Allgemeines » hanks.Kevin FisherTucson, AZ Kevin: T

There were no shortage of Premier League talking points this week. David Moyes fired. Ryan Giggs as player-manager at Manchester United, with Scholes and Butt to join him as a temporary Class of 92 coaching staff. Its incredible how a seventh place team takes all the headlines heading into a weekend the Premier League title could be all but wrapped up and heading back to Anfield for the first time since 1989-90. More on Liverpool in a moment. Here are this weeks Musings: - David Moyes relieved of his managerial duties at Manchester United was no surprise to anyone bearing witness to the miserable brand of football being played by last years Champions. Call the Moyes appointment a mistake. Call him out of his depth. The most important move made at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped aside 11 months ago was firing Moyes now. Some will complain about the manner of his dismissal. Some United supporters will remain steadfast Moyes should have been given more time. Others will blame the Glazers. There is plenty of blame to go around but to admonish Moyes is still more than fair for his grandiose failure as manager. How a manager cannot name a same starting XI over 50+ games is incomprehensible. From man-management fiasco, to tactical failure, from formational ambiguity to an extinguished team spirit, from transfer window flops, to public embarrassments, from press conference gaffes, to record breaking losses – you get the point; the Moyes era was a debacle any way you slice it. Disappointing results were less disconcerting than the porous performances, which were getting worse by the week. Its an indictment of Moyes who turned a group who were 11 points better than any a season ago into a lifeless, tactically deficient, error prone, often times confused group showing a lack of impetus to attack. Remember, this Manchester United team has 14-15 players who will likely head to Brazil to represent their respective countries at this years FIFA World Cup. The players havent played well. Ask yourself why. Patience can be preached when the process is clear and the directive is solid. Patience is earned, not given blindly. While "standing by" this manager was always an admirable instruction, it simply couldnt be given without a requisite resume or proper command of star players. This wasnt Manchester United of 1986 Moyes was taking over. These were perennial league contenders. The bar has been set miles higher. Preaching patience because United stood by Ferguson during difficult early days is a stretch. The game doesnt work like that anymore. The current squad was by no means on par with the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc. Adjustments are still required. They shouldnt be 23 points back of Liverpool either. For a team of this quality to only pick up six points out of 36 against teams better than they in the table is unacceptable in a year where mediocrity reigns supreme in the Premier League. Flawed teams can win. And they have. Moyes was a mistake. Just a more costly one than Bebe, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, letting Pogba go or any other of Fergusons miscalculations. The club will learn, they will grow, and they will move on. Manchester United will be just fine. And are better off without Moyes. - So who will be the next manager of Manchester United? Louis van Gaal has all the right credentials and demeanor, and would bring the type of stature required at United. The Netherlands managers World Cup journey could extend into July, which is hardly what United needs. A summer makeover is ahead. Growing accustomed to the United way from the get-go, as early as possible is essential. No sense repeating last summers embarrassment by leaving it late. Short-term and long-term are intrinsically linked here. Just because a manager says hes not interested in the job doesnt mean he is staying put. United have found themselves on the wrong side of player negotiations, where the target says they would be up for a move to Old Trafford only to bag themselves a new, better deal to stay with said team. Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp saying he wants to stay in Germany may simply be a ploy to demand a better contract. Whether that comes from BvB or United remains to be seen. Dont rule him out. Same goes for Pep Guardiola. The Bayern Munich manager would be the best fit for United among all candidates: tactically sound, young and with an understanding of the importance of building a squad from academy through to the senior team. If Bayern Munich crashes out of the Champions League next week, with Franz Beckenbauer already unhappy with this weeks performance at the Bernabeu, United should test the waters. There is little suggestion Guardiola would leave, but nonetheless you still make the call. His relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson bodes well and United would pay over the moon to get him, no questions