Fulham

Roy Hogdson is the English Premiership manager of the year.

It's not even a debate as far as I'm concerned. The fact Fulham are on the brink of European football next season is nothing short of miraculous.

When Hodgson took charge of the Cottagers at the end of 2007, the team were looking into the abyss.

Stranded in the relegation zone, the team's seven-year stint in the Premiership looked all but over.

Winning their last four games helped Hodgson's Fulham achieve what seemed impossible, safety and an important one for the club's future.

The economic situation at Craven Cottage is far from secure. Relegation into the Championship would have been catastrophic financially.

Keeping the team amongst England's elite possibly kept the club in business.

Most recently Southampton went into administration after failing to keep their place in the top division and they now face an uncertain future.

The same could easily have happened to Fulham.

Hodgson has made some key additions. Brede Hangeland was an inspired signing to play the heart of the back four. Andy Johnson came at a price from Everton, but added experience and a proven goalscoring record.

Mark Schwarzer chose to end an 11-year spell in Middlesbrough to move south to London.

Having barely scraped through last year, Fulham were amongst the favorites to struggle again in 2008/09.

They've defied the critics to put the newly named Europa League (formerly UEFA cup) within their sights.

With one week left of the season, they sit in seventh place. A point at home to Everton next Sunday will almost certainly secure a place in Europe.

If you'd have said that last summer, people would have laughed.

Hodgson has had a colorful career. He's managed at Inter (and remains a fan favorite to this day) and the Swiss, U.A.E. and Finish national sides.

A previous spell in the Premiership with Blackburn Rovers had mixed results, European qualification in his first season and sacked during his second as the Lancashire club prepared for relegation.

Getting Fulham into Europe will possibly be his greatest achievement.

He hasn't had the money that Mark Hughes has, or the deep and talented squad enjoyed at Tottenham.

He's made Craven Cottage a difficult place to play, indeed only the two Manchester clubs have better home records in the Premiership.

He deserves all the credit that will come his way if he can secure that European place next week.

Manager of the year? No doubt about it.

Newcastle v Fulham, Premier League: May 16, 2009

Going into the penultimate weekend of the Premier League, this match looks to be (on paper at least) one of the most intriguing, as it pits two sides with much to play for.

Newcastle will be buoyed by their win over Middlesbrough earlier this week and could take a major step to securing their status in the "Promised Land" with a win in front of their relegation-haunted fans.

Meanwhile, Fulham are currently holders of seventh spot, which ensures participation in the Europa League next season.

Since the Toon’s win over Boro on Monday, there have been cautious words from the Newcastle camp. Alan Shearer said after the game that “there is still a long way to go” and midfielder Danny Guthrie backed this up, claiming the team "probably needs to win again.”

Such was their dire form prior to the win over their Northeast rivals. Still, the 3-1 win should have imbued the squad with the confidence to stay up, especially as their main relegation rivals, Hull, are unlikely to claim even a point from an away match at Bolton followed by a home game against Manchester United.

Shearer will be desperate for another win, and the Toon army will be baying for blood now that there is a chink of light at the end of the tunnel. The defense still looked a little shaky in the game against Middlesbrough, so midfield battlers Nicky Butt, Kevin Nolan, and Guthrie will have to play a high-octane game. If Mark Viduka can produce the form he did against his old club, the Fulham defense will have their hands full.

In the lead up to the match, we will no doubt hear reports of Shearer’s dilemma over whether to play his old pal Michael Owen. There is no doubt Newcastle looked much more threatening when the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker was substituted, but Obafemi Martins’ groin injury is likely to see him start from the bench and perhaps make an impact later on.

Owen has looked pathetic in recent weeks (no goals in 11 games), and the pundits have been queuing up to question whether he loves the horses more than football. Some have even pondered whether he is the “type of striker” who can play in the modern game.

Nevertheless, one of the greatest goal scorers England has ever produced will surely have a say in Newcastle’s relegation battle and will be looking for a repeat of the corresponding fixture last season, in which he scored the second in a 2-0 win.

Note that Owen is 11/2 to score the first goal, 6-4 to score at any time, and 66/1 to claim a hat-trick.

