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"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." (Alan Shearer) And our Chairman Damon can never be said to be one to make unfair criticisms.

Harsh, but fair, our Chairman dispenses his trenchant, pithy post match analysis of the overpaid heroes and goats that make up the “Happy Band” of Euro 2008. If you're in the prawn sandwich and skim latte club, or part of the "Dippy Darling" brigade this column is not for you!!

Who's hot? Who's not? Who's left their bottle at home? Watch this space carefully as the tournament unwinds.

Previous Analysis :

Week 16.... Week 15.... Week 14.... Week 13.... Week 12.... Week 11

Villa on the march

Aston Villa 4 - Bolton Wanderers 2

Villa come back from behind to move into the top four as none of the teams above them manage a win. Bolton took the lead in a pulsating game just after quarter of an hour when Johan Elmander produced a deft flick off the inside of his heel to convert Kevin Davies' right wing cross at the near post. The hosts levelled less than ten minutes later when Gabriel Agbonlahor was allowed to control Martin Laursen's hoof out of defence with his head just inside the Bolton area before beating Jussi Jaaskelainen at his near post with a left-footed drive. Five minutes before the break, Villa took the lead as Davies challenged Laursen for Gareth Barry's cross, only to divert the ball into his own net. They could and should have enjoyed their tea even further ahead but for referee Lee Probert somehow missing Villa old-boy Gary Cahill's blatant hand-ball in the area. With the pace of Agbonlahor and Ashley Young causing the visitors' defence all kinds of problems, though, it was only a matter of time before the third goal came and it duly arrived on sixty-seven minutes when Agbonlahor was given the simplest of headers from Young's excellent inswinging cross. Young himself bagged the fourth when his effort deflected in off Great Steinsson and, though the Trotters pulled one back through Davies's towering header, the Birmingham side ran out worthy winners.

 

Chelsea 1 - West Ham United 1

Chelsea pass up a chance of moving back to the top of the table after again dropping points at Stamford Bridge in a pulsating London derby. Despite bossing most of the possession, the Blues were up against a Hammers defence in determined mood and once again found the massed ranks of visitors hard to break down. It got tougher for Chelsea when West Ham took the lead against the run of play after half an hour. Mark Noble got away from Jose Bosingwa down the left and his pull back from the bye-line was crashed inside Petr Cech's near post by Craig Bellamy. The hosts, having brought on Didier Drogba to play alongside Nicolas Anelka up front, drew level five minutes after half time when Frank Lampard's deft first-time pass put Anelka in to notch his hundredth Premier League goal. West Ham initially responded in lively fashion but found themselves increasingly forced back under successive waves of Chelsea pressure, though resolute defending limited the amount of clear-cut chances the West Londoners were able to carve out. Chelsea had strong claims for a late penalty refused by referee Mike Riley when Lampard looked to have been tripped in the box by Lucas Neill and West Ham could have won the game late on when Carlton Cole failed to make the best of a one-on-one with Petr Cech, as a frantic game played out without further goals. Chelsea's home form continues to be a concern, whilst West Ham will take heart from another away point earned against one of the current top two.

 

Liverpool 2 - Hull City 2

Hull continue to pick up surprise points on their travels and gave the league leaders a real game at Anfield. It only took twelve minutes for Phil Bown's side to silence the Kop, as Paul McShane climbed highest to head Marlon King's cross into the top corner of the net. Ten minutes later and an improbable win looked on the cards after serial own-goal merchant Jamie Carragher made an amateurish hash of clearing Bernard Mendy's cross and stuck it in his own net from four yards. This Liverpool side are made of sterner stuff than many a recent incarnation, however, and hit back almost immediately when Steven Gerrard found himself in the right place at the right time to make the most of a melee in the Hull area as the City rearguard appealed for an apparent push by Albert Reira on centre back Michael Turner. Within another ten minutes, it was all square as Gerrard again found the net when Yossi Benayoun hooked the ball across the area after another scramble. Despite the subsequent pressure exerted by the Liverpudlians, Hull stood firm to take a point and thumb their noses once again at the pundits.

 

Manchester City 0 - Everton 1

Tim Cahill popped up with a late winner to leave City manager Mark Hughes on the verge of a crisis. Playing without a recognised striker whilst in the middle of their injury crisis, Everton could have been forgiven for going out with a defensive game plan but actually played a full part in a first half full of incident, with chances coming and going at both ends of the pitch. Both sides struck the woodwork and both Joe Hart and Tim Howard had to earn their corn as each team pushed for the opener. The second half was a quieter affair, though, and the game looked to be headed for an honourable draw until Cahill got up to head home Leon Osman's corner with just seconds remaining. It would be a fool who'd leave an Everton game early this season. Anyone suggesting City would be outside the relegation spots purely on goal difference by this stage of the season would probably have been considered one not so long ago, as well.

 

Middlesbrough 1 - Arsenal 1

Boro maintain their habit of upping their game against the big guns and put a new dent in Arsenal's fading title aspirations. The Gunners started with real purpose and took a deserved lead after quarter of an hour when Emmanuel Adebayor was given the freedom of the Boro box to head home Cesc Fabregas's corner. Once ahead, they continued to press and the home side were struggling to create much for themselves until Tuncay Sanli found time on the wing to zip in a cross that Jeremie Aliadiere stopped to head home in impressive fashion and take the wind out of his old club's sails. Middlesbrough could perhaps have had a penalty shortly after, when Adam Johnson looked to have been tripped by Gael Clichy in the box, but spent most of the rest of the game counter-attcking off the back foot as an increasingly-desperate Arsenal looked for the winner that would have kept them in touch with the leaders. Middlesbrough's ability to hold their own against the Premier league's top sides whilst consistently slipping up against more modest opposition must be a source of frustration for the manager and fans alike ... and it's probably a feeling shared with today's visitors.

