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Football Weekly: Arsenal win battle for fourth – podcast

Posted by & filed under Alloa, Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion, Championship, Chelsea, Copa del Rey, Crystal Palace, Editorial, Fiorentina, football, guardian.co.uk, José Mourinho, League One, League Two, Manchester City, manchester united, Milan, Paolo Di Canio, Serie A, Siena, Sport, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Yeovil Town.

There’s a end-of-year atmosphere in the pod today, as the team discuss the weekend’s action. There’s that 5-5 send-off for Sir Alex Ferguson, sympathy for the Newcastle goal that never was and the present left in the away team’s dressing room at Brighton.

The season’s not over yet for Sid Lowe – three weeks and counting – but he finds the time to celebrate Atlético Madrid’s win in the Copa Del Rey and ponder José Mourinho’s seemingly imminent move to Chelsea.

Plus we talk about Barry’s charity work, form a barbershop quartet and leave a pig’s head in the locker of Politics Weekly.*

Please leave your comments on any of the above in the section below.

* One of these is not true.

Premier League 2012-13 review: Our writers’ best and worst moments

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Blogposts, Chelsea, Everton, football, Fulham, guardian.co.uk, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic.

Brilliant goals, best-forgotten predictions and matches that prompted dramatic late rewrites

Best player

Paul Doyle Luis Suárez. His dazzling turns, incessant mischief-making and much-improved finishing made him a joy to watch.

Dominic Fifield Juan Mata. Of those I watched regularly, he was the most consistently excellent, with his astonishing tally of 12 assists and 12 league goals testament to his impact at Chelsea throughout another tumultuous campaign.

Owen Gibson Hard to see beyond Gareth Bale. Not since Cristiano Ronaldo was in his pomp at Manchester United has a player demonstrated such an ability to seize a game and shape it.

Barry Glendenning A stunningly original choice here: Tottenham game-changer Gareth Bale.

Andy Hunter Robin van Persie. Signed to wrestle the title back from the wealthiest team (though not much of a team) on the planet and delivered under that pressure by February.

David Hytner Dimitar Berbatov. The best player to watch and the best player to write about.

Jamie Jackson Gareth Bale. The Welsh flyer has become the Premier League’s successor to Cristiano Ronaldo as the man who consistently scores and performs superbly.

Stuart James Gareth Bale. Just gets better and better. Almost single-handedly carried the Tottenham team and deserves to be playing Champions League football next season.

Scott Murray A toss-up between Christian Benteke and Adam Le Fondre. Hats off to your Van Persies, Bales and Suárezes (Suari?) but there’s something infinitely more romantic about those calmly pelting them in while all around is panic.

Sachin Nakrani Dimitar Berbatov. A left-field choice but then Berba is a left-field player. Languid, highly-skilled, hilariously ratty and the only man who would dare wear a “Keep calm and pass me the ball” T-shirt. Oh and he got 15 goals in his debut season with Fulham, which ain’t bad.

James Riach Gareth Bale repeatedly scored stunning, match-winning goals and spearheaded Tottenham to their biggest ever Premier League points total.

Barney Ronay Michael Carrick. Often did the job of two men in midfield for the champions. The Roy Keane of the elegant interception.

Jacob Steinberg It feels utterly ridiculous not to be picking Robin van Persie. But that’s Gareth Bale – utterly ridiculous. The quality of his goals and performances for Tottenham have been staggering.

Daniel Taylor Gareth Bale, with an honorary mention for Michu (clearly not playing for a big enough club to get many PFA votes) and Robin van Persie.

Louise Taylor Philippe Coutinho. Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla has been lovely to watch but Coutinho is the midfielder capable of making Liverpool great again.

Paul Wilson Luis Suárez. More watchable and audacious than Robin van Persie or Gareth Bale, if also more annoying and apparently more hungry.

WINNER Gareth Bale.

Best manager

Paul Doyle Michael Laudrup. Took a successful Swansea side and made them even better through smart signings and more effective attacking.

Dominic Fifield David Moyes. Everton finished sixth, above their city rivals for a second successive season, and lost only once at Goodison Park all campaign. Their squad boasts quality but not much depth, so to sustain such a challenge while others spend so heavily felt miraculous. Moyes has earned his opportunity with Manchester United.

Owen Gibson Sir Alex Ferguson. Fittingly in his final season, he marshalled his resources one last time following the bitter disappointment of the last day in 2011-12 to ease to the title.

Barry Glendenning Michael Laudrup. Prior to the start of the season, I idiotically predicted that Swansea City under his management would resemble “a car crash”.

Andy Hunter Sir Alex Ferguson. Another league title lifted by the latest Manchester United team to be spurred on by talent, naturally, but also character. A huge loss to the game.

David Hytner Rafael Benítez. Could not have done much more than win the Europa League and finish third. Moreover, he maintained his dignity at all times in the face of sustained hostility.

Jamie Jackson Michael Laudrup. As a first season in the top flight claiming the first major trophy of Swansea City’s 101-year history and finishing ninth was impressive.

Stuart James Michael Laudrup. There was a feeling Swansea were punching above their weight under Brendan Rodgers. Then Laudrup took over and won the first major trophy in the club’s history and secured a top-10 finish in the Premier League. Oh, and he also traded at a profit in the transfer market. Not bad, all in all.

Scott Murray Rafael Benítez, only the second man to win a European trophy at three different clubs (after Udo Lattek). The snipers – and it’s not just been Chelsea fans, either – can simmer down now.

Sachin Nakrani Michael Laudrup. Had the tough task of replacing Brendan Rodgers and did so with aplomb. Swansea finished two places higher than they did in 2011-12 and have become a more dangerous attacking unit.

James Riach In the face of bitter protests from Chelsea’s supporters, Rafael Benítez remained dignified and won the Europa League title as well as securing third place.

Barney Ronay Rafa Benítez. Perhaps not the obvious choice but still: a European trophy and third place in the Premier League. And all without the full support of the club’s fans or – it would seem – board.

Jacob Steinberg Michael Laudrup won Swansea their first major trophy in his first season in England, made some shrewd signings and ensured their football remained easy on the eye.

Daniel Taylor Steve Clarke. Well, probably Sir Alex Ferguson. But I owe Clarke an apology for having him to win the sack race last August.

Louise Taylor Paolo Di Canio. Not content with saving Sunderland from relegation he speaks a lot of good sense. And makes the Premier League infinitely more colourful.

Paul Wilson David Moyes. After years of not winning anything, he walks off with the top prize. Tremendous first seasons from Steve Clarke and Michael Laudrup, solid progress by Sam Allardyce and Brendan Rodgers.

WINNER Michael Laudrup.

Best goal

Paul Doyle José Enrique for Liverpool v Swansea. Great move in which every touch was a trick.

Dominic Fifield Matthew Lowton’s volley from distance beyond Asmir Begovic, Stoke’s fine goalkeeper. It was a goal that breathed life into Aston Villa’s pursuit of survival.

Owen Gibson Van Persie v Aston Villa. Wayne Rooney’s raking 70-yard pass and the Dutchman’s skill in watching the ball drop on to his boot before volleying home was a fitting way for United to clinch the title.

Barry Glendenning Luis Suárez for Liverpool against Newcastle. Sprinting at full speed, he controlled a long ball to the edge of the penalty area with his shoulder while under pressure from Fabricio Coloccini, before taking it around Tim Krul and prodding home. In little more than a couple of seconds and with just three touches he made two very good players look like chumps.

Andy Hunter Robin van Persie v Aston Villa. From the pass by Wayne Rooney to the movement, awareness and sublime technique of Van Persie’s volley; a glorious goal and a true jaw-dropping moment.

David Hytner Luis Suárez v Newcastle Utd. Speed, strength, sumptuous chest control, balance, feint, touch, finish. Genius.

Jamie Jackson Robin van Persie’s second v Aston Villa. Wayne Rooney’s sublime arcing pass placed into the path of the on-rushing Dutchman was complemented by a left-foot volley struck oh so sweetly in a game that sealed Manchester United’s 20th championship.

Stuart James A close call between Matthew Lowton’s wonderful volley for Aston Villa against Stoke and Robin van Persie’s brilliant strike against Villa. Van Persie gets the nod on the basis that he was hitting a ball dropping over his shoulder.

Scott Murray Shinji Kagawa’s cerebral sidefoot against Norwich City.

Sachin Nakrani Matthew Lowton against Stoke. A stunning chest-and-first-time-hit volley that ultimately won a important game for Villa, lifting them out of the relegation zone.

James Riach Robin van Persie’s fine volley against Aston Villa oozed quality. He timed his run perfectly and made the finish look ridiculously easy.

Barney Ronay Romelu Lukaku versus Sunderland. Essentially a series of high-speed crash tackles, but still a rare joy to watch. The kind of goal the Hulk would score. Or a runaway cement mixer.

Jacob Steinberg I didn’t think Bale’s stabbed finish against Swansea in March really got the recognition it deserved. It was Messi-esque in its speed and inventiveness.

Daniel Taylor Luis Suárez v Newcastle. It’s the control, running, looking over his shoulder, then trapping a 40-yard pass on his chest and shimmying past Newcastle’s goalkeeper. The finish was simple; what preceded it was sublime.

Louise Taylor Fernando Torres in Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Sunderland. Torres met Eden Hazard’s cross with a perfectly cushioned volley expertly directed beyond Simon Mignolet. Not bad for a striker supposedly “finished”.

Paul Wilson Van Persie’s volley from Wayne Rooney’s sumptuous pass against Aston Villa. Otherwise anything from the Bale collection.

WINNER Robin van Persie v Aston Villa.

Best match

Paul Doyle Southampton 3-1 Man City. It is always good to see hungry young slicksters batter a team of glamorous slackers.

Dominic Fifield Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United in October, a game that saw the hosts reduced to nine, retrieve a two-goal deficit, then succumb to an offside winner. It was subsequently tainted with controversy after allegations were made against Mark Clattenburg by home players. Just as significantly, it proved to be the beginning of the end for Roberto Di Matteo.

Owen Gibson Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United. Just as the previous year had been defined by City’s 6-1 humbling of their neighbours, so Van Persie’s last-gasp winner seemed to symbolise this season’s revenge.

Barry Glendenning Reading 3-2 West Brom will live long in my memory. I was reporting on it and three Reading goals in the final eight minutes meant a panic-stricken rewrite. It was great fun, mind.

Andy Hunter Selecting only from games attended, Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea. The Benítez sub-plot, a commanding Chelsea display, a rousing Liverpool recovery and, of course, the best and ridiculous worst of Luis Suárez. The moment it dawned he had bitten Branislav Ivanovic, and that a week of inquests and accusations of a media witch-hunt was sure to follow, was not a highlight, however.

