Rob Houwing’s ‘Tops on the Telly’ column

Unless they’re particularly obvious underdogs, back a soccer team to get a decent result if they’re playing their first match after the boss has quit or been axed!

That’s a view I’ve had for a long time, based on my observation of immediate follow-up results by manager-less teams.

So I was pleased to note that Shaun Bartlett, the former Bafana Bafana and Charlton Athletic hit-man, concurs.

Some pundits, for instance, had tipped limited West Ham to “get something” out of their opening-day trip to Aston Villa considering the supposed disarray in Birmingham over the resignation of highly-regarded Martin O’Neill.

But instead Villa coasted to a 3-0 win and Bartlett, one of the studio panellists on SuperSport 3’s bright Monday Night Football show, stated during the summary of the Premiership weekend: “Ninety percent of the time, teams playing their first game after the manager goes get a win.”

He said you often found that the players responded well, perhaps freed up and determined to show that aspects of the ex-boss’s tactical approach had been flawed.

Bartlett, 37, who made 123 appearances for Charlton – then in the top flight – over a six-year period from around 2000, also hit the nail on the head over the blunder by otherwise decent Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina to gift Arsenal an equaliser at Anfield.

The gaffe would not have occurred had Reina dealt properly with the initial, reasonably routine cross from the Arsenal left, but the ground was (unusually!) bathed in sunshine and he appeared a little unsighted.

“If you’re facing the summer sun as a goalkeeper you should be wearing a cap,” Bartlett said bluntly but quite correctly.

Speaking of the Villa-West Ham game, Robert Green, the Hammers’ England goalkeeper whose World Cup howler against the United States at Rustenburg I witnessed from the stands, was pretty much at it again here.

Veteran pundit Terry Paine, another ever-present on “MNF”, said: “Paul Green’s clearly not quite back to his best.”

Sharp-witted as ever, anchor Neil Andrews corrected him: “His brother Robert’s struggling a bit, too …”

I couldn’t help wondering whether Paine wasn’t confusing Green somehow with Paul Robinson, another rather disaster-prone former England No 1?

The good thing about Terry is that he can laugh at himself if he errs.

Besides, he also found favour with this particular Newcastle supporter (having watched the Toon rather haplessly dismantled at Old Trafford shortly after MNF-proper) by suggesting there were odds between thrown around on the possibly of “Three Ws” going down this season (Wigan, West Ham, West Brom … and perhaps you could throw in Wolves).

It made me feel a bit better about the season at St James’s Park.

Rob’s awesome foursome:

1. South Africa v New Zealand, Vodacom Tri-Nations rugby
Soweto, Saturday 17:00, M-Net, SS1 & SS HD
I really want to believe that the Boks will honour their captain’s 100th appearance with a morale-boosting win. Only a few weeks ago we’d all have felt so much more confident of that likelihood, wouldn’t we? But now the national team go into an All Blacks crunch, even on home soil and the beloved Highveld, riddled with unease. As I said earlier in the week, the Bok side named has fine potential, but I fear it is just too early to expect it to click after wholesale changes. I’d love to be proved wrong, but I have to tip the visitors by around 10 points in what could be a reasonably high-scoring affair. Oh, and any bets on first Bok to the routine bin?

2. Sharks v Western Province, Absa Currie Cup rugby
Durban, Saturday 19:15, SS1, CSN & SS HD
The main event of the rugby day! Well, if you’re a hardcore Sharks or Province supporter you might want to believe that. Mind you, being Durban-based is a dilemma on Saturday: do you watch the Boks on telly and then scramble to the Absa Stadium in the likely half-hour or so between games? I’m happy with a double dose on SuperSport, myself, with the Sharks arguably narrow favourites to seize top spot on the table from the visitors. The intelligent, now-gritty Province will have other ideas, but could be footsore after being so extended by the Bulls last Saturday.

3. Kaizer Chiefs v Bloemfontein Celtic, MTN 8 soccer
Johannesburg, Saturday 20:15, SABC1 & SS4
Of the first-round fixtures (quarter-finals, really) in this annual knockout competition, this one at the Rand Stadium most tickled my fancy. I’ve always admired the loyalty and vibrancy of the Bloem Celtic fans, and this is arguably the only game where they will get emphatically drowned out: the vuvus-wielding Amakhosi faithful will hardly be lacking in the decibel department, of course. The short, sharp tournament features all of the top eight finishers in the last PSL season, with prize money of R8-million at stake for the eventual winners.

4. Manchester City v Liverpool, English Premiership soccer
Manchester, Monday 21:00, SS3, HD2 & Maximo
Unusually, I couldn’t find a weekend Premiership match to get genuinely excited about: champions Chelsea are at wobbly Wigan (0-4 v Blackpool for starters!) while Manchester United visit Fulham, although that ought to be a little tougher. So I reckon the Monday-nighter between the Blues and Reds holds best neutral appeal. Both “big” clubs come off hard-earned first-week draws, so will be mutually hungry for a maximum haul here. This was a 0-0 stalemate in 2009/10, so you could argue that it’s due for a bit more goalmouth activity …