Every Saturday afternoon, Chris Kamara heads to stadiums up and down the country to deliver his unique match reports for Soccer Saturday.
On Sundays you can see him back in the Sky Sports studios as he brings you all of the Premier League highlights on Goals on Sunday.
And then on Mondays you can find Kammy right here on skysports.com as he brings you his Premier League picks of the weekend. Join us every week as he runs through his highs and lows as well as answering YOUR questions...
City: big win for Hughes' men
GAME - Man City 2-1 Chelsea
This was a massive game for Man City. Last week people were talking about Mark Hughes losing his job after seven draws on the trot, but then they beat Arsenal in the Carling Cup and beat Chelsea in the Premier League. What a difference a week makes! It's fascinating what you can do with statistics because managers can be sacked on the back of them. Before Saturday people were talking about seven points out of a possible 21, whereas now they are talking about eight games unbeaten and being back in the title race!
TEAM - Man City
I think I have to pick Man City again. They put their best team out in midweek and came through a difficult game, so it was always going to be tough against the league leaders. It was even harder when they went behind to an unfortunate goal - but they came from behind and won. People were questioning the centre-halves Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott, but I thought they played well. People also looked at Emmanuel Adebayor and the fact he'd only scored one league goal since September, but he came up with the goal that got them back in the game.
GAFFER - Mark Hughes
Well done to Avram Grant for getting his first win, but I do feel he was a bit lucky because his goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was fantastic. I have to pick Mark Hughes here. As I said before, there was talk of the Arabian billionaires getting rid of him and then he had that spat with Arsene Wenger, but he has come out of the week with great credit. To be honest, I think 95 per cent of people sided with Hughes over that incident. Arsene Wenger had his reasons for not shaking hands, but usually managers will get together and have a drink afterwards even if they did not get on during the 90 minutes.
PLAYER - James Milner
James Milner was very impressive playing in central midfield for Villa on Saturday. I've watched James right from the start of his career and he can play absolutely anywhere; right-back, left back, anywhere across the midfield and up front; he's quite incredible. I was delighted to see him play so well in that position. He capped it with a great goal, receiving the ball from Gabriel Agbonlahor's throw-in and using vision and presence to finish it off. He's such a lovely lad too.
GOAL - Nenad Milijas
This was a great goal and I was lucky enough to be at the game. I was talking to Gary Newbon on Sunday morning and he said they sit in the Sky office and 90 per cent of the time the way I describe the goals is spot on. Well, I want to know what happens the other 10 per cent of the time because I always report it as I see it! I said this was a great goal from 25-30 yards out - and that's exactly what it was!
GRIPE - Sympathy for the referees
This weekend I don't really have a gripe with the referees. For the first time for a while I had sympathy for the referees because players were making life difficult for them; namely Steven Gerrard's dive and the penalty won by Hermann Hreidarsson. In the Gerrard incident, Martin Atkinson called it right, but Phil Dowd called the Hreidarsson one wrong. Players contributed to making both of those incidents difficult to call. My colleague Ian Payne talked about Hreidarsson as if he was the biggest cheat to play the game, but I don't think that was fair. I think Hreidarsson thought a foot might come in, so went down - and then got up and carried on. I do have more than a little bit of sympathy for the referees in those cases though.
Kammy answers your questions...
Do you want Chris Kamara to answer YOUR question? Email him at skysportsclub@bskyb.com or use the feedback form at the bottom of the page.
GOING DOWN DIFFERENTLY
I find it totally amazing that we have heard nothing of the so obvious dive by Gerrard. OK I'm an Arsenal supporter so I'm talking Eduardo here, the uproar we had over him was unbelievable but nothing about Gerrard, Bob Harris
KAMMY SAYS: You heard nothing about Gerrard because the penalty wasn't given... that's the difference. If the penalty had been given, as the Eduardo incident was, the reaction would have been totally different. The referee should have given him a yellow card, but just waved play on instead, but if he'd given a penalty I think the uproar would have been the same, if not worse, than the Eduardo one. Maybe not on a global scale because that was a Champions League game, but certainly in this country.
ON THE BALL
Dear Kammy. Do you think James Milner's goal for Villa should have stood at the weekend? Surely substitutes shouldn't be allowed to stand on the touchline and get involved in the game as Steve Sidwell did. He basically provided the assist for the goal. Surely that should be a booking and a free-kick for ungentlemanly conduct? Stuart (Hull City fan).
KAMMY SAYS: Sorry Stuart, I think that's nonsense. If Matt Duke had put the ball into row Z of the stand, then nobody would be complaining. If a substitute is warming up and the ball lands in your hands, the first thing you're going to do is grab it and give it to your team-mate. I think we should be applauding Sidwell for his ingenuity, not criticising him! It's an expensive ball boy because I'm sure Sidwell earns quite a lot of money each week, but of course it's natural that you're going to grab the ball and help your team score a goal. However, if Villa were 2-1 up with a minute to go I'm pretty sure he would have let the ball go past him!
Comments (12)
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Jamie Smith (Manchester United fan) says...
Gerrard has dived in a Champions League final and won a penalty, but that gets swept under the car[et for him too... Its a disgrace. Plus Carbone, the dive wasn't even shown on Match Of The Day, whereas, anytime Ronaldo dived it was highlighted and made a point of, as it should be, but of course, only foreign players dive...
Posted 10:15 10th December 2009
Laura Dee (Wigan Athletic fan) says...
