Ger McCarthy
Winners
Paul Scholes
THE ginger-haired midfielder rolled back the years with a vintage display in Manchester United's 3-0 defeat of Bolton Wanderers to send Alex Ferguson's side temporarily joint-top of the table. Since his surprise return from retirement Scholes has polarised opinion on whether the former England international midfielder's best days are behind him or a potentially foolhardy decision to pull on the United jersey once again will add to his Old Trafford legacy.
Alex Ferguson's decision to sell perennial squad member Darren Gibson to Everton is the clearest indication yet that the Scot intends to use Scholes as often as possible between now and the end of the campaign. Scholes looks set to be dispatched in a more withdrawn role where his perceptive passing should help settle an erratic United midfield. The United number 22's experience of previous title winning campaigns and his famed work / training ethic is another positive reason to return to the Manchester United dressing room and his opener in Saturday's victory over Bolton shows Scholes has lost none of his goal scoring touch.
Brendan Rodgers
BRENDAN Rodgers' Swansea City side are now ranked as one of the top ten European football sides in passing completion. The Welsh club are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester City when it comes to passing percentages further underlining the quality football being produced under Rodger's watchful eye.
More importantly for the newly promoted Premier League club is the fact points are being accrued on the back of their attractive football. Swansea currently lie in tenth place in the standings having lost only once at the Liberty Stadium this term. The 3-2 defeat of Arsenal on Sunday was impressive for the manner in which Swansea never abandoned their quick-passing approach rather than resorting to the long ball like many previously promoted teams. Arsenal were carved open on numerous occasions by the 'tiki-taka' inter-play of attacking trio Nathan Dyer, Danny Graham and Scott Sinclair. It was fitting then that all three forwards got on the scoresheet in the notable victory over a Gunners side famed for a similar style during Arsene Wenger's glory years.
Newcastle United
NEWCASTLE United were expected to struggle for much of January without the services of two of their most influential players away on African Nations Cup duty. The loss of Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote would affect most Premier League clubs but under Alan Pardew's astute management Newcastle United remain in contention for a Champions League place following a third consecutive victory this past weekend. The 1-0 win at home to QPR was achieved thanks to a solitary goal from Leon Best who has spent much of the campaign on the fringes of the first team.
Pardew's ability to get the best out of squad players such as Best, Danny Guthrie and Danny Simpson whilst massaging the tender egos of the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa has kept the Toon Army within touching distance of the top four. The story of the 2012 campaign may well end up being Newcastle achieving a top four finish rather than Manchester City lifting the Premier League title.
Losers
Tottenham Hotspur
TOTTENHAM Hotspur failed in their attempts to join Manchester United and Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League standings following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Wolves. Spurs midweek 2-0 defeat of Everton seemed to back up Redknapp's belief that his side were capable of maintaining an unlikely title challenge. Failure to beat Wolves - who are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table - underlined Spurs' inability to win ugly and raised further question marks about the North London club's ability to challenge for the highest honours.
Worryingly for Tottenham supporters their side looked jaded against a well organised but beatable Wolves outfit and Redknapp can ill afford any further slip-ups with a daunting away trip to Manchester City on the horizon. The biggest task facing the Spurs manager is selecting the correct attacking blend as Emmanuel Adebayor has not scored for six matches, Rafael Vander Vaart rarely completes a full 90 minutes and Jermain Defoe is apparently seeking a transfer in search of regular first team football ahead of Euro 2012. Harry Redknapp talks a good game and will need all his managerial experience to keep Tottenham in the top four.
Kenny Dalglish
LIVERPOOL'S unbeaten Premier League record at Anfield remains intact following a 0-0 stalemate with Stoke City on Saturday. Kenny Dalglish's side has drawn seven home league fixtures this term which has prevented the reds from breaking into the top four positions. The weekend tactics of leaving Andy Carroll and the in-form Craig Bellamy on the bench in favour of an overly-defensive formation (led by Dirk Kuyt as the lone striker) was perplexing to say the least.
True, Stoke City are a difficult side to breakdown at the best of times but the Liverpool manager's decision to alter his formation only served to inspire Tony Pulis' side who battled for a fully merited share of the spoils. The loss of a player of the calibre of Luis Suarez would affect any team but Dalglish's safety-first approach only served to anger the Anfield faithful as they watched their side fail to win on home soil yet again.
Fulham
MARTIN JOL'S side has only won once on the road in the Premier League this season and are in danger of being sucked into a relegation dogfight unless the Cottagers away form improves. Blackburn Rovers were down to ten men for much of Saturday's encounter with Fulham at Ewood Park but still managed to record a 3-1 victory and move out of the bottom three. Jol's inability to motivate his players amid rumours of continuing dressing room unrest was evident in the capitulation to a side that had lost eight of their previous eleven home fixtures.
Blackburn Rovers
ON a weekend Blackburn secured only their fourth win of the campaign and moved out of the relegation zone the headlines emanating from Ewood Park make for depressing reading for Steve Kean and his players. A letter dated January 2011, penned by the then Chairman John Williams and signed by two additional board members, was sent to new owners Venky's raising concerns the direction the club was heading.
Steve Kean's appointment was also questioned as well as Venky's bizarre decision to apparently inform the new manager he did not have to report directly to the board. On a weekend Blackburn should have been celebrating their elevation out of the bottom three the headlines will once again focus on internal wrangling behind the scenes at Ewood Park.
Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/ioxYr-pByUk/post.aspx
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