FOX’s live airing of Chelsea against Manchester United on February 5, 2012 delivered an average 0.8 rating with 1.377 million viewers, which was approximately 119,000 viewers more than the viewing figures for the Arsenal versus Manchester United match shown live on FOX on January 20, 2012. The audience for the Chelsea versus Man United match was 1.258 million.

Excluding Super Bowl programming on NBC, the Chelsea against Manchester United match was the top-rated broadcast event of that weekend among young viewers including men 18-34 and men 18-49. The top markets airing the game live were New York and Washington DC, which led all markets with a 1.6 rating, followed by Portland, Birmingham and Austin with a 1.5.

FOX also showed the game live on FOX Deportes. When the ratings for FOX and FOX Deportes are combined, the total viewing audience was 1.843 million, with a combined rating of 1.1.

According to a spokesperson for FOX Sports, there are no new plans to report currently regarding the chance of any additional Premier League matches being shown live, or on tape delay, on FOX for the remainder of the season. Eric Shanks, FOX Media Group co-President and co-COO, recently told the press that he expects there to be one more live match shown next season compared to this.

One of the most depressing things to have emerged from the racism scandal that has threatened to overshadow large parts of the Premier League season is the loyalty blindness that has affected large amounts of fans throughout the league.

The boos that rained down on Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdinand were a signal that all is not well in the minds of a significant minority of so called football supporters. To boo a victim or alleged victim of racism is disgusting enough but to then claim that it is justified along tribal lines is frankly appalling behavior.

If what has happened over the last few weeks would have unfolded in any other country, let us say Russia or Spain for argument’s sake, our media and fans of football in this country would have been swift and damning in their criticism of it. However, it appears to be all too easy for people to put the football goggles on and descend into some sort of twisted moral logic that even the most dastardly politician would have trouble replicating.

Take for example the booing of Patrice Evra at Anfield. Here we are faced with a large number of people abusing a person who has been found, through an independent tribunal, to have been the victim of racist abuse from a fellow professional. Yet a significant amount of Liverpool fans felt that it was acceptable to boo Evra because he played for a rival team and his evidence had seen one of the Kop’s favourites banned.

This is not just a criticism aimed at Liverpool fans. There are fans at all clubs that embarrass the right thinking majority. Chelsea fans booing Rio Ferdinand and any number of clubs who sang the now infamous Adebayor chant over the last few years are just a couple of examples. Unfortunately there are plenty more out there.

Football is an emotive subject for many and showing undying love for their team is something that comes naturally to so many and this passion is a large part of what makes football and the Premier League in particular such a joy to follow. But passion and loyalty can never be used as an excuse for behaviour that in any other walk of life would be viewed with the utmost disdain.

“It is only a game” may sound like the kind of phrase your mum would say after another demoralising defeat as a child but at times like this, it is the most important thing to remember. If we lose sight of this fact then football will have lost its place in life. The role of sport is self defined – the oldest definition of the word in English is “anything humans find amusing or entertaining”. If we have reached the point where booing a victim of abuse is entertaining is seen as a form of entertainment then we all need to take a good long look at ourselves.

There are a lot of reasons to love Swansea City. Even if I hadn’t been supporting them for 32 years, I still think I probably would be writing this article. During the past 10 days, Swansea picked up three points on the road, got a home draw against Chelsea — and manager Brendan Rodgers was named manager of the month. The club sits in tenth place, and has the prospect of a home match against fellow new boys Norwich City at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea to look forward to.

In the meantime, here are my seven reasons to love the Swans:

1. Swansea has found their missing link. All season long I’ve been complaining that Swansea has been missing a creative midfielder who would be able to unlock defenses with clinical passes, to help Danny Graham. They’ve found that person in Gylfi Sigurdsson, an incredibly gifted Icelandic footballer on loan from Hoffenheim. He’s been so good on set plays and crosses that he’s kept new loan signing Josh McEachran on the bench. And how could you not love a player who is the chairman of a fishing industry company in his homeland of Iceland?

