EPL Talk » Paul Robinson

Wembley Gets Champions League Final and Other Stories

Johnathan Starling — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:50:32 +0000

It took a little time, but the Champions League Final is heading to Wembley Stadium.

It took a little extra time, and a vote by parliament to exempt tax rules on players who would play in the final, for Wembley to get the final that will be played in 2011. What it also means is that Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium will have to wait awhile to host a European final.

It’s was a busy day for Sam Allardyce. First after telling Manchester City no about Roque Santa Cruz, then made a 2.8 million pound offer for El-Hadji Diouf. With the way Allardyce spoke today, it leads me to believe Santa Cruz is going to go this summer. As for Diouf, don’t you have enough forwards right now or did one slot open up with Matt Derbyshire’s loan move to Greece?

Well Salamon Kalou has alot of explaining to do over his handcuff gesture. One thing that a football pitch shouldn’t be used for is to show support for or against anything political.

If Gary Megson wants to get on the Bolton supporters good sides, calling them pathetic wouldn’t be such a good idea.

How original from Liverpool. Reporting Tottenham for ‘tapping up’ Robbie Keane just seems juvenile.

Paul Robinson has seen his red card rescinded. At least the FA got something right.

Rafa’s Ranting Is Doing Liverpool No Favors

Johnathan Starling — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:19:32 +0000

The sooner Rafa Benitez keeps his mouth shut about how teams are playing against Liverpool, even in off handed ways, and focuses on getting your team back on the winning path; the better off you will be. The comments made after Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at the JJB against Wigan in my mind read like a manager who has lost grip with what is important…winning.

The comments, where he calls the game crazy, says his players were okay, and takes a back handed swipe at how his team played with this comment “We’ve been giving away too many points. This has happened in the last three games and it’s something I don’t like. “I know why but I cannot say anything…” tells me that Rafa doesn’t get it.

I notice a pattern here. Ever since Rafa’s swipe at Sir Alex Ferguson, nothing has been Rafa’s fault. Maybe it’s time for Rafa to look at himself in the mirror and realize maybe it’s what he’s doing with the squad that has Liverpool playing in this manner. With Chelsea coming up on Sunday, Rafa doesn’t have long to turn things around. It’s going to be very interesting to see how he deals with Scolari’s men, considering the chances they have created lately.

Other Stories
Gotta love the red tops. I don’t think Roque Santa Cruz is gonna want to leave one team struggling for relegation to head off to another (that would be to Tottenham).

These type of gentleman’s agreements better be dealt with quickly by FIFA. No wonder why Zenit St. Petersburg has been so smug about this whole Andrei Arshavin situation. It looks like if Arsenal want him, it’ll be fifteen million to secure him.

In a subject I talked about yesterday, West Brom are going to appeal Paul Robinson’s red card picked up against Manchester United. I hope the suspension is overturned.

The BBC wins the UK Premier League highlight rights. The only added bonus is MOTD will be available for UK Users on iPlayer on delay.

I don’t think anyone associated with Manchester City will be getting a Christmas card from Steve Bruce. Saying that Palacios was used as a pawn in the Craig Bellamy deal is a strong accusation.

Could Marco Storari be the next backup to Petr Cech at Chelsea?

As mentioned earlier on the site today, Michael Owen looks to be out for six weeks while Joey Barton looks to be out six weeks thanks to ankle injuries sustained against Manchester City. This on the say night where Joe Kinnear confirmed that Shay Given will more than likely leave the club in January.

Friday will be the day when FIFA will decide Nemanja Vidic’s fate from the red card he picked up at the World Club Cup.

Tony Adams wants three more players before the transfer window closes. It’ll be interesting to see if he can secure them. Meanwhile Sol Campbell is coming out and lamenting that talks haven’t started on a new contract for him.

Manchester City is pledging their full support behind Robinho.

Emile Heskey feels Aston Villa are top four worthy. We’ll find out soon enough.

Here is an interview I did for Football Corner.

And finally Vinnie Jones will be our next guest for the EPL Talk Podcast. Now I shouldn’t have to be doing this but I will. Please keep your questions reasonable or else don’t expect them to be asked on air.

Was Paul Robinson Deserving of Red Card?

Johnathan Starling — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:12:37 +0000

When you see West Brom v Manchester United, it’s almost written in stone what the outcome is going to be. However in being the first live match I have seen in over two weeks, I was happy to see any and all live football. When it’s all said and done, most will remember this match for the result that keeps the pressure on Liverpool and Chelsea in the league and for the record Manchester United broke (most minutes without allowing a Premier League goal), I will remember this match for the red card Paul Robinson received and the questioning in my mind if it was a worthy decision.

