Indian Super League: Robert Pires says Van Persie and Rooney could play in India

 

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Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney: ISL stars of the future?

Former Arsenal attacker Robert Pires sees no reason why the likes of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie would not play in the Indian Super League in the future.

Pires is captain of the Goa franchise and the Frenchman explained the chance to be part of India’s attempt to bring football to the mainstream was too good an offer to resist.Ex-Juventus pair Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet, and former Premier League duo Nicolas Anelka and Luis Garcia are among those playing in the inaugural league that runs until December 20.

“Imagine today you have Del Piero, Trezeguet and Robert Pires – who knows, in five or six seasons maybe you can have Rooney or van Persie playing in India,” Pires told Sky Sports.

“When I retired and finished up two years ago - after eight months with Aston Villa - the Indian Super League organisers called me saying they had a big project.

"A lot of people think I’ve come to play here for the money but it’s not only for the money, I have a very good role within this country and with these players."

Robert Pires

“They asked if I was interested and I thought why not. This is the first season for this league so why not try and help India to try and build this Indian Super League together.

“A lot of people think I’ve come to play here for the money but it’s not only for the money, I have a very good role within this country and with these players.

“I’ve missed playing football over the last couple of years and playing in India is a great opportunity for me which has also allowed me to discover a new country with new people.

“I know I need to give everything for the team – my football, my experience and my passion. That’s what makes it special for me as well as the players, because I am here mainly to help the development of the football here in India which is very important.”

Pires insists he retains a special type of passion and spirit for the game which allows him to continue to play competitive football despite being 40 years old.

“My passion for the game is still there which is perfectly normal. It’s there every morning of every day,” he said.

“To keep playing football you need to have a certain kind of spirit. You need to have heart. If you have heart you can play until you are 40 or 41 years old. It’s not a problem.”

ISL 2014: Atletico de Kolkata buoyant after return of Borja Fernandez

Atletico de Kolkata will be bolstered by the return of Borja Fernandez, even as their marquee signing Luis Garcia is all set to miss their ISL away fixture against FC Goa. (ISL)

Kolkata: Atletico de Kolkata will be bolstered by the return of Borja Fernandez, even as their marquee signing and Liverpool star Luis Garcia is all set to miss their ISL away fixture against FC Goa on Thursday.

"Borja's return will give us a big advantage," ATK's Spanish midfielder Jofre Mateu said about his compatriot, who had to sit out in their 1-1 draw against Delhi Dynamos FC in their last outing.

Atletico de Kolkata did not reveal whether their marquee player would travel with the team, but it was almost clear that Garcia would sit out because of his hamstring injury.

"He's one of our main players, but his absence will give others an opportunity to prove a point," ATK's Sanju Pradhan said.

Sanju added they would be on a high and it was Zico's side who would be under pressure.

"We have seven points from three matches, so the pressure will be on them as they have one point from two outings. But, they have quality players and we respect every opposition," he said.

Charlie Webster: 'I don't want kids to cheer on rapist footballer Ched Evans as a hero'

Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster, who grew up supporting Sheffield United, tells Radhika Sanghani why she will resign her role as a patron at the club if Ched Evans is reinstated and about being trolled by the footballer's fans

Charlie Webster has said she will stand down as a patron of Sheffield United if Ched Evans is reinstated

Now that Ched Evans has been out of jail for almost a week, speculation is mounting as to whether the rapist will be allowed to play football for his former team, Sheffield United. So far, the football club has been eerily quiet on the topic and it is still unclear whether he will be re-signed.

But one person who has spoken out is Charlie Webster – a TV presenter and a patron for Sheffield United’s Community Foundation. She feels so strongly about Evans not being allowed to play football again that she has said she will resign from her role as patron if the club lets him come back.

“Our club’s footballers are heroes in that moment on the pitch when they score a goal,” she says. “I don’t want to stand by when our next generation cheers on a convicted rapist as a hero.

“I believe in football and know the power but I also know the influence it has and I know my own morals. The foundation I’m a patron of is all about respect and integrity and education for the next generation. I’ll resign because everything I believe in is that – but if they re-sign Ched Evans, it isn’t that anymore.”