David Hytner Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United. Great goals, a stirring fightback, red cards, contention, pulsating from start to finish. The subsequent, unproven allegations about Mark Clattenburg ought not to overshadow the memory.

Jamie Jackson Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United. In the closing moments Van Persie’s free-kick deflected off Samir Nasri, who had turned his back, to beat Joe Hart and all three points were heading to Old Trafford.

Stuart James The first 5-5 draw in the history of the Premier League, at The Hawthorns on the final day of the season, must take some beating.

Scott Murray West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United, the nearest football’s ever got to DG Bradman, b Hollies, 0. Sport always has the last word, leaving even the geniuses wondering exactly what the hell just happened.

Sachin Nakrani Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United. Not a title decider but the moment it felt power had shifted back across Manchester. A pretty dramatic contest, too.

James Riach Newcastle United 0-3 Sunderland. This was the turning point in Sunderland’s survival bid, a gutsy performance that included three excellent goals and some incredible celebrations from Paolo Di Canio.

Barney Ronay Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United. Decided which way the seasonal Manchester momentum was heading – plus a lovely bit of soap opera in Van Persie’s free-kick and Nasri’s flinch.

Jacob Steinberg A personal highlight was West Ham’s comeback against Chelsea in December. Chelsea murdered West Ham in the first half and should have been two or three goals up at half-time. But the introduction of Mohamed Diamé changed the game and Upton Park was a very loud and enjoyable place to be by the time Modibo Maïga made it 3-1 to West Ham.

Daniel Taylor Southampton 2-3 Manchester United. The kind of match for which Sir Alex Ferguson will be remembered: losing 2-1 until the last three minutes and then a quick one-two from Robin van Persie and some frantic rewrites in the press box.

Louise Taylor Newcastle United 3-2 Chelsea. A fantastic game filled with fabulous counter-attacking football and settled by Moussa Sissoko’s 90th-minute winner for Newcastle.

Paul Wilson Newcastle 3-2 Chelsea was a real humdinger, the one where Demba Ba took a boot to the face and got his nose splattered.

WINNER Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United.

Best signing

Paul Doyle Christian Benteke – £7m for the young striker who kept Aston Villa in the Premier League in his first season in England. A bargain.

Dominic Fifield Robin van Persie. Michu was the bargain of the season, but Van Persie ensured Manchester United eclipsed Manchester City in the title race. A player who made a difference.

Owen Gibson The still improving Christian Benteke narrowly edges Van Persie for value. He scored on his debut and didn’t stop, keeping Villa up despite his misfiring colleagues.

Barry Glendenning Michu’s transfer to Swansea City from Real Vallecano for £2.2m was an astonishing, astute bit of business … for Swansea.

Andy Hunter Michu. His form may have tailed off after the Capital One Cup final but Swansea are unlikely to hold that against him. A steal at £2m, he epitomised the style and class of Michael Laudrup’s team and the club’s historic cup win in their centenary year.

David Hytner Robin Van Persie. Took the No20 shirt at Manchester United. Made the difference in the club’s 20th title.

Jamie Jackson Van Persie. “If” is a questionable concept in sport but had the Dutchman signed instead for City would United be champions?

Stuart James Michu was an absolute bargain at £2m but Christian Benteke was also an incredible piece of business. Without Benteke’s goals (of every description) Villa would surely have been relegated.

Scott Murray Philippe Coutinho. A pocket Molby, or a Beardsley-sized Beardsley?

Sachin Nakrani Michu. Strikers who score 18 goals in their debut season for a new club in a new country are not meant to cost £2m. An incredible piece of business.

James Riach Michu is the clear choice after scoring 18 goals for Swansea City at a cost of £2m from Rayo Vallecano. An absolute bargain.

Barney Ronay Christian Benteke. A £7m signing who kept Villa up and will now probably leave for much more. In short bursts looked like the perfect centre-forward in the making.

Jacob Steinberg Swansea paid £2m Michu and got more than their money’s worth.

Daniel Taylor Michu, and if we can ignore Steve Clarke (see above) I did predict this last August.

Louise Taylor Robin van Persie. He did not come cheap but, by their standards, an arguably limited, non-vintage, Manchester United would not have won the title without the Dutch striker.

Paul Wilson Has to be Van Persie, if he really made the difference between United and City.

WINNER Michu.

Worst flop

Paul Doyle Roberto Mancini. There are professors who got PhDs from a slot machine in Blackpool who could mount better defences of their title than Manchester City managed.

Dominic Fifield Alou Diarra at West Ham, if only because I suggested back in August that he would prove to be the bargain of the campaign. He may have been free but he arrived an experienced France international, the kind of player who could take the Premier League by the scruff of the neck, but five appearances in all competitions and a loan to Rennes rather sums up his impact. Then came the allegations that he had been lured to Upton Park by “false promises”.

Owen Gibson It seems unfair to single him out amid myriad overpaid failures at Loftus Road. But at £12.5m and £100,000 a week, Christopher Samba’s admission that he wasn’t prepared for the Premier League when he arrived in January couldn’t help but grate as Queens Park Rangers went down with a whimper.

Barry Glendenning Considering the high standards he set for himself last season, the decline of Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tioté has been particularly notable.

Andy Hunter Queens Park Rangers. Every signing made last summer and in January and their two managers, Mark Hughes and Harry Redknapp. Abysmal.

David Hytner José Bosingwa. A European champion with Chelsea last May, he was tempted to QPR by the big wages and did little to justify them. Refused to take his place as a substitute against Fulham. Jeered by fans on his last appearance against Newcastle.

Jamie Jackson Chelsea fans who failed to back Rafael Benítez. What, exactly, did the Blues supporters want by not getting behind the manager? Failure? Having returned the Europa League and third place Benítez has shown the kind of manager he is.

Stuart James Hard to look beyond the Queens Park Rangers team, headed up by José Bosingwa. Probably won’t happen but would be great to see him running out at Yeovil.

Scott Murray David Moyes and Everton, after yet another craven capitulation in the Cup. Roberto Martínez and Wigan showed them how to play the glory game.

Sachin Nakrani Christopher Samba. The personification of QPR’s ill-thought-out, irresponsible and bloated transfer strategy.

James Riach Chris Samba arrived at QPR in January for a club record £12.5m. Having not played since November, the centre-half was in poor shape and has admitted he was unprepared for a Premier League return.

Barney Ronay Emmanuel Adebayor. Came to life a little towards the end of the season, but it took until May for Spurs to win their second match in which he actually scored.

Jacob Steinberg It has not quite worked out for Scott Sinclair, has it?

Daniel Taylor Queens Park Rangers, the A to Z of how not to run a coherent football club.

Louise Taylor James McClean, Sunderland. The once so promising left winger regressed alarmingly. Desperately requires the “revolution in the brain” prescribed by Paolo Di Canio.

Paul Wilson Not blaming Harry Redknapp in particular, but everyone involved at QPR must view the season as a bit of a fiasco. Wigan’s defence coach, if they actually had one, also had a season to forget.

WINNER Queens Park Rangers (particularly Christopher Samba and José Bosingwa).

Biggest gripe

Paul Doyle Lack of innovation at set-pieces: most are very predictable. Players are getting their priorities wrong when they put more thought into their goalscoring celebrations than how to actually score in the first place.

Dominic Fifield The mess that was Queens Park Rangers. Their survival last season had been celebrated but what followed was pathetic. Their stay in the top flight was a missed opportunity.

Owen Gibson Hardly original, but in a season when low level grumbling about ticket prices became loud protests, the urgency of more clubs addressing the issue can’t be overstated.

Barry Glendenning The paranoia and seething rage of some fans is tedious. Relax, it’s just football.

Andy Hunter Extortionate ticket prices that have turned some football stadiums into tourist destinations and homes for a precious, middle-aged, middle-class audience.

David Hytner Sky sources. Just because the TV channel invented the game does not give them the licence seemingly to take other outlets’ stories and information and present them as their own.

Jamie Jackson Prominent footballers who shun the media when playing, then take up jobs in the media on retirement.

Stuart James The ruthless sackings of Brian McDermott at Reading and Nigel Adkins at Southampton. Both victims of their own success.

Scott Murray Faux moral outrage, 25 hours a day, eight days a week. Life’s too short to be this annoyed.

Sachin Nakrani The FA’s disciplinary decisions. A four-match ban for racism (John Terry), a 10-match ban for biting (Luis Suárez) and no ban at all for nearly snapping someone’s leg (Callum Mcmanaman). Madness.

James Riach Giving players a voice by reporting their nonsensical comments on Twitter, particularly one converted Francophile.

Barney Ronay Get rid of the “the ref saw it so we can’t do anything” law – thereby destroying at a single stroke the gist of roughly 50% of all angry football talk radio content.

Jacob Steinberg The FA Cup final (with Budweiser; mustn’t forget the sponsors) was great entertainment but it still shouldn’t kick off at 5.15pm or be played on the same weekend as league games.

Daniel Taylor 1) goal music, 2) Brendan Rodgers never told us who were in the envelopes.

Louise Taylor Those Chelsea fans who persistently undermined Rafael Benítez and demanded his dismissal after he, quite reasonably, gave them a measured ticking off following an FA Cup win at Middlesbrough. Benítez performed splendidly; is José Mourinho really going to do better?

Paul Wilson The Premier League is tilting towards the south, even south Wales. From a position of strength a few years ago, there are only the four core north-west clubs left. Lancashire is becoming an outpost, rather than a sensible location for a football writer to base themselves.

WINNER The FA’s disciplinary process.

Change for next season

Paul Doyle Play-offs for last Champions League spot and last relegation spot. There is an obvious antidote to anti-climaxes, as followers of the Championship, League One and League Two know full well. And why should the lower leagues have better endings than the top flight?

Dominic Fifield Transfer windows for managerial changes. Chelsea can have their own one, if necessary, in late February/early March. November is far too early.

Owen Gibson They have more need than most, but it would be nice to see others follow Arsenal’s lead in introducing special cut-price areas for teenagers.

Barry Glendenning Cheaper ticket prices would be nice.

Andy Hunter Same as last season: retrospective punishment for diving.

David Hytner Sir Alex Ferguson to hold regular press conferences in his new role as a Manchester United director.

Jamie Jackson Cameras in changing rooms, please.

Stuart James That the Manchester United manager attends post-match press conferences.

Scott Murray Pitchside bats, for smashing goalline cameras into pieces so small they can be sieved through a sock. Perfection is a pipe dream and, anyway, bemoaning the occasional incorrect decision is all part of the fun.

Sachin Nakrani £20 away tickets. In January the Football Supporters’ Federation launched its “Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets” campaign in a bid to establish an across-the-board, affordable pricing structure for travelling fans. Its introduction would show football at the highest level retains a soul.

James Riach Retrospective punishment even if a match official has seen the incident during the game. Some blatant and ugly fouls have escaped proper scrutiny this season.

