Phil-good factor

Brown and Torres get Kammy's seal of approval

Last updated: 30th September 2008

Phil Brown Hull

Brown: stuck to game plan at Emirates

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Chris Kamara reveals his picks of the weekend from the Premier League and answers YOUR questions.

The feelgood factor continues for Hull after that totally unexpected result at the Emirates.

To go there with three strikers and get a result is a lesson for those teams who go with the fear factor and come away with nothing; Hull have come into the Premier League determined to fear nobody and come away from North London with the points.

Another big surprise preceded that result: Joe Kinnear's appointment as interim manager of Newcastle United.

He's been nowhere to be seen, I didn't even know he was still on the scene. It's obviously a Dennis Wise appointment, that's as plain as the nose on your face.

Dennis has brought someone in whom he trusts and hopes can get them a couple of result. The club is a mess, there's no doubt about that. Until they can find a buyer for the football club, Joe has to just try and get on with it.

They will find a buyer but I don't hold any hope out for these Nigerian and South African consortiums that have supposedly been put together.

It was gamble bringing back Kevin Keegan and I think it's likely we have seen the last of him at St James' Park. I think he realised that it was a very different Newcastle to the one he left; one that wasn't able to operate with the big boys any more.

Unfortunate

Tottenham are another club whose woe continues but I would have thought Juande Ramos will be given time, although they have a ready-made replacement in Gus Poyet, who could have easily gone to Newcastle.

There have been lots of rumours are about Ramos being unhappy in England but they're the sorts of things that sneak out when the team is not winning.

A club of Spurs' stature can't afford to go on that kind of losing streak but let's not forget that he did win a trophy last year. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov weren't going to hang around when it became clear that two top four sides were interested.

The money Tottenham got for Keane was, in my opinion, too good to turn down and Berbatov made it clear he didn't want to be at White Hart Lane so, in that way, Ramos has been unfortunate. He's trying to build a new team.

But he has to convince the Spurs fans that better things are round the corner, rather than admitting he could be out of work if the next few results don't go his way.

Kammy's picks of the weekend...

GAME - Arsenal 1 Hull 2
 What a result! Hull have dominated the headlines and deservedly so. To go to Arsenal after seeing their kids put six past Sheffield United - a team they lost to in the Championship last season, which probably cost them automatic promotion - yet play with such belief was sensational.

GOAL - Geovanni
 Unsaveable. I didn't think for one minute when he picked it up where he did that it would go in where it did! The Arsenal players were probably thinking, "Go on, have a pop, Almunia will save it from there," but it wasn't to be.

SAVE - David James
It was important for David James to keep a clean sheet after getting battered but a lot of people know who Boaz Myhill is now. He's someone I recommended to a Premier League team last season when he was available and they ummed and ahhed; well, he's proved he can do it in the top flight.

PLAYER - Fernando Torres
He's a legend, and when you score in the derby at Goodison, you've got that status for life. I backed him at the start of the season to be the league's top goalscorer and even before Saturday's game, I hadn't seen anything to change my mind. Amr Zaki worked hard against Man City; as long as he keeps up that courage and desire, he'll certainly be a star for Wigan.

GAFFER - Phil Brown
 It can only be Browny! The fact that Hull were one down was the thing. If they'd have come away with a draw having put ten men behind the ball, there would have been a certain satisfaction but to have a game plan, stick to that game plan even when you've gone a goal down, I have to say it was the managerial performance of my eight years at Sky Sports.

TEAM - Hull
 People certainly know who they are now! Everyone knew who Dean Windass was but now they know the likes of Dawson, Boateng, Marlon King. They deserve all the credit they get.

GRIPE - Why did Rob Styles award Ronaldo a penalty?
Referees are going to make errors in this game but I don't know anyone who could see where Rob Styles was coming from, awarding that penalty at Old Trafford. It was beyond logic; you don't even have to be a football fan to have seen that the defender took the ball. For someone who is paid professionally, to get those decisions wrong is a shame.

Kammy answers your e-mails...

Got a question for Kammy? Email him here or use the feedback form at the bottom of the page.