Evans, 25, has been released from prison more than two years into a five-year sentence he is serving for raping a 19-year-old woman, who was too drunk to consent. At the time of being arrested, he was still a striker for Sheffield United.

He has always maintained that his victim consented to having sex with him, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission has now said it will fast-track his claim that his conviction should be quashed as a miscarriage of justice.

But the fact that he is serving the rest of his sentence outside of jail, and his former club could ask him back to play, has already sparked a petition of more than 150,000 signatures calling for the club to not reinstate him. Webster, 31, thinks that Sheffield United needs to listen these people: “I have heard a lot of people say they won’t be taking their kids to the game. The club needs to listen to those that are voicing their opinion and have signed the petition. The thing about Sheffield United is it’s a real family club. I have been brought up with that club in that community and I went to that football club since the age of four and my dad took me, and it’s something that really influenced me as a kid.

“He didn’t live at home and it was a way for us to connect. It was such a big part of my childhood. It’s why I think it’s so important and plays such a positive role in families.”

'He does what he wants'

_{Ched Evans}

She’s now worried that parents will either stop taking their children to games, or that those young supporters will be influenced by Evans. “I just think it’s a really bad message to send out to our community and our next generation… that someone can be convicted of rape unanimously, and walk out of prison and walk straight into the same job. He’s in a high profile job and with that celebrity and his position comes responsibility. It’s basically sending a message that you do what you want really.”

The effects are already coming through. When Sheffield United played Bradford last weekend, fans were heard chanting: “He does what he wants, he does what he wants, Chedwyn Evans, he does what he wants.” Webster thinks that if Evans is re-signed, it will just get worse – especially considering football is already heavily dominated by men at games.

“It’s making men look really bad, this situation. [Football] needs them to stand up. We need to get society as a whole campaigning against it – not just women. What’s it going to take for us as a society to stand up to it? I have heard upstanding professionals in my job saying they feel sorry for him, but what about the victim who was raped?”

During the rape trial in 2012, the victim’s identity was revealed on social media, and she was forced to change her identity. It has been reported this week that the same thing has happened again. “She’s had to change her identity twice now,” says Webster. “She’s had a hate campaign against her by fans of Ched Evans. She’s had horrendous abuse on Twitter never mind the fact that she was raped.”

'Sexual assault is a huge violation'

Webster also has personal experience of sexual assault. Back in January, she waived her anonymity and told BBC Radio 5 Live that she was assaulted by her running coach when she was 15.

It’s partly why she feels so strongly about Evan’s victim and how she is being treated.

“I do know what it makes you feel like,” she tells me. “It’s a huge violation. It takes away who you are and your self-esteem, your confidence. The thing is I didn’t go through what she’s going through because I didn’t have a hate campaign and abuse and Twitter trolls. I was sexually assaulted but I wasn’t a target.”

But ever since Webster aired her views on wanting to resign if Sheffield United reinstated Evans, she has received a number of abusive messages. She has also been targeted by trolls who believe Evans is innocent. Evans’s sister supports these claims and messaged Webster on Twitter, after finding a tweet which she had posted back in September.

It read: “Just bumped into Mike Tyson in the hotel lobby as I was randomly talking about him! I chickened out on asking for a photo … damn.”

Evans’s sister used the tweet to call Webster a hypocrite, given the fact that Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992.

_{Mike Tyson}

Football doesn't have a higher power

“I’m not proud of [the tweet],” says Webster, explaining that she hadn’t really had time to register Tyson’s past when she wrote it. “But what it does show is that the reason why people don’t step up against sexual violence is because this is what happens. As soon as you do, you get abused and berated. All I did was stand up and [now I] get this Twitter abuse.

“What I’m really worried about is if this carries on people who have been victims of sexual violence won’t come forward because look what’s happened to the victim of Ched Evans. How can she live her life? What did she so wrong? She went to a nightclub and had some drinks just like the majority of us do.”

