1472: Championship: Forest fire Kinn

by : Becky Gamester

It’s Christmas, and Nottingham Forest still lie in the relegation zone of the Championship. The hopes of ‘doing a Palace’ have been replaced by the worry of ‘doing a Wednesday.’ It hasn’t come as too much of a surprise that Joe Kinnear has jumped ship – but was he pushed? Does caretaker boss Mick Harford really know what he’s letting himself in for?

The ex-Luton manager’s main reason for leaving Forest was a lack of support. To say that Forest fans were unhappy with their team’s performances, particularly following a demoralising 3-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Derby two weeks ago, is an understatement.

More and more supporters were calling for the sacking of Kinnear, despite an impressive start to his Forest career which saw him steer the club into safety at the end of last season, finishing with consecutive wins against Ipswich, Wigan and West Brom. They began this term five games unbeaten. Even if they were yet to record a victory, there was no need to worry, was there?

Come October, the club had to remove the fans’ forum from their official website due to abusive messages as the side fell into the Championship relegation zone. They are yet to move back into safety. In what must have been an effort to keep supporters’ morale high, Kinnear kept making a habit of mentioning promotion or promising to climb the table after a win or an improved performance. However it didn’t work and supporters grew tired of excuses about injuries and money.

So what went wrong? Such is the club’s perilous financial state that Kinnear wasn’t able to bring in any new blood and had to draft in youngsters. Unfortunately, since the departure of Paul Hart, the once formidable youth system has been lacking in Jermaine Jenas’s and Michael Dawsons and it’s quite simple – the replacements brought in were not good enough.

However Kinnear’s excuse about injuries had been debatable because the only major injuries they’d had to cope with are highly-rated defender Michael Dawson and right-back Mathieu Louis-Jean. Also, Kinnear recently found the money to bring in Jack Lester (a striker) and Adam Nowland (a midfielder). Even if Dawson and Louis-Jean had not been injured, Kinnear never sufficiently replaced Des Walker, who retired after last season. Fans simply cannot understand why Kinnear didn’t bring in an experienced defender. Granted, he re-signed Jon Olav Hjelde after recommendations from his colleagues but the injury proneness of the Norwegian centre-back has also returned to the club. The club’s younger defenders - James Perch, Wes Morgan and Gregor Robertson – all show potential but are prone to schoolboy errors. A club which still takes pride in the Europe-conquering achievements of the great Brian Clough should know that a good team starts from the back.

So how is the new manager going to turn it around? The first signs of Harford’s Forest career are not looking particularly good. In his first game, his side were holding on to a less-than-deserved 1-0 win over local rivals Leicester before the Foxes grabbed an injury-time equaliser thanks to a wide-open Forest defence. Harford has also followed in the footsteps of Kinnear by signing Neil Harris, another striker, from Millwall rather than bulking up the defence. Does this and the Lester signing indicate that one of Forest’s three strikers - Johnson, Marlon King or Gareth Taylor – will be sacrificed for a much-needed experienced defender? It seems that the January transfer-window couldn’t come any sooner but Harford has festive fixtures against West Ham and Sunderland to worry about before that. The defence must surely be improved on the training ground to face the promotion-hopefuls – something that Forest can only look back on fondly now as they face an uphill struggle for the second half of the season.

Becky Gamester
24/12/2004

1473: Premiership Preview: Tottenham

by : Adam Graham

This article has been removed at the writer's request.

1471: Premiership: Through the Paran

by : Bill Urban

French sensation Eric Cantona guided Leeds to the old 1st division title back in 1992 but manager Howard Wilkinson believed that the Frenchman was having an adverse effect on the Elland Road dressing room so he decided to let the midfield maestro join bitter rivals Manchester United hoping that he would disrupt their title charge. However Wilkinson’s move backfired spectacularly as he inspired United to their first league title in 26 years and was the catalyst for United’s decade of domination.

England defender Rio Ferdinand was next to turn to the darkside in 2002 when Fergie splashed out £30 million for his services. The former West Ham player handed in a transfer request after David O’Leary was sacked but chairman Peter Ridsdale refused instantly. However he was soon to give the move the green light much to the dismay of the Elland Road faithful.

Alan Smith was adored by the Leeds fans as he was one of their own but following their relegation from the Premiership in the summer he turned his back on the fans who gave him a heroes send off and stabbed them in the back by joining their most hated rivals for £7 million.

Despite all the bad feeling and animosity between rival fans not all transfers have been so acrimonious. In 1973 Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty gave former European Player of the Year Dennis Law a free transfer and the Scot joined city rivals Manchester City at Maine Road and it was his deft little back heel in a derby match that effectively relegated the club he had helped to two league titles to division one. Law was so distraught at scoring the goal that condemned them to relegation that he refused to celebrate and retired straight after the game.

Colin Illingworth
15/12/2004
Football and fairy tales make uncomfortable bed-fellows, except perhaps when Sir Alex Ferguson and his beyond paranoid perspective are involved. Events on the pitch during the Bolton/Manchester United match on Boxing Day are tinged with more than a touch of the dust of myth and parable, as poor Sir Alex, his beatific young protg, Wayne Rooney, the evil, foreign villain Tal Ben-Haim and the mysterious, sinister and malign organization known as the FA came together in a horrible clash of good versus evil.

Our story starts off with young, model-citizen Rooney, tripping across the Old Trafford pitch on the way to Grandma’s, noticing that Ben-Haim had, well, a booger, hanging from his nose. As a polite, cultured, gentlemanly United player, our Hero Wayne courteously moved to wipe the offending bit of phlegm from his opponent’s nose, a marvelous, praiseworthy sporting gesture.

Cue the Wagner-esque operatic crescendo in the background as the dastardly, foreign [Gasp!] opponent collapses to the ground, writhing about in agony. Sir Alex springs to his feet on the touchline in horror, wad of chewing gum larger than either of Jordan’s breasts being mashed like a car crusher. The match official, Dermot Gallagher, arrives at the scene afflicted with a horrible case of Wenger-itis, having missed the incident completely. Confusion, chaos, and horror chorus about the pitch as United fall victim yet again to the dastardly machinations of both sneaky foreigners and the manipulative, conspiratorial FA.

"Because it is Wayne Rooney and because it is Manchester United, the emphasis is taken off the Bolton player completely." said Sir Alex, his comments delivered in a calm, measured, helpful tone during post-match interviews.

Imagine, being made a villain for merely trying to wipe an opponent’s nose for him. Manchester United are being hounded and victimized for trying to be the guardians of polite, respectful British culture.

Sir Alex went on to note that, despite Wayne attempting to help Ben-Haim from embarrassing himself with a booger hanging from his nose, Ben-Haim’s response to our Hero’s kind gesture was most unsporting.

"He laid down there for about two minutes rolling around, which is absolutely disgraceful as far as I am concerned and should be more of a concern for football in general than talking about Wayne Rooney."

You see, in his generous, giving spirit, even at a time when his player, the angelic, misunderstood young Wayne, was being victimized by horrible foreigners and fascist football associations, Sir Alex’s main concern was the state of the Old Trafford pitch. With Ben-Haim rolling about the pitch for a full two minutes, the turf was undergoing some serious wear-and-tear, thereby increasing the possibility that the football on display for the fan’s entertainment might suffer.

What a man...

The evil FA has handed down a three-match suspension for choir-boy Wayne, which hopefully will teach him not to wipe opposition player’s noses; he should feel free to wipe teammate Gary Neville’s nose, because it gives the United defender face time alongside Becks’s replacement in the Manchester United Photo Sweeps.

Ben-Haim has been charged by the FA as well, for Excessive Damage to the Hallowed Old Trafford Turf. Word from Bolton is that he intends to contest the charge on the novel grounds that his nose hurt because Wayne didn’t use a hanky, which caused him to collapse in spasms.

Match Official Dermot Gallagher has been sent to Tony Adams’s Sporting Chance Clinic for treatment of his Wenger-itis.

And Sir Alex? He has, in careful and composed fashion, consulted others before stating his opinions about the incident in general.

"The violent conduct charge bemuses me because every man and his dog would agree it was not violent conduct."

At immense personal cost in precious training pitch time, and countless numbers of dog biscuit for canines in the Greater Manchester area, Sir Alex shows himself to be first and foremost, a Man of the People.

The moral of the story is, you can wipe your own Arsenal, but you can’t wipe an opponent’s nose for him. Or something like that...

Bill Urban

1470: Fun: Judas! Crossing the divid

by : Colin Illingworth

Fun: Judas! Crossing the divide

Harry Redknapp enraged Portsmouth fans last week after being installed as manager of South coast rivals Southampton. However the former West Ham boss is not the first, and he certainly won’t be the last, to cross the divide as Pompey now look to return the favour by appointing former Saints boss Gordon Strachan. Here we take a look at those who have seemingly sold their soul to the devil and turned to the darkside.

Undoubtedly the most controversial transfer ever happened in 1989 when former Celtic and Scotland striker Mo Johnston became the first Roman Catholic ever to play for traditionally protestant arch rivals Glasgow Rangers. Wee Mo made his name at Celtic and tried his luck in France with Nantes before deciding to return home to Glasgow. Celtic fans believed he was coming home to Paradise and this looked even more certain after he posed in a Celtic top at his old stomping ground, Parkhead. However just two months later, on July 10, Rangers boss Graeme Souness unveiled his latest signing that was going to send shockwaves across Scottish football. For the first time ever the Glasgow giants were united in disgust and dismay at the news. Rangers’ fans threatened never to return to Ibrox while others burnt their club scarves and ripped up season tickets. Mo was under intense security for over a year after he and Souness received death threats but he survived the siege and pathed the way for Catholics to play for Rangers.
Before the notorious transfer Rangers defender Richard Gough, now manager of SPL side Livingston, reportedly told Mo he was ‘either very brave or very stupid’.

Football fans will never forgive a player who turns their back on team to run out for their bitter rivals but at the end of the day they are professional footballers and their desire to win trophies and test themselves at the highest level is their ultimate drive.

Sol Campbell was involved in one of the Premiership’s most bitter transfers when he left Spurs on a free transfer to join North London rivals Arsenal. Campbell had continually stalled on a new contract at White Hart Lane and had the pick of any club in the world to sign for so when he opted to move down the Seven Sisters Road to sign for Arsene Wenger the Spurs fans were outraged. His return to the Lane was marred with Spurs fans venting their anger calling the former Spurs ace a Judas.

George Graham enjoyed a successful playing and managerial career at Arsenal guiding the Gunners to a league and cup double in both roles. However after being sacked from Highbury for the whole bung scenario the Scot made a shock return to North London in 1998 replacing Christian Gross as Spurs manager. Tottenham fans never took to the former Arsenal legend despite bringing them their first bit of silverware in years when they beat Leicester in the league cup in 1999 1-0. Graham was eventually sacked in 2001.

Nicky Barmby faced the raft of the blue half of Merseyside in 2000 when he became the first Toffee to cross Stanley Park since David Hicksen in 1959. Gerard Houllier paid £6 million for the former England international but the current Hull star had to pull out of two Merseyside clashes due to fears for his safety.

Paul Ince, never one to shun controversy, is one of only a handful of players to have joined Liverpool from Manchester United but that was nothing compared to the way he engineered a move to Old Trafford from Upton Park as a youngster. The Hammers had just been relegated in 1989 and one of the highlights of that season was the inspirational form of Paul Ince. Manager John Lyall was sacked in the aftermath of their drop to division one and Ince stated that Lyall was a father figure to him and that he would never play for the Irons again and claimed that the West Ham fans were racists. Ince was then pictured on holiday wearing a Manchester United top much to the anger of the Upton Park faithful. Sir Alex Ferguson came in with an offer for the Hammer, and although the deal initially fell through due to a mystery hip injury, his reluctance to play for West Ham forced them to sell him to Manchester United at a reduced fee. West Ham fans will never forgive him for that!

Luis Figo’s move from arch rivals Barcelona to Real Madrid for £37 million in 2000 not only broke the worlds transfer record but also millions of Catalan hearts. The Portuguese superstar was bought in an presidential battle at the Bernabeu and Figo helped Madrid to La Liga in his first year. Visits back to the Nou Camp have been harrowing experiences for the wing wizard and is still singled out for treatment by the Barca fans who will never forget his act of betrayal. Regularly pelted with objects the Catalan fans surpassed themselves when they threw a pig’s head at him!

The trans Pennine hatred between Leeds United and Manchester United goes back to the creation of time and to say that Leeds despise the boys from Old Trafford would be a huge understatement. Yet three high profile players have made the journey down the M62 to Manchester in the past 12 years.

1469: Premiership: Liverpool should

by : Rupen Ganatra

I truly don't believe I have seen a Liverpool goalkeeper in recent times who has been even close to being compared to Bruce Grobelaar. I shall write this article without much mention of the bung allegations, as I am looking to discuss quality.

Since Grobelaar left, Liverpool fans have been treated to heart attacks from James, Westerveld, Dudek & even Kirkland, though the young Kirkland can be forgiven for now. Not that Grobelaar wasn't one to hand out heart attacks, but Liverpool fans and neutrals alike back in the day, knew that more often than not, Grobelaar's mad antics between the sticks would still result in the opposition not scoring.

One thing of note about Liverpool, is that they have continually struggled to create a quality goalkeeper from the fantastic youth set up that they have. If you wanted to look at quality strikers (defenders or midfielders even !), it was simple - go to Anfield via Melwood. However, goalkeepers have never been much of a priority, even when Joe Corrigan was at Melwood, he would simply coach goalies that were there, but never really sucessfully breed from within the establishment - I don't recall many coming throught the ranks in recent years. I think all the schoolboy goalkeepers on Merseyside went to where they were needed most - Goodison Park.

At the moment it's too late to wait for a prodigy to come through the ranks and it's too risky to rely on Dudek. With Kirkland the obvious number one choice bar a minor hiccup and his recurring back injury, Niemi woul be healthy competition for Kirkland, as he and most others know that Dudek isn't a real threat to him. Liverpool would do very well I feel, to look at the team they just played from the South Coast. Antti Niemi would be an ideal goalkeeper to bring to Anfield. His seniority, confidence, vocal domination and not to mention his goalkeeping in general is something that can be of immense value to
Liverpool, while continuing to developing and improving his game well where need be.

This would also give Southampton the cash injection they need to finance transfers in during the window, added to Beattie's imminent departure. On that note, Kevin Phillips wouldn't be a bad buy at all for Liverpool if Morientes (or Fowler) didn't work out in the January sales. I can see Mr Urban squirming right now.

Niemi is a steady, solid goalkeeper who has established himself in the Premiership as a decent player, and is usually a trump card in many a fantasy football team. This season is a slight exception in fantasy football terms thus far. I feel Niemi would easily fit into the Anfield mould and command his defence very well indeed. I haven't seen him flap much, and most of the goals he lets in are more down to defensive frailties than goalkeeping errors. He seems (dare I say it) almost a close combination of a Grobelaar and Schmeichel.

I'm quite surprised that Arsenal or Man Utd haven't had a sneaky look at him, though the prospect of that happening would only raise his transfer value. Harry Redknapp would love that now, wouldn't he ?

Rupen Ganatra
29/12/2004

1468: Premiership: Will someone plea

by : Antony Melvin

Robbie Savage is a Birmingham City player. When Savage was purchased from the wreckage of the Leicester City team that was relegated in 2002 he didn’t agitate for a transfer in the same way that other players did. He made the point that he would be playing for Leicester unless Leicester sold him. Birmingham then came in – and Leicester sold him.

Last summer and the winter before Savage was ‘unsettled’ by Everton – the team he supported as a boy in North Wales (according to most reports). At the time Everton were battling with relegation fears. Now Everton’s interest appears to have waned and another relegation threatened suitor appears: Blackburn Rovers.

Is Savage the relegation candidates dream player? Leicester City utilised him to stave off likely relegation for a couple of years. Martin O’Neill’s departure was the catalyst for relegation – but Birmingham City were no-one’s idea of a safe Premiership club when he arrived in the west Midlands. But with Savage in the team Birmingham are now vying with Aston Villa as the pre-eminent club in the Midlands (west or east).

When Robbie Savage was a trainee at Manchester United he was famously called into Alex Ferguson’s (as was) office to be let go, and the traumatised teenager promptly crashed his car on the way home. Savage is probably the best trainee that Ferguson has released – but as Savage was a forward at the time he may never have been released if he had found his true position earlier and he may never have made it if he hadn’t found his true position. He found his true position at Crewe Alexandra before moving to the upwardly mobile Leicester City club in 1997.

Kevin Phillips is another example of a good player who found his position later. Phillips scored 30 league goals for Sunderland a few years ago but was released by Southampton as a trainee left back. Southampton later paid a few million to get him back.

But was this difficult time as a trainee for Savage what was to dominate his feelings towards his clubs? Anyone pop psychologist (or indeed amateur philanderer) knows that if you treat them mean you keep them keen. And perhaps from that point on Savage has merely been grateful for the chances he has been given.

Reports that his parents, in North Wales, are very ill must be very worrying for Savage. And although Blackburn may not seem that much closer to north Wales if Savage can afford a decent, reliable car – a Vauxhall Vectra, say – the psychological difference could be immense.

So as the transfer window creaks open try to believe that if Robbie Savage moves it is more because the clubs involved want to do business that any agitating on Savage’s behalf. Most fans of other clubs may not like Savage’s style (on the pitch or in the salon) – but there is no real reason to doubt his word.

Since being released by Manchester United ten and a half seasons ago Savage has played for just three clubs. He is not the kind of player that just ups and goes at the first sign of trouble. If he leaves Birmingham next week he will leave a top ten team capable of the highest placed finish in the clubs long history. So please, Robbie Savage may be many things but he has done more for Birmingham City than most of the players in the clubs history. And for that alone he should be allowed to move on if his personal circumstances require it.

Antony Melvin
29/12/2004

1460: Premiership: Liverpool and Spu

by : Hugh Larkin

Mark Hughes may have lost his appeal in replacing Russia following Yegor Titov’s drug ban but the former Manchester United and Barcelona striker received an OBE in the Queens birthday honours list.

Former Wales and Leicester City player Matthew Jones was forced to retire from the game at the young age of 23 after a persistent back injury. Leicester began their rebuilding process by offloading Muzzy Izzet to Birmingham, Paul Dickov to Blackburn and Ben Thatcher to Manchester City and brought in Manchester City defender Danny Tiatto, Leeds winger Jason Wilcox, and former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin.

West Brom broke their transfer record for Danish defender Martin Albrechtsen and Stephen Caldwell turned his back on the Toon Army to join Championship side and North East rivals Sunderland.

Carlos Queroz rejoins Fergie at Old Trafford as his number two following an unsuccessful spell at Real Madrid and Manchester United announce the signing of Barcelona’s 17 year old defender Gerard Pique and Paris St Germain’s Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze for £7million.

Arsenal let young David Bentley gain first team experience in the Premiership with a season long loan deal at newly promoted Norwich and Bolton Wanderer’s secured the signing of injury plagued Michael Bridges, and former Bolton striker Michael Ricketts joined Leeds United along with Coventry City’s Juliam Joachim and Wolves Paul Butler.

Julian Gray left Crystal Palace for Birmingham and Barry Hayles joined Sheffield United from Fulham.

In international games Northern Ireland stretch their unbeaten run to five with a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago and David Healy became the country’s all time top goal scorer with two making it 14 for his career. Stuart Elliott also netted.

Celtic and Rangers went to war over Dundee striker Nacho Novo as Celtic step up their search to replace Henrik Larsson, who officially signs for Barcelona. Rangers signed French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong after a proposed move to Liverpool fell through and Brian Kerr turned down the chance to play for German giants Borrusia Dortmund to sign for home club Motherwell!
400 Scottish footballers are left looking for employment as they deal with the financial crisis sweeping the game. Aberdeen’s Scott Booth is one of the high named casualties to quit the game moving into a media role.
Bertie Vogts rejects an offer from South Korea to stay in charge of the Scottish nanaonal team to the Tartan Army’s dismay and Scotland international Steve Crawford leaves Dunfermline to join Bobby Williamson at Plymouth Argyle.

Former Arsenal and Barcelona winger Marc Overmars announces his retirement from international football after Euro 2004 and corruption hit the headlines in South Africa as seventeen football referees and club officials were arrested following a probe into match fixing.

Manchester City assistant manager Arthur Cox announced his retirement from the game after an illustrious career.

Inter Milan installed Roberto Mancini as their new coach following the resignation of Alberto Zaccheroni and former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam left Lazio for AC Milan.

July was set for some big money moves as Roman Abramovich let Jose Mourinho wild with his millions…

Colin Illingworth
23/12/2004

---

Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

This season Chelsea have turned the two team Premiership elite into a three way party but without a friendly billionaire to help out its going to be a long haul for any other club to join them. Liverpool and Spurs are two clubs moving in the right direction but the key question is whether the club – boards and fans alike- have the patience to see the job through.

The Liverpool board made a bold move by appointing Rafa Benitez . His tenure at Valencia shows a proven track record in taking a relatively modest club into a successful contest with the elite. It certainly wasn’t always pretty and success didn’t come overnight but the team eventually overhauled Real Madrid and Barcelona. Benitez built on the excellent work of Claudio Ranieiri and Hector Cupar by forging a tremendous team spirit among players who made a long-term commitment to Valencia- all of which takes time, and the Spaniard needs directors, fans and crucially ,players like Steven Gerrard, to give him that leeway.

Qualifying for the last 16 in Europe demonstrates that the manager can win the big games even with a depleted squad and if Leverkusen can be beaten there’s every chance that Gerrard will stay and the club can build for a tilt at the top. Already Liverpool are favourites to sign Morientes of Real because quality players are aware of Benitez’s reputation as a winner.

Spurs have taken an accidental route to stability. Martin Jol appears to have the kind of big personality needed to take on a fractious club like Spurs and despite the problems at Tottenham over the past few years he’s inherited some very talented individuals. Crucially he seems to know what he wants to do with them and Frank Arnesen is definitely a respected figure in European football which should ensure success in the transfer market.

The problem for Jol is that four wins in a row have the media talking up the prospects for European qualification. Far better that the players are just left to get on with the recovery without setting goals and targets, beyond a respectable top ten finish. Anything other than that can be considered a bonus after the disastrous Santini interregnum.

Both clubs are now in a relatively stable position but it’s vital that everyone connected with each team accept that there are no quick routes back to the top and that top four places are not theirs of right. Steady accumulation is the watchword- start by winning more matches, attract better players, force a way into regular European qualification, win a trophy, attract better players, hold your best talent – and so it goes on.

