Thoughts from the weekend

1) Liverpool are harder to crack

After having Joe Cole sent off (even I thought it was a bit harsh - and I'm usually in favour of draconian punishments for bad tackles), hands up who expected Liverpool to push on and come so close to beating Arsenal? Looks like Roy Hodgson is already having an impact.

2) Blackpool rock, but Wigan do not

Blackpool will still go down, but every neutral in the country must have been cheered by the way they stuffed Wigan. I'd like to describe the Latics' defending, but "pathetic" does not quite do it justice. With Charles N'Zogbia heading for the exit, I'm fairly certain they will join the seasiders and a third team (West Brom?) in the relegation places come May.

3) Dundee are dicing with disaster again

It's too early to press the panic button at Dens, but a 1-0 defeat at Partick (abject when hammered by Raith last week) comes only a few days after a stunning cup humiliation at the hands of Stenhousemuir. There has been little so far to suggest Gordon Chisholm has stamped his authority on the Dark Blues, who, in an ultra-competitive first division, cannot afford to be dropping points too early.

4) Patchy start for both sides of the Old Firm

Rangers and Celtic both had to grind out wins; the latter took half an hour to get going at Inverness, though it seems that they managed to take the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half. At Ibrox, meanwhile, Rangers were gifted their first goal by presumably the same linesman that gave Hungary's goal at Wembley last week; if that was over the line then I'm a banana. The margin of victory over relegation candidates Killie was not impressive, and Walter Smith's bench did not exactly give him alternative options. That said, James Beattie looks like an absolutely magnificent signing - on paper, anyway.

L.