Yakubu scored a late penalty to salvage a point for 10-man Blackburn against Wigan as the Premier League’s bottom two served up an absorbing North West derby.

The Nigerian striker kept his composure to score from the spot in the ninth minute of stoppage time after goalkeeper Paul Robinson came forward and won the penalty suffering a boot to the head in the process. It was Yakubu who had kicked off proceedings scoring within the first minute before Jordi Gomez fired home a super effort from 20-yards. Gary Caldwell then scored a rare goal before Junior Hoilett made it 2-2 in controversial circumstances. Albert Crusat put Wigan in front for a second time after David Dunn saw red for Rovers before a thrilling finale saw the visitors nick an unlikely point. Both sides went into the game occupying the top flight’s bottom two places with the Roberto Martinez’s side going looking to end a run of eight defeats in a row. The Spaniard made a big call before kick off leaving misfiring striker Hugo Rodallega out of the side and it paid dividends as his replacement Crusat got his name on the scoresheet. As for Rovers their manager Steve Kean was under increasing pressure to haul the club out of the bottom three with fans continuing to vent their frustrations over his tenure. Performances have gradually improved over the course of the season but the fact of the matter is that they were still losing games.

Preparations for the short trip to Wigan were thrown into turmoil after they arrived at the DW Stadium less than an hour before kick off but it didn’t seem to affect them as with Yakubu scoring within 68 seconds of referee Andre Marriner’s whistle. The former Everton man showed great ingenuity to chip the ball over Ali Al Habsi with his first touch for his 100th top flight goal after Steven N’Zonzi’s flick caught Caldwell napping at the back. The home side responded well and were level within seven minutes after midfielder Gomez justified his inclusion in the side with a well struck shot that beat Robinson from 20-yards. As far as games go this one was as open as you could get with both sides putting defending on the back burners in search of victory. Blackburn were the next to threaten with Morten Gamst Pedersen cracking the post from 30-yards with a free kick before the Latics took the lead. Caldwell took advantage of some poor marking from Scott Dann to steal in score his first of the season. Victor Moses should have put the game to bed soon after spurning two good chances as Martinez’s side ended the first half strongly.

They were given an almighty advantage after the break when Rovers were reduced to 10-men after Dunn was sent off for a foul on Mohamed Diame. However the visitors refused to lie down and drew level through a goal that caused great dispute between the Wigan players and referee Marriner. Pedersen seemed to dribble the ball straight from a corner before firing across goal and into the path of Hoilett who headed home from two-yards. Martinez displayed his fury on the touchline despite the official stating that Yakubu had put the ball into play. The scoring didn’t end their though as substitute Crusat came off the bench to fire home from 20-yards with just two minutes remaining to send the home support wild in the stands. However Rovers were handed a dramatic lifeline after they were awarded a penalty in stoppage time after David Jones inadvertently kicked Robinson in the head after the keeper came forward to attack a corner. Yakubu kept his cool to bring his side level and bring to an end a dramatic encounter.

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Every football club has ‘the one that got away.’ The one player whom we all believe held the key to our aspirations and dreams for our football club – if only he had signed on the dotted line.

Harry Redknapp admitted before the Liverpool game this season that he had decided against bringing Luis Suarez to White Hart Lane after mistakenly thinking he was too like what they already had. Spurs could regret missing out on the Uruguayan forward for many years to come. This isn’t the first time a mistake has been made and throughout football history there have been players that got away.

These are the signings that could have changed the course of history for your club but instead never happened and if you’re a Sheffield United fan you’ll be forever ruing the day your club let one of the best players of all time slip through the net.

Here are the Top TEN ‘ones that got away’

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Compiled by Aidan McCartney

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It’s that time of year again. As Spain’s footballers go on their holidays until the second weekend of January and other countries follow suit, here in Britain the traditions run deep and rather than rest, the football authorities cram in as many games as possible, with Premiership games for six consecutive days around the New Year, which sees Manchester City yet again having to play twice in three days, with the small matter of three big cup games and another five league games to squeeze in too. Only the Portuguese league carries on throughout outside British shores.

