English Premier League review - No nads & rubbery lips
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- Written by The Rome
A full round of Premier League fixtures took place mid-week and the televised Tuesday game saw the mighty Villa take on a Portsmouth side hopelessly waning under the stewardship of wannabe intellectual Tony Adams. On these pages I have sung the praise of the debuting Heskey and mercilessly slaughtered the managerial nous of mule boy, so naturally I was concerned that an Emile own goal would put the gloss on a Pompey landslide victory, achieved by some tactical innovation from Mr. Introspective.
I needn't have worried. In a role reversal of what I hope to see regularly, Agbonlahor flicked it on for Heskey, who spun a lazy Campbell to thump it past David James. Villa rode their luck again and never really got motoring, but it was a strong defensive display and despite having much of the ball, Portsmouth rarely looked incisive. Crouch showed his true pedigree by ballooning Pompey’s best chance over the bar from about 4 yards out, so Martin O'Neill’s men held on to record their 6th successive away win and keep the unbeaten streak alive.
Over a pint in my local recently the conversation turned to the so called “hard man,” John Terry, and his tears after missing a penalty in the Champions League final. It got me thinking about the days when men were men and the role of the enforcer in a football team was as important as the goal scorer. 
Manchester City were very publicly snubbed by Kaka, missed the boat on Lassana Diarra and have been quoted exorbitant prices that they aren't willing to pay for Valencia duo David Villa & Silva. The sheiks will no doubt be delighted however that City boss Mark Hughes did manage to snare his Welsh compatriot, the meek and mild mannered Craig Bellamy. Is £14 million for the fiery nomadic hitman good value? You be the judge.
The 4 goals put past Numancia on Saturday night took Barça's goal tally to 63 in just 20 games, meaning they are now well on course to break the 102 strikes Bobby Robson's Ronaldo spearheaded squad racked up in ‘97.