Tiresome-Tees Derby

There were some signs that the Promroiship was settling down this week. The only two teams to climb a place were Middlesbrough and Newcastle, who played out a gormless bore draw of such tiring proportions that the commentator on Football Focus claimed they did not even deserve to feature last on Match of the Day. Feature last they did, however, and gained the second highest number of points this week after Aston Villa and Fulham's goalless draw featured second in the running order. The Beeb really could not win this week as fate conspired to prove the Promroiship scoring system is far from perfect.

Promroiship Results November 28th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Sunderland v Bolton ........25
Aston Villa v Fulham........45
Wigan Athletic v West Brom..25
Stoke City v Hull City......25
Middlesbrough v Newcastle...30

The Promroiship Table after Round 15 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............505.....11....45.9
Arsenal................488.....13....37.5
Aston Villa............254......7....36.3
Chelsea................243......7....34.7
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Manchester United......340.....10....34.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............350.....11....31.8
Manchester City........ 91......3....30.3
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................360.....12....30.0
Stoke City.............311.....11....28.3
Newcastle United.......271.....10....27.1
Bolton Wanderers.......320.....12....26.7
Sunderland.............318.....12....26.5
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Middlesbrough..........287.....13....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
West Bromwich Albion...284.....14....20.3
Wigan Athletic.........177.....10....17.7

Bore Draws, Higher Scores

Manchester City may have appeared in only their third MOTD this season, but they rose 9 places this week and got a massive boost to their Promroiship hopes after featuring first in the running order. Their opponents, Arsenal, featured first for the fourth time in five weeks and narrowed the gap on title rivals Liverpool, who featured in the penultimate match after taking part in a no score draw. Taking part in a no score draw was not a problem for Aston Villa and Chelsea, who rose 4 and 5 places respectively, the latter after gaining a massive 63 points for appearing second. Middlesbrough can feel the most aggrieved after appearing fifth on Match of the Day despite taking part in a four-goal match in a low scoring week, a result that sees them drop into the bottom three.

Promroiship Results November 21st 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Manchester City v Arsenal...49
Chelsea v Newcastle United..63
Portsmouth v Hull City .....28
Aston Villa v Man United....49
Middlesbrough v Bolton......14
Liverpool v Fulham..........35
Stoke City v West Brom......21

The Promroiship Table after Round 14 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............505.....11....45.9
Arsenal................488.....13....37.5
Aston Villa............209......6....34.8
Chelsea................243......7....34.7
Portsmouth.............273......8....34.1
Manchester United......340.....10....34.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............325.....10....32.5
Manchester City........ 91......3....30.3
Everton................271......9....30.1
Fulham.................315.....11....28.6
Stoke City.............286.....10....28.6
Bolton Wanderers.......295.....11....26.8
Newcastle United.......241......9....26.8
Sunderland.............293.....11....26.6
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
Middlesbrough..........257.....12....21.4
West Bromwich Albion...259.....13....19.9
Wigan Athletic.........152......9....16.9

United Thump Stoke, Bore Beeb

Arsenal's great Promroiship run continues after their defeat to Aston Villa ensured they topped the Match of the Day Running Order and jumped into second place in the overall competition. Villa rise 7 places as a result. Fellow North London rivals Tottenham's resurgence under Harry Redknapp continued as they climbed to fourth this week after their loss to fellow Londoners Fulham was deemed to be worthy of second place on MOTD. United will be disappointed with being shown fifth despite thumping Stoke 5-0. It appears their inaugural Promroiship title is slipping away to North-West rivals Liverpool who featured third. Newcastle and Wigan played out a 4 goal draw that achieved no points after ending up as the penultimate match on MOTD; a result that sees Wigan drop to the bottom and gives some credence to the theory that MOTD running order can be influenced by alphabetical order. They would have done better if they had lost 3 - 0 to a team like Chelsea, as West Brom will testify.

Rumours have it Manchester City might play on Saturday next week... have their owners finally realised they are Muslims and not Seventh Day Adventists?

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

Arsenal v Aston Villa............64
Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur.......48
Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool.....48
West Bromwich Albion v Chelsea...32
Manchester United v Stoke City....8
Blackburn Rovers v Sunderland....16
Newcastle United v Wigan Athletic.0
West Ham United v Portsmouth.....24

The Promroiship Table after Round 13 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............470.....10....47.0
Arsenal................439.....12....36.6
Portsmouth.............245......7....35.0
Tottenham Hotspur......203......6....33.8
Hull City..............297......9....33.0
Manchester United......291......9....32.3
Aston Villa............160......5....32.0
Everton................271......9....30.1
Chelsea................180......6....30.0
Stoke City.............265......9....29.4
Bolton Wanderers.......281.....10....28.1
Fulham.................280.....10....28.0
Sunderland.............293.....11....26.6
West Ham United........209......9....23.2
Newcastle United.......178......8....22.3
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......259.....12....21.6
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
West Bromwich Albion...238.....12....19.8
Wigan Athletic.........152......9....16.9

Baggies Bottom After Saturday Fixtures

Round 12 of the Promroiship saw third place Manchester United regain some ground on leaders Liverpool after losing to Arsenal in the first match. Second-placed Portsmouth slipped slightly after appearing as the last match containing three goals, and ending up with the lowest points haul this week along their opponents Sunderland. Wigan and West Brom swap places at the bottom despite getting thirty points each this week by virtue of West Brom having played more matches: 30/11 leaves less than 30/8. It would be simpler if everyone played on Saturday like they used to. After 11 round (excluding 1 midweek MOTD) Manchester City have only played on Saturday once.