As a nation we are genetically designed to show disgust at the thought of a mid-season break. It goes against everything we stand for, and games every two hours is part of the festive season, as traditional as Santa Claus, turkey dinners or vomiting in dark alleyways after a Xmas do.

This is a game of the fans, and the fans benefit from wall-to-wall football. The players are paid £200,000/£400,000 a day/minute/week, so they should stop complaining. It’s a squad game too, so managers should use their squad. Agreed?

I’ve always held a fairly similar view, but there is serious evidence to suggest that a break benefits players. This is especially true when there is a summer tournament for players to prepare for. So don’t complain when Wayne Rooney breaks his metatarsal in March – it’s all your fault. You, the consumer.  It doesn’t matter how much they are paid, how primed they are as athletes, how good their club facilities and physios are – it is logical to give players rest occasionally. It is not just a case of players picking up injuries later in the season through fatigue – but it’s also an opportunity for players to shake off niggling injuries they’ve been carrying through the season – a common occurrence (Manchester City have at least one player currently performing with such a concern). With harder and poorer pitches at this time of the year, injuries become more likely, a point Alex Ferguson has made in the past. A UEFA study 10 years ago showed discrepancies in the injury rates of leagues that did and didn’t have winter breaks. I don’t think I need to point out which leagues had more injuries. There’s even some stats that suggest that after a winter break, teams score more.

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Of course there is one big problem of having a winter break, even if you agree with the principle of one – when do you have it? It is currently a barmy 12 degrees (centigrade) outside, and will continue to be mild for the next week at least. In previous years it has been minus nine and I walked to work across a frozen canal. There is no way of knowing how the British weather will pan out over a single week, never mind a whole season. The packed Christmas schedule shows that the FA already struggle to fit in all the games that are played over a season – if we had a winter break it would make things near-impossible. If we had a winter break then hit a bad spell of weather, it would be utter carnage. If we were to have a break, there would have to be fewer games – it’s really that simple.

Martin O’Neill this week advocated a break, but he sees it from a different angle – that the effects of a break can be psychological, not just physical. O’Neill said: “My personal view is that I would love to see it happen, even for a week or two because psychologically, I believe when you start off the season, it’s pretty long and it gives you something to think about during that time. Even if it was only for a fortnight, I think psychologically, it would help everyone – that’s my view. When we were in Scotland, I experienced it twice in the five years I was there and one of those years, Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final. I didn’t think it was a coincidence myself.”

It’s not surprising that many managers want it. Sir Alex Ferguson wants it. So does Fabio Capello. Capello’s logic should be obvious – he wants a fresher squad come the summer, rather than a group of players who have mostly exhausted themselves after a gruelling nine months of non-stop football. Simon Kuper’s Why England Lose also cites the lack of a winter break as why English players are generally more run down and prone to niggling injuries come summer tournaments.And back in 2004, the then FA chief executive Mark Palios told the BBC that a league winter break was the target, but his words were ultimately empty.

The break may well never happen in England. With so many games to play, there is simply no room for manoeuvre. Even if there was a break, in a game where money rules, many teams would probably take advantage by arranging high profile foreign friendly games anyway. Unless Leagues reduce in size or the Carling Cup bites the dust, it seems nothing more than a pipe dream. And if the fans demand entertainment over the holiday season, do they not come first?

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Liverpool and Luis Suarez have been told by a leading anti-racism executive to drop their appeal against the striker’s ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

The FA handed the Uruguay international an eight-match ban and £40,000 fine for a supposed racist slur against the Manchester United defender, but the Merseyside side are ready to contest the decision.

Despite this, Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, believes that The Reds should accept the punishment.

“The Football Association’s published judgment from the Suarez-Evra incident is welcome,” Powar told The Guardian.

“It appears the FA have taken their time to initiate a process that was both fair in its implementation of football rules and in accordance with the principles of British justice. As an international non-governmental organisation we think the investigation and judgment sets the bar for governing bodies globally.

