Sabtu, 28 Disember 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

West Brom hold West Ham in six-goal thriller

Posted: 28 Dec 2013 06:56 AM PST

December 28, 2013

Nicolas Anelka (39) scores for West Brom, his first goal in more than 2 years, to help earn a 3-3 draw at West Ham United. - AFP pic, December 28, 2013.Relegation rivals West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion played out a richly entertaining 3-3 draw at Upton Park on Saturday as the Premier League's jam-packed festive schedule continued.

West Ham led twice, first through Joe Cole, and then Kevin Nolan, but on each occasion they were pegged back by the visitors, who remain without a permanent head coach following the sacking of Steve Clarke.

Nicolas Anelka broke his West Brom duck with a quick-fire brace to cancel out Cole's fourth-minute opener and put the away team ahead, with Saido Berahino netting a 69th-minute equaliser after goals from Modibo Maiga and Nolan had restored West Ham's lead.

The goal from Berahino, who later hit the post from a free-kick, prevented West Ham from climbing out of the relegation zone and left West Brom two points above the bottom three in 15th place.

With leaders Arsenal not in action until Sunday, when they visit Newcastle United, Manchester City will take over at the top of the table if they avoid defeat at home to Crystal Palace later on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Manchester United can move level on points with fifth-place Everton if they win at Norwich City, while Cardiff City will start life without sacked manager Malky Mackay when they host bottom club Sunderland. - AFP, December 28, 2013.

Australia hit back to have victory in sight

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 11:43 PM PST

December 28, 2013

Australia moved within 201 runs of victory in the fourth Ashes test with all 10 wickets in hand after routing England's second innings for 179 to wrest back the momentum on a roller-coaster fourth day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

Australia offspinner Nathan Lyon (pic) took 5-50 as England lost their last five wickets after tea for the addition of only six runs, their batsmen squandering the advantage their bowlers had fought hard for in the morning.

Chris Rogers was on 18 with fellow opener David Warner on 12 as Australia reached 30 for no loss at the close of a blustery day's play in front of a crowd of more than 63,000.

Though a fourth consecutive test victory would seem Australia's for the taking, no team has ever chased down more than South Africa's 183 in 2008 since the first use of drop-in wickets at the MCG in 1996.

But England's demoralising batting performance and their failure to breach Australia's openers in the last hour suggest they face an uphill task to prevent the hosts from taking a 4-0 lead in the five-test series.

England had bowled Australia out for 204 in the first hour of the day to take a slender 51-run lead, and pushed it out to 105 at lunch without loss.

From there, the wheels fell off spectacularly, with two separate collapses before and after tea seeing England lose a total of eight wickets for the addition of only seven runs.

England captain Alastair Cook managed his third half-century and became the youngest cricketer at 29 to reach 8,000 test runs, but his wicket for 51 was duly followed by the loss of three more for one run in the session.

England still held a lead of 182 after tea with six wickets in hand, but Lyon combined with paceman Mitchell Johnson to mow through the tail.

Lyon struck to remove Ben Stokes to end a 44-run partnership with Kevin Pietersen, the spinner coaxing the all-rounder into a clumsy slog straight to Steven Smith at mid-on.

Jonny Bairstow, who replaced seasoned wicketkeeper Matt Prior, added a quick-fire 21 before being well caught by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin with a flat-footed drive off a wider delivery from Johnson, the bowler's 30th wicket of the series.

Lyon struck again the second ball after drinks to bowl Tim Bresnan for a duck, and three balls later had Stuart Broad out for zero caught by Australia captain Michael Clarke in the slips.

Pietersen was out for 49 slogging Lyon to long-off before Johnson wrapped up the innings by trapping Monty Panesar in front for another duck.

Fairytale series

Johnson had earlier continued his fairytale series by swooping in at mid-off to throw the stumps and run out Joe Root for 15.

Two balls later, Ian Bell was out for a first-ball duck, inexplicably spooning an innocuous Lyon delivery straight to a disbelieving Johnson at mid-off, sparking thunderous roars at the stadium.

Earlier, Australia's final wicket partnership between Haddin and Lyon had yielded a valuable 40 runs before paceman James Anderson struck to remove the wicketkeeper for 65.