The decision five minutes from halftime was the death knell for any opportunity West Brom had to get back in the match and from my vantage point was a very harsh red to give out. Both Robinson and Ji-Sung Park were sliding after the same ball, just Paul Robinson was second to the slide. Yes Park was injured on the slide, but in the course of 50/50 challenges there is always a possibility of an injury.

The other thing that caught my eye was the angle from which Rob Styles was at when he saw the challenge. Did Rob Styles have a proper angle to correctly judge the tackle and to me the answer was no. While there are no players blocking his line of sight, Park’s body was shielding the true actions of Paul Robinson. When we see the opposite angle, there are no studs that enter the fray.

The only reason I could see Styles giving that as violent conduct was the fact that Park required treatment. However Park’s condition wasn’t all that well known when the red card came out. When you see Ryan Giggs putting an arm around Robinson’s shoulder, it tells me that even most of the Manchester United players felt it was a harsh decision.

I do have to wonder though what would have happened had Robinson not been involved in a few decision earlier in the half. Would he have been sent off?

The red card only changed the scoreline Manchester United were going to win by and credit has to go to Manchester United for not letting their foot off the gas pedal when they had every opportunity to do so. Instead the Red Devils took the opportunity to increase their goal difference of plus 29, equaling that of Chelsea.

So was Paul Robinson deserving of the red card? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Also what were your thoughts on the other action of the afternoon? Has Emile Heskey already started to pay off the transfer fee paid to Wigan? Will Stoke City rue yet another slow start to a match and what does the result do for Tottenham? How much time does Sunderland get to breathe a sigh of relief after Kenwyne Jones second half goal sees them past Fulham? Will we ever see any separation at the bottom? Again let us know below.

Blackburn Signs Paul Robinson For £3.5 Million

The Gaffer — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:00:44 +0000

Three of my most vivid memories of Paul Robinson are (1) the back pass from Gary Neville that bounced past Robinson into the net against Croatia, (2) the long range free kick when Robinson scored for Spurs against Watford, and (3) the time when I saw Robinson play in goal for Spurs against Blackburn in November, 2006.

Robinson’s fortunes has changed considerably since that cold night in Lancashire. But the reason that Robinson stood out for me that night was at the beginning of the second half at Ewood Park. When Robinson was heading over to the goal to place his goalkeeper’s bag in the rear of the net, the Rovers fans started spontaneously singing at Robinson. “England’s number one; England’s, England’s number one.”

Robinson, clearly appreciating the singing, turned around and applauded the thousands of Rovers fans standing beside me in the Blackburn End.

It’s rare in modern day football to hear fans applaud a member of the other team. This one shining example shows how classy Blackburn fans are and how well Paul Robinson should fit in with his new club who signed him for a fee of £3.5 million.

Robinson is no Brad Friedel, who appears likely to move to either Aston Villa or Manchester City. But for Robinson, his move to Blackburn is a perfect opportunity to start all over again, regain his confidence and try to fight for the opportunity to be the number one goalkeeper for England once again.

Spurs To Sign PSV’s Gomes — Will Robinson Move To Villa?

Lonnie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:17:19 +0000

Several news sources are reporting that Tottenham have agreed a deal with PSV Eindhoven to sign goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, subject to personal terms, a medical and a work permit. Gomes is 27 and has played internationally for Brazil. He helped PSV to the Dutch title last season, his fourth title since joining from Brazilian club Cruzeiro in 2004, by conceding only 24 league goals.

Should Gomes’ work permit go through, it will almost certainly signal the end of Paul Robinson’s time at White Hart Lane. Robinson was dropped from the Spurs side last season by boss Juande Ramos. Robinson had a season to forget last year as not only did he lose his place in the Spurs first XI but he was also being dropped from the England squad by new manager Fabio Capello. Robinson is said to be moving to Aston Villa, if only for the fact that he will come at a more reasonable price than Liverpool’s Scott Carson, who spent last season on loan at Villa Park. Villa manager Martin O’Neill is said to be keen to have the goalkeeping situation cleared up as soon as possible, largely because the Villans embark on their Intertoto Cup campaign in a couple weeks’ time. You can find coverage of the Intertoto Cup on the Champions League Talk website.

Spurs fans will remember Gomes as the man who saved a Jermain Jenas penalty in the shootout that PSV won 6-5 to eliminate Tottenham from the last 16 of last season’s UEFA Cup competition.

PSV are rumoured to be eyeing Manchester City and Sweden international goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson as a replacement for the departing Gomes.