The Premier League: 20 Seasons!

The Barclays Premier League is honouring its greatest players, managers and moments with the 20 Seasons Awards. 

This season is the 20th campaign of the Premier League and to celebrate the landmark, accolades will be awarded to those that have helped make the competition the most watched in the world.

Today, after weeks of deliberation, the shortlists have been announced and our reporter, Vishal, has chosen what he thinks should be the winners!

Best Match: Portsmouth 7-4 Reading 2006/07

Best Goal: Paulo di Canio, West Ham v Wimbledon 1999/00

Best Celebration: Jimmy Bullard, Man City v Hull City 2009/10

Best Save: Craig Gordan, Sunderland v Bolton Wanderers 2010/11

Best Team: Personally, I think Heskey, Frimpong and Elokobi should be here but sadly they weren't nominated.

Comment below if you disagree, or visit the premier league website to vote for yourself!

Team scouting report

This time we look at Aston Villa!

The spine.

Goalkeeper
Shay Given
Joined from Manchester City in the summer and has secured a reguler ace in the side.

Defender
James Collins
One of the most commited defenders around he is never afraid to commit himself

Midfielder
Stephen Ireland
His bursts from midfield are brilliant he is crucial in the absence of Darren Bent and Stylian Petrov.

Striker
Emile Heskey
The ex England international maybe doesnt score as many goals as a striker should but his work effort and his abilty to hold the ball up is second to none in the absence of darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlohor playing on the wing he is the main striker at Villa Park

Best starting 11 (Bent and Petrov are unavalible Bent for injury and Petrov with likuemea otherwise they whould be in the team)

Given
Hutton
Collins (solid as a rock!)
Dunne
Warnock
Albrighton
Ireland (drives through defences!)
Herd
N'Zogbia (pace on the wing!)
Heskey( a tank!)
Agbonlahor

Monday Madness!

Naoaki Aoyama trips himself up to concede comical goal 

Naoaki Aoyama has booked a place on next Christmas's football bloopers videos, thanks to his role in a comical goal. 

The Yokohama F Marinos defender presumably intended to demonstrate how to coolly play the ball out from the back when it was knocked to him on the halfway line early in a J-League Cup match against Consadole Sapporo.  

Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, he did the opposite and managed to trip himself up as he backpedalled.Things got even worse for him, as Sapporo striker Hideo Oshima latched on to the loose ball, advanced unchallenged into the penalty area and slotted it past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 after just six minutes. 

Cesc Fabregas does silly dance before Lionel Messi free-kick for Barcelona 

Cesc Fabregas has been caught on camera trying to pull off some extremely bizarre dance moves to distract an opposition goalkeeper as his Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi waited to take a free-kick. 

In scenes reminiscent of former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar's famous wobbly legs, the former Arsenal midfielder claps his hands and shimmies about as he takes his place in the wall in an apparent attempt to confuse Levante keeper Gustavo Munua. 

In a video posted on YouTube set to the Benny Hill theme tune, Fabregas - who appears completely unabashed about the zany shapes he is throwing - stoops down, waves, bunny hops and even gives what can only be described as a zombie impression as Levante players seem to complain. The 24-year-old's wacky antics prove to be for nothing however, as Messi fires his free-kick high and wide over the Levante bar. 

Andrey Arshavin celebrates goal by standing on team-mate 

Andrey Arshavin's new goal celebration looks unlikely to catch on, as it involves standing two-footed on an injured team-mate. 

The Arsenal midfielder, who is currently on loan at Zenit St Petersburg, demonstrated the technique in Saturday's big game against CSKA Moscow.Zenit's Vladimir Bystrov opened the scoring with a diving header midway through the second half of the top-of-the-table clash.He injured himself in the process and fell to the floor while celebrating, but Arshavin was less sympathetic than his colleague might have expected him to be.Instead of helping, he deliberately stood on Bystrov's stomach. 

The key to Carroll's form: hair gel.

Slick

Liverpool defender Martin Kelly believes he knows the secret to Andy Carroll's recent return to goalscoring form - some new hair gel he's borrowed from team-mate Jordan Henderson. 

Just days after scoring a last-gasp winner for the Reds in a remarkable 3-2 win at Blackburn, Carroll was the Anfield hero again - this time with a similarly late strike to down local rivals Everton in a thrilling FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.But before Kopites get too carried away with their £35m man's resurgence, Kelly has provided some pretty straightforward reasoning on Carroll's form - revealing the long-haired Geordie has been partaking in some new product for his hair.

Crawley Town players burst into song after manager Steve Evans leaves club 

It is safe to say Steve Evans was not a manager loved by his players after members of his old team were so delighted he had left for Rotherham United they burst into glorious song, in a moment caught on video."We're singing a song cos the fat man's gone!"