Barney Ronay Relegate five teams.

Jacob Steinberg It is understandable that the FA doesn’t want to undermine referees but it is slightly farcical that retrospective action can’t be taken over incidents – Callum McManaman’s tackle on Massadio Haïdara, say – which the officials decided not to punish during games.

Daniel Taylor Maybe the Premier League, with its £5.5bn television revenue, could give Kick It Out more than £100,000 a year operating costs (roughly the same as someone who earns £50,000 a year chucking 25p into a collection tin).

Louise Taylor Journalists reporting on Premier League teams being invited, as happens at certain European clubs, to eat training ground lunches with players as part of an obligatory extension of current weekly press conferences. With increased trust unlikely to be abused it could only erase paranoia, increase understanding and enhance coverage.

Paul Wilson Players attending finals in a suit should be made to stay in a suit, and frisked if necessary to make sure they are not carrying spare kit, boots and shin-pads.

WINNER Cheaper tickets.

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Who is the best Premier League right-back? | Stats Comparison

Posted by & filed under AFC, Arsenal (M), Arsenal (NN), aston villa, AVFC, Azpilicueta, Bacary Sagna, baggies, Bosingwa, boyce, BPL, Canaries, CFC, Chelsea, city, clyne, Coleman, danny simpson, demel, efc, english Premier league, English Premier League Opta Stats, English Premier League Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, ffc, Fulham, full back, full backs, gardner, Glen Johnson, gunter, hammers, Johnson, Jones, Kyle Walker, latics, LFC, Liverpool, lowton, Man City, Man Utd., manchester, Manchester City, manchester united, Manchester Utd, martin, MCFC, MUFC, Nathaniel Clyne, Newcastle, Norwich, NUFC, opta, Opta Stats, pl, potters, Premier League, premier league opta stats, Premiership, QPR, Queens Park Rangers, Rafael, rangel, Reading, reither, RFC, Right Back, right backs, Sagna, Saints, SCFC, SFC, Shotton, Simpson, Southampton, Spurs, Stoke, Stoke City, Sunderland, swans, Swansea, THFC, toon, Tottenham, Tottenham Hotspur, United, Villa, WAFC, Walker, WBA, wbafc, west brom, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, West Ham United, WHU, WHUFC, Wigan, Wigan Athletic, Zabaleta.

When you’re sitting in the pub with your mates, picking your favourites of the Premier League, the one position that has to be the hardest to choose a winner for is the right-back. It is not in any way as easy as left-back, with Ashley Cole usually taking that spot, and Leighton Baines coming through [...]

Who is the best Premier League right-back? | Stats Comparison

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Premier League final day – in pictures

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Editorial, Everton, football, Fulham, guardian.co.uk, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Sport, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic.

As the 2012-13 Premier League season draws to a close, we bring you the best images from the last 10 games

Premier League fans verdict part 2: QPR to Wigan Athletic

Posted by & filed under Features, football, guardian.co.uk, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Sport, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic.

Stoke stayed up but football often terrible; Swansea need quality striker to back up Michu; West Brom had a ‘special season’

QPR 2/10

Things could not have gone much worse really. Overpaid, overhyped and underachieved. We have paid a king’s ransom in wages that would take on the GDP of a small country and what do we have to show for it? Bottom of the league and relegated in April.

Star man Loïc Rémy performed admirably to get as many goals as he has in a poor team, while Clint Hill continues to perform beyond his capabilities. Other than that it’s been misery from front to back.

The flops I would call José Bosingwa a flop, but that would indicate I had a level of expectation. I have been disappointed with two signings in particular: Park Ji-sung has evidently received some misguided lip service previously – how he passes as a footballer is beyond me. Esteban Granero is undoubtedly talented but unable to keep up with the pace of Premier League football.

The gaffer 5/10 Harry Redknapp attempted to mould a side with very little to work with. His attempt to patch things up in January gave us a fighting chance but the mess he walked into will not improve until he can shift out the troublemakers.

Who should he sign? A blend of Championship experience and youthful exuberance. Players who care about the shirt. A forward to replace Rémy, who will leave, and more sprightly replacements for the ones we inevitably show the door to.

Best visiting fans Southampton were loud, proud and backed their manager. Worst Chelsea were fairly uninspiring for a local fixture.

Adam Boxer, QPR.VitalFootball.co.uk

Reading 4/10

No one is happy when the team gets relegated from the Premier League, even if it is expected for at least one of the newly promoted teams to return straight back to the Championship – I was fairly relaxed with Reading until February and March, which was our undoing: losing the games against Villa and Wigan sunk the ship.

Star men Alex McCarthy, Adrian Mariappa, Alex Pearce and Sean Morrison.

The flops Danny Guthrie and Pavel Pogrebnyak.

The gaffer 5/10 Brian McDermott was sacked after the poor results referred to above and Nigel Adkins was brought in too late to be able to stop the downward spiral. McDermott will always be respected for getting the club into the Premier League after the disappointment in the play-offs the previous season.

Who should he sign? It will be more a question of who we can hold on to and who we want to get moved on as the squad will hopefully be in the shake-up for promotion next season.

Best visiting fans Man City, Spurs, Newcastle.

Worst The usual suspects in Chelsea, West Ham and Man United and disappointingly a significant minority of Liverpool fans, who almost managed to undo a lot of goodwill extended to their club in regard to Hillsborough over the years in one afternoon.

Ian Maynard, Observer reader

Southampton 10/10

This season was all about survival. We were bottom in November, so it’s been a fantastic turnaround.

Star man Morgan Schneiderlin has taken to life with England’s elite like a duck to water. Tirelessly covering every blade of grass, his consistently good performances won him both fans’ and players’ player of the season. Rickie Lambert loves proving his doubters wrong. With 14 goals in his first Premier League season, he’s shown he can compete at this level and he brings more to the team than goals.

The flops Gastón Ramírez hasn’t lived up to the his £12m price tag. He has shown glimpses of his talent but with no real consistency. He needs more time to adapt to English football.

The gaffer 7/10 Mauricio Pochettino inherited a team that were playing well in a system that was not too different from his own. He didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Instead Southampton went looking for the ball, pressing high up the pitch. Wins against City, Liverpool and Chelsea show Saints can beat the best. Now to do it against smaller teams, too!

Who should he sign? A quality centre-back would improve us considerably. Further up the pitch we’ve struggled to find goals lately, despite dominating large periods of games. An attacking midfielder who can play a final killer ball is a must.

Best visiting fans Newcastle. Worst Reading.

Ben Gammon, GoMarchingIn.co.uk

Stoke City 6/10

We have stayed up but some of the football has been terrible and the slide towards the Championship was terrifying. We simply didn’t perform for months and looked very poor since New Year. 8/10 for the first half of the season, 3/10 for the second.

Star man The outstanding performer was Asmir Begovic, a quality keeper. Steven N’Zonzi looked a class act for most of the season and the Huth/Shawcross duo was solid.

The flops The signing of Michael Owen did not really work and Charlie Adam has not been the wonder signing we hoped. That is more down to him being played up front than anything else; he has played further back in recent weeks and been outstanding. Ryan Shotton has been found out at times.

The gaffer 6/10 Tony Pulis has done wonders for this club, but has spent a fortune in the past few years. For many fans he needs to change his beliefs and show a new Stoke next season or they may turn on him. We are among the lowest scorers yet again.

Who should he sign? Two full backs, a back-up centre-half, a couple of fresh wingers and some strikers who can score. So not that much really.

Best visiting fans Villa (special mention to Spurs for singing Happy Birthday to Stoke). Worst Arsenal, just because they are.

Richard Murphy, Author, Stoke City On This Day

Sunderland 4/10

Another successful season at the Stadium of Light as we comfortably avoided relegation five days before the final game. Add to that some turgid football, two disastrous cup defeats, the demise of a manager whom everyone wanted to succeed and the arrival of a head coach who brought unwelcome political baggage with him, and you can see that it really has been a belter. In fact, it’s been the most underwhelming and disappointing of the 50 seasons I have watched Sunderland. Next season has to be better – perhaps we can avoid relegation before the cricket season starts? I give it four out of 10 – and 3 of those are for the win at Newcastle.

Star man Simon Mignolet has been outstanding and Danny Rose had a fine loan. Steven Fletcher scored vital goals and John O’Shea tried to marshal a defence that was as reliable as a 1988 Austin Maestro.

The flops Adam Johnson was in and out, poor Danny Graham looked lost and James McClean was simply consistently awful .

The gaffer The players never got going under Martin O’Neill, so he gets 3/10. As for Di Canio: a fine start, then lost his way, so 6/10.

Who should he sign? At least one central defender and a creative midfield player.

Best visiting fans Everton and Southampton. Worst As always, the Horse Botherers, and Fulham.

Pete Sixsmith, SalutSunderlandcom

Swansea City 9/10

It couldn’t have gone much better. No second-season syndrome – the Swans went from strength to strength under Michael Laudrup, with Europa League qualification and winning our first ever major trophy.

Star man Michu, for scoring a large quantity of goals to get into the top 10. Chico Flores and Ashley Williams have developed an excellent defensive partnership while Jonathan de Guzman and Wayne Routledge have stood out in midfield.

The flops Loan striker Itay Shechter. Laudrup needed a striker to complement Michu but the Israeli just hasn’t stepped up to the mark, having managed only one goal all season and that was recently at Wigan. Luke Moore, another striker, has also struggled.

The gaffer 9/10 Michael Laudrup has taken us to another level. We’re a more effective attacking team due to some of his tactical changes and the signings he made in his first couple of months in charge. The only thing preventing him from getting a perfect 10/10 score is that our performances have been lacking since February when we won the Capital One Cup, but you can barely fault a manager that has guided us to Europa League qualification and our first ever major trophy win.

Who should he sign? With Shechter and Moore struggling this season, Michael Laudrup needs a quality striker to take the goalscoring pressure off Michu and to allow him to play in his preferred attacking midfield role.

Best visiting fans Norwich. Worst Chelsea.

Kevin Elphick, Swansea.VitalFootball.co.uk

Tottenham Hotspur 7/10

Win today and we shall have three points more than last season. If we don’t qualify for the Holy Grail – I mean Champions League – then blame the failure to beat both Wigan and Fulham at home (some double, that) and the foot-shooting, twice, on Merseyside. We played our best in sharp, instinctive bursts but generally have been too static when we have had to break a team down. Only 28 goals in 18 home games is a weak return. Man City at home was a microcosm of our season. Clueless for 70 minutes before blowing them away in a 10-minute burst.

Star man Gareth Bale papered over a lot of cracks, mainly from outside the penalty area.

