Twelfth Week Conclusions in the Premiership

Wolves are in a relegation dog fight. On the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge, Wolves coach Mick McCarthy marched into the away dressing room after the final whistle and announced to his players that they were in a relegation dog fight and that they better get used to the idea. Cheers Mick, but your side were in 19th place prior to Saturday’s thrashing. If your players haven’t figured out that they’re staring relegation straight in the eyes then you’ve really got your work cut out.

Man City set new draw record. Six draws on the trot for Mark Hughes‘ side, a new Premiership record, have seen the ‘other’ Manchester team’s early season challenge for top honors fade. A place in the top four and a much-coveted Champions League birth are still within reach but City need to start returning to winning ways. Hughes has bought over £100 million worth of attacking talent over the past 18 months but City lie just 6th in goals for average per match (1.91) this season. That says it all.

Zola’s days are numbered. The amiable Italian looked to be in for a rare away victory at lowly Hull when his side went 2-0 up inside 15 minutes. But before you could press refresh on your match text feed West Ham were 3-2 down. The East London club did manage to eke out an admirable draw but Zola and the Hammers needs to start taking all three points if they’ve got any plans of staying in the top flight.

Darren Fletcher is Manchester United’s main man. Could it be? The Scotland midfielder and United veteran has worked his way up the pecking order at Old Trafford to become the first name on the United team sheet (besides Wayne Rooney of course). Sir Alex has kept faith with his countryman and the energetic and dogged Fletcher has not let him down. Scoring several key goals and always performing in the big matches, Fletcher executed an exquisite volley against Everton to kick-start United on their way to closing Chelsea’s gap at the top of the table to 5 points.

Defoe’s Record 5. It was a weekend to remember for Jermain Defoe as the Spurs striker became the first player in Premiership history to bag 5 goals in a single half. His quintet of goals against Wigan trumps a similar feat achieved by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer last decade; both notched 5 but needed the full 90 minutes to do so. Defoe’s second hat-trick of the season, the first coming against Hull in August, sees the Tottenham striker leapfrog Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres into first place in the goal scoring charts with 11 strikes.

Darren Fletcher pops up with another important strike for United