Who Ate All The Pies

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Turkey A 1-4 away win in their grudge match against Greece.
David Healy The Northern Ireland striker scored his second hat-trick of the qualifiers against Liechtenstein.
Scotland Still sitting pretty on top of Group B after victory in Georgia.

Bad weekend

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Charlton Victory against Newcastle means the Addicks are now breathing down Sheffield United's necks in the battle to avoid the drop.
Paul Robinson The Spurs keeper scored a goal. And it was against Ben Foster, his main rival for the England keeper's jersey.
Stuart Pearce Reportedly saved his job with victory at Middlesbrough.

Bad weekend
Torquay Teetering on the edge of the Football League after defeat at Accrington left them six points adrift having played an extra game then nearest rivals Wrexham.
Arsene Wenger The Arsenal boss probably can't wait for April after his miserable March continued with defeat at Everton.
Watford Lost against Spurs while West Ham and Charlton picked up three points each.

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Chelsea Superb fightback against Spurs to keep their FA Cup hopes alive.
Rangers Victory in the Old Firm thanks to an Ugo Ehiogu goal.
Birmingham Moved top of the Championship with victory over promotion rivals Derby.

Bad weekend
Ian Holloway Plymouth boss saw his hopes of going to Wembley dashed by Watford.
Rotherham Bottom-of-the-table League One outfit were thrashed 1-5 by mid-table Port Vale.
Stuart Pearce More woes for the Manchester City boss as his side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn.

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Manchester United Victory over rivals Liverpool and seemingly edging nearer to the title.
Wigan A priceless away win at Manchester City makes their position look much healthier.
Arsenal Must now be favourites to take third-spot as they sit one point behind Liverpool with two games in hand.

Bad weekend
West Ham Saw their lead over Spurs twice slip away as the lost 3-4.
Watford Allowed fellow relegation battlers Charlton to come back from 2-0 to take a point.
Cesc Fabregas Managed to miss this sitter, then scored an own goal. (And that despite some of his all-round play being excellent!)

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Chelsea Lifted the Carling Cup after their ill-tempered encounter with Arsenal.
Charlton Thrashed West Ham, while Watford and Sheffield United both lost.
Scunthorpe It looks increasingly like Scunthorpe have League One sewn up. A 3-1 victory over Gillingham moved them seven points clear.

Bad weekend
Goalkeepers Five Premiership sides let in three or more goals, and there were only eight Premiership matches this weekend.
John Terry JT's having a bad run of late. A trip to hospital after taking Abou Diaby's boot in the face was his latest piece of misfortune.
West Ham Look dead and buried after a 4-0 defeat at Charlton.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Tony Mowbray Took his West Brom side to his old stomping ground at Middlesbrough and emerged with a replay.
Reading Reserves Held Manchester United B to a draw at Old Trafford.
Plymouth Booked a place in the quarter-finals with victory over Derby.

Bad weekend
Fulham On the receiving end of a 0-4 drubbing at home to Tottenham.
Michael Ricketts England's one-cap wonder was just starting to get his career back on track at Preston. He dislocated his shoulder against Manchester City yesterday.
Arsenal Their fixture congestion is in danger of becoming gridlock. A replay against Blackburn will not be what Arsene Wenger ordered.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Watford A first Premiership away win since 1999 and at West Ham too. Priceless.
Darius Henderson Played 30, scored 1. The perfect time for the Hornets striker to break his duck.
Sheffield United Find themselves in 15th after a home win against Spurs.

Bad weekend
Liverpool Back to battling with Arsenal for third instead of Chelsea for second after defeat at Newcastle.
Anton Ferdinand Gave away a cheap penalty against Watford which cost West Ham a point.
West Ham Defeat to bottom-club Watford leaves them third from bottom and dangerously out of form.
[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Wigan Gave themselves some breathing space from the relegation zone with a priceless win at home to Portsmouth.
Cristiano Ronaldo On top form yet again. The man who always lacked that final ball is now delivering almost every time.
Reading Up to sixth after an away victory at Manchester City.