The 36-year-old Haddin became the first batsman at seventh or lower in the order to post four first innings half-centuries in a series, and also surpassed Englishman Alec Stewart's 378 runs on home soil in 1993 to become the highest-scoring wicketkeeper in an Ashes series.

Enjoying some of the best form of his career, Haddin cracked seven fours and a six before flailing at a short ball that soared high in the air, allowing fellow wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow to take a simple catch square of the wicket.

Lyon was 18 not out after slogging three boundaries and providing commendable support.

Anderson finished the pick of England's bowlers with 4-67, with fellow seamer Broad taking 3-45. - Reuters, December 28, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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Prolific Padukone rises to top of Bollywood A-list

Posted: 28 Dec 2013 02:23 AM PST

December 28, 2013

Deepika Padukone is the daughter of India's most famous badminton star of the 1970s and 1980s, Prakash Padukone. - AFP pic, December 28, 2013.If any Bollywood star can claim 2013 as their year, it is Deepika Padukone. With four hit films, the former model has risen to the top of the A-list - and now has Hollywood in her sights.

But she isn't putting her giddy fame down to luck.

"I did work at an abnormal pace, juggling three films at a time, and I think the payback has been worth it," the elegant 27-year-old told AFP in an interview in her adopted hometown Mumbai, the entertainment capital.

Padukone has catapulted to Bollywood's big league after just six years in the movie industry, but her entry into films was hardly conventional.

In an industry known for blatant nepotism and dominant acting dynasties, she has carved out a career despite being neither of showbiz parentage nor from Mumbai.

Born in Copenhagen, she grew up in Bangalore, inheriting athletic genes from her father Prakash, a badminton world champion.

She was a state-level basketball, badminton and baseball player before becoming a model, and her experience and visibility in that job landed her film offers when she was as young as 19.

Her acting debut came in 2007 in Om Shanti Om, opposite Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Her struggle, she said, was in understanding colleagues, the craft and finding comfort in front of the camera.

"When you begin working in your early 20s you are also understanding yourself and meeting many people who have an influence on your life - some good, some bad," said the actress, smartly dressed in a high-collared shirt and trousers, with a hint of makeup on her flawless skin.

If she saw early stardom with her debut film, Padukone has also faced some poor showings at the box office.

Her 2010 films Lafangey Parindey (Rogue Birds), Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se (We Play Wholeheartedly) and Karthik Calling Karthik all flopped.

She praised the role of her followers in keeping her motivated.

"Fans give you love. I know mine love me for who I am and not just because of the success of my films, because even in the years when my films were not doing well, I felt the same love from the audience and fans."

Padukone agreed that 2013 has been career-defining, with the hits Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (This Youth is Crazy) and Chennai Express, again co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, which became the most profitable movie in India.

Also this year Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (The Battle of Bullets: Ram-Leela), an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, won Padukone near-universal praise.

There were even reports of her being considered for a role in the next instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise - although the film is now uncertain after US actor Paul Walker's fatal car accident.

"I know how close I was to doing that film, but I choose to stand by my earlier commitments here," she said.

"Fast & Furious didn't work out, for whatever reasons. But it's ridiculous for people to say that the stories were floated for publicity. Sometimes I think it's destiny," she said.

Hollywood hopes

But she suggests Hollywood projects remain a real possibility.

"I am sure there will be something else."

Padukone has thus far mostly played the romantic female lead in typically commercial Bollywood films, combining song, dance, comedy and action.

In real life, director Homi Adajania describes her as having an "intense drive", combined with loyalty and "wisdom to play the game with poise".

She credits her background in sports with her disciplined approach.

"If my backhand is weak then before the next tournament I better practice my backhand properly," she said.

"When a film does well or does not do well, you analyse it and work on the things that did not work."

Padukone has also faced constant interest from gossip columns, whether over her love life – especially her former relationship with fellow star Ranbir Kapoor – or supposed tiffs within the small group of Bollywood A-listers.

"I think it is more media-created than reality," she said of rivalries with other actresses.

"That may have existed earlier, but I don't think it exists now. We may not be the best of friends but that is because we don't have the opportunities or the time.

"It's not that we don't want to. I think we are all secure in the work we do."