2. They no longer have the worst away record in the league. After Swansea’s 2-1 away win in the snow last Saturday against West Bromwich Albion, Swansea no longer have the worst away record in the league (thank you Fulham and Wigan). Football commentators will have to come up with a new tagline to give Swansea now that the tired line they’ve been pushing out is no longer valid.

3. Swansea sit at the top of the Fair Play League. The season is far from over, but Swansea’s excellent disciplinary record this season could help them qualify for Europe later this summer via the Fair Play League if they get permission from The FA to represent England.

4. Swansea plays with no fear. It’s incredibly rare to see a team such as Swansea, with no stars on their side, play without fear, no matter who the opposition is. In previous years, most newly promoted sides from the Championship would crumble under the pressure, play defensively or anti-football. But very few of them would push forward with such confidence and bravado like Swansea does. Earlier in the season, Chelsea clobbered Swansea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. Last week, the Swans outplayed Chelsea and came within 30 seconds of beating them one-nil if it wasn’t for a fluke own goal. Best of all, for Swansea fans such as myself, they’ve begun to play without fear away from home too, picking up vital away wins against Aston Villa and West Brom.

5. The Swans are a joy to watch. It’s no secret that Swansea has one of the most, if not the most, pleasing style of play in the entire Premier League. It’s beautiful to watch them play themselves out of trouble at the back with their perfect triangles, and then catapult down the wings with either Nathan Dyer or Scott Sinclair dribbling past defenders. It’s something you don’t see very often in modern day soccer anymore. Earlier in the season, Swansea’s possession was tedious at times — they held on to the ball, but didn’t create many chances with it. Luckily those days are gone thanks to Sigurdsson, Joe Allen, Leon Britton and Kemy Agustien exploiting the holes in the midfields and defenses of opponents.

6. Swansea has a wonderful set of vocal supporters. Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to hear some of the songs that Swansea have been singing, which have been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League where so many clubs sing the same songs. At the Liberty Stadium, you can hear the Welsh classic Land Of My Fathers. And at away matches, the Swansea City supporters are often louder than the home fans.

7. You’re watching stars in the making. From the manager, to the goalkeeper, to the defenders, to the midfielders and forwards, you’re seeing an incredibly talented team growing game after game. The reality is that this squad isn’t going to be around for long as the Premier League big boys will come in this summer and try to steal away their best talent. But what a joy it is to watch these players grow — most of whom have never played in the Premier League before this season.

On that note, my greatest fear about Swansea City this year is not that the team could get relegated or that their most valuable squad members will get sold, but it’s that certain transfer interest from top clubs could turn the heads of Swansea’s players and ruin their team morale. The current squad of Swansea players are hard-working professionals who aren’t egomaniacs and they all seem to be hungry to prove themselves in a team where every player is fighting to keep his spot. As long as that work ethic remains, and players don’t get too full of themselves, then Swansea will persevere no matter happens — even if their star players are swooped away by larger clubs.

The reality is that some of Swansea’s prized players will leave this summer. Swansea is too small of a club to say no to big offers. The record transfer fee the club has received for a player was £2,000,000 from Wigan Athletic for Jason Scotland. Many of Swansea’s players are worth five times or ten times that amount, but don’t be surprised if larger clubs in England, or Europe, would try to make lowball offers in the hopes that Swansea would accept them just because they are much greater figures than the club is used to. Hopefully, Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins will stick to his guns and realize the true market value of the talent he has.

Looking at the Swansea squad, there are several players who would interest other clubs. Obvious names include Michel Vorm, Nathan Dyer, Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair, but the reality is that every single player on Swansea’s team could be put in a shop window and there would be interested buyers. Those players include Danny Graham, Neil Taylor, Leon Britton, Ashley Williams, Angel Rangel, Mark Gower, Wayne Routledge and others.