The flops Jermain Defoe – one goal since Boxing Day. Emmanuel Adebayor – five all season. He reminds me of an hour hand: you know it must be moving but you can’t quite make it out. Only when you wind it up do you see it move.

The gaffer 6/10 André Villas-Boas was up and down. Up – beating West Ham and Arsenal in quick succession. Down – losing the next two games to Liverpool (when we had them on their knees) and Fulham. Selection for both was poor: hands up who thinks Benoît Assou-Ekotto is a midfielder? We often found ourselves with no width on either flank.

Who should he sign? Two strikers who want to make an effort for 90 minutes and can score inside the six-yard box. This has been copied and pasted from last season’s review.

Best visiting fans Norwich. Worst Wigan.

Dave Mason, Observer reader

West Bromwich Albion 8/10

It definitely tailed off – the 4-0 mauling at Norwich was meaningless though gruelling – but overall it’s been a special season. In November we were third and six months later, despite a frustrating slump, we’re still in the top 10. With our resources, that’s brilliant.

Star man Defender Gareth McAuley won the players’ player of the season, and deserved it. He’s not the division’s biggest name, which works in our favour, but is hugely important to us. Romelu Lukaku shone (it’s unsettling when your outstanding attacking talent is only on loan) and we had a solid core.

The flops The Peter Odemwingie episode played a big part in our post-January stumble, and it could have been handled so much better. He’s a fine player, but good luck to whoever takes him on next.

The gaffer 7/10 A blistering first half of the season, and a confusing second. Steve Clarke made some odd choices in the past few months, attracting plenty of criticism. But it’s a learning experience. If we start next season like we finished this one we’ll be in a mess, but I don’t see that happening.

Who should he sign? Lukaku or a replacement of equal quality. The spine of the side is solid, but we need a potent goal threat. He’s too raw to be in Mourinho’s Chelsea side, so should be available for another year. We just need to fight off the rival clubs also trying to nab him. We also need more strength in depth throughout the squad. The summer’s recruitment could make or break next season.

Best visiting fans Newcastle. Worst Reading.

Dave Fleming, Observer reader

West Ham United 8/10

Mid-table survival in our first season back in the Premier League has to be classed as a success. It may not have been a spectacular campaign, but it’s a very solid outcome.

Star man Winston Reid been consistent at the back and James Collins is just the sort of no-nonsense stopper we needed. Carroll’s arrival from Liverpool lifted the whole side and he’s far better on the ground than people think. Jaaskelainen, meanwhile, had a great season in goal and Diamé and Jarvis have done well, too.

The flops Ricardo Vaz Tê has really disappointed at this level after scoring lots of goals for us in the Championship. Modibo Maïga, meanwhile, cost us £4m, but hasn’t really been given a chance to show what he can do.

The gaffer 7/10 Big Sam has done all that has been asked of him in his two seasons so far – but now he needs to develop a more expansive game and maybe play two strikers when required.

Who should he sign? We need a new full-back, Carroll on a permanent deal, and another striker, too.

Best visiting fans Wigan for sharing that taxi – very community minded.

Worst Chelsea, for the way they turned on Benítez.

Pete May, HammersInTheHeart.blogspot.co.uk

Wigan Athletic 7/10

At the start of the season, relegation wasn’t something I contemplated, but injuries across the whole defence, have cost us. That said, winning the FA Cup and getting into Europe weren’t on the cards either, and the FA Cup final win was superb.

Star man Shaun Maloney has been outstanding. Arouna Koné has had a great debut season. Maynor Figueroa and Emmerson Boyce are the Mr Dependables, and Callum McManaman has ended the season superbly.

The flops Ali al-Habsi hasn’t hit anything like the form of last season. Gary Caldwell has also struggled. Ryo Myiachi has been disappointing, mainly because his loan was mostly spent on the injury table.

The gaffer 7/10 Roberto Martínez has done another sterling job. Winning the FA Cup and getting into Europe has added to his stock. He still has flaws but hopefully he will stay.

Who should he sign? We need to see who will leave after relegation and if the out of contract players sign new deals. Certainly a striker, winger and full-backs are required.

Best visiting fans Bradford in the League Cup had a brilliant following. Worst We’re always criticised for our crowds, but QPR’s following were as appalling as their team were.

Dave Whalley, @LaticsDave

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The Premier League Shockers – How common are the shocking upsets?

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, Arsenal (M), Arsenal (NN), aston villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Bolton Wanderers, CFC, Chelsea, Chelsea Stats, english Premier league, English Premier League Opta Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Manchester Utd, Newcastle United, Newcastle Utd, Norwich, Norwich City, Premier League, premier league opta stats, Premier League Shocking Upsets, Premier League Upset Results, QPR, Reading, Shockers, Shocking Upsets, Southampton, Spurs, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea, Swansea City, Tottenham, Tottenham Hotspur, west brom, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan, Wigan Vs QPR Preview, Wolves.

Ok, so Landry was talking about the ‘other’ type of football, however the sentiment remains true for ‘real’ football.  One of the most beautiful things about the beautiful game is the potential for a freak, unexpected result.  An incredible, unbelievable result. There’s nothing that neutral football fans enjoy more than seeing an underdog grabbing a [...]

The Premier League Shockers – How common are the shocking upsets?

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‘How has football lived without it?’ – The impact of technology on tennis, baseball & other sports

Posted by & filed under Americas, Arsenal, Asia, aston villa, Chelsea FC, Editorial, Editorial Writers, England, English Debate, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, North America, Norwich City, Premier League, South America, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

The introduction of Hawk-Eye in the English Premier League is not the first example of sports using technology to make on-field decisions, with positive and negative impacts

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Belgian’s Taking over the EPL | Hazard, Dembele, Fellaini, Benteke et al Stats

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Benteke, Chelsea, Dembele, English Premier League Opta Stats, English Premier League Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, Fellaini, Hazard, Kompany, Lukaku, Manchester City, Mignolet, Mirallas, opta, Opta Stats, Premier League, premier league opta stats, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, West Bromwich Albion.

The Belgians are coming, you have been warned. If we didn’t already know about the remarkable number of talented players coming out of Belgium in recent years we do now. Many people have already earmarked them as dark horses for next year’s World Cup with a view to them becoming genuine contenders for the European [...]

Belgian’s Taking over the EPL | Hazard, Dembele, Fellaini, Benteke et al Stats

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The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Top Counter Attacking Teams This Season | Opta Stats Analysis

Posted by & filed under AFC, Arsenal, aston villa, AVFC, CFC, Chelsea, Counter Attack Analysis, Counter Attack Goals, Counter Attack Shots, Counter Attack Stats, efc, English Premier League Opta Stats, English Premier League Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, ffc, Fulham, LFC, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester Utd, MCFC, MUFC, NCFC, Newcastle Utd, Norwich City, NUFC, opta, Opta Stats, Premier League, premier league opta stats, Premier League Stats, QPR, Reading, RFC, SAFC, SCFC, SFC, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea, Swansea City, THFC, Tottenham Hotspur, WAFC, wbafc, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, WHUFC, Wigan.

Teams that can hit you on the counter attack at any moment are incredibly hard to defend against, especially when speed merchants such as Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott are running at your defence. So which teams have impressed in the counter attack and …

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, Blogposts, football, guardian.co.uk, Manchester City, manchester united, Newcastle United, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Sport, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic.

Coded messages from Roberto Mancini and Sam Allardyce, Lukas Podolski’s big chance and QPR’s impending implosion

1) This is Podolski’s moment

Arsenal fans love to sing about how they won the league at Old Trafford in 2002 and, although the prospect of giving the returning Robin van Persie a guard of honour must be sickening to some, at least Manchester United will not become the first team to win a trophy at the Emirates. Perhaps it will work in Arsenal’s favour that a potentially bleary-eyed United wrapped up their 20th title on Monday night. A small blessing, though, and the sight of Van Persie will infuriate the home fans, who saw another star player leave last summer. Yet the problem was not only that Arsenal lost Van Persie but also that Arsène Wenger did not adequately replace him. Olivier Giroud is not a flop. Let’s not go that far. But Arsenal still downsized. Giroud will be suspended against United, though, which means that there could be a place for another of Wenger’s summer signings, Lukas Podolski, who has hardly been a roaring success, although he has not been helped by a niggling ankle injury which could require surgery. He has been out of the picture in recent weeks but this is a big chance for him to make everyone forget about Van Persie and prove that he deserves the central role he craves. Jacob Steinberg

2) Is it time for Ben Arfa?

Newcastle’s struggles this season can partly be attributed to Hatem Ben Arfa’s injury problems. Without the Frenchman, they have lacked a spark and often resorted to falling back on a long-ball style which is unlikely to endear Alan Pardew to Newcastle’s supporters for too long. Ben Arfa is a player who can conjure something out of nothing, such as his outlandish solo goals against Blackburn and Bolton last season, but Newcastle have been unable to rely on that ingenuity this year. After recovering from his hamstring injury, Ben Arfa has made three appearances off the bench, but with Newcastle in need of points to secure their Premier League status, the visit of a Liverpool side that will be missing Luis Suárez could be the perfect time to unleash the winger. JS

3) Tottenham beware

Roberto Martínez could not have sounded more pleased with Wigan’s performances in their past two matches, against Manchester City and West Ham. Just to be clear, they lost both, scoring in neither, and in recent weeks it has been possible to detect a certain arrogance about Wigan which seems to be hurting their chances of survival. They can be a great side to watch but sometimes there is a sense that they are too pleased about their own brilliance to actually capitalise on it, which was the case when their sterile dominance over 10-man QPR meant they drew a game that they should have won. So now they find themselves being written off. Again. And that’s exactly what they want us to do. Logically a Tottenham side revitalised by Gareth Bale should have no problems at the DW Stadium and yet, in a strange way, because they’re a strange team, no one would be surprised by a Wigan win. JS

4) West Brom’s slide

Many folks foresaw Steve Clarke struggling in his debut campaign as a No1 manager but the only bother that West Bromwich Albion have been in all season came via that slapstick Peter Odemwingie skit. Still, the early-season challenge for Europe has long since faded and the task now is to ensure a top-half finish – anything else would be a disappointment given their start to the season. Southampton, however, are well equipped to leapfrog them during the run-in and fulfil Nicola Cortese’s ambition of not merely avoiding relegation but doing so in style. Finishing in the top 10 may just convince Roy Hodgson to give Rickie Lambert and Jack Cork (as well Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw) a chance and remind Didier Deschamps that Morgan Schneiderlin is French and fantastic. Paul Doyle

5) QPR’s impending implosion

Queens Park Rangers’ season has been a case study in self-destruction. From misguided recruitment to limp performances and barmy red cards, own-goals and goofs, they’ve seldom been anything other than laughable. The owners have been made to look like fools but naive ambition is a forgivable enough offence. Perhaps more so than excessive caution. Reading are guilty not of investing badly but of underinvesting. They did not jeopardise their financial future, which is obviously good, but nor did they give themselves realistic prospects of surviving, which is bad, especially as they made the same mistake when getting relegated five years ago. The upshot of all this failure is that both sides are going down, meaning Sunday’s match between the pair is about little more than salvaging pride, of which Reading’s players have shown more this season. PD

6) Swansea’s Davies stealing the show

Swansea lifted their first major trophy this season and played their distinctive eye-catching style, yet their achievements remain understated. The absence of Michu from the PFA Player of the Year top six was surprising but Ben Davies would be entitled to feel even more hard done-by to be overlooked for the Young Player of the Year. He had almost zero senior experience when he was thrown into the first team to replace the injured Neil Taylor three games into this season but quickly gave the impression that he had been there for years. His composure and tidy dynamism make him perfectly suited to Swansea and, indeed, to Wales, for whom he now has senior caps. At Stamford Bridge this weekend he will come up against Eden Hazard, who was nominated for the senior and young player of the year gongs – the Belgian is brilliant but he has not been as consistently impressive as Davies this season: and the last time they met Hazard got so frustrated he wound up booting a ballboy. PD

7) A preference for defeat?