Padukone's next films include Finding Fanny, an English-Konkani language satire and Kochadaiiyaan (The king with a long, curly mane), a Tamil period film with south Indian superstar Rajnikanth.

"It's nice to be appreciated and loved. I know that I have the ability to make people laugh, cry or smile," she said.

"That I have a certain influence on people's lives is very humbling – and a responsibility to bear." – AFP, December 28, 2013.

Britney Spears gambles on two years in Las Vegas

Posted: 28 Dec 2013 02:06 AM PST

December 28, 2013

Britney Spears (pic) opened a two-year sojourn in Sin City late Friday with a dazzling performance to a crowd of adoring fans at the city's Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

Some 4,600 followers of the Grammy-winning pop songstress were on hand to enjoy her new spectacle, titled Piece of Me, in which the 32-year old performed most of the songs that made her famous.

"Wow... perfect audience for the 1st #PieceOfMe show! That was AMAZING! I <3 you Vegas!!!" Spears wrote on Twitter.

Spears belted out more than 20 songs that include many of the hits over her 15-year career from former Disney starlet in the late 1990s to pop diva of the 2000s.

Several big-name stars on hand for the premier on the famed Las Vegas strip included Katy Perry and pop's current enfant terrible, Miley Cyrus.

While Spears lip-synched songs throughout much of the show, a large troupe of backup dancers writhed, wiggled and did back flips at a steady pace throughout the 90-minute show.

Against a backdrop of stunning video projections, Spears performed hits including Toxic, Womanizer, Baby One More Time, and Till the World Ends.

During her two years in Vegas, Spears will climb up on the stage nearly 100 times in a performance that may not be reproduced anywhere in North America.

According to the celebrity website TMZ.com, the 73,600 seats for the first 16 concerts - the only ones currently for sale - were nearly all sold out.

Spears will rake in around US$15 million (RM49 million) for each year in Las Vegas, according to TMZ. - AFP, December 28, 2023.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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Cold germs are hardier than previously thought, says study

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:48 PM PST

December 28, 2013

A study shows that four out of five stuffed toys tested positive for germs even after being cleaned. – AFPRelaxNews pic, December 28, 2013.Prior research has already concluded that two common bacteria that cause colds, ear infections, and strep throat don't often live for long outside the human body, but a new study finds that they can linger a lot longer than previously thought.

Your best defence? Well-scrubbed hands.

University of Buffalo researchers in New York published a study yesterday in the journal Infection and Immunity that found that Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes can live on surfaces such as toys, books, and cribs for weeks or even months.

"These findings should make us more cautious about bacteria in the environment since they change our ideas about how these particular bacteria are spread," says senior author Dr Anders Hakansson.

"This is the first paper to directly investigate that these bacteria can survive well on various surfaces, including hands, and potentially spread between individuals."

The researchers found that in a daycare centre, four out of five stuffed toys tested positive for S. pneumonaie and several surfaces, such as cribs, tested positive for S. pyogenes, even after being cleaned.

The testing was done just prior to the centre opening in the morning so it had been many hours since the last human contact, the researchers said.

Hakansson and his co-authors became interested in the possibility that some bacteria might persist on surfaces when they published work last year showing that bacteria form biofilms when colonising human tissues. They found that these sophisticated, highly structured biofilm communities are hardier than other forms of bacteria.

"Bacterial colonisation doesn't, by itself, cause infection but it's a necessary first step if an infection is going to become established in a human host," Hakansson says.

"Children, the elderly and others with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to these infections.

"In all of these cases, we found that these pathogens can survive for long periods outside a human host," says Hakansson.

But, he says, the scientific literature maintains that you can only become infected by breathing in infected droplets expelled through coughing or sneezing by infected individuals.

"Commonly handled objects that are contaminated with these biofilm bacteria could act as reservoirs of bacteria for hours, weeks or months, spreading potential infections to individuals who come in contact with them."

Still, ways to protect yourself and your children from getting sick is to practise good hand hygiene. Use warm water and soap and lather up for at least 20 seconds, advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wash your hands frequently, especially after touching germy hot spots, such as shared toys, door handles, and faucets, and avoid touching your face as much as possible – no rubbing your eyes or biting your nails either – to avoid giving germs direct access to the body.

