Sunday, March 16, 2008

An Irresistable Force

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Or in more modern terminology, what happens when a team that always appears first on Match of the Day meets a team that always appears last? Round 11 of the Promroiship gave us the answer to this timeless riddle.

Derby fans must have been quite dizzy seeing their team first on MOTD, but the beeboid executives had not gone mad; they were playing Manchester United. A one-goal match ensured that Derby climbed 4 places and off the bottom, while Man Utd's Promroiship hopes were done no harm either.

Chelsea not only clawed themselves back into contention in the Premier League, but also climbed to third in the Promroiship, giving the top of the table a familiar feel. Bolton and Wigan dropped into the bottom three and play each other today in a relegation six pointer; but for all their efforts, they will not be getting any points in the Promroiship this weekend.

A reminder, points are calculated using the following formula:

(Points for position in running order - number of goals in match) * number of Premier League matches on MOTD

where a team gets 10 points for featuring in the first Premier League match, 9 for the second etc.

Promroiship Results March 15th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Derby v Manchester United..54
Arsenal v Middlesbrough....42
Sunderland v Chelsea.......42
Liverpool v Reading........24
Portsmouth v Aston Villa...24
West Ham v Blackburn.......12

The Promroiship Table after Round 11

Manchester United ...378*
Arsenal .............348*
Chelsea .............297*
Reading .............296*
Tottenham Hotspur....257
Birmingham City......254
Fulham ..............244
West Ham United......240*
Middlesbrough .......237*
Newcastle United.....234
Portsmouth ..........227*
Sunderland ..........216*
Everton .............215
Liverpool ...........207*
Manchester City .....177
Derby County.........170*
Aston Villa .........163*
Wigan Athletic ......158
Bolton Wanderers ....155
Blackburn Rovers.....131*

* indicates match played in Round 11

2 comments:

Beaman said...

I've noticed that Liverpool are very often shown last. They're my favourite team in the Prem'. Your list seems to confirm that a little.

Louis said...

Liverpool often last on MOTD? You having a laugh!? I wrote in my last Promroiship post why I felt they were doing so poorly in relation to the other teams that make up the big 4: namely that they are no longer in contention for the Premier League, but appear in some high scoring games.