Fulham buy 12 hens to help save £5,000 a year in catering costs 

Fulham has shelled out on 12 hens in order to cut the costs of providing eggs for its players.Martin Jol's squad apparently get through 90 eggs each week, and it is hoped that this egg-centric plan will drastically reduce catering costs by £5,000 a year.

Suárez to sacrifice himself for Liverpool success

Striker ready to do all he can to reach final 

Luis Suarez admits he would repeat his World Cup handball to help Liverpool beat Everton in their FA Cup semi-final. 

The World Cup incident

The Uruguayan stopped the ball on the line, earning a red card in the process, to help his side beat Ghana in the quarter-finals in South Africa in 2010. 

The controversial forward claims he would do the same if it helped Liverpool overcome local rivals Everton at Wembley. 

Will he do it again?

 "The sacrifice I made was because it was so important for Uruguay to make the semi-finals," Suarez is quoted as saying in The Sun. "Now I want to win this semi-final." 

"It will take an enormous effort but I am dedicated to the team. If I am obliged to stop a ball in the last minute and we win, then I will repeat the action." 

"Success for Liverpool is more important to me than anything else. But I do hope there is no drama like this for me."

Toms footy jokes!

Most of them made by tom himself!

Whats the difference between Torres' career and Torres' hair?
A. His hair has highlights!

Whats the difference between a refferee and a united fan?
A. Not much , they both want Man united to win every game!


It’ll be nice for Emile when he weds Chantelle Tagoe. It’ll make a change to hear “Mrs Heskey” instead of “Heskey misses”.

Emile plans to open a pub when he retires – because he’s great at putting shots over the bar.



Robert Green faced over 100 shots in training today without conceding a goal. Tomorrow, he and Heskey will train with the rest of the squad.


Carroll 'I've just had a good idea for strengthening the team.'

Dalglish : `Good! When are you leaving?'

Man United have today released their new kit Black shirts black shorts black socks and a whistle.

A poor old Arsenal fan!
They say that pessimists see the cup as half empty, and optimists as half full
My team haven't even seen the cup !

Liverpool v Everton Preview

Merseyside pride and a place in the FA Cup final will be at stake when Liverpool and Everton rekindle their fierce rivalry at Wembley Stadium.

A semi-final showdown at the home of English football appears to have all the makings of a cup classic, with derby tensions adding extra spice to what is always a special occasion.
The decision to host the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley has been questioned by many, but fixtures such as this deserve the grandest of stages.
Both sides will make the journey to the capital on Saturday buoyed by successful showings in their last Premier League outings.
Liverpool finally got back to winning ways at Blackburn on Tuesday and took the opportunity at Ewood Park to rest key men, meaning they have fresh legs to call upon.
Everton swept aside Sunderland, the side they saw off in the quarter-finals of the cup, at Goodison Park and are now unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions.
League form tends to go out of the window in knockout football, though, and the fact that local bragging rights have been added to the mix means anything is possible this weekend.


The Toffees have emerged victorious in the last two cup dates between the two, with replay successes earned in 2009 and 1991.
Liverpool have prevailed when it matters most, though, with all-Merseyside finals in 1986 and 1989 going the way of the Reds.
Kenny Dalglish's side have also tasted Wembley glory once already this season, with the Carling Cup tucked away in their trophy cabinet.

Keeper Issues 

Goalkeeper Brad Jones is set to make his first start since December 2010 as Liverpool prepare to turn to their third-choice shot-stopper.
The Australian comes into the side in place of suspended duo Jose Reina and Alexander Doni.
Defenders Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson are pushing for starting places having both made their comebacks from injury in the midweek win at Blackburn.
Steven Gerrard, Jose Enrique and Luis Suarez were left on the bench at Ewood Park, but they are expected to come back into Dalglish's starting XI on Saturday.

Strongest side 

Everton manager David Moyes is set to revert to his strongest line-up after resting a number of players on Easter Monday.
Defender Leighton Baines, midfielder Tim Cahill and striker Nikica Jelavic are all set to return having been left out of the squad for the 4-0 win over Sunderland.
On-loan Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar is cup-tied but Darron Gibson will return to the team having been an unused substitute earlier in the week.

Easter Review

No better place to start than the title race! On sunday it looked over Arsenal beat Man City 1-0 and United secured a eight point gap over city with a 2-0 win over Qpr. But then on wednesday the title race was swung back open! A Shaun Maloney goal enshured Wigan beat Man united 1-0 for the first time in their history, and with Manchester City winning 4-0 against West Brom Man uniteds lead was cut back to five points going into the weekends fixtures.

Down at the bottom over easter not many teams have picked up points on saturday the only team at the bottom to pick up a single point where Aston Villa who drew 1-1 at Anfield Wigan lost 2-1 at Chelsea Bolton lost 3-0 at home to Fulham Blackburn lost 3-0 at West Brom bottom side wolves lost 2-1 at Stoke and Qpr lost away at united.