Now Webster is urging her club to make a decision fast, so that the matter can be put to rest and Evans’s victim can move on with her life. “Sheffield United needs to stand up and either way make a statement because the speculation and the fact that they have been so quiet has been fuelling it. I would be so, so disappointed if they resign him, but they need to make a decision either way.

“The Football Association has a code of conduct. We wouldn’t be allowed to go back to our jobs. Football’s no different. It doesn’t have a higher power. Football needs to see what it can do as a positive, not as a negative. Depending on what happens with Ched Evans, it could be strong in a positive way.
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Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough must be given chance to reject rapist Ched Evans

Highly respected manager would have to handle fallout if convicted rapist were re-signed so he has to be involved in decision

Deep thinker: Nigel Clough is a highly respected manager who must be given a say on whether convicted rapist Ched Evans re-signs for Sheffield United

Few people in football possess as strong a moral compass as Nigel Clough, the manager of Sheffield United.

Few managers think as deeply about football, about a club’s role in the community, and the game’s responsibility to society. Clough has a well-developed conscience and a sharp mind, a rare combination in football, and that is why he must resist any attempt by Sheffield United to re-sign their former player, Ched Evans.

It was surprising, disconcerting even, to hear such a respected, intelligent soul as Clough insist that any decision on the convicted rapist was one for Sheffield United’s co-owners, Prince Abdullah Bin Musa’ad Bin Abdul Aziz and Kevin McCabe. It will be a decision made “above football level”, said Clough.

It needs remembering in the maelstrom or moralising, fans’ chants and online petitions surrounding Evans’s early release that his contract as an employee of the League One club expired during his incarceration. Evans is not Sheffield United’s player but he is their problem. They are associated with him.

They were his paymasters when he committed his crime. Some of their fans call loudly for Evans’s return on the warped judgment that he scores goals so let’s ignore the crime. Some have pored over photographs of the 25-year-old striker since he emerged from jail and commented that he looked fit and ready to resume playing.

Clough keeps being asked about Evans. “It’s my decision whether to put him in the team if he comes back,’’ Clough said. “It’s not my decision whether he comes back in the first place – that’s theirs.’’

No. Clough has to be involved in the decision because of the damaging ramifications for the team of taking Evans back.

On April 20, 2012, Evans was found guilty by a jury at Caernarvon Crown Court of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel on May 30, 2011. The Wales international admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual. The prosecution argued that she was too intoxicated to have consented.

Evans was sentenced to five years in jail and was released after 2½ years at 5am last Friday.

Claiming a miscarriage of justice, Evans has shown remorse only to the girlfriend he cheated on but not the victim, who has been forced to change her name and address. The Criminal Cases Reviews Commission has now fast-tracked an investigation to establish whether it should refer the case to the Court of Appeal.

The details of the case that can be debated properly currently are that a jury found Evans guilty and that his leave to appeal was turned down at the Royal Courts of Justice on Nov 6, 2012. Other pertinent facts include that clubs accept their stars are role models, making them agree to codes of conduct, and Evans patently let Sheffield United down.

At some point a club with few principles will contact the Football League to register a player who has first to sign the Sex Offenders Register.

(Incidentally, Evans would be barred from the boardroom under the Football League Owners’ and Directors’ Test but not the dressing room).

If Sheffield United are to contemplate bringing Evans back from the cold, it cannot be an HR decision or boardroom decision. It must come from the manager’s office. It is Clough who will have to live with the huge fallout if the board offers Evans a new deal.

There are those who say that a convicted rapist deserves a second chance having done his time but Sheffield United have suffered enough damage to their image by association with Evans. It is hoped that a man of principle like Clough will take a stand.

It is Clough, not Prince Abdullah or McCabe, who will have to deal with the questions at every press conference about whether Sheffield United can still be considered a “family club”, whether the other players have welcomed Evans back, about what the players’ wives think of the recruitment of a rapist and the depth of dismay among the club’s female staff.