Promroiship Results November 8th 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Arsenal v Manchester United.......42
West Ham United v Everton.........30
Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion..30
Sunderland v Portsmouth...........24
Hull City v Bolton Wanderers......30
Wigan Athletic v Stoke City.......30

The Promroiship Table after Round 12 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............422......9....46.9
Portsmouth.............221......6....36.8
Manchester United......283......8....35.4
Arsenal................375.....11....34.1
Hull City..............297......9....33.0
Stoke City.............257......8....32.1
Tottenham Hotspur......155......5....31.0
Everton................271......9....30.1
Chelsea................148......5....29.6
Sunderland.............277.....10....27.7
Bolton Wanderers.......233......9....25.9
Fulham.................232......9....25.8
Newcastle United.......178......7....25.4
Aston Villa............ 96......4....24.0
West Ham United........185......8....23.1
Blackburn Rovers.......243.....11....22.1
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
Wigan Athletic.........152......8....19.0
West Bromwich Albion...206.....11....18.7

Liverpool Concede Late, Go Top

Apologies for the delay in last weeks Promroiship update, I have been rather snowed under recently.

Liverpool may have blown their lead at White Hart Lane, but an exciting finish meant they appeared first on Match of The Day and extended their lead over second place Pompey in Round 11 of the Promroiship. Tottenham also climbed six places as a result, narrowing the gap on North London rivals Arsenal whose shock defeat at Stoke improved their Promroiship position. Man Utd and Chelsea lost ground with high scoring matches, despite featuring third and fourth respectively, with the Blues dropping four places. Everton were the days other big losers, as they dropped two places after featuring last on Match of the Day following their 1-0 victory over Fulham.

Promroiship Results November 1st 2008 (Match of the Day Running Order)

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool....56
Stoke City v Arsenal.............48
Manchester United v Hull City.... 8
Chelsea v Sunderland.............16
Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic......24
West Brom v Blackburn Rovers..... 8
Middlesbrough v West Ham United..16
Everton v Fulham.................16

The Promroiship Table after Round 11 (08/9)

Team..................Total...Apps..Average
Liverpool..............392......8....49.0
Portsmouth.............197......5....39.4
Manchester United......241......7....34.4
Hull City..............267......8....33.4
Arsenal................333.....10....33.3
Stoke City.............227......7....32.4
Tottenham Hotspur......155......5....31.0
Everton................241......8....30.1
Chelsea................148......5....29.6
Sunderland.............253......9....28.1
Fulham.................232......9....25.8
Newcastle United.......178......7....25.4
Bolton Wanderers.......203......8....25.4
Aston Villa............ 96......4....24.0
West Ham United........155......7....22.1
Blackburn Rovers.......243.....11....22.1
Middlesbrough..........243.....11....22.1
Manchester City........ 42......2....21.0
West Bromwich Albion...176.....10....17.6
Wigan Athletic.........122......7....17.4

Yes We Can

The term historic has been bandied about too much over the past few years. I am off the opinion that something can only be historic once it has happened and we understand the full impact of the event. The election of the first African American to the position of US present may well be an historic event and it is interesting to note down our feeling while it is happening, but history will often portray a different version to what actually happened.

I have had to read an awful amount of nonsense from Conservatives and Liberal hawks over the past few months telling me that McCain, and not Obama will win the election (although to be fair both backtracked before election day). Let this be a lesson to everyone who blogs! It is easy to give glib partisan statements about current events and they can come back to haunt you.

Commiserations to John McCain. The guy is a true gentlemen who also deserved to be president and would have been better placed to lead the country after the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, he was not able to be himself during this campaign after taking some very bad advice from his campaign manager. If he had the result would have been closer.

I believe Obama's election, despite his inexperience and liberal voting record, is a direct consequence of George W Bush's failures. Finally we have something to thank him for. I do have one worry though. The expectations of the Obama presidency are now so high it may be impossible to meet them, particularly as the previous incumbent has left the country in such a mess. In 1997, I remember such a mood of optimism pervading Britain after Blair routed the Tory government of 18 years. This was eventually to be dissipated over ten wasted years as Blair held the mandate but failed to deliver, culminating in him bombing a defenceless third world country so his rich American friends could appropriate its economic wealth. I hope when Obama met Blair earlier this year he did not take his advice to seriously. If he did, he could put Americans off politics forever.