IF YOU WALKAWAY WALKAWAY, I WALKAWAY WALKAWAY, I WILL FOLLOW
This seems to be the league that no-one wants to lead this year – we all want to be followers. As soon as anyone goes top, they start losing! So if no-one else wants to lead the table, I guess I’ll have to do it then…
As I mentioned before, it’s a measure of the competitive nature of the league this year that in week 6, a team can leap from 6th to top in one week. This was exactly what Champions You Know Your Boston Rock FC did this weekend with a 2-0 win over the Dead Parrots, Ferreira and Bent securing the win for the “Sky Heroes” over one of their bogey sides.
Last week’s top 5 all either drew or lost! Final Fantasy, despite only drawing 0-0 against a determined Eleven Imaginary Boys, remained in 2nd, level on points with the leaders. One point behind, however, is a clutch of 7 (count ‘em) teams on 10 points! Previous leaders Claymore Athletic FC also faced their bogey side this weekend, and once again came unstuck, Prettier Than You continuing their amazing run against Clive’s team with a comfortable 4-1 win. PTY strikers Bellamy and Ameobi were both on target for Rachel’s side, a performance which lifted her up to 5th and earned her the POTW half a million. Well done girl!
Rarely do we arrive at a Bevan Derby with Dave leading his brother Ady in the league table. However, such was the case this weekend, but normal service was restored in the result, Ady winning 2-1 thanks to Campbell and Adebayor, and going above his older brother into 4th. Dave fell to 7th, nevertheless still level on points.
The Groove Machine also hauled themselves up into this pack; a 3-2 win, over a fast-starting Nil Satis team now beginning to slip a little, was secured thanks to Solskjaer, Saha and Kanu goals. Paul, 6th, and Rich, 8th, are also in the 10-point club, as is San Dimas, who beat Fred 2-1 with Distin and Terry goals.
In a couple of bottom of the table games (or at least, lower-mid table) Thommo’s Titans gave underachieving Real Muppets a hiding, Tim Howard getting a penalty save “goal” in a 4-0 win. Pete moves up 1 place to 11th, which amazingly is only one win off top slot! Trusted By Millions, 15th at the start of the weekend, finally got their first win this season, beating bottom club York’s Returning Glory 3-1 thanks to a superb Gareth Barry strike following a mazy dribble. Trusted move up to 13th, and even Beef is only 5 points off the pace in this mad mad table!
PASS THE BLAME, WATCH US FALL AWAY
As a member of the goalkeeper’s union myself, I’d like to extend my best wishes to Chelsea and Aardvark Abacus goalkeeper Petr Cech, following the depressed fracture of his skull which he sustained at the weekend. I’m sure we all hope that he makes a full recovery from his terrible and potentially life-threatening injury.
However, I have to say that I saw nothing wrong whatsoever in the challenge, which led to his injury. Watching it from a number of angles, it seriously looks to me like a 50/50 ball which the Reading player Stephen Hunt was at least entitled to make an attempt to play, leading to an accidental collision with horrendous but unforeseen consequences. I have to say, the mid-air challenge later on the game, by Ibrahima Sonko on Carlo Cudicini, looked a lot worse, but I understand Cudicini, although also stretchered off after what looked like a shoulder charge from Sonko, got off considerably lighter than Cech.
I feel equally terrible for Stephen Hunt in this situation. Hunt, a fringe player at Reading and so keyed up and eager to impress on a rare start against the Champions, was obviously going to go for what to him seemed a “loose” ball. So for him to be vilified and castigated in the way he has, must be awful for him. I’m normally a fan of Jose Mourinho, seeing quite a lot of the playful bluntness of the great Brian Clough in his public pronunciations and ability to deflect publicity away from his players by taking it upon himself, but I have to say; Jose, this time you’re wrong.
