in a good display against England, who again had to scraped for victory.

And finally this week, some heartwarming news from the African Cup of Nations. Zambia took home the trophy for the first time. But more importantly, they won 19 years after arguably their best generation of players was wiped out in a plane crash off the coast of Libreville, Gabon, where yesterday's final took place. Watching the game yesterday, I always had the feeling that the Chipolopolo would win against the heavily fancied Ivory Coast. There was a sense of an equilibrium when Stoppila Sunzu scored the winning penalty. I hope Zambia are able to build on this success, which is what they deserved after the sorrow of 1993.

Capello's shock resignation (08/02/12)

With the news that Fabio Capello has quit his role as England manager with immediate effect, many football fans across the country will be worrying about their country's hopes at the forthcoming European Championships. However, I believe it to be a blessing in disguise for the Three Lions. In my opinion, I think Capello's tactics were not suited to the England team and that they were far too defensive for a team with fantastic offensive capabilities. Under the Italian, players like Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole all had their natural attacking instincts curbed. Whilst it was cute that Capello stuck to the defensive Italian game, it got England nowhere. With him gone, the team may finally be unleashed.

However, who will unleash them is a tricky question. Harry Redknapp will most likely be the man to do that after the Euros, if not before on a part-time basis as rumoured. However, I would rather see Stuart Pearce given the job on a temporary basis. In my opinion, this is an option that would work out great for everyone involved. After the Euros, Redknapp would inherit a far more stable squad than at present, and would have a greater scope of time to put his mark on the team. It also allows Tottenham to keep their manager as they strive to qualify for the Champions League, albeit for the time being. And, for me the most important benefit, it allows the FA to see if Stuart Pearce can one day manage his country's senior team. Granted Pearce has the British Olympic Team to worry about, but there is enough time in between the two tournaments for this arrangement to work.

On a final note, there is a manager who was 24 hours away from taking the job in 2007, when Capello was given the job. A manager who is more than likely to leave his job in the summer. A man who is considered to be the greatest of his generation and is, perhaps, special. Jose Mourinho for England, anyone?

Weekly Round-up (06/02/12)

In football this week, we saw the January transfer window come to an end. Deadline day was not as busy as it had been in previous years, but there were still some transfers of note on the final day. Nikica Jelavic completed his move to Everton, where he will hope to continue the goalscoring form he was in for Rangers. Toffees fans will surely be hoping he does as Everton have been missing something of an out and out striker for a while now, and Jelavic could well be that man. Elsewhere, my beloved Tottenham signed experienced Frenchman Louis Saha from Everton. Personally, this deal baffles me as Saha is over thirty and has been blighted by injuries. Granted we done well to get him on a free transfer, but there are plenty of younger, and perhaps better, strikers out there, such as Hugo Rodallega who was linked with a deadline day move to Spurs.

Moving on to American Football, the Super Bowl was played out in front of a sell-out crowd in Indianapolis last night as the Giants took on the Patriots in a repeat of the 2008 showcase. And just like in 2008, the Giants snatched it at the death. I would like to take the opportunity to point out my prediction that the Giants would repeat their success in my post last week, which seemed to be the only thing I got right. Let's hope my predictions get better before my trip to Uttoxeter on Saturday.

The Six Nations kicked off this weekend, with two rather tame affairs on Saturday. The French done what was expected of them by comfortably beating Italy 30-12 in Paris. However, it was exciting to see the return of the Gallic flair which France often lacked under former coach Marc Lievremont. This was epitomised in Vincent Clerc's try, which came about thanks to some lovely footwork from Francois Trinh-Duc and Aurelien Rougerie. The other day's game saw England narrowly defeat Scotland to claim the Calcutta Cup 13-6. In my belief, it would have been different had Scotland had played only one or two percent better. England capitalised on Scotland's mistakes to win when they should have lost. Sunday's game, however, proved to be a real belter. Wales faced Ireland in Dublin in what many saw as a title decider, despite it only being the first week, and boy, did it live up to expectations. Although the first half was all Wales, with Ireland defending magnificently, the second half was a real pendulum swing. Wales would have momentum, then Ireland, then Wales again. It went down to the wire, with Leigh Halfpenny's penalty deciding the game with less than a minute left on the clock. The game was a great advert for rugby, and despite being half Irish, I could not begrudge Wales winning 23-21.

Finally, some news which broke earlier today. Alberto Contador has been banned for two years but will available to ride again on the 6th of August 2012 as they ban has been applied retroactively. Although this means that Contador will miss this year's tour, I think the punishment was too light. Why can't he miss next year's tour as well? Why can't the ban be two years from today? Yes, Contador may have had his 2010 title stripped, but I'm sure he's not too fussed as he has yellow jerseys from 2007 and 2009 to keep him company. Sometimes, I think sports cheats are punished far too leniently.