This may not sound glamorous but without an Abramovich or an amazing youth crop it’s the realistic way forward. Panic buys, sacking managers and dissension among directors and fans can only delay or end any chance of joining the elite. Giving the current management time to build on their foundations might well yield excellent results so its got to be ‘steady as she goes’.

Hugh Larkin
23/12/2004

1445: Premiership: Newcastle United

by : Alex Kay

They just can’t quite do it can they? There was the league title that they threw away under Kevin Keegan and the FA Cup finals under Gullit and Dalglish, and the constant underachieving in European competitions. Now, as 2004 comes to an end, Newcastle United find themselves in 13th place in the Premiership, and with a Christmas period that might not be too rewarding. Blackburn are beginning to grind out points and might give the Magpies and hard time at Ewood Park, and Arsenal visit St James’ Park after that in a game that most people will expect an away win from.

Newcastle could find themselves in an unenviable position by the beginning of next year. Now, let’s not be melodramatic and pretend that there’s even a slight chance that Newcastle could go down; with the players they have, that simply will not happen. However, unless Graeme Souness can mastermind some sort of rescue plan in the very near future, then the Toon Army will have to settle for a season of mediocrity; something that will not go down well, unless the UEFA or FA Cup bears some fruit.

Ever since the nearly-championship winning side in the Keegan era, Newcastle have constantly flattered to deceive. Despite maintaining their Premiership status, and finishing high up the league on a regular basis, the statistic that sticks as far as Newcastle are concerned is that they haven’t won a major trophy in the last 35 years.

The season they threw the title away, Newcastle were, to be honest, not quite ready to be the best team in the country; they had only recently joined the Premiership, winning it seemed a ridiculous idea. The two FA Cup finals were unlucky affairs, in that both times the Magpies came up against the best teams around at the time, Arsenal and Manchester United. Having narrowly missed out on the UEFA Cup final last year, and with Kluivert, Carr and Milner arriving in the summer, 2004/05 had the potential to be the year that Newcastle regained entry to the Champions League, and finally won some sort of trophy. Instead, a team that boasts Shearer, Kluivert, Bellamy and Ameobi keep failing to kill teams off, and consistent defensive errors are costing United dearly. Without playing badly, Souness’ team has slipped down the league, and now the fairly unpopular Newcastle manager faces a January battle to bring some new faces in, particularly at the back.

Despite having some of the country’s best young talents in Dyer, Jenas, Milner and Ambrose, the Magpies face a tough time ahead, firstly rebuilding their confidence by putting some points on the board, and secondly by finding a replacement for Alan Shearer for next season.

While there is still Europe, the fans will lay off Souness. When it’s Middlesbrough playing in the Champions League next season, people are going to start asking where the trophies are again. Newcastle must deliver soon, or they will be forgotten.

Alex Kay
22/12/2004

1431: Fun: Ugly footballers! Hit wit

by : Colin Illingworth

The domestic version of Football Aid proved to be such a success that they decided to launch a Scotland international version complete with ex pros Danny McGrain, Gary McAllister and Gordon McQueen.

“What’s better than representing your country?” says Craig.

The match was such a hit with the Tartan Army that there are plans to do the same with England and the other home nations.

European football clubs are falling over themselves to be involved with Football Aid after the Nou Camp giants Barcelona became the first Spanish side to take part last year and plans are afoot to involve more Spanish clubs this year. And there are even plans to spread the gospel of Football Aid to other countries around Europe and to involve other sports like basketball and golf.

Football Aid provides the ultimate football experience and you can even buy a video of your big day to show all your mates and relive your big day over and over and over again. All in all, it’s the closest any of us are going to get to making our dreams a reality.

For more information please check out their website www.footballaid.com

Colin Illingworth
06/12/2004You would be mistaken for thinking you have to look like a model to be a professional footballer these days with Beckham and co fronting more advertising campaigns than Kate Moss. Thankfully there are still some exception to the rules and proof that there is no substitute for sheer talent.

Ugly footballers have always been around and some of them can be put down to the fashion of the day but some are just pot ugly. Here we name the ugliest footballers ever to grace the beautiful game.

In goal we have Coventry City legend Steve Ogrizovic. Oggy the ogre was that ugly his parents enrolled him to a blind school so nobody could laugh at him! He made sure that everyone knew who he was by helping Coventry to FA Cup glory by beating Spurs 4-3 and holds the record for the most consecutive league appearances by a footballer with 208 games between 1984 and 1989. A brave keeper but then so would you if you looked like that!

Martin Keown is no oil painting, but he would make a cracking gargoyle, and will forever be remembered for ‘that’ incident at Old Trafford where he swooped on Van Nistlerooy like Dracula out of the sky. The former Arsenal, Everton and England defender was always prepared to put his face into an unsightly challenge, probably in the vain hope that it would end up benefiting his monkey features! Still you can’t blame the boy for being slightly deranged considering the family dog would only play with him if his dad tied a pork chop around his neck!

Manchester United’s Phil Neville has never been the luckiest of players. His big brother Gary is a first team regular for club and country and poor Phil only gets the nod from Sir Alex when things look like getting ugly. The Steptoe look-alike is also said to be hard of hearing, well that’s his excuse anyway. When they were handing out free looks he thought they said books and asked for a scary one! Clean your ears out son.

Joining them in defence is former World Cup winner Nobby Stiles. The former Manchester United toothless wonder had nashers Shane McGowan would die for! He was a no nonsense defender in the days of real hard men and he really was a sight for sore eyes, literally.

Despite being the only human being in the world who can eat an egg through a letterbox with his cartoon shaped mouth Barcelona and Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho is a real heartbreaker, especially for England fans. His 40-yard speculative free kick that sailed past David Seaman in Japan 2002 wrecked England’s World Cup dream and sent them on the next plane home. Ugly as sin but boy can the lad play!

West Ham winger Luke Chadwick was part of the Manchester United side that won the Premiership trophy but he is hardly going to win any beauty competitions. In fact the former Manchester United star was signed up to judge an ugly contest but was refused entry and told no professionals were allowed! The wing wizard, once described as a ferret with acne, leads a charmed life as the opposition would rather give the ball to him than look at his ugly Chevy Chase! He doesn’t even get any slack in his own kitchen, as he’s the only guy who actually makes onions cry!

Newcastle and Everton legend Peter Beardsley used to terrorise the oppositions defence by running at them, poor defenders. Despite his quick feet and superb football brain the former England international bared an uncanny resemblance for Quasimodo. Since hanging up his boots Beardsley has made a killing in the property market but he refuses to have mirrors in his own house after he looked in one as a teenager and the reflection looked back shaking its head!

Scotland and Celtic’s Stephen Pearson is repulsive but that hasn’t prevented him from starring in two cult horror movies 28 Days Later and Scream. The fleet footer minger, I mean winger, looks like one of the zombies from the Roddy Doyle film or was he underneath the famous ghostface costume with his flying arms and crazy movements? Either way he has a huge future in tinsel town after driving the boogieman out of business and managing to give Freddy Krueger nightmares!

Iain Dowie has worked wonders at Crystal Palace guiding them to the Premiership when it looked like they were heading for the second division five months earlier. How he wishes somebody could work a similar miracle on his face! As a striker the former Hammer turned as many stomachs as he did defenders and his fellow players refused to kiss him after scoring. However I’m sure there will be a huge line of Palace fans willing to snog his face off if he secures Premiership survival this season, maybe!

Partnering Dowie up front is the inspiration for Shrek, the one and only Wayne Rooney. The lifelong Evertonian broke their hearts when he left to join the dark side this summer but at least it meant they didn’t have to stick up for the big beast anymore. Rooney was rumbled in the summer after it transpired that he paid to sleep with old hookers. Now that he plays for Man U and England girls are queuing up to do it free of charge. He still looks like a clenched fist though!

And rounding it off is the former Aberdeen, Dundee United and Rangers striker Davie Dodds. Those who have never seen the former Scotsman should breath a huge sigh of relief as he looked like he hadn’t just been hit with the ugly stick, he was squashed by the whole tree!

And the minging manager of this ugly bunch was a fight between Harry Redknapp and Steve Bruce but Bruce wins it by a broken nose. The former Norwich and Manchester United defender had his honk broken more times than Henry Cooper and actually picks his team before a big game in bed with his wife. Well when you’re that ugly what else are you going to do in bed than talk about football!

Thank the lord they never played together!

Colin Illingworth
06/12/2004

1464: Review of 2004: Chris Sherrard

by : Chris Sherrard

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

In selecting the lowlight of the year, I’d have to say that there have been a few. Obviously watching the league title return to Highbury ranks quite low on a personal level, as does the ban of Rio Ferdinand for doing nothing more serious than missing a test. I for one, don’t think he took drugs, he was just guilty of stupidity and that is what is most frustrating for United fans, who could well have been toasting another title success had it not been for his imposed loss.

Other lowlights included the continuing desperately poor displays by inadequate referees in this country who are spoiling the game more often than not. Also, there was a frustration at seeing Holland once more fail to fulfill their potential in a major international tournament. They should post a notice on the walls of Dutch dressing rooms: ‘If not now, when?’ How they have still not achieved a mere fraction of the success they should have is a mystery to me.

But the major lowlight of the year has got to be the deaths of so many great football names. It has been a terrible year for losing football legends, enough for the FA to declare 2004 to have been an anus horribellus. It started, really, in February when the great Bob Stokoe – the man who famously guided my adopted hometown club, Sunderland, to FA Cup success in 1973. For a region that has been largely starved of the football triumphs they deserve in recent years, I can only assure you of the esteem in which Stokoe was held by everybody in the North-East and beyond. The word is overused but it fits perfectly to describe Stokoe as a true legend. As was former Scotland boss Ally MacLeod and Juventus hero John Charles who also sadly passed away in February of this year.

And there were also current players who devastatingly died on the pitch and reminded us of the inconsequentialism of the actual game itself. So I’d like to remember 27-year old South American goalkeeper Danny Ortiz and Hungarian prospect Miklos Feher, as well as former Aberdeen striker Hicham Zerouali who, at the age of 27, died in a car crash at the start of December.

On a personal note, one of the finest football men ever to come from my homeland in Northern Ireland passed away in the summer months. Bertie Peacock wouldn’t have been a household name in this country but he played in the Irish team that reached the last eight of the 1958 World Cup before going on to manage the province in the 60s, handing a teenage George Best his international debut. In his later years, he devoted his time to a youth football tournament by the name of the Milk Cup on the Irish north coast – an event I have watched grow immeasurably in recent years and one that will certainly miss the presence of Peacock.

Other great football men like Middlesbrough’s ‘Gentle’ George Hardwick and Celtic’s legendary ‘Lisbon Lion’ goalkeeper, Ronnie Simpson, passed away, leaving plenty of memories. While nobody needs reminding of the impact a certain Brian Clough made to the fabric of football in this country and across the continent. From scintillating young striker at Sunderland to European champion as Nottingham Forest manager, Cloughie took no prisoners but undeniably changed the game as we knew it. And that is why there were quite a few tears shed at his passing in September of this year. But his memory lives on.

As will that of Tottenham’s greatest ever manager, Bill Nicholson, who died in October. He had guided Spurs to the league and cup double in 1961 and died aged 85 after a long illness. And Liverpool fans, as well as all football fans, mourned the loss of Emlyn Hughes last month, aged just 57. In a career that saw him win every major trophy possible and play for England 62 times, Hughes became one of the true characters of the game and will be sorely missed.

Sometimes the all-consuming nature of football can force men who really made a difference to the beautiful game to be forgotten. But those who have passed away during this year have saddened the football community and took something away from what has, otherwise, been a good year for the sport. We will not forget.

Chris Sherrard
09/12/2004

1463: Review of 2004: Chris Sherrard

by : Chris Sherrard

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

Villa Park, 3rd April: the day Manchester United kicked out at the rampant Arsenal and showed that there is still life left in the old dog who had dominated English football for the last decade but started to lose something of their invincibility.

It was the game that killed Wenger’s hopes of repeating United’s 1999 treble. They were getting too big for their boots, in the eyes of all us blinkered United supporters. They had bitten off more than they could chew. We’d show them.

And we did. Did we not? Ok Arsenal won the league title and hats off to them because they were the strongest team in the Premiership last season. But the FA Cup semi-final in Birmingham was as much symbolic as anything else. An Arsenal win and they may well have won the lot. But beating them not only proved that Sir Alex Ferguson and his team could still bring something to the table when it came to competing for honours but it also wobbled the Highbury outfit.

In their following game they were still visibly rattled and as a consequence Chelsea got the better of them to progress in the Champions League that everyone had Wenger nailed on for. And, of course, Manchester United went on to secure the FA Cup trophy the following month at the Millennium Stadium. But it is not the final that is my personal footballing highlight of this calendar year. It is the way Fergie raised his troops in the semi to take the game to Arsenal and fight against them like nobody else had done domestically up until that point.

There have been other, less biased, highlights this year. Such as seeing some bright, new faces come to the fore in Europe’s biggest club and international tournaments. The Champions League brought Jose Mourinho to the continent’s attention as he guided a much unfancied FC Porto to the summit in the Champions League. And I’m glad to see Jose more often now. He really is a breath of fresh air.

While, Euro 2004, saw names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Nuno Maniche, Traianos Dellas, Georgios Seitaridis, Petr Cech and Arjen Robben come to international recognition and stamp their mark on the world game. Hopefully those players will go on to show themselves to be worthy of the hype. Certainly, from what we have seen of Cech and Robben, they are every bit as good as they promised to be.

And it was also good to see Wayne Rooney stand up to the excitement over his potential. He was, arguably, the stand-out player in the summer’s European Championships and his displays have done much to convince England supporters that they now have a team which can win a big tournament, sooner rather than later.

I also enjoyed seeing my national heroes of Northern Ireland score a goal and, then, win a game of football after what had seemed like an absolute eternity. Things are looking up under new manager Lawrie Sanchez and there is a renewal of optimism that sweeps through Windsor Park when the boys in green play there now. It will take some time and patience to get anywhere close to a major international competition in this era but there is potential now and some bright players coming through. We can dream, after all.

Chris Sherrard
09/12/2004

1462: Review of 2004: December

by : Antony Melvin

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

December started off with some Arsenal obituaries following a disastrous few weeks following defeat at Old Trafford. Quickly into the Carling Cup quarter finals and a series of youth and reserve sides met up with some full strength line-ups; and the kids generally held sway. Spurs were particularly embarrassed when Liverpool beat them using a local schools XI. Manchester United beat Arsenal to set up a semi-final with Chelsea whereas Liverpool got the easier draw with Watford also pleased.

The Liverpool clubs decided (again) not to ground-share, or possibly that they would consider the issue again or not depending on the cycle of the moons or something. And while the new Liverpool ground dominated their financial thoughts Steve Morgan walked away from buying a slice of the club because the club won’t sell. Or the price wasn’t right or the conditions or something. So Morgan will not bid. Never. Never, never, never. Well maybe in the spring then. Former Starsky and Hutch star Paul Michael Glazier continued to not bid for Manchester United, but a bid is imminent. But as he’s already checked down the back of the couch he may need to go to his bank manager for an overdraft extension or something. But if not he won’t bid – well he might. Does anyone notice a pattern emerging?

Tom Huddlestone was tipped for greatness on squarefootball and Robbie Fowler was tipped to return to Anfield. Which caused a right kerfuffle.

All four English clubs reached the last 16 of the Champions League, with Liverpool leaving it latest. Liverpool, had scored just 3 goals from 5½ games and needed another three without reply from the second half against Olympiakos. Was Steven Gerrard’s bobby-dazzler that won it the point when his long-term future at Anfield was decided? Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Hearts went into the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, with Celtic and Rangers both falling.

In a weekend of derby matches, Everton beat Liverpool, Birmingham beat Aston Villa and Arsenal and Chelsea shared four goals at Highbury. The inevitable debating point in London duly appeared as Thierry Henry scored directly from a quick free-kick – which sounds reasonable enough written down, but the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho refused to even refer to it as a goal. Henry should have completed a hat-trick with a late winner but scuffed the chance. But he did bury his ‘big game bottler’ tag that he alluded to before kick-off.

Harry Redknapp swapped the bracing south coast and Portsmouth for, err, the far away delights of Southampton. Plus ca change as they say in some foreign countries.

Although Chelsea had built up a commanding position, Everton were finally starting to be considered as title challengers and were briefly second. But Arsenal dug deep to grind out a few results to overtake them, and the top divisions form team: Manchester United, were also in attendance. Middlesbrough and Aston Villa were starting to slip allowing Liverpool to recover quickly from their derby day disaster with a string of wins to move to the fringes of the battle for Europe. Spurs won five on the trot for the first time in 11 years to move to seventh.

At the bottom Birmingham City went on a great run to move into 12th place. And with West Brom seemingly doomed, the other two relegation spots should be between Palace, Norwich, Southampton, Blackburn, Fulham and even a Newcastle United team in free-fall.

As the season marked half-time, the biggest winners on last season were Everton up 14 places from 17th at the end of last season. Honourable mentions go out to Spurs up 7 to seventh, Crystal Palace up 8 to 18th and Middlesbrough up 6 to fifth. The losers included Newcastle down 9 places to 14th, plus the three relegated sides Leicester City (14th), Leeds United (16th) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (17th) all of which have struggled badly and may yet be relegated again. Ipswich Town look favourites to return to the top flight, finally recovering from the Finidi George purchase, but Wigan Reading and Sunderland are all in close attendance. In Scotland the title will be won by Celtic or Rangers – who would have predicted that?

Antony Melvin
27/12/2004

1448: Review of 2004: November

by : Antony Melvin

In international football Northern Ireland appointed a new manager with former Wimbledon legend Lawrie Sanchez beating a host of top names to get the gig. Gerry Armstrong was brought in as his assistant and former Chelsea keeper Dave Beasant and Terry Gibson completed his backroom staff. Their first game in charge was to end an appalling record as David Healy finally scored the country’s first goal in 1,298 minutes of football in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Norway. Wales hammered Scotland 4-0 in a friendly at the Millennium Stadium as Robert Earnshaw piled on the agony for the Tartan Army. England warmed up for Euro 2004 with a match against the host nations Portugal which ended 1-1. Ledley King scored on his England debut only for Portugal to level through Pauleta’s stunning free kick and the Republic of Ireland recorded an impressive goalless draw against the World Champions Brazil.

FIFA finally acted against international teams playing two different sides at half time by setting a limit of six substitutes for friendly internationals and Sepp Blatter stated his intentions to stage another World Club Championship.

Graeme Souness and Terry Butcher believed that Scotland should take full advantage of the new UEFA residency ruling and try and get Lorenzo Amoruso and Alan Thompson to play for Scotland. Bertie Vogts and chief executive David Taylor declined to rule out possibility but James McFadden claims any foreigner would not be made welcome in the dressing room. One man who did change allegiance though was former England under 21 defender Ben Thatcher who was given permission to play for Wales due to his Welsh grandmother.

Back to the FA Cup and Manchester City’s reward for beating Spurs was a derby match with City rivals Manchester United. City couldn’t muster the same resolve they showed at White Hart Lane and United won 4-2. Sunderland knocked out Premiership Birmingham 2-0 in a replay at St Andrews and Liverpool’s cup hopes are dashed by Portsmouth in a 1-0 replay win at Fratton Park. Millwall booked their place in the next round with a 1-0 win over Burnley.

The Champions League and UEFA cup returned to the fold with UEFA warning clubs in debt that those with huge levels of debt will not be eligible to play in the Champions League next season. Manchester United lost to UEFA cup holders Porto 2-1 while Arsenal and Chelsea both won away from home against Stuggart and Celta Vigo respectively. Liverpool beat Levski Sofia 2-0 at Anfield and Celtic virtually book their place with a comfortable 3-0 win over Teplice.
Alan Shearer was sensationally dropped from the Newcastle side that drew 1-1 with Valerenga. The next time Robson was to do this it was to cost him his job.

The football world mourned the loss of three great servants to the game. Former Leeds and Juventus great John Charles, known as ‘the Gentle Giant’, dies at the age of 72, Sunderland’s FA Cup winning manager Bob Stokoe passed away aged 73, and ex Tranmere Rovers, Barnsley and Airdrie striker Steve Cooper died aged 39.

Alan Curbishley became the Premiership’s second longest serving manager after agreeing a three-year extension to his contract at the Valley.

In Scotland Celtic continued their stroll to the SPL title with a 5-1 win against Livingston to stretch their unbeaten run to 25 games. Rangers began the month with a CIS exit at the hands of Hibs on penalties and they gave Martin O’Neill a helping hand to the title with a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen and a rare home defeat by Dundee United 2-0. Hibs are set to play Livingston in the final of the CIS cup after they beat Dundee 1-0 with a late penalty from Lilley, despite going into administration before the game forcing them to release players.

Fans of Scottish football were going to have to cough up at least £120 after the SFA gave the broadcasting rights to the game to Irish satellite channel Setanta.
Former Aberdeen, Celtic and Middlesbrough defender Derek Whyte retires from the game to concentrate on co-managing Partick Thistle.

Hearts plan to move three Tyncastle stands with them if they manage to find suitable site for a new stadium. They also strike a deal to co-habit the home of Scottish rugby Murrayfield as they aim to clear crippling £17.6million debts.

In the first division Nottingham Forest sacked Paul Hart after a poor run of form and install former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear as manager. Notable results in the first division included Rotherham thrashing Reading 5-1 and beating promotion hopefuls West Brom 1-0. Crystal Palace and Stoke play out a nine-goal thriller with Palace edging it 6-3 at Selhurst Park. Nottingham Forest draw with Walsall 3-3 and Cardiff stun Sunderland winning 4-0 as Norwich continue to top the table.

Brighton’s plans for a new stadium are turned down by the government again this time for environmental concerns.

Cameroon defy FIFA’s orders to stop wearing their controversial one-piece strip claiming they have no alternative option. Manufacturers Puma agrees to take the responsibility. Tunisia are crowned kings of Africa after beating Morocco 2-1 to lift the African Nations Cup.

Colin Illingworth
22/12/2004

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

The month started with Wigan Athletic causing a stir by being top of The Championship and favourites for promotion to the Premiership. The low crowds at The JJB Stadium was seized on by supporters of teams with more history – no team in the second tier has less – as a reason as to why they didn’t ‘deserve’ to go up. This debate perhaps masked an achievement that would match Wimbledon’s rise in the 1980’s and prove that the fairytale journey from bottom to top is possible for anyone.

