When that victorious Chelsea side walked off the pitch at the Britannia Stadium on December 22, no one could have dare imagine what was to unfold across the Barclays Premier League over the course of the next 10 days as a crestfallen Chelsea team exited White Hart Lane Thursday signifying the conclusion of the BPL festive season. From the sheer joy for Manchester City as they climbed to the summit, through to the absolute pain for Liverpool as Steven Gerrard announced he would be taking his Anfield bow at seasons end, this has been anything but a holiday for the league which keeps on giving. In this era of constant change, which demands instant success, surprisingly we went into the Boxing Day fixtures with the same cast of managers we had begun the season with. To put this into a clearer perspective, the last time this happened, you have to go all the way back to the 1995-96 season when on January 2, Derby County fired their manager. This time, the axe finally fell off course on Neil Warnock whose Crystal Palace had only managed three victories in the 16 matches the 66-year old Englishman was in charge. The club had seen more than they could take following a Boxing Day reversal at Selhurst Park. No surprise for the London bookies, who had installed Warnock as favourite for the chop. The only surprise was his appointment at Palace in the first place. Warnocks CV includes guiding two of his previous clubs to the horrors of BPL relegation. Victors in southeast London Boxing Day, Southampton rediscovered their BPL mojo over the holidays and to me, were the best performing club over this defining period. The club had gone into the Palace match in a tailspin, managing only a single win in six matches. All that early season guile and promise where Southampton were an unbridled joy to watch as they cemented a position in the top four, had all but vanished come early November. The Saints went marching on over the holidays as they destroyed Palace, were fully deserving of a point against Chelsea and then, on New Years Day, dismantled a rejuvenated Arsenal and in doing so, rightfully restored their position amongst the BPL elite. The two Manchester clubs had gone into the holidays as the two best teams in the league. Following the festive folly, the red half enter the New Year with more questions than answers. Whereas their noisy neighbours reminded us once again why they, unlike no other club in recent seasons, know how to ride the roller coaster ways of the BPL. The current champions were given up as genuine title contenders in November, as a rampant Chelsea opened up a seemingly insurmountable eight-point gap at the top. The only thing that separates the two clubs now is name only. If that scenario of identical records was to present itself at seasons end, it would result in a one-off match to decide the destination of the title. Not sure thats what league CEO Peter Scudamore envisioned when, just a few seasons back, discussing plans for adding that so termed, 39th game of the season. What though can we make of Chelseas Holiday Horribulus? From Invincibles to Invisibles quicker than Mourinho can blame the referees as his over-active mind invents conspiracy theories and anti-Chelsea campaigns are the root and cause that Chelseas procession to the title is in tatters after the thoroughly deserved walloping they took against Tottenham Thursday. Following this weekends traditional BPL break for the FA Cup third round, all the headlines leading into Newcastles visit to Stamford Bridge January 10th will all be about a highly improbable season double. If that comes to be, we can well imagine Mourinho will lay fault with the fixture scheduler. Chelsea have been perfect to date at Stamford Bridge, its their lack of success away from home that has been their undoing. May 24 is when we will really discover how vital Frank Lampards New Years Day winner was, let alone how valuable his late equalizer against his old club was back in late September. Fridays hilarious quote from Arsene Wenger that he hasnt yet counted out his club from being title contenders from a position of 13 points back almost tops the classic bon mots from Louis Van Gaal following Manchester Uniteds scoreless draw at White Hart Lane on December 28. The Dutchman described the second half against Spurs as a struggle for life, his way of criticizing the league for scheduling matches 48 hours apart, something UEFA and FIFA would not ever allow he reminded us. Welcome to England, Louis. If LVG is struggling to understand why his team that had ￡150m [$275m] lavished on it in the summer only managed to collect five of the nine holiday points on offer, which included a mighty fortunate draw with Stoke Thursday, I suggest the greatest thing to happen to Manchester since the Smiths texts his opposite number at Burnley, Sean Dyche. The budget for Manchester Uniteds Christmas Party likely dwarfed the entire transfer budget handed to Dyche last spring following Burnleys promotion. Yet, here was a team that followed up Boxing Days underserved home reversal against Liverpool with that now famous fight back at the Etihad some 48 hours after trudging off the Turf Moor pitch. Down by two goals to a rampant Manchester City at halftime, through sheer will and determination, Burnley not only salvaged a point, it was they in the closing minutes who seemed the team more likely to find the winner. The only conclusion to be drawn is that 48 hours in Manchester must have flown by in a New York minute for Van Gaal. Which leads us rather aptly into one of the biggest headlines over the festive season, the confirmation on New Years Eve that Frank Lampards stay at the Etihad was extended through the end of the season; even longer perhaps if Manuel Pellegrini gets his way which is sure to ruffle more stateside feathers. This, though, pails into complete insignificance with the news on Liverpools website less than 24 hours later of Steven Gerrards Anfield departure come seasons end. As much disagreement and debate abounds on who has been the best foreigner in history to grace the English Premier League, there is no doubt on who is the greatest ever player in league history not to win a title. At least on two occasions, the native Liverpudlian spurned highly lucrative offers to leave a club he joined as a youth player in 1987 in search of adding more trophies to his personal collection. Steven Gerrards real place and impact at and for Liverpool will only truly be known years after he finally hangs up his BPL boots, which will happen May 24 when Liverpool visit Stoke. Most poignantly, 24 hours later, the five-time European Champions celebrate the 10th anniversary of Istanbul - one of the most remarkable of improbable achievements in the entire 150-year history of the beautiful game. Surely no one, not even the self-ordained Special 1, would begrudge Gerrard or his club a place at this seasons FA Cup Final on May 30 and in doing so, allow the curtain to drop on Gerrards Liverpool career at the venue of so many triumphs for his club through their history. Wembley Stadium truly is Liverpools second home.
Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter . -- Jack Del Rio only wanted to talk about the Cowboys, not the Trojans. . scored 18 of his career- high 28 points in the first half, as fifth-ranked Ohio State dominated No.
http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom ... 2418d.html. A night later, he was back to help lead a rout of the Detroit Pistons. John Wall had 20 points and 11 assists, and Beal scored 10 of his 15 points during the second quarter as Washington pulled away for a 106-82 victory on Saturday. .com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. . Espanyol midfielder Sanchez intercepted Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizozs clearance and, having spotted a gap, risked using his less-favoured left foot to fire a beautifully precise long-range shot that bounced in from high up the near post in the 24th minute.BARCELONA, Spain -- Almeria fought back for a 2-1 win at nine-man Espanyol on Sunday to keep alive its hopes of staying in Spains first division. Espanyol went ahead at Cornella-El Prat Stadium when Christian Stuani headed in Sergio Garcias cross in the 42nd minute. But the game swung in Almerias favour when Stuani was dismissed with a second yellow card three minutes after halftime. Midfielder Francisco Velezz headed in Miguel Coronas corner kick in the 69th to mark his debut in the top flight and start Almerias comeback.dddddddddddd Three minutes later Jesus "Suso" Fernandez curled in a free kick to break Almerias four-game losing streak. Espanyols Javi Lopez earned a red card in stoppage time for fouling Jonathan Zongo with only the goalkeeper to beat. Almeria is two points from safety. ' ' '
