Blackburn supporters decided the best way to protest their club owners (Venky’s, poultry titans of India) was to launch this jaunty fellow onto the pitch tonight at Ewood. I can report he was safely removed by Ali Al-Habsi of Wigan and Yakubu.
(h/t to @bubbaprog)
I wanted to write the absurdity of this match up, but I think linking to the Guardian’s live-blog will encapsulate it nicely.
One LFC keeper sent off, a second probably should have been (and Reina unavailable from last weekend’s red card), two of the worst-taken penalty kicks I’ve ever seen thanks to Yakubu, an ungodly number of yellow cards to go with Doni’s red, two gorgeous goals by Maxi Rodriguez (the best coming from an incredible Skrtel pass to Bellamy), Bellamy’s horrific attempt at diving (without Suarez LFC can’t even dive right!), and the most improbable, stupid game-winning header from Andy Carroll not too long after he nearly put it in his own net.
— Sports Illustrated’s Jen Chang passes along a tidbit that would probably give Blackburn Rovers fans even more heartburn than they already experience with the team’s play, courtesy of Manchester United chief executive David Gill.
Oops. Happy birthday, Sir Alex.
I thought playing for Blackburn Rovers was punishment enough.
More of “this day in the Prem”: Newcastle United are freaking dangerous, apparently. Let’s push this with the caveat that today’s match was against my personal choice for relegation among the non-promoted teams this season, but a hat trick by Demba Ba for a squad that even fans question on where the goals will come from is a good sign. Also, Ba is quality — he can be flighty but it wasn’t his fault West Ham were relegated.
(Steve Kean: still our fave to be the first Prem manager sacked this season.)
Before the season I thought the Geordies would be fighting relegation and would not be better off than their rivals Sunderland. It’s only six weeks in and I’m totally wrong on that front. Who thought Newcastle would be undefeated this far in? Not me.
![So the drama ends. Wigan stays in the Prem by beating Stoke (who had an absolutely awful end to the season after the high of making the FA Cup Final) and so do Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring enough goals to stay above the drop despite a loss to Blackburn at home.
That leaves Blackpool (whom many of us thought deserved better) and Birmingham City heading down to the Championship next season. The Tangerines were highly entertaining in the form of attack and in manager Ian Holloway’s quips and barbs toward the FA and almost every other soccer governing body, but that only does you so much good when you can’t keep a clean sheet. The Seasiders were up 2-1 over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 60th minute, then conceded three Utd goals in an absolutely shambolic display; it didn’t even appear as if they were trying to play defense. This means captain Charlie Adam and many of the fitter attacking squad members will be off to other Prem teams and the odds of seeing Blackpool back in the Prem will be a long one.
(Holloway will be managing in the Prem again, though…and considering that there are somehow rumors that Neil Warnock could be gone at Loftus Road after leading Queens Park Rangers to a Championship title [rumors denied by Bernie Ecclestone], why not say Holloway could return to lead the squad he played for?)
Birmingham City is another matter. As Blackpool went without a defense, so did the Brummies without an offense. The lack of goal scoring left Alex McLeish’s squad with a Carling Cup trophy (and the Europa League spot) and a tumble down into serious financial insolvency. To be remotely fair to B’ham, Tottenham fans had forgotten Roman Pavlyuchenko was listed as a striker as well until he scored both goals, knocking out the win in stoppage time at White Hart Lane (sewing up the fifth-place Europa League spot). The problem with Birmingham is through both injury and ineptitude, they were utterly incapable of moving people forward in any threatening or convincing fashion on a regular basis.
The odd cherry on the whole relegation matter is Birmingham & potentially Blackpool in the Europa League from the Championship — England was awarded an extra spot thanks to FIFA’s “fair play” rules that belonged to Fulham at the start of play, but the Cottagers may have ceded it to, of all teams, Blackpool by adding a yellow and a red card to their total in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llm5iubR3d1qc88aro1_500.jpg)
So the drama ends. Wigan stays in the Prem by beating Stoke (who had an absolutely awful end to the season after the high of making the FA Cup Final) and so do Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring enough goals to stay above the drop despite a loss to Blackburn at home.
That leaves Blackpool (whom many of us thought deserved better) and Birmingham City heading down to the Championship next season. The Tangerines were highly entertaining in the form of attack and in manager Ian Holloway’s quips and barbs toward the FA and almost every other soccer governing body, but that only does you so much good when you can’t keep a clean sheet. The Seasiders were up 2-1 over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 60th minute, then conceded three Utd goals in an absolutely shambolic display; it didn’t even appear as if they were trying to play defense. This means captain Charlie Adam and many of the fitter attacking squad members will be off to other Prem teams and the odds of seeing Blackpool back in the Prem will be a long one.
(Holloway will be managing in the Prem again, though…and considering that there are somehow rumors that Neil Warnock could be gone at Loftus Road after leading Queens Park Rangers to a Championship title [rumors denied by Bernie Ecclestone], why not say Holloway could return to lead the squad he played for?)
Birmingham City is another matter. As Blackpool went without a defense, so did the Brummies without an offense. The lack of goal scoring left Alex McLeish’s squad with a Carling Cup trophy (and the Europa League spot) and a tumble down into serious financial insolvency. To be remotely fair to B’ham, Tottenham fans had forgotten Roman Pavlyuchenko was listed as a striker as well until he scored both goals, knocking out the win in stoppage time at White Hart Lane (sewing up the fifth-place Europa League spot). The problem with Birmingham is through both injury and ineptitude, they were utterly incapable of moving people forward in any threatening or convincing fashion on a regular basis.
The odd cherry on the whole relegation matter is Birmingham & potentially Blackpool in the Europa League from the Championship — England was awarded an extra spot thanks to FIFA’s “fair play” rules that belonged to Fulham at the start of play, but the Cottagers may have ceded it to, of all teams, Blackpool by adding a yellow and a red card to their total in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