Southampton’s decline continued and former Southampton boss Dave Jones was sacked at Wolves. Berti Vogts gave in to the press and resigned – he would eventually be replaced weeks later by Walter Smith – while another Scottish manager Craig Levein swapped the SPL for struggling Leciester City following Micky Adams resignation. A real sign of the times.

Owen started to score goals for fun in Spain, while Beckham succumbed to yet another niggly injury – perhaps he isn’t looking after himself quite as well as he did when a red-nosed Scotsman used to bawl him out of a Saturday evening. Meanwhile Jacques Santini nipped out of the Lane and was replaced by his assistant Martin Jol. Perhaps Tottenham may now break into double figures in the goals scored column before Christmas.

Manchester United and Newcastle United continued to mis-fire whereas Chelsea were flying despite not having a top goalscorer, after they found the time to sack Adrian Mutu for taking cocaine. Mutu was then banned for 7 months.

Bryan Robson returned to management to replace Gary Megson at West Bromwich Albion – but failed to provide an instant upturn in fortunes. Yet another Leeds financial debacle ended with an abortive Sainsbury takeover forcing a sale and lease of Elland Road. This truly was an annus horribilus (or something) for Leeds fans.

John Toshack took over at Wales for the second time – and is expected to stay a little longer this time. Whereas England played badly in Spain in a forgettable match that will be long remembered for the racist chanting from sections of the Spanish crowd. As the Sun reminded it’s readers that ‘we’ defeated the Spanish Armada a slanging match of imperial nastiness top trumps took place. Spain were to eventually be slapped on the collective wrist.

As Liverpool’s forwards dropped faster than a team managed by almost any England ‘great’ the first Fowler to Liverpool rumours appeared on squarefootball, quickly followed by every relatively mobile forward across Europe. Except Michael Owen who was finally enjoying himself in Spain.

Everton maintained their ascent to the top of the table, as did Middlesbrough before Manchester United finally started to score goals to separate them in fourth place. Arsenal were overtaken and left for dead as they barely got a win in November; the lucky form team were Chelsea who look very, very strong.

At the bottom the promoted teams – West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City and Crystal Palace - look set to fight it out with Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City. A very low number of points will probably secure survival given how few points the six are getting.

The month ended with the English teams all in a position to progress in Europe (except Millwall) and with hopes for Celtic, Rangers and Hearts in Scotland.

Antony Melvin
22/12/2004

1461: Review of 2004: October

by : Stephen Orford

The month opened with World Cup qualifying action as England took on Wales at Old Trafford in Group 6. Despite the hype about Wales' progression under Mark Hughes, England ran out comfortable 2-0 winners with goals from Lampard and Beckham. Wales looked a shadow of the team they looked to have become in recent times under Hughes, and his decision to move into club management looked shrewd on this evidence.

As ever with England internationals there was no shortage of controversy after the game. David Beckham announced to a gobsmacked public that he had deliberately earned himself a yellow card for a challenge on Welsh defender Ben Thatcher late in the game. Already injured, Beckham earned a suspension for the booking, claiming that he had decided to get it out of the way sooner rather than later with the minnows of Azerbaijan on the horizon. Few believed him, but Sepp Blatter found time to condemn his actions, before administering absolutely no punishment whatsoever.

A few days later England saw off the challenge of Azerbaijan in Baku thanks to a Michael Owen goal. Criticised heavily in the build up to the two October qualifiers, the man by now occupying the Real Madrid bench answered in typical fashion with a neatly placed header. It proved to be the highlight of a rather dull England performance. Wales contrived to lose again, 3-2 at home to Poland in Mark Hughes' last game in charge, while Northern Ireland managed a creditable 3-3 draw with Austria. Wales' defeat left their World Cup hopes hanging by the proverbial thread, while the group looked even at this early stage to be between England and Poland. Where have we heard that before?

Football management is a precarious occupation, and it was proved once more with the resignation of Micky Adams from Leicester City. In two and a half years in charge, Adams had taken the Foxes into and out of the Premiership, aswell as presiding over one of the more notorious periods in the club's history off the field. The previous season, three Leicester players had been held in La Manga in connection with an alleged sexual assault. The charges were later dropped and the players released, but clearly the events had taken their toll on Adams, who finally resigned his post. Craig Levein was brought in from Hearts to take over.

The big domestic spat of the month came at Old Trafford, as Manchester United finally ended Arsenal's epic run of unbeaten league matches at 49. They earned a 2-0 win thanks to a Ruud Van Nistelrooy penalty and a late strike from Wayne Rooney. Earlier, Rooney had incurred the wrath of everybody connected with Arsenal after his theatrics had conned referee Mike Riley into giving the spot-kick. With Sol Campbell contemplating perhaps making a tackle on the former Everton starlet, Rooney produced the kind of dramatics that would have made Robert Pires blush.

The fun wasn't over there, as there was much whailing and gnashing of teeth in the aftermath of the game. Refusing to take their shock defeat with anything approaching good grace, a mysterious source (sauce?) within the Arsenal camp began flinging items of food at Sir Alex Ferguson. Items such as pizza, pea soup and sandwiches were all alleged to have been hurled in Fergie's direction. Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger was charged and later fined after branding Van Nistelrooy a cheat. The Dutch striker had earlier been lucky to avoid a red card following an x-rated challenge on Gunners defender Ashley Cole.

Yet more scandal awaited the football world as Chelsea's Romanian striker Adrian Mutu was banned for seven months after admitting to the use of recreational drugs. Not wishing to wait around for a hearing, Chelsea tore up the player's contract with immediate effect. Later, and presumably after Mr Kenyon had been for a little think in a dark room, they then decided that it might actually be shrewd to try to get some money back on the former Parma striker. PFA bigwig Gordon Taylor condemned the club's actions, claiming that the player needed help not demonisation and dismissal. It was even suggested that Chelsea had targeted Mutu for testing in an effort to remove him from the wage bill after he fell out of favour with new boss Jose Mourinho. Pondering the length of his ban at the eventual hearing many, including this writer, wondered how a man found guilty of drug abuse could have been given a more lenient punishment than a man who 'forgot' to actually take a drugs test some months previously.

After much in-house wrangling Gary Megson announced that this season would be his last in charge of West Brom, and was promplty sacked within a matter of hours. In the days previous to this development Megson had halted a training session complaining that his players were not even trying. The Baggies fans complained that he had 'lost the dressing room' while chairman Jeremy Peace complained about almost everything from Megson's attitude to his managerial style. Something had to give, and in the end that something was Megson.

At the end of the month football spectators and even a few armchair viewers held their breath collectively before letting out a sigh of anguish as Liverpool's Djibril Cisse endured an horrific broken leg at Blackburn. The French striker's leg visibly crumbled underneath him as he attempted to change direction, putting him out of the game for the rest of the season and possibly threatening his career.

Another career under threat was the managerial career of Scotland boss Berti Vogts, as speculation mounted that he was about to be dismissed following a poor run of results and his failure to be Scottish. Those predictions proved accurate as October gave way to November.

Stephen Orford
24/12/2004

1433: Review of 2004: September

by : Stephen Orford

The month opened with Newcastle United on the look-out for a new manager, after the dismissal of Sir Bobby Robson at the end of August. Both Steve McClaren of Middlesbrough and Bolton's Sam Allardyce were quickly ruled out of the race by their clubs. "Sam is commited to re-writing the history of this club" said Trotters chairman Phil Gartside. Allardyce is also known to be fiercely comitted to the abuse of the loan system, and a campaign to eliminate less important matters like the FA Cup or international football in Africa. Terry Venables was also linked with the St.James' Park vacancy.

In the event, the post is offered to Graeme Souness in what was seen as one of the shock managerial moves in recent history. "I'm ready for a big challenge and they don't come much bigger than this." said the man responsible for more than his fair share of 'big' challenges during his playing days. After pottering about in the lower half of the Premiership with Blackburn for some time, Souness left Tony Parkes to take over for a sixth time at Ewood Park on a temporary basis. Now, that's a big challenge.

Following his knighthood for presiding over the kicking of more penalty goals than any other collection of solicitors and accountants that world rugby union could muster, Sir Clive Woodward suggested he might fancy a role in the round ball game. Southampton showed an interest, which left everyone confused as to exactly what role Sir Clive had in mind. Typically, Saints chairman Rupert Lowe decided he would cross that bridge if and when he came to it. The plans were swiftly put on hold as it emerged that Sir Clive wished to take on the responsibility of leading next year's British Lions tour.

Scotland secured a rather hollow moral victory, as their friendly in Spain was abandoned after floodlight failure and adverse weather conditions with the score at 1-1. It was to prove one of the better achievements of Berti Vogts ill-fated but harshly criticised tenure at the SFA. "That was real Scottish football" he said afterwards, to the background chuckles of Charlie Nicholas et al.

David James became the subject of tabloid rage as his error allowed Austria to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in England's opening World Cup qualifier in Vienna. One newspaper, something of a specialist in the area of over the top personal abuse, portrayed James as a donkey on its back page the following day. This was to cause outrage among the increasingly spoiled England playing staff, who decided to boycott media engagements following their 2-1 win in Poland four days later. David James was conspicuous by his absence from the England team for the Poland game, replaced by Tottenham stopper Paul Robinson.

Elsewhere in England's qualifying group, Wales made a shaky start, managing only draws with both Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland. Lawrie Sanchez's men also lost 3-0 to Poland in Belfast in the opening salvos. The Republic of Ireland beat Cyprus 3-0, before drawing 1-1 in Switzerland. Fresh from the glory of conquering Europe in the summer, Greece came thumping back down to Earth with a 2-1 defeat in Albania. Funny old game.

Mark Halsey refereed Arsenal's game with Fulham, awarding the Cottagers a penalty before consulting an assistant and changing his mind. Clearly, he had not read the clause in his rule-book about awarding penalties to 'small' clubs against 'big' clubs with the match still in the balance. At the time of Halsey's extraordinary change of heart the game was goal-less, but by the end Arsenal had ran out 3-0 winners. All of which left Fulham boss Chris Coleman filthy with rage, emotion in fact. "I kept myself from him (Halsey) because I am too emotional about it." He said.

On the same day, Didier Drogba was sent off for diving in Chelsea's 0-0 draw at Villa Park. Television replays later showed that he was in fact fouled, and the red card was eventually rescinded. Tim Cahill was also dismissed for Everton after lifting his shirt over his head to celebrate scoring the only goal of the game against Manchester City. Television replays later showed that the former Millwall midfielder is as stupid as the rule itself, as all clubs had been notified of the directive. Also that day, West Bromwich Albion's players had a bit of a dust-up on their team coach following their 3-0 defeat at Anfield, and Tony Popovic scored a quite spectacular back-heeled own goal as Crystal Palace went down 3-1 to Portsmouth.

The Champions League began in earnest, Chelsea convincingly stuffing Paris St.Germain 3-0 in their opener. Arsenal won 1-0 against PSV Eindhoven, while Henrik Larson came back to haunt Celtic with a goal in Barcelona's 3-1 victory at Parkhead. A day later, Ruud Van Nistelrooy broke Denis Law's European goal scoring record for Manchester United, scoring both goals as United came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in Lyon. Liverpool surprised last year's finalists Monaco with a 2-0 win, with some even more surprising outbreaks of neat, attacking football also rumoured to be on display at Anfield. Elswhere Roma's match with Dynamo Kiev was abandoned after referee Anders Frisk was hit with a missile and was apparently unable to continue. The fourth official was deemed too inexperienced to take his place also, so what was he doing there?

After a less than inspiring start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, Wales boss Mark Hughes announced that he was off to Blackburn Rovers instead. Stil, diamond geezer that he is, he agreed to remain in charge for Wales next two qualifiers, against England and Poland, until a replacement could be found. Gary Speed and Sir Bobby Robson appeared to be the preferred choice to take over, but it didn't quite work out that way.

1434: Review of 2004: August

by : Chris Sherrard

Millwall played in Europe for the very first time, Dennis Wise giving his team the lead with a Beckham-esque free-kick against famous but crap Ferencvaros of Hungary. The Hungarians equalised late in the game, and went through 4-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 home win a fortnight later. Middlesbrough and Newcastle fared better, going through against Banik Ostrava and Bnei Shakhnin repsectively. Who? That's the UEFA Cup for you, these days. Scottish outfits Hearts and Rangers also progressed.

Jose Mourinho provided one of the more memorable soundbites of September when he accused Tottenham of putting the "bus in front of the goal" in reference to Spurs defensive strategy in the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge. In La Liga, another Jose, Camacho of Real Madrid, resigned his coaching position amid rumours that is players didn't want to share their toys with Michael Owen, recently arrived from Liverpool.

Liverpool had other things on their minds, with another big Premiership clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The home side won 2-1 in a match that was most notable for two Mikael Silvestre goals, a comical John O'Shea own goal and the return of Rio Ferdinand following his suspension for selective amnesia. The former West Ham man slotted in seamlessly, as if he had never been away, and folk began to talk of a Manchester United resurgence. It could happen, but we're still waiting as I write.

Earlier that day, legendary former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough passed away the age of 69. Tributes poured in for a man who changed the face of English football, and proved that football really is a simple game. Clough won two European Cups with Forest, aswell as the old Football League Championship, and another league title at the equally unremarkable Derby County. It is unlikely that football will ever see his like again.

Paul Sturrock, recently sacked by trigger-happy Rupert at Southampton, took over at archetypal sleeping giant Sheffield Wednesday. Owls chairman Dave Allen had a warm welcome for his new man saying; "promotion has to be the target but I'm not going to chop his legs off if he doesn't do that." Just his hands then?

In one of the more bizarre managerial protests in Premiership history, then Spurs boss Jacques Santini claimed to have seen the referee in the Manchester United dressing room at half-time during his team's 1-0 loss to Fergie's men. His allegation was never proved, and it turned out that the former French boss was a bit strange anyway. Amidst all of this, nobody seemed to notice Barry Davies retiring from television broadcasting in protest at not being given enough high profile games to cover. Back to the gymnastics then, Barry.

After one of the most protracted transfer sagas since, well, since Manchester United last tried to bully the bloody little poor people, Wayne Rooney finally made his debut for the Red Devils in their Champions League encounter with Fenerbahce. United won 6-2, and the Boy Wonder scored a hat-trick of frightening class. Liverpool's flirtation with Champions League success didn't last long, as they went down 1-0 to Olympiakos in Athens. The following day, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho welcomed his old club Porto to Stamford Bridge, and one of their fans welcomed their old boss by spitting at him. Wiping the offending drops away, Jose walked away laughing as Chelsea won 3-1. Celtic were two minutes away from a 'creditable' 1-1 draw in Milan against AC, but conceded twice in the latter stages to get the 3-1 defeat their night's work had actually deserved. Not to be outdone by West Brom's players, Arsenal stars Lauren and Patrick Vieira indulge in the lastest craze of footballers fighting on the coach after their 1-1 draw with Rosenborg in Norway.

Stephen Orford
16/12/2004

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

So farewell Michael Owen it was nice to know you. And welcome to town young Wayne. Enjoy the ‘facilities’ in your new surroundings.

August was the month that saw England’s best two strikers (with apologies to Jermain Defoe and Emile Heskey) pack up their troubles for a change of scenery and fortune. Owen weighed up his options and decided Real Madrid would be a decent bet as somewhere he could fulfill his playing ambitions (listening Stevie G?) while Rooney ripped up his adolescent Goodison Park roots to sell his soul (EFC viewpoint) or challenge for silverware (MUFC viewpoint) at Old Trafford.

Whatever the reasons, both men ended up sleeping in a strange city and trying to grapple with the expectations of experienced hosts who have been around the block quite a few times. Still, good luck to them.

August was also the month when ‘the rush’ came coursing back through our veins; the month when the football buzz returned after a seemingly interminable break. It started with the Traditional Curtain Raiser (it’s illegal to refer to the Community Shield in any other way) where the unstoppable Arsenal brushed Manchester United aside and we all noticed the blossoming potential of Colleen, sorry, Cesc Fabergas. Nobody would beat the Gunners this season.

But Chelsea already fancied their chances. With Jose Mourinho and his ego in town, things were looking up at Stamford Bridge and they got off to the perfect start with a tight home win over a depleted Manchester United thanks to an Eidur Gudjohnson goal. A perfect run of results in the month did much to convince an already believing nation that the Blues could go all the way this season.

But the month wasn’t quite as successful for two of the league’s other managers. Southampton’s Paul Sturrock and Newcastle United’s respected boss, Sir Bobby Robson, both lost their jobs before the end of the month. Well, when I saw Robson was respected, clearly that doesn’t apply to inside the St James Park dressing room where he was taken as serious as a clown in a dress. You have to feel sorry for the man who can gain recognition from the Queen and the football world but not Dyer and Bellamy. With hindsight, amazingly, nothing has been solved by dispatching of Robson’s services. Tell you anything, Mr. Shepherd?

And you also have to feel sorry for Paul Sturrock whose South Coast reign ended abruptly at the end of August. Not only did he have to call his chairman Rupert without laughing he also had to follow Gordon Strachan in the St Mary’s hot seat. It was never going to be easy.

Nor was it going to be easy to make Real Madrid look good in defence. But that was the awesome task placed on the shoulders of, yes, Jonathan Woodgate. What a move that has turned out to be. I know Woodgate is a top defender when he is fit but he plays football matches about as often as Posh Spice has hot dinners. You can just imagine the dialogue in the Madrid boardroom: Advisor: ‘But Meester Perez, theees Woodmate eez alwehs hurt’. Perez: ‘Ah perfect, a scapegoat for theees season.’

Still, at least Woody got to meet Zidane and Ronaldo. Not been a bad career, after all. And if he ever gets fit enough to make an another England squad, he will not be rubbing bibs with Paul Scholes who, aged 29, took his ball and left international football behind in August.

As I recall, it rained in August. Nothing unusual in that traditional summer activity. But nobody noticed because football was back. The time when the programme seller and burger-boy once more became familiar faces. And the time when dreams and reality once more merged in, almost, perfect harmony.

Chris Sherrard
09/12/2004

1420: Review of 2004: July

by : Chris Sherrard

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

As it invariably does, July and the summer lull in real football action, resulted in transfer talk, ludicrous and believable, sweeping our every thought.

There was Gerrard to Chelsea, Vieira to Real Madrid, Zidane to Hull (or was that one of my frequent Boothferry Park-related dreams?) Most of the rumoured moves were never on the cards, others like the first two above were, to all intents and purposes, within touching distance. Steven Gerrard’s departure would surely have sounded the death knell for Liverpool FC as we know it. He said he was close to walking out on his hometown club who were clearly going nowhere particularly fast. Whoever talked him out of it should be offered a place at the United Nations because his change of mind represents the biggest signing the club have made in quite some time.

Vieira, on the other hand, wouldn’t have looked over his shoulder, emotionally, if his switch to Madrid had materialised as it looked to be about to. One of the best central midfielders in world football he might be but unequivocal in his devotion to Arsenal he is not. If he was, then he would not allow such a furore to develop seemingly each summer as to his plans. His silence spoke volumes again, for me, in July. And I am fully expecting a repeat performance of flirting between the Frenchman and the Spanish giants come the end of this current season.

Some clubs didn’t mess about with all this will-they, won’t-they nonsense. Chelsea, for example, weren’t slow in splashing the cash now in the pocket of their new manager – the self-assured ‘special’ European champion Jose Mourinho. But looking through the players he brought in – like Kezman, Drogba, Ferreira, Tiago – it is not those who would go on to really catch the eye. It’s Arjen Robben who had been recruited some time earlier and, most of all, the manager himself. We had become accustomed to Abromvich’s spending sprees from the previous summer so the vast amounts he spent in July came as no real shock. It’s still not clear if they actually spent well, though.

But Middlesbrough definitely did spend well. Their problems had perpetually been a lack of goals but the acquisition of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka along with squad-boosters like Ray Parlour and Michael Reizeger mean there are no placed much better for an assault on the Champions League spots this season. And they remain on track.

With all the hullabaloo over who is going where and who is staying put, relief came in the form of July’s only football feast of any description – the Copa America. Even then, Brazil didn’t feel it important enough to send any of their big guns. But, even with their third choice players they won the trophy, beating a more experienced Argentina in the final. That served to show that both those South American nations will be right up there in the next World Cup in less than two years time in Germany.

And out of the furnace of mediocrity in Peru came the beacon of a new Brazilian superstar. Adriano had been here and there in the past, never really making the big breakthrough but his displays in the summer made the world sit up and take notice of the latest samba striker to impress. Copa America was the confidence boost he was waiting for, and his blistering form has continued into the new Italian league season where he has been knocking them in for fun for Inter Milan.

For most, July represented sun and relaxation. Well, ok, only if you left the country. But you get the idea. Some were busy at work, and I don’t just mean us workaholics at squarefootball. The Football League boffins decided on rebranding Divison One into The Championship and, well, you know the rest. Others, like Sven Goran Eriksson, were busy whipping up more of a storm over their private life than they managed to do on a football pitch at Euro 2004. Frankly, even then, I was bored with the lacklustre Swede who keeps failing to deliver despite being the best paid football manager in the entire world.

Ah, pass the sunscreen, I’ve come over all funny again.

Chris Sherrard
05/12/2004

1419: Review of 2004: Euro 2004

by : Chris Sherrard

Seems like quite a while ago now, doesn’t it? The shocks, goals and Rooney that made Euro 2004 so entertaining are now a fading memory. But some of the questions that were raised in Portugal remain unanswered.

Like, how on earth did Theo Zagorakis go from Leicester City reject to world beater? And how did his Greek side reach the summit of European football? And why is Sven Goran Eriksson still in (very) gainful employment as England manager? I’m not going to supply answers to those questions; that would be too obvious.

But, for me, the standout aspect of these European Championships was the way the game’s supposed stars failed to shine, in fact they crashed and burned. From Beckham and Raul to Zidane and Figo it is no wonder Real Madrid are flattering to deceive these days. None have improved any since the summer. Instead it was left to a new generation of the continent’s footballers to show the way.

And leading the charge was England’s assassin-faced baby, Wayne Rooney, who took no notice of reputations as he charged his way onto the tournament’s scoring charts and Sir Alex Ferguson’s shopping list. It’s arguable that if he hadn’t got injured in the quarter-final clash with Portugal then the only joy the Greeks would have had this summer was laughing at Paula Radcliffe in the Olympic marathon. Yes, he really was that important to England in Euro 2004.