Swansea sits in an enviable position as long as they can stay up in the Premier League this season. The club has a system and philosophy in place. Every one from the youth team to the reserves to the first team plays the same system of football, playing a passing game with the ball on the ground. We’ve already seen this season how effective that is. Swansea has been able to pass its way around all of the clubs in the Premier League to such an extent that they’ve only lost one home match all season, against Manchester United. Plus the club is 20% owned by the supporter’s club, and the club is debt free.

If they can continue that system and interchange players sold with keen acquisitions and youth players moving through their club, the club could act as a role model for other clubs wishing to move into the top flight and to stay there — instead of trying to buy their way to Premier League safety (i.e. QPR).

Swansea is a team you can believe in. The battle is far from over, but the future looks bright.

This Sunday’s Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City certainly has the makings of a decisive game in the outcome of the title race. With City’s stuttering away form over the last six weeks seeing them lose three times in the Premier League, would a defeat by Villa on Sunday represent a fatal blow to their title chances?

Clearly Villa this season have been playing a drab brand of football that can in truth explain their abject league position. This for a club of Villa’s stature is simply not good enough. The appointment of McLeish has divided many Villa fans and seven months on we are no nearer a consensus on his status. Nevertheless, Villa in spite of their patchy form, Villa has over the last month or so begun to deliver performances that should in truth have given them greater reward than they have accrued thus far. With players of the calibre of Bent, Ireland, Given and a rejuvenated Robbie Keane, Villa should pose some serious questions of a City rear-guard which has looked suspect over the last month or so. While accepting that the suspension to Kompany robbed them of their talisman for four games, this cannot explain the general malaise that has crept into City’s play in recent times. Gibson’s goal for Everton saw him standing on the halfway line with Richards prior to the goal, yet by the time he reached the edge of the box, Richards was strolling back to see his team concede.

As potent as City have been as an attacking force over the last month or so, Silva hasn’t been at his best nor has Aguero, while Dzeko hasn’t been firing on all cylinders for what seems like an age. This brings me to a certain Mr Tevez. If ever there was a time to call for the return of the gifted and mercurial Argentine, then Sunday would be the perfect opportunity for him to return as they have been lacking a spark that he could undoubtedly provide. Conversely, on the Villa side with Keane departing to sunnier parts in a few weeks, they need to make the most of his tactical nous while they still have him on board. Villa during their emphatic victory over Chelsea at the end of December demonstrated that they possess the qualities to challenge the strongest of Premier League teams, so why not adopt the same approach for City on Sunday?

With Ireland beginning to look like a player again after two years in the doldrums, what better place to showcase his obvious ability then against his former employers who cast him aside when the oil money was pumped into the club? With a solid structure Villa should now be aspiring to be where Newcastle are, on the brink of Champions League football. Yet, they are instead a few defeats away from being dragged into a relegation battle that a squad of their talent should be nowhere near. The time has come for Villa to illustrate that this season will not just be another confined to the past, forgotten in an instant. They now need to stand united and play a brand of football not like the puke football the home fans have been subjected to on many occasions this season. For the talent available to them their approach should be positive and if they adopt such a positive outlook to Sunday’s crucial encounter then by Sunday evening, perhaps the Villa supporters may be rejoicing on the appointment of Mr McLeish after all.

Despite big away wins for Wolves and Swansea, the weekend undoubtedly belonged to the Gunners, who ran out six goal winners over lowly Blackburn.

Arsenal’s seven goal mauling won them an impressive 7.67 points, easily the highest of the gameweek. As we’ve seen many times, it can be difficult for the top teams to prosper in home games against the bottom pack. Large league position differential often sees the title chasing sides accrue low point scores for comfortable wins, but things were different at the Emirates. Arsenal’s large win means that they’ve closed the gap on the four teams directly above them who all drew with eachother.