Still, you can't fend off all germs, so stay well hydrated, get adequate sleep, and reduce stress to help your immune system do its job. – AFPRelaxNews, December 28, 2013.

France may ban comedian for ‘anti-Semitic’ jibes

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 05:32 PM PST

December 28, 2013

Dieudonne said he would sue those who say his gesture is the Hitler salute. Instead, he says it symbolises his anti-Zionist and anti-establishment views, not anti-Semitism. - AFP pic, December 28, 2013.France is considering banning performances by a black comedian whose shows have repeatedly insulted the memory of Holocaust victims and could threaten public order, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said yesterday.

He said his ministry is studying legal ways to ban shows by Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a comedian repeatedly fined for hate speech who ran in the 2009 European Parliament elections at the head of an "Anti-Zionist List" including far-right activists.

Valls announced the move after Jewish groups complained to President Francois Hollande about Dieudonne's trademark straight-arm gesture, which they call a "Nazi salute in reverse" and link to a growing frequency of anti-Semitic remarks and acts in France.

"Dieudonne M'bala M'bala doesn't seem to recognise any limits any more," Valls said in a statement announcing the legal review aimed at banning his public appearances.

"From one comment to the next, as he has shown in several television shows, he attacks the memory of Holocaust victims in an obvious and unbearable way," he said.

France has Europe's largest Jewish minority, estimated at about 600,000, but also sees a steady emigration to Israel of Jews who say they no longer feel safe here.

In the worst recent anti-Semitic incident, a French Islamist killed a rabbi and three pupils at a Jewish school last year in the southwestern French city of Toulouse.

Gesture goes viral

Dieudonne, as he is known on stage, has responded to the criticism from prominent Jewish figures by threatening to sue them for linking his gesture - a downward straight arm touched at the shoulder by the opposite hand - to the Hitler salute.

He calls the gesture "la quenelle" - the word for an elongated creamed fish dumpling - and says it stands for his anti-Zionist and anti-establishment views, not anti-Semitism.

The gesture has gone viral on social media recently, with mostly young fans displaying it at parties and sports events. Some do it while in the audience at live television shows.

Two soldiers were sanctioned by the army in September for making the gesture in uniform in front of a Paris synagogue.

"It's the Nazi salute in reverse," Roger Cukierman, head of the CRIF umbrella group of Jewish organisations, said after complaining about it to Hollande last week.

"Very clearly, Mr Dieudonne is developing a nearly professional anti-Semitism under the cover of telling jokes."

Dieudonne, 46, Paris-born son of a Cameroonian father and French mother, began his comedy career with a Jewish sidekick in the early 1990s and appeared in several films.

Originally active with anti-racist left-wing groups, he began openly criticising Jews and Israel in 2002 and ran in the European elections two years later with a pro-Palestinian party.

He has been fined several times in France for defaming Jews. Police broke up his one-man-show in a Brussels theatre last year for suspected anti-Semitic hate speech, but he was not convicted.

When Radio France's Patrick Cohen asked on air last week if the media should pay so much attention to him, Dieudonne suggested the journalist should get ready to emigrate.

"When I hear Patrick Cohen speaking, I say to myself, you see, the gas chambers ... too bad," he said. - Reuters, December 28, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

Sherlock Holmes is free, US judge rules

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 06:13 PM PST

December 28, 2013

A sketch of Sherlock Holmes with his assistant Doctor Watson, published in the December 1892 edition of The Strand Magazine. - Pic courtesy Wikimedia Commons.The beloved British detective Sherlock Holmes is now free to be reimagined in the United States after a federal judge ruled that licensing fees are no longer required.

First introduced in 1887, Holmes entered the public domain in Britain years ago.

The literary icon has been kept alive in the public imagination with the help of scores of films – including a recent series starring Robert Downey Jr. – and popular television shows like the BBC's Sherlock and CBS's Elementary.

But a quirk in US copyright law which protected ten short stories in the vast Holmes canon had allowed the descendants of author Arthur Conan Doyle to retain intellectual property rights in the United States.

A Holmes scholar challenged those fees after the Conan Doyle Estate threatened to block the distribution of a book of original short stories if the editors did not obtain a license to use the Holmes characters.