For many, the team of the tournament was Czech Republic for whom Liverpool’s Milan Baros was obviously keen to show he was worth a start for his club ahead of Heskey and Diouf. In fact, he was so impressive in winning the Golden Boot, his new club manager decided he could dispense with Michael Owen’s services.

It’s hard to imagine it, based on his lethargic displays for Manchester United this season, but Cristiano Ronaldo proved to be a revelation in his homeland. He was probably the most creative, exciting presence in the entire tournament and cast his illustrious team-mate, Luis Figo, into so much shadow he must have needed three layers to keep himself from catching hypothermia.

And if you had told me Greece would go all the way and lift the trophy I’d have told you to go back to your day job as editor of The Spectator. They had shown some promise in the qualifying campaign but this was the big one where the big nations like France, Germany and…erm…England (?) would come to the fore. But hats/wigs off to their coach, Otto Rehhagel. He recognised his team’s limitations and played to their physical strengths, transforming the Greeks from plate-tossing kebab manufacturers-extraordinaire to European football champions. They might not have had the best players to land in Portugal but they had the best team and, as Porto proved in the Champions League final a number of weeks earlier, that is key in the modern game.

But I have still got a few queries hanging over. For a start I’d like to see Portugal’s Maniche playing for a bigger club to see if the potential he showed all last season under Mourninho for club and Scolari for country is real or just a temporary distraction from a journeyman career. Because he was world class for Porto and, particularly, Portugal in Euro 2004.

Also, will Holland let this tournament be a lesson to them and never let a negative coach take charge of one of the most glorious attacking nations in a major tournament again? The signs are good with the appointment of legendary striker, Marco van Basten, as Dick Advocaat’s replacement. Hopefully we have seen the last of a Dutch boss taking off someone like Chelsea’s stunning winger Arjen Robben to replace him with a spoiler like Man City’s Paul Bosvelt. Seems astonishing now. And it did then, as well.

Hopefully, the upshot of Euro 2004 will be a reassessment by a number of the more historically successful nations in the future. Countries like Italy, Spain and England are not progressing as far as they should be. Enough talk about potential and projected success down the line. The key is seizing on your chances when they are in front of you. Just like in the last World Cup, those countries came up short. Potential is only potential for so long. At some point it becomes a wasted opportunity. If Greece can do it…

Chris Sherrard
05/12/2004

1459: Review of 2004: June

by : Colin Illingworth

Walsall faced last day heartache after beating Rotherham 3-2 but Gillingham’s goalless draw at Stoke meant that Paul Merson’s side were relegated on goal difference, to join Bradford and Wimbledon in the second division. They were replaced by division two champions Plymouth Argyle, runners up QPR and play off winners Brighton and Hove Albion. Grimsby, Rushden and Diamonds, Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers dropped a league to be replaced by division three champions Doncaster, Hull City, Torquay United and play off winners Huddersfield, who beat Mansfield 4-1 on penalties. Carlisle finally ran out of lives as they and York City lost their league status to join the conference and Chester City and Shrewsbury, who finished 17 points behind Hereford in second place, were promoted as champions and playoff winners respectively.

The FA Cup served up a David V Goliath occasion as the might of Manchester United took on first division Millwall at the Millennium Stadium. Manchester United were far superior to the Londoners and ran out comfortable winners 3-0 thanks to Ronaldo and a brace from Ruud Van Nistlerooy.

With the SPL title won in April Henrik Larsson signed out of Scottish football with a brace as Celtic came back from a goal down to beat Dunfermline 3-1 to win the Scottish Cup and SPL double. Henrik was given an emotional send off as he played his last game before moving to Barcelona as the Catalan giants have a massive clearout with Patrick Kluivert, Michael Rieziger, Marc Overmars and Cocu all shown the door.

Celtic and Rangers qualified for the Champions League while Dunfermline and Hearts went into the UEFA Cup.

In the SPL Aberdeen’s new football executive and former legendary defender Willie Miller decides to sack the under performing management team of Steve Paterson and Duncan Shearer and moves for the successful pairing of Jimmy Calderwood and Jimmy Nichol from Dunfermline. Aberdeen’s chairman Stewart Milne’s property group announce intentions to buy Tynecastle stadium from their rivals Hearts and former Aberdeen chairman Ian Donald leaves the clubs board of directors after 24 years. Hibernian hire former Celtic defender Tony Mowbray as boss as Partick Thistle prepared to take legal action against the SPL to prevent them from being relegated.
Claude Anelka, Manchester City’s Nicolas’s brother, invests £300,000 into Scottish first division club Raith Rovers, becomes manager and releases six players.

The silverware continued to build up at Highbury as the Arsenal ladies completed a league and cup double. A stunning hat trick from Julie Fleeting against Charlton ensured the cup headed back to Highbury and the Gunners defeated Fulham 3-1 on the final day of the season to pip Charlton to the Premiership crown.

The month ended on international duty for those not lucky enough to be going to Portugal and Wales narrowly won 1-0 against Canada thanks to a Paul Parry goal, Roy Keane made his return to international football with Republic of Ireland in a 1-0 win over Romania thanks to Matt Holland’s goal, and James McFadden handed Scotland victory over lowly Estonia.

In the FIFA world rankings England slipped to 12th after the Sweden defeat, the Republic of Ireland remained 15, Scotland dropped another two places to 63, Wales moved to 65 and Northern Ireland climbed to 114.

Exeter City celebrated the unique 90th anniversary of their game against Brazil in Rio, 1914, with a rematch against the 1994 World Cup winning squad. Exeter were beaten 1-0 in the special match.

Colin Illingworth
23/12/2004

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

As Europe prepared itself for the European Championships in Portugal domestically clubs were preoccupied building trophy winning sides for the coming season.

Chelsea finally ended months of torture and intense speculation over manager Claudio Ranieri as they sack the loveable Italian, despite leading Chelsea to their best Premiership finish ever and guiding them to the Champions League semi final. Their new coach was to be Champions League and UEFA Cup winning coach Jose Mourinho. He made an instant impression on the English public on his first press conference by boasting “We (Chelsea) have top players, and sorry if I’m arrogant, but we have a top manager!” Goalkeeper Petr Cech was his first signing for £7million and Juan Sebastian Veron was allowed to join Inter Milan on a yearlong loan. Ronaldinho claims to have turned down a £55 million deal from Chelsea to stay at the Nou Camp and they also had to accept defeat in their attempt to lure Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard to the Bridge.

The managers merry go round was in full flow as Ranieri found himself back at Valencia with their coach Rafael Benitez, fresh from a La Liga and UEFA Cup double, taking over the reigns at Anfield following Gerard Houllier’s departure. Tottenham Hotspurs stunned the football world by revealing that the man given the task of making Tottenham great again was French national coach Jacque Santini, after Euro 2004, and he was joined by Martin Jol.

In Scotland Dunfermline moved fast to replace the two Jimmies by appointing former Celtic boss Davie Hay as Hearts midfielder Scott Severin left Tynecastle to join the red revolution at Aberdeen.

Burnley hire Steve Cotterill as the man to succeed the departed Stan Ternet, Bristol City announce that Brian Tinnion will be the clubs player manager, and Colin Todd is given the task of guiding Bradford City back into the first division, or as it was to be known from now on the Championship.

German legendary striker Rudi Voeller resigned as Germany manager after a disappointing early exit from Euro 2004 and Marcello Lippi took over from Giovanni Trapotoni as Italian manager.

England failed to give the fans anything to shout about as they warmed up for Euro 2004 with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Japan at the City of Manchester Stadium, Michael Owen netting for England. They did managed to show a spark of their potential with a morale boosting over the hapless Iceland as they spanked them for six. Darius Vassell and Wayne Rooney bagged two a piece, and Chelsea pair Wayne Bridge and Frank Lampard completed the rout in a 6-1 win.

Wimbledon FC were consigned to the history books as the Football League gave the club permission to change their name to Milton Keynes Dons FC following their move from London.

Controversy reigned in the SPL as the twelve sides are forced into a second vote to allow Inverness Caledonian Thistle into the SPL after they won the first division title. Caley received the number required to win the vote and agree to ground share with nearest neighbours Aberdeen at Pittodrie, 100 miles away from the Highland league club, as their current stadium is not up to standard.
As a result of the whole fiasco the SPL decided to reduce their all seater capacity criteria to 6,000 from the initial 10,000.

Brighton’s bid to build a new stadium is boosted by the news that a local MP has reversed his decision and decided to sign a petition to deputy PM John Prescott to approve plans for a 23,000 seater stadium. Liverpool struck a deal with Wrexham to stage all their home reserve games at Wrexham’s Racecourse ground for the coming season.

Everton were anxious to tie Wayne Rooney to the club before he caught the eye at Euro 2004. David Moyes claims only a ridiculous amount of money would allow Wayne Rooney to leave Goodison Park. Right on cue Rooney explores to the Worlds attention and is labelled the new Pele.
Marcus Bent joins Everton from Ipswich Town for £4.5million and, in a troubled pre-season at Goodison Park, Bill Kenwright replaced Sir Phillip Carter as Everton chairman.

1458: Review of 2004: May

by : Colin Illingworth

With the title already in the bag for Arsenal the major focus in the Premiership turned to the basement battle.

Leicester City were the first club to be officially relegated as they drew 2-2 with Charlton at the Valley. The Foxes were joined in losing their top-flight status by Wolves despite a battling 1-1 with Newcastle United at St James Park. Leeds United completed the dumped sides with Alan Curbishley’s Charlton again responsible. Leeds looked to be holding on until the last day of the season as they led 3-1 but in typical Leeds style they fell apart as Jason Euell bagged a late double to level 3-3 ending a terrible season for the club.

The drop signalled the end of the road for the current side as the club tried to rebuild for life in the first division. Eddie Gray was relieved of his duties, Paul Robinson finally joined Spurs for £1.5 million, and local hero Alan Smith, who was given a heroes send off by the fans stabbed them in the back, joined trans Pennine rivals Manchester United for £7 million.

Kevin Blackwell was given the responsibility of getting Leeds back into the top flight and signs Danny Pugh from Manchester United.

Arsenal capped off a memorable season with a 2-1 win over Leicester on the last day of the season to become the first team in modern day football to go the whole season unbeaten. Arsene Wenger decides to grant Dennis Bergkamp a new contract but lets Wiltord and Keown leave Highbury.

Liverpool, who qualified for the Champions League, began looking for a new manager after sacking Gerard Houllier following a poor run of results and Michael Owen insists that he would not leave Anfield on a free transfer.

Spurs had a clear out with Darren Anderton, Christian Ziege and Gus Poyet leaving the club, but Jamie Redknapp agreed a new deal as they announce Frank Arnesen as Tottenham’s new sports director. David Pleat stepped down.

Bolton Wanderer’s fans began doing the Samba as Brazilian ace Rivaldo confirms he’s in talks with big Sam to play at the Reebok. The move fell through though after communications break down.

In the Champions League, Chelsea failed to overturn the 3-1 away defeat in Monaco at the Bridge as they draw 2-2 to lose 5-3 on aggregate. Monaco were to face Jose Mourinho’s UEFA Cup holders Porto in a unexpected final as they beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0. Jose Mourinho, who was to become a prominent figure in English football, added the Champions League to the UEFA Cup with a brilliant 3-0 victory over Monaco in the final.

Despite handing Chelsea their best finish in Premiership history and guiding them to the Champions League semi finals Claudio Ranieri comes out and states that he doesn’t expect to be in charge at the Bridge come the start of next season. He wasn’t even to last another month in the hot seat despite starting talks with Peter Kenyon about a new contract. The fans and players give him a hero’s send off in his last game in West London.

Arsenal were joined in next seasons Champions League by Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. The North East duo of Newcastle and Middlesbrough were to represent the Premiership in the UEFA Cup along with Millwall who were guaranteed a spot in Europe thanks to Manchester United’s league positioning.

David Beckham saw red for Real Madrid in a 2-1 defeat against Murcia after apparently calling the linesman’s mother a ‘whore’ in Spanish. Speculation intensifies over his future in La Liga with rumours rife that he is set to make a big money move to Arsenal or Chelsea. Beckham denies the stories and insists that he wants to stay at the Bernabeu.

With Norwich and West Brom already promoted the focus turned to the playoffs. West Ham ended Wigan’s playoff hopes with victory on the last day ensuring that Crystal Palace sneaked in to join the Hammers, Sunderland and Ipswich in the play offs, a move that would later come back to haunt the Hammers. Crystal Palace booked their place in the final with a 5-4 penalty shoot out win over Sunderland, after the game finished level over both legs 4-4. West Ham showed their spirit in coming back from 1-0 down against Ipswich to win 2-1 on aggregate to set up an all London playoff showdown. Iain Dowie was up against his former club but Neil Shipperley scored the all-important goal that took the Eagles into the promised land of the Premiership after at Christmas it looked like they could be playing second division football. Coventry appoint former Sunderland boss Peter Reid as manager.

1456: Review of 2004: April

by : Colin Illingworth

Rio Ferdinand lost his appeal against his eight-month ban for missing a drugs test after the case is upheld and the former West Ham and Leeds defender misses Euro 2004, and Wales lose their appeal with UEFA to replace Russia following Yegor Titov was found to be taking a banned substance.

Pele named his 125 greatest living footballers in a poll to mark FIFA’s 100 anniversary that included David Beckham, Michael Owen, Gary Lineker, Sir Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer and Kenny Dalglish and Sepp Blatter reiterates his aim in reducing the Premiership from 20 to 18 teams.

Graeme Souness and Dwight Yorke clashed in training which effectively leads to Yorke being frozen out of Ewood Park and former Blackburn and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Alan Kelly retires from the game after injuring a finger. The Irishman who made over 470 appearances at club level hangs up his gloves at the age of 35.

Duncan Ferguson escaped charges of racially abusing Fulham’s Luis Boa Morte in last months FA Cup clash after a lack of evidence but faced a four match ban after being shown red in a 1-1 draw with Leicester, grabbing Stefan Freund by the throat, and gesturing to the Leicester fans.

In Scotland, Livingston collected their first piece of silverware by beating Hibernian 2-0 in the CIS Cup, despite being in administration and having to sack several star players and asking others to take sizeable pay cuts to stay.

Celtic ensured that Rangers were to finish the season empty handed when Henrik Larsson struck to knock them out of the Scottish Cup. The Bhoys went on to beat them later on in the month 2-1 to end any lingering hopes they had of winning the SPL too.

Ranger’s Fernando Ricksen is banned for four matches after being found guilty by the SFA for elbowing Hibs youngster Derek Riordan in Rangers CIS Cup semi final defeat.

The City of Discovery Dundee united as fans from both sides of the city fight plans to ground share as Dundee deal with going into administration and everybody’s favourite losers East Stirling part company with manager Danny Diver.

In the first division Rotherham United picked up former Chelsea star Jody Morris after his contract at Leeds was mutually terminated. Norwich beat the tractor boys 3-1 to grab the local bragging rights before losing to Cardiff 2-1. West Ham knock five past lowly Wimbledon, whose takeover bid by Pete Winkleman, is accepted by creditors. Nottingham Forest and West Brom dent Crystal Palace’s playoff hopes with victories 3-2 and 2-0 respectively, before Norwich got back to winning ways beating Stoke 1-0 to stay on top of the table.

Brian Talbot left Rushden and Diamonds after seven years at Nene Park to take charge at York and Grimsby appoint Nicky Law as their new boss.
Blackpool got their hands on the LDV Vans trophy following a 2-0 win over Southend United.

Northern Ireland made it sweet 16 as they record their first victory in 16 games to beat Estonia thanks to David Healy’s only goal of the game. Republic of Ireland ended the Czech Republic’s 20 match unbeaten run with a late Robbie Keane goal in a 2-1 win but England’s 36 year long winless streak in Sweden goes on as Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in Sweden’s 1-0 win in Gothenburg. A late Robert Earnshaw strike hands Wales victory over Hungary 2-1 and Scotland’s poor form continued as they’re defeated by Romania 2-1. James McFadden scored for Bertie Vogts but promising Celtic defender John Kennedy is stretchered off after just 14 minutes into his international debut following an awful challenge by Wolves striker Vio Ganea. The 20 year old faced a year out of the game.

Charlton’s ladies won the Premier League Cup after Emma Cross scores the only goal of the game beating Fulham 1-0 in the final.

Italian clubs are given a deadline of May 31 to prove that they are financially stable or face being banned from all European competitions and Chilean football was on the verge of meltdown as violence forced crowds to fall drastically. Coco Colo, Chile’s most famous club side supported by half of the country only attracted 5,000 fans for their top of the table clash against Universiado De Concepcion.

Colin Illingworth
23/12/2004

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

News of David Beckham’s alleged affair with Rebecca Loos hit the newsstands as the country tries to decipher what he is trying to say in his texts. Becks strenuously denies all the claims as more kiss and tells sell their stories to the press.

‘The Invincibles’ of Arsenal start the month on the trail of the elusive treble but things weren’t to go to plan. Manchester United went into the FA Cup semi final clash at Villa Park knowing that defeat would leave United empty handed. The game was a typical grudge match between the Premiership’s two super powers but Paul Scholes ended the Gunners hopes of retaining the cup and treble aspirations with the only goal of the game. In the other semi final Millwall stuffed Sunderland 2-0 to set up an unlikely FA Cup final in May.

Arsenal tried to put their FA Cup exit behind them as they entertained Chelsea in the Champions League but Claudio Ranieri was to finally get something to cheer about as Wayne Bridge capped a wonderful tie with a late winner to send Chelsea into the last four of the Champions League and Arsenal from going for the treble to having only the Premiership to go for.

The media began labelling the Gunners ‘bottlers’ but after going 2-1 behind to Liverpool a Thierry Henry hat trick got their title charge back on track with a 4-2 win. Arsenal continued their unbelievable unbeaten run and capped the month as Premiership champions after a 2-2 draw with archrivals Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Wenger celebrated by snapping up young Feyenoord striker Robin Van Persie for £3 million. However it wasn’t all good news as the FA tells the Brazilian midfielder Edu that he would need to become a British citizen to play for England.

At the bottom of the table things were looking bleak for Leeds, Leicester and Wolves, as Everton pulled themselves clear of danger with a 3-1 win over Spurs. Leeds gave their survival hopes a boost with close victories over Leicester and Blackburn before a 1-1 draw with Everton and a demoralising 5-0 thrashing by Arsenal all but sealed their fate. Leicester City desperately clung on to their Premiership status after a poor month when they only picked up one single point but Wolves showed they weren’t ready to go down without a fight by beating Middlesbrough and drawing with Manchester City and Blackburn.

Back to the Champions League and it wasn’t just Chelsea who were springing all the shocks as Monaco overturned a 4-2 first leg deficit to beat Spanish giants Real Madrid 3-1 to go through 5-5 on the away goal rule, and Deportivo La Coruna defied all the odds by beating AC Milan 4-0 at home to go through 5-4. In the other fixture Lyon drew 2-2 with Porto for Mourinho to advance.

Chelsea’s prize for beating the Gunners was a trip to the principality to meet former Blues star Didier Deschamps’ Monaco. Despite playing against ten men for most of the second half Chelsea lost the game 3-1 as Ranieri tried to push for the away win. In a Blue night for Chelsea it was also a blue night for ITV pundit Ron Atkinson who lost his commentary job after being heard on Middle East television racially abusing Chelsea’s French defender Marcel Desailly after the match. UEFA Cup holders Porto played out a goalless draw with Deportivo La Coruna in the other semi final match.

In the UEFA Cup Celtic’s dream of another final spot was dashed in a 3-1 aggregate loss to Spanish Villarreal but Newcastle kept the British flag flying in Europe as they progressed to the semis with a 3-2 aggregate score over PSV. As Britain’s sole representative in the competition they faced Liverpool’s conquerors Marseille and gave themselves a stern test following a 0-0 home draw.

Argentine legend Maradona is put in intensive care suffering from high blood pressure, breathing problems and a lung infection in a Buenes Aires hospital. Rated as one of the games greatest ever players Maradona suffered a heart attack in 2000 after a drug overdose.

Claudio Ranieri finally snaps back in the war of words with Russian owner Roman Abramovich claiming that the multi millionaire knows nothing about football.

1455: Review of 2004: March

by : Colin Illingworth

Football was thrown on the front page with the news that three Leicester City players were held in Spain on an alleged sexual assault charges. Paul Dickov, Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie spent six nights in a Spanish jail for questioning after Mickey Adams took them to La Managa. They all missed the crunch game at Birmingham and Adams revealed he offered to resign over the incident. Leicester managed to put their troubles behind them for 90 minutes as they beat Birmingham 1-0. The three were subsequently released without charge.

Life wasn’t any easier on Merseyside as Gerard Houllier became the target of a sinister hate campaign by ‘so-called’ Liverpool fans receiving a number of death threats following a poor run of results. Michael Owen comes out in support of the boss and reveals he has also received death threats in the post.

The speculation over the future of England manager Sven Goran Eriksson ends after the Swede agrees a new contract with the FA however Claudio Ranieri can’t rest on his laurels as German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld confirms that Abramovich had contacted him over the managers position. Chelsea deny the German’s claim.

The pressures of modern day football struck home after Sir Alex Ferguson had a pacemaker fitted after treatment for a minor heart irregularity, similar to the one the Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered with. Fergie calls up old friend and former Everton and Rangers boss Walter Smith as his number two at Old Trafford and Southampton announce former Plymouth and Dundee United manager Paul Sturrock as their new manager and begins his Premiership career with a 2-0 victory over struggling Liverpool.

At the top of the table Arsenal remained on course to satisfy Arsene Wenger’s dream of going the whole season undefeated as they beat Blackburn 2-0 and Bolton 2-1, and concede a late goal against Manchester United in the league. Thierry Henry and Lauren apparently come to blows after the game.

Manchester United were stunned by neighbours Manchester City as they recorded a memorable 4-1 win over their bitter rivals and effectively end their Premiership dreams. Aston Villa put a nail in Wolves coffin in a 4-0 win at Molineux and Everton eased their relegation fears with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth. Birmingham boss Steve Bruce is livid after his team are beaten by Middlesbrough 5-3 at the Riverside before taking out the anguish on Eddie Gray’s Leeds beating them 4-1. Leeds United’s immediate future is secured after Gerald Krasner completes a £30 million takeover to become chairman at Elland Road.

