Premier League referee prone to the occasional error
After Newcastle became the latest team to be denied important points as a result of a mistake by referee Rob Styles, The Spoiler decided to look at who else have fallen victim to his calamitous decision making in recent years.
In goal is Shay Given, who made what deserved to be a match-winning save from Stephen Ireland last night but wasn’t because Manchester City were afforded another opportunity to break down Newcastle’s ten men and scored.
Our left-back is Jlloyd Samuel, whose great tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo last month was punished when Styles pointed to the spot. Accompanying Habib Beye, who is a makeshift centre-back due to Styles’ habit of making costly errors against right-backs, is Stoke’s Ibrahima Sonko, who was adjudged to have fouled Obafemi Martins in Reading’s 3-2 loss at St James’ Park in December 2006, a decision his boss Steve Coppell labelled “a guess-timate”. Steve Finnan completes the defence after Rob Styles famously pointed to the spot last season when Florent Malouda ran into the Irishman with Liverpool beating Chelsea 1-0.
Before Mexico manager Sven-Goran Eriksson came to prominence in the UK, British men with bad eyesight, grey locks and a vastly receding hairlines had nothing in their lives except drab offices, crossword puzzles and avoiding people’s glances on the train. After the Swede romped his way to power, however, one such man has managed to make a full-time career based on his similarity to the randy manager. His name is Derek Williams, and he has been using his special gift since 2005 - you can see him in the picture above recreating a typical day at Eriksson HQ.
Recently, the Sven-alike has been using his dashing visage to make Mexicans look like damned fools:
[Williams] was given a tour of Primera División outfit Universidad Nacional’s stadium - the Estadio OlÃmpico Universitario - yesterday morning after sending the club falsified documents which appeared to have come from the Mexican football federation. According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, nobody spotted the deception until the federation themselves released a statement later in the day.
Williams could have used his powers to earn hugely inflated severance packages from top teams, or to bed any unscrupulous secretary/ television personality in the world. Williams decided to use it to get tours of stadiums. And they say George Best wasted his gift…
Spoiler bonus: If you would like to book Derek for a social event or to give you access to a foreign stadium that is open to the public anyway, click here.
Mark Hughes would do well to listen to the parable of Big Sam. Sam Allardyce was one of the most promising managers in English football and one of the leading contenders for the national team job at one point until he decided to leave his club Bolton for a team who finished lower in the table and had an impatient chairman. Now poor Sam finds his reputation in tatters.
Mark Hughes - 4/11 Despite being considered a contender for the Chelsea job, Hughes is now the odds-on favourite to take over at Manchester City. But Hughes’ Blackburn finished above City this season and have a much more patient chairman so would it really be a step in the right direction for the former Wales manager?
Verdict: Could be career suicide
Players jeopardise European spot, integrity in the north east
Amid all the Manchester Utd celebrations, Birmingham rioting, John Terry arms and Paul Jewell bitching, Man City’s suspicious loss at the Riverside has been flying a under the radar. At the time of writing, Sven-Goran Eriksson is still waiting to receive his £5m pay-off hear of his future at Manchester City, and is uncertain if he will be joining his side on their impending Eastern tour.
It’s no secret that the players are unhappy about the Swede’s looming P45, and accusing a side of throwing a game is a very strong charge, but is it possible that they engineered this highly unlikely end to the season? Consider the following:
* Previously, Middlesbrough hadn’t scored more than two goals in a game all season.
* This is only the fourth occasion in Premier League history when a team has scored eight or more in a game - the others being Newcastle/ Sheffield Wednesday (8-0; 99/00), Manchester United/ Nottingham Forest (8-1; 98/99) and Manchester Utd/ Ipswich (9-0; 94/95).
* On each of those occasions the team that won were higher in the league table.
* Sven Goran Eriksson’s side hadn’t lost three straight league games all season previously.
* Manchester City’s record defeat was a 1-9 defeat to Everton way back in 1906 and this was Middlesbrough’s record top-flight win.
* City started the day with a clear lead in the Fair Play League
Current Citeh manager said to be holding out for the Blues
It appears that Sven Goran Eriksson is just a few days away from another gigantic dismissal pay-off (£5m to be exact) and he has already held talks with Benfica. However, today’s Guardian reports that he stands a very good chance of taking Avram Grant’s job this summer, and it sounds like a credible scenario - Sven discussed a move to to Chelsea while he was still England manager, and his passion for money ought to deter him from taking a pay cut in Portugal.
So who do you think would do a better job at the Bridge next season - the Toad or the Swede? Votes and comments below, please.
If it wasn’t for Manchester City’s shock defeat to Fulham at the weekend, the Thai man upstairs decided to may not have decided to have a little chat with Sven. The Swede can, in part, blame his looming P45 on Danny Murphy, the man whose equaliser gave the West Londoners a real chance of staying in the top flight next year - something that Mr Eriksson himself may struggle with. And if Citeh fans need a stronger reason to resent the midfielder, they should cast a jealous eye on his wife, 30-year-old actress and model Joanna Taylor.
Like all great publications, The Spoiler enjoys nothing more than throwing together a “Who’s up? Who’s down?” graphic, and being that today is all about love, the barometer (pictured) is based on performances with the heart.
Former steamroller of many many women, Sven Goran Eriksson, appears to have put his wild days behind him, and this week enjoyed an evening of presumed sexual intercourse with his soul mate Nancy Dell’Olio. In the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, no less. The pair have been through so much, it’s great to see them back on the up. Well done, Sven, and here’s to you Nancy.
However, less deserving of kind words is that unbelievable bastard Ashley Cole. While his HUMILIATED wife starves herself in a strange sanctuary in Thailand, eating nothing but leaves and drinking her own tears, Cole was spotted LAUGHING and ENJOYING HIMSELF on the Chelsea training ground. Such a revolting display of being fine only makes women hate him more, hence the number one left back in England finds himself at the bottom of our love chart, destined to die alone. Shame on you.
Thumbs up to The Sun newspaper for spotting both stories. And yet, they didn’t think it worthy of a barometer. Weird. Missed a trick there.