If a decision has to be made, Clough has to be involved. It is nonsense to suggest this is “above football level”. It affects every level, especially the football level. It is Clough who will have to defend the club. It is Clough who will have to prepare his players for the inevitable protests outside Shirecliffe and Bramall Lane. How will Sheffield United FC Community Ladies team react? What message does it send to women considering attending matches?

It will also be Clough who has to explain his reasons to the player being dropped to make way for somebody who has spent 2½ years in custody. It will be Clough who has to use part of his team talk to prepare his players for the hostility they will encounter, the constant chants of “she said no” from opposing fans. Do all Blades fans want to be represented by Evans?

One of the more troubling comments was that, given Sheffield United’s occasional problems in front of goal, it made it even more expedient to cut corners in the moral maze, turning back to Evans. Of the top eight in League One, only Notts County have scored fewer than Sheffield United. But principles are more important than points here.

Principles matter to Sheffield United. This correspondent was asked by the club to be a witness at an independent tribunal when they pursued damages against West Ham United after the goals of Carlos Tévez, incorrectly registered under Premier League rules, kept the Londoners up (in the 2006-07 season when Sheffield United went down).

I sat and talked to the club’s lawyers, and to McCabe, and then gave evidence, explaining a headline in Telegraph Sport about Tévez rescuing West Ham. Sheffield United wanted (and won) financial recompense for the cost of relegation but they also said they were fighting for a point of principle. They felt they had received no justice from the Premier League and most neutral observers agreed. Principles clearly mean something to Bramall Lane.

There are those who want to show compassion to Evans but such a famous English sporting institution as Sheffield United, who are celebrating their 125th anniversary, should also be considering the more important principle of showing compassion to the victim. Principles are at stake, as well as reputation, which is why Sheffield United must include Clough in any deliberations about Evans. Clough has always done the right thing. The right thing here is for Sheffield United to confirm Ched Evans is part of their past
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An EPL Player Is In A War With His Coach Over Whether He's Fat, And It's Getting Ugly

Harry Redknapp after a recent QPR loss

Queens Park Rangers is the worst team in the English Premier League.

They're in last place after scoring six goals in eight games. Their latest loss, a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, featured two own goals, including one in the 95th minute that lost them the game.

After the game coach Harry Redknapp directed his ire toward a player who wasn't even on the field for QPR, Adel Taarabt, who he said was too fat to play for the team. That comment has set off a war of words between the two that's as absurd as it is entertaining.

Taarabt is one of the more talented players on the team, but he has a reputation for off-the-field issues. After QPR chose not to sell him during the summer transfer window, he has only appeared in two games this season. He hasn't even been on the bench in recent games.

Redknapp called Taarabt fat ("three stone overweight!") and said he needs to start training harder if he wants to play after the Liverpool game (via BBC):

"He's not fit to play football, unfortunately. He played in a reserve game the other day and I could have run about more than he did. So no, I can't pick him. I pick people who want to try and deserve to be at a good football club like QPR.

"I can't keep protecting people who don't want to run about and train and are about three stone overweight. What am I supposed to keep saying? 'Keep getting your 60-70 grand a week and don't train?' What's the game coming to?"

"Three stone" is about 45 pounds.

Faced with criticism, Redknapp basically blamed his team's woes on the selfishness and laziness of the modern game, with Taarabt as the scapegoat.

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Taarabt didn't stand for it.

He went to the Daily Mail's Neil Ashton on Monday the next day for his own interview where he attempted to prove that he wasn't fat and said Redknapp was a terrible coach.

He had the Daily Mail take a photo of his abs to show he isn't fat:

Here's what he had to say about Redknapp's coaching acumen:

'The training sessions aren't the same standard as Milan, or what I would expect under another manager. They are not as intense, the players aren't as motivated. It is the same as we used to do at Tottenham years ago. When we played West Ham he told the players "you're not fit, you're not this, you're not that".

'I said "but the problem is we don't have any plan in the game, we don't know how to press as a team. It's not about just running around, you need to play with your brain." I was thinking that West Ham didn't have better players than us, but they were well organised. Almost every time we lose the ball the opposition score. We need to do something about it.