Ken Bates said goodbye to Stamford Bridge after 22 years and set his sights on Sheffield Wednesday. Chelsea get prepared to say farewell to French world Cup winner Emmanuelle Petit after he announces his intention to leave in the summer. Meanwhile David Beckham pours scorn on speculation linking him with a move back to the Premiership with Chelsea but Roman continues building his dream team with the announcement that Dutch superstar Arjen Robben will be joining the Blues in the summer for £12m. The Premiership would marvel when he made his debut.

In the FA Cup Arsenal went into cruise control as they thrashed Portsmouth 5-1 at Fratton Park to book a mouth-watering clash with Manchester United after beating Fulham 2-1. Louis Saha angered team mate Ruud Van Nistlerooy in the build up to the semi final clash with Arsenal by revealing he thinks his fellow countryman Thierry Henry is a more complete striker. Sunderland beat Sheffield United 1-0 and Millwall beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1, after a replay, to ensure that one of this years finalists would be a first division side.

Porto’s Costinha sent Manchester United crashing out of the Champions League with a late, late, goal at Old Trafford to end Fergie’s European dreams as Jose Mourinho’s men win 3-2 on aggregate. Thierry Henry scored a first half brace against Celta Vigo to give Arsenal a 5-2 aggregate win and Chelsea play out a goalless draw at the Bridge with Stuggart to path their way into the last eight. The quarter final drew threw up a unique all London tie as the Premiership’s top two Chelsea and Arsenal were to meet once again. The first leg at the Bridge ended 1-1. Elsewhere Real Madrid beat Monaco 4-2, AC Milan crushed Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 and Porto beat Lyon 1-0.

Celtic, Liverpool and Newcastle booked their place in the next round of the UEFA Cup. Celtic beat Teplice over two legs, Liverpool triumphed over Levski Sofia 4-2 away to win 6-2 on aggregate and Newcastle brushed aside Valerenga 3-1 at home. The next round produced an unlikely hero as Celtic turned to youngster David Marshall to keep out Barcelona in the Nou Camp. Marshall pulled off a string of spectacular saves as the Bhoys held on to their 1-0 lead to progress to the next round. Newcastle walked over Mallorca 7-1 on aggregate but Liverpool fell to a Didier Drogba inspired Marseille side 3-2 over both legs.

1447: Review of 2004: February

by : Colin Illingworth

In the SPL Celtic started the New Year in style by crushing rivals Rangers 3-0 at Celtic Park. The Bhoys were to go through January unbeaten scoring 12 goals in their four league games. Rangers managed to keep the pressure on as they held on to three 1-0 victories over Motherwell, Livingston, and Partick Thistle.

The transfer window was open and there was a heave of activity. Chelsea added Charlton midfielder Scott Parker to their squad for £10million, and Arsenal broke their transfer record to secure the precocious talents of Sevilla’s young Spanish sensation Jose Antonio Reyes for £17.5million. North London rivals Spurs also dipped into the market to beat Rangers to the signature of Sheffield United midfielder Michael Brown for £500,000.

Kevin Keegan splashed out £2million for England international keeper David James from West Ham to replace former England ace David Seaman who hung up his gloves after a recurring shoulder problem. Wolves boosted their strike force with the £2million signing of Newcastle striker Carl Cort and Mickey Adams signed former Spurs midfielder Stefan Freund as they fight against relegation. Sir Bobby Robson lets Nolberto Solano leave St James’ Park to join Aston Villa for a snip at £1.5million and Eyal Berkovic linked up with former West Ham boss Harry Redknapp once more at Portsmouth in a two and a half year deal.

A string of Premeirship clubs are alerted at the news that Nicky Butt wants to leave Old Trafford but the defensive midfielder decides against a move at this time.

In Scotland Rangers kept it in the family by signing Ronald De Boer’s twin brother Frank until the end of the season and Celtic snap up Motherwell and Scotland youngster Stephen Pearson but lose Republic of Ireland midfielder Liam Miller to Manchester United on a Bosman.

Elsewhere Gordon Strachan announced his intention to stand down form the Southampton post at the end of the season citing ‘medical and other personal reasons’. Strachan’s former Aberdeen and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson signed a new 12-month rolling contract at Old Trafford and keeping the former Aberdeen vibe going, former Dons and Metz striker Eric Black was installed as Coventry manager. Controversy reigned at Blackpool as Steve McMahon hands in his resignation only to do a sensational U-turn after last ditch talks with chairman.

Roman Abramovich puts pressure on Claudio Ranieri claiming that he doesn’t expect the Italian to win anything at Chelsea. FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the Prince Phillip of the football world, caused outrage after saying that women’s footballers should wear tighter shorts to attract more male supporters! Cameroon unveil their revolutionary one-piece strip for the Africans Nations Cup resulting in action later on. Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen is reported in the press claiming that if the Reds fail to qualify for the Champions League he will leave Anfield. Spurs’ Freddie Kanoute causes a club versus country debate by opting to represent his country Mali in the Africans Nation Cup much to Tottenham’s disgust.

The football world paid its respect to former Everton and Wales great Thomas George Jones after he died aged 86 after a short illness. Jones’ won the league with the Toffees in 1939 and led Bangor City to a sensational European Cup Winners Cup victory over Italian aces Napoli in 1962 as manager. Young Hungarian Mikos Feher dies on the pitch aged 24 after suffering a heart attack while playing in a league game for Benfica against Vitoria Guimares.

In the first division Ipswich and Crewe played out a ten-goal thriller which the tractor boys edged 6-4. Norwich are held to a 4-4 draw against Rotherham and Crystal Palace began their amazing climb from the bottom of the league to the playoffs with a 3-1 away win over Watford.

Football clubs finally woke up to the reality of debt and reveal some radical tactics to sort it. Hearts mute plans to sell Tynecastle and move to the home of Scottish rugby Murrayfield and Premiership strugglers Leeds announce they are considering selling Elland Road, in a bid to fight off the threat of administration. Leeds are also forced to settle for a reduced final payment of £1.5 million from Manchester United after the transfer of Rio Ferdinand.

And things got so bad at SPL side Motherwell that they had to appeal to fans with long sleeved shirts to donate them to the club as they didn’t have enough in stock for the team to wear!

David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, and Zidane are named in UEFA’s team of the year and Chelsea’s Juan Sebastian Veron is sidelined for three months after back operation.

Marco Gabbiandini retires after 19 years professional and 273 goals. Former Northampton, Derby and Hartlepool man hangs up boots and George Reynolds resigns as director and chairman of Darlington. John Ryan takes over.

Garhard Aiger steps down as UEFA chief executive after working with the European governing body for 34 years. Lars Christer Olsson replaces him. Trevor Brooking is announced as the FA’s director of Football and Peter Kenyon is cleared to start new role at Chelsea following his high profile move from Manchester United.

Colin Illingworth
22/12/2004

---

Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

February was an unforgettable month for football fans as records, hearts and dreams were shattered, as the Premiership intensified, the FA Cup came to life, and the Champions League and UEFA Cup came back to the attention of the games elite.

Spurs beat the transfer deadline by minutes to secure the signing of West Ham’s Jermain Defoe in a £7 million deal that saw Bobby Zamora move to Upton Park and Blackburn Rovers snapped up young Huddersfield striker John Stead, who scores the winner on his debut against Middlesbrough 1-0. Jermain Defoe was to follow suit and be involved in some of the Premiership’s most amazing games.

Arsenal kicked the month off with a battling 2-1 win over Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City after a glorious Thierry Henry strike and Glen Johnson ensured Chelsea kept the pressure on the leaders with a late goal against Blackburn to win 3-2 at Ewood Park. However if it was goals you wanted then White Hart Lane was the place to be as Spurs really put their fans through the ringer.

The scoring spree started in the fourth round FA Cup replay with Manchester City. Spurs were 3-0 up before half time and playing against ten men, and the fans were already dreaming of the fifth round. However Kevin Keegan’s men defied the odds to produce the greatest comebacks in FA Cup history. Distin grabbed an early reply before Bosvelt and Shaun Wright Phillips scored to level the game with ten minutes left. The tie looked to be heading into extra time when Jon Macken won the game with a looping header to break Spurs hearts and shatter their cup dreams. Fulham booked their place in the fifth round when they overcame Everton to win 2-1 after extra time.

However the fun was only just beginning in North London as Portsmouth and Spurs produced a seesaw affair that finally swung in Tottenham’s favour after a last gasp Gus Poyet goal to win 4-3. Against Charlton they raced into another 3-0 lead but had to rely on a late Johnnie Jackson goal to secure a 4-2 win and they continued to put their fans through a roller coaster of emotions against relegation threatened Leicester City. Again Spurs went 3-1 up but despite playing against ten men for the last 20 minutes David Pleat had to rely on a late Jermain Defoe goal to give them a share of the points in a nail biting 4-4 draw.

Losing the lead seemed to be the ‘in thing’ as Manchester United let slip a 3-0 lead at Goodison Park before a late Van Nistlerooy strike won the game 4-3. They were beginning to miss the influence of Rio Ferdinand though as Middlesbrough ran out 3-2 winners at Old Trafford, followed by draws against Leeds and Fulham to lose ground on Arsenal and Chelsea. Striker Ruud Van Nistlerooy publicly admits that United are missing the influence of David Beckham.

Following Gordon Strachan’s announcement that he will not be leaving St Mary’s at the end of the season chairman Rupert Lowe decides to give the Scot his marching orders earlier than expected. Steve Wigley takes temporary charge.

Middlesbrough defied the pundits by beating Arsenal in the second leg of the Worthington Cup 2-1 to set up a final date with Bolton Wanderers. Steve McClaren’s men won the clubs first ever piece of silverware with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Job and Zenden to book their place in next season’s UEFA Cup.

Arsenal put that disappointment behind them to record 24 league games unbeaten in their 3-1 win over lowly Wolves to eclipse the clubs previous record set by George Graham 13 years ago. Thierry Henry celebrated his 100th league goal for the Gunners in a 2-0 win over Southampton as they stretch their lead at the top to five points. The Gunners are also finally given the green light to build their new 60,000 all seater capacity stadium at Ashburton Grove after securing the needed £375 million.

Arsenal and Chelsea gave the fans two mouth-watering clashes in February in a matter of days and Arsenal proved their worth with victories in the Premiership and the FA Cup to severely dent Claudio Ranieri’s hopes of silverware. Edu and Vieira scored to cancel out Gudjohnsen’s early strike to win 2-1 in the league and Jose Antonio Reyes repaid a huge slice of his transfer fee with a stunning brace to give Chelsea the blues in the FA Cup in a repeat score line.

Speculation continued to mount regarding Claudio Ranieri’s future at Stamford Bridge as Sven Goran Eriksson is spotted having dinner with Roman Abramovich. However John Terry speaks out in defence of the loveable Italian and urges the club not to sack him, despite falling nine points behind the Gunners.

Elsewhere in the Premiership, Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel spectacularly scores late on against Charlton to seemingly give Graeme Souness a point but Charlton score at the death to win 3-2.
Wolves crash to a 4-1 defeat at Leeds to make them favourites for the drop but return to beat Fulham 2-1 the week after before drawing with other relegation strugglers Leicester 0-0. And Portsmouth’s on loan striker Lomano LuaLua scores against his employers to deny Sir Bobby Robson precious points in their bid for the Champions League.

1446: Review of 2004: January

by : Colin Illingworth

Arsenal started the New Year top of the Premiership unbeaten and began their assault to retain the FA Cup with a thumping 4-1 away win at struggling Leeds United as Henry, Edu, Pires and Toure got on the score sheet after an early Viduka strike.

The FA Cup third round managed to spring a few memorable cup shocks as Gillingham knocked out Alan Curbishley’s Charlton 3-2, non league Telford beat first division Crewe 1-0, a last gasp goal from Alex Rae saved Dave Jones blushes as Wolves held on for a draw against non league Kidderminster, and Bolton had Kevin Nolan to thank for sparing them a third round exit at the hands of first division Tranmere with a 1-1 draw. Watford almost produced the biggest shock of all time as they twice led against moneybags Chelsea but an Eidur Gudjohnsen penalty and a Frank Lampard strike cancelled out an early Helguson strike and a Mahon finish to end 2-2 draw after a controversial goal line decision. Manchester United booked their place in the next round with a Paul Scholes brace to win 2-1 over Aston Villa.

In the replays Bolton scored late to take the game to extra time but Iain Hume finally put paid to Bolton’s FA cup dream winning 2-1. A brace by Kenny Miller was enough to see Wolves past Kidderminster at Molineux and Chelsea showed their Premiership class to beat Watford 4-0 at the Bridge to book their place in the fourth round draw.

Arsenal were to end up sick of the sight of Middlesbrough after facing them three times inside two weeks. In the league they Henry, Pires and Ljunberg inspired them to a 4-1 victory and they repeated the dose in the FA Cup with a double from Freddie Ljunberg, Bergkamp and young David Bentley. Arsene Wenger played a weakened team in the Carling Cup as they looked promising on all four fronts but a Juninho goal put Boro in the driving seat for the return leg in February.

Somebody should have told Leicester City keeper Ian Walker that Boxing Day is in December as he tussled with an angry fan during Leicester’s 5-0 whipping from Aston Villa. Walker escaped any punishment and the fan is banned from the Walkers Stadium for life.

In the Premiership Chelsea lost ground to Arsenal, with defeat at Liverpool and a goalless draw at Birmingham, as the Gunners maintain their unbeaten run picking up eight points out of an available ten.

Rio Ferdinand’s last game in a United shirt before he started his eight month ban for failing to take a drugs test is ended prematurely against Wolves and is replaced by Wes Brown after 50 minutes. Manchester United were going to miss his presence dearly as Kenny Miller gave Wolves survival hopes a boost in a shock 1-0 win at Molineux. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team lose ground on the top two.
Manchester City directors suffered a traumatic time as first they saw their team beaten 4-2 by Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth at Fratton Park then they had to make an emergency landing just ten minutes into their flight back north when an engine caught on fire.

This wasn’t the only excitement in the Premiership though as there were some unforgettable matches played this month. Bolton showed their fighting spirit coming back from 3-1 down against Blackburn to win 4-3 and Middlesbrough deprived struggling Leicester a much needed three points with two injury time goals to draw 3-3.

Meanwhile Russian midfielder Yegor Titov is banned for a year after failing a routine drugs test after the Euro 2004 playoff with Wales. The former Russian player of the year was found to have the banned substance Bromantan in his system. Wales begin appeal to replace Russia at the Euro 2004 finals in place of Russia.

The names of JP McManus and John Magnier came to the forefront as their personal duel with Sir Alex Ferguson over stud fees becomes public and raise questions over Manchester United’s transfer dealings following the £13 million transfer of Fulham’s Louis Saha. The Frenchman went on to score on his Old Trafford debut in a thrilling 3-2 win over Southampton.

The fourth round draw of the FA Cup handed Scarborough a windfall with the visit of millionaire’s Chelsea and Roman Abramovich proved he was no scrooge donating £25,000 to their youth academy. However the goodwill refused to spread to the playing side as a tenth minute John Terry goal booked their place in the fifth round. Conquerors of Charlton Gillingham couldn’t produce another shock as they took on Burnley 3-1. A Bruno Cheyrou brace secured Liverpool’s passage to the next round as they ended Newcastle’s FA Cup dreams. Wolves were dumped out by West Ham 3-1 at home and Manchester United were just too strong for the Cobblers at Sixfields as Northampton slumped to a 3-0 defeat. A last gasp strike by Francis Jeffers earned the Toffees a replay at Craven Cottage but the game was marred by an accusation of racism by Louis Boa Morte on Everton’s Duncan Ferguson. Spurs and Manchester City also ended 1-1 ensuring a replay at White Hart Lane that was to leave football fans speechless.

1466: Premiership Preview: Tottenham

by : Adam Graham

This article was perhaps an exception, as it was more a representation of an alternative view to your own, of what it can be like to be a football fan.

I did not tip Spurs for disaster, but merely passed comment on the fact that they were, at the time, a stone’s throw from the relegation zone (AKA staring down the barrel of the relegation shotgun). I also simply suggested that with this in mind, Defoe would very likely be harbouring some feelings of regret - again, at that time - having already paid a visit to the Championship with West Ham. To pretend otherwise would be a little nave.

The articles of yours that I have read, as far as I can remember, are pitched squarely in the optimism camp. You feel my articles are pessimistic. You are entitled to your opinion. However, I disagree.

It is not uncommon for optimists to confuse pessimism with realism.

You say Gerri Halliwell made a song with the title of ‘Scream if you wanna go faster’. Well I did not know that, but I do now.

You freely admit that you’re an optimist, but say that every fan should be. You ask why West Brom fans can’t believe they’ll stay up even if the records disagree and why we can’t believe that the massive summer revolution at the Lane will finally yield results. You claim that if a club had supporters like me, filling the stadium week in, week out, we’d be in the lower leagues by now. You suggest I should pull myself together, remember why I fell in love with Tottenham Hotspur in the first place and have some North London pride.

Well, every fan shouldn’t be an optimist. You be an optimist if you want, but that doesn’t mean we all have to follow suit. West Brom fan’s can believe they will stay up, if that’s what they want to believe – but I guarantee you that a very significant proportion of them do not. However, this does not mean they are lesser fans than the ‘ignore all the facts and they’ll go away’ brigade. The fact is, that every single one of the West Brom faithful hope desperately that they’ll stay up, and that is what unites football fans. Hope, not belief.

There is a huge difference between believing something can happen, and believing something will.

When I watch Tottenham, what I believe or do not believe will transpire over ninety minutes or thirty eight games, has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the way in which I support the team or their subsequent league fortunes. It is what I believe could happen, and hope will transpire, that matters, and will keep me ever faithful.

I remember exactly why I became a Spurs fan. The recent Spurs sides have not delivered it and have given little to be proud of. In fact, I wonder if most of them even know what ‘it’ is.

I am chuffed to bits that Spurs have hit some half decent form and long may it continue.

Sean O’Meara
23/12/2004

This article has been removed at the writer's request.

1450: Premiership: Morientes? - What

by : Sean OMeara

If so called ‘reports’ are to be believed, Newcastle are interested in signing Fernando Morientes from Real Madrid.

Do they not have enough attackers in their squad, in Shearer, Bellamy, Kluivert, Milner, Jenas, Dyer and Ameobi? If I were a Newcastle supporter I would be aghast at these reports and hoping for Souness’ sake that they are not true - which of course, they are not.

Newcastle need a defensive overhaul. They have conceded thirty five goals in eighteen games. That is just one shy of two per game, only one less than West Brom, five less than they conceded and more than Arsenal and Chelsea conceded, in the whole of last season.

In nine home games this season, of which they have won, drawn and lost three, they have leaked sixteen and scored sixteen. That’s more than one and half goals a game. Away from home, it’s worse, shipping nineteen goals in nine games – more than two per game. No other team has conceded more at home this season, and only West Brom have conceded more on the road. How bad does it have to get?

Conversely, only Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Chelsea have scored more than Newcastle this season.

The only conceivable way Souness would even be considering such a purchase, could be if perhaps Souness were operating under the logic that some players are just to good to miss out on.

When it became clear that Morientes was surplus to requirements, how many other managers sat up and took notice?

If Newcastle spend several million pounds on Fernando Morientes in January, it will be an insult to the supporters that line those stands week in week out. It will bring even further into question the ability of the manager that left Blackburn teetering on the edge catastrophe. It is not true, because it is too absurd to be true. It is not true, because it would make Souness and the board at Newcastle a laughing stock.

But, if Liverpool’s bidding does have the rumoured £5m ceiling, then who else in the Premiership would show serious interest in the man who almost single handedly took Monaco to the Champions League final last season, as the competitions leading goal scorer?

While a lack of Champions League football this season would not be a stumbling block, as Real very kindly cup tied Morientes in the preliminary stages this season, he would be certain to expect it next term. Equally though, it is the inability of the player to play in the competition this season, that will surely limit those interested in signing him at the present time – though this fact may result in something of a cut price deal being available.

Lack of European ambition would almost certainly rule out Spurs, who have shown interest in the past, during Hoddle’s tenure, but would again not be serious contenders.

Manchester City may well be in the market for a forward come January, but again would be unable to attract the player, in their current position, especially when you consider that they are struggling to keep Anelka at the club for the very same reason.

Manchester United just do not need a forward, and Morientes would be in the same position as he is in at Real, fighting for first team football.

It is Arsenal that should be lining up a bid for Morientes. It would take the immense pressure off of Thierry Henry when the Champions League restarts. Henry could afford to miss a few post European Premiership games, if Wenger had a player of Morientes’ calibre to bring into the starting eleven.

However, would Morientes be interested in joining a club already brimming with young talent, and who, in Henry, have as clear cut a first choice striker, as you could ever wish to find? Lack of first team action at Real is his very reason for wanting to leave.

Of the Champions League contenders for next season, that only leaves Aston Villa, Everton and Middlesbrough.

Morientes would be a fantastic signing for any of these three clubs.

For McClaren, this would be a real push-on from the fantastic ground he has already made up on the Premiership’s top clubs. Morientes, up front with either Viduka or Hasselbaink (or both) would be a handful for any team – particularly Newcastle. Middlesbrough have a real chance of playing Champions League football next season and signing Morientes would only add weight to that likelihood.

There has been much speculation about who Everton will buy in January and just how much they have to spend. They sit third in the table, but would be unlikely to be able to convince Morientes that they are likely to finish the season there. It would be a great coup, for Moyes to steal the Spaniard from his Stanley Park neighbour, but to be honest, he is likely to spend that kind of money strengthening a very thin squad, rather than bringing in one or two big names.

That leaves Villa, who with Angel, Cole and Vassell have not exactly set the world alight on the goals front, this term. Angel shares the top of the scoring charts with Solano with just five for the season, with Hendrie on four. The strongest transfer rumour around Villa Park of late, is that of the signing of James Beattie. However, O’Leary is not one to shy away from big name signings and if his Chairman is willing to part with the readies in the New Year, he could do worse than knock on Fernando’s door and try and convince him that Villa are Champions League material – he is unlikely to succeed.

If the Liverpool bid for Morientes fails, do not expect to see him around these parts any time soon. In short it’s Liverpool – or no-one.

Sean O’Meara
22/12/2004

1457: Premiership: Mourinho still ha

by : Stuart Reid

Gerard Houllier insists that he will not let Steven Gerrard or Michael Owen leave Anfield and
Chelsea’s Mikael Forssell agrees a new one-year loan deal at Birmingham after a successful time at St Andrews.