STOP THE CLOCK
Hi Chris, don't you think that there should be far more transparency and responsibility with referees in how they perform in a game? I would suggest that a performance league table be published; also, it took a few decades for fans to be informed of how many minutes were left in a match, but even now I scratched my head to work out how five minutes were added to our match against Stoke. Why don't we just stop the clock when play stops and then it's all clear for all to see!
Stefan Basiuk (Everton fan)

KAMMY SAYS: It would go on forever if you stopped the clock every time the ball went out for a throw-in or a corner; you've only got to do it for injuries and you have to rely on the ref. But I do agree with transparency. It's not about refs ringing up the managers after and saying sorry, it's about someone like Rob Styles coming out straight after the game and saying, 'Look, I made a mistake, I thought Cristiano Ronaldo had been brought down'. At the moment they only come out and make a statement when they're right. It's the same for Stuart Atwell, who gave Reading's 'goal' at Watford. At no time has he come out and said, 'I went on my assistant's advice, I shouldn't have done, I got it wrong'.

HIGH FIVE
Kammy, now we're a few games into the season, who do you think are the main contenders for a 5th place finish and have any sides you thought could compete for a Uefa cup spot disappointed you?
Adam Bell (Everton Fan)

KAMMY SAYS: It's still very early days. I don't want to pour scorn on Hull after such a great weekend but they won't be up in fifth or sixth at the end of the season. If you look at the table, the surprise is that Everton and Newcastle are down towards the bottom - because of their various problems - but the team that has been doing as well as was expected is Aston Villa.

Got a question for Kammy? Email him here or use the feedback form at the bottom of the page.

Comments

Michael Sutherland (Sunderland fan) says...

UNBELIEVABLE STUFF JEFF !

Posted 10:11 4th November 2008

Adeniyi Papa (Arsenal fan) says...

well one simple massage to arsenal is that arsenal need to seel adebayo and buy santa cruz because we need someone who can be smart in front he can dribble all he play is play back when he need to find his way in to the box .

Posted 15:26 3rd November 2008

George Christou (Arsenal fan) says...

Thanks for the comment Pete Tim (Arsenal fan). I am very confused with some issues, firstly you wrote on about Wengers amazing transformation of players. to a point i agree but what about the ones that fail and cost us like Alialiadari, or not so young lehman, and the wonder flop senderos who cost us massively last year. is it so bad to ask Why are we not winning trophies under wenger? We pay thousands to watch Arsenal. Why is it such a problem if we buy a couple of world class players, why would it stop the youngsters from coming through? if we bought world class would it not speed up success for us? i dont understand, we are supposed to win trophies it is very hard to see man utd celebrating the double and nothing for us. And if i can put this question to you and please be honest, what can you see Arsenal winning this year? chelsea and man utd fans believe we are not even in the running. unlike our rivals we seem to have given up on the premiership, 1 point from games against hull, fulham and sunderland and we have not played the top half yet. We do not have enough depth in squad so whose fault is that? we have been aware of this problem for over 3 years Wenger has to take some responsibility. the bottom line is we pass too much. Adebayor not convinced about him, no cutting edge. Today against sunderland we looked quite bored. We only like to play if teams let us. maybe these youngster need a leader or two on the pitch. the reserve team showed more guts last week. I am not putting anyone down but i am not shying away from the obvious questions. We were a bit unlucky today but we dont seem to have that viera bullish play just the pass and move around the players. sunderland were very defensive but played well.

Posted 19:14 4th October 2008

George Christou (Arsenal fan) says...

Scott Kirby (Leeds United fan), mate your talking rubbish. Football is about winning trophies. I can accept that we have the best stadium, and fan base and up and coming youths but we are winning nothing. Arsenal need to win trophines. we are not leeds. When teams prevent Arsenal from getting behind them, they are not big enough or strong enough to bully teams into making mistakes and then captitalising on them like Chelsea and Man utd do. And yes we do want big names at Arsenal, how can compare Arsenal with chelsea you muppet they bought everyone in the land to prevent other teams over taking you, remember 43 internationals under mourinho! sort it out

Posted 13:36 4th October 2008

Gabriel Gabostic (Chelsea fan) says...

I believe Di Santos should be given a chance since Anelka is not delivering for us and pray that the injuries woes of Chelsea should disappaer.. UP CHELSEA ,BLUES FOR LIFE.I wish Drogba and co quick recovering.

Posted 16:17 3rd October 2008

Ruway - chiss Naidoo (Arsenal fan) says...

