I recently asked the question: When Will Phil Brown Go?, & it seems in all actuality I'm no closer to an accurate answer of that question than when I posed it last week. Hull City lost another football match this weekend at Turf Moor to current over-achievers Burnley, 2-0. Two Graham Alexander goals were enough to see off a brave Hull City that will feel slightly cheated by the outcome.

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Pompey mount revival. Following a miserable season start of 7 losses, conceding 13 goals and netting just 3 in the process, the South Coast club, rooted in last place, were everyone's early season pick for relegation. But how quickly things change in football. In the last 4 matches, Portsmouth have scored 10 goals, conceded just 2 and amassed 7 crucial points on the way to Premiership survival.

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Adam Pearson, the new chairman of Hull City, has told manager Phil Brown that he has one more match to save his Hull City career.
"The manager was expected to be dismissed after the 2-0 defeat away to Burnley on Saturday, but it seems he has earned himself a stay of execution for one more game at least because of the woeful performance of Mike Jones, the referee, at Turf Moor. Click to continue reading...

Sir Alex Ferguson has stoked the fire ahead of Manchester United's trip to Liverpool by saying he can understand why Sunderland's goal stood last week.
The Reds' dismal run of results continued when they succumbed 1-0 to the Black Cats thanks to a Darren Bent goal that deflected of a beach ball that was thrown onto the pitch by one of Liverpool's own supporters. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has again passed up the opportunity to criticise Mike Jones, the referee who failed to rule out Sunderland's winning goal against the Merseyside club on Saturday. Darren Bent's shot found the net via a deflection off a beach ball that had been thrown onto the pitch. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has admitted he was focused on the inflatable beach ball during Saturday's loss to Sunderland having lost sight of the real match ball.
Darren Bent's winning goal, which deflected off a ball thrown onto the pitch by a fan, was allowed to stand by referee Mike Jones which meant Liverpool slumped to their third consecutive loss and fourth of the season. Click to continue reading...

Mike Jones wasn't the only ref to have a bad week.Graham Poll (gleefully?) points out that a collection of game officials had a controversial merry go round kind of experience at the Chelsea - Aston Villa game.These have been named as being Steve Bennett,Paul Rejer,Kevin Friend and Nigel Marriott.

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This past weekend saw quite a few talking points in what remains the most exciting, entertaining & most dramatic football league in the world, the English Premier League, or more officially, the Barclays Premier League.

Any given weekend in the EPL reminds me of a series of highly entertaining films based on various genres.

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Mike Jones, the referee who incorrectly awarded Darren Bent's goal for Sunderland against Liverpool FC on Saturday, will not officiate in the Premier League this weekend.
Bent's shot struck a beach ball thrown from the visiting section at the Stadium of Light and deflected past Liverpool FC goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Click to continue reading...

You can clearly see Glen Johnson did not get his foot on the ball. Bent's shot skips just over the defender and hits the red beach ball and deflects into goal. And the culprit is one of Liverpool's fans.

Steve Bruce should heave a sigh of relief on this one.

Even a lay person not well versed with rules, would be sufficiently at unease when an outside agency influences a match.

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Carlo's ‘cross' with the defence. What do Abdoulaye Faye, Titus Bramble, James Collins, and Richad Dunne have in common? They've all scored against Chelsea from crosses into the box. Totaling half of Chelsea's goals conceded for the season, 8 in 8 matches, Carlo Ancelotti must address his teams crossing deficiency before their title challenge resumes against high-flying, Lancashire derby winners, Blackburn.

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Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter branded the decision to allow Sunderland's winner against Liverpool FC on Saturday as "absolutely amazing".
Darren Bent's strike beat Liverpool FC goalkeeper Jose Reina with the help of a sizeable deflection off a beach ball which had been thrown onto the Stadium of Light pitch by an away fan. Click to continue reading...

While most of the US was transfixed by the Balloon Boy saga, Liverpool fans were encountering their own problems with dirigibles.

Yes, a bright red beach ball that wandered onto the pitch seems to have transfixed Pepe Reina's attention. Enough distraction and deflection of a Darren Bent shot to find its way to goal.

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Controversies played a major part in the game, as Sunderland came off strong at the Stadium of Lights against a Liverpool side, which was without the services of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. It took the Black Cats only 5 minutes to grab the lead, as Darren Bent got the back of the Reds net, as [. Click to continue reading...

1. The Big Four are Back No, not that big four. The other one. The top four Premier League teams are now Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal. No more Hull City, and Aston Villa missed their opportunity to join the party. You have to worry about Arsenal a little, but looks like this could be [...] Click to continue reading...