Fulham come into this game in a rich vein of form. The Cottagers have impressed in the last eight games, claiming five wins, including a scalping of Manchester United and their first away wins of the season.

Roy Hodgson has furthered his reputation this season, as Fulham have been one of the best football-playing sides in the league and he has coped admirably with losing key players to injury such as Jimmy Bullard in January and Simon Davies in mid-April.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, alongside Brede Hangeland and Clint Dempsey, has been among the unsung players in the Premier League, and any of them could be the subject of transfer speculation this summer. Other players, like Dickson Etuhu and Diomansky Kamara, have come in later on in the season and fit in with the team ethic.

Kamara was excellent last week, scoring a brace against Villa, and the Newcastle management team are no doubt working out how to nullify Danny Murphy, who has been the key to Fulham’s short passing game in 2008-09.

Note that Kamara is 25/1 to score two or more, Murphy is 5/1 to score at any time.

The key may well be how much Fulham want this; there is little doubt that they struggle to perform well in Europe, and in the league next season, they won’t have the same desire as the home side. Newcastle though did not look so secure defensively against Boro, and there will be opportunities for the Cottagers to turn the relegation battle on its head once again.

101gg predicts: Newcastle 2, Fulham 1 (15/2)

Full match odds here

Forget Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson should be named Manager of the Year.

Fergie looks all set to add more silverware to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet—aided by a multi-million budget—but Hodgson’s assembled a top-10 Premier League outfit on peanuts.

The 61-year-old London-born tactician has been inspirational since his arrival at Craven Cottage in December 2007.

Hodgson somehow managed to keep the doomed Cottagers in the top flight last season as they won their last three games to fend off the threat of relegation to the Championship and this season they have gone from strength to strength.

The Cottagers sit in ninth place and are targeting a seventh-placed finish which would mean a place in the Europa League next season.

With three games remaining Fulham look well placed to surpass their highest ever league position—ninth in the Premier League in 2004 under Chris Coleman.

The former Swiss national team boss also has an eye for a player and the signing of centre-back Brede Hangeland in January 2008 from Copenhagen for a bargain £2.5million was a masterstroke.

The Norway international is now rated in £10million-plus bracket and the London club will do well to keep hold of the 27-year-old in the summer.

Hodgson was also shrewd in his decision to offload talisman Jimmy Bullard to Hull for £5million. The 30-year-old midfielder was after a lucrative long-term deal at the Cottage, but Hodgson decided to allow the injury-prone star to leave and he’s been proved correct as the player picked up another long-term knee problem in his first game for the Tigers.

And all the credit has to go to Hodgson, who has developed a well-drilled, competitive footballing side on a limited budget.

Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) saw another defence today as champions Chelsea took on former champions Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea came in to this match on the back of a magnificent defensive performance at the Nou Camp against Barcelona, and knew they faced another stern test in just a few days time as Barca return for the second leg.

Fulham, on the other hand, were looking for a strong finish to a fantastic season which had seen them move from pre-season relegation candidates to a team on the verge of European qualification.

In this West London derby, however, it was Chelsea who emerged victorious, running out comfortable 3-1 winners.

Unlike the Barcelona match last Tuesday, today's game got off to a frantic start. Nicolas Anelka put Chelsea ahead with just 51 seconds on the clock, repaying the faith shown in him by Guus Hiddink, who started both Anelka and Drogba up front.

Fulham may have thought they were going to be on the end of a cricket score, until Danny Murphy's long pass found Erik Nevland, who ran clear of Alex before drilling the ball past Petr Cech just three minutes later.

This theme of early goal-scoring continued as, with 10 minutes on the clock, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka again combined to set up Florent Malouda, who gave Chelsea their lead back.

The goal-scoring eventually slowed down, but the match was still full of chances. Nevland came close with a superb volley, while Frank Lampard saw his shot deflected inches wide. Didier Drogba also had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

Chelsea started the second half the same way they had the first: with a goal. It was Didier Drogba who got his name on the scoresheet this time, taking the ball past Mark Schwarzer before rolling it into the net.

Chelsea's dominance became more evident as the match went on, and they could have got more than just the three. Frank Lampard again went close, this time from a free-kick, while Drogba put another effort just wide.