Ben Chorley gave Wimbledon their first league win of 2004 against Wigan 1-0 but it only delayed the inevitable as they became the team in the UK to be relegated after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of promotion hopefuls Sunderland. Bradford City joined them after losing to the Dons 3-2.

The Canaries were flying high after they were promoted to the Premiership after an absence of nine years following Crystal Palace’s win over the Black Cats. Norwich are joined in the top flight after West Brom beat Sunderland 1-0 and Bradford City 2-0, their last wins of the season, to seal promotion.

Bobby Williamson quit Hibernian to take over at the role vacated by fellow Scot Paul Sturrock at second division side Plymouth Argyle after his move to Southampton and they seal promotion to the first division as champions by beating QPR 2-0.

Bournemouth’s James Hayter enters the record books with the fastest hat trick in football league history against Wrexham inside two minutes and thirty seconds.

Rushden and Diamonds announce Ernie Tippet as the man to replace Brian Talbot who quit Nene Park last month and former Chelsea star Graham Rix is given the Oxford United managers job.

Sepp Blatter hit the back pages again by announcing plans to end all draws in league competitions and ensure that every game has a winner and a loser.

Celtic fans paid their respects to European Cup winning goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson who passed away aged 73 after a heart attack. Simpson was an integral part of the famous Lisbon Lions squad that became the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967.

In the SPL Motherwell came out of administration after two years while Livingston announced debts of £7 million. Partick Thistle were relegated from the SPL and Celtic officially won the SPL title with a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock. An injured ravaged Aberdeen side ended Celtic’s fabulous 77 match unbeaten home record with Bryan Prunty and David Zdrillic scoring in a memorable 2-1 win. Rangers agree to sign Livingston’s Marvin Andrews in a pre-contract agreement but Frank De Boer announced he would quit the Ibrox club in the summer and join his brother Ronald in Qatar.
Steve Morrison is given the responsibility of turning East Stirling around after becoming the first unpaid manager in Scottish professional history.

Nigel Quashie, Malky Mackay and Peter Canero receive call-ups to the Scotland squad for the international friendly with Denmark but the Scots lose 1-0 thanks to a header from Ebbe Sand.
Wales take their Euro 2004 appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport as Roy Keane announces his desire to resume his international career with the Republic of Ireland.

Conference football records record attendances and Chester City are declared Champions by a single point ahead of Hereford. In the conference Gary Hill leaves Dagenham and Redbridge after a 4-0 gubbing at home to Gravesend.

Cameroon are docked six world cup qualifying points for wearing their controversial one piece kit.
In international football Germany prepare for Euro 2004 with an embarrassing 5-1 thrashing by Romania.

Colin Illingworth
23/12/2004

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

A lot has been said and written about Jose Mourinho since his arrival at Chelsea. From the moment he first sat down and told the assorted media how wonderful he was, they have been hooked on him. The general opinion is that he is a fantastic manager who has come to save English football. Everything he has done has been applauded as the work of a man destined to be great. With his team crushing all before them, most recently thumping Norwich 4-0, they are running out of superlatives.

But wait a minute. Reality check please. Mourinho is in charge of a squad that has cost nearly £200 million to build. Didier Drogba cost SIX times as much as Norwich’s entire squad. With that sort of financial gulf between the two clubs, should we have expected anything other than a resounding Chelsea win?

Managers will tell you that the key to success is having good players. £200 million should get you good players, unless you buy like Leeds. So how much of Chelsea’s success is down to Mourinho?

Let’s consider the evidence, starting with Mourinho’s signings. This summer he spent £70 million on five players – Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Tiago, Mateja Kezman and Didier Drogba. Of those five, only Carvalho has so far produced consistently, and in the real world the jury would still be out on whether he was worth £20 million. Drogba has looked horrendously overpriced, although at a whopping £24 million, nothing less than 20 goals will make him seem good value.

The two other arrivals at Stamford Bridge this season have been rather more successful; in fact they have been two of Chelsea’s best players. Mourinho bought neither of them. Arjen Robben and Petr Cech may have arrived after his departure, but both of these transfers had already been arranged by Claudio Ranieri.

So if it isn’t his transfer dealings that have got the media singing his praises, what is it? It has been said that he is getting the most from his players; something Ranieri was not capable of. This may be true. But besides Cech and Robben, Chelsea’s best players this season have been John Terry, Frank Lampard and Damien Duff. While these three players have been superb, they have not played any better this season than they did last, when they were also superb. So who has played better? Makelele? Possibly. Gudjohnsen? It’s hard to say. But nobody springs to mind as having significantly raised their game.

Don’t get me wrong. Jose Mourinho is a very good manager; his success in Europe over the past two years with Porto proves this. While Porto are not exactly minnows on the European stage, they do suffer from the lack of money customary with life outside the big leagues. This makes Porto’s Champions League win under Mourinho all the more remarkable.

But is Mourinho as good a manager as he is made out to be? Is he any better than, say, David Moyes? Sam Allardyce? Alan Curbishley? I’m not sure he is. These three men have all got superb results with resources on a different planet to Chelsea, and could do better if given a chance at a top club. If you added together the total amount of money spent on players by all three during their managerial careers, I’d be surprised if it reached the £70 million Mourinho spent in one month, never mind the £185 million Chelsea have spent under Abramovich. And Everton are only six points behind Chelsea. So a bit of perspective please.

Stuart Reid
23/12/2004

1454: League 1: Christmas Review

by : James Prentice

While Luton Town have blazed a trail to the top of League 1, the unbiased observer has to be far more impressed with Hull City’s occupancy of second place at Christmas. Peter Taylor, the Tigers’ manager, has admittedly had his chairman’s wage bill at his mercy to sign players of the ilk of Nick Barmby (who was playing Premiership football only last season), but even with several excellent additions to his side, Taylor has had to find the right blend to take the club to where they are now from being the old division three’s runners-up last season. Adam Pearson, the Hull chairman, recently sent a stark warning to the upper echelons of the Football League, telling sportinglife.com that “if we do go up this season there will be further significant investment in the summer.” Hull’s home attendances have all been around the 20,000 mark; they have a huge away following and took more than 6,000 fans to Sheffield Wednesday (impressive even for a local derby), and it seems that the sky is now definitely the limit now that they have released plans to increase the capacity of their Kingston Communications stadium.

Despite a recent slump in form, Tranmere, under Brian Little, are a good bet for a play-off place and more recently, Bournemouth have sneaked into fourth place after a difficult start. In fifth place are Brentford, who have one of England’s brightest young managers in Martin Allen, a man who could well go on to become the next Iain Dowie. After saving the free fallers from relegation in 2003/04, Allen set about constructing a young team with a sprinkling of experienced pros like John Salako and despite not having the biggest bank balance nor support in League 1, the Bees are up their with the best and appear to be there to stay, at least for next few months.

Sheffield Wednesday have, like last season, regularly followed-up one pitiful performance with an outstanding one, such as their recent 4-0 win at Doncaster Rovers after a 2-1 home defeat by Brentford. But after making a disappointing start to 2004/05 in a similar fashion to Bristol City, they are one of a number of clubs that could make a charge for automatic promotion with a barnstorming finish to the campaign. This category also includes City, who are going strong after installing Brian Tinnion as their new manager; Walsall, whose form has picked up of late, and Hartlepool, who will be confident of a second play-off finish if their away form can complement their excellent home performances.

Down at the sharp end are Wrexham, whose recent decline into administration and subsequent deduction of ten points makes them a dead cert for relegation. Also doomed are bottom-placed Stockport, although Peterborough and MK Dons each have the playing squad to make a late surge to safety to open the trapdoor for Torquay, who have struggled after promotion, and possibly Blackpool. Doncaster should be good enough to stay out of the pending relegation dog-fight, although Colchester’s alarming dip after being on of the early front-runners could see the turbulence suck them in.

I predict that Hull will go up as champions and Luton will follow them in second place. Contesting the play-offs will be Hartlepool, Brentford, Tranmere and Sheffield Wednesday. Relegated to League 2 will be Stockport, Wrexham, MK Dons and Torquay.

James Prentice
23/12/2004

1465: Premiership: Spurs debate - op

by : Sean OMeara

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

Alasdair,

I apologise if the lack of direct reference to your article, in my own, offended you in any way. I assure you that the missing direct reference was certainly not intentional, more an oversight. However, I am sure that anyone that has read yours will recognise the implied response.

Firstly, I would like to clarify that my article was supposed to offer a very light hearted, slightly humorous (?, clearly not) slant on the classic Spurs fan ‘teams wins match, fans sight Europe’ stereotype and the alternatives available if you want to avoid the barrage of mocking when the team then loses the next three and draws the next two (it happens, often).

You may be aware of this stereotype? Maybe not.

I did not expect to provoke such a scathing attack on my very being, but I obviously touched a nerve.

As I read through the rather heavy handed response, to my very light hearted article, I begin to think that I must not have conveyed at all well, what I intended. In light of this response, I feel that I ought to present my view a little more clearly.

I have to say that I do support Spurs with a passion. However, the team have to earn my support and my passion. To be quite frank, in recent years, they have not even come close. I do not however, see supporting Spurs as a curse. They have not been very good – for a long time. Maybe you hadn’t noticed.

The analogy I was trying, seemingly unsuccessfully to make, was that the rollercoaster ride that is being a Spurs fan, has in the past, brought little in the way of actual excitement, as far as I can remember, and the excitement that does eventually arrive has been very short lived.

That is not to say that there is no excitement of course. I get as excited as the next person, when something exciting happens. But I do not get excited for getting excited’s sake.

Your Teacups fan, has grown a little tired of pinning his or her hopes on the next short lived thrill - only to be patronisingly patted on the back having told everyone and his dog how we’re going to rule the world - and is now waiting for the real thing

To me, being a supporter of a team, means hoping with every fibre of your being that they win. Then hoping twice as much that they win again. And again, and again. It does not mean running around telling the world how everything is going to change for the better, following a slight improvement in form. Been there, done that.

If they lose, you shrug and then begin hoping they’ll win next time.

For the most part, I get what I expect from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. I hope, very much that that is all changing, as we speak. I hope that you are right, and that what I expect from Spurs is not what I am about to get.

But, if it is all right with you, I shall wait and see, before I start shouting and whooping about it. That, does not make me grumpy, lonely (?), depressed (?), or a pessimist.

I simply felt your article was not a proportional response. I felt it was reinforcing the Spurs fan stereotype image, which Arsenal fans in particular, enjoy so very much. To quote you, I felt it conveyed a tad more than a ‘little optimism’.

I am sure that I am not the only supporter (of any club) that does not see each new season as a new dawn; with blind optimism that the club will reverse it’s fortunes and find success. What is blind optimism? It is optimism, in spite of the real facts laid out before you. Perhaps I should elaborate by saying that I find each new season awash with possibilities, which may or may not come to fruition. I hope desperately, for my team to be successful and for everything to click back into place, bringing the supporters the joy and excitement they deserve.

I view the situation realistically. I see the club for what it is and hope it will achieve more. I do not find supporting Spurs a depressing journey, more a frustrating one.

To suggest that any fan not prepared to start each season, in the mind set that things will definitely be different this time round, should just not bother, is ludicrous and border line insulting.

Being a fan, does not mean believing you are going to win, no matter what. It does not mean you cannot be objective and rational of thought. It does not mean you have to jump on the same ‘we’re going through another revolution’ bandwagon every time you string some semi decent form together.

You refer to my previous articles, suggesting I seem to hate being a Spurs fan. In my articles I try to be realistic, objective and discuss fact. They are not a means to vent my joy, or otherwise, at the good or bad fortunes of the team I happen to support.

I am a Spurs fan. I do not however, write as a Spurs fan. I try to be a little more impartial than that.

1449: Premiership: West Brom and the

by : Stephen Orford

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

There are few certainties in life. There are the old favourites like death and taxes, as well as some more recently discovered inevitabilities like the sacking of Southampton managers, the inclusion of undignified and dull managerial 'mind games' before every big Premiership clash, and that the yuletide announcement of a 'new dawn' for Tottenham Hostpur will be swiftly followed by rants of derision from their long suffering fans by the middle of March. Added to this list is the absolute certainty that the team which finds itself bottom of the Premiership on Christmas Day will be relegated from the top flight.

In this the twelfth season of Premiership football, the team occupying bottom spot on December 25 has never managed to escape the drop, so what reason is there to believe that season 2004/05 will be any different? Not much, as it happens This festive period, that dubious honour goes to West Bromwich Albion. Recently installed manager Bryan Robson has failed to win any of his first six matches in charge at the Hawthorns, and is already blaming the predicament on the players at his disposal.

"There is no getting away from the fact that some of the players aren't good enough." said the former Manchester United and England captain recently. He went on; "There were similar results involving these players before I arrived." He has a point, but the fact remains that just one point from Robson's first six games in charge is a dire record. Were he still in situ at the Hawthorns, Gary Megson might just be feeling the pinch from the chairman after such a run, regardless of the number of sub-standard players who might be hanging around.

Despite all of this, the current Baggies squad is one which Robson has inherited. He will need to act fast in the January transfer window to arrest the alarming slide which, though the squad was permanently at bus-brawling loggerheads under Megson, has reached new levels of desperation under Robson. He has started this process this very day (December 22), with the signing of 31 year-old Argentine international Matias Almeyda from Italian outfit Brescia. Quite how Robson got this one past the vagaries of the transfer window regulations is another issue, but the former Parma, Lazio and Inter man, capped 36 times by his country will add some much needed steel to either the West Brom back-line or the centre of midfield.

West Bromwich Albion are not only three points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership as they devour the turkey and scoff the mince pies, they also have the worst goal difference in the division by a significant margin at -21. In the final analysis, this could be worth an extra point to their relegation rivals as the race to beat the drop gets tighter and tighter seemingly by the season. It may even help save Norwich City. Perhaps not.

It does not help that Albion have kept only one clean sheet all season, and have conceded more goals than any other Premiership outfit so far this term, a scary 36. In addition, their return of 15 goals at the other end is equally abysmal. Their top scorer is Robert Earnshaw who has troubled the scorers only five times, while the wonderfully named Zoltan Gera is next on the list with three. Nwankwo Kanu, brought in from Arsene Wenger's impressive collection of Highbury re-inforcements has registered just twice, and the less said about his awful but now infamous last-gasp miss against Middlesbrough recently the better. Not to mention his first name.

Don't expect it to get much better at Christmas either. West Brom face Liverpool in their next Premiership encounter on Boxing Day. Having already been ritually demolished 3-0 at Anfield earlier in the season they will harldy start favourites to pull off a result against Rafa's reds. Liverpool may blow a bit hot and cold at the moment, but they have enough heat to see Robson's winless start to the season stretch to seven games. Following that, the Baggies visit Manchester two days later to take on a City side that is at best unpredictable. That game could offer some hope to the fans of the Midlands outfit, but if the likes of Wright-Phillips, Anelka and the cigar-wielding Joey Barton are on top form it could turn sour again for Robson's troops. Crucially, they then visit stuttering Bolton in a must-win encounter (aren't they all?) on New Year's Day before entertaining another unpredictable rabble in the shape of Newcastle United on January 3. These four fixtures will be vital if the team are to halt the ghosts of Christmas past, and survive having been bottom of the Premiership on Christmas Day.

West Brom's latest defeat, a woeful 4-0 capitulation against the hardly prolific Birmingham City on Saturday (December 18) showed just how urgent the need for an upturn in fortunes is. Rampant with rage, Robson offered the following pearl of wisdom in the wake of the defeat; "I had to say something to these players after the Birmingham defeat. They got the message." He always was a tough so and so.

Baggies fans will be hoping, praying even, that their new manager is right and that his players can now pull off a miracle and stave off the seemingly inevitable. Mind, if they don't it won't be your fault, eh Bryan?

Stephen Orford
22/12/2004

1452: Championship: 2004 – A disastr

by : David Hulott

If nothing else, 2004 has certainly been an eventful year for supporters of Leeds United. The past 12 months has seen the club regularly in the headlines for one reason or another, although invariably the news has tended to be of the bad variety.

The year began with the club in debt to the tune of £104 million with the threat of administration looming large, with the then chief executive and acting chairman Trevor Birch working frantically to secure a buyer before the deadline imposed by the club’s major creditors. In the end a consortium led by Gerald Krasner saved the day, but while they deserve credit for having managed to cut the debts by around £80 million, it has come at a significant cost to the club in other ways.

On the pitch, 2004 kicked off with five consecutive Premiership defeats and a 4:1 FA Cup mauling at home to Arsenal. Relegation had long looked inevitable and once confirmed a mass exodus of players was always on the cards to account for a drop of around £25 million in TV revenue. As has happened all too frequently at Elland Road in recent times, promises from the board came to nothing. David Richmond, who was then managing director at the club, had promised that not all of the remaining crown jewels – Alan Smith, Mark Viduka, Paul Robinson and James Milner – would be sold. Richmond was later to resign, although there is now speculation that he is still receiving £17,000 per month from the club in consultancy payments…marvellous!

Demotion to the Coca-Cola Championship also led to the departure of Eddie Gray, with Kevin Blackwell being promoted to the top job. He’s had a fairly thankless task in trying to rebuild a team almost from scratch, although he has at least been given some money for the occasional foray into the transfer market. As things stand, there looks to be greater danger of consecutive relegations than an immediate return to the Premiership and Blackwell’s position could start to come under threat if the team struggle over the busy festive period.

The year has also seen enough takeover stories to allow the fans to retain some hope for the future, with Sebastien Sainsbury and Norman Stubbs both currently in negotiations. In truth, the current board look to have come to the end of the road in terms of their usefulness, having already disposed of both Elland Road and the Thorp Arch training ground on sale and lease-back deals in a bid to pay money owed to various parties.

Should Krasner (who I always think looks and sounds as if he should have appeared in pre-war Will Hay movies) still be chairman in a couple of months time, it will probably mean that 2005 will be an even more difficult year than the current one. Still, at least it’s never dull being a Leeds fan.

David Hulott
22/12/2004

1453: Premiership: Spurs fans - What

by : Adam Graham

This article has been removed at the writer's request.

1451: Premiership: Morientes and the

by : Stephen Orford

Cast your minds back to August, and the tortuous transfer saga of Wayne Rooney. As it became clear that Everton, a club then in financial crisis, were going to have to sell their star man, Manchester United emerged as the strong favourites to secure his services.

The Old Trafford club got their man for anything between 25 and 29 million pounds depending on which newspaper you read. However, they did so only after a late and rather rude intervention from Newcastle United who, it was thought, had made a 25 million pound bid of their own. The man behind this bid, or at least the story attached to it, was Toon chairman Freddy Shepherd. Despite the protests from half of his playing staff, not least of all the increasingly outspoken Craig Bellamy, Shepherd continued to chase the dream of filling his squad with 'star' names aimed at putting Geordie bums on seats, often to the detriment of the team's results.

Now, four months later, and with Liverpool seemingly on the verge of a deal for Fernando Morientes of Real Madrid, it seems like Shepherd, or someone at Newcastle is up to old tricks. The Tyneside club have reportedly entered the race for the Spaniard's signature, the upshot of which could be a bidding war similar to the one which helped Everton raise a few extra pennies on Rooney. Upon hearing this, Bellamy will be incandescent with rage, as Morientes would join not only Bellamy himself, but Alan Shearer, Patrick Kluivert and Shola Ameobi among the Newcastle United strike force. And he has only just seen off Lomana Lua Lua after all!

At the time of the alleged Rooney bid, Shepherd had been undermining then boss Sir Bobby Robson for some time. He even went as far as to announce to the press that this season would be Sir Bobby's last in charge at St.James' Park. After Robson's subsequent and inevitable sacking, the surprise choice to replace him in the role was Graeme Souness of Blackburn Rovers. Could it be that this 'surprise' was aimed at keeping the status quo, that of allowing Shepherd to ride roughshod over a yes-man with the title of football manager? Souness is a winner, and so may not be that kind of man. However, the kudos of being appointed at Newcastle together with a healthy pay packet at a time when his managerial stock was lowering at Ewood Park may have been tempting indeed. Is the Morientes interest yet more evidence of Souness following in Robson's footsteps in allowing Shepherd to pursue his kamikaze, all-out attack fantasy football? Or is their a more sinister motive?

When Newcastle entered the 'race' for Rooney, some offered the theory that it was merely a token gesture, aimed at assisting Everton in their quest to raise a little more cash. The suggestion was that Newcastle were prepared to do this in anticipation of some sordid favour in return from the Goodison club. So, could it be that Newcastle are this time trying to curry favour with Real Madrid, by hiking up the fee from Liverpool for Morientes? What could Real Madrid have that Newcastle could possibly want, or afford? Well, in hindsight it was a bit of a mistake to sell Jonathan Woodgate to the Bernabeu, and he has yet to make his debut through injury. Besides which, the Spanish giants don't seem to trust the fitness of the England defender too much. No, surely I am just gossip mongering.

All of which leaves Liverpool with two choices. They can either up their bid for the striker in anticipation of the very possibly Phantom Menace of an offer from Newcastle, or they can turn their attentions elsewhere. Manchester City striker Nicolas Anelka, who previously had a spell on loan at Anfield under Gerard Houllier, has been linked. Sulky Anelka is always harping on about moving on to a 'bigger club' and with due apologies to City fans Liverpool could be that club. One got the feeling that the Frenchman's exit from Merseyside owed much to Houllier's infuriating penchant for the dull, and the former Arsenal star could be a different proposition under the progressive Rafa Benitez.

Morientes has spoken out in favour of a move to Liverpool. However, if his club have their way, we may yet seem him turn out at right-back at St.James' Park in the new year. What next, Shay Given to be replaced in goal by Ronaldo?

Stephen Orford
22/12/2004

1444: Premiership: Tottenham fans -

by : Sean OMeara

There seem to be two distinct types of Spurs fan. Those that think they are riding the Big Dipper, always expecting the next slow laborious climb to bring that great big thrill they’ve been waiting for, and those that think they are riding the Teacups and are glad to just keep moving and not break down.

You see I’ve ridden on the Big Dipper, and it’s all very exciting – well some of the time. You climb for a while, the anticipation of something amazing being just around the corner (or over the summit) and the you have a rush of excitement for possibly three to four seconds, desperately hoping the wheels don’t fall off, or that the guy operating the ride doesn’t take his eye off the ball for a second and forget to brake for a corner, as you plunge through the air, with the wind rushing through your hair.