Had Liverpool been able to break down the stubborn Spurs back-line and win their game at Anfield then the Reds would have finally broken into the top four, a quartet which has remained the same for a fair few months. Despite struggling at home, Liverpool have managed six away wins this season – so even though Kenny Dalglish’s side have won two games fewer than Arsenal and Newcastle, the Reds are two points clear of the chasing pair. Liverpool scored well for their draw against a Spurs side who are sitting in third and won 3.88 points. However it is Chelsea who were the draw winners this week with their high-scoring game against Manchester United. Despite throwing away a three-nil lead, the draw still hands Chelsea 3.92 points.

Wolves got some much needed points after winning their bottom of the table clash over QPR. Wolves hadn’t won since gameweek 14 when they beat Sunderland 2-1, so their first away win since the start of the season was a welcome boost to the points tally. With Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton all failing to win, Wolves’ tally of 6.57 sees them move up a place and gain some ground on the teams above them. There is still quite a large gap between Wanderers in 18th and West Brom in 15th, but with the two sides meeting this weekend things could start getting tighter at the bottom once again.

It would be rude to ignore what is happening at Sunderland at the moment. Sunderland have gone from lowly strugglers to the team on top of the form table for the third gameweek running in the space of a few months. The Black Cats’ mid season charge means that there is finally a team threatening to break into the top seven, and the 7.36 gap between themselves and Newcastle could be greatly reduced in the next few weeks.

Manchester City have been quietly been going about their business again, and their 3-0 over Fulham opened up another gap between themselves and United. However, should City slip up and United get a decent win over fifth placed Liverpool this coming weekend then the tussle will commence once more.

• Highest Score: Arsenal 7.67 points
• Lowest Score: Blackburn 0.94 points
• Best draw score: Chelsea 3.92 points

I’ve spent too much of my 25 years in the States trying to convince Americans that there’s more to England than the great city of London. However, it’s quite likely there’ll be 6 London-based teams in the EPL next season. I’m presuming QPR don’t get relegated — which is unlikely given their new signings — and West Ham gets promoted from the Championship.

So that London derbys don’t become commonplace, and to prevent the EPL from devolving into the Londinium League, we need to set a limit of 5 London teams. I propose a London conference within the EPL with the bottom placed team being automatically relegated. Nothing else changes, three clubs will go down: the two non-London lowest clubs will be relegated along the bottom London club.

For those of you wondering: what if Reading makes the Championship Playoffs and gets promoted? I checked the map — they’re close, but outside the London Boroughs.

Given the attraction of playing in London and the flow of football finances to this mega-market, I doubt London participation will fall below 5 teams. But if it does, it probably means the North West is once again overrepresented. If this reality prevails, it will be time to invoke the Lancashire Conference, with the new relegation rules applying to Lancastrians… and so on.

That oughta add some extra spice into those stale and fruitless end-of-season encounters by teams relishing comfort above the drop zone.

The Premier League is remarkably successful but that doesn’t mean the world’s greatest sports league can’t be improved by employing conferences when a region is overrepresented. What do you think? Stupid idea? Bring it!

Speaking of EPL geography…

While celebrating all things Scottish or Welsh is encouraged, English traditions are often swept under the rug by guilt-ridden wussies. In their desperation for inclusiveness and political correctness, they’re all too eager to substitute British for English.

Being a soccer stud that came Stateside on a scholarship, the last thing I want to do is align myself with these effete elites. Nevertheless, I do wonder if it’s time to rename EPL Talk to BPL Talk — not B as in the Barclays Premier League, but British Premier League.

Historically, Wales has been referred to as “England’s first colony,” and it now seems the English Premier League is colonizing Welsh football. Indeed, the best Welsh teams clamor for the glamor of the EPL.

Swansea City FC are reveling in mid-table in the world’s most popular sports league.

Cardiff City FC, currently in the Championship, are perennial challengers for promotion to the EPL. Indeed, this year they are poised for the playoffs, if not automatic promotion to the greener pastures of English football.