Bad weekend
Watford Lost at home to Bolton. Now five points adrift at the foot of the table, albeit with a game in hand.
Nicky Butt Sloppy backpass handed Fulham a decisive goal against Newcastle.
Liverpool Lost their momentum with a draw against Everton. Now seven points behind Chelsea.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Wayne Rooney Came off the bench to win the FA Cup tie against Portsmouth almost single-handedly. And his chipped second goal was out of this world.
Bristol City Managed a 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough despite going 2-0 down.
Vicenzo Montella Scored one and made another against Stoke as he continued his excellent start to life at Fulham.

Bad weekend
Wolverhampton Wanderers Suffered a 0-3 defeat at home to local rivals West Brom.
Luton and Nottingham Forest Both were outclassed against Premiership opposition in televised ties.
MK Dons League Two promotion hopefuls were hammered 5-0 by relegation strugglers Rochdale.
[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Charlton A priceless first away win of the season for Alan Pardew's side at Portsmouth.
Benitez and Wenger The (arguably) surprise winners of the top four head-to-heads help to make matters much closer at the top of the table.
Stewart Downing The Middlesbrough winger looked back to his best as he created three goals and scored another against Bolton.

Bad weekend
Andre Ooijer The Blackburn defender is out for the season after breaking his leg against Manchester City.
Jose Mourinho Life is not rosy for the Special One and his makeshift defence after defeat to Liverpool.
Bolton Thrashed 5-1 by Middlesbrough. Big Sam won't be a happy chappy.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Swansea The League One outfit secured an impressive 0-3 away win at Sheffield United.
Nottingham Forest Another League One side to beat Premiership opposition. Forest saw off Charlton with a 2-0 victory at the City Ground.
Henrik Larsson A goal on his Manchester United debut as they beat Aston Villa 2-1.

Bad weekend
Everton Suffered a 1-4 thrashing at home to Blackburn Rovers.
John Murphy The Macclesfield player can at least tell his grandchildren about the time he equalised against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (he needn't mention the 6-1 final score).
Gabor Kiraly The Aston Villa keeper's injury time blunder handed Manchester United victory.
[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Chelsea Closed the gap on leaders Manchester United to just two points with victory over Everton.
Alan Curbishley Led West Ham to a 1-0 win over United in his first game in charge.
Sheffield United A priceless 1-0 win at Wigan lifts them up to 14th.

Bad weekend
Sir Alex Ferguson Saw his lead over Jose Mourinho and Chelsea disintegrate with defeat to West Ham.
Aston Villa Now distinctly mid-table after their excellent start. Bolton at home is a game they would have expected to win a few weeks ago.
Charlton Now entrenched in Bad weekend territory nearly as firmly as they are in the relegation zone. Suffered another heavy defeat, this time to Liverpool.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Manchester United Now have an eight-point lead over Chelsea following their win against Manchester City.
Obafemi Martins The Nigerian striker had been criticised for his lack of goals but now he can't stop scoring.
Portsmouth Played some excellent football on the way to a 2-0 win against Everton. They are now up to third.

Bad weekend
Charlton There's nothing like a morale-boosting 5-1 defeat when you are battling relegation.
Chelsea and Arsenal A 1-1 draw was not a great deal of use for either side as they chase Manchester United.
West Ham The Hammers have been dragged back into the relegation zone. A 4-0 loss at Bolton made it a very bad weekend.

Take a walk down Good weekend, bad weekend memory lane

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Craig Bellamy The Welsh striker put his time in the dock behind him by firing Liverpool to their first away win of the season at Wigan.
Sheffield United Came from behind to beat Charlton 2-1 in their relegation scrap.
Arsenal A 3-0 win in the north London derby against Spurs.

Bad weekend
Arsenal The Gunners make both lists. Thierry Henry's fall out with Arsene Wenger overshadowed the derby win and could see him move to Barcelona in January. Without wanting to state the obvious, this would be bad news for Arsenal fans.
Les Reed He may have got Andy Reid off the pies and on the scoresheet, but apart from that it has been a pretty grim start to his spell as Charlton boss. Defeat to Sheffield United has not helped matters.
Tottenham Spurs players and fans must be delighted the Wenger/Henry feud has taken some of the edge off a 3-0 derby defeat, but it's a bad weekend nonetheless.

Relive the good, the bad and... well, just the good and the bad of previous weekends by clicking here.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Glenn Roeder Was unable to hide his delight as Newcastle recorded their first league win in nine against Portsmouth.
Eggert Magnusson The new West Ham owner took the applause of the crowd before watching a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United.
Nicolas Anelka What away to get off the mark for Bolton! A brace (including this cracker) against his former club in a 3-1 victory.