Apart perhaps from flying badgers and philanthropic bankers, few things seem as unnatural as fans hoping their own team lose. Yet this weekend some supporters will find themselves feeling perverse. Oh yes. A minority of Arsenal fans, for instance, may hope that Robin van Persie fires Manchester United to victory at the Emirates to ram home to the Arsenal hierarchy the need for a change of policy; similarly, many Stoke fans must hope that Norwich win at the Britannia this weekend to hasten Tony Pulis towards the exit. Other fans will believe that Pulis has earned the right to show that he has learned from this season’s mistakes and will evolve for next term, but others are convinced that such a change from Pulis goes beyond unnatural to totally impossible. PD

8) Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit

With second place all but guaranteed after the most feeble title defence since the director Andrew Dominik insisted naming his movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford wasn’t a plot spoiler, it will be interesting to see how Roberto Mancini’s petulance manifests itself when his side entertain West Ham. During last weekend’s reverse at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, the City manager sent Joleon Lescott on to play as a makeshift centre-forward for the closing minutes, stopping short of forcing the centre-half to carry a placard bearing the message: “Hey Sheikh Mansour, look what the gaffer’s reduced to”, presumably in an attempt to draw attention to the paucity of decent options available on his bench. Underneath that trademark blue and white scarf there is clearly a resolutely brass neck. Standing in the adjacent technical area to Mancini on Saturday lunchtime will be none other than Mr Sam Allardyce, another manager with previous in the field of dropping sledgehammer subtle hints to his employers through the medium of naming (or, more pertinently, not naming) replacements. With both sides having little to play for, the battle to see who can make the most sarcastic substitutions could be the most fiercely fought of the match. Barry Glendenning

9) Wilson or Di Canio?

In this week’s Football Weekly … Extra, pyramid-inverting award-winning Blizzard editor Jonathan Wilson observed that Sunderland’s next three matches are against Aston Villa, Stoke and Southampton and that a point from each match would do all four teams quite nicely, thank you very much. In what can only be described as an innocence-busting endorsement for skulduggery of the most snakebelly-low cunning, Wilson went on to suggest that if he were manager of his hometown club, he’d suggest to suits from Villa, Stoke and Southampton that a spot of mutual back-scratching might be in order to keep everyone concerned in the Premier League and send some other shower of underachieving mugs down to the Championship. Thankfully, for the sake of the few shreds of the Premier League’s integrity that remain intact, Sunderland are not managed by Wilson, but by Paolo Di Canio, who is an Italian. BG

10) There really isn’t much to look forward to about Everton v Fulham

Go on, guess who got last pick when it came to looking forward to something in this round of Premier League fixtures? BG

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EPL Top Players So Far | Goal Scorers, Creators, Assists & Passers!

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, David Silva, English Premier League Opta Stats, English Premier League Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Statistical Comparisons, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Everton, Fulham, Gareth Bale, Liverpool, Luis Suarez, Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Newcastle Utd, opta, Opta Stats, Premier League, Premier League Most Assists, Premier League Most Chances Created, premier league opta stats, Premier League Top Players, Premier League Top Scorers, Premier League's best players, Robin Van Persie, Santi Cazorla, Steven Gerrard, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, Wayne Rooney, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United.

Welcome to our monthly edition of the Premier League’s top players. With Manchester United wrapping up the title against Aston Villa on Monday night the attention now turns to the battle for the Champions League places, the race for survival and which player will be crowned as the player of the year and young player [...]

EPL Top Players So Far | Goal Scorers, Creators, Assists & Passers!

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Premier League Top Players So Far | Goal Scorers, Creators, Assists & Passers!

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Welcome to our monthly edition of the Premier League’s top players. With Manchester United wrapping up the title against Aston Villa on Monday night the attention now turns to the battle for the Champions League places, the race for survival and which player will be crowned as the player of the year and young player [...]

Premier League Top Players So Far | Goal Scorers, Creators, Assists & Passers!

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The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Premier League turnover, wages, debt and performance?

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Blackburn Rovers, Blogposts, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Everton, football, Fulham, guardian.co.uk, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, News, Norwich City, Premier League, Premier League 2011-12, QPR, Sport, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, UK news, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Premier League clubs collectively made a loss of £206m in 2011-12 despite a £2.4bn income. How did they make the money, how much went on wages, and which is in most debt?
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The Premier League accounts are in and it’s time to turn our attention to money. How are the clubs operating financially? In 2011/12, despite the 20 top-flight clubs generating a record income of £2.4bn, collectively the Premier League clubs made a loss of £206m.

Of the clubs which were in the Premier League in 2011‑12, the year of most clubs’ latest published accounts, eight made a profit, of £82m in total. The largest profit was recorded by Arsenal (£37m profit before tax) followed by Swansea City with £17m profit before tax. Manchester City made the biggest loss, £99m before tax. David Conn writes today: “The Guardian’s annual special report of Premier League clubs’ finances shows they spent £1.6bn on wages last season, most of it to players. The wage bill accounted for 67% of clubs’ turnover, a similar level to the two previous years – wages were 68% of income in 2009-10, and 69% in 2010-11.“

Manchester United recorded the highest turnover of any of the Premier League clubs in 2011/12 at £320m, while Wigan had the lowest turnover. Chelsea had the second highest turnover, with £261m.

Click on the chart above to explore turnover by club and use the drop down menu to sort by wages as a proportion of turnover.

The accounts show that Norwich City, Swansea City and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the only clubs without any debt. Roman Abramovich’s club however were the most indebted with a net debt of £878m.

You can see the net debt by club in the Datawrapper chart above. Net debt is as stated in the annual accounts of each club; debts minus cash held at the bank.

In terms of value for money, Swansea’s players could be seen as punching above their weight – despite having the lowest wage bill, they managed to finish 11th in their first season in the Premier League. Aston Villa, on the other hand, underperformed somewhat. They had the seventh highest wage bill, but only finished 16th. Manchester City justified having the highest wage expenditure of £202m by winning the Premier League.

You can find the financial figures for 2011-12 for the 20 clubs in the downloadable spreadsheet below. The final column in the second table below is a calculation of Premier League position 2011-12 minus wage bill 2011-12 (as ranked in the second column, from highest to lowest).

All details are from the most recently published annual reports at Companies House. The separate categories of turnover are rounded down or up, so added together do not always tally with the total turnover figure.

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Premier League finances: the full club-by-club breakdown and verdict | David Conn

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Business, Chelsea, Everton, Features, Finances, football, Fulham, guardian.co.uk, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Sport, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A detailed study of the accounts of all 20 top flight clubs and what the figures say about their health
• Report reveals £1.6bn spent on Premier League wages
• Datablog: compare the clubs’ turnover, wages and debt

Financial figures for 2011-12, for the 20 clubs which were in the Premier League during 2010-11. All details from most the published annual reports at Companies House. Net debt is as stated in the accounts; debts minus cash held at the bank. The separate categories of turnover are rounded down or up, so added together do not always tally with the total turnover figure.

ARSENAL

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Arsenal Holdings PLC major shareholders are: Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (registered in Delaware, owned by US resident Stan Kroenke) 62%, Red and White Securities Limited (registered in Jersey, owned by Russian resident Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri) 27%

Turnover: 3rd highest in league, £245m (down from £258m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday income: £95m

… TV and broadcasting: £85m

… Retail: £18m

… Commercial: £34m

… Property Development: £8m

… Player Trading: £3m

Wage bill: 4th highest, £143m (up from £124m)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 58%

Profit before tax: £37m (up from £15m)

Net debt: £98m

Interest payable: £15m

Highest Paid Director: Ivan Gazidis, £2.05m

State it’s in:

The year fans voiced discontent with what they receive for their £95m matchday outlay. Arsenal were until very recently hailed as an ideal club, their policy of US owner Stan Kroenke putting no money in lauded as a “self-sustaining model.” Many supporters now view that that as meaning they fund the club, to bank profits at the expense of football success. The £3m player trading figure within Arsenal’s turnover is an accountancy device which does not reflect the £65m profit made selling stars including Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Arsenal’s “model” has not been hailed much since.

ASTON VILLA

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Owned by Randy Lerner, via Reform Acquisitions LLC, a USA company

Turnover: 9th in league, £80m (down from £92m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday: £20m

… TV and broadcasting: £47m

… Commercial: £14m

Wage bill: 7th, £70m (down from £83m)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 87.5%

Loss before tax: £18m (following £54m loss last year)

Net debt: £122m

Interest payable: £7m

Highest paid director: £256,000 to unnamed director (Paul Faulkner is the chief executive)

State it’s in:

Exceptional among the US buyers, Randy Lerner has spent hugely on Villa – in equity and loans, now at £107m – yet his initially promising tenure has declined. Lerner has been financially hit by the banking crisis, having sold his MBNA company in return for Bank of America shares, and he is trying to cut back on overspending and losses. Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, James Milner and Stewart Downing, four England internationals, are now memories; Villa’s accounts state Paul Lambert’s “youthful, highly motivated first team squad … will prove eminently sustainable in the long term.” That remains to be seen, and is not a statement of grand ambition.