'If you work as a team you run less. If somebody sprints 100 metres they play a triangle round him and you are never going to get the ball. If everybody runs 10m, 10m, 10m, then you are in shape, but we never do that. He doesn't understand that. The coaches don't have any influence on Harry - none. They are there just to be there.

It didn't end there.

On Tuesday Redknapp went to The Sun and said that Taarabt only lost weight because he had tonsillitis! He also called Taarabt unprofessional and said the photo of him looking skinny doesn't mean anything (via ESPNUK):

"The only reason he has lost weight is because he has had tonsillitis. That's the only way we could get any weight off of him.

"He is not fit to play a game, that's the truth. He is the worst professional I have ever come across and I have been his only ally at QPR for the past three years. He doesn't try and I have protected him for too long."

"Even I could suck my stomach in for a picture and look okay."

This is the good stuff.

Lukas Podolski: Arsenal forward dismisses £10m Spurs rumour

Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has taken to Twitter to dismiss transfer speculation linking him with a £10m move to Tottenham Hotspur.

The German World Cup winner tweeted: "Hell will freeze over before this transfer would happen."

He responded to a BBC Sport tweet promoting the Gossip Column - a summary of transfer rumours around the media.

Monday's column included a report Podolski, 29, could be a target for Tottenham in the next transfer window.

The German is yet to start a Premier League match this season. He has scored 28 goals for Arsenal in 54 appearances.

Podolski joined Arsenal at the start of the 2012-13 season from Bundesliga side Cologne for an undisclosed fee.

He was a member of Germany's World Cup-winning squad in Brazil.

Eight hours later, Podolski had this response to the rumour

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

1) Koeman’s midfield backing Pellè perfectly

Striker

Graziano Pelle

Appearances

8

Goals

6

Shots

32

Shots on target

41%

Offsides

5

One of they key questions about Southampton going into this season was how they would replace the goals of the departed Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana and the injured Jay Rodriguez. Graziano Pellè has fleshed out an encouraging answer to that question, the striker hitting six already in the Premier League, but another feature of Ronald Koeman is how many midfielders are also chipping in with goals.

In addition to harnessing the menace of the excellent Dusan Tadic andSadio Mané, who were prolific in foreign leagues before coming to England this summer, Koeman has encouraged many of the midfielders whom he inherited to hone their scoring skills. Jack Cork had never scored in the league before this season but now has two for the campaign, the same number as Victor Wanyama, who went through all of last season without bothering goalkeepers. Morgan Schneiderlin scored just twice last term but already has three this season. Add in the fact that the full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand have also scored their first Premier League goals and it is clear that Koeman’s Southampton carry threats from all over the pitch. And apparently Koeman can even perform Jedi mind tricks on opposing defenders such as Santiago Vergini and Liam Bridcutt. Combine that goalscoring power with the tightest defence in the top flight so far this season and you have a team that will take some shifting from the top four. Paul Doyle

2) Kun he get any better?

Striker

Sergio Aguero

Appearances

8

Goals

9

Shots

33

Shots on target

52%

Offsides

5

Is Sergio Agüero the most lethal marksman since the Premier League’s inception? The Argentinian scored all of Manchester City’s goals in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur to take him to 61 Premier League goals, which makes him the club’s highest scorer in the competition. As with the spot-kick failure against Spurs, it seems like headline news whenever the Argentinian misses because it has become so familiar to see him bulging the net from even the most slender of chances.

In this debate, names like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robbie Fowler, Alan Shearer, Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry might also be put forward. Yet for sheer chances converted, or goals per minute, the impression here is that Agüero is the sharpest in recent years. Jamie Jackson