But most of the ride is flat, the climb to the exciting bit seems to take an eternity in comparison to the good bit, and the rush, as thrilling as it is, last nothing like long enough, and just never seems worth all the rubbish bit that goes before it.

Now, on the Teacups, we just go round and round. Nothing changes, everything stays the same, and we just see the same scenery go by, over and over and over again. It is so mind numbingly tedious that you wonder at times just why you bothered getting on in the first place, especially when you had to part with hard earned cash to get on.
But then, there is no fear of the wheels falling off, you don’t really even need an operator, because he just stands around pressing the on/off button, and you’re never really disappointed, because you get just what you expected and nobody ever over-hypes the Teacup ride.

True, the Big Dipper riders do have more fun, but then, they also suffer more disappointment – while no-one has ever thrown up on the Teacups, no-one has ever chipped a tooth either.

Strangely, the Big Dipper riders also seem to suffer from selective amnesia. They see four straight wins as the start of an offensive on the upper tier of the Premiership. They elect to ignore the six straight defeats that went before. They pin so much hope on such little signs of success that the intense pressure from the fans, is felt all the way to the board room. They are then so disappointed when the illusion is shattered by another distinctly ordinary performance that they disappear into a dark corner to sulk, waiting for the next glimmer of hope to glint in the windows of White Hart Lane.

Now your Teacup riders, sit tight on the Teacups, looking up at the Big Dipper, thinking how much more fun it looks, but at the same time, thinking it can’t be as good as everyone makes it out to be. The Teacup riders aspire to be on the Waltzer.

Ah, the security of the same consistent round and round motion, offered by the Teacups, but with a little extra speed, and the operator wandering among the cars spinning them faster the more you scream. You know what to expect, things just get that bit more exciting, and yet you remain in control.

The trouble is, the wheels are more likely to come off of the Waltzer, and then they’ll wish they’d stayed on the Teacups. But is it a risk worth taking?

But, it doesn’t matter anyway, as they don’t let Spurs fans on the Waltzer. There are not enough aspiring Tottenham wannabe Waltzer riders, you see. They’re all on the Big Dipper, hoping the next ride will be that bit longer than the last, or on the Teacups, wishing the Big Dipper riders would join them on something a little more exciting.

It’ll take a lot more than four straight wins, against Middlesbrough, Man City and (very) struggling Southampton and Blackburn sides, to tempt me from the comfort and security of my Teacup, and even then, you’ll never catch me getting back on that damn Big Dipper. It’s a road to nowhere, that only ever ends in tears (and sometimes vomit).

I’ll gladly swap my Teacup ride for a spin on the Waltzer, but I’ll keep my Teacup repeat rider ticket in my wallet, just in case. I’m not getting on unless someone checks all the wheel nuts and gives the operator a breath test and gets him to walk in a straight line.

Even my Arsenal ‘friends’ don’t mock me or my team anymore, because they’ve tired of it and to be honest, we don’t pose the remotest imitation of a threat and haven’t done for many, many years. We would all be a lot better to see in this new dawn (if that is indeed what it transpire to be) very, very quietly. That way, if we’re all wrong, nobody will be any the wiser, and we can all just go about our business.

You see, I’ve learned how to avoid the mocking and fun poking, endured by so many Spurs fans. Keep quiet.

Four wins on the bounce and there’s talk of going into orbit. Nothing like keeping your feet on the ground.

Sean O’Meara
22/12/2004

1439: Premiership: West Bromwich Alb

by : Hugh Larkin

The 2004-5 season is going even more badly than West Bromwich Albion’s last crack at the Premiership two seasons ago. That first campaign ended in relegation but by Christmas Baggies’ fans at least had four victories to cheer; even if the team win their two matches before December 31st they can’t match that total or the 17 points which the club posted by the end of 2002.

In 2002-3 Albion managed to avoid the dreaded bottom place at Christmas but the dismal defeat at St Andrews removed the slim possibility of that. In that first tilt at the Premiership the fans at least enjoyed the novelty of the experience and were realistic about the prospects for Gary Megson’s over-achievers - on this attempt though, a gloom settled on the club right from the outset and replacing the manager has done little to lift morale.

Bryan Robson has only seen his new charges take a single point from six matches but the club reached a nadir in the 4-0 defeat by neighbours Birmingham. Confidence can’t have been high when the management dropped leading scorer Robert Earnshaw to the bench and put out a timid 4-5-1 formation against the team with the least potent attack in the Premiership. The Blues duly took the invitation to take the offensive and the Albion game plan was in shreds only 20 minutes into the contest.

There seems little to be gained from shutting up shop in future. Albion’s defences were easily dismantled by Birmingham and any number of draws won’t pull the club clear of the relegation places. In Gera, Earnshaw and Koumas the team have some talented, Premiership-quality attacking talent to exploit and it makes sense to allow these players full rein. Jason Koumas has hardly figured this season while Robert Earnshaw has shown his flair for poaching goals since a sticky start at the Hawthorns. Zoltan Gera has been the bright spot of the season so far but against Blues he was only pushed into a more forward role when the team were 3-0 down.

There is just a glimmer of hope for the fans. Liverpool arrive on Boxing Day but after that there are a run of eight fixtures against teams outside the current top seven including Palace, Norwich and Southampton in succession before Albion visit Chelsea in late February. Undoubtedly these eight games will decide the club’s fate and after Boxing Day a bolder approach must be the way forward.

Bryan Robson’s reputation was made as warrior on the field of play and it’s been painful to see him appear in the shellshocked mode that characterised his later years at Middlesbrough. His comments on the Birmingham defeat indicated his dismay that his players could subside so timidly in a derby game. Now he has to instill aggression into the team during the coming critical period, throw aside the excessive caution that produced the insipid display at St Andrews, and at least go down fighting if Albion do fall into the Championship again.

Hugh Larkin
20/12/2004

1436: Premiership: Adrian Mutu shoul

by : Dan Wilson

Adrian Mutu has recently been shamed for taking recreational drugs in his private life. The punishment he received was a 7-month suspension from playing football anywhere in the world, a fine of £20,000 and the cancellation of his contract with Chelsea Football Club. Is all of this really necessary?

Mutu did not take any performance enhancing drugs. If anything, the drugs he did take would probably have a negative effect on his performance. The drug in question, cocaine, was taken in Mutu’s private life, away from the football club. He admitted that he had taken the drug but also admitted that he never let it get in the way of his job and that he never let it affect his performances. Should his employers punish an illegal activity that happened in his private life? Take the following example; three footballers from the same Premiership Club are out one night, an Asian youth is attacked and they all end up in court. Their employers did not fine, suspend or dismiss any of them. This case had police involved and literally all Britain’s press on their backs. The outcome, one player gets community service and the other two get let off. Their employers allow them to return to football. Does this mean that using recreational drugs in your private life is worse than attacking and causing harm to another person?

The current F.A rules state that ‘players who test positive for recreational drugs can avoid a ban if they agree to take part in rehabilitation and that they admit the offence’. Adrian Mutu did admit to taking cocaine and had signed up for rehabilitation at a local clinic before the allegations even came to light. So why was he fined and suspended for 7 months? He followed the rules set by the highest football authority in England but still ended up with a fine and a ban.

In recent years there has been numerous allegations of drug use in football. Only just a few months ago Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that footballers he has purchased from clubs abroad usually have, “a higher red blood cell count”. This is usually linked to performance enhancing drugs such as nandrolone and THG (tetrohydrogestinone). The punishment for the players who have knowingly or unwittingly taken performance-enhancing drugs is the equivalent to a slap on the wrist compared to players who have taken recreational drugs. A recent study has shown that the average suspension for using recreational drugs is 7 months, exactly what Mutu got. Compare this to players who have taken performance-enhancing drugs, the average suspension for this offence is only 3 months! Where’s the fairness in that?

Jaap Stam, Edgar Davids, Frank de Boer and Fernando Couto all tested positive for nandrolone. Stam received a fine of £64,000 and a 3-month suspension. Davids, Couto and de Boer all received 4-month suspensions and fines varying from £25,000 to £35,000. Couto was originally banned for 10-months but after he appealed it was reduced to a measly 4-months. Mutu on the other hand takes a recreational drug in his private life away from the football club and gets dismissed from his football club, fined and suspended for 7 months. Another example of a player getting suspended for taking recreational drugs was Claudio Cannigia who played for AS Roma in 1993. A drugs test for cocaine was confirmed as positive and he was later suspended for 13-months

These players who resort to drugs clearly need help. But maybe it’s the clubs who bring about the problems that lead to players resorting to drugs. They are bought by a club for millions, paid thousands a week and then told that they are a role model. Being young and rich will place being a role model to the back of a players mind. And how is a player taught to be a perfect role model to kids? There is no one there to help them and guide them or say, “don’t do that, do this” or “advertise this but not that”. Lack of guidance is the downfall of most young players.

Adrian Mutu is more a victim of his own weaknesses than he is guilty of cheating. He has protested that he never used cocaine to interfere and enhance his performances. Mutu is one of many footballers (and certainly wont be the last) who have used recreational drugs in their private lives and have been punished more severely than those cheats who have actually tried to deceive and take advantage of the beautiful game.

Dan Wilson
15/12/2004

1438: Non League: Old Trafford old b

by : David Hulott

While Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Steve McClaren and Bryan Robson are all in the managerial spotlight at Premiership clubs (although it already appears that Robson’s stint at West Bromwich Albion may come to a swift end), having the name Manchester United on your CV certainly doesn’t guarantee a top coaching job. A case in point is Paul Parker, with the former England defender having recently been sacked as manager of Nationwide Conference South side Welling United.

Although Parker had an excellent playing career with Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United (we’ll gloss over a not so memorable time at Derby County, Sheffield United, Chelsea and Farnborough towards the end of his playing days), he will probably always be predominantly remembered for deflecting Andreas Brehme’s free-kick over Peter Shilton in the 1990 World Cup semi-final.

Parker came to Welling after beginning his managerial career at Chelmsford City before moving to the Kent club 18-months ago. Although he secured promotion for the club last season, that was largely due to a restructuring of the league pyramid that saw half the division go up and it would have been a major disappointment had they not done so. Indeed, despite making wholesale changes to the squad during his time at the helm, it has to be said that the team certainly looks no better now than that which he inherited.

Parker’s fate as Welling boss was sealed after a 3:0 defeat at home to Eastbourne Borough, an all too frequent loss at Park View Road that has kept the Wings deep in relegation trouble since the start of the season. In truth, his dismissal was far from a surprise, as six points from a possible 33 on home turf was never going to keep the fans happy and the writing had been on the wall for some time.

Given his qualities as a defender, it’s perhaps surprising that the Wings’ defensive record this term has been so poor, with 44 goals conceded in Parker’s 19 games in charge. On leaving the club, he was quick to suggest that the players themselves had played a large part in his downfall, stating that, “they were not prepared mentally or physically for the Eastbourne Borough game and some of the players’ performances put my name up on the wall in big letters”.

Former Coventry City defender Liam Daish has been promoted from Parker’s assistant to caretaker manager and has started well with four points from his first two games in charge. Those currently in the frame to take the job on a permanent basis include Margate manager Chris Kinnear (who play Welling home and away over the festive period), Chatham’s Clive Walker, former Crystal Palace boss Steve Kember and Daish himself.

As for Parker, it seems he may look to develop his media career, having become an increasingly familiar voice on the radio whenever someone is required to state the bleeding obvious, especially concerning anything related to Manchester United. That may be a shrewd move, as it’s difficult to envisage many job offers coming his way on the coaching front anytime soon.

David Hulott
21/12/2004

1440: Premiership: Arsenal - Edu out

by : Matthew Wilson

One thing looks increasingly certain. Edu will leave Arsenal. Whether it happens in January or in the Summer now seems to be a moot point. From a certain point of view the sooner it happens, the better. What you do not need is a bad influence in the dressing room, someone whose mind is elsewhere. The way Vieira is playing at the moment, his mind cannot be to close to the vicinity of any pitch Arsenal are on.

Edu's departure will be a kick in the chops to Wenger. It is a few years now since a player that was still actually part of Wenger’s plans has voiced a desire to leave the club. Edu will be missed, but you wonder if some of this is jealousy and insecurity on his part following the rise and subsequent adulation of Cesc Fabregas.

It has become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Arsenal need a fresh injection of talent into the squad. This does not mean simply elevating some of the youth team but signing a couple of proven internationals who can enhance and bolster the squad. Anyone coming in must also be eligible for this season's Champions League.

So what positions do Arsenal need to fill?

Thierry Henry needs back up. What was clear against Portsmouth is that he was being asked to do too much, too often. He is willing to carry the load, and credit to him for that, but he should not have to. Arsenal need another striker in the Henry mould and there is only one proven player who is eligible and, potentially, available. This is, of course, Nicolas Anelka.

Many Arsenal fans would baulk at the prospect of Anelka returning to Highbury. There are however, substantial reasons why they should think again. Anelka scores goals. For Manchester City. He would score more for Arsenal. Anelka is a better, more hard working player than he was during his immature first period at Highbury. Anelka has recently voiced his concerns at not playing on a bigger stage. Anelka needs a club like Arsenal, and perversely Arsenal need a player like Anelka. Wenger always got the best out of him, and Henry and Pires are two of his closest friends. It was, after all, Anelka that persuaded Bobby to grow that little beard. That aside, the move would work on many levels.

If the Arsenal faithful are unsure and wary of Anelka, most of them will not be once he scores his first goal again. If he were to score the goals that went some way to winning the Champions League all would very quickly be forgotten.

Wenger should take a chance.

Whether or not Arsenal need to directly replace Edu depends largely on how long Gilberto Silva will be missing. Gilberto, Vieira, Flamini, and Cesc. That seems a fairly good blend, especially as Flamini seems to be some form of genetic experiment between Gilles Grimandi and Ray Parlour.

Arsenal need another quality centre back. Who they will try to get is pure guesswork. Wenger himself probably doesn't even know.

What they do need is a special talent in the short term. Aside from anything else, Nicolas Anelka is certainly that.

Matthew Wilson
21/12/2004

1442: Home Nations Review 2004: Sanc

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Out of the game since being sacked by Wycombe Wanderers, Lawrie Sanchez was a surprise choice as manager of Northern Ireland after Sammy McIlroy’s departure and one that was greeted with scepticism in some quarters with the former Wimbledon player being seen as the cheap option for the country’s cash-strapped footballing body.

Sanchez though made an immediate impact. Despite a 4-1 defeat to Norway in his first game in charge back in February, David Healy broke Northern Ireland’s long running scoring drought to the delight of the Windsor Park faithful.

Healy went on to break the countries all-time scoring record and remains a potent threat at international level.

A run of six unbeaten friendlies (three wins and three draws) secured the backing of the majority for Sanchez and built up a groundswell of optimism for the World Cup qualifiers.

That was deflated in the first half of the opening match at home to Poland when defensive errors gifted the visitors’ two goals en route to a 3-0 win.

Sanchez remained upbeat though and was rewarded with a sterling performance four days later in Cardiff. His side went two goals up and were denied a clear penalty. They were then reduced to nine men but held on for a valiant draw.

A goalless draw in Azerbaijan was followed by another stirring performance in the 3-3 draw with Austria and Sanchez can be proud of his team’s place above the much-hyped Welsh team in the group table.

More than any of the other home nations, Northern Ireland are limited in their resources and Sanchez has had to do without some talented and influential players who have either retired from international football or made themselves unavailable for selection.

Michael Hughes of Crystal Palace is set to be the next player to retire although Sanchez has said he wants the 33-year-old to stay on.

What the manager does seem to have done is create a good team spirit and an attitude among his side that they can go out and win games rather than trying to avoid defeat and entering games expecting to lose.

With two qualification games against England still to come plus prestige friendlies against Germany and Portugal lined up as part of the IFA’s 125th anniversary celebrations, 2005 could prove to be the most enjoyable and profitable in the country’s football history since the glory days of the 1980’s.

Alex Wolstenholme
20/12/2004

1435: Premiership: Thank you for sav

by : Adam Graham

---

Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

This article has been removed at the writer's request.

1441: Home Nations Review 2004: Thin

by : Alex Wolstenholme

The final blow to Scotland’s footballing pride in 2004 came with the news that they would finish the year with a FIFA World Ranking of 86th, a fall of 32 places over the last twelve months.

The appointment of Walter Smith has at least provided for some guarded optimism about the future of the national team after a disastrous sequence of results finally eroded any sympathy for Bertie Vogts.

Scotland entered the year with some cautious optimism believe it or not after reaching the play-offs for Euro 2004 and earning that memorable 1-0 win over Holland at Hampden Park.

The return game was lost 6-0 but Scotland had caught Holland on top form and the performances of James McFadden and Darren Fletcher were reasons for optimism.

Sadly though the pattern was set in the first game of the year when Robert Earnshaw scored a hat-trick to give Wales a 4-0 friendly win in Cardiff.

Further friendly defeats followed to Romania and Denmark before two much needed wins over Estonia and Trinidad & Tobago.

A 3-0 home defeat by Hungary at the start of the season seemed to confirm the main criticism that Vogts had changed his side too much, played players out of position and was unsure of his best formation.

Outright revolt was put off, pending the start of the World Cup qualifiers and if ever the coach needed a good start it was in the first competitive match of the year, at home to Slovenia

Unfortunately for Vogts, Scotland drew 0-0 and then suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Norway a month later before drawing 1-1 in Moldova.

Two points from three games had all but killed off dreams of a return to Germany for the World Cup for Vogts but he refused to resign immediately and left the SFA weighing up the cost of sacking the man they had placed their faith in.

Vogts eventually went in November, blaming some of the abuse he had received but even the SFA, masters at making England’s Football Association look like a competent, go-ahead organisation had looked set to get rid of him if hadn’t walked.

Tommy Burns took charge for a 4-1 home defeat by Sweden that showed how much work the new manager had to do.

Walter Smith accepted the post to the general agreement of the Scottish footballing public. Although Gordon Strachan may perhaps have generated more enthusiasm for the national team what Scotland need more than anything is a steady hand on the tiller and someone who can unite the fans and the media behind the team.

The vastly experienced and well-respected Smith was undoubtedly the best available man to do just that.

After some barren years when the well of Scottish talent all but dried up, SPL teams are now blooding home-grown youngsters, partly due, it must be said for financial reasons.

The revival of some of the country’s biggest names, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian had led to a Premier League that has been more interesting this season (albeit with Celtic and Rangers still well clear) and should increase the options open to Smith.

Above all else though the former Rangers and Everton boss should be able to provide the one thing that Scottish fans took for granted until this year, pride and passion in the blue shirt.

2005 can only get better!

Alex Wolstenholme
20/12/2004

1437: Premiership: Benitez suffered

by : Sean OMeara

I am glad that Taval is confident of a Liverpool return to the top of English football, at the hands of Benitez. I for one, would like to see them there.

However, there are a couple of things I would like to clear up.

Liverpool do not belong at the top. No-one belongs at the top. You have to earn a position at the top. You have to win games and earn points. It is the widely held view by club supporters that they ‘belong at the top’, which undermines the coherent and level headed management of expectations of which I spoke.

If Liverpool had played a full strength side against the Toffees, Benitez clearly felt that some of those players would have struggled with stamina. I do not know how fit the Liverpool players were. Taval does not know how fit they were. The best judge of this would surely be Benitez. He took the decision to rest players that he felt needed resting. If he had stuck with the same team , the only thing the Kop would have had an indication of, was how tired some of their players were and how inadequate the squad was, to have fielded players that could not compete, in what will no doubt be one of the two most competitive matches Liverpool will play this season.

As it was, the inadequacies of the squad members were instead underlined. Why would the Kop prefer to see a 4-1 drubbing of their first and best eleven, through tiredness, only to then have to rest those key players for their next game?

If Benitez felt players were not up ninety minutes of, what was to be a very physically draining encountering, then he was right to leave them out. If he felt that the European fixture had taken a lot out of players, then he was right to leave them out. If Liverpool cannot bring in players that will perform any better than ‘below mediocre’, in a game of such importance to it’s fan base, then they have a squad issue.

The squad depth at Liverpool is lacking, if they have players that you would not want them to play in a Merseyside derby. These squad players have undermined Liverpool’s attempts at top flight success season after season under Houllier, and they are no different now. Being good on paper, is just not good enough.

A manager cannot be a muppet one week and yet be backed to the tilt the next. He is the man making the decisions and they are informed decisions. If he has not inherited the necessary tools to do the job, then he cannot be blamed.

It is true that the Reds do give their managers time. For this the fans should be grateful and the club applauded. However, these fans should also give him time and not judge his abilities so starkly from one week to the next.

At the end of the day, he picks the team, from the players ‘available’. If they do not perform on the day, when they were good enough on paper, then that is hardly his fault.

Assuming your team belongs anywhere but where they are, is a road to nowhere and simply manifests feelings of frustration, culminating in a weekly barrage of often undue criticism, at the easiest available target – normally the referee or the manager.

The buck normally stops with the players. Failings on the pitch are more often down to players’ failure to carry out a coach’s instructions correctly; fundamental individual errors; or just a plain unwillingness to try.

I’ll bet Benitez was just as frustrated as the fans after the Everton encounter, if not more. Frustrated that he could not successfully implement the approach he had intended, with the players at his disposal, in the knowledge that he would likely be held responsible.

As I said - what a job a manager has.

Sean O’Meara
21/12/2004

1443: Home Nations Review 2004: A ba

by : Alex Wolstenholme

After the anti-climax that was Wales’s performance in the Euro 2004 play-off against Russia and the doomed bid to overturn the result on account of a failed drugs test by one of the Russian players, 2004 actually got off to a bright start for the national team.

A thumping win over Scotland in the first friendly of the year was followed by solid performances away to Hungary, Norway and Latvia and a home win over Canada.

Expectations were high for the World Cup qualifiers with Wales paired with England but a sluggish start against Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland yielded only two points and convinced Mark Hughes that he had gone as far as he could with the side.

Hughes remained in charge for the next two qualifiers despite becoming Blackburn boss but oversaw a very disappointing Welsh side lose 2-0 to England and 3-2 at home to Poland.

The successes that Hughes had in the World Cup qualifiers were based on a very definite system and once players like Simon Davies were ruled out, Hughes seemed unsure how to change things to get the best out of the likes of Robert Earnshaw who was all too often used as a substitute late in the game.

