It is often lamented how difficult it is for players to settle in when they make moves in January – but striker Jo made an instant impression on his Everton debut. The Brazilian had scored just once in the Barclays Premier League for parent club Manchester City and was languishing down in 295th place in the Actim Index. But two goals on his debut for the Toffees against Bolton saw him earn a season`s-best score of 47 – the highest of the week – and rocket 50 places up the overall standings.
Another recent arrival also had a great weekend in the Actim standings – but Marc-Antoine Fortune would probably gladly swap his Index score of 45 for three priceless points for his West Brom side. Fortune was on target twice when Newcastle visited The Hawthorns on Saturday, but it was not enough for the Baggies to avoid a 3-2 defeat to another side entrenched in the relegation battle. Fortune is up 84 places to 302nd in the overall standings – the third highest mover of the week – but the Baggies are still bottom of the Barclays Premier League.
The highest mover of the week in the Actim Index was Newcastle`s Peter Lovenkrands, who opened the scoring in that entertaining clash at the Hawthorns. His Index score of 31 lifted him 89 places and made him one of four Newcastle players in the top 20 players of the week. Damien Duff and Steven Taylor were also on target and join the recent Danish arrival in the list, with Taylor and fellow defender Fabricio Coloccini earning spots in the team of the week for their respective scores of 31 and 24.
The other dominant forces in the team of the week were Everton – led by Jo`s haul – and Aston Villa, who also had three players in the side. Jo was joined by goalkeeper Tim Howard and midfielder Mikel Arteta after their roles against Bolton, while Villa are represented by Gareth Barry, James Milner and Zat Knight after their 2-0 win at Blackburn which further cemented their place in the top four. Centre-back Knight was the pick of the bunch with a score of 40, Barry earned 33 and Milner – who opened the scoring – collected 32 for his efforts.
Portsmouth defender Hermann Hreidarsson was the 11th man in a team of the week bereft of big superstars after he earned a score of 23 for his performance against Liverpool. Hreidarsson scored Pompey`s second goal in what was just his ninth Premier League appearance of the season, and his score of 23 took his total Index score to 28 – but it was not enough to prevent a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Rafael Benitez`s title hopefuls.
At the top of the Actim standings, Gabriel Agbonlahor has moved into second place after helping Villa`s cause with their second goal at Blackburn. He earned an Actim score of 18 for his showing at Ewood Park, helping him leapfrog Chelsea`s Frank Lampard, who scored -1 in the disappointing 0-0 draw with Hull which ultimately cost manager Luiz Felipe Scolari his job. Gareth Barry is up to fourth, moving ahead of Dimitar Berbatov, while Liverpool`s Dirk Kuyt moved into the top 10 after his goal at Portsmouth.
Chelsea are looking for a new manager after the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday – but what will his predecessor find in his squad? Well, despite being off the pace with the leaders, the Blues have two of the Index`s top three performers in striker Nicolas Anelka and midfielder Frank Lampard – and five more players are in the top 50. Jose Bosingwa, Petr Cech, John Terry, Mikel Jon Obi and Ashley Cole are also in the top 50. But, quite incredibly, there are no other players plying their trade at Stamford Bridge in the top 100. The likes of Deco, Joe Cole, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba are all bubbling under in the standings, with injuries and a lack of form leaving them struggling, which maybe shows some of the problems that Scolari had to encounter in his relatively short reign.