Fulham's loss means they have now lost more UWCC title matches as challengers (4) than any other team in the competition's history, yet they are still the most successful champions in UWCC history.

84.6 percent of voters in the poll said that Fulham wouldn't be able to beat Chelsea, so well done to the vast majority again!

Chelsea's run

Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea (Chelsea become new champions)

Chelsea 4-3 Bolton Wanderers

Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

Chelsea 0-0 Everton

West Ham 0-1 Chelsea

Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 3-1 Fulham

(Click here to see the complete history of Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship)

Chelsea's next title defence comes on Wednesday as they face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg. Can Barcelona become the best team in the world?!

Chelsea v Fulham

Saturday 2 May 2009, Stamford Bridge

Kickoff: 15:00

Chelsea

Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 at Upton Park in their last league match, the Blues' third win in four matches.

In their last five, Chelsea have won three, drawn one and lost one, picking up ten points from a potential fifteen. They are currently third in the league, three points behind second placed Liverpool and six points clear of fourth placed Arsenal.

Chelsea will likely be without Ricardo Carvalho for this match, with the veteran defender suffering a hamstring injury.

Fulham

Fulham FC beat Stoke City 1-0 at Craven Cottage in their last league match.

In their last five matches, Fulham have won three, drawn one and lost one, picking up ten points from the fifteen on offer. Fulham are currently seventh in the league, six points behind fifth placed Everton and two points ahead of eighth placed West Ham.

Fulham currently have no reported injury concerns.

Prediction

The two sides drew 2-2 earlier this season at Craven Cottage, whilst last season's Chelsea vs Fulham fixture ended in a 0-0 draw.

With their upcoming Champions League second-leg match with Barcelona set for Wednesday night, Chelsea may field a weaker team than usual for this match.

Furthermore, with the Blues already having played on Tuesday this week in Spain, manager Guus Hiddink is likely to want some of his key players to be fully rested for the all-important semi-final clash, which undoubtedly takes top priority over the Premier League for Chelsea at this point.

Fulham are playing for their best ever finish in the league, and with a European spot up for grabs, their remaining matches will be their one and only priority.

Still to face Newcastle, Aston Villa and Everton in their end of season run-in, the Cottagers will want to take as many points from each encounter to give them the best chance of finishing seventh at the end of the season.

With their sight sets on other competitions, Chelsea haven't been entirely convincing in the Premier League in recent weeks, even at Stamford Bridge. Furthermore, Fulham have been relatively solid on the road as of late, losing only once in their last six away games.

The last two league matches at Stamford Bridge between these sides both ended in draws, and with the Cottagers having drawn eight of their away matches this season—the equal highest amount of any team—in spite of Chelsea going into this match as strong favourites to win with the bookies, a draw could very well be on the cards.

Read the complete preview with the best betting guide at the Chelsea - Fulham odds and preview page now!

Then read our other weekend previews: Middlesbrough vs Manchester United, Portsmouth vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Newcastle all at the Sports Betting Review Web site.

Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) saw another defence today as champions Liverpool took on former champions Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Liverpool were looking to regain momentum after the convincing wins against Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Aston Villa had been interrupted by the international break. They went into the match knowing that a win would put them back on top of the Premier League, albeit with United having two games in hand.

Fulham's momentum was also disrupted by the international break. They had secured a famous 2-0 win against United in their last match, ensuring that the title race would go down to the wire.

They couldn't repeat that performance, however, as they went down 1-0 to a late Liverpool goal.

It could have been another rout for Liverpool but for a few inches here and there. They dominated the first half, and were very unlucky not to be ahead when the teams went in for the break.

Andrea Dossena continued his impressive recent attacking form with a lovely curling shot with the outside of his boot that was tipped magnificently over by the fingertips of Mark Schwarzer.

Liverpool—and Dossena himself—were to get even closer to scoring not long after as he flicked Martin Skrtel's volley onto the crossbar.

It was Xabi Alonso's turn to hit the bar next as his thunderous volley beat Schwarzer, only to cannon back off the woodwork.

It seemed like it was going to be one of those days a few minutes later as Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres linked up in typically sublime fashion, only for Torres to see his shot bounce back off the post.

