Hold the BackPage – Team of the Year 2011

Hold the BackPage - Team of the Year 2011 by bpfootball

It’s the first Hold the BackPage of 2012 and Neil Sherwin is joined by Ger McCarthy and Willie Gannon to sift through the festive period’s Premier League action, while the lads also pick their Team of the Year for 2011.

The first part of this week podcast looks back at the Premier League action of the past week or so. Neil is understandably relieved that Manchester United slipped up following City’s defeat to Sunderland, something that Ger took great pleasure in. There’s a look at all the big talking points on the field including Stephen Ireland’s return to form against Chelsea and the continuing great form of Spurs, while Sir Alex Ferguson’s reluctance to delve into the transfer market also provokes some discussion.

In the second half of the show, the lads discuss the best Premier League players of 2011 following Willie’s article on the website this week. There’s some surprise inclusions, not least one Spurs player, while some decisions were easy and unanimous. This week’s FA Cup Third Round also gets a preview with the potential for a couple of shocks on the cards.

Relegated Portsmouth Beat Spurs, Set Up Fairytale Cup Final With Chelsea

Just over 24 hours after being relegated to the Championship, Portsmouth pulled off the most unlikely of results and beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the FA Cup Semi-Finals at Wembley after extra time with goals from Frederic Piquionne and ex-Spurs star Kevin Prince-Boateng.

Portsmouth's FA Cup Shawshank Redemption

"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." Is the famous tag line to The Shawshank Redemption, one of the greatest films ever made. It also offers the greatest insight into the current perils of Portsmouth football club...

Liverpool Tells Fans to Book Tickets Early for FA Cup Clash With Burnley

In a week where things have not gone well for Liverpool on the pitch, it appears that their off-pitch exploits are even worse. Yesterday the club sent out e-mails to all its season ticket holders to book their FA Cup fourth-round tickets early...

DEFCON-1 for Liverpool and Rafael Benitez After Abysmal FA Cup Defeat to Reading

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Liverpool's disastrous season under their bungling manager Rafael Benitez has almost hit rock bottom. Outplayed by Reading at Anfield, the once great club have bowed out of the FA Cup.

For many fans of Liverpool, Rafa has now reached his rubicon. Last season's progress gave him one more year to bring the club forward, but this season has seen the club lurch from one crisis to another.

Wenger Outwits Himself in Arsenal's 2-1 Defeat to Chelsea's Dutch Master

A curious team selection by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger handed the FA Cup semifinal to Chelsea on Saturday as the Pensioners had to come from a goal down to win the game 2-1. In reality they dominated the game from start to finish.

Didier Drogba's 84th minute goal along with Florent Malouda's equalizer on the stroke of half-time proved enough to overcome a young Arsenal team.

Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham: United Progress to Fifth Round of FA Cup

Two ex-Tottenham Hotspur players combined to put Manchester United through to the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford tonight. Michael Carrick put Dimitar Berbatov through to score the winner after Roman Pavlyuchenko had given Spurs an early lead.

The Glory of the FA Cup is Dead and Buried as Teams Prioritise What's Important

Over the last number of years, many news columns have been dedicated to the erosion of the FA Cup. As teams of the highest standard play almost 60 games a season, the FA Cup has often taken on a nuisance value.

As teams challenge for league titles and European titles, the added games that an FA Cup run can bring are being looked at as more and more of a hindrance. But is this right? What motivates teams to turn their back on the oldest knock out competition in the world?

The Disappointing EPL Season So Far, Cowboy Films, and Spurs v. Wigan...

As someone who writes quite a bit about Spurs, an unenviable task I tell you. I sat down tonight to watch the FA Cup match between Tottenham and Wigan in the hope of writing a match report.

I saw this Friday night match as a good opportunity to write a recap and publish it. I had a monopoly—it was the only match being played...