Imagine: Swansea and Cardiff in the EPL; Now that would be something to BPL Talk about. Just as Wales joining England through the Acts of Union provided the foundation for Britain, the union of English and Welsh teams could transform the English into the British Premier League, or are we riddled with Cymrophobia? (don’t bother to look it up. It’s a cool word, alright, but with an ugly meaning — antipathy towards the Welsh).

Sunderland fans would have been fearing the worst when the Wearside club had only amassed 11 points from 13 games in the Premier League and were sitting at a dismal 16th after a disappointing 2-1 loss at home to bottom side Wigan. With these results Steve Bruce became Managerial causality number one.

With frustration growing now was time for radical changes. On the 3rd of December Sunderland unveiled their new manager, boyhood fan, Martin O’Neill. The ex-Aston Villa manager had a great reputation for building spirited teams at Leicester, Celtic and recently Aston Villa. Now, after 12 games at the helm, he has lifted his side to 8th on the table with 33 points and into the Fourth round of the F.A Cup. O’Neill’s record speaks for itself with 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. The most notable of these coming against league leaders Manchester City at the stadium of Light when summer signing Dong-Wong Ji scored in the dying seconds to give Sunderland a famous 1-0 win.

The Northern Irishman’s players are full of praise for the way their new manager has boosted their confidence. James McClean, the exciting young left winger bought from Derry City by Bruce, who had appeared to have been forgotten about until O’Neill threw him into the first team, describes the change. “The new manager’s lifted everyone around the club,” the £350,000 signing says. “He’s given us a new lease of life. He’s a remarkable man.”

The 59-year-old has also been hailed for his man-management skills. Suddenly Lee Cattermole, the less than innocent captain, resembles the midfielder Liverpool once sought after, rather than a bad-tackling, booking prone liability. “The gaffer has taken all the players to one side, put his arm round each of us and made us feel good about ourselves again,” says Cattermole. “He’s very intelligent and passionate”. Another player who has been pivotal under O’Neill is the gifted attacking midfielder, Stephane Sessegnon. The ex-PSG man is someone O’Neill and his assistant, Steve Walford, hone in training.

With this being said, most Sunderland supporters are wondering how O’Neill could have handled the Asamoah Gyan situation. A player last season who dazzled and danced his way into the hearts of the Sunderland faithful, before he abruptly left on a season-long loan spell at UAE club Al Ain at the start of this year’s campaign, when Bruce was in charge. With reports claiming he’s ruled out a return to the Black Cats, the Wearside club’s fans believe their new gaffer can convince Gyan otherwise.

Being big on loyalty, he hopes his players will repay him by raising their collective bar. A manager who says that his long-term goal is to see Sunderland performing in the manner of Barcelona re-assesses Bruce’s allegation that Wearside fans are unrealistically demanding, reinforcing his faith in the squad. “I don’t have a problem with expectations,” he says, firmly. “A club of Sunderland’s calibre should have ambition.”

In Martin O’Neill, Sunderland has a determined and efficient manager who’s brought a new spirit to the club, someone who’s ready to endear himself into the hearts of all Sunderland fans and most of all a manager who has strong ambitions for the future.

Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager. The fallout from The FA’s decision to remove John Terry’s England captaincy must certainly have been a key issue in the decision by the Italian to resign.

The decision by Capello to resign was given after his meeting with The FA. The discussions focused on The FA Board’s decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello’s response through an Italian broadcast interview.

In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio’s resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect.

David Bernstein said: “I would like to stress that during today’s meeting and throughout his time as England Manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future.”

Capello is quoted in the Italian media as saying:

“They really insulted me and damaged my authority. What really hit me and forced me to take this decision was the fact the much-vaunted Anglo-Saxon sense of justice, as they are the first to claim that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In Terry’s case, they gravely offended me and damaged my authority at the head of the England side, effectively creating a problem for the squad. I have never tolerated certain crossing of lines, so it was easy for me to spot it and take my decision to leave.”

A media conference with David Bernstein and the Club England Management team will take place at Wembley on Thursday at 12 noon.

