by David Sweeney
David Moyes
I have never been a fan of David Moyes, from his ginger locks upon his Gollum-like head to his abysmal style of football and even his irrational hatred for Manchester City following the Joleon Lescott transfer saga. Everything about him makes my blood boil but given the fact he has consistently performed wonders with Everton on a very limited budget I have never had a stick to beat him with. Last week he finally presented me with that opportunity. Following their complete surrender in the Merseyside derby with many key players rested, Moyes suddenly made yesterday’s FA cup quarter final against Sunderland a must win game.
By failing to win all he did was humiliate the club and its fans in a vain attempt to give himself a slightly better chance at getting some silverware which he, thus far in his career, hasn’t won. What is he going to do next? Put out a weakened side for the next four games so his troops are fresh for the replay? That is how ridiculous the situation has become.
He really has messed up this week although he probably has earned the right to make changes and do what he wants with his team but this time it has backfired big time. Finally, to top it all off, he didn’t even have the nerve to come out and do a post match interview.
The Toffees yesterday missed a gilt-edged chance. Sunderland were without key players in Sassegnon, Cattermole and Richardson who should all be back for the replay and considering The Black Cats are strong at home I would fancy them to progress into the next round.
"One day all of this will be yours"
Wolves
“The lads call me TC, you have to earn the name gaffer” was what Terry Connor said in his first press conference as Wolves boss. However three games into his reign he is not even close to earning that title. His side were like lambs to the slaughter yesterday as they rolled over and gifted Manchester United 3 points.
Connor is just not the man to reverse the horrendous form the midlands club are in. Only a miracle will keep them up now and in my opinion I really don’t think they deserve to survive. They are the worst team in the league at the moment – yes even worse than QPR – and it’s sad to see just how bad the situation has become since Big Mick was wrongly sacked. Every man and his dog can see that they wouldn’t be doing this badly if Mick was still there, in fact I’d go as far as saying that they would have a fighting chance of staying up.
It’s not all TC’s fault though, most of the playing squad have proved in the last 5 matches that they are simply not good enough at this level; players like Foley and Zubar would struggle to get into Championship sides never mind attempting to stop players such as Valencia and Rooney.
It now appears the club are going down without a fight. It’s McCarthy’s team, but without the spirit. No movement, no energy, no apparent desire. The chanting from the crowd at the end signalled that they have accepted the inevitable and are merely going to enjoy the limited time they have left in the Premier League.
Wigan
It was the same old sorry story on Saturday at the DW Stadium as Wigan once again failed to win at home and missed a hatful of chances in the process. There is no doubt that they should have signed a striker in January. The annoying thing for me is that with the football they play and with strikers who could score they would be an attractive mid table side. However as it stands I think they will go down. The Latics have managed just 12 goals in their 15 home games and their lack of firepower will ultimately cost them their Premier League status.
Andy Townsend
I have to say there can be no bigger waste of spaces when it comes to football pundits than ITV’s Andy Townsend I cannot believe the producers have this guy as one of their lead pundits when he is quite clearly out of his depth. The plastic Paddy once stated that “The Belgians will play like their fellow Scandinavians, Denmark and Sweden.” but sadly his ill judged comments are not confined to geography. His painfully strict adherence to ‘textbook punditry’ is boring beyond belief. He constantly states the obvious and fails to offer any sort of actual tactical insight.
He yelped ‘get in there’ on Wednesday night as Ivanovic banged in a crucial goal against Napoli. Really Andy? Get off that fence and tell us who you want to win. The only two commentators I enjoy listening to are Robbie Savage and whisper it very quietly, Gary Neville, which pretty much sums up how bad English commentators are.