Bad weekend
Arsenal The Gunners are now in sixth place - 10 points behind second-place Chelsea - after their defeat at Bolton.
Carlos Tevez Is in trouble for leaving Upton Park when substituted against Sheffield United. A January exit now seems inevitable.
Ian Pearce Conceded a penalty and was sent-off 16 minutes into Fulham's game with Reading, giving his side very little chance.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Kieron Dyer A goal against Arsenal and 90 minutes on the pitch in his latest return from injury.
Wayne Rooney A brace for the man who couldn't buy a goal a few weeks ago.
Everton Scraped a 1-0 win against Bolton without Tim Cahill.

Bad weekend
Arsenal A draw at home to Newcastle leaves them 11 points adrift of Manchester United, albeit with a game in hand.
Les Reed Defeat in his first game in charge of Charlton for the former assistant manager. He also attracted criticism from pundits for claiming he needed time to assess a squad he has been working with all season.
Liverpool Even Jamie Carragher must be losing belief after two more points dropped at Middlesbrough.   

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Didier Drogba It is difficult to believe this is the same Drogba who never quite lived up to his transfer fee. A hat-trick against Watford continues his excellent form this season.
Reading Up to 11th in the table after their 3-1 victory over Spurs.
Kolo Toure An excellent finish from Arsenal's would-be star striker.

Bad weekend
Liverpool Now 14 points behind Manchester United after a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Bolton Failed to see off Sheffield United despite taking a two-goal lead and dominating the match.
Tottenham Fell even further off the pace with defeat to Reading. Now in 12th place in the table.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Alan Pardew What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Still in his job and with another win to his name (against Arsenal no less)
Sir Alex Ferguson Probably spent Sunday at home with his feet up watching both Arsenal and Chelsea lose.
Watford A win at last for the Hornets as they defeat Middlesbrough 2-0.

Bad weekend
Newcastle's board A fan protest followed Saturday's home defeat to Sheffield United. The club chose to play just two days after a Uefa Cup match to avoid missing out on the fat cheque that accompanies the Saturday tea-time kick-off slot.
Chelsea and Arsenal Defeats to Spurs and West Ham respectively. Mourinho and Wenger must be worried by United's form.
Saddam Hussein Aston Villa must be worried about their dip in form, but Saddam pips them because he really has had a tricky weekend.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Alan Pardew There is nothing like three points to get the critics of your back. A 2-1 win over Blackburn was West Ham's first victory since the opening day.
Wayne Rooney Monkeys have been departing backs left, right and centre this weekend. A hat-trick for Wazza at Bolton ended his goal drought in style.
Liverpool The Reds gelled for the first time this season to end Villa's unbeaten record.

Bad weekend
Damien Johnson The Birmingham captain fractured his jaw after an horrific challenge by West Brom's Paul Robinson.
Newcastle Booed off the pitch after a 0-0 draw with rock-bottom Charlton. The Magpies are now fourth from bottom.
Norwich Were on the receiving end of a 5-0 drubbing by Stoke City.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Jussi Jaaskelainen Made a string of excellent stops against Blackburn followed by two penalty saves.
Arsenal Henry and Fabregas revived Arsenal's sexy football of a couple of seasons ago.
Paul Scholes A goal on his 500th appearance and a win against Liverpool.

Bad weekend
West Ham Bad weekend regulars West Ham drop down to 19th place after defeat against Spurs.
Beanie the Horse The honeymoon period is over as Beanie's Manchester City were thrashed 0-4 at Wigan.
Jermain Defoe Likely to find himself in trouble after 'nibbling' on Javier Mascherano.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Wayne Rooney A timely return to form for Wazza against Wigan.
Gareth Southgate A win against Everton will have worked wonders for the under-pressure Boro boss.
Bolton Came from behind to beat Newcastle 1-2 at St James' Park.

Bad weekend
Juan Pablo Angel A missed penalty + an own goal + a missed sitter = not your weekend.
Petr Cech Has had surgery on a fractured skull sustained in a collision with Stephen Hunt just 17 seconds into Saturday's match.
West Ham A 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth means the Hammers have now gone seven games without a win.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Walter Smith Put the icing on his cake-like start as Scotland manager with victory over France.
Macedonia You have to take your hat off to them. Macedonia played decent and attacking football to take advantage of below par England.
Northern Ireland Lawrie Sanchez's men put in a plucky performance to pick up a point in Denmark.

