The big freeze and the dismal failure of England’s 2018 World Cup bid will not stop the Premier League from rolling on. Its game week 16, time to forget the disappointment, put the heating on and enjoy another weekend of Football.

Spurs enjoyed a much needed rest midweek and will be hoping to capitalise on any signs of a Birmingham hangover following their Carling Cup exploits. Both sides are on a good run and Harry Redknapp will be desperate to keep the pressure on the teams above them. The Blues have a fantastic home record but I have a feeling Tottenham are going to leave with all three points.

Birmingham will be relieved to see that Rafael Van der Vaart is once again doubtful, but Jermain Defoe(8.6), Aaron Lennon(7.5) and Luka Modric(7.2) are looking good, and they will need to be on their game if they are to breach a Birmingham back line that boasts some impressive points tallies. Ben Foster(5.0) 71 points, Liam Ridgewell(5.8) 65 points and Roger Johnson(5.2) 56 points, are in the top five points scorers so far this season in their positions. “If you score two we will score three” seems to be Spurs attitude, so there will be chances at the other end too. Cameron Jerome(5.7) and Nikola Zigic(5.3) are the cheaper alternatives in a match that promises goals.

Man Utd have been on the receiving end of a fair amount of criticism this season, yet they are undefeated and top of the Premier League table. United are off to the seaside Saturday evening and a certain Wane Rooney(11.5) will be desperate to get back in the goals after failing to get on the score sheet during the massacre of Blackburn Rovers last week. A special mention this week for Rooney’s team mate Nani(9.3) for reaching the 100 points mark this season.

Game week 16 concludes with a slightly rejuvenated Liverpool hosting a Villa side that are on the slide. The Reds are still missing inspirational Captain Steven Gerrard but the usually ineffective Lucas has added some steel to Liverpools midfield. The Brazilian is available for a mere 4.5 million and could be a shrewd acquisition in Gerrards absence. Jamie Carragher is facing three months on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder against Tottenham. It could mean a recall for Sotirios Kyrgiakos(5.1) and the Greek will be hoping to recapture his early season form.

Villa rallied well in the second half against Arsenal but they are struggling without Marc Albrighton, skipper Stiliyan Petrov and punch-line Emile Heskey. Robert Pires(5.0) who has a wealth of experience and young Ciaran Clark(4.5) could prove to be important players for Gerard Houllier in the run up to Christmas.

That’s your lot for this week. If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

As much as I do enjoy the off the field entertainment associated with football in England, early Saturday kickoffs are always a welcome relief to the insanity of contract negotiations, rumors and managerial master classes. While topics concerning the week that was have been written on at length, it’s now time to get back down to the exploits on the pitch in what ended a weekend of Premier League football with plenty of talking points.

It was a decent enough couple of days in the Premier League that saw Manchester United finally win their first away game of the season, witnessed Chelsea continue their dominance and experienced West Brom jump into fourth spot, if only for a day or so. Manchester City failed their big test against Arsenal, although the neutrals hated to see Dedryck Boyata sent off so early in the encounter that promised to delight had XI men stayed on for both sides.

Spurs and Everton drew in a match that screamed one side was coming off a European hangover and the other was still searching for their best form while Liverpool got back on track with a win at home against Blackburn but remain in the relegation zone, if only on goal differential. West Ham remains worst but set out to attack while Blackpool were blanked away to Birmingham City.

Honorable Mentions –

Joey Barton, Newcastle – Newcastle won an important away game on Saturday v West Ham and Joey Barton played the role of provider for both of Newcastle’s goals. While it was far from a dominating performance by the Toon, they’ll take the points away from home any day of the week. Barton started the game on the right side of midfield giving way to Kevin Nolan and Cheick Tiote and his usual central midfield role. It was Barton’s cross in the 23rd that found Andy Carroll who won the header to set up Kevin Nolan for the equalizer and again Barton’s service in the 69th which found Andy Carroll for the winner when the striker headed home decisively.

One thing we’re learning about Joey Barton being back in the Premier League this year is that when he’s removed his head from his nether regions, he’s a decent enough footballer. It’ll be Barton’s leadership, experience and the occasional goal that will help Newcastle stay up this season, consolidate and push on in the coming years. Newcastle proved a few years ago that no team is too big to go down. While they currently boast a good enough squad through Nolan, Carroll, Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini and Barton himself to stay up this season, here’s hoping football fans don’t have to experience another Geordie meltdown in the near future.

Nikola Zigic, Birmingham City – The Serbian has now enjoyed two goals in as many weeks as his most recent effort proved enough to seal a 2-0 win at home to Blackpool on Saturday. Upon his move from Spanish side Valencia, Zigic took some time to settle into life as a Premier League footballer. In fact, he seems to still be settling. Although his goal on Saturday was the epitome of being at the right place at the right time, it just may be the little bit of luck he needs to get his first season in the Premier League off to a flying start.

Samir Nasri, Arsenal – To exclude an Arsenal player from at least the honorable mentions would be unfair to a side who saw off a determined Manchester City 0-3 away from the Emirates. Although the final scoreline shows Arsenal to have won without much fuss from City, the match itself was closer than the 3-0 mark leads it on to be. Even with a man less, City maintained some form of cohesion throughout the remainder of the encounter while some credit is due to the oft-criticised Lukasz Fabiabski who had a fine game in goal for Arsenal.

