Not long now: Skippers Nelson Semedo and John McGinn lead their teams out on to the Molineux pitch with kick-off just a few minutes away. In a splendid piece of symmetry, the two clubs are separated by 21 miles geographically and the same number of points in the league table. Nice.
Fun fact: Aston Villa have failed to win any of the last six Premier League games they have contested following a midweek Champions League excursion, drawing three and losing three against West Ham (D), Nottingham Forest (L), Chelsea (L), Liverpool (L), Bournemouth (D) and Manchester United (D).
Robyn Cowen is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Mark Langdon to make sense of the 18-game final round of Champions League fixtures, along with looking ahead to the weekend’s Premier League action
Whether you’re in the camp who believe there is some sort of sinister agenda being orchestrated by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited against Arsenal for reasons that nobody can explain, or the much larger one that knows there is nothing of the sort, pretty much everyone was in agreement that the red card shown to Myles Lewis-Skelly during his team’s game against Wolves last weekend was unfair. Everyone, that is, except the PGMOL, which did its increasingly damaged reputation few favours by doubling down on Michael Oliver’s decision to dismiss the teenager for what was a straightforward yellow card offence. The upshot? Arsenal appealed to the Football Association to have the card overturned and on Tuesday their independent regulatory commission duly obliged and an innocent young man walked free after being exonerated for a crime he did not commit.
Far be it from me to risk the wrath of Motherwell, but I can’t help thinking that the words of the club chairman rang somewhat hollow (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). After praising the achievements of the club’s departing manager, Stuart Kettlewell, among them his ‘exceptional record’, generation of transfer income and development of young players, he noted that: ‘… as a fan-owned, community-driven football club, we will always look after our own’. The reason for Kettlewell’s departure? Fan abuse of such a personal nature it was upsetting his family who didn’t want to attend matches any more. How many fans were banned for this? No mention on the Motherwell FC website” – Bernard Murray-Gates.
Given the latest officiating fiasco by Michael Oliver and Darren England, what about a card system for on-field and VAR refereeing mistakes? Two egregious errors = two yellows = one red = no officiating the next three scheduled games? Two reds = suspension from refereeing for six weeks? If there is no accountability, no one is watching the watchers” – Darryl Accone.
Burnley fans: rather than watch your beloved Clarets transform the beautiful game into a competitive form of watching paint dry, simply avert your tired eyes from the pitch and instead look upwards to admire how the Turf Moor stadium roof is put together. That’s riveting” – Mark McFadden.
On the podcast today; a health check on the battles for promotion and relegation in the Championship, League One and League Two. Who is nailed on, who could sneak in and will there be a great escape?
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