“Racial abuse between players on the field of play has been an unspoken taboo for too long, an area that has been unsatisfactorily dealt with by English football despite many cases over the past 10 years. Luis Suarez and Liverpool FC have the right to appeal, however we would call on the club to think again about their public campaign to dispute the charges and contest the principles involved in the case.

“As a club with a good international standing the vehemence of their campaign is unquestionably causing them reputational harm,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Perhaps as recently as 12 months ago, Arsenal fans had every reason to believe that only one or two major signings were needed to make the club a genuine force in the Premier League once more. The lack of ambition in the transfer market has led many down a path of uncertainty and raised questions as to whether it is the manager who is simply refusing to spend money that is readily available or if the board are withholding any ability to hold a strong hand in the transfer market.

The initial frustration for many Arsenal fans can simply be sourced from the fact that there is not enough information coming out of the club. There continue to be conflicting statements from both the manager and chairman about where the club are looking to go, and yet, there is a resounding feeling among most that a healthy bank balance takes priority over success on the pitch.

Before the disastrous finish in last season’s Carling Cup Final, Arsene Wenger continued to bring to light the fact that Arsenal were the only English club in contention for all four trophies. Yet, despite the notable quality the club had in captain Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri, the loss to Birmingham initiated a free fall for the remaining months of the season, only to be capped off by the departure of the two aforementioned midfielders.

While the lack of significant movement in the transfer window is extremely disheartening to fans, there is also the sense that Wenger does not do enough with the resources he has at his disposal. He fails to learn from the many mistakes and failures of the last few seasons and continues to persevere with methods and tactics that simply do not work for the players at the club. It is widely noted that the switch to the 4-3-3 formation was introduced to accommodate Fabregas in the centre of the pitch. However, even without him or any player remotely close to his playing style and ability, the manager decides to remain with the formation that does nothing but expose players who are not suited to this style.

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The worst feeling for an Arsenal fan is to show disloyalty to a man who has given so much to the football club. Sadly, the failings at Arsenal are highlighted and sensationalised due to the fact that we’ve seen it all before. It is surely extremely difficult to accept back-to-back defeats as Arsenal have recently experienced against teams they should be beating if they are to remain in contention for a top four place. But the losses to Fulham and Swansea only highlighted the tactical shortcomings of the manager, who saw his side throw away winning positions twice.

I believe the frustration at the Emirates would be eased, if only for a short time, if it seemed like the manager was taking action. Arsene Wenger is widely considered one of the best at his profession, yet there is an overriding sense of the acceptance of mediocrity from him and the playing squad. There is no tactical creativity or an idea of tweaking formations to counter opposition threats; and the lack of urgency we see from Wenger surely filters down to the players. Why not change up the backroom staff? Why not employ former Arsenal players to add a bit of life into the training sessions? Harry Redknapp has a number of former players working under him at Tottenham, and I’m sure Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand, among others, are having a positive effect on the players. It’s not only about learning how to be a better footballer, it’s about learning the values of the club.

Again, it’s unclear whether Arsenal fans should show their frustration to a manager who seems to stubbornly stick to his own values, avoid spending lavishly on players and fail make changes where its needed; or if the board at Arsenal have knowingly given Wenger very little to work with. The is a real sense of division among Arsenal fans now, but the real frustration, and I believe the catalyst for much of the divide, is that fans simply do not know what the expectations and targets for this club are. Yes it does appear that the club are regressing, but instead to taking steps to steady the ship, there seems to be a total lack of concern for where this club may be in two or three years from now. And that, I believe, stems solely from the board room.

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Norwich striker Grant Holt feels that players from his club should be considered for international duty, but that an England call-up is not round the corner.

The burly forward scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season against Manchester United at the weekend, equalling Swansea’s Danny Graham as the top-scoring uncapped Englishman, and Holt feels recognition should be forthcoming.

“I don’t think it is round the corner,” he told Mirror Football.

