3783: Premiership; FA Right On Step
by : Stephen Orford
Sunday, 22 October 2006
Blackburn Rovers (9) vs Bolton Wanderers (3), KO 15:00
Another Lancashire derby between two form teams - who both put the stress on effective over pretty. Blackburn and Bolton could cancel each other out - and the first goal could well be the winner.Paul Grech: 1-1
Magic Hat: Home
Colin Illingworth: 2-2
Hugh Larkin; 1-1
Kieran McHugh: 1-2
Antony Melvin: 0-0
Stephen Orford: 0-0
Fred Tarow: 1-0
Bull Urban: Draw
Manchester United (1) vs Liverpool (11), KO 13:00
The big match of the weekend and traditionally a hard fought match, that like a derby match, rarely goes the way of form. United go into the game in good shape, top of the table and scoring goals for fun - whilst Liverpool are having problems in defence and attack. But unfortunately for prediction terms absolutely anything could happen.Betting Analysis
Liverpool team selection
Paul Grech: 2-0
Magic Hat: Draw
Colin Illingworth: 2-1
Hugh Larkin; 0-0
Kieran McHugh: 2-0
Antony Melvin: 1-0
Stephen Orford: 2-0
Fred Tarow: 0-1
Bull Urban: Home
Middlesbrough (13) vs Newcastle United (15) , KO 15:00
A north-east derby between two early season strugglers. Middlebrough beat Everton last time out, and an Antoine Sibierski goal gave Newcastle a win in Europe. Middlesbrough tend to fair better at home and have had a few days more rest than the injury studded Newcastle line-up.Paul Grech: 0-0
Magic Hat: Home
Colin Illingworth: 2-2
Hugh Larkin; 1-1
Kieran McHugh: 2-2
Antony Melvin: 2-1
Stephen Orford: 2-0
Fred Tarow: 2-2
Bull Urban: Home
Reading (8) vs Arsenal (5), KO 16:00
Reading may have difficulty focusing after a week of fending off accusations of deliberately injuring Petr Cech in the defeat against Chelsea. If Reading maintain their high tempo, robust style against Arsenal they may get a result against an Arsenal team that had a draining mid-week clash in Moscow. Arsenal are in great Premiership form at the moment though.Paul Grech: 0-1
Magic Hat: Away
Colin Illingworth: 0-2
Hugh Larkin; 1-2
Kieran McHugh: 0-2
Antony Melvin: 1-0
Stephen Orford: 1-2
Fred Tarow: 1-3
Bull Urban: Away
Tottenham Hotspur (14) vs West Ham United (18), KO 15:00
Spurs drifted into the relegation zone in September, but recent results have been encouraging. A win over Portsmouth, a draw with Aston Villa and a win in Besiktas suggets a return to form. West Ham are lurching from defeat to defeat and West Ham will start the match in 19th place and it may take a win to keep Alan Pardew in employment. Difficult to see past a home win though.Paul Grech: 3-0
Magic Hat: Home
Colin Illingworth: 1-2
Hugh Larkin; 2-0
Kieran McHugh: 2-1
Antony Melvin: 2-1
Stephen Orford: 3-1
Fred Tarow: 3-0
Bull Urban: DrawThe FA has got it right with its decision to take no further action against Reading’s Stephen Hunt for the challenge which put Petr Cech in hospital with a depressed fracture of the skull.
Horrific though Cech’s injury is, there was little or no intent to injure on the part of the Reading man. The extent of Cech’s injuries are a freak occurrence, with countless similar challenges resulting in no injury and no subsequent scramble for blame to be apportioned. While everyone involved in football wishes Cech a speedy recovery, the problems he has suffered should in no way influence the fate of the largely innocent Hunt.
Thankfully they have not. Yet the original response to the incident from Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho suggest more complaints could be on the way following the FA decision. Mourinho alleged that Hunt’s challenge was ‘disgraceful’ while also implying that Reading did not have the correct medical facilities in place to deal with Cech’s sorry plight. Reading publicly and vehemently denied this charge, while manager Steve Coppell rightly defended his player. None of which is likely to stop Mourinho from suggesting there is an agenda against his team. The loss of one of the world’s best goalkeepers with no visible punishment for any opponent is sure to be more than Mourinho can bare.
Since very few people, possibly including Hunt, discovered the nature of Cech’s injuries until much later that Saturday evening ( October 14) it is reasonable to say that the gravity of the incident came as something of a surprise. That said, how can Hunt be accused of deliberately trying to inflict skull damage on the Czech international goalkeeper? A player so inclined could find various, more effective methods to achieve this dubious objective, and leading with one’s knee in a challenge would seem to be low on the list of options.
The truth is that Hunt would have risked damage to himself by deliberately leading with his knee. Many a cruciate ligament has been snapped by high-speed impacts around the knee area. Far better, if Hunt’s actions were motivated by some previously absent violent streak, to raise the studs of his boot or drop in an elbow in the style of Ben Thatcher. That he did not employ either of these methods is evidence of his innocence and a reflection of his almost exemplary disciplinary record in 169 previous professional appearances.
The hunger to hold Hunt up as the evil culprit in all of this is no doubt sparked by the emotion that such a serious incident evokes. Cech may be out of football for a year and it is no exaggeration to suggest that his injuries could easily have led to his death. Outraged by the severity of this, there are those who will stop at nothing until someone is held accountable for it. Perhaps the search for a scapegoat is part of their healing process or of how they quantify the fact that something so shocking can happen to a football player. Somehow the thought that it was just a terrible accident does not sit well with many, who prefer instead to believe that these events can be stamped out of the game by rooting out the bad guys.
They cannot, and the FA has done well to recognise this. All the governing body can do is look into new ways of protecting all of its affiliated players at all levels, not just goalkeepers. Calls for rugby or ice hockey-style headgear to be worn by ‘keepers raises all sorts of other questions about protection for outfield players, quite apart from the debate about whether their use is fully justified. Damage like that incurred by Cech is far from common in football, a fact which has itself added to the level of outrage and alarm felt by many who follow the game, but who appear to have lost sight of how to deal with it.
It is important that the game resists the temptation to jerk its collective knee in response to this awful tale, just as I am fully convinced that Stephen Hunt did not.
By Stephen Orford
19 October 2006
