Goals of a Republic of Ireland origin were in short supply across the water at the weekend (hats off to Leeds' Robbie Keane and Swansea's Ryan Casey) but Dean Kiely caught the eye with some fine saves against Southampton, helping Charlton to a 0-0 draw at The Dell. Terry Phelan, meanwhile, made only his second appearance of the season for Fulham and John McGrath (a native of Monagea, Co Limerick) made only his second ever appearance for Aston Villa as David Ginola's half-time replacement in the defeat by Liverpool.
But we're suckers for a good auld heart-warming comeback story at Planet Football so our player of the week award goes to Middlesbrough's Alan Moore. A classy midweek hat-trick in a reserve match against a strong Leeds line-up with Terry Venables and Bryan Robson looking on, was the left winger's way of gently reminding the folk at the Riverside that he still exists.
Haircut howlers
Have you ever been tempted to sue a hairdresser after they gave you a Dennis Law (circa 1973) cut when you only asked for a wash and blow dry? Us too. Imagine our surprise, then, when we read the Observer on Sunday's top 10 worst football haircuts of all time and noted that Dennis' do was nowhere to be seen. The winner/loser was Rudi Voller's repugnant flowy perm - no arguments here. The Observer's top 10: 1 Rudi Voller, 2 Alexi Lalas, 3 David Seaman, 4 Jason Lee, 5 George Berry, 6 Peter Beardsley, 7 Ralph Coates, 8 Alan Biley, 9 Claudio Caniggia, 10 Socrates.
On the move?
Dean Kiely has a blinder for Charlton and how is he rewarded? With tabloid rumours of an imminent transfer to London minnows Arsenal! What has the lad to do to secure a move to a big club, eh? Speaking of Irish goalies: Shay Given. After submitting an "I want outta here" request to Newcastle, he has, predictably enough, being linked with Celtic again but they've just splashed out on Robert Douglas so we're not convinced.
Gary Breen, meanwhile, will most certainly not be joining Fulham for £3.5 million, according to Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson but his Irish defensive pal Jeff Kenna is likely to be upping sticks soon after being placed on the Blackburn transfer list (for £500,000 he's yours).
Clinton Morrison? Well, like yerselves, we read midweek that the Crystal Palace striker's grandmother Mary is from Garristown, north Co Dublin so is eligible to play for the Boys in Kelly Green. Only trouble is we read yesterday Clint caught the eye of Sven Goran Eriksson's right-hand man Tord Grip during the midweek League Cup win over Liverpool - so Mick: get a move on. Either way, by the time he makes his international debut he'll be an Arsenal player. Proof? TeamTalk quoted Arsene Wenger as saying he "is amongst a number of players we are looking at". Oh, alright then: inconclusive proof.
Song of the week
"Joe Royle, can he fix it? Joe Royle, can he ****! Nicky Weaver, can he catch it? Nicky Weaver, can he ****!["] With apologies to Manchester City supporters . . . to the tune of Bob the Builder, this is what your beloved city rivals can be heard singing these days.
O'Leary stands accused
Remember all that talk of Graeme Souness being rabidly anti-Irish in some sections of the football "lads - get a life" media. Well, we've found another manager who fits that bigoted, discriminatory, racist (yawn) bill. The evidence? Over the last few weeks he's dropped three established Irish internationals, ignored another Irish lad and shown two Irish youngsters the door. His name: David O'Leary. (Dropped to the bench, at best: Gary Kelly, Robbie Keane and Ian Harte; Ignored: Alan Maybury; Released: Damien Lynch and Alan Cawley). Funny, though - Souness's accusers have gone quiet.
Designer sabotage
We liked this football yarn in the Guardian last week. Southampton launched an online vote on their official website for their fans to choose the design of their new kit. Included in the five options was a truly hideous creation which, all assumed, was thrown in for a larf. Yep, you guessed right: the hideous design is currently leading the ballot. How? Well, it seems, the vote is being sabotaged by Portsmouth fans, who love Southampton very nearly as much as vampires love crosses. Guatemalan nightmare
Did you see Bradford goalkeeper Gary Walsh's howler against Manchester United on Saturday? Crikey. Well, the only words of comfort we can offer Walshie are these: at least you're not Guatemalan. Edgar Estrada had a bit of nightmare for Guatemala in their 5-2 defeat by Costa Rica last week, a result that eliminated them from the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Since then? Estrada and his family have received at least 100 death threats and four gunmen shot up his car repair shop in Guatemala city. And they left this message for the 31-year-old goalkeeper: "Tell that SOB Edgar who let all those goals in not to come near here, because he's going to get gunned down, him and his family."
