The shock of the Third Round Of The FA Cup yesterday had to be the match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at The City Of Manchester Stadium.

Forest took the lead from an error by Micah Richards which allowed Forest’s Tyson to smash home a 20 yard volley.

Forest went 2-0 up when Earnshaw put away a misdirected shot by Thornhill. Garner made it 3-0 to Forest after some lazy football from Hamann.

Forest are currently just above the Championships Relegation Zone and they beat the richest team in the world, what a fantastic result that was for them.

That wasn’t the only shock of the afternoon:

Stoke were knocked out by Hartlepool and Chelsea were held 1-1 at Stamford Bridge by SouthEnd.

Here are some of the results from yesterdays FA Cup matches:

Arsenal 3-1 Plymouth
Chelsea 1-1Southend
Coventry 2-0Kidderminster
Forest Green 3-4 Derby
Hartlepool 2-0 Stoke
Hull 0-0 Newcastle
Kettering 2-1 Eastwood Town
Macclesfield 0-1Everton
Man City 0-3Nottm Forest
Middlesbrough 2-1 Barrow
Portsmouth 0-0 Bristol City
Preston 0-2 Liverpool
Sheff Wed 1-2Fulham
Sunderland 2-1 Bolton
West Brom 1-1Peterborough
West Ham 3-0Barnsley

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been charged with assault and affray which means that he could now face upto five years in jail, which in my opinion won’t happen what with him being a famous footballer.

Gerrard was arrested by police in the early hours of Monday morning after a fight with a local DJ which ended up with the DJ going to hospital, having four stitches and it looks like he will have to have dental surgery.

Liverpool have released a statement today which says:

“Steven has been an outstanding servant to Liverpool for the last 10 years and the club will give him all the support he needs at this time.”

So Liverpools fans, what do you think of your captain right now?

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After the recent takeover at the controls by Sbragia and with the January transfer window fast approaching, it seems like a choice time to have look at The Black Cats, particularly their squad.

It was said after Keane’s exit that one of his major flaws at Sunderland was his player purchasing. Many mentioned, amongst other things, that he bought in a host of average players and spent far too much. The latter may be true and 12 million on a goalkeeper is excessive even if it was Chelsea doing the shopping.

But since Keane’s exit these ‘average’ players have clawed some enthusing results: 4 – 0 win over West Brom, 4 – 1 win over Hull, 0 – 0 draw against bounce-back Blackburn, 1 – 0 loss to Man U (that’s not bad in any Premier League club terms), and a 3 – 0 loss to Everton… OK, that last one isn’t so great… but can anyone explain how Everton are finding so many goals suddenly since their strikers all got injured (this is one spooky Premier League season).

These performances can only show that this Sunderland side must have inner quality and inner strength. I could certainly name a few good buys.

Steed Malbranque was dubbed ‘Fulham reject’ at Spurs and some were glad to be rid of him, but I always watched and appreciated him play as he gets heavily stuck-in to tackles and no fan was complaining as he occasionally rattled in the odd ‘jaw-dropping’ finish. He doing the same for Sunderland and Spurs certainly could be doing with some of the grit and determination he possesses right now.

Djbril Cisse, all of his stupid haircuts aside, is a finisher and has been a highlight of Sunderland’s recovery – scoring against Hull and West Brom. I don’t think he’s an inspirer on the field, but when the team are playing well, Cisse will more than do his part too.

Kieran Richardson, his time at Sunderland so far has been disrupted due to injury (injured for almost 4 months), but when this England capped winger gets going, he is most handy in attack, playmaking, scoring quality long-range efforts and set-pieces. But is versatile and can play left-back and central midfield.

And Kenwyne Jones and Pascal Chimbonda…. I could go on. I thought these were all pretty decent buys (it’s not like Sunderland were ever going to go out and buy the likes of Robinho – they are best of with hard workers) and will still prove to be.

I think the only issue with Sunderland under Keane was in the tactics and the dressing room. Sbragia would be best off sticking with the team he’s got, perhaps could afford to shed a few players, but nevertheless, work on hard on gelling a good side.