Goodday Chris. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have my say . I am well pleased with our result (4 - 0 ), my hats off to the boys for bouncing back. I was pleased to see that the constructive criticism has paid off, I am aware that the lads do read these websites. It speaks volumes to see that they have responded in the manner in which they did. I have great faith in these players, I sincerely hope that they do have the same great faith in themselves. To be honest I respect Mr Wenger and all that he has done in this club. With regard to the article about him not being football orientated, is a bit harsh. To me he is a well balanced individual who takes all apsects of life into account. To me he is the best, I wish that I may have the opportunity to meet him one day and let him know how much he has impacted on my life. May Gods favour richly bless Mr Wenger and the entire Arsenal consortium. It is my dream to coach one of the big teams in Europe one day, I would not mind working under Mr Wenger. Talking of feeling sick, I am only a supporter but that is how I feel everytime my team loses a match. To me they are all invincibles - they just need to take that onto the field of play. The players should not worry about the big money players, had I been manager of a team, I honestly would never have paid that amount of money for any one player. This is killing the game of football. It`s all about big paychecks as opposed to passion for the game. Thank you

Posted 14:24 2nd October 2008

Neil Tattersall (Hull City fan) says...

Having had adream start to the season i do think 15/16th place is within our capabilities,i would like to remind the Arsenal fan that therev are many cold and wet tuesday nights outside the top two divisions especially. Poor MANAGER spends no money top four every year Champions league football. It must be hard been a goona

Posted 19:31 1st October 2008

Jon Jardine (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Hi Kammy, How many messages have you had from Arsenal fans singing the praises of Wengar's tactics and the "non-world class" youth players after last nights impressive Champions League outing? One bad game and the fans claim it's doom and gloom! They should try to be a Spurs fan!

Posted 09:54 1st October 2008

Don Revie (Leeds United fan) says...

"I would like wenger to drop down into a more coaching role like a don how role and we need a tactician like Terry o'Neil"- what a load of absolute nonsense. Arsenal the club would crumble before your very eyes if that happened. The whole ethos of the club has to be geared around bringing through quality youngsters because they don't have the financial clout to compete with the other top teams in the PL. It's nothing to do with wenger's tactics!! Arsenal fans really don't know how lucky they are to have a manager that good. Infact when he does eventually leaves or retires I fully expect arsenal to be in the doldrums for a few years.

Posted 16:07 30th September 2008

Pete Tim (Arsenal fan) says...

George, you make out as if you speak on behalf of all Arsenal fans when clearly you don't! You reeled off the likes of Petit, Overmars and Henry as star players when we won the league, but who bought them and transformed them into world class talent? You say "anyone" can play passing football with youngsters but clearly they can't, or else more teams would do it. Be grateful that we have a manager who understands football is entertainment, as well as business, and is a master of both. I agree we need a 'plan B' to an extent, but I think the real problem is the lack of a commanding centre back like Adams or Campbell and a Vieira style ball winner in midfield. I was at the Hull game and that just stood out far beyond the inability to shoot or "mental frailties" that Wenger mentioned after the match.

Posted 15:21 30th September 2008

Ravi Naidoo (Arsenal fan) says...

Goodday I don`t accept the "caught out" phrase, lets stop making excuses - we are still trying to pass the ball into the net...haven`t we learned anything from last season?. We have become so predictable that teams already know what we are up to. To me it seems when teams deploy the strategy that Hull did on Saturday, we never win that match, we need to change our tactics especially when teams do that. We need to have a player that is man enough to try and dribble his way into their penalty area, just the way Ronaldo does, and he gets what he wants. Lets be honest, Cesc Fabregas should have been substituted, Van Persie should not have been on the field at all. He really need to be coached on working with both his feet, otherwise to me he is useless. I watch alot of football, from every league, trust me our perfomance on Saturday was flat. Why didn`t the boss go through with the same side that won the league cup game during the week instead. As for Adebayor, he needs consistency, Had I been the manager I would have released him to AC Milan on a free transfer. It is as though our guys are not certain as to who must shoot when they are in the box, or is it that they don`t want to accept accountability?. Toughen up guys - otherwise teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United will massacre us, wait a minute!, Hull has already done so.... Dissapointed - Beautiful, Champagne football does not get the results, it`s the goals that win games.

Posted 14:10 30th September 2008

Lloyd Thompson (Bolton Wanderers fan) says...

Hi Kammy, i'm a frustrated Bolton fan who said months ago when Big Sam left that we should get Phil Brown back to the Reebok. he has obviously learned a lot under Allardyce and taken it on from there. As your comments show he wants his team to approach games in a positive way ie. 3 strikers away at Arsenal and look what happened! Meanwhile we are left with Gary Megson who's only tactic is to try and not lose the game. He never plays to try and win from the outset. In our last two games we have had just 25% of posession on the OPTA stats, the lowest I have ever seen from any team in any division. If you never have the ball you cant expect to create enough chances to win games. If i was on the Board at Bolton i would be planning how best to get Browny back at the club he loves. He played for Bolton, coached at Bolton and he is a fan! The Board at Bolton lost the plot way before Big Sam left by not backing him when he asked them to in an effort to break into the top four. they were afraid to aim high and now we are lumbered with a Manager who i can only see taking us down into the Championship through his total lack of ideas and adventure. This is the first season in the last 15 years that i have not bought a season ticket and there are many more like me. We dont expect to see our team win every week but at least we want to see them having a go! That's what Bolton are known for and it's a point totally lost on Megson where as Browny knows what Bolton fans want and could get us back doing what we used to do so well .....upsetting the big boys!