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Owned by Venkateshwara Hatcheries (Venky’s) of Pune, in India

Turnover: 19th in league, £54m (down from £58m in 2011)

… Gate and Matchday: £6m

… TV and Broadcasting: £42m

… Commercial: £9m

Wage bill: 15th, £50m (same as 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 93%

Profit before Tax: £4m (following loss of £19m in 2011)

Net debt: £25m

Interest payable: £0.2m

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £135,000

State it’s in:

One figure encapsulates the puzzle about why Venky’s, a large chicken concern in India, have so scrambled Blackburn Rovers’ fortunes. The accounts show the owners have loaned the club £21m, interest free. That is the policy of a benefactor owner, and considerably exceeds the small amounts the trustees of Jack Walker’s estate parted with over the previous decade. So Venky’s have spent millions on Blackburn, only to undermine the club with inexplicable managerial decisions and the needless loss of excellent directors they inherited. Rovers recorded a profit in 2011-12 due to player trading, principally selling Christopher Samba, but relegation will have been financially hideous.

BOLTON WANDERERS

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: 95% owned by Edwin Davies, resident in the Isle of Man, a tax haven, via his private trust, Fildraw, registered in Bermuda

Turnover: 15th in league, £65m (down from £68m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday: £8m

… Hotel: £6m

… TV and broadcasting: £43m

… Corporate hospitality: £2m

… Merchandising: £2m

… Sponsorship \ advertising: £4m

Wage bill: 13th, £55m (down from £56m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 85%

Loss before Tax: £22m (reduced from £26m in 2011)

Net debt: £137m

Interest payable: £6m

Highest paid director: £858,000, presumed to be Allan Duckworth, includes £397,000 pay-off

State it’s in:

Bolton ended eleven years of Premier League earnings heavily in debt, seriously loss-making and stating they were seeking still further borrowing “to meet liabilities as they fall due. While other smaller clubs have accepted the possibility of yo-yoing down then back up from the Championship, Bolton put those years behind them and paid out the Premier League’s 13th highest wage bill. The accounts reveal the extent of backing from Isle of Man resident Edwin Davies, one of the lowest profile football owners. His loans are now up to £137m – and he charges interest, £5.5m in the year, a decent earner for him, in current economic conditions.

CHELSEA

Accounts (of the holding company, Fordstam) for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich, registered at Companies House as a Russian resident

Turnover: 2nd in league, £261m (up from £229m in 2011)

… Broadcasting: £113m

… Matchday: £78m

… Commercial: £70m

Wage bill: 2nd, £173m (down from £190m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 66%

Loss before tax: £4m (following £78m in 2011)

Net debt: £878m

Interest payable: £Nil

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £911,000 (Ron Gourlay is the chief executive)

State it’s in:

Roman Abramovich has taken the burden of his loans away from Chelsea football club itself, but these accounts for the holding company show the Russian oligarch’s loans increased substantially in the year. Abramovich lent a further £79m to the Chelsea operation, increasing the total to a staggering £896m, poured into Chelsea since he bought the club in 2003. Some restraint is evident even in the year Chelsea’s players were able to win the Champions League trophy for their paymaster. The wage bill came down and £29m was made selling fringe players. The loss of £4m would have been higher, though, without an exceptional £18m noted from two share dealings.

EVERTON

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Shares in the Everton Football Club Company Limited are owned by: Bill Kenwright 25%, Jon Woods 19%, Robert Earl (resident of Florida) 23%

Turnover: 8th in league, £81m (down from £82m in 2011)

… Gate and programme sales: £17m

… TV and broadcasting: £53m

… Other commercial activities: £11m

Wage bill: 10th, £63m (up from £58m)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 78%

Loss before tax: £9m (increased from £5m)

Net debt: £46m

Interest payable: £4m

Highest paid director: No directors were paid; chief executive Robert Elstone is not a director

State it’s in:

The money situation reflect the impression David Moyes and his team give on the field, that Everton is pushing to the limit of its current potential. A spirited seventh place was won with only the tenth highest wage bill, but with no funding from owners, no buyer or stadium expansion, Everton are stretched inexorably into losses. Current lending arrangements from Barclays bank expire on July 31 this year, so chairman Bill Kenwright is seeking renewal at the same level, while also borrowing against future TV revenues. A football club still in its grand old ground, determined to compete in a league of sheikhs, oligarchs and US-owned corporations.

FULHAM

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Owned by Mafco Holdings Limited, a Bermuda (tax haven) company, which is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed and his family

Turnover: 10th in league, £79m (up from £76m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday: £11m

… Europa League: £3m

… TV and broadcasting: £51m

… Sponsorship and commercial: £12m

… Compensation: £1m

Wage Bill: 11th, £62m (up from £58m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 78%

Loss before tax: £18m (down from £5m profit in 2011)

Net debt: £4m

Interest payable: £0.3m

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £704,000 (Alastair Mackintosh is the chief executive)

State it’s in:

One of football’s most surprising love affairs, Mohamed Al Fayed’s 16 year commitment to Fulham, was formalised with his cancellation of £212m loans. The money loaned from Fayed’s tax haven base to fund Fulham’s rise was converted to equity on June 15 2012. The 2011 net debt of £193m was wiped away to stand at just £4m. Fulham are becoming regarded as an example of how, after initial investment, a smaller club can build its crowd and playing success in the Premier League and become gradually sustainable. However, largely due to making less from selling players, a £5m profit in 2011 turned to an £18m loss.

LIVERPOOL

Accounts for the 10 months to 31 July 2012

Ownership: Fenway Sports Group, registered in the USA, of which John W Henry is the principal shareholder

Turnover: 5th in league, £169m (down from £184m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday income: £42m

… TV and broadcasting: £63m

… Commercial activities: £64m

Wage Bill: 5th, £119m

Wages as proportion of turnover: 70%

Loss before Tax: £41m (following £49m in 2011)

Net debt: £87m

Interest payable: £4m

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £657,000 (Ian Ayre is the managing director)

State it’s in:

Not where John Henry envisaged Liverpool would be when he and his Fenway Sports Group co-investors bought the club in 2010. The £169m turnover, fifth highest in the Premier League, illustrates the big club status and potential earnings which attracted the Americans to Liverpool, and why Henry believes financial fair play will benefit them. Under Kenny Dalglish Liverpool under-achieved, finishing eighth with the fifth highest wage bill. They made a £41m loss, debt is high, and the most telling figure is the £47m FSG loaned themselves in August last year. That is not what FSG saw themselves doing when they bought into the Premier League money machine.

MANCHESTER CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Wholly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, via the Abu Dhabi United Group, registered in the United Arab Emirates

Turnover: 4th in league, £231m (up from £153m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday: £22m

… TV and broadcasting: £88m

… Commercial activities: £121m

Wage bill: 1st, £202m (up from £174m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 87%

Loss before tax: £99m (following £197m in 2011)

Net debt: £58m

Interest payable: £3m

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £1.1m (John MacBeath was the acting chief executive)

State it’s in:

The most spectacular example ever of an individual from the global super rich buying an English football club and funding it to success. Courtesy of Sheikh Mansour’s oil-based fortune, ran a wage bill £40m higher than Manchester United’s, from income £90m lower, and won the Premier League with the 94th minute goal by £38m Sergio Aguero. The accounts show a striking contrast between modest matchday income, £22m, with ticket prices lower than London prices, and £121m commercial income, substantially via sponsorships from Abu Dhabi companies. City say the £99m loss will come down, and given exemptions in the rules, they will comply with Uefa’s financial fair play next season.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Accounts for Red Football Shareholder Ltd, the largest parent company in the Glazers’ structure for owning United, for the year to 30 June 2011

Ownership: Owned by Malcolm Glazer’s six children via Red Football LLC a company registered registered in the low tax state of Nevada, USA

Turnover: 1st in league, £320m (down from £331m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday income: £99m

… TV and broadcasting: £104m

… Commercial activities: £118m

Wage bill: 3rd, £162m (up from £153m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 51%

Loss before tax: £5m (following a £12m profit in 2011)

Net debts: £366m

Interest and other finance costs: £50m

Highest paid director: £2,593,000 unnamed (David Gill is the chief executive)

State it’s in:

The staggering business of the Glazer family and their leveraged buyout of United, now registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven and floated on the New York stock exchange. Pages of the annual report are devoted to the global sponsorships, which pushed commercial income to £118m. United remain burdened with £420m debt from the Glazers’ 2005 takeover, at approximately 8.5% interest, which cost the club £50m last year. The takeover has cost United around £550m altogether. Last year the club paid a £10m dividend to the owners, a £3m management fee to the Glazers, and £558,484 interest was payable to Kevin Glazer.

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Mike Ashley owns Newcastle United via his company, MASH Holdings Limited

Turnover: 7th in league, £93m (up from £89m in 2011)

… Gate and matchday: £24m

… TV and broadcasting: £56m

… Commercial activities: £14m

Wage bill: 8th, £64m (up from £54m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 69%

Profit before tax: £1m (down from £33m in 2011)

Net debt: £129m

Interest payable: £0.07m

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £266,000 (Derek Llambias is managing director)

State it’s in:

Newcastle’s surprise season, Alan Pardew’s shrewd recruits achieving a fifth place finish and transforming views of Mike Ashley’s ability to run a football club. Ashley himself has cleared all the club’s debt and loaned in £129m himself as financial ballast, before charging Derek Llambias with running affairs commercially. Football remains an unpredictable business, however, and the wage bill climbed, and profit fell, before this season’s dip in performance and £27m spent on new players. The effort to keep costs down while competing is now obsessive, hence no apology for announcing a sponsorship deal with Wonga, from the barely respectable payday loan industry.

NORWICH CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Majority owned by Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn Jones

Turnover: 12th in league, £75m (up from £23m in 2011)

… Gate receipts: £11m

… TV and media: £50m

… Commercial activities: £14m

Wage bill: 19th, £37m (up from £18m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 49%

Profit before Tax: £16m (from £7m loss in 2011)

Net Debt: Nil; £1m net cash in the bank

Interest payable: £2m

Highest paid director: 1,533,000 paid to unnamed director (David McNally is the chief executive)

State it’s in:

The happy state of a club properly enjoying the first year of promotion to the Premier League. Norwich used the massive TV and commercial windfall, with income up £52m, to pay off all debt while keeping wages under control. Recorded a loss of £7m to win promotion in 2011, as many Championship clubs do, then competed well, finishing 12th on the Premier League’s second to lowest wage bill. Made a £16m profit, but Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn Jones, the 53% owners, still had a £2m interest free loan to the club outstanding at the end of the year.

QUEENS PARK RANGERS

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: 66% by Tune QPR , registered in Malaysia, owned by Tony Fernandes and partners Kamarudin Meranun and Ruben Gnanalingam. 33% by Sea Dream Ltd, family holding of Lakshmi Mittal

Turnover: 17th in league, £64m (up from £16m in 2011)

… QPR’s turnover is not broken down into TV and other activities.