3) Sánchez a shining light in Arsenal’s fog

There remains a niggling sense that Arsenal haven’t quite worked out how to maximise the talent they have at their disposal in the shape ofthe Chilean they bought from Barcelona during the summer. Steve Bruce was glowing about Sánchez’s moments of brilliance, as if to suggest the Hull gameplan was great up to a point – but Sánchez went beyond that point. Even though he is clearly still adapting to his new environment he scored his sixth in nine games with a stylish individual goal, and it was a similar spurt of Velcro control dribbling that set up the late equaliser for Danny Welbeck. Sánchez has had a couple of challenging moments over his first couple of months in England, for example when he was hauled off at half-time at Goodison Park after struggling to make an impact, and when he wasn’t selected to start in the north London derby. There is still that question of exactly where to play him, in a wide position or more centrally, and the way he connected with Welbeck to save the game suggested playing these two as an attacking pair in close proximity is worth a try. Hull’s Curtis Davies gave an insight into how difficult he is to stop. “Sánchez is strong,” he said. “I’m about a foot taller than him and he still shoved me over. He’s a typical South American, strong, low centre of gravity, good feet and gets himself into awkward positions where he can roll you. Very good player.”Amy Lawrence

4) Zaha shows he can rule the Palace again

Neil Warnock was in good spirits following Crystal Palace’s defeat to Chelsea, and why not given the disciplined and generally positive display his side put in against clearly superior opponents? The Palace manager was particularly enthused by the performance of Wilfried Zaha, who having come on as a 69th substitute on Saturday set-up the hosts’ consolation goal with a clever, surging run past Filipe Luís.

“Super” was how Warnock described Zaha before going on to state his belief that the winger joined Manchester United too soon in his development. “I don’t think he’s had much coaching and when you go to Man United, such a big club, they haven’t got time [to coach],” he said. “We’ve been working with him for 10 days because he needs to know when he can dribble and when he can’t. If he gets that other little bit in his game – not losing the ball in his own half, and he can get the ball where we want him to have the ball, he’s a threat to anybody.”

To hear Warnock speak about Zaha in those terms only adds to the belief held by many observers (including this one) that this is a player who was overly hyped when he made his name at Palace the first time around. However, there is no doubt that Zaha has the raw talent to make it at the highest level and now back at a club he clearly loves and who clearly love him, albeit on loan, the 21-year-old can take the required steps to become a genuinely established Premier League performer. Sachin Nakrani

5) QPR show promise despite defeat

It has taken Queens Park Rangers longer than it should have done but they have finally shown us what they are capable of when they put their mind to it. While they had nothing to show for their efforts against Liverpool after Steven Caulker’s galling 95th-minute own-goal, this was one of those defeats that contained more positives than negatives. They could argue that they would have won if they had shown slightly more composure in front of goal – Leroy Fer was guilty of the most glaring miss in the first half – and they set about Liverpool with a vigour and determination that made a mockery of their position at the bottom of the table. Just as pleasing for Harry Redknapp was the way that his side twice fought back with goals from Eduardo Vargas, only for the Chilean to be outdone by Raheem Sterling at the death. After a dreadfully limp start to the season, QPR can build on this. Jacob Steinberg

6) Martínez and Southgate set to tussle for Barkley

Roberto Martínez wishes the club v country debate over Ross Barkley’s eligibility for the Under-21s next summer would go away. It won’t. The Everton manager believes that once players have graduated to the England senior side there is no point in sending them back to the Under-21s. It might improve the side’s chances in a tournament – though equally it could prove disruptive – but Martínez argues the point of Under-21s football is not to win at all costs but to develop players for the senior side. That principled reasoning is undermined by the number of people in the country who believe it is about time England won a tournament, any tournament, and suspect club managers just want to hang on to their best young players for selfish reasons. Should Barkley remain on the England periphery between now and summer Gareth Southgate would surely be within his rights to call him up. The best way for Martínez to win this argument would be for Barkley to establish himself as a senior England international over the course of this season.Paul Wilson

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew celebrates on the touchline. Photograph: Steve Drew/Steve Drew

7) Pardew pressure eases … for now

Alan Pardew’s side may have finally won their first Premier League game of the season at Leicester’s expense but it was a far from convincing victory. As the manager put it: “This will give us confidence to build on but we’re not as great as we should be.”

Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
16	Crystal Palace	8	-3	8
17	Sunderland	8	-7	8
18	Newcastle	8	-6	7
19	Burnley	8	-9	4
20	QPR	8	-12	4

Quite so. This was only Newcastle’s sixth League triumph of 2014 and Pardew’s newly enhanced job security will swiftly diminish should his side stumble in their next three, potentially tricky, league assignments at Tottenham, at home to Liverpool and at West Brom. Moreover if the Tynesiders – still in the bottom three – are to reach 40 points, generally the safety-securing mark, they will need to collect 33 points from the remaining 30 fixtures. The clocks are yet to go back but the margins for error at St James’ Park are contracting. Louise Taylor

8) Defensive questions remain for Spurs

Defender

Younes Kaboul

Appearances

8

Fouls Committed

5

Bookings

1

Dismissals

0

Are Spurs a better team than last season? They had hoped to respond in the affirmative on the ground where they were memorably humiliated 11 months ago. Since then, Daniel Levy has hired a coach known for an organised, pressing style, and allowed him to invest exclusively in defensive reinforcements. It’s clear where priorities currently lie at White Hart Lane.

All three of Tottenham’s league wins this term have been achieved without conceding, and they dug in expertly to earn a rare point at the Emirates. When things unravel, however, they still do so at speed. Pochettino paired Younes Kaboul with debutant Federico Fazio against Man City, but they couldn’t handle the rampant Sergio Agüero between them. Both conceded penalties for clumsy tackles on the striker, with Fazio also sent off.

Pochettino’s biggest impact at Spurs has been an increase in effort from his attacking players. Against City, their endeavours weren’t matched in defence; the Spurs front four attempted, and won, more tackles than their back four. An acceptable off day for the Spurs defence, or a sign of a problem that remains unsolved? As with much of Pochettino’s short reign, it’s hard to tell just yet – but a reasonable run of fixtures in November should buy the new man some time. Niall McVeigh

9) Shawcross plays hands-on game but Swansea pay the penalty

Forget the second penalty, when Michael Oliver got it terribly wrong (Garry Monk, the Swansea City manager, used slightly stronger language to condemn the referee’s decision and the conduct of Victor Moses). Instead, let’s deal with the first spot kick and the fall out from it. Oliver prompted a predictable outcry when he penalised Ryan Shawcross for wrestling Wilfried Bony to the floor in the area. Shawcross, at one stage, had both hands on Bony and was not even looking at Gylfi Sigurdsson, the corner-taker.

“I don’t understand how you can give the first penalty because you would have to give six or seven a game,” Danny Mills, the BBC Radio 5 Live summariser, said. Mark Hughes, the Stoke manager, echoed that view later on, when he also claimed that Shawcross – a man who has given away more penalties in the Premier League in the past six years than any other player – was being unfairly singled out “for being more adept at holding people in the box – which is pure nonsense”. Shawcross was guilty of committing a foul, plain and simple. It was a nailed-on penalty. And there would not be half a dozen spot-kicks every game, as Mills and Hughes suggested, if every referee applied the rules in the same way, because the message would get through that the sort of off-the-ball pushing, shoving and holding that has become commonplace around set-pieces over the years, will not be tolerated.Stuart James

10) Allardyce beginning to entertain at West Ham

The frequently mooted suggestion that Sam Allardyce knows nothing of decent football is unfair. Though it is true that his sides have performed plentiful clogging and hoofing, it was he who signed, and extracted excellence, from the wonderful Fernando Hierro, Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha. Simply, he is a pragmatist, motivated not by “philosophy”, but priority; that of securing his club’s status. Which is not to decry the concerns of supporters.

Should West Ham fail to entertain, then, given that they’re unlikely to win the league, all that remains is a slow churn of results aimed solely at preserving their presence in it – no fun for anyone. But, thanks to some superb summer business, a balance has now been found. Up front, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have added dynamism and class, so too Morgan Amalfitano from the wing, while Aaron Cresswell and Carl Jenkinson provide extra thrust from full-back, thanks to the support of Alex Song. Seemingly about to be sacked in both winter and summer, suddenly, Allardyce looks ensconced for years to come, everybody is happy, and it’s hard to foresee things crumbling. Can this really be West Ham? Daniel Harris