WELCOME sports followers and fans alike to this sports blog, covering all sports, but primarily football.
That's the welcome done. Now for some blogging.
Today Liverpool went top of the Premiership with a last-gasp win over Portsmouth after two late goals. I don't expect many Liverpool fans to agree with me while they are fewer than six wins (22 points) off beating last season's total of 76 points and perhaps on course to be their Premiership best of 82 points achieved in 2005/06, but I just do not see them winning the Premiership this season.
They have undoubtedly narrowed the gap between themselves and Manchester United, but I predict Alex Ferguson's side to run out comfortable winners in the end. Liverpool have shown the quality to keep going until the end of games this season, certainly during their two previous league matches, scoring vital late goals to score victories over Chelsea and Portsmouth, but will they have the capacity to keep going until the end of the season too? That is the real sign of a championship-winning side.
There are not many season when Manchester United do not put together a late surge to win the title. They did it last season, they did it in 1999 in the year they won 'the Treble' and they have done it during numerous other Premiership seasons. It would not be wise to bet against them doing it again this season. With much the same side that won the Premiership last year, I am confident that Alex Ferguson with have his side in blossoming form come May.
Even if Liverpool do beat their record league total, it is no guarantee they will finish ahead of Manchester United, virtue of the fact they still finished behind the Red Devils when they achieved that feat, and, late goals or not, struggling to be lowly Pompey is not a sign of a title-winning side.
Portsmouth are a struggling side at the moment. Though Tony Adams has had a glistening playing career, I do not think he cuts it as a manager. I cannot see what credentials he had to be given the Portsmouth job in the first place, having not set the world alight since he went into management. He started with the club I love, Wycombe Wanderers, and did a poor job, taking them to their only relegation during their time as a league club.
A manager like Nigel Clough was doing an fantastic job with Burton Albion and was offered a job in the Championship, not the Premiership, so why should Tony Adams qualify for a Premiership job with such an insignificant record? It shows that in football, a lot can be gained from who you know, not what you know, or your previous experience.
I fully expected Portmouth to be knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league side, and they were (they narrowly beat Bristol City, before being knocked out by Swansea); I expected them to struggle in the league this year, and they are; and I fully expect Tony Adams to be the next Premiership manager to face the chop.
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