So what can be done to ensure this doesn’t happen again? Well, I’d have to say it’s unavoidable - in football we have a thrilling, fast-paced game, the British Premiership in particular being full of passion and excitement, and to stop the players going for balls of this nature would remove a lot of the passion from the game. Likewise, the idea of giving goalkeepers more protection, or even forcing them to wear headgear similar to amateur boxers (a proposal seriously floated on Radio 5’s “606” Sunday evening by a Brain Injury specialist) is taking things too far. Like it or not, it’s a contact sport, and injuries occur. It’s a chance all professional players, not just goalies, take and accept as a consequence of their lucrative career path. Even at an amateur level, injuries are a potential by-product of taking part in a game we love - and I should know, having both broken my collarbone and severed my cruciate knee ligament playing in goal, in 2 separate collisions which I knew were both accidental.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts. I’d appreciate any views the WSFFL managership might have on this issue, particularly given that at least ¼ of us are/were goalies ourselves!
TRANSFER NEWS
Player From To Fee
Matthew Mills (D) Pool York’s Returning Glory £500K
Ben Thatcher (D) Pool York’s Returning Glory £500K
Ian Pearce (D) Pool York’s Returning Glory £500K
THE FF£100,000 QUESTION
We’re taking a quick break from the World Cup questions this week to get this one in, as I thought this was funny.
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James is refusing to give any interviews to Sky Sports TV until December 2nd. Why?
Answers to me by close of play Saturday 7 October 2006. As usual, first correct one out of the metaphorical hat gets the dosh.
Portuguese midfielder Costinha is an avid collector of Panini World Cup Stickers. Let’s face it, weren’t we all once…?
I got 3 correct replies, from Rich, Clive and Ryan. Claymore Athletic FC was the name out of the hat, so the hundred grand goes to Clive lad. Well done old chap, hopefully that’s some consolation to being thrashed soundly by my missus this weekend…
WSFFL RESULTS;
Week 6, W/E 14 October 2006
Eleven Imaginary Boys 0-0 Final Fantasy XI
(2) 27,156
Mega Buck Bandits 1-2 Aardvark Abacus
McCarthy (1) Adebayor
Campbell 44,206
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum 2-3 22 Legged Groove Machine
Cahill Solskjaer
Primus Saha
Kanu 42,551
Prettier Than You 4-1 Claymore Athletic FC
Bellamy Henry
Dunne
Ingimarsson (OG)
Ameobi 60,018
San Dimas High School 2-1 Fred West Landscape Gardening XI
Terry (1) Vidic
Distin 42,192
Thommo’s Titans 4-0 Real Muppets
Howard
Leigertwood
Hoyte
Djourou 24,025
Trusted By Millions 3-1 York’s Returning Glory
Barry Angel (OG)
Dawson
Ben Haim 20,631
You Know Your Boston Rock FC 2-0 The Dead Parrots
Ferreira (2)
Darren Bent 48,145
Performance of the Week: Prettier Than You
THE 2006/07 WSFFL LEAGUE TABLE
| ||||||||||
As at Monday 16 October 2006
| ||||||||||
Team
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Diff
|
Pts
| ||
1
|
You Know Your Boston Rock FC
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
15
|
9
|
6
|
11
| |
2
|
Final Fantasy XI
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
11
|
8
|
3
|
11
| |
3
|
Claymore Athletic FC
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
17
|
8
|
9
|
10
| |
4
|
Aardvark Abacus
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
16
|
7
|
9
|
10
| |
5
|
Prettier Than You
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
12
|
8
|
4
|
10
| |
6
|
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
13
|
12
|
1
|
10
| |
7
|
Mega Buck Bandits
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
9
|
8
|
1
|
10
| |
8
|
22 Legged Groove Machine
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
8
|
8
|
0
|
10
| |
9
|
San Dimas High School
|
6
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
10
|
11
|
-1
|
10
| |
10
|
Fred West Landscape Gardening XI
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
9
|
12
|
-3
|
9
| |
11
|
Thommo's Titans
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
10
|
8
|
2
|
8
| |
12
|
The Dead Parrots
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
10
|
14
|
-4
|
7
| |
13
|
Trusted By Millions
|
6
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
6
|
-1
|
6
| |
14
|
Eleven Imaginary Boys
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
9
|
-6
|
5
| |
15
|
Real Muppets
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
8
|
17
|
-9
|
4
| |
16
|
York's Returning Glory
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
18
|
-11
|
3
| |
TOTAL
|
96
|
38
|
20
|
38
|
163
|
163
|
0
|
134
| ||
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