Wage bill: 12th, £58m (up from £30m in 2011)

Wages as Proportion of Turnover: 91%

Loss before tax: £23m (reduced from £25m loss in 2011)

Net debt: £89m

Interest payable: £0.038m

Highest paid director: Directors of the holding company were not paid

State it’s in:

Surprisingly under the Air Malaysia entrepreneur Fernandes, will be lucky to avoid a crash. Rather than banking the Premier League bonanza at a club with just 18,000 capacity at Loftus Road, supported Neil Warnock to sign eleven new players, sacked him in January 2012 then backed Mark Hughes to sign Nedum Onuoha, Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora. With wages 91% of turnover, narrowly survived, then backed Hughes to sign ten more players, before sacking him, and giving Harry Redknapp £20.5m to spend in January. For the owners, who have loaned in £92.5m and now borrowed £15m from Barclays, relegation will not be pretty.

STOKE CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Owned by bet365 Group, the online gambling company controlled by Denise Coates, daughter of chairman, Peter, and family

Turnover: 13th in league, £71m (up from £68m in 2011)

… Gate Receipts: £8m

… Sponsorship and advertising: £6m

… Europa League: £5m

… TV and media: £46m

… Conferencing and hospitality: £3m

… Other: £0.6m

… Retail and merchandising: £3m

Wage Bill: 14th, £53m (up from £47m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 75%

Loss before tax: £10m (following £6m loss in 2011)

Net debt: £14m

Interest payable: Nil

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £517,000

State it’s in:

Looking fairly solid financially in this fourth year since promotion to the Premier League in 2008. Backed by the bet365 online gambling fortune of Stoke native Peter Coates and family, whose loan was up to £24m in the year. Stoke are at that awkward stage where Premier League status has been consolidated, some bigger names have been signed, and the wage bill has climbed up to 75% of income. So despite staying in the top league as they intended, the club still makes a substantial loss, hence Coates’ support for financial fair play and the effort to staunch players wage inflation.

SUNDERLAND

Accounts for the year to 31 July 2012

Ownership: Owned by the American Ellis Short via Drumaville, a company registered in Jersey

Turnover: 11th in league, £78m (up from £79m in 2011)

… Gate receipts: £14m

… TV and media: £47m

… Sponsorship and royalties: £9m

… Conference and commercial: £8m

Wage bill: 8th, £64m (up from £61m In 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 82%

Loss before tax: £32m (increased from £8m in 2011)

Net debt: £84m

Interest payable: £2m

Highest paid director: Niall Quinn, £2,432,702 (includes £2m compensation for resigning)

State it’s in:

Already making losses on this scale and with the owner, Ellis Short, having loaned in £41m, could not countenance the threat of relegation, hence the sacking of Martin O’Neill. Short’s experience has similarities to that of his fellow American billionaire Randy Lerner: buying a big old club in the most lucrative league in the world, then finding it costing him millions to pay players wages. The urgent focus on ensuring Sunderland did not endure the shock of relegation perhaps led Short to ask too few questions about the fascist baggage Paolo di Canio brings with him.

SWANSEA CITY

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Martin Morgan, 22.5%; Brian Katzen, 20%; Swansea City Supporters Society Limited (supporters trust) 20%; chairman Huw Jenkins 12.5%; Robert Davies 10%

Turnover: 15th in league, £65m (up from £12m in 2011)

… All football income: £61m

… Commercial: £4m

Wage bill: 20th, £35m (up from £17m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 54%

Profit before tax: £17m (after £11m loss in 2011)

Net debt: Nil; £5m cash in the bank

Interest payable: £0.3m

Highest paid director: Huw Jenkins, £200,000

State it’s in:

Identified by the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, as “probably the ideal ownership model,” among the mostly overseas owners and tax exiles. Supporters trust owns 20%, and elects a director, alongside the businessman shareholders, who are also fans. Won friends with their elegant football, finished eleventh with the league’s lowest wage bill. Banked £5m from Liverpool hiring Brendan Rodgers, then recruited Michael Laudrup and achieved more success. Just paid a £2m dividend to the shareholders, the first money they have taken out, which risks changing perceptions if it continues, particularly with the club advertising for interns to work unpaid in player performance analysis.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Enic International Limited, registered in the Bahamas, owns 85% of Spurs. Joe Lewis, resident in the Bahamas, has the controlling, 70.6% ownership of Enic, with chairman Daniel Levy and family owning the other 29.4%

Turnover: 6th in league, £144m (down from £163m in 2011)

… Gate receipts, Premier League: £21m

… Europa League and cups income: £11m

… TV and broadcasting: £59m

… Sponsorship and corporate hospitality: £35m

… Merchandising: £9m

… Commercial activities: £9m

Wage Bill: 6th, £90m (down from £91m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 63%

Loss before tax: £7m (down from £0.4m profit in 2011)

Net debt: £70m

Interest payable: £6m

Highest paid director: £2.2m paid to Daniel Levy

State it’s in:

Well run, but the figures illustrate Spurs’ frustrations with where they are stuck. Considering themselves the rightful north London equals of Arsenal and historically superior to Chelsea, Spurs can only get this far until they have built their long mooted new stadium. Matchday income is around one third of the cash Arsenal squeeze from the Emirates, but London prices still mean Spurs make the sixth most money in the league. Daniel Levy, one of the best paid in the boardrooms, maintains the sixth highest wage bill, so the fourth place finish under Harry Redknapp can be considered an over-achievement.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Accounts for the year to 30 June 2012

Ownership: Majority owned by the chairman, Jeremy Peace

Turnover: 14th in league, £67m (up from £59m in 2011)

… Gate receipts: £8m

… Merchandising: £3m

… TV and media: £50m

… Other commercial income: £9m

Wage bill: 15th, £50m (up from £39m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 75%

Profit before tax: £1m (down from £9m in 2011)

Net debt: £0.5m

Interest payable: Nil

Highest paid director: Unnamed, £1,133,000 (Jeremy Peace is the executive chairman)

State it’s in:

Eminently well-run. Accepted yo-yoing between Championship and Premier League for a decade, with chairman Jeremy Peace determined not to splurge into debt in either league. Now recognised for minting a style of play, with a director of football-type structure, which has survived changes of manager including Roy Hodgson’s departure to become England coach. Finished 10th with the 15th highest wage bill, which was still, at £50m, 75% of turnover. Peace opposed financial fair play’s introduction in the Premier League – West Brom have gained an advantage from breaking even while other clubs of a similar size have been run badly.

WIGAN ATHLETIC

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Owned by Dave Whelan and family, registered in the UK

Turnover: 20th in league, £53m (up from £51m in 2011)

… Premier League TV and other: £46m

… Gate and matchday: £4m

… Sponsorship and commercial: £2m

… Other: £1m

Wage bill: 17th, £38m (down from £40m in 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 72%

Profit before tax: £4m (up from £7m loss made in 2011)

Net debts: £12m

Interest payable: £0.5m

Highest paid director: Not disclosed

State it’s in:

Owner Dave Whelan wrote off £48m of loans he had made to the club, converting them to equity. The loan and overdraft from Barclays Bank has also been significantly reduced, from £21m to £13m. Whelan’s chairman’s statement says: “Financially we are in a sustainable position that allows us to significantly invest both on and off the field.” Still, £8.5m further loans are outstanding to Whelan, who continues to support the club financially, and the profit was due to an £8m surplus from selling players. Whelan, however, insists the club will not continue to sell players, and is looking to create “a lasting legacy.”

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Accounts for the year to 31 May 2012

Ownership: Ultimately owned by Steve Morgan’s company Bridgemere Investments, registered in Guernsey

Turnover: 18th in league, £60m (down from £64m in 2011)

… Gate receipts: £8m

… Sponsorship and advertising: £5m

… Premier League and broadcasting: £42m

… Commercial activities: £5m

Wage Bill: 17th, £38m (same as 2011)

Wages as proportion of turnover: 63%

Profit before tax: £2m

Net debt: Nil – Wolves had £13m cash in the bank

Interest payable: Nil

Highest paid director: £1.2m paid to unnamed director

State it’s in:

Figures from Wolves’ relegation season: admirable, respectable, made a profit, had no debt at all, were living within their means, just as Steve Morgan always insisted football clubs should. Yet he has been undone by the iron law that the success of a club springs from progress in the football itself. Black country rivals West Bromwich Albion, and Swansea City, have shown this can be achieved even if managers change, but Wolves had no similar system in place. Morgan’s sacking of Mick McCarthy and appointment by default of Terry Connor started a miserable spiral, which can undo even the soundest of bookkeeping.

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Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Hawk-Eye selected as provider for Premier League Goal-Line Technology

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, English Premier League News, EPL, Everton, Fulham, Goal line technology, Hawk-Eye, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Newcastle Utd, Norwich City, Premier League Goal Line Technology, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan.

Hawk-Eye has been selected ahead of GoalControl as the provider of Goal-Line Technology for the Premier League next season, with clubs voting 20-0 in favour of Hawk-Eye. We all remember this moment: And there are plenty more to pick from, this incident coming in last year’s FA Cup semi-final: As clubs from the top division [...]

Hawk-Eye selected as provider for Premier League Goal-Line Technology

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Premier League ratifies Financial Fair Play proposals

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

After the proposals were approved by clubs in February, new rules which will cap wages and limit losses are set to come into effect next season ahead of Uefa’s new regulations

Premier League Team of the Week: Rosicky & Aguero make the cut

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, Editorial, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Gael Clichy, Gylfi Sigurdsson, James Collins, James Milner, Jonathan De Guzmán, Liverpool, Loic Remy, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Matthew Lowton, Newcastle, Norwich City, Phil Jagielka, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Sergio Aguero, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Team Of The Week, Tim Krul, Tomas Rosicky, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

The Manchester City striker’s impressive cameo against Manchester United is enough to fire him into our latest selection, while James Milner and Gael Clichy are also included

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Sandy Brown Scored Four As Tottenham Reach FA Cup Final 8th April 1901

Posted by & filed under FA Cup, featured, knowyourtottenhamhistory, popular, Sandy Brown, soccer, Spurs, Spurs history, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion.

Tottenham centre forward Sandy Brown scored all four goals as non-League Tottenham defeated West Bromwich Albion to reach their first FA Cup Final. Albion were overwhelming favourites to win the semi-final played at Villa Park but Tottenham’s giant-killing act continued. On This Day 8th April, 1901 Tottenham Hotspur 4 West Bromwich Albion 0 (at Villa [...]

Sandy Brown Scored Four As Tottenham Reach FA Cup Final 8th April 1901 – Hotspur HQ – Hotspur HQ – A Tottenham Hotspur Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion, and More

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend | Barry Glendenning and Jacob Steinberg

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Comment, Everton, football, Fulham, guardian.co.uk, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Sport, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic.

Nigel Adkins comes face to face with Mauricio Pochettino, Paolo Di Canio can finally let the football do the talking and Harry Redknapp on why QPR don’t need a miracle

Is another Carlos Tevez sulk on the way?