“Myself and Danny got overlooked in this squad. But you have got to keep doing what you are doing, scoring goals, churning performances out.

“If you look, there are a few [Norwich players] who have the right to be ­disappointed.

“Wes ­Hoolahan hasn’t had an Ireland cap for the last two years, but has been by far the best Irish player for a long time.

“Anthony Pilkington and John Ruddy were ­overlooked [by England], and people might say it is because it’s Norwich. We are not at a big club so that is maybe what it is.

“But the lads have all got to keep doing it for Norwich and see where it takes us,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Well a week ago I stated this was a make or break week for Charlton, and Seven days later I sit here rather happy.

Charlton have picked up 4 crucial points after following a 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe up with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Yeovil Town as they head in to a crunch top of the table clash with League 1 giants Huddersfield town this weekend.

Huddersfield go in to the game following a 2-0 victory over Chesterfield on Tuesday night and are back in with a shout of automatic promotion again.

It’s been a strange season for Huddersfield so far. They made a flying start along with Charlton, and back in November when the two sides met it was first v second in a tightly fought encounter. Charlton came out 2-0 winners thanks to Hogan Ephraim and Yann Kermorgant and in the process ending Huddersfield’s amazing and record breaking 43 unbeaten record.

But this meeting at the Galpharm sees Huddersfield managed by a different man since that night in November with Simon Grayson now the man at the helm and it’s fair to say it’s been a frustrating start to his time with the Terriers after he has already witnessed his side throw away a few leads including a 3-0 lead over Bury and a 2-0 advantage over Stevenage.

There is no doubting who Charlton will have to watch on Saturday afternoon,  his name is Jordan Rhodes and his quite simply unplayable at this moment in time. The prolific youngster bagged his 34th goal of the season on Tuesday night and although he didn’t cause Charlton’s backline too many problems in November, he is quite simply a player who can make something out of nothing. Not only is he doing it on the club scene but also at international this season bagging a hat-trick for the Scotland’s Under 21’s already this season.

What has tended to be Huddersfield downfall this season is their defence.  Although they have one of the most highly rated keepers in England right now in Alex Smithies it means little if your defence is leaking goals. As a result they will have to be at their best to stop the rampant Addicks from scoring a few.

Charlton must build on Tuesday’s superb win over in-form Yeovil to push themselves over that line. A week ago there were question marks over whether Charlton could see this title push through and, the response coming from the ecstatic Charlton fans on Tuesday after the final whistle would have made most neutrals think that Tuesday night guaranteed promotion.

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It was great to see a huge number of fans jumping around with chants like “Championship here we come”, as this shows the belief is very much back with the fans, if it had ever gone away. Another 3 points over Huddersfield on Saturday would move Charlton on to 85 points and another huge step towards that inevitable title.

By Charlton Athletic blogger Martin Johnson

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In truth it has been a tough season to be a Liverpool fan. After the resurgence of the second half of the 2010-11 campaign, the air of optimism has been replaced, by a real sense of negativity, as the men in Red struggle to gain momentum in the league, slipping further away from fourth spot, which was considered the aim at the back end of last summer. One positive however, has been the development of Martin Skrtel, who has really moved up a gear at the heart of the Anfield defence during the course of the year.

Much has been made of the Mersey men’s failings in front of goal, and this allied to some disappointing results, has led to criticism across the board for Kenny Dalglish, and his team. However, the almost watertight backline deserves real credit, with Liverpool, despite sitting in eighth, having the third best goals against record in the Premier League, trailing only the title chasing Manchester duo, who have been a class above their competitors all season.

Slovakian international Skrtel has been a key cog in the defensive unit, becoming an almost ever present throughout the club’s league and domestic cup campaigns. The 27-year-old arrived at Anfield during the January transfer window of 2008, in a £6.5 million deal from Russian giants Zenit St. Petersburg. His rugged displays had attracted the interest of a variety of sides from across Europe, yet Rafael Benitez swooped quickly to take defender, of whom he had high hopes, to the North West:

“He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present. He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good.”

