Liverpool On Top as Ricardo Fuller Takes a Pop

Top flight footballers may be able to play two games in one long weekend but it's just too much for this writer.

As a result, Hot or Not was rested (with a smile, not a face like Jermain Defoe) on Boxing Day but now it returns with a look at Sunday’s Premier League action.

HOT:

Liverpool are top of the league at the halfway point, who would have suspected that? Well, I predicted a return to the top two for the red half of Merseyside but not many outside Liverpool did.

Another win, this time 5-1 at Newcastle United but there is still a long way to go, so we shall move on instead of counting chickens or misses by Sami Hyppia.

Last week, we spoke about Ricardo Gardner as our unsung Barclays Premier League star. This week it is Shay Given.

If there is one world class player I feel sorry for then it is this man. Twelve years he has been playing behind THAT defence.

That, is Newcastle United’s defence and it is 353 times.

We like a cheeky effort at Hot or Not and Geremi’s effort from the halfway line impressed us this week, his free kick was almost inch perfect too.

Just when you think Steven Gerrard was the star of the day with his two goals, his old foe Frank Lampard goes and bags a brace himself…no wonder England managers can’t choose between them.

Frank didn’t help Chelsea to a win however as a couple from Fulham’s Clint Dempsey meant a share of the spoils at Craven Cottage.

There has been quite a transformation in a certain goalkeeper recently, well he is still a bit sh*t but he is at least making the odd save now, including Hot or Not save of the week, tipping over a Chris Brunt free kick. Yes it is Heurelho Gomes for Tottenham Hotspur against West Bromwich Albion.

WBA proved that they still have some fight left in them with a 2-0 win at the Hawthorns. Ex-Celtic and sometimes Scotland super-sub Craig Beattie coming off the bench to seal the points in injury time.

Anyone ever watch the Late Late Show? Well it doesn’t get much better than Manchester City’s comeback against Blackburn Rovers.

A Daniel Sturridge-inspired comeback after the young Englishman scored in the dying seconds before setting up Robinho in injury time to save Mark Hughes job with a 2-2 draw.

Speaking of managers, the hottest thing this week would be tickets to the Stoke City team meeting this morning. Unless of course Don King has already bought all the rights for the Andy Griffin—Ricardo Fuller re-match.

West Ham United snatched all three points at home to Stoke (2-1) with a blast from the Football Manager past. Carlton Cole hit “Diego Tristan” with a shot that found its way into the net.

Goal of the week was at Goodison Park this week, where Mikel Arteta scored his first of two with a trade mark free kick in Everton's 3-0 win over Sunderland.

That match also provided Hot or Not’s one to watch: Everton midfielder Dan Gosling impressed us again after coming off the bench to ooze talent for the second time in three days.

Arsenal beat Portsmouth 1-0 but it could have been more if it wasn’t for Sylvain Distin’s cracking last-ditch tackle on Emmanuel Adebayor, with only an empty net to protect.

When the boss sends you out and tells you “I want your balls on the line”, does he really mean it? He probably does and Papa Bouba Diop wasn’t taking any chances, putting his family jewels on the line on more than one occasion in his own six yard box.

Rather him than us, right?

NOT:

Well we already had a laugh at the expense of the Newcastle United defence but they do deserve another mention under "NOT". Liverpool (or Hyppia) should have had 10.

If Newcastle hadn’t had Michael Owen’s legitimate equalizing goal chopped off,
it could have been all so different.

That was a joke by the way…but not as big a joke as Ryan Babel’s celebration. You tapped in the third Liverpool goal from a yard, not the winner from 30.

What about all these moans about Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s sending off? A yellow for raising the studs and another for that horrendous haircut. Sounds fair enough to me.

Who says it is only foreigners that dive? Roman Bednar may have given
Michael Dawson a nudge in the run-up to West Brom’s opener but the big Englishman went over like a dying swan.

Talking of diving like a swan, what about Robinho’s diving header? What a sitter that was, and undoubtedly Hot or Not’s miss of the week.

Robinho’s late effort may have saved Hughes' job but it is goals and dropped points like that which will send Blackburn Rovers down.

Now to the biggest shock of the weekend, if not the season. Ricardo "Slapper" Fuller smacking his own Captain, Andy "The Silver Fox" Griffin. Honestly, Fuller doesn’t deserve to wear a Stoke shirt again and I hope Andy got a shot in backstage.

Fuller not only cost his side a point but the whole club's good spirit, the Jamaican may well have just slapped the Premier League fight out of his teammates—or is it colleagues—at times like these?

Ricky Sbragia should have walked away with his good reputation after turning Sunderland’s fortunes around in recent weeks.

Instead, he took the job and got a 3-0 beating.

Let’s look on the bright side, the Premier League has another Scottish manager.

English managers don’t seem to be faring to well, not even Harry "Houdini" Redknapp. His replacement on the south coast of Portsmouth will be lucky to last the rest of the season at this rate.

Tony Adams' start to his management career has been far from impressive.
Don’t take my word for it, just ask Jermain Defoe.

Finally for this week, why don’t we look at Man City’s transfer targets. I’d heard names like Kaka, Ronaldinho, and Buffon but no, relegation zones tend to be to footballers what stakes are to vampires.

So today’s papers had a couple of more likely transfer targets:
Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker.

Only one name missing really…Nigel Quashie.

So there you have it, the last Hot or Not of 2008. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back next year with many more smart comments.

Until then, Happy New Year and have a drink for me!