Fat Ronaldo's

Results 24/10/09: Villa bottle, Chelsea thrash, Hull and Pompey draw while Rafa waits…

The day of reckoning has finally arrived, a selection of Liverpool fans squealed down their phones at talk radio hosts this morning, declaring everything from “It’s the owners fault and Rafa’s god!” to…well that’s about all they said. No league title in nineteen years, £200Million spent in five and it’s the owners fault, it couldn’t possibly be the manager of whom, it has been established, has easily had the talent on his roster during his tenure to prevent over-reliance on the two (three if you include Mascherano, although he’s the only one of the three that can’t carry the side on his own) players he currently relies on.

I think enough has been said about the potential outcome of today’s game. A United side without Fletcher in the big game can be opened up, but a Liverpool side without etc. can be found etc. just as easily.

HULL AND POMPEY HURT MY EYES

Spurs dropped a home point against Stoke when they fell asleep in the last five minutes. Were they so pissed off at not finding the winner that they collectively decided to concede the goal to teach themselves a lesson? Tony Pulis won’t mind though, as I said yesterday, he’s already planning for a third season in the Premier League.

Chelsea put five past Blackburn, adding to the six they leaked in London against Arsenal last week. While the result may never have been in doubt (especially with Franco Di Santo barred from playing against his parent club) the manner in which Chelsea banished their Aston Villa demons was forceful and a little bit spiteful, (in a good way) sending on another striker at 5-0.

Hull and Pompey played out a 0-0 draw. Nothing more to say about the game. I hear a few Hull fans talking about Phil Brown being allowed to take this season to its natural conclusion as he made it when he kept it in The Championship in his first season etc. I don’t think that flies though as he’s clearly not getting the best out of his side and hasn’t for almost twelve months. The pool of talent willing to take on the challenge may be smaller than it would have been in the summer but I can’t see Hull in the Premier Leaugue next season at this rate, I can’t see them stringing two wins together as things stand. Pompey at home, right now, is as close to a banker as this league will throw up for Hull.

As predicted, Villa bottled their chance to climb above Arsenal into the top four with a 1-1 draw against Wolves, which, while including a fantastic Gabby goal, could have seen Wolves claim two more penalties than they eventually won. Michael Kightly continues to impress me.

Wigan claimed an important away victory at Burnley, who took the lead through Steven Fletcher who I think will find the net more regularly as the season goes on. Brian Jensen’s slip and eventual injury offered Hugo Rodallega the equaliser on a plate but his second goal was pure class. A win that was always likely for Wigan, but one that Martinez may be looking back on come May with some satisfaction.

Steve Bruce took his brand spanking new Sunderland side down to Birmingham to face his former club yesterday and felt the full-wrath of a side possessed. Great sprayed passing from Seb Larsson carved open Sunderland’s improving central defence on several occasions. A class showing from McFadden reminded many what a player he can be on his day and but for a narrow miss in the dying moments of the game, Darren Bent could well have secured an equaliser for The Black Cats.

STILL NO WIN FOR KEANE

The way Ipswich ended last season, under new coach Roy Keane, promised a real threat this term. Something’s gone wrong though, Keane lost a few Magilton players, brought in a few Sunderland lads and the balance is gone. The way Plymouth are playing at the moment a victory was there for the taking, but yet again Ipswich seemed satisfied with the point. The Suffolk side are a win away from escaping the drop-zone which will keep him in a job for at least another week, but the amount of investment fed into this side (not least on Keane’s wages) will see demands increase as the weeks move on. They can still mount a play-off challenge but they’ll have to get their skates on.

That play-off push is already hotting up with further wins for Bristol City, QPR and Cardiff, while Blackpool could only manage a draw away against Swansea. Preston, Sheffield United and Derby’s potential promotions look further away in my mind.

Let’s see how my predictions went, here’s a prediction, not so well?

PREMIER LEAGUE

Birmingham-2 Sunderland-1 (1-2)

Burnley-1 Wigan-3 (1-0)

Chelsea-5 Blackburn-0 (2-0)

Hull-0 Portsmouth-0 (1-2)

Tottenham-0 Stoke-1 (2-0)

Wolves-1 Aston Villa-1 (1-3)

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Barnsley-2 Bristol City-3 (1-2)

Coventry-0 West Brom-0 (1-1)

Crystal Palace-1 Nottingham Forest-1 (1-1)

Derby-2 QPR-4 (0-2)

Newcastle-2 Doncaster-1 (3-0)

Peterborough-3 Scunthorpe-0 (1-1)

Plymouth-1 Ipswich-1 (1-2)

Preston-2 Middlesbrough-2 (2-1)

Sheffield United-3 Cardiff-4 (3-2)

Swansea-0 Blackpool-0 (1-2)

LEAGUE ONE

Brentford-2 Stockport-0 (2-0)

Brighton-0 Oldham-2 (1-2)

Bristol Rovers-1 Yeovil-2 (2-1)

Carlisle-2 Southend-1 (2-0)

Colchester-2 Walsall-1 (2-0)

Exeter-1 Wycombe-1 (1-1)

Gillingham-1 Charlton-1 (1-2)

Hartlepool-1 Tranmere-0 (3-1)

Huddersfield-4 Leyton Orient-0 (1-2)

Millwall-2 Leeds United-1 (1-2)

Norwich-1 Swindon-0 (3-1)

Southampton-3 MK Dons-1 (2-2)

LEAGUE TWO (Saturday fixtures)

Barnet-3 Darlington-0 (3-0)

Bournemouth-3 Grimsby-1 (2-0)

Bradford-1 Hereford-0 (1-1)

Bury-2 Rotherham-1 (1-2)

Chesterfield-5 Burton Albion-2 (1-0)

Lincoln City-0 Torquay-0 (1-0)

Macclesfield-2 Dag & Red-2 (1-3)

Morcambe-2 Northampton-4 (1-1)

Notts County-2 Crewe-0 (3-2)

Port Vale-1 Cheltenham-1 (2-0)

Rochdale-1 Accrington Stanley-2 (2-1)

Shrewsbury- 3 Aldershot-1 (3-1)

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