Who Ate All The Pies

THE VOTE Who is your Premiership player of the season?

I thought now would be a good time to ask the question: who is your Premiership player of the season? I won't prejudice your nominations with any of my own, although I will add a comment with my feelings on the matter. Suffice it to say, that there are several star performers from both Chelsea and Man Utd, as well as a few surprise candidates from other clubs.

Add your nomination to the comments, and let the heated debate begin…

THE VOTE The Steve McClaren Israel Situation

How did England get themselves into yet another 'We've got a rubbish manager who we don't want' scenario? Anyway, no use moaning. Pies would like to suggest these two scenarios:

a) We scrape a result against Israel and then end up sneaking into Euro 2008, where we fail to get past the quarter finals because Stevie Mac is clueless.

b) Israel stuff us, and the FA is forced to sack McClaren and hire a decent manager - the catch being that we don't then qualify for Euro 08 because of the position McClaren has left us in. The upside is that we at least have a good manager to build for the next World Cup.

Not sure if I'd go for a) or b). The first choice seems the most likely scenario to actually happen, but that depresses the hell out of me, because it's so familiar to all England fans. I've read opinion from lots of England fans who actually want us to lose to Israel and so enforce scenario b), but no doubt the FA would cock things up again. All views welcome…

PS. Yes, I am shit at Photoshop.

THE VOTE Were Blackburn Rovers' fans wrong to boo Lucas Neill?

West Ham defender Lucas Neill has complained about the 'disgusting' treatment he received on his return to Ewood Park:

'Five-and-a-half years at the club, 100 per cent commitment, I've never gone to the papers, never complained about anything and then, when I want to further myself for my own personal benefit, whether it be backwards, sideways or forward, I get the reception I get… I think it's disgusting because people have come here and been here only six months to a year, not worked hard, walked away with a pay-off, and here's me trying my heart out for five years and this is the reception I get.'

Aw, diddums. Seriously though, I feel Neill has a point. He was generally very loyal to Rovers, but after having a very good 2006 World Cup he started to believe his own hype. He was never going to get applauded at Ewood, but to boo him relentlessly seemed a wee bit harsh, no?

THE VOTE Is it a good idea to get rid of draws & decide league matches with a penalty shoot-out?

Managers and chairmen have predictably ridiculed Football League proposals to decide drawn games with a penalty shoot-out, for which a bonus point would be awarded to the winning team. This radical idea, a brainstorm of Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney, would supposedly make games more exciting. Personally, I think it's a barmy idea - as Arsene Wenger has said, draws are a part of football culture and it makes no sense to do away with them. The only upside I could see is that English players would get some much-needed penalty practice. What do you think?

THE VOTE Is David Nugent ready for an England call-up?

Many of this morning's newspapers are reporting that Preston North End striker David Nugent is to be called up to the England squad to face Israel and Andorra later this month. The 21-year-old has been named in the under-21 squad to face Italy at Wembley, but he is expected to be promoted to the senior squad when Steve McClaren announces his squad tomorrow. Is the young forward ready to make the step up to international football, Pies fans?

Brit Blog Awards 2007: A vote for Pies is a vote for justice, truth and the beautiful game

Apologies for the repost, and ignore it if you've seen it before, but otherwise read on… Please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top, find the time to vote for us in the sport category of the Ask.com Best of Brit Blog Awards 2007. You have to register to vote, but it only takes a minute (girl), and we'd really appreciate it. No, really, we would. Closing date is the 22nd March. Let's make Pies a winner! VOTE HERE

PS. You can now subscribe to Pies and get updates emailed straight to your inbox. Enter your email address in the box in the top-right corner of our home page and… bingo! Fresh Pies delivered to your electronic door.

THE VOTE Do Arsenal get the results they deserve?

The Carling Cup final and now this… I know loads of non-Arsenal fans who will have chuckled out loud when PSV equalised at the Emirates last night. You want to shake Thierry Henry and his talented chums and shout: 'For God's sake, we know you're all brilliant players, but just stick the ball in the bloody net!'

With Arsenal right now it's a case of too many flashing blades but no cutting-edge. Do they need to change the way they play, or are they merely going through a bad patch? And did they deserve to lose the tie to PSV? It seems to me that Arsene Wenger will not accept that sometimes you need to play ugly to get results. George Graham knew that.

THE VOTE Can Barcelona come back against Liverpool?

"The danger for Liverpool is if they think they have already done the hard work by winning in Spain… We are the defending European champions and we will not relinquish the trophy without a fight." Ronaldinho

As much as I dislike some of Barca's stars, I would never write off a team containing Ronaldinho, Eto'o (the key), Messi and Deco. I have no doubt that Barca can beat Liverpool at Anfield, as Man Yoo did on Saturday – after all, the Catalans are only one goal behind. If Barca score first tonight, Rafa Benitez will be faced with the age-old dilemma: stick or twist? I predict a 2-1 Barca scoreline at 90 minutes, with Liverpool surviving extra time to go through on penalties (Pepe Reina is good at those), after an almighty scare. What do you reckon?

THE VOTE If you were Paul Konchesky, would you have fouled Jermain Defoe?

Why didn't Paul Konchesky commit a professional foul on Jermain Defoe and stop a likely winning goal for Spurs (see video)? Yes, he would have been sent off, but he would have probably earned a precious point for his club. Gary Neville sure as hell wouldn't have let Defoe run that far and take a shot, particularly not with several Spurs players rushing into the box. Very naive play from West Ham, and I have to blame Alan Curbishley for some of that. Cracking game though, one of the best of the season so far; Carlos Tevez didn't deserve to be on the losing team.

THE VOTE Who do you want to get relegated?

Around this time of the season I like to adopt one or two second teams to support in their relegation dogfights. I never like to see the three that get promoted go straight back down - and Reading have made sure that is not the case this season - but then you have to lose an established Premiership side. So who do you want to get relegated? Click below to see the candidates and choose who you would like to see in the Championship next season.

Manchester City Relegation outsiders. Level on points with Sheffield United, but with two games in hand. Don't think they will mess it up that much between now and the end of the season.
Sheffield United Relegation dead-certs have shocked a few people by sneaking up to 16th. Neil Warnock has brought colour to the Premiership, and I would like to see the Blades stay up.
Wigan Last season's Reading have been unlucky with some injuries, but their constant moaning makes me reluctant to offer any sympathy.
Charlton Alan Pardew has improved their chances of avoiding the drop considerably (relatively speaking, of course).
West Ham Overachieved last season and are as good as relegated already. And that's without any pending points deduction.
Watford I would love Aidy Boothroyd's side to get out of this one. They had some rough luck at the start of the season and their approach to life in the Prem has been excellent. It is difficult to see them avoiding the drop though.

Pick your three.

[Rob Parker]