2226: Premiership: For ?!&** sake -

by : Henry Knight

Sam Allardyce threatened, albeit briefly, to take Bolton into the Champions League however he eventually settled for the clubs first ever qualification into Europe via the UEFA cup. This season the club could go stale with Allardyce being frustrated in the transfer market and the squad looking thin. Jared Borgetti will improve the team’s goals coring potential, but the side lacks genuine width and the back line is very thin on the ground. Perhaps, with the added distraction of Europe, Bolton will not live up to the expectation created from last season.

Aston Villa and Bolton have made regular top 10 finishes in recent years, but Blackburn Rovers are perhaps superb candidates for displacing one of them; the spine of Friedel, Nelsen, Savage and Bellamy looks aggressive and potentially very successful. Last season Mark Hughes’s side was earmarked as brutally aggressive and lacking in quality; this was unfair, although there were times when the team went over the top. Morten Gamst Pederson and Brett Emerton give excellent width, work rate and flair and with Craig Bellamy there is plenty of pace to add to the fire and solidity of the rest of the side.

Portsmouth, Charlton, Birmingham, Manchester City and Fulham are at risk of filling the ‘pointless season’ role. All of these sides have the talent to do something much better, but also have the frustrating look of teams that could just as easily get sucked into a relegation battle.

New manager of Portsmouth, Alain Perrin, has added and lost talent, however Laurent Robert, Andy Obrien, John Viafara and Collins Mbesuma should provide enough quality to ensure Premiership status aswell as a good opportunity to push the club on from the days of Harry Redknapp. Charlton manager, Alan Curbishley, has taken a gamble on Darren Bent in the hope that he will rise to the challenge of the Premiership and become a regular goal scorer but it’s the season long loan of the classy Alexei Smertin from Chelsea that could prove very important.

Chris Coleman’s first season in charge was very successful yet his second turned into a close encounter with relegation. Despite some unorthodox
methods and a set of tactics disliked by the fans, Coleman has the ability to become a very good manager. The loss of Andy Cole was a blow; however it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it leaves a space for the impressive youngster Collins John to step up aswell as a chance for Thomas Radzinsky to prove himself. Wingers Steed Malbranque and Luis Boa Morte could provide the talent to take Fulham well out of trouble and into glory, but only if they stay at the club.

Whilst Birmingham gained a Chelsea player in Mikael Forssell, Manchester City lost talismanic winger Shaun Wright Phillips to the London club. Both sides have holes in the team; Birmingham don’t possess a midfield enforcer and City are now missing a right winger, but both sides have added well, especially up front where Darius Vassell, Andy Cole (City), Mikael Forssell and the permanent signing of Walter Pandiani (Birmingham) mean there fire power in abundance at these ambitious clubs. Manchester City’s advantage over all the other mid-table clubs is the emergence of Richard Dunne and Sylvain Distin at the back, whereas Birmingham have not strengthened what was an uncharacteristically (for ex central defender and manager Steve Bruce) disorganised defence last season.

For Steve Bruce it might be a make or break season, if he does not push the club into a top 10 finish or have a good cup run, Chairman David Gould, a man in a hurry, could consider bringing a new face in. Stuart Pearce does not quite have the same problem, his is more to do with the fact that it will be his first full season in charge and despite encouraging signs at the end of last season his ability is still an unknown quantity.

Although any of the mid-table clubs could be involved in a relegation battle there are some obvious candidates as to who will be. West Bromwich Albion and the newly promoted trio of Wigan, West Ham and Sunderland will probably all feel the gap in quality between top of the premiership and bottom. West Bromwich Albion’s major boon is experience; from last year and from its older pro’s and manager Bryan Robson. Wigan manager Paul Jewell knows what it takes to avoid relegation from his time at Bradford and coupled with major financial backing from Wigan owner Dave Whelan (a.k.a. the British Abramovich) they have the most realistic chance of survival out of the promoted sides.

Sunderland look to have a well balanced side with the hardworking and pacey Liam Lawrence and Julio Arca on the flanks and the talented but inconsistent duo of Anthony Le Tallec and John Stead up front; however the defence and central midfield does not look particularly strong. Mick McCarthy is a superb manager and after performing a virtual miracle to get Sunderland up in the first place it would perhaps not be too surprising to see them stay up. West Ham’s much berated manager Alan Pardew is not quite a miracle worker, however he seems tactically astute and positive with his signings; the signing of Yossi Benayoun not only adds flair but shows how big West Ham the club is as Bolton Wanderers (a team that qualified for Europe) failed in a bid to sign him. There is lots of young talent in the West Ham side but a lack of experience that is unlikely to be made up for by Christian Dailly and Teddy Sheringham.

The Premiership is, on paper, stronger once again; more internationals, more talent and better tactical knowledge amongst its ever younger managers. Nevertheless it remains largely predictable and it does still have a huge chasm of quality; though this should not detract from the fact that it is a wonderful league. It is certainly the best supported league in the world with arguably the best supporters. No matter what any writer or journalist says at the beginning of the season, the fans of each team will go out and buy their tickets and cheer their side on through thick and sometimes thin. Fans should always remember that it is their support that keeps football important enough for opinion and that they matter more than what any one person thinks.

