After a dramatic week in the courts it looks like weâÂÂve finally seen the last of former Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. At least they gave us all a good chuckle as they left; Tom "Dr Evil" Hicks, with little finger in mouth, announced from his tropical island hideout that he is aiming to sue the whole of Britain for, wait for it, "ONE BILLION DOLLARS!"
However, Liverpool's on-field problems continued with a 2-0 loss to Everton in the Mersey derby. New owner John Henry, who also owns baseballâÂÂs Boston Red Sox, admitted itâÂÂs going to take some time for him to adjust to this new sport. That said, Lucas Leiva, Maxi Rodriguez & Co sure made their new boss felt right at home: Henry is used to watching his players standing around doing nothing but scratching their bums all game.
Further up England's exotic West Coast at Bloomfield Road, another tremendous display from Blackpool saw them just fall short of a deserved point against Manchester City. The Sea-Sea-Seasiders managed to give City a real run for their endless supply of money and should feel a little hard done by, as at least one of Carlos TevezâÂÂs goals should have been ruled out.
Substitute David Silva notched his first and CityâÂÂs third goal, and what a wonderful way to open his account with this weekâÂÂs goal of the week. Receiving the ball just outside the Blackpool area, the Spaniard jinked his way through the Tangerines and finished with a plum, sorry aplomb, curling a banana shot past the fruitless efforts of keeper Matt Gilks whose effort was fruitless. A real peach of a goal.
If City can keep this run going and finish in the top four, thereâÂÂs every chance that beer bellies worldwide will be bursting the seams of sky blue shirts instead of those of their red neighbours â who once again let a two-goal lead slip. The grateful recipients of this weekâÂÂs generous Manchester United defending were West Brom, who look to be in real danger of staying up this season.
The culprit for United this time was the usually reliable Edwin van der Sar, dropping a cross in a manner that Roy Carroll would be proud of, and allowing Baggiesâ Somen Tchoyi a tapped-in equaliser.
With Wayne Rooney and his boss not seeing eye to eye and Nani unable to replicate his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo every week United could struggle to keep up with the league leaders. Could the bragging rights in Manchester finally be switching from red to blue?
Talking of Ronaldo, it looks like the Premier League has finally found his replacement, but not in the step-over, sprint down the wing, step-over, cut inside, double step-over, hammer the ball into the net and invite team-mates over to join the celebration even though they donâÂÂt really want to kind of way.
HeâÂÂs already pulled off the hairstyle, now ArsenalâÂÂs Marouane Chamakh is trying to emulate the PortugeezerâÂÂs ability to win a penalty with defenders 10 yards away, and he pulled it off to perfection this weekend during his sideâÂÂs home win against Birmingham. But with referees forgetting to book players for cheating and the FA unwilling to enforce retroactive action through video evidence, what do players have to lose?
So letâÂÂs try to get our game back: itâÂÂs time to name and shame. This week the Draw Specialist Hall of Shame opens and Mr Chamakh has just picked up an enormous pair of scissors and cut the ribbons.
