Boxing Day in the Premier League saw one of the more talked-about goals of recent weeks. In the game between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Jonny Evans diverted Danny Simpson's cross into his own net to hand the visitors a surprise 2-1 lead. The problem was that Papiss Demba Cisse was in an offside position in the six-yard box, but didn't play the ball at any point. After much deliberation the own goal was eventually - and correctly - given. Cisse did not touch the ball so was technically not offside, yet there's the problem with the law. How can a striker inside the six-yard box be not interfering with play? He was close enough to David De Gea for the goalkeeper to worry about, and close enough to Evans for him to feel he had to take defensive action. Referee Mike Dean got it right according to the laws of the game, but the rule is surely wrong in this instance. In the six-yard box at least, offside should mean offside. That doesn't excuse Sir Alex Ferguson's behaviour though. He should know better at his age and his experience. It's no surprise he won't face any action over it; his reputation has saved him for years.
Nottingham Forest are in a decent position in the npower Championship, just a point off the play-off places, helped by a terrific 4-2 win over Leeds United on Boxing Day. There was much surprise then, that the owners, the Al Hasawi family, decided to sack manager Sean O'Driscoll just hours after the game. There had been rumours in and around Nottingham for a while that O'Driscoll was on borrowed time, and there was a suggestion that he would be out with a defeat, but to get the chop after a win was very strange timing. O'Driscoll paid the price for new chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi moving the goalposts mid-season. The start of the campaign brought talk of a three-year plan and a year of consolidation, but now it seems like it's promotion or bust. There was a collective sigh amongst the City Ground fans when his successor was named as Alex McLeish. It hardly excites the faithful on Trentside. He has a particular style of football which isn't really the Forest way, and of course there are the two most recent sackings at Birmingham City and Aston Villa which stick in the memory. To say he has to hit the ground running is an understatement if he is to win the fans over and the club's owners are to find out that the grass is greener on the other side.
Speaking of which, I assume the Blackburn Rovers hierarchy thought they would be going places after finally getting rid of Steve Kean and replacing him with Henning Berg, a former title-winner with the club as a player. Despite being hated by the fans, Kean left Ewood Park with the club in 3rd place, after a fairly respectable start to the Championship season. The Venky's group, which owns the club, had the plan for Berg to come in and steer them towards a return to the top flight. Following one win in ten games, the Norwegian is out of a job after just eight weeks in the hot seat with Rovers plummeting to 17th in the table. The fans were desperate for Kean to go for months and months; I bet there may even now be some who would have him back. Talk about 'Be careful what you wish for'!
Finally I will sign off by saying thank you for your support and for reading Behind The Goal in the first half of the season. Happy New Year, and I hope you and your club has a successful 2013.