Unbelievably, Liverpool hit the woodwork for a fourth time in the first half and, unbelievably, it was another Andrea Dossena header that did it, after a long, searching pass from Xabi Alonso found Gerrard, who whipped in a dangerous cross from which Dossena really should have scored.

There was none of the same urgency at the start of the second half, but Liverpool soon started applying the pressure again, with Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard going close.

Just as it was looking like a Liverpool draw could be their downfall again, however, Yossi Benayoun picked up the ball and struck a powerful finish past Schwarzer to give Liverpool the win two minutes into stoppage time.

The result means Liverpool move two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table, and that the pressure is back on United for their match against Aston Villa tomorrow.

The result is also Fulham's third loss as challengers in a UWCC title match, joining Villa in that unenviable group.

Of the 30 voters in the poll, 80 per cent said that Fulham wouldn't beat Liverpool so well done to everyone who got it right!

Liverpool's run

Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool (Liverpool become new champions)

Liverpool 5-0 Aston Villa

Fulham 0-1 Liverpool

(Click here to see the complete history of Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship)

Liverpool's next title defence comes on Wednesday as they host Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinal. Can Chelsea become the best side in the world again?!

Fulham 0-1 Liverpool

Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League thanks to an injury-time winner from Yossi Benayoun at Fulham.

The Merseyside club piled the pressure back on reigning champions Manchester United, who face Aston Villa tomorrow. Liverpool are now two points clear of United having played two games more.

Liverpool had been thwarted several times during the game by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, and when they had beaten him, the woodwork built to the frustration.

Fulham, coming of the back of a 2-0 victory over Manchester United last time out, had a chance to once again influence the destination of the Premiership trophy. However, they failed to provide the same attacking threat, despite fielding an unchanged side.

At times, it appeared that in trying to deny Steven Gerrard space to create danger in between the midfield and defence, forwards Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora were left isolated from their team-mates.

The first near-miss on the Fulham goal came when Fernando Torres shielded the ball excellently on the edge of the Fulham box before playing in Andrea Dossena, only for the Italian to see his shot tipped over the bar.

Fulham failed to deal with the resulting corner, but Martin Skrtel's shot was flicked onto the top of the bar by Dossena's head.

Gerrard then found some time in front of the Fulham back-four and played through Torres. The Spaniard hit the ball across the goal, but Schwarzer made a great double save—first from the initial shot and then to smother the rebound away from Dirk Kuyt's feet.

Liverpool continued to apply the pressure as the first half progressed, with Xavi Alonso hitting the bar with a dipping volley shortly afterwards.

Gerrard once again fed Torres, who got in behind the defence. His shot beat Schwarzer but Liverpool were denied by the frame of the goal for the third time.

As the half drew towards a close, Gerrard was becoming more and more influential. After finding space on the Liverpool right flank, he whipped in a fantastic cross along the six-yard box, only for Dossena, incredibly, to head against the bar.

The interval seemed to work against Liverpool, and for much of the second-half, they failed to regain their earlier momentum.

While Fulham were still unable to fashion a meaningful attack of their own, they limited their opponents to only one real opening—a tame header from Torres who was back peddling at the time.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was visibly getting increasingly frustrated as the hour mark passed and soon afterwards he made his first change, Ryan Babel replacing Dossena.

The Dutchman—making his 23rd substitute appearance of the season—seemed to add some pace to Liverpool's attacks and was one of the few players wearing red happy to commit defenders.

And shortly after coming on it was Babel who almost opened the scoring, his shot cleared by Fulham defender John Pantsil.

Liverpool's second substitution followed with Benayoun replacing the disappointing Kuyt, and the Israeli international nearly opened the scoring.

More good work from Gerrard down the right flank resulted in him driving a ball across the six-yard box. Benayoun got a heel to the ball but then watched his flick roll agonisingly the wrong side of the post.

Fulham seemed to have earned a share of the points after Benayoun fashioned himself another chance but could only shoot into the side-netting.

But two minutes into injury time, the ball broke to Benayoun inside the 18-yard box, and his well-hit shot beat Schwarzer to the delight of the traveling fans.

Fulham v Liverpool
Saturday 4 April 2009,

Craven Cottage
Kickoff: 17:30

Fulham

Fulham defeated Manchester United 2-0 at home in their last league outing, the Cottagers' second straight win.