Into midweek at the bottom and Wigan gave their Survival chances a real Boost with a unexpected victory over Man United the only other side to win where Qpr who beat Swansea 3-0 Bolton lost 2-0 to on form Newcastle a late Andy Carroll strike saw Blackburn slump to their third succesive defeat and Wolves lost 3-0 at home to Champions League hopefulls Arsenal

Predictions Week 6!

Last Week: Sadly, last time round we didn't get to predict the results but this time we will...
So, the week before: Quite low scoring. Vishal defeated Tom by 17 to 12.

Week 6: Lots of big games all over the UK. Staying local as the season gets to a close and therefore more interesting.

Vishal:
Southampton 2-2 Reading (0)
Barnet 3-2 Hereford (Huge relegation decider in League 2) (0)
Norwich 0-3 Man City (3)
Sunderland 3-1 Wolves (0)
Swansea 2-1 Blackburn (3)
West Brom 2-1 QPR (3)
Liverpool 3-2 Everton (Can't trust Brad Jones) (3)
Doncaster 3-2 Portsmouth (Last v next to last in the C'ship) (0)
Rochdale 3-2 Exeter (Another big relegation toughie, but in League 1) (5)
Aberdeen 2-1 Hibernain (Scottish Cup Semi) (0)
Man Utd 3-3 Aston Villa (Heskey hattrick!) (0)
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (Friedel the hero in the penalty shootout!) (0)
Celtic 2-1 Hearts (The other Scottish semi) (0)
Neath 1-3 Bangor (Big game in Wales) (5)
Arsenal 1-2 Wigan (5)

Tom:
Southampton 1-3 Reading (5)
Barnet 1-1 Hereford (5)
Norwich 1-3 Man City (3)
Sunderland 5-0 Wolves (0)
Swansea 4-1 Blackburn (3)
West Brom 1-0 QPR (5)
Liverpool 2-3 Everton (0)
Doncaster 1-2 Portsmouth (3)
Rochdale 1-1 Exeter (0)
Aberdeen 0-2 Hibernain (3)
Man Utd 2-0 Aston Villa (3)
Tottenham 3-1 Chelsea (3)
Celtic 2-0 Hearts (0)
Neath 0-0 Bangor (0)
Arsenal 1-1 Wigan (0)

Match Report Wigan 1-0 Manchester United

One of the shocks of the season came as Wigan provided a huge boost to their survival hopes and maybe opened up the title race to both Manchester teams

The game started in a end to end fashion but Wigan where winning all the 50-50's and where starting to take control of the game with James Macarthy and James Macarthur running the midfield for the Latics.

On the half our mark Victor Moses had a clear goal dissalowed after a great Shaun Maloney corner.

Straight after the break Wigans pressure paid off Jean Beausejour and Shaun Maloney playing a lovely one two on the edge of the box and then smashing the ball into David De Geas net to send the Dw into raptures.

The closest united came in the spell after was a Wayne Rooney shot whitch just went over shortly after rooney was replaced. Wigan chould of doubeld their lead when Conor Sammon went down the wing and pulled it back for Momo Diame who hit his shot straight at De Gea

United players where addament that Figueroa had handeld the ball in the box but according to the Reff Phil Dowd and linesman there was nothing doing and 1-0 it stayed.

Man of the match.
Wigans Shaun Maloney

Monday Madness!

Ipswich's Tractor Boys horse around for new kit launch on Suffolk farm!

They may be known as the Tractor Boys but Ipswich Town's players seemed to take the nickname a bit too literally at the launch of their new kit at a muddy farm in Suffolk. 

Brazillian midfielder attacks ref after being sent off!

Footballers are often close to going over the edge in a game that's full of passion but are normally stopped from doing so by team-mates or their own common sense. This mechanism for preventing things from getting out of control failed last week when Iranduba's Derlan lost all sense of rationality and attacked a referee during a league match in Brazil.

Neil Warnock takes Leeds squad on bonding trip to Flamingo Land!

Manager Neil Warnock thought of a novel way to lift the spirits of his Leeds United squad following a recent dip in form, by taking them on a trip to Flamingo Land. 

APOEL's Paulo Jorge gets two teeth knocked then pulls another out himself!

Brave APOEL Nicosia's run in the Champions League was ended by a rampant Real Madrid, but the men on the pitch gave everything for the cause. Centre back Paulo Jorge gave more than most in the clash at the Santiago Bernebeu as he left the pitch with three less teeth than he started the game with.

Motherwell FC bus gets stuck under bridge after match!

The Motherwell Football Club's team bus found itself wedged underneath a bridge as it took players home from today's Clydesdale Bank Premier League match.  Motherwell were driving back west from an away match against Hibernian when their coach driver steered the bus under a low bridge on New Street, Edinburgh. A spokesman from the club claimed that the incident, which occurred at 3:50pm on Sunday afternoon, was down to one of the staff claiming to have found 'a short cut' off the main route. Despite all the commotion he added the situation was only 'wee mishap.'