Posted 13:49 30th September 2008

Mugisha Simon (Manchester United fan) says...

Am a manutd fan,i dont understand guys who criticised Ronaldo for diving,the guy is fast and in so defenders are always eager to tackle him,i remember last season Ronaldo was fouled like 10 times but didnot get any thing especially the fa cup semifinal against portsmouth he almost got injured,the lad is good.so i dont get people who criticise him.

Posted 13:34 30th September 2008

Bob Woods (Liverpool fan) says...

Sorry have to respond to the Arsenal guy! If not for Wenger Arsenal would be nowhere. Just after the Graham/Rioch era's you where no-where, no team, no money, no proper training grnd, badly needed a new stadium!!!! But u now have all those things because David Dein found Wenger in JAPAN of all places! I mean with no Wenger, realistically no title's or massive sell on fee's from the youngsters u seem to have a prob with (Anelka in particular) Great football, challenging on all fronts with half the resources of the other big sides and your still complaining. Fabregas Adebeyor Van Persie etc not World Class? He's not perfect by any means but I found that comment incredible. It wouldn't surprise me if Arsenal start to fall away when Wenger leaves because of the ridiculous amount of money other clubs have and you'lll be crying for the 'good ol days' when Wenger was here! B4 some1 else says it, yes a little bit like us *L*

Posted 12:45 30th September 2008

Scott Kirby (Leeds United fan) says...

George Christou (Arsenal fan) seriously needs to get a reality check. The fact that Arsenal having the best youngsters is something to brag about not moan you fool. Its the difference that see's Arsenal as a viable business, unlike Man Utd in hundreds of millions of debt because instead of producing quality youth (like the days when beckham, scholes, neville, giggs were in prime) they have to resort to paying over inflated prices for unproven toss (Berbadross). You have the best stadium, best manager, best youth and in the best financial situation and 1 of the faves in all your competitions. Go watch Chelea if big names is all yourt after, Sort yourself out mayte!!!!

Posted 12:25 30th September 2008

Bob Lines (Hull City fan) says...

Dear Chris, Do you think Football could learn from other sports to improve the game, eg only stopping play for serious injuries, so if a player has an injury he can walk to the side line for treatment without stopping play, then his teams medical staff have to decide if he can continue or not rather than sitting down on the field so the game stops and then he's up on his feet running around because there was nothing wrong with him.

Posted 12:13 30th September 2008

Michael Grahamslaw (Newcastle United fan) says...

it's very Early days and i don't think Hull are actually gonna finish in the top 7 i think they will get a few injuries and find it More difficult it climb the table later in the Year i also think Newcastle & Tottenham will pick up a few Points and escape Relegation it might be another disapointing year for us But there is a long way to go and andthing can happen i mean look Quite Possibly to best team in the league Man United there 11th

Posted 11:49 30th September 2008

Andrew Steele (West Bromwich Albion fan) says...

Hi, as you will tell im a baggies fan. Im really happy with the start to the campaign for us, apart from the worry about us getting enough goals this year, we create pass it around all game but just cant get that final pass (as proved against villa and bolton). i just dont understand why mowbray persists with 4-5-1 when we would have a far better chance if we played moore and bednar uptop together we would have a far better chance of scoring the goals we need. so basically who do you reckon will be fighting relegation till the end this season?

Posted 11:39 30th September 2008

Christopher Kavanagh (Hull City fan) says...

Chris, i have to agree wit you, hull hav no chance stayin in 5th r 6th.... top 3 is much more likely for the tigers... We went to the emirates and gunned down the gunners so wats stoppin us breakin chelseas record at stamford bridge.... End of season table looks like...Man Utd, Aston Villa, Hull, Chelsea, Arsenal, liverpool....with newcastle, tothenham and stoke goin down...(Ha)... I can dream cant i????

Posted 11:08 30th September 2008

David Windross (Middlesbrough fan) says...

Do you think that the Boro's season depends on ALVES scoring goals? And how do you assess the goalkeeping situation at The Riverside?

Posted 09:48 30th September 2008

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