Bad weekend
Republic of Ireland A humiliating 5-2 defeat against Cyprus. Ouch!
Wales An equally humiliating 1-5 loss at home to Slovakia.
Steve McClaren England put in a performance which wouldn't have looked out of place under Sven at the World Cup.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Sam Allardyce If anyone needed a good weekend, it was Big Sam. Three points against Liverpool won't go amiss.
Sheffield United The Blades' first win of the campaign lifted them off the bottom of the table.
Tottenham Hotspur Recorded a much-needed win against Portsmouth.

Bad weekend
West Ham Defeat against Reading leaves the struggling Hammers teetering above the relegation places.
Joey Barton Facing a police investigation after showing Everton fans the other cheek.
Liverpool Euro-hangover against Bolton has left the Reds slap bang in mid-table.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Dirk Kuyt Seems to have found his stride with his second goal in two games.
Kevin Doyle The Reading striker's penalty helped his side pick up a point against Manchester United - the team his supported as a youngster.
Beanie the Horse Victory for Beanie on his debut in the Manchester City dugout, and Stuart Pearce is reportedly interested in securing his services on a permanent basis.

Bad weekend
Martin Jol Whatever happened to the prospect of Champions League football? Spurs have given themselves a mountain to climb already.
Neil Warnock Lost to Arsenal in his 1000th game as a manager. Two points from six games could be enough to put an end to his philosophical outlook on life in the Premier League.
Watford Have taken to their new division much better than Sheffield United, but the league table shows they only have one more point than their fellow new boys.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Portsmouth fans Pompey fans can celebrate being top of the league where they are guaranteed to stay until at least next Saturday after Manchester United's defeat to Arsenal.
Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal supporters have not really warmed to the Togo striker yet, but scoring the winner against United might change that.
Chelsea The Blues are back on level pegging with United after beating Liverpool.

Bad weekend
Alan Pardew Defeat to Newcastle despite his new Argentine signings and will reportedly be replaced by Big Phil Scolari if the West Ham takeover goes through.
Manchester United Nothing like defeat to Arsenal to burst the bubble of their excellent start to the season.
Sheffield United Defeat to fellow new-boys Reading leaves Neil Warnock's team bottom of the table with two points.

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Everton A 3-0 win over their city rivals to round off an excellent start to the season.
Ashley Cole He must be relieved to be getting on with playing football again after the circus of the last few months.
Middlesbrough The latest team to take advantage of Arsenal's poor start as they sneaked a point from the Emirates.

Bad weekend
Jimmy Bullard A promising start to his Fulham career has been halted by a sickening knee dislocation, which will keep him out for at least two months.
Newcastle The Magpies defensive frailties were apparent yet again as they threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 1-2 at home to Fulham.
Liverpool fans Losing any derby game is bad for supporters' pride, but to lose it so emphatically is disastrous. A round of applause for any Liverpool fans who dared to leave the house yesterday!

[Rob Parker]

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Jermain Defoe Proved to Sven Goran Eriksson that he can score at international level, although it was against a pub team.
Gavin Ward The Tranmere keeper scored the first goal of his career in a 3-0 win over Leyton Orient.
Dunga A 3-0 win against Argentina is always a good way to get the Brazilian public onside.

Bad weekend
David Hodgson The Darlington boss (pictured) was booed by his chairman for substituting Julian Joachim against Torquay.
Steve Staunton 'Stan' was sent to the stands by the referee as the Republic of Ireland lost in Germany.
Lawrie Sanchez The Northern Ireland joins his Republic counterpart in the 'bad weekend' Hall of Shame after a humiliating 0-3 defeat at home to Iceland.

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Roy Keane Is this the start of a great managerial career?
Martin O'Neill Set top become a permanent fixture in this column – just as David O'Leary could no right, O'Neill can do no wrong.
David Moyes Everton's manager completes a Celtic hat-trick for 'good weekend'. The Toffees' 2-0 defeat of Spurs at White Hart Lane (and with 10 men for most of the match) was a stunning result.