 

Portsmouth 0 - Newcastle United 3

A rampant Newcastle hand a profligate Pompey a home mauling to move out of the bottom three. This game certainly wasn't as one-sided as the result would suggest, with Portsmouth strike-pairing Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch spurning a number of decent first-half chances to open the scoring, whilst Obafemi Martins came closest for the visitors with a raking left-foot drive that cannoned off the post. It was to be Newcastle who went on to break the deadlock five minutes or so into the second half. Arnold Mvuemba's appalling cross-field ball was intercepted by the lively Jonas Gutierrez who played Michael Owen through in the penalty area. Although his first touch was heavy, Owen did fantastically well to lift the ball over the onrushing David James and put the Magpies in control. Twenty-five minutes later, Martins doubled their lead when James sold himself early to allow the striker a simple finish from close range. The goalkeeper's afternoon didn't get any better and with a minute or so to go, he was at fault for allowing Danny Guthries speculative drive to pass straight through him. United move up to fourteenth.

 

Stoke City 0 - Fulham 0

Honours even in what was probably the most inevitable goal-less draw this season so far. Not one for the connoiseur, the attempts at gamesmanship probably proved the most entertaining elements in this game, with Andrew Johnson's sequence of penalty area tumbles trumped by John Pantsil's dying swan after a bout of rutting stags with Ricardo Fuller. Stoke were perhaps unfortunate in losing Mamady Sidibe to injury early on and seeing not-so-secret weapon Rory Delap aggravate a shoulder injury that prevented him from launching his bombs from the touchline but then again seemed to get away with it when Danny Higginbotham could well have been adjudged to have handled in the area in cutting out Jimmy Bullard's cross. Honours even, then.

 

Sunderland 4 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Sunderland get over the departure of their high-profile boss by spanking the Baggies at the Stadium of Light. This was virtually one-way traffic throughout and the Mackems were two up within the first twenty-five minutes. Kenwyne Jones broke the deadlock when he was able to leave Gianni Zilverloon ball-watching and head Andy reid's teasing cross beyond Scott Carson. Jones made it two just a couple of minutes later after Carson had done superbly to deny first Djibril Cisse and then Reid before his back-four allowed the Trinidadian to stroll in and tuck away the loose ball. Five minutes before half-time and it was three, when the short and stumpy Reid was able to head home at the far post after getting on the end of Steed Malbranque's floated ball from the right. If West Brom had hopes of starting the second period positively, these were dashed inside two minutes when Roman Bednar was fairly harshly adjudged to have handled in the area and Cisse stepped up to blast the Black Cats' fourth down the middle of the goal. Sunderland rejoin the scrambling mob of clubs within a win of each other but Albion are surely doomed to relegation. They've survived once before after being bottom at Christmas but I can't see them managing that this time.

 

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - Manchester United 0

Redemption for Huerelho Gomes as he pulls off two top-drawer saves to deny Man Utd a win at White Hart Lane. Well, that makes for a good headline, doesn't it, but in truth Tottenham were well worth their draw in this one and there's never been any doubt over Gomes's shot-stopping ability - it's the rest that's been the problem. However, I'm not here to assassinate the Brazilian keeper so back to the game. Both sides had chances. Dimitar Berbatov endured a frustrating return to his old stomping ground. Cristiano Ronaldo had an effort rightfully disallowed for handball. Spurs kept a clean sheet without either Ledley King or Jonathon Woodgate on the field at the end. Edwin van der Sar was forced to make decent stops to deny David Bentley and Aaron Lennon. Gomes will take the headlines for the right reasons for a change for his stops to deny Park Si-Jung and Ryan Giggs, especially. A fair result that probably keeps both managers happy, especially in light of the weekend's other results.

 

Wigan Athletic 3 - Blackburn Rovers 0

The Latics heap the misery on under-fire Rovers boss Paul Ince with a comfortable win at the JJB. With the side visibly short of confidence, the last thing Rovers needed was to concede an early goal but they did just that. There were ten minutes on the clock when Wigan wing-man Antonio Valencia skinned Stephen Warnock down the right before sending in a low cross that Emile Heskey converted with the second through-the-legs flick of the day. Two minutes later and things got palpably worse for Blackburn when Paul Robinson's poor clearance went straight to Mario Melchiot to nod the ball into Valencia's path. With none of the visitors able to live with him or seemingly even willing to attempt a challenge, the Honduran was able to advance before rifling his shot low into Robinson's bottom right corner. Fired up somewhat by Brett Emerton and local boy David Dunn after the break, Rovers looked to at least be in the game, despite still being second best, but ended up conceding a deserved third when Lee Cattermole crashed his effort into the roof of the net after once again being found by Valencia. Wigan move into the top half of the table and, whilst it remains to be seen whether Blackburn can climb out of this rut or not, the writing looks to be on the wall for the self-apponted Guv'nor.