The Argentinian has already demonstrated occasional reluctance to gad about in a high-vis bib since joining Manchester City, famously declining to warm up when instructed to do so by Roberto Mancini during last season’s Champions League. It will be intriguing to see his on-field reaction to the news that he’ll have to do it for a whopping 250 hours as punishment for repeated motoring offences. His sentence is just shy of 36 seven-hour working days and he is unlikely to have put much of a dent in it come season’s end. Despite being spared jail, he wouldn’t be human if he didn’t feel hard done by, so it will be intriguing to find out if another epic sulk ensues. Barry Glendenning

Adkins v Pochettino

Will Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino shake hands? Will they? Forget the relegation battle, this will surely be the most fascinating subplot when Reading welcome Southampton to the Madejski Stadium and one that deserves full media coverage and then we can all get on with the irritating and irrelevant sideshow that is the football. With home wins over Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City under his belt, Pochettino certainly appears to have settled well despite the curious chain of events which saw Southampton replace Adkins with the former Espanyol manager in January. Southampton are surely safe now, although they are still waiting for their first away win under Pochettino after four unsuccessful attempts. They’re unlikely to get a better opportunity than against Reading, who are spirited but limited and on their way down. Replacing Brian McDermott with Adkins, an apparent like-for-like swap, was a pointless move but at least it’s added a bit of extra spice to this fixture. Jacob Steinberg

Di Canio: now for the football

Quite apart from seeing if any Sunderland supporters are dumb enough to greet Paolo Di Canio with a fascist salute, a plan mooted by one trolling numpty on a Mackem fan forum, it will be genuinely intriguing to see what kind of team the Italian sends out at the end of an eventful week in which his surprise appointment caused enough of a sporting stir to prompt even proper journalists to muddy their spats in the murky Premier League puddle. Decent Sunderland performances have been few and far between this season but one of their better ones came in the corresponding fixture against Chelsea at the Stadium of Light, where the hulking enigma that is Connor Wickham had one of the games of his career but silly individual errors from Seb Larsson and Phil Bardsley cost them dearly. Considering both his political leanings and the fact that the stunningly mediocre crossing side he’s inherited seems too slow, ponderous and unimaginative to play any other way, Di Canio will almost certainly focus on the right wing, where Di Canio’s predecessor, Martin O’Neill, seemed incapable of deciding whether Adam Johnson or Stéphane Sessègnon was his go-to guy.

The out-of-sorts Johnson had the gig originally, with the similarly underperforming Sessègnon operating in the hole behind an out-and-out striker, before O’Neill moved Sessègnon wide for a run of seven games that gleaned one win. Helping these players – one or both – rediscover their mojo will be crucial if Di Canio is to keep Sunderland in the Premier League. With a rejuvenated Johnson on the right and James McClean on the left providing ammo for Danny Graham or Wickham and Sessègnon, it’s not inconceivable that Sunderland could begin to resemble the vaguely functional and entertaining football team that marked the early days of O’Neill’s tenure. In the event of such a turnaround, it is a shame the members of the Durham Miners’ Association will not be able to revel in the success. BG

Tottenham must cope with the fatigue this time

Sometimes it is possible to get too carried away when a big team loses a couple of matches. After all, someone has to lose. Football teams will lose football matches. However, if Tottenham could point to bad luck when they were beaten by Liverpool, then the defeat by Fulham at White Hart Lane was infinitely more worrying. Suddenly talk of a typical Tottenham collapse began and André Villas-Boas was having to bat away questions about whether they were feeling the pressure. It didn’t matter what Villas-Boas had to say, though; winning at Swansea was the perfect riposte. However, Tottenham’s task is about to get more difficult. Gareth Bale’s injury against Basel is a worry, especially as Everton are awkward enough opponents at the best of times and even more so three days after a Europa League quarter-final. Villas-Boas intends to win the Europa League and finish in the top four – and quite right, too – so there are likely to be some heavy legs in the Tottenham side. They must ignore the pain and hope that Bale can do the same. JS

Arsenal can turn up the heat

There’s no point grumbling now about whether Arsène Wenger has got his priorities right. Yes, it’s another trophyless season but for Arsenal the immediate future is all about securing their place in the top four and, if they win at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon, they will move a point above Chelsea, who do not play until Sunday. It is easy to scoff about Wenger’s repeated claims about his team’s mental strength but maybe they do have a bit more about them than they are given credit for. Although they are capable of getting themselves into a rare old stink, it has never been beyond them to hit form at just the right time. With no cup competitions to worry about and a relatively favourable run-in, talk of a crisis may have to be put on hold again. Try to ignore the sense of déjà-vu, though. JS

Harry knows what a miracle is … whatever

Having helpfully provided the distinction between a miracle and steering this QPR side to victory in four matches out of their next seven by pointing out that “miracles are if you’re a cripple and I touch you and cure you; that’s a miracle … or if I turn a loaf of bread into whatever”, Harry Redknapp must continue with his ongoing attempts to turn his overpaid, under-performing rabble into “whatever” for a match that is must-win for his team but where a point will do in-form Wigan Athletic quite nicely. The Latics are decent when it comes to protecting a lead and, with the hard-working Ivorian striker Arouna Koné having scored in their past two games, the first goal in this contest could be crucial. A reprise of the slapstick defending that cost QPR all three points against Fulham on Monday night could force Harry down the supermarket aisle to fondle sliced-pans, in the hope he can transform them into much needed Premier League points. BG

Norwich hope Swansea will be on their sun loungers

Norwich will not get any easier chances to secure three points in their bid for Premier League safety than this. Actually, scrap that. They have Reading at home in two games’ time. The players of Swansea City, having guaranteed their own Premier League status for next season and won the League Cup at Wembley, appear to have downed tools and flaked out on their metaphorical sun loungers, which ought to be a heartwarming state of affairs for hosts who have won only one of the 14 Premier League matches they have played in 2013, scoring a paltry five goals in the process.

“All the players have to look in the mirror and be honest with themselves, and ask, ‘Have I really done everything I can to make this season end well’?” said the Swansea City goalkeeper Michel Vorm this week, before absolving himself from any blame for the entirely understandable fug of lethargy hanging over the Liberty Stadium. But then, when Vorm looks in the mirror, he doesn’t just see a strapping and handsome Dutchman, but also a player who didn’t play a single minute of his side’s heroic Capital One Cup odyssey. Norwich City fans will be hoping Vorm’s team-mates who did play at Wembley will greet his clarion call with nothing more energetic than rolled eyes, weary sighs and shoulder-shrugs. BG

The hubris of Pardew

Alan Pardew is a naturally confident man. That was the beard of a confident man and here’s what he had to say about Newcastle’s battle against relegation after his side’s win over Stoke on 10 March. “That’s done, we won’t worry about that now,” he said, swinging his feet on the table and eyeballing fate. And, sure enough, two defeats later and Newcastle find themselves three points above the bottom three. It’s a good job Pardew’s not worried. Anyone else would be. He’d better hope they beat Fulham. JS

A last chance for Cole?

After two excellent goals against West Brom last week, Andy Carroll will have to sit out West Ham’s trip to Liverpool under the terms of his loan move. That means Sam Allardyce will have to turn to one of his back-up strikers, with Carlton Cole presumably the favourite to get the nod ahead of Marouane Chamakh, the on-loan Arsenal striker who has managed two starts, one substitute appearance and no goals during his brief spell at Upton Park. You can bet he’ll be welcomed back with open arms by Arsenal in May. For Cole, though, Sunday’s game might represent a last chance for him to impress Allardyce. Whenever Carroll has been fit he has been preferred to Cole, who has scored twice this season and the 29-year-old’s contract is up in the summer. JS

Pulis addresses mutiny at Britannia

With large swaths of the Britannia faithful having turned on Tony Pulis, the manager has felt compelled to address the mutiny. “What they think of me doesn’t matter now; it’s what they think of their team that counts,” he said, although it is difficult to imagine that being subjected to abuse in the Premier League’s loudest bear-pit is not hurtful for the man who did so much to establish the Potters as a Premier League force. Playing unattractive football is all well and good if the results are satisfactory, but playing in a style many consider Neanderthal and failing to score in five out of seven Premier League matches is bound to provoke unrest among the ticket-buying natives.

Villa are desperate for points and have a difficult run-in, so will fancy their chances of getting all three against a jittery Stoke side but, as Michael Cox from Zonal Marking pointed out in the Football Weekly … Extra podcast, they remain rubbish at defending the Stoke speciality of set pieces. His suggestion of Robert Huth to score first, likely to be priced at around 20-1, could represent better value than any number of nags running in the Grand National at the same time. BG

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EPL’s Under-rated Midfields | Tactical & Stats Comparison to Europe’s elite

Posted by & filed under 4-3-3, accuracy, age, allan, Alonso, ander, Arsenal, Arteta, aston villa, badu, Barcelona, Beñat, Best, bielsa, bilbao, Britton, Busquets, carsick, casas, central, centre, Champions League, Chelsea, Cleverly, coach, Cork, counter attack, davis, Defensive, Dembele, Dortmund, English Premier League Opta Stats, English Premier League Stats, EPL, EPL Index Featured Article, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, EPLIndex Tactical Report, Everton, formation, France, Fulham, Gerrard, gundogan, holding, how good, interception, Jones, kehl, khedira, ki, Lallana, league, leiva, Liverpool, Lucas, manager, Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Midfield, Mulumbu, neustadter, Newcastle Utd, Norwich City, number, opta, Opta Stats, pass, passes, Passing, player, players, Pochettino, position, Possession, potential, premier, Premier League, premier league opta stats, pressing, QPR, rated, Reading, real betis, Report, Rodriguez, Sandro, Schneiderlin, scout, soton, Southampton, Stats, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, tackles, tackling, tactics, talent, the best, Tottenham Hotspur, Udinese, under, underrated, WBA, west brom, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan, Wilshere, world class, worst, Yacob, Young.

Both West Brom and Southampton possess teams that are full of underrated or unheralded players. I have identified both as teams with criminally underrated players in the central midfield areas: Yacob and Mulumbu for West Brom; Cork and defensive stalwart Morgan Schneiderlin for Southampton. Within football circles all four players have impressed and we could well [...]

EPL’s Under-rated Midfields | Tactical & Stats Comparison to Europe’s elite

EPL Opta Stats & Blog | eplindex.com – soccer stats – Our EPL Stats are Powered by Opta stats | English Premier League stats & blog | Subscribe to the EPL Stats Centre at eplindex.com

The Premier League’s injury & suspension list

Posted by & filed under Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea FC, England, Europe, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Man Utd., Manchester City FC, Newcastle, Norwich City, Premier League, QPR, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, Wigan Athletic.

Goal.com keeps you up to date with all the missing men from England’s top-flight – from what’s keeping your favourite player out, to when they will return to action