The Right Reverend Nicholas Reade, the Bishop of Blackburn has urged fans to, “please, always remember the human being, always remember that he’s part of a family – that other people will be suffering because people have got him in their sights.” Merry Christmas indeed, Mr. Kean. His present was a 1-1 draw against Liverpool with the reverberation of local band The Beatles in his mind, “Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,” from the aptly-named Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
For the teams that stuck to the rules and played on Boxing Day, a permanent fixture in the heart of sport since 1860, many acts of boxing clever behaviour was on display. As aforementioned, Steve Kean boxed clever, standing in his corner with a group of rowdy Scots and a Bishop, and rightly earned a point – after all Boxing Day is The Feast of Stephen. However it wasn’t just our recently righteous Kean that made the 26th of December count: Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United all “used inventive thinking above all other attributes in order to achieve an end goal.” – def. Boxing Clever.
It wasn’t so much a Feast on Boxing Day though, well at least not in the Premier League: out of the 7 games, 5 were draws, low-scoring draws at that and it was left to the tactically brave to secure three points. One thing many fans would have never have expected to see at Old Trafford on Boxing Day afternoon, was a back four of: Valencia, Carrick, Evra and Fryers, and they may have blamed it on Christmas Day drinking; but for 45-minutes that is what they bore witness to. It worked too: having had to change Evans for Fryers at half-time, Evra slotted into centre-back alongside Michael Carrick and a half-time lead of 2-0 was increased by 3. Sir Alex Ferguson was boxing clever.
Holding Manchester City back from three points is something only three teams had done previous to Boxing Day, and 2 of those shortcomings were in their past 5 games. However, a spirited West Bromwich performance ensured that City’s away form continued to be their only Achilles heel. Similarly, Alan Pardew was having to face up to the form books: Newcastle went into the festive football fixture with the worst 6-game form in the top flight, with only two points from an available eighteen and were coming up against Bolton Wanderers, a side who had just halted a run of five straight defeats by piling pressure on Blackburn with a 2-1 victory. Pardew managed to win, away from home, by two goals though, with the boss putting the win down to “patience” and “determination.” Alan Pardew was boxing clever.
To all those who boxed clever this Christmas period, have a Happy New Year.
Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit
A very spirited piece and long may it continue into the New Year!