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Although he appeared a little nervous in his opening displays in the red shirt, he soon settled, leading to comparisons with Jamie Carragher, whom he was expected to the long-term replacement. In truth these comparisons looked a little far-fetched at first, due the immeasurable talents of the Reds vice-captain, yet as the years and seasons have ticked by, Skrtel has evolved into a top level Premier League defender. The displays of Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, coupled with Liverpool’s poor league form saw Skrtel miss out on a spot in the PFA team of the year, of which he was, arguably, in contention for, due his consistency.

Even the most blinkered of Premier League fans would have to admit that defensive performances this term have been below their usual standard, with teams throwing off the shackles, in search of adventurous and forward thinking displays. Liverpool have attempted this to a degree, with Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson being pushed further up the field to support the attack. As well as this, defensive midfielder Lucas has been missing due to injury, eliminating the defensive screen in front of the backline, although Jay Spearing has filled in, his performances and quality have been below that of the Brazilian. These factors have led to, at times, Skrtel and Daniel Agger becoming exposed to the opposition, but their partnership has been effective enough to repel attacks on many occasions. Along with his defensive abilities, the three-time Slovakian player of the year has also proved his attacking worth, particularly at set-pieces. The centre-half has pitched in with some vital goals this term, in particular the equaliser in the Carling Cup final.

Although fans of the club may have been worried about the possibility of life without the ageing Carragher at the start of the campaign, the emergence of Skrtel has shown that Liverpool have the necessary personnel to continue. Daniel Agger gains much praise for his easy on the eye displays, but Martin Skrtel is just as important, providing the ideal shield at the back for the club.

What are your thoughts? Comment or follow @Alex_Hams on Twitter to have your say

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On a day that was geared towards celebrating our return to the big time, this particular Saturday evening in a damp and dreary North-East turned out to be something of a washout.

With the Championship title still very much up for grabs – due to Reading dropping two points against Crystal Palace at the Madjeski stadium – a win at Middlesbrough would have given us all to play for going into the final weekend of the season.

However, a couple of weeks ago in my very first blog entry for this website, when looking forward to the month of April, I commented on the fact that Saints never do anything the easy way. In fact, such is our penchant for the dramatic, I firmly expect the club to announce that they will be running courses over the summer months entitled, “Life. How to make it difficult for yourself!” The first lesson of which will be free of charge but will entail students to try and convince the ticket office staff that tickets actually exist and are supposed to be on sale!

Going into this match, the omens were good. Our two previous promotions to the top-flight (in 1966 and 1978) had all but been sealed in the penultimate match of the season, both away from home. Middlesbrough also had the worst home league scoring record in the division going into this match, as they had only found the net a meagre 20 times in 22 games at the Riverside this season.

On top of which they had not won at home in their previous five attempts, and to say that most Saints fans were optimistic, if still a tiny bit apprehensive, would probably be an understatement.

Our midweek win at Peterborough put us in the driving seat as far as automatic promotion was concerned, thanks in part to West Ham’s failure to acquire all three points at a Bristol City side who were desperately trying to save themselves at the other end of the table. With West Ham’s next match on Monday night, we had the chance to clinch automatic promotion and pull within a point of Reading at the top. And despite the best of starts, which was given to us thanks to Billy Sharp’s lightning quick goal after just 46 seconds, we conspired to throw away a winning position in a league match, for the first time since 29th September 2009 when we lost 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers.

The timing of the ending of that run of not losing after taking the lead could not have been worse, as now we have to hope that West Ham slip up yet again in their Monday night match. By doing so, they will take the pressure off us on the final day. Our last match of the season is at St. Marys, against a Coventry City side that bade farewell to the Championship on Saturday, along with Portsmouth. The general consensus among fans is that we will win with no problems at all.

This was the same feeling that fans had going into the Portsmouth match, and look how that turned out! Teams that have nothing to play for can be at their most dangerous, as if the pressure is on us to get a result, with a nervy and expectant crowd on their backs, things can quite quickly go wrong.