Judge Ruben Castillo rejected the estate's claim that since Holmes and his partner Watson were "continually developed" the copyright protecting the final ten stories should extend to the characters themselves.

"The effect of adopting Conan Doyle's position would be to extend impermissibly the copyright of certain character elements of Holmes and Watson beyond their statutory period," Castillo, chief justice of the northern district of Illinois, wrote in a 22-page opinion issued Monday.

Castillo ruled that only the "story elements" detailed in the ten short stories published after 1923 were protected and that everything else in the Holmes canon was "free for public use."

Holmes scholar Leslie Klinger, who challenged the estate, celebrated the ruling.

"Sherlock Holmes belongs to the world," Klinger said in a statement posted on his "Free Sherlock" website Friday.

"People want to celebrate Holmes and Watson. Now they can do so without fear of suppression by Conan Doyle's heirs." - AFP, December 28, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

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The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

Lynas nafi tiga kematian berkaitan operasi kilang itu

Posted: 28 Dec 2013 01:39 AM PST

December 28, 2013

Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd menafikan tiga kematian yang berlaku di kilang berkenaan dalam tempoh enam bulan lepas mempunyai kaitan dengan operasi yang dijalankan oleh kilang nadir bumi itu.

Pengarah Urusannya Datuk Mashal Ahmad berkata sebaliknya dua daripada insiden kematian itu berpunca daripada faktor kesihatan manakala satu lagi akibat kemalangan jalan raya.

Katanya insiden pertama pada Julai lepas melibatkan seorang bakal pekerja yang meninggal dunia akibat serangan jantung ketika proses temuduga.

Pada November, seorang kakitangan kilang itu maut selepas terbabit dalam kemalangan jalan raya ketika dalam perjalanan ke tempat kerja.

"Seorang jurutera kita yang meninggal dunia awal bulan ini pula disahkan mengalami serangan jantung secara tiba-tiba sebelum terjatuh ke dalam kolam takungan.

"Ketika kejadian, mangsa sedang melakukan rutin harian mengambil sampel air untuk ujian sebelum tidak sedarkan diri akibat serangan jantung," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita selepas menghadiri majlis penyampaian pakaian seragam sekolah di perkarangan kilang Lynas, di Kuantan hari ini.

Pada majlis itu, 200 pelajar sekitar kawasan Balok menerima pakaian seragam, beg dan peralatan sekolah sumbangan Lynas di bawah program tanggungjawab sosial korporat syarikat berkenaan.

Mashal dalam pada itu berkata Lynas tidak teragak-agak untuk mengambil tindakan tegas, termasuk tindakan mahkamah, terhadap mana-mana pihak yang terus menabur fitnah ke atas kilang berkenaan.

"Sikap mereka ini menyukarkan kami dan tindakan kumpulan ini menyebarkan pelbagai fitnah secara berterusan jelas membuktikan mereka berniat jahat.

"Berilah peluang kepada Lynas menumpukan perhatian kepada operasi daripada melayan tohmahan tidak berasas ini," katanya.

Mashal juga berkata dakwaan pihak tertentu berhubung kejadian banjir di loji kilang berkenaan awal bulan lalu tidak benar dan tidak masuk akal.

Katanya tapak kilang itu dibina selepas mengambil kira pelbagai faktor, termasuk ancaman banjir dan bencana alam lain.

"Kilang ini dibina selepas kita melakukan kajian berdasarkan paras air (banjir) paling buruk sejak 100 tahun lalu. Selepas mendapat data itu, barulah kita bina tapak kilang dan loji memproses nadir bumi.

"Selain itu, kilang ini juga terletak kira-kira 9 meter dari punca mata air, sekaligus kami boleh memberi jaminan bahawa ancaman banjir tidak akan memberi kesan kepada operasi kilang ini," katanya. – Bernama, 28 Disember, 2013.

Ribut petir di perairan negara dijangka berterusan hingga malam ini

Posted: 28 Dec 2013 01:30 AM PST

December 28, 2013

Ribut petir di perairan Labuan, Sabah, Sarawak, pantai timur Semenanjung, Johor timur, Perak dan Selangor dijangka berterusan sehingga awal malam ini.