In their last five matches, Fulham have won two, drawn one and lost two, earning seven points from a potential fifteen. Fulham are currently ninth in the league, one point behind eighth placed West Ham and two points clear of10th placed Manchester City.

Fulham currently have no reported injury concerns.

Liverpool

Liverpool thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 in their last league outing, the Reds' third straight league win.

In their last five matches, Liverpool have won three, drawn one and lost one, picking up ten points from a potential 15. The Reds are currently second in the league, one point behind league leaders Manchester United (although Man Utd have a match in hand), and three points clear of third placed Chelsea.

Liverpool will be without Yossi Benayoun and Phillip Degen for this match.

Prediction

The two sides drew 0-0 earlier this season at Anfield, whilst last season's Fulham vs Liverpool fixture resulted in a 2-0 Liverpool win.

After recent losses to Hull and Blackburn, Fulham seem to have found their form again after a win over Bolton and an inspiring victory against Manchester United in their last fixture.

Liverpool have been in scintillating form during the month of March; their 4-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League seemingly serving as a catalyst for the side, who followed up the result with a 4-1 hammering of Manchester United and a 5-0 demolition of Aston Villa, with Steven Gerrard bagging a hat-trick in the latter of the two matches.

If the International break has not slowed down Liverpool's title ambitions, then Fulham—or any team for that matter—will be hard pressed to stop Liverpool on current form.

However, this match may not prove as easy for Liverpool as their win over Villa.

Fulham will undoubtedly be on a high after their massive victory over Man Utd two weeks ago, and with the current fourth best home record in the league, having defeated the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as drawing with Chelsea at Craven Cottage this season, Fulham will certainly not be a walk-over against any team at their home ground.

In spite of this, it looks as if nothing will stop Liverpool from at least mounting an exciting title challenge in the end of season run-in by picking up all of their remaining points, and so the Reds will go into another important match as favourites for victory.

For the complete preview with the best online betting odds for the match, go to the Fulham vs Liverpool page now.

For Saturday's matches, we have also previewed Arsenal vs Manchester City and Newcastle vs Chelsea. Whilst on Sunday, a big match in Manchester United vs Aston Villa has been previewed.

In many ways it is a sad day for Iranian football, as the country's football governing body, the IRIFF (Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation), has parted ways with coach Ali Daei.

However, in many ways this announcement was inevitable, as a string of poor results in 2010 World Cup Qualifying has meant that Iran are now struggling along the road to South Africa in 2010.

After picking up just six points in five games in a qualification group that includes North Korea, Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, many fans and Iranian media personnel were calling have already been calling for Daei's resignation.

And after the 1-2 defeat at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, it was the IRIFF who took action, sacking Ali Daei after seeing the nation's top sports team falter once again at home.

However, straight after the match, Daei reacted angrily to local journalists who questioned whether he would step down from his role following his side's defeat.

He said: "I'm happy with the players' performance and I'm not going to resign.

"I believe the players played very well and I am proud of them now.

"We conceded those two goals because of our mistakes and I can understand how difficult it is for everybody, but what we have to do is try harder and claim as many points as we can in the forthcoming games."

The Iranian players—which include midfielder Andranik Teymourian who is on-loan at Barnsley from Premier League side Fulham—will now have to try harder without the coaching of Ali Daei.

Former Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin striker Daei, who is currently the highest international goalscorer ever with 109 goals for Iran, was appointed head coach back in March 2008.

The IRIFF had previously tried to install Spaniard Javier Clemente as coach, and after agreeing to join the IRIFF set-up in February 2008, he performed a U-turn, after saying that he did not want to live in Iran like the IRIFF had said, and instead would rather stay in Spain and only come over for matches.

No agreement could be made, and the long await was over when it was announced that national icon Ali Daei would take charge of the team in March 2008.

Now, at the end of March 2009, Daei has been relieved of his duties as coach, after enduring a one-year tenure of constant pressure from the Iranian media and fans.

A sad day for Iranian football in one way, but in another it is a new dawn, a new era in Iranian football, and one in which Iran will hope can take them to the biggest stage of all, the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

It could be a pub quiz question. Name the sportsman: He is a footballer. Born in 1964. Played in Belgium,  France and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. Oh, and he just happened to be the player at the centre of the most fundamental ruling in the history of football transfers. I know this one! Jean-Marc Bosman.