He’s got a big test now after his first loss and has to prove this isn’t just another short-lived bounce-back (like it seems to be with Spurs). But if I was Sbragia I’d keep my eyes on the field and hand out the transfer window.

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This whole debate between passion and passivity is quite a difficult one.

Whilst we want players to play with passion, we don’t want to see the opposing team get elbowed in the face… not thinking of anyone in particular… Rooney.

Rooney recently spoke out in reaction to this event, claiming “I (Rooney) am a player with lots of energy and aggression and I am never going to stop putting in the tackles. That’s who I am. I can’t change that, I don’t want to.”

The Manchester United striker is right in a way; his aggressive energy on the pitch has led to winning hard-fought tackles and scoring blinding net-bulging strikes. And it’s beautiful to watch, a player who really wants to win the ball and not just do the bare minimum to get his next pay cheque.

Passivity makes me think of another Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov. He will slump on the pitch with a lacklustre attitude that isn’t inspiring in the slightest. But the bizarre thing about Berbatov is he gets results; he pulls out some of the most spectacular tricks you’re ever likely to see, and is as much a play maker as a goal scorer.

Rooney could never do this though as he is a completely different player to his team-mate, his game is chasing everything down.

But, wait, isn’t there another Manchester United striker, equally as uneasy on the eyes, equally as fervent on the pitch, equally as prolific in goal scoring, but never in the media for bad tackling but often on the bench? Carlos Tevez?

Surely Tevez possesses all the strong characteristics of Rooney, but doesn’t have to kill people whilst playing. Why doesn’t Wayne learn a few tricks from him? Yet, better still, put Tevez in the starting eleven!

I can never understand why Ferguson has chosen to adopt Rooney as his illegitimate son who he defends endlessly, whilst saint Tevez must take to the bench. I also think Rooney’s recent displays have shown nothing more than the thug in him (there are plenty of strikers with energy that don’t have to beat the other team around, like Robbie Keane).

But at least Rooney wasn’t fake-apologising this time, in his latest interview he said what really thought: he isn’t remorseful and he won’t change. The Rooney we seen now is the Rooney that will always be.

But is this good?

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It’s something that’s been forgotten lately in football. Here’s a word you haven’t heard for a while… pride.

Clubs attract players by shoving more wads of notes than we’ll see in a year down their throats in one week, and they promise them sought-after big-match European action. But when have you last heard of players playing for city pride?

After having 4 slammed in their net in just over half an hour by the most inconsistent team in the Premier League (it’s either a massive win or a massive loss with Manchester City) Hull manager Phil Brown gave his side a half-time team talk on the pitch in front of fans in attempt to instil a bit of a pride back.

It didn’t work this time, they lost 5 – 1. But you have to commend Brown who is increasingly looking like becoming one of the great Premier League managers. Much of his managerial strategies have been behind-the-scenes, but not today.

Brown wanted the fans to see his players be shouted at, maybe in a public humiliation sort of way. Brown said in his post-match interview that there were a number of reasons he did it though. And he also spoke of pride.

This, I feel, is one of the sole mechanics behind his success with Hull: the old-school philosophy of playing for the fans and pride for wearing the city’s shirt.

It is simply a value that could be applied to all walks of life. If you have pride for what you do, you want to do it and moreover, you want more than anything, to do that thing to the best of your ability.

Maybe the reflective nature of Christmas and New Year is getting to me, but am I the only one who thinks more pride should be pumped into teams?

As a reflective end note, not only is Brown one of the best British managers, Hull City have been the most exciting additions to the Premier League, and I think I’m starting to support them more than my local.

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A little while ago we told you that Real Madrid were interested in Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson. Now it seems that the Spanish giants have gone one further and have made a bid for Liverpool back-up winger Jermaine Pennant. So either Real Madrid are desperate for a winger, or they have some real poor scouts assigned to the Premier League… Could Jermaine Pennant become the new Steve McManaman? (Minus his ability and success with Liverpool).

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