Bad weekend
Andre Ooijer (pictured) Two defensive errors on Blackburn debut = 2-0 to Chelsea. Oh dear.
Obafemi Martins Taken off on a stretcher on his Newcastle debut. Bring back Shearer!
Thomas Gravesen Wanted by five different clubs (Celtic, Newcastle, Bolton, Middlesbrough and former team Everton), but the bald Dane is concerned he'll be stuck at Real Madrid.

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good Weekend
Martin O'Neill Great to have him back. Early signs that he'll do for Villa what he did for Leicester.
Cristiano Ronaldo/Wayne Rooney Best friends again. Aww, they make a lovely couple.
Swindon Town Four wins in four league games now for Dennis Wise's team.

Bad Weekend
Lucas Neill Feted as one of the best centre-backs in the world during the World Cup. Sent off for Blackburn at Portsmouth. Back to earth with a bang for the no-nonsense Socceroo.
Chris Coleman Let down by his Fulham players at Old Trafford.
Tottenham Strangely subdued in a 2-0 loss at Bolton. Maybe they believed their own pre-season hype?

Players to watch out for - good and bad

So, with the new season upon us (yes! yes! yes!) we can all get giddy about the same things. Seeing our team in their new kit, the great start by an unfancied team... and then, the new signings. It seems to have been quieter than usual in the transfer market, but there have been some intriguing moves. Some of them will set the league alight... some may not fare so well.

One player I'll be keeping an eye on is Tomas Rosicky at Arsenal. Rosicky is, and has been, one of European football's most exciting players, and I'm dearly hoping that he'll adapt to the English game, and start scoring thunderbolts (like his goal in the World Cup) and attacking players. Of course, the biggest signings of the summer were Sheva and Ballack to Chelsea. I fear that these players won't perform as well as expectations hope, but rest assured, a Shevchenko playing badly is still worth a thousand Henrik Pedersens.

A lot of people will also have eyes on Michael Carrick, the biggest and most interesting move involving an Englishman. Will he be able to deal with the pressures of Old Trafford, and more importantly, Fergie's hairdryer treatment? There is something about the lad that tells me he will, and I think that he may be ushering in a new spell of success for the Manchester lot. To Carrick's old club, Spurs, and their exciting prospect. Any team with Dimitar Berbatov AND Aaron Lennon in the starting line-up should be feared.

On to the more, speculative signings of the summer. Sol Campbell is the signing for me which doesn't bode well. Sol's move to 'Arry's Pompey could be a masterstroke if all goes well... but Sol hasn't been able to stay awake for 90 mins for over a year now, and without the class of the Gooner midfield in front of him, he could be badly exposed. It also remains to be seen if Jermaine Pennant can keep his nose clean at Liverpool, especially with fellow trouble maker, Craig Bellamy in tow.

Who will you be keeping an eye on? Who else do you think will be a huge success/failure?

Mof Gimmers

Good weekend, bad weekend

Good weekend
Rafa Benitez Once again masterminded victory over Chelsea, and did it with his reserves!
Crystal Palace The Eagles and their orange chairman will be delighted with life post-Dowie as they sit top of the Championship after victory over Leeds.
Martin Foyle The Port Vale boss has led his League One side to three wins from three on a shoestring budget.

Bad weekend
The Special One Grumpy Jose played all his aces and still lost to Liverpool.
Blackpool Yet to pick up a point in League One and lost to the Rotherham, the only side below them having started the season on minus 10 points.
Sunderland The Black Cats haven't recovered from last season's confidence bashing and seem to have forgotten how to win games.

Rob

Good weekend, Bad weekend

Good Weekend
Hearts Proved their SPL title credentials with a 2-1 win over Celtic.
Barry Conlon The Darlington striker, returning to the club for a second spell, scored the only hat-trick in England, as Darlo thrashed Macclesfield 4-0.
Hernan Crespo The want-away Chelsea star returned to his beloved Italy, to Inter Milan on a free transfer. Happy now Hernan?

Bad Weekend
Andy Van Der Meyde The Everton midfielder was rushed to hospital with breathing problems. The Dutchman has since claimed that one of his drinks was spiked during a night out in Liverpool.
Joe Cole Lasted five minutes of Chelski's American friendly, before going off with suspected knee-ligament damage.
Cameron Jerome Lasted four minutes on his Birmingham City debut, before he was sent off for lashing out at Colchester's Karl Duguid.