I do not want to dwell too much on what went wrong at Middlesbrough, because a lot of it has been said already in previous blogs, and nothing has changed. Yes the referee was awful, but then again so were we, especially at the back where we never looked comfortable up against a Middlesbrough team who had an obvious height advantage.

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Before kick-off, I had us down to draw this match, so in a way a defeat does not make much difference, and I still believe that we will get promoted on Monday night when we are not in action. This will leave Saturday as a day of celebration, not only of a job well done, but in typical British style, a job that should have been completed a few weeks ago.

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And so the curtain has come down on a season to remember for Argyle fans.

With battles won on and off the field this season, it was almost inevitable that an ex-player that encapsulated everything bad about the past three years came back to remind us just how far we have come.

Steve MacLean was one of a few signings Argyle wrongly made in the Championship a bid to replace the genuine quality we had sold. We signed MacLean back in 2008 from Cardiff for £500,000 on wages reported to be around the £5000 a week mark. In return we got five goals in three seasons from a player that infamously stuck two fingers up to all four sides of Home Park after scoring a rare goal.

It is safe to say that we should have seen it coming, as MacLean arrived at Home Park on Saturday with Cheltenham Town, who is with the club on loan from Yeovil. There was a real party atmosphere around the ground before kick-off, as we celebrated survival as a football club, and miraculously, our league status that had been secured two games before. There was also the career of Argyle legend Romain Larrieu to celebrate, who had announced he would be hanging up his boots after eleven years of service to the Pilgrims before the game.

The game kicked off with neither side anywhere near full strength. Cheltenham manager Mark Yates chose to rest many key players as their place in this years play-offs were already confirmed, preserving those players made sense. As did the reasons that Carl Fletcher did not play many of our key players in the final game of the season. Some are already having treatment for niggling injuries to make sure they are fresh for the start of next season, whilst others are on four yellow cards – a fifth would mean suspension for the start of the next campaign.

For a game that was essentially a dead rubber, this one provided good entertainment value. Alex MacDonald, in only the second minute of the game, had rounded Brown in the Cheltenham goal, but could not find the net from a tight angle. Then some neat interchange play on the edge of the Robin’s box saw Warren Feeney try his luck, his effort was well saved though.

Then, on the 23rd minute, the inevitable happened.

Steve MacLean hit a free kick from 25 yards out, the ball cruelly deflected off of the legs of the Pilgrims wall leaving Jake Cole wrong footed as the ball diverted the other way and into the net. MacLean made a beeline to the front of the Devonport End, where he stood, hands cupped to ears, goading the Argyle fans. From that point on the party atmosphere disappeared, as many of the chants coming from the Devonport where aimed at MacLean, who seemed to enjoy the attention.

It was made all the more sweeter then, when Juvhel Tsoumou equalised for Argyle just 10 minutes into the second half. The man on loan from Preston crashing home an impressive header from an equally impressive Onismor Bhasera cross to level the scores for all of 60 seconds, as from the restart Cheltenham went straight down the other end and Marlon Pack headed home to ultimately give the visitors the three points.

The result did not change the atmosphere though as goalkeeper Romain Larrieu made his final appearance for the Greens, coming on with five minutes left to a standing ovation from all four sides of the ground; credit the Cheltenham fans for joining in the applause for a player that has spent eleven years at out club.

As the final whistle of the season sounded at Home Park, it took a while for it to settle in properly that we would be playing in League Two next year, and that we can actually look forward to next season. Our club has been dying over the past few seasons, but we are back, and next season our Chairman has indicated he wants to push for promotion so who knows what might happen.

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The events of the day just reminded us all exactly the type of player that we never want to see in the Green again, and I hope for Cheltenham’s sake they don’t sign MacLean otherwise they will find out exactly why ourselves, and now Yeovil, detest a player whose attitude stinks more than a slag heap.

For more talk on Argyle, you can follow me on Twitter

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