The EPL this month

At the end of Jan 08, who's hot, who's not and how the hell did Boro get a Brazilian international to join them?

Top Teams this month
Tottenham Hotspur- It’s amazing what a new manager can do. Martin Jol couldn't get the team to gel, but Juande Ramos did. The Tottenham team looked fitter now and star striker Dimitar Berbatov seems far happier playing for Ramos than he ever did playing for Jol. Of course, that’s not the only thing Ramos got right. Ramos appears to know how to make the most out of the transfer window. Whereas Jol spend about 25 million pounds on Darren Bent and Younes Kaboul, Ramos spent far less to get Alan Hutton and Jonathan Woodgate. Both are great buys (provided Woodgate stay fit). Ramos has also finally dropped keeper Paul Robinson. England no.1 he may be, but he has been making too many mistakes this season. Say what you want about the Spurs board, but in Juande Ramos; they had made a right decision.

Wigan- What? Wigan is hot this month? Am I crazy? A little I admit, but I’ve been impressed by Wigan ever since Steve Bruce came onboard. Taking over from Chris Hutchings, Steve Bruce had steadied the ship. Between Emile Heskey, Antoine Sibierski & Jason Koumas, they are scoring goals so Bruce had started work on that backline. Now Wigan aren’t leaking goals like they used to, and all their defeats had been 1-0, 2-1 kind of things. They are still play hard, only now, I thing they have a great chance of staying up.

Surprise Team this month
Middlesbrough- Middlesbrough is the surprise team of the month based on one thing and one thing only. How the hell did manager Gareth Southgate convinced Afonso Alves to join Boro? The man is a Brazilian international and he is joining a team who is mid-table, at best! Middlesbrough needed a striker but how the hell did they managed to get Alves?

Disappointing Teams this month
Man City- The wheels had clearly come off for Man City. Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has done better than most people thought he would, but teams now know how to play against Man City. Stop Elano! Outside Elano, Man City only has Martin Petrov as a match-winner but Petrov is one of those players that run hot-and-cold. So if you can stop Elano, you can stop Man City. Eriksson needs to find a way around this problem if Man City is to challenge for Europe.

Newcastle- Considering how bad the season has went for Newcastle; I can understand why they got rid of Sam Allardyce. So who do you pick to replace ‘Big’ Sam? Kevin Keegan? I think Keegan is an okay manger but this is just asking for trouble. Not only because Keegan’s tactics are 100% opposite those of Allardyce, the man hasn’t managed a team in 5 years. That’s a lifeline in football! Maybe he will prove me wrong, but don’t be surprise if Newcastle start going down the table.