While the Gunners were able to win an important early season match to secure second spot, it was their ability to play as a team without one standout performance in the side. Cesc Fabregas was good, but failed to convert his penalty while the three goals for Arsenal came from three different players. All this said, Samir Nasri continued his good form for Arsenal when he combined brilliantly with Andrei Arshavin to open the scoring in the 20th minute, the goal his fourth in the league this season. Late on, Nasri’s hustle kept the ball in play and the Frenchman was able to slid a neat ball into the path of the just on Nicklas Bendtner who finished past Hart to seal the game.

Premier League Footballer of the Week -

Javier Hernandez, Manchester United – Chicharito’s exploits saved United on and off the pitch on Sunday. His brace secured Manchester United’s first away win of the season and quieted fears surrounding the Wayne Rooney saga, in that United have options up front with the Little Pea and through Dimitar Berbatov who’s contributed goals for United this season. While United maintain the services of their talisman Rooney, Fergie’s early summer buy of Chicharito looks to have been a smart one.

If there’s one thing Premier League fans have learned about Hernandez thus far this season, it’s that he’s an accurate finisher with pace. His clever back-header opened up the scoring for United, a goal that was as brilliant as it was difficult to complete, and his winner late on was a precise reaction finish that only the best strikers can pull off with their keen instincts.

Hernandez is an out and out striker the likes of a young Michael Owen. He works and works and doesn’t need a myriad of chances to put the ball into the net. While United fans mull over whether or not they’ll accept Rooney upon his return, they’ll take calm in the play of Chicharito and welcome him into the family with open arms.

Well, there’s one thing you can’t hold against Fabio Capello and that’s that he keeps his cards close to his chest. Today he’s announced that Peter Crouch will lead the England attack against Ukraine tomorrow night and deservedly so. Crouch has been the victim of some vicious criticism over the last few seasons, undeservedly so in some respects.

Crouch is one of the nicest footballers in the game and a damn fine player to boot. Sure, he has an unorthodox style and gait but hell, doesn’t everyone differ somewhat from each other. His height seemed to attract unwarranted criticism during his time at Portsmouth and Aston Villa, but at Southampton he began to put his critics to bed. On joining Liverpool, he showed that he wasn’t just a tall player but a bloody good footballer too and Portsmouth fans welcomed him with open arms when he rejoined them last summer.He’s got a lovely touch and a range of passing that puts some players to shame.

Yet, there is one thing lacking from his game for me that he needs to start rectifying and soon. Crouch has 14 goals for England, but none of them have been against top quality sides with the exception of a goal against Croatia in November 2007. The other 13 have come against Jamaica, Estonia, Andorra, Austria, Macedonia, Greece, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Hungary, none of whom you could honestly say are a top quality international side.

Crouch really need to find the net against the better sides when he plays for his country to put the negativity of his goal record to bed. Looking at some of the other strikers that have played for England over the years, International football really finds out the real top quality players. Kevin Phillips, Andrew Cole, Ian Wright and James Beattie to name four excellent domestic strikers who failed to cut the mustard at international level, in fact Crouch has scored 4 more goals than that quartet put together in an England shirt. Does that diminish the domestic records of those strikers? Of course not, but its interesting nonetheless.

Crouch has a chance to start adding goals against quality sides tomorrow night at Wembley, Ukraine are certainly one of Europe’s top 20 sides currently. A strong domestic and European club scene has allowed some of their sides to become household names over the years and the money currently flowing into some of Ukraine’s top sides has seen them attract better players to Dynimo Kiev and Shaktar Donetsk over the last few years.

A goal tomorrow would begin to rectify the negativity surrounding Crouch’s International record and allow the likeable lad to begin cementing his squad place in Capello’s plans for South Africa 2010. There is no doubt in my mind that a win tomorrow night will almost assure England of participation in the next World Cup and banish the nightmare McClaren period to bed, as Venables did in Euro 96 and Greenwood in Euro 80 and Spain 82.

Crouch can give England an option only Serbia’s Nikola Zigic can match in current football and it shouldn’t be underestimated. His skill with the ball at his feet is probably his most potent weapon and would allow Capello to have a variety of striking options available at his disposal. Here’s hoping Crouch can nick a goal tomorrow and build from there. It’s good to see the nice guys do well.

During the past two weeks, I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a headline from a major British newspaper tout that a major transfer deal was going to be concluded within the next 48 hours. Unbelieveable.

It’s now Thursday and there’s only a few days remaining before the transfer window slams shut on Monday.

At this rate, the expected tidal wave of big mouthwatering signings this summer that we were all teased with are not going to happen, yet again. The same thing happened last summer and the summer before. The big signings continue to go to Italy and Spain.

Sure, there’s still time for Robinho, Pavluchenko, Arshavin, Berbatov and Zigic to seal deals, but as the clock counts down until Monday, the possibilities seem less and less.

The month long transfer window two times a year is a bit ridiculous really. Most of the clubs hold out until the last few days in order to be in a better negotiating position. If I was in charge of FIFA, I’d reduce the window to two 15 day windows. One in January and one in August. This way the clubs and fans can concentrate on their football instead of being teased during the silly season.

It would also prevent the ridiculous number of articles that are printed by the press about transfer rumors and the spammy websites that thrive on this sort of speculation to drive up traffic numbers.

Do I sound bitter? Yes. All I want is for the fans and press to concentrate on the football instead of the gossip. If you’re like me, you’re sick of reading about Berbatov. All I want to do is see the lad back on the pitch and playing to the best of his abilities. He’s the perfect example of the negative side of the transfer window where all we’ve seen is him warming the bench and playing a few uninspired minutes. This insanity has to stop for the sake of football fans.