With Hughes gone, the Welsh FA turned to John Toshack to lead them into what they hope will be a bright future.

Opposition to Toshack’s appointment came mostly from within the Welsh camp with some players unhappy about his forthright criticisms of the team when working for the media but after 25 years as a coach and spells with some of the Europe’s biggest clubs behind him, Toshack possesses impeccable qualifications.

With a number of players retiring from the national side and stars such as Ryan Giggs and John Hartson getting older, Toshack’s resources are thin and although he looks to be taking over a better side than Walter Smith on paper, the new Scotland boss has the benefit of a much higher quality domestic league to get players from.

Toshack is aiming towards Euro 2008 and the World Cup of 2010 and will look to build a team that is well organised with players who are in no doubt as to their role in that team. Some of the criticism’s he made about his predecessor such as the playing of players out of position are unlikely to be repeated.

Given that, it may be to Toshack’s advantage that some of the bigger name players have left the scene. The manager is not someone to mess with and the potential for collision with the likes of Robbie Savage is clear to see.

A younger squad of players who perhaps are not first choice at their clubs and are hungry to impress may be the best bet Wales have of improving on the missed chances of recent years.

Alex Wolstenholme
20/12/2004

1428: League 2: Christmas Review

by : James Prentice

In the summer I went to Glanford Park to see a pre-season match and the following day I told a friend - the supporter of another League 2 club – that I was confident that Scunthorpe United wouldn’t do a great deal in the forthcoming season. With old-timers such as Peter Beagrie and Ian Baraclough, I just couldn’t see a lot happening.

But alas, my prediction was awry and Scunthorpe now bear a seemingly unassailable seven-point lead going into Christmas. At the weekend they chalked up their latest victory, 3-1 at Rushden & Diamonds, and the Iron have won their last eight games while they have only been beaten three times since August – a far cry from last season’s miserable showing. Earlier this month they became even more the envy of the division when they beat the beleaguered Wrexham to land a dream FA Cup game at Chelsea, currently one of the best sides is Europe. At least I can draw solace from the notion that I wasn’t the only one who got it wrong – in pre-season Ladbrokes, the bookmakers, said that Scunthorpe would be the lowest-placed of the four Lincolnshire sides…but oh how wrong we all got it.

The promotion contenders include Yeovil, who play such excellent, flowing football and always seem to get the results they want while Southend, like Scunthorpe, are one of the surprise packages of the season. The Shrimpers played some good football last season without managing excellent results but are now scoring the necessary goals; Saturday’s 1-0 win against Chester didn’t make excellent viewing but is exemplary of the kind of result that teams have to muster from nothing if they are going to be in promotion contention. Also at the top are Swansea, Wycombe and Northampton, who despite occasionally patchy form are riding high in fifth place under Colin Calderwood’s stewardship.

The division’s mid-table is currently clogged, with only 6 points separating Macclesfield and Grimsby, who are ten places apart. Those positions include several sides, such as Leyton Orient, Cheltenham, Rochdale and Lincoln City, that are good enough to make promotion challenges but have flattered to deceive on more than a number of occasions this season. Lincoln in particular have an excellent squad of players but, through a combination of inconsistency and inflexible tactics, are loitering in twelfth place; however, as 2005 arrives, the middle of the table will become less congested as the also-rans either turn their form around or continue their mediocrity.

Five sides – Notts County, Rushden, Shewsbury, Cambridge and Kidderminster - occupy the bottom positions and it seems inevitable that the latter are heading for Conference football next season. County and Rushden seemed to be destined for better things but the former, under the new manager Ian Richardson, will most likely steer away from relegation.

I predict that Scunthorpe, Yeovil and Northampton will win promotion automatically, while Wycombe, Swansea, Lincoln and Cheltenham will contest the play-offs, with Southend missing out narrowly. Kidderminster will be relegated to the Conference in bottom place, while Shrewsbury will follow them. They will be replaced by Barnet, who will win the Conference, with Carlisle being promoted back to League Two via the play-offs.

James Prentice
19/12/2004

1432: Premiership: Benitez - the tru

by : Keval Tanna

Let me clear this up before the issue gets warped out of the bounds of reality. My article titled ‘Benitez - Master to Muppet in four days’, written in the aftermath of Liverpool’s defeat to Everton, was neither a rash, knee-jerk response, nor a subjective criticism of the manager. It was merely an attempt at an honest portrayal of the facts and interpretation of the events that unfolded during the course of the game.

Rafael Benitez will lead Liverpool back to the top. Of that, I have no doubt. He is still learning about the English game and he needs to learn quickly. There is not much room for error at this level in this day and age, and he’s fortunate enough to have a chairman who does not haunt his managers, scythe in hand. Yes, he will make mistakes in the process. He made one last Saturday. And I would be very surprised if it was his last. As much as we would all love to do his job for him, he is the man in the seat. And he has a proven track record, which will ensure Liverpool finish the season near the top of the table, where they belong.

With regard to the Everton match, Mr Tanna and the Liverpool faithful would have been much happier had we fielded our first choice eleven at Goodison Park and lost 4-1. At least we would have had an indication of our inadequacies. As it was, we learnt absolutely nothing by naming a patched up side and turning out a less than mediocre performance.

Don’t get me wrong. I am the biggest advocate of giving the likes Biscan and Diao a run in the side to let them prove their worth. But thrusting them into a game against your bitterest rivals, in the knowledge that they are lacking in sharpness, is a misjudgement on the manager’s part. And then there is the big question of physical fitness over match practice. We are discussing professional footballers here. The fitness worries over Baros are justified; we cannot afford to risk losing him again. But neither Finnan nor Alonso played against Tottenham in the Carling cup victory. Both were involved the following Saturday at Villa Park and then played in the fantastic European performance the Wednesday before. But could they not have stretched themselves a little to play in one of the biggest games of Liverpool’s calendar? They would have jumped at the chance! He could have rested them against Portsmouth at Anfield on Tuesday, where home advantage could have afforded that luxury.

And then there is the argument about Liverpool’s lack of strength in depth. Liverpool have a squad any manager aside from Wenger, Mourinho and Ferguson would love to have, and yes, to compete for the title, Benitez will have to strengthen. But it is not a weak squad. And certainly last Saturday, Liverpool had the stronger team on paper, even with the so called bit-part players making up the numbers. They still went on to turn in their worst performance of the season, after the defeat at Bolton who played the same physical game that Everton employed. The combination of personnel and tactic simply could not match their opponents. And that is down to the manager.

Nobody is taking away Benitez’s credit for what he has achieved so far at the club, topped by the spectacular performances and results against Arsenal and Olympiacos. There is a great spirit amongst the team and they are playing attractive, attacking football, the old Liverpool way. The Kop is singing again. There is still some way to go, but Benitez will be backed to the hilt.

Not many clubs have shown the persistence with their managers that Liverpool have in the past, and will continue to in the future, both from the boardroom and the stands. Some believe managers are two a penny, yielding the axe at the merest insinuation of underachievement and voicing their discontent. For instance, had the Tottenham faithful shown a little more faith to an unnamed individual (for fear of offending anyone), known only as ‘the man in the black raincoat’, maybe they would have been preparing for a European excursion this midweek. But then football’s an impatient business these days.

Keval Tanna
16/12/2004

1429: La Liga: Are Barcelona the new

by : Stuart Reid

It’s a good time to be a Barcelona fan. Nine points clear at the top of La Liga and a massive twelve ahead of Real Madrid, they are also the bookies’ favourites for the Champions League. And who would bet against them? Inspired by the simply sublime Ronaldinho, some of the football they are playing this season is just jaw-dropping. Real fans will be hoping that this season is just a blip, but could the balance of power in Spain be shifting towards Catalonia?

After Real Madrid’s disastrous 2003/04, this season demanded improvement but there has been little; they have already lost four games in the league and on only four occasions have they scored more than one goal. They only just scraped through in the Champions League with a win in their final group match. Attempts to address their defensive weaknesses have improved things slightly but there has been an apparent lack of motivation amongst the first team. Perhaps this is understandable given their extraordinary success, but at the highest level this can be the difference between a win and a defeat.

Barcelona on the other hand have had a fantastic 2004. Frank Rijkaard’s attacking 4-3-3 formation has given Ronaldinho the freedom he thrives on and midfield dynamo Xavi has been sensational. The summer signings of Deco, Samuel Eto’o, Henrik Larsson, Ludovic Guily and Edmilson have added more top-level quality to an impressive squad. They are scoring for fun while keeping them out at the back, and provided they can get through their current injury crisis, things are really looking up.

The area where Barca have a major advantage over Real is in defence. Granted, both clubs have conceded a similar number of goals this season but Real always look likely to leak goals while their Catalan rivals do not. Offensively both teams are superb, and they both have the ability to destroy any team on their day. The biggest advantage Real Madrid have is their experience; they have been there and done it before, a fact that should not be underestimated.

But looking long-term, it is this experience that may go against them. Zidane, Figo and Roberto Carlos, three of the so-called ‘galacticos’, are the wrong side of 30, with Beckham, Salgado and Helguera fast approaching 30. In comparison, seven of Barcelona’s first-team players are under 27; Ronaldinho, Xavi, Eto’o, Puyol, Marquez, Deco and goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

It can be assumed that Real will have to replace their two most creative players within two years and most of their first team within five years. Los Meringues certainly have the financial clout to do this, but it is no easy task to mould individuals into a winning team and there are many examples across Europe of clubs with money that are still struggling. Barcelona, however, have the spine of a side that could play together and be successful for the next seven or eight years. It has to be assumed that over time the understanding between these players will only improve and the team will get better and better. And like Madrid, Barcelona have plenty of cash with which to add to this team.

While the future of Real Madrid is uncertain, the signs are there that Barcelona could be the major force in world football for many years to come. One thing is for sure though; like the pasts of these two footballing giants, their futures are sure to involve spectacular football played by some of the greatest players on earth.

Stuart Reid
18/12/2004

1426: Standing: An Open Letter To Sq

by : Bill Urban

Having recently written responses to Squarefootball articles which might charitably be described as scathing, the appearance of an article by Alex Wolstenholme concerning standing during matches has had the opposite effect, stimulating a desire to compose a piece in support of some of the points raised by my colleague. The reasons for the removal of stadium terraces and standing during matches are a legacy of the excesses of spectator misbehaviour and violence during the 70’s and 80’s and a reaction to the calamitously poor decision-making at Hillsborough in 1989. The move to seated stadia was a logical and correct one from a safety and crowd control standpoint, but the elimination of standing to watch a football match is much less justifiable.

Mandatory seating in stadiums does give much greater control over which spectators occupy which areas of the ground, and also make policing and stewardship much simpler. In fact, it would be a fair point to state that mandatory seating in Premier League stadia has played a role in lessening trouble in the stands. And since this was one of the original justifications for removing the standing areas, the switch to seating in British stadia must be judged a success, and has made the grounds so equipped a much safer place to watch football.

However…

In their own ham-fisted and typically greedy fashion, the big clubs have used the move to all-seater stadia to raise the overall price of match tickets to stratospheric levels, pricing out much of the core support of their local fan bases in an effort to attract fans from a different socio-economic sub-stratum. Besides the fact that this price-spiraling avarice is leading to a very gradual decrease in attendance as the hardcore support is priced out of the live match day experience, which the clubs seem to be blithely ignoring, the atmosphere within the Premier League grounds has also suffered due to the removal of the standing areas. The communal experience of clapping, raising scarves, and especially singing, has been adversely affected by the clubs’ insistence on spectators remaining seated at all times.

A simple solution, raised by the eloquent Mr. Wolstenholme, which I had yet to consider, is that the standing areas themselves need not return, but standing in a seated area might itself be permitted. I am embarrassed not to have thought of this myself, for at major college gridiron contests in the United States, the stadia are all-seater but no one sits. At all. For the entire game.

The point is that the clubs, and by extension the local constabulary, would retain control over seating location, and in reference to Hillsborough numbers of supporters in a given area, for home and visiting supporters if seats remain mandatory, but certain “seated” areas within a given ground could be designated as “standing permitted,” or even “standing only.” And the prices for these areas could be reduced by the clubs as well, to attract a wider range of support and ensure full capacity for more matches, although a British football club voluntarily reducing ticket prices is about as likely as George Bush proposing an American budget with a reduction in spending on the military.

As football becomes more a business and less an expression of culture and sporting entertainment, one cannot be optimistic that standing at matches will return. The clubs have too much at stake, not in terms of spectator safety, a mendacious cover employed scurrilously by the clubs to mask their true motivation, as Mr. Wolstenholme correctly points out, the desire to shift more merchandise, concessions and to save money on policing and stewarding costs. But after many years of escalating and near constant sell-out attendances, Premier League clubs had best pay attention to the fact that attendances are stagnant or falling, and also that Football League clubs, where standing is permitted at some of the Division One or Two stadia, are enjoying something of a renaissance in terms of attendances. The match day experience, including the ability to stand, is the reason, simple as that.

A reasonable debate over standing at matches, addressing issues such as safety, atmosphere, and fairness, is called for by Mr. Wolstenholme.

Add my voice to that clarion call…

Bill Urban
19/12/2004

1421: AFC Wimbledon: “We’re Reclaimi

by : Paul Grech

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Review of 2004

• January


• February


• March


• April


• May


• June


• Euro 2004


• July


• August


• September


• October


• November


• December


• Chris Sherrard's highlights of the year


• Chris Sherrard's lowlights of the year

Although the football that they have played will hardly have the purist purring with admiration, Everton’s hobnobbing at the top of the Premiership table offers hope to the fans of all those teams that haven’t got the finances to buy every player in sight.

In the long run, the lack of depth within their squad will probably preclude them from the top prize but they will still outperform teams who spent much more heavily than they did. For, in football, passion and team spirit can be great levellers.

Nobody proved that as well as Wimbledon did. For years, they defied the logic not only by keeping their place in England’s top tier but also by constantly outgunning supposedly better teams. And whilst most neutral observers decried their use of the long-ball the truth was that their players were often more determined to succeed than any other in their division.

Eventually, those who had claimed all along that their success wouldn’t last were proved correct and Wimbledon finally succumbed to relegation. On the day on which it was confirmed that they had lost their Premiership status, most fans wept openly.

Soon, however, they would have more serious worries than those of playing in a lower league. What had started as laughable attempt by Sam Hamman to transfer Wimbledon to Dublin turned into a more serious quest by new owners to put-up-shop in Milton Keynes.

Today Wimbledon FC no longer exists, their place having been taken up by MK Dons. Yet there is still a club representing the London borough in the form of Wimbledon AFC, the team set up by the supporters when it became clear that the FA were going to give their go ahead for the transfer to Milton Keynes. And whilst MK Dons struggle with dire attendances, AFC are one of the best supported teams in the whole non-league scene thereby strengthening their arguments for being the true heirs of Wimbledon’s heritage.

That claim recently came under attack from Peter Winkleman, one of those behind the move to Milton Keynes, who claimed that by setting up AFC the fans had effectively given up hope on Wimbledon FC and killed the club off.

“He's got that very much the wrong way round,” retorts Niall Couper, a committee member on the Dons Trust, when that notion is put to him. “How can a club that doesn't play in Wimbledon, isn't called Wimbledon, doesn't have the colours of Wimbledon, the badge of Wimbledon or any of the supporters of Wimbledon, claim the heritage of Wimbledon? It's absurd. The move to Milton Keynes killed Wimbledon FC. AFC Wimbledon gave the club its rebirth.”

Most seem to support his views. In their season guide at the start of the current campaign, the magazine When Saturday Comes left out the preview on MK Dons. Other previews went as far as using half of the allocated space to AFC’s prospects. You would be hard pressed to find any fan that isn’t sympathetic to what Wimbledon’s supporters have had to go through.

But whilst that might be the case, the most likely deterrent to anyone wanting to ‘do a Wimbledon’ with any other club would probably be the financial mess that MK Dons find themselves in after the move, rather than anything within the FA’s rules.

Cooper agrees. “Yeah it is still possible. But I think the best thing that has come out of it is that supporters are no longer so apathetic, they now realise what can happen to their clubs. So it will be a hell of a lot more difficult for the next Charlie Koppel. Personally, I'm encouraged by the huge growth in supporters trusts up and down the country.”

In three years time, if MK Dons continue with their free fall whilst AFC Wimbledon keep on progressing, the two clubs could find themselves in the same league, an occasion that Cooper would consider to be “sweet, but not special.”

But, in the meantime, AFC Wimbledon have already been re-acquainting themselves with old adversaries. Earlier this season, they staged a re-match of the 1988 FA Cup final, undoubtedly their most significant and iconic triumph.

Cooper explains that “the original concept was to revisit the era as we never thought we would get as many of the players there as we eventually did. It came about back in April at a fundraising meeting. The original plan was to have a celebrity game. Having written a book on the club I had a load of ex-Wimbledon players numbers and just took the concept one stage further.”

Was it difficult to get the players to agree to take part? “The Wimbledon players? Not at all. Most of them were falling over themselves to take part. In reality anyone who played for the club pre-first division or who had come through the club's ranks didn't blink an eyelid. Some of the later stars were a little bit more difficult. And it was a bit disappointing that Alan Cork and Dave Bassett couldn't make it.”

1427: Premiership: Are Newcastle Uni

by : Antony Melvin

Graeme Souness’s honeymoon period at Newcastle United is well and truly over. The defeat at Anfield has consigned Newcastle to 13th place and the prospect of a league finish that will owe more to considering how many points are needed to avoid relegation than to how many points will get them Champions League football. The unthinkable is starting to be thought though, and tonight William Hill have slashed United’s relegation odds from 150/1 to 50/1.

After 18 games Newcastle have 21 points. Fourth place in the Premiership will probably get 65-70 points this season because five teams are already past 30 points before the half-way stage. So to achieve Champions League qualification Newcastle will probably need 45 points from the second half of the season. That would probably mean about 14 wins and some draws from the remaining 20 fixtures – which appears very unlikely.

The UEFA Cup places are guaranteed for fifth place, plus two qualifiers from the domestic cup competitions. If the top teams monopolise these tournaments then seventh place may yet be enough for a ticket into Europe. Seventh place will probably require 55-60 points. To get into seventh place will probably mean winning about half of the remaining fixtures – again this will be difficult. Indeed, Newcastle are more likely to win the UEFA Cup and regain entry that way.

Relegation will probably affect teams getting less than about 37-40 points. So to avoid the drop Newcastle need about 16-19 points from the remaining 20 fixtures – which ordinarily would not be a problem.

But Newcastle are afflicted by a series of problems that could yet see them struggling to get to 40 points.

Firstly they are struggling to defend. The likely arrival in the new year of the Rangers’ defender Boumsong will probably help, but a team that has kept just two clean sheets all season usually starts a goal down. Newcastle would have the worst defensive record in the division but for West Brom’s drubbing on Saturday. Newcastle have a relegation teams defence. And sudden transfer rumours surrounding their brilliant (and pretty irreplaceable) keeper Shay Given do seem somewhat coincidental.

Secondly the strikers are keeping the team out of trouble – but will it last? What with Alan Shearer re-announcing his intention to quit, Bellamy constantly upset by something or other and Kluivert still not convincing there could be troubling times ahead.

Thirdly Newcastle have done better in Europe than domestically this season. And as the league season deteriorates Newcastle may take their eye off the league to concentrate on winning desperately needed silverware.

All things considered Newcastle United are too good to go down. Their strikeforce has scored more often than all but Arsenal, Chelsea and Middlesbrough and if the defence can be shored up these goals will start to yield league wins.

But 2 wins in 11 games is a shocking run; failure to beat Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day will drag Newcastle United down towards the dead men, and give teams like Birmingham City and Fulham the chance to overtake them. If Newcastle start the new year in 15th place possibly 4 points from the drop then a worrying dip in form could well blossom into a full blown crisis. If the board lose faith with the manager and refuse to back him in the transfer market in January – then relegation is still a possibility.

Newcastle have to beat Blackburn on Sunday or risk being dragged into a fight they are currently ill-equipped to deal with.

Antony Melvin
19/12/2004

1418: Premiership: A duller game whe

by : Alex Wolstenholme

This article has been removed at the writer's request.This week, despite being the manager while a large proportion of their ₤62 million debts being rung up, Kevin Keegan pleaded with the Manchester City board for more money to spend while also opposing the sale of Nicolas Anelka in the transfer window.

Similarly, when he was questioned about the role of agents and the amount of money spent on them at Portsmouth, Redknapp responded by listing what he had done on the field during his time at Fratton Park.

What Keegan and Redknapp were doing, what they do do, is think like supporters. Give one of us the choice between a team that entertains, scores goals and wins a few of it’s games and a healthy profit and loss account and we’ll choose the former every time.

Both men are products of a different footballing age, the 1970’s mainly when football was about entertainment and see their teams purely in that way without worrying too much about running a tight financial ship or balancing the books.

Sir Alex Ferguson retains some of that empathy with supporters too while David Moyes and now Martin Jol seem to have an awareness of what makes their clubs so special to their supporters but the new breed of managers and coaches do not.

The difference in Portsmouth is noticeable already in the way they approached their away game at Liverpool in midweek.

Rafael Benitez’s side, with a shortage of strikers and on the back of two high pressure games in four days where there for the taking but Pompey were content to play for a draw, only coming out of their shell when Liverpool opened the scoring.

Redknapp’s side would never have done that and it would have been a much more entertaining game for the fans in the stadium and the viewers at home as a result.

Whether it would be better for the Premiership or English football or Sven-Goran Eriksson is another matter.

Having the likes of Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho in the top flight is undoubtedly a good thing but as with the invasion of foreign players it is the possibility of inferior imports taking over sides and English managers copying their styles that creates the kind of uniformity that is in danger of taking over now.

It’s a question of balance in the end and what the point of football and the Premiership actually is.

For Arsenal and Manchester United and Chelsea the point is trophies and success and while it is a depressing notion (and a whole new article) that not many other clubs will have a chance of winning the league there has always been another point to football that doesn’t exist in Formula One racing for instance.

That point has always been the fans and how the fans defined the club they supported in relation to their local rivals or the rest of the country.

Maybe Manchester City and Portsmouth (now Southampton) fans would rather their teams did not appeal to the neutrals the way they do and were successful footballing machines but only one side can win the league and only four can get into the Champions League.

If Premiership life is going to become all about a scrap to stay in the league because that guarantees television revenue then maybe Keegan and eventually Redknapp are better off out of it but the game will be poorer once they have gone.

Alex Wolstenholme
16/12/2004