I thought James Milner's goal was just the same as Hugo Rodallega's when he scored at Aston Villa at the start of the season, yet everyone is making a big fuss about Milner's goal. But, that's just my opinion I suppose.
Posted 17:00 8th December 2009
John Clarke (Chelsea fan) says...
Kammy, I am sick and tired of the defence of Gerrard by Liverpool supporters. They are quick to berate Drogba and any other Chelsea player and call them cheats but defend one of the biggest cheats in the EPL - GERRARD. The word I would use here is HYPOCRICY!
Posted 13:37 8th December 2009
Ben Sohier (AFC Telford United fan) says...
i think that gerrard has simply got away with this because of the represenatation that he holds. the fa wouldnt want one of their oustnading english players and yes, a world class player to be branded as a cheat. what is that going to say about the premier league. eduardo had more severe punishment because of the occasion of the game, a highly profiled champions league game compared to a weekly premiership game in the rainy lancashire. it's all about where, when and who. if a player dives, it should be booking, regardless of the personnel involved.
Posted 12:10 8th December 2009
Adam Cooper (Manchester United fan) says...
Unfortunately this isnt the first time Mr. Gerrard has dived! its funny that Cristiano was hated so much around the country for doing the same, but as soon as steve gets in the same position he does exactly the same! But because hes an england star a big deal doesnt get made about it, but check youtube and theres a whole compilation of Gerrard dives.. quite fun to watch :)
Posted 11:55 8th December 2009
Tiaan Steyn (Arsenal fan) says...
ohh come on kammy gerrard would not have gotten a uproar like eduardo did... he is a england boy and everyone thinks hes an angel.. stop fooling yourselves!!! he had a blatent dive even worse than eduardo!! gerrard is a big cheat and he should get a fine and that fine should go to the referee as a reward for seeing it!!!
Posted 11:20 8th December 2009
John Carbone (Liverpool fan) says...
I think these comments about Gerrard's dive are absolute nonsense!!!! There is no doubt that it was a dive and even further no doubt that he should have been booked. What people (especially Man U fans) seems to forget is that 99.9% of players dive!!! Have we already forgotten the countless dives Ronaldo took and the many penalties or free-kicks awarded, Rooney dived too playing for England, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately it is part of football nowadays and the only way to stamp it out is either through video evidence or the new system of refereeing used in Europa league...the trophy Liverpool will be hoping to defend with honour next year!!!!
Posted 09:51 8th December 2009
T F (Chelsea fan) says...
Kammy, does Britain make an uproar over the referees decision to award a dive, or over the player's lack of sportsmanship that diving displays? Its the latter, right? (if it wasn't, the criticism would be directed at the ref, not the player). Then why should the uproar if the penalty is not awarded be any different from the reaction we see when a penalty is awarded? The player dived... he thereby was unsportsmanlike. Why no uproar? The answer is, Britain turns a blind eye to such acts when they come from English players. Rooney and Gerrard are serial divers. How many commentators/'experts' condemn it or write an article about it? How many British newspapers start campaigns against diving?
Posted 07:35 8th December 2009
Jonathan Wilson (Liverpool fan) says...
As a Liverpool fan I must say Gerard was lucky not to get a booking. He should have. He has had a terrible year without a single decent match under his belt and now diving. The Ngog incident was different because if he had stayed on his feet he would have been taken out by a defender in which case not only would the penalty be given but it might have seriously injured the lad. People initially saw it as a terrible dive but after watching the replay gave Ngog the benefit of the doubt as he could have been seriously injured if he stayed on his feet. But Gerard definitely was lucky not to get a booking. It's a sorry state of affairs at Anfield at the moment. I hope the team sorts things out very, very soon or we will be left without Champions League participation next year. The problem starts with the manager. His decisions and tactics have been horrible.
Posted 21:05 7th December 2009
Drew Klein (Manchester United fan) says...
You honestly think there would be a somewhat similar media uproar if the penalty had been given for Gerrard's dive? Let's start being honest here and say there's a ridiculous double-standard for English divers. Criticizing your darling Gerrard wouldn't sell nearly as many newspapers as pointing out the same action done by Drogba or a foreign player of similar talent. Though all in all I suppose it doesn't matter, considering their standing at the moment. Liverpool will be doing all they can to win the Europa Cup so they can defend their trophy with honor in the same competition next year!
Posted 16:51 7th December 2009
David Collins (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...
Best wishes to Jimmy Bullard! Hope it nothing too serious. An influential player and great charachter! Poor result against an underperforming Everton side. I fealt that Keane would have taken at least one of Crouchs chances, not to mention the penalty! Surely he has to start against Wolves on Saturday!
Posted 14:15 7th December 2009
Scott Flippence (Arsenal fan) says...
Kammy, I agree to a point about your Gerrard comments, but its surely STILL a booking, no? What about the Ng'og incident V Birmingham as well? that actually MADE a difference to the end result, again, no witch hunt, no press hounding, no fifa investigation. I had the feeling at the time that Ed was very unlucky, and that HE was the one to be made an example of to put everyone else off. He eventually got off with what happened, but the mud sticks and he is still branded a cheat. I felt at the time that he was lucky to escape a ban, but the next person caught doing the same would be in big trouble. obviously not! I expected better from someone like Gerrard, who obviously has more ability than this, but as other incidents have shown is really lacking some class!
Posted 13:49 7th December 2009
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