The timing of the decision comes on the same day that Harry Redknapp was cleared of tax evasion charges. Surely, Redknapp will be approached regarding the immediate opening and will be strongly favored as the frontrunner to take the job. If Redknapp takes the England job, you have to wonder if Capello will take over Redknapp’s role at Tottenham Hotspur.

What’s your reaction to the decision? Do you think England will be better off without Capello? And do you think Redknapp should become the next manager? If not, who?

Two years ago this week, DISH Network became the first TV provider in the United States to offer FOX Soccer HD. Six months later, DirecTV added it. And slowly, but surely since, several cable companies nationwide have made the channel available. However, the vast majority of Comcast customers are still waiting for the channel to become available. Two years is a very long time to wait especially when there’s no sign of it being added.

If you are a Comcast customer, and you still don’t have FOX Soccer HD, take action and get Comcast to respond why they’re not making FOX Soccer HD available two years after launch:

1. Contact Comcast on Twitter at @comcastcares, @comcast and @comcastvoices
2. Post a message on Facebook at www.facebook.com/comcastcares?sk=wall
3. Complete a form that will be sent to Comcast

These unfortunate circumstances reminds me of how slow the rollout of Setanta Sports was nationwide. Even before the company went out of business, it still wasn’t available to the majority of Comcast customers — myself included. Hopefully Comcast will see the demand that’s out there for FOX Soccer HD and will add it soon.

While many Comcast customers are still waiting for FOX Soccer HD, the same applies to FOX Soccer Plus. Next month will mark the two year anniversary of the launch of that network, and we Comcast customers are still waiting for that network to be added.

Of course, the other option is to switch from Comcast and sign up with DirecTV, DISH Network or, if Comcast isn’t a monopoly in your area (like it is mine), switch to a different cable company.

Most fans of the Premier League in the United States want the game to grow, and broadcasting games on a major network is a tremendous step forward. Unfortunately, this means soccer is jeopardizing one of the major areas where it breaks from every American sport. In a country where almost every televised game is sandwiched by balding men shouting declarative presumptions of questionable logic, where animated robots jump around 30-foot television screens flexing metal-muscles, we have to ask ourselves, is this the path we want the EPL to follow?

Soccer is a graceful and beautiful game to watch. For the most part, FOX Soccer’s coverage reflects that. They tend to have two people talking rationally (relatively speaking) before every game and briefly at half, otherwise letting the game absorb the majority of the spotlight. FOX Soccer tends not to make itself the center of attention, recognizing people watch for the game, not for the production.

All of this is in direct opposition to the broadcast of every other American sport. Pregame shows for the NFL and NBA are laden with grandiose former stars with opinions to match, massive digital screens to make the seven-foot analysts look human, and mind-bogglingly inane pre-filmed segments. During FOX’s most recent NFL-pregame show, the host interviewed two fictitious talking babies created by a company’s marketing department. Networks like TNT, FOX and ESPN want the pregame to be a spectacle in itself, at the expense of the game’s dignity.

FOX has already begun to follow this formula with soccer. If you think my fears of soccer broadcasts getting Americanized is farfetched, you needn’t look any further than Piers Morgan. By bringing in the “noted Twitter antagonist” as a third-wheel for the main FOX broadcast, the network is following the big personality-big declarations formula, and he didn’t disappoint in that regard. Aside from Piers, the network used the same theme music as the NFL broadcast, and consistently tried to market to the NFL crowd. Not only does this demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding about NFL audiences, but it shows FOX’s aspirations consist of applying the NFL broadcasting formula to the EPL.

First and foremost, we all love and appreciate the game of soccer. I have tremendous respect for the game, and want it to remain the central theme of each and every broadcast. I want the EPL to grow in the US, but I want it to lure people with its subtle complexity, beauty, and exuberance. I don’t want it diminished by big screens and shouting dolts.

All I ask is, when championing the growth of soccer in the US, be careful what you wish for. We might be getting it.