Premier League duds – or a dud list?

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Here’s a team line-up with a difference: one man’s view of the worst players in the Premier League. One Sunderland regular, and one old boy, get nominations. The compiler gets an earful …

When a journalist runs out of things to say, he can always come up with a list. After all, Nick Hornby did it, over and again in High Fidelity, and made a fortune. So why not?

Justin Mottershead is a mature student in his final year of a journalism degree at City University London. He says he’s from Manchester and “obviously” loves United – the “obviously” is a little baffling to those of us who find the correlation not at all obvious – and his list is of the players he’d select for the Premier team from hell.

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Polls apart: Graham’s short memory


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Not really a piece in praise of Premier refs. Not really a go at Graham Poll. Just a plea for some even-handedness in our approach – and even the approach of refs who have become pundits – to their decision-making, at least until the next bad one goes against us…

On TalkSport today, Graham Poll talked about recent refereeing decisions.

Of the four really bad and unpunished, or inadequately punished, fouls committed in the Premier League last weekend, he singled out Lorik Cana’s challenge on Eboue, in the first half of Arsenal v Sunderland, as having been easily the worst.

Gooners have been active at Salut! Sunderland since the match, claiming that whatever the rights and wrongs of Cesc Fabregas staying on the field after what they agree was a challenge deserving his second yellow (the dissent concerns his first booking), Cana’s tackle was a shocker and should have earned him a straight red from Steve Bennett.

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Sorry Sir Alex, but this refereee is a class act

Cana the lionheart yes. Bent for his tireless running and for his goal. Da Silva’s unbeatable defending. Henderson for the maturity he displayed in sticking to his task and to Fabregas. McCartney and Bardsley for their best performances in memory. And, says Colin Randall, don’t forget Alan Wiley …

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It is not hard to see what it is about Alan Wiley that so annoys Sir Alex Ferguson. Here is a referee who makes players take throw ins and free kicks from the right place, doesn’t point automatically to the penalty spot when a big four striker falls over, allows robust but fair challenges and applies common sense judgement in incidents involving both sets of players all over the pitch.

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Salut! Sunderland AFC (Against Football Cheats)

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“Old bald headed bloke” * – see comments – considers the response from Wearside, the East End and beyond to the Jones/Ilunga incident during the 2-2 draw between SAFC and West Ham …

West Ham supporters have rallied gamely to the cause of their side following events at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

They have done it with a mixture of solid defensive work and aggressive counter-attack (there have also been a couple of more cretinous offerings, but the ratio of joined-up thinking to no thinking at all has been high).

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