10 Things We Learned in the Premier League

By: Daryl | October 27th, 2008

1. The Rocket Club in Birmingham is like Lourdes for footballers
Despite suffering from fatigue, Villa’s John Carew was spotted at the Birmingham lapdancing club the night before Villa’s UEFA Cup game vs Ajax, which got “the city’s tallest footballer” a one game timeout (and a hefty fine) from Martin O’Neill. But seems the girls at The Rocket Club have medicinal properties. Because Carew miraculously rose from the Villa bench as a second half sub to score one and make one in Villa’s 4-0 win over Wigan.

2. Djibril Cissé is a very brave man
If I’d broken both my legs while playing football, I wouldn’t be doing any backflips to celebrate my goals. Good luck to you Djibril .

3. Liverpool should send Juve a thank you
We don’t know all the details, but seems Rafa Benitez was trying to sell Xabi Alonso to Juventus this summer. He’s still at Anfield though, and after scoring the winner against Chelsea yesterday (via a Bosingwa deflection) to possibly put Liverpool on the path to a proper Premiership push, Rafa must be glad Juve were too tight to meet the asking price. I recommend a nice box of chocolates.

4.This is what a €42.5m hat-trick looks like:

Three pretty straightforward finishes from Robinho, but great dribbling and final pass from Daniel Sturridge for the second (love Robinho’s celebration where he shines Sturridge’s boot) and beautiful team move for the third.

5. Wayne Rooney still has a temper
Rooney is brilliant when things are going his way. But when things go against him like they did vs Everton on Saturday, he’s still a red card waiting to happen. Alex Ferguson admitted as much by substituting his #10 to avoid a sending off on Saturday, though he managed to blame the ref rather than his own player.

6. But not as bad as Joey “I love trouble, me” Barton
The role model in waiting (ahem) made a bad situation worse in the Tyne-Wear derby by kissing the Newcastle badge to antagonize Sunderland fans. Not cool Joey.

7. Hull City are just one game away from legitimacy
They say you can’t take the Premier League table seriously until after 10 games. Right we’re nine games in and Hull are in third place, level on points with second place Chelsea. So after the midweek fixtures we’ll be at 10 games, and can start taking Hull’s place in the top four seriously.

and finally: three well worn sayings that were proven true in the Premier League this weekend

8. Third time lucky
Kieran Richardson hit two great free kicks last week against Sunderland but didn’t get on the scoresheet. The first one hit both posts (and then bounced off Mark Schwarzer and hit the post again) and the second one flew into the back of the net only to be ruled out because Pascal Chmonda was doing some pushing in the wall. But this week, Kieran Richardson stepped up in the 75th minute and hit a free kick past Shay Given with Roberto Carlos/Stuart Pearce (depending on your age) like pace to win the Tyne-Wear derby. Video of the free kick here

9. Nothing ever lasts forever
With Liverpool’s 1-0 win, Chelsea’s titanic unbeaten home record is finally over. Bad news for Chelsea obviously (and maybe the fear factor for Stamford Bridge visitors will ease a little) but now that the run is over we can put the numbers in the books and give them due respect: 86 Premier League games and four and a half years unbeaten at home.

10. A change is as good as a rest
Crazy weekend at White Hart Lane, where a new world record was set for firing a man and hiring his replacement. Juande Ramos’s chair was still warm and Harry Redknapp had barely shaken hands with his new players before sending them out against Bolton on Sunday. But it seemed to work as Spurs got their first win of the season: