Smudger Smith: It's a game of two halves – I'll put my shirt on that

The Journeyman Pro

In a professional career spanning almost two decades, Simon "Smudger" Smith has played for over 67 clubs. The ultimate utility player, as his pace has diminished he has reinvented himself time and again, from poacher to holding midfielder, centre-back to goalkeeper.

Saturday saw another player score against his ex-club with RVP putting United 1-0 up against Arsenal. The Dutchman got a lot of praise for not celebrating, which I feel is a little unfair on Santi Cazorla. He didn't celebrate either, but has received almost no credit. Santos got some stick for trying to get RVP's shirt at half-time and rightly so. As a professional he should know better. It's inexcusable for a player of his profile to think games are only 45 minutes long. With Coquelin and Giroud throwing their shirts to the crowd before extra time on Tuesday, I'm worried timekeeping is an endemic problem at Arsenal.

Perhaps it was daylight saving that confused them. Chelsea relinquished their place at the top of the table, and bossman Di Matteo put it down to a "long week". That extra hour from the clocks going back has obviously hit the Blues hard.

Man City also dropped points and Mancini bemoaned the Citizens' wastefulness. He singled out Mario Balotelli for not putting it away and if the rumours that he didn't even touch the pre-match meal are true, then he deserves a fine. It's incredibly rude to have a meal cooked for you by your hosts and not eat it. Let's not forget there are children starving in Africa. I expect better from the Sky Blues.

Things are looking tough for Sunderland with only Steven Fletcher and Demba Ba having scored for them this season. Ba's probably only going to chip in during one more game this season so somebody else needs to step up.

I was disappointed to hear about the scenes at Crawley's FA Cup game. I don't know what happened but apparently 11 policemen had to go on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes with a back-up team of seven standing in the wings. Nobody wants to see that.

It was a tough day for Spurs too, with the team being booed off. Still, I can tell you it's a damn sight better than being booed on.

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