The "Bosman ruling," as it has come to be known, was a decision made in 1995 by the European Court of Justice concerning one of the fundamental principles of labour laws in the European Union (EU). It prohibited the restriction of EU nationals from moving freely between football clubs at the end of the contracts.

Indulge me for a moment—but do you remember Quantum Leap where Dr. Sam Beckett (played by Scott Bakula) played a time traveller jumping from one body to another "putting right what once went wrong?" So, let's jump forward a decade or so to the 21st century.

Name the sportsman: He is a footballer. Born in 1984. Played in Argentina and England. Oh, just happened to be the player at the centre of one of the most bizarre transfer-related stories football has seen. Step forward Carlos Tevez.

In August 2006, Tevez, moved to West Ham United under a cloud of confusion. He signed with West Ham and was paraded in front of the Upton Park crowd, but it appeared his player registration was owned by Media Sports Investments (MSI)—the legacy of a deal done between Corinthians (Tevez's previous club) and MSI.

The 2006-2007 EPL season played itself out against the backdrop of legal proceedings which led to West Ham United being fined £5.5 million for breaching EPL rules over his signing (and that of Tevez's fellow Argentine, Javier Mascherano).

Changes to legal and third party agreements were made after which opened the door for Tevez to appear for West Ham in the run-in.

Tevez played a big part in West Ham avoiding relegation from the EPL that season—even scoring the only goal in their final match of the season at Manchester United, leading to the relegation of Sheffield United instead.

It has been readily accepted that West Ham should have had points deducted instead of receiving a fine—so Tevez's spectacular contribution should represent no more than a footnote in the history books of West Ham's relegation that season.

The EPL ducked their responsibility when it came to the points deduction—it has been suggested that the EPL reckoned West Ham's league position was always perilous, so a points deduction would have made little difference to their relegation battle anyway.

Tevez moved to Manchester United in the summer, but there had already been rumblings of discontent bubbling at Sheffield United. Yet, another legal battle ensued with Sheffield United failing to be re-instated to the EPL.

Sheffield United then moved for a financial settlement which was settled out-of-court in their favour—to the tune of £20 million over a five-year period.

Phew. It's over. But no, the case which led to Sheffield United's out-of-court settlement has set a dangerous precedent.

Former Sheffield United manager has publicly stated he and his advisors are exploring the possibility of suing West Ham over lost earnings and losing the status of being an EPL manager.

Similar lawsuits are being considered by a number of Sheffield United players.

It has also emerged that Fulham football club are considering suing West Ham for the revenue lost after finishing below West Ham in the final EPL standings.

Where will it end?

I recall the Ben Johnson scandal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics—being stripped of his gold medal and awarding it to Carl Lewis. But it has since been revealed that Lewis and Linford Christie (later awarded the Silver medal after finishing behind Lewis in that final), amongst others have been banned for drug use.

Do we start tampering with record books, medal tables, competition results because of this? Of Johnson, Lewis, Christie, and even Dennis Mitchell, only Johnson was stripped of his medals and records.

Back to the Tevez saga. Yes, the EPL was disgraceful in how they handled the saga; the EPL made the wrong decision in fining West Ham (rather than deducting points) in the 2006-07 season, and EPL chief Richard Scudamore should be called to account, but the Tevez boat has well and truly sailed. Let it lie.

Do we then entertain Wigan, who finished just below Fulham in the EPL standings, to make a similar claim to that of Fulham?

What about any teams that were on the receiving end of bad results when playing against West Ham where Tevez scored a critical goal or made a key pass?

Would they have finished higher than their final positions in the league?

What about teams that Sheffield United played the following season? Would their opponents have fared any differently against a relegated West Ham side?

Tugging on these perceived unjust ends will surely only serve to unravel the tapestry of the EPL's history and integrity.

There are many lessons to be learned over this saga, but let us not indulge everything from the sublime to the ridiculous. We can take these lessons and swallow their bitter taste—for the future.

We always want to do the right thing, but unlike Dr. Beckett in Quantum Leap, some wrongs simply should not be put right.