Paul Robinson & The Rocket

Who's that idiot with a desperate look on his face? Why, it's every opposition's favourite goalkeeper, Paul Robinson. The latest in a list of calamities occurred last night as he dropped a cross, allowing Villa to score. A freekick later exposed his inadequacies further, poor positioning of the wall and himself gave away another soft goal. This man has done more than anyone else to try to lose Jol his job this season and how is he rewarded? Constant selection and the England No. 1 jersey. Tottenham have been a disaster at the back this season, making a mockery of rubbish predictions of 4th place (i.e. mine) but with Lardy Robbo in goal crumbling to pieces at the sight of a cross into the box it is hard to see it getting much better in the short term. Jol should be smart & ruthless and bring Cerny into the team but doesn't it strike you as strange that Robinson has been the most vocal backer of Jol? I wonder why that is....

The Champions League is on tonight and the most interesting encounter is Man Utd vs Roma. Roma have conceded plenty of goals lately (not least a 4-1 loss at home to Inter) but should be a bit more savvy this time round. United's lineup will again be interesting, a miserly defense and flukey 1-0 wins are OK in the opening weeks of the League but I get the feeling that they need to improve quickly to stay in the title race. The loss of form of some players is alarming from United's perspective - Rooney, Tevez, Scholes & Giggs have been poor by their standards, while Ronaldo is in the 'could do better' bracket. They are relying on their defence heavily, and with Hargreaves scheduled to play tonight, I can't see much luck for Roma, and sooner or later, United will click past 2nd gear - unfortunately for neutrals, probably not tonight.

Arsenal are off to Bucharest to play Hagi's former charges in what should be a leisurely stroll while Lyon take on Rangers in a much more interesting match. Rangers got off to a flyer by beating Stuttgart while Lyon took a 3-0 pasting away to Barca. Lyon have had a poor start to the season, not helped by injuries in goal and defence (or by the fact that Alain Perrin, former Pompey 'supremo' is the man in charge). Walter Smith has turned around Rangers and I'm taking a punt on a draw here, with the wonderfully named Jean-Claude ('The Rocket') Darcheville to be fit and throw his considerable weight around.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

United Open a Can of Whoop-Ass on Roma

Howdy Folks,
Mark here.
A great night of football from Man Utd, scintilating play from almost everybody (I'm looking at you, Rooney). C. Ronaldo was excellent in a big European match for the first time, well, ever. Smith showed a fantastic attitude up front and now gives Fergie a good choice while Saha is (again) injured. Carrick was excellent, not only did he score 2 class goals, but his distribution and movement were first class, and (not just last night) he looks a much improved player in the few months since his debut.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm a bit worried that John O'Pies and Rio Fuckface Ferdinand went off injured, although Evra returned last night. Perhaps we can get Chelsea's 50 year old fitness coach to play centre back, as Mourniho was reportedly close to doing already this season.

Still a tough semi-final ahead against Bayern or Milan, I'll cover that closer to the match.

Last night also saw the Chelsea boys win their tie, Essien (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ok0y_valencia-1-2-chelsea-essien-goal) scoring the decisive goal -like last week, Canizares let his team down in a vital game, despite making a wonderful save a few minutes before.
Chelsea vs Liverpool to look forward to in the semi's... hopefully there will be as many incidents as there was the last time they met in the semi finals - "Gudjohnsen, how did you miss that!" etc.

We'll cover all this and more on the podcast, subscribe to the RSS here (http://feeds.feedburner.com/okeydokefootball ) to get this week's episode from tomorrow night at 2200 GMT,

Thanks and enjoy the football,
Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

Champions League Reaction

Sickening scenes in Rome last can be seen here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1motq_roma-v-manu-bbc-news-report-police

It is a worrying time for UEFA, crowd trouble seems to be on the rise in Europe. The Man Utd fans are no angels, but it is clear to me that the Italian fans were the instigators of the trouble. The police, naturally enough, were heavy handed, trying to control the situation.

As for the match, I thought it was a highly enjoyable affair, United will be glad to have the away goal after Scholes let the whole team down with a stupid sending off. Rooney's goal was excellent with Ronaldo beating 2 men on the right and laying a precise pass for Solksjaer, who clipped a beautiful cross to Rooney, who controlled wonderfully on his chest, and smacked the ball into the net. United tactics were on the fine line of very brave/very stupid as they left 3 attackers on the pitch, hoping to score the away goal. The trick worked, but they still lost the game. Still, a vital away goal means a 1-0 win is enough at home next week. I think they will do it, as Roma showed no penetration before the sending off, and only really threatened as the game opened up in the second half. Totti was average enough last night, Mancini anonymous, Taddei was in the right place to take his (deflected) goal but did little else. Roma will look to hit on the counter next week and flood the midfield, but if United keep their heads and play to their ability, they will go through.

I watched extended highlights of the Chelsea game and it looked like a rip-roaring affair. A wonderful goal from David Silva (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mn6q_chelsea-01-valence) put the pressure on Chelsea, and only bad goalkeeping from Canizares let Drogba score, albeit well taken. Chelsea have it all to do next week and must score in Spain. There are some frailities in the Chelsea team - Diarra, a midfielder, at right back, Mikel Obi or an out of form Makelele as defensive midfielder, and the quite ordinary Kalou in whatever position he is played. Joe Cole is back though which is big boost, and any team with Drogba in it is a danger. A great second leg in store then

Tune into the podcast tonight to hear myself and JJ's thoughts on the above and more:
http://www.okeydokefootball.com/
Premiership & Champions League results. We love Paulo Maldini in the Legend section. Pub Talk featuring the issues of the week: Niall Quinn's disco pants, Big Ron vs Totti and loads more from the first and only independent Irish football podcast on the internet, online since October 2006.

Cheers,
Mark