asked. Would Jose Mourinho leave Chelsea after only one season back at Stamford Bridge to embark on a United adventure? Better question: would Ferguson extend the olive branch, acknowledging his mistake of not giving the job to Mourinho in the first place? If stories are true that Mourinho broke down in tears after the job was given to Moyes, its conceivable he swaps blue for red. He would certainly bring swagger, confidence and appeal to the position. Other candidates will emerge. Those not proven winners and/or enigmatic personalities need not apply. United needs style and substance after the mess Moyes created. - On paper, Liverpool-Chelsea is as mouthwatering a match you can get. In practice, Sunday may turn into a farce of a crucial and possible league-deciding match at Anfield. Chelsea is five points back of Liverpool, not an insurmountable number considering a trip to Selhurst Park lay ahead for Liverpool. Crystal Palace has won five in a row, including wins over Chelsea and Everton. Liverpool can drop points. Chelsea is still in the mix. As is Manchester City. Yet Mourinho has made it clear wholesale line-up changes are on the way, after Chelseas 0-0 first leg Champions League draw against Atletico Madrid Tuesday. The return leg in West London goes Wednesday. New injuries to goalkeeper Petr Cech and defender John Terry complicates selection, with question marks surrounding the already walking wounded Samuel Etoo and Eden Hazard. So it looks to be a mish-mash Chelsea team taking to the field Sunday, basically opening the door for Liverpool to take another step towards clinching the title. The only virtual locks to play are Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel (suspended for the second leg), and Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah (cup tied). After the four and assumedly goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, all bets are off. Its an absolute shame a team still in the mix wouldnt make the league match priority. Its a tricky situation either way for Mourinho. After 35 league games, youd hope the effort would be consistent with the season. Sunday may turn out to be a colossal disappointment for all non-Liverpool supporters, and the league is worse off for it. - Manchester City may have kissed their title chances goodbye in a 2-2 draw against pesky Sunderland last week. In fairness, the Black Cats should have taken all three points, so perhaps City are lucky to still find themselves in the position theyre in. City needs Liverpool to lose a game, then win all their remaining games and rely on superior goal differential to be crowned Champions, as they were on the dramatic final day to win the league two seasons ago. That Sunderland gave City a go shouldnt surprise. Sunderland is 4-2-2 against City over the last four seasons. They are a bugaboo team for City. The blue side of Manchester will be hoping Sunderland stay in the relegation zone the rest of the season. Good riddance. - Norwich City is on the verge of disaster, facing relegation with three games to go. It was an ambitious summer of signings for the Canaries, but its all gone pear-shaped. Ricky van work-rate van Wolfswinkel has been the biggest of summer busts. Just one goal from 15 starts (24 appearances) for the Sporting Lisbon man is representative of the frustrating season. From front to back, they havent been good enough. A league-worst 28 goals and likewise league worst eight points from their travels is why they are fourth from the bottom. Firing manager Chris Houghton a fortnight ago was merely an act of desperation with the writing already on the wall. They wont get points against Manchester United Saturday with the emotion of Giggs, Butt and Scholes at the helm. Perhaps theyll catch a mentally drained Chelsea next week, but there is no guarantee there. And Arsenal in the final week is as tough a match as you can get. With points there for the taking for the current bottom three, it seems the last three games will be their farewell tour from the Premier League. Gareth Wheeler@WheelerTSNgareth.wheeler@bellmedia.ca Clarence Weatherspoon Jersey . The first of the three games will be played in Week 4, when the Oakland Raiders will take on the Miami Dolphins on Sept. Timothe Luwawu Jersey . Poti played in 824 regular NHL games with four teams in his career; the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals. http://www.76ersstore.com/kids-justin-patton-76ers-jersey/ . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Landry Shamet Jersey . Now, Sarah Burkes legacy will live on in Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. Burke, who tragically died at age 29 from a training accident in 2012, headlined the 2014 class named for induction Wednesday. Allen Iverson Jersey . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I have a question on a New Years Eve game between the Oilers and Coyotes. With 43.3 seconds left in the third period, Edmonton goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov caught a puck that was dumped in from outside the zone, skated out a few feet and dropped the puck to keep the play alive, then had second thoughts and dropped to cover the puck well outside his goal crease. There was no penalty called on the play. My question is...why not? I thought the goalie could only cover the puck outside his crease if he had come out to make a save. Isnt it a delay of game penalty otherwise? The Coyotes won the game in overtime, so in the end it didnt matter, but this seems too obvious a thing for the officials to just miss, so Im hoping you can straighten out my understanding of the rule. Thanks.Kevin FisherTucson, AZ Kevin: There is considerable "black and white" reference within the rules to support calling a delay of game penalty on Ilya Brygalov with 43.4 seconds remaining with the score tied once the goalkeeper froze the puck outside of crease to gain a stoppage in play. As we examine the entire circumstance surrounding the play I hope you will come to the logical conclusion that the referee exercised sound judgment and common sense in not penalizing Bryz once he (the ref) allowed the play to continue. As a result of this allowance, there came a point where Ilya Bryzgalov had no other safe option than to cover the puck. The most obvious rule references calling for the assessment of a penalty are contained in 63.2 and 67.3: - A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player, including the goalkeeper, who holds, freezes or plays the puck with his stick, skates or body in such a manner as to deliberately cause a stoppage of play. With regard to a goalkeeper, this rule applies outside of his goal crease area. - If a goalkeeper comes out of his crease to "cut down the angle" on a shot and after making the save covers the puck, this shall be legal. If the goalkeeper races out of his crease in an attempt to beat the attacking player to the puck and instead of playing the puck jumps on the puck causing a stoppage of play, this shall be a minor penalty for delay of the game. - A goalkeeper who holds the puck with his hands for longer than three seconds shall be given a minor penalty unless he is actually being checked by an opponent. The object of this entire rule is to keep the puck in play continuously and any action taken by the goalkeeper which causes an unnecessary stoppage must be penalized without warning.dddddddddddd While the language contained herein provides plenty of cannon fodder to call a penalty with regard to the end result, (puck frozen by Bryz outside his crease) we have to consider the play in its entirety to avoid an unjust determination and overreaction. Antoine Vermette back handed the puck at the net which Ilya Bryzgalov caught on the extreme left side of his goal crease. Vermette followed his shot and effectively checked the goalkeeper from that angle which provided an allowance for Bryz to freeze the puck under the rules. A decision was then made by Bryzgalov to keep the play going by laterally skating with the puck through and outside of his crease perhaps 5 to 8 feet; which the referee allowed! Once Bryzgalov dropped the puck from his catching glove to the ice, with full intent to keep the play moving, the goalkeeper was quickly checked by Lauri Korpikoski of the Coyottes and placed in harms way. Since Bryz was a minimal distance outside of his crease, coupled with the fact that the referee allowed the play to continue when he could have blown the play dead previously, good judgment was exercised by the referee not to assess a penalty for delay of the game. We (refs) encourage the goalies to keep the play moving and it would be terribly unjust if they were subsequently penalized when an attacker quickly sealed off any option for a safe movement of the puck. The optimum word here is quickly. Brygalovs primary intent was to keep the play moving by playing the puck and not to gain a stoppage in play. His legitimate freezing of the puck was necessitated by the quick fore-check by Lauri Korpikoski. Kevin, I just had a flashback to Greg Millen playing goal for the Hartford Whalers. Far too many times to count I saw Millen catch the puck within his goal crease and skate straight up the middle like a rocket navigating through player traffic while looking for safe ice to drop and play the puck! I always blew the whistle before he got too far into his sprint but certainly when he was well outside of his goal crease. On more than one occasion I told Greg he was going to get steam rolled with a body check before I could get the whistle to my mouth. Each time Millen attempted to keep the play moving in this fashion he returned to his goal crease with a big grin evident beneath his wire cage mask. We know goalies have a much different approach to the Universe and other matters! Common sense and good judgment must prevail. The referee exercised both qualities by not penalizing Ilya Bryzgalov in the game on New Years Eve Day. 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