Menurut Jabatan Meteorologi, ribut petir itu boleh menyebabkan angin kencang berkelajuan antara 50 hingga 60 kilometer sejam dan laut bergelora dengan ombak mencapai ketinggian sehingga 4.5 meter.

Keadaan ini juga boleh berlaku di kawasan perairan Samui, Bunguran, Condore, Palawan, Reef North dan Layang-Layang.

Menurut kenyataan jabatan itu, angin kencang yang menyebabkan kenaikan paras air laut serta laut bergelora dengan ombak mencapai ketinggian melebihi 5.5 meter dijangka berterusan sehingga Selasa depan. – Bernama, 28 Disember, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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Match of the season and other Boxing Day thoughts

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 03:19 PM PST

December 28, 2013

As a player, Shebby Singh won everything there was to win in Malaysia football, and represented the country on the international stage.

What do Lukas Podolski, Edin Dzeko and Victor Moses have in common? They all came on as subs on Boxing Day. They are attacking players.

While Podolski and Dzeko are class as previously proven, however, Moses will never ever hit the heights needed to make Liverpool stronger.

The Anfield club play some fantastic football but when Victor Moses is your go to man from the bench, all the fantasy football comes to nought.

And my oh my, the Manchester City versus Liverpool game was simply breathless at times. Not the headlong push and tumble kind but pure class in imagination and skills. The best of the season so far?

It was most certainly the best to date. The tempo, passing and movement of both teams certainly was on a different level from the rest of the league, Arsenal included.

The Boring One continues to bore and in typical fashion blames all and sundry.

It is also a relief to see Manchester United playing the "United Way" and not the " Moyes Way". Up and at 'em!

At White Hart Lane, Emmanuel Adebayor could not trap a bag of cement, let alone, play a decent pass to a teammate.

Also, the Roberto "truly false number nine" Soldado conundrum continues, thus continuing the long tradition of fast-fading Spanish strikers in the English game.

The Etihad faithful will be hoping their Spanish striker continues to plunder. The outrageous outside of the foot chipped attempt for Manchester City's winning goal is no slight on Simon Mignolet in the Liverpool goal. Alvaro Negredo meant it although the execution was slightly awry.

Over at the Boleyn Ground, the Gunners turned up eventually against West Ham United. The gulf in class was never more so apparent and one can expect Big Sam to dish out the excuses.

Surely, more can be done on the training pitch? Or is the best being left on the training pitch? Maybe, some fresh ideas and fresh faces are needed from among the coaching staff?

The Hammers sometimes looked hammered. Not of the intoxicating kind, mind you.

It looked like that there was no stopping Everton. Then up steps the "10% of football's unforeseen circumstances" that decides results. The referee blunders, Tim Howard is off and Sunderland nick all three points. Will this result impact on Everton's great form and football? Not!

Is this the result that will be the catalyst for Sunderland to rescue their season? Not!

The weekend will prove pivotal for the Black Cats, however, as they visit Cardiff City. Another three points on the road can and will propel Sunderland to have some hope in the battle to avoid relegation. The Bluebirds, meanwhile, simply cannot afford to lose at home again. Period.

The place to be will be in the city of Birmingham as the Villans and Paul Lambert run the gauntlet.

There is no place to hide anymore as the team and their manager face the wrath of the fans. A couple of wise old heads in the team could be a big help. Or is it too late now? Three points and the manager gets January to bring in much needed experience and guidance.

It seems too easy a pun, but here goes, will Manchester City shatter the Crystal Palace? Logic says so but Tony Pulis will not go down without a fight. The right attitude, as has been displayed by Manchester City, will ultimately prove to be the winner.

Up in the north east, the Magpies fly high and as was always said by yours truly, teamwork is the way forward and the Newcastle United bunch certainly have sacrificed personal egos for team ethics. But isn't Yohan Cabaye going to PSG in January? See what I mean?

They have other concerns in the meantime as they entertain current league leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

And then it is to Stamford Bridge where Jose "the boring one" Mourinho needs to put on a show of attacking, flair-filled football to match Liverpool. Yes, Chelsea need to make a footballing statement. And will Luis Suarez forgive Branislav Ivanovic for offering him a bite?

Phew, am breathless already! – December 28, 2013.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Sabtu, 28 Disember 2013