Final League Table 2005/06
1. Chelsea
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Manchester Utd.
5. Newcastle
6. Tottenham
7. Middlesborough
8. Everton
9. Bolton
10. Blackburn
11. Aston Villa
12. Charlton
13. Portsmouth
14. Man City
15. Birmingham
16. Fulham
17. Sunderland
18. Wigan
19. West Bromwich Albion
20. West Ham
“Mr. Poll, old bean, that wasn’t a very good decision”

A phrase that is unlikely to be formed by the loose tongues of the general uneducated, ignorant young footballer, however, its sentiment is correct in that the recent decision by the Football Association (and others) to give the referee ‘power to send off any player caught swearing’ is a poor, media pressurised decision.

No, a player swearing on television will not scar a child for life, nor will it form a code of ethics by which a child will live its life and how egocentric of the sport and the media to suggest that it will. Perhaps any parent that worries about the potential for a child to read the lips and be influenced by a ‘foul mouthed footballer’ is not confident in their own abilities to behave as a far more potent role model than any distant football celebrity could. If that is the case then, not only is it tragic, they should perhaps never go to a football ground, where the majority of the crowd use foul language at any given opportunity and should write and complain to the broadcasters who deliberately zoom in on players and referees to see their reaction.

Indeed the decision to send players/managers off for swearing is largely a cosmetic process, not a practical one. Does football really need to have any more of its passion dampened? After all lifting one’s shirt in celebration is now absurdly forbidden and “incitement” of the crowd (perhaps a fist shake at a bunch of goading yobs) is a cardinal sin. If the Authorities were truly on a moral crusade they would be looking at the crowd next, after all the crowd are surely the worst for swearing, exuberant celebrations and incitement.

It is strange how football is expected to be on a higher moral plane to society in general, but lets pretend for one crazy moment that it is and swearing in football must be dealt with swiftly and sensibly;

Sending a player off for swearing is far too strong an action, it degrades the seriousness of deliberately trying to injure a player or deliberately trying to stop a legitimate chance of a goal through foul play; plus, it is surely not worth ruining the spectacle because of a few words.

A yellow card for such an offense is perhaps not going to work in the long term, although many players will tone their language down because it only takes one hard tackle and a spluttered f word to get sent off.

Perhaps if the referee was to get a player substituted instantly (no matter whether a manager has used all his allotted 3 or not) it would keep a game alive and the swearing to a minimum. It could also smooth the introduction, finally, of 7 substitutes into the English game.

Perhaps the weakest, but most intelligent form of punishment would be to report every single incidence of swearing and abusive language to the club where the offending player plays. By bringing the offence to the people that matter most, the employers and bosses, the authorities would ensure there is no sense of unfair play and that the player is not put on an absurd public show. It would also save the time and money of the main footballing authorities, who should surely be busying themselves with sorting out European qualification and ways of improving competitiveness in their top league.

Henry Knight
8 August 2005

2274: From Liverpool to Aston Villa

by : Daniel Ruiz

Milan Baros’ £6.5m transfer from Villa to Liverpool makes him the most recent Liverpool player to move from Anfield to Villa Park in the last fourteen years.

Here are the others and how they fared:

Steve Staunton 1991 £1.1m

The then 22-year-old Irish international, a member of Liverpool’s last title-winning side in 1990, was deemed surplus to requirements at Anfield by new manager Graeme Souness as he continued a clearout of a squad that former manager Kenny Dalglish had allowed to age.

Souness’ successor Roy Evans, who brought Staunton back to Merseyside seven years later would go on record as saying the versatile left footer should never have been allowed to leave Anfield in the first place. Staunton immediately settled into life at Villa Park under new orange-skinned manager Ron Atkinson as Villa briefly established themselves as a force in the fledgling Premier League, finishing runners up to Man United in the inaugural 1992-93 season and helping Atkinson defeat his former employers 3-1 in a thrilling League Cup Final a year later.

The Irishman returned to Liverpool on a free in 1998 by which time Evans had been forced to share stewardship of Liverpool with Frenchman Gerard Houllier in arguably the most bizarre managerial appointment of all time. Houllier never really fancied Staunton, and the man who had by then represented Ireland in two World Cups never re-established himself in a Liverpool shirt. Just two years later he was back at Villa Park winding down his Premiership career.

The last member of that 1990 title winning side to still be playing, Staunton is currently at Walsall.

Ray Houghton – 1992 £900,000

One of the finest Liverpool players of the late eighties stunned manager Graeme Souness when after insisting he wanted to return to London where he had started out his career with West Ham and Fulham, Houghton ended up moving to Birmingham and starring for Villa. The busy midfielder had either told his manager a porky or had a poor grasp of geography. Souness was bitterly disappointed with the Irish international’s decision, having freely admitted that the 30-year-old Glaswegian born player had been his best player during a difficult first year in charge.

Houghton served Villa with distinction for almost three years, but new boss Brian Little, who succeeded the sacked Atkinson in the autumn of ’94 deemed Houghton surplus to requirements. Houghton finally found his way to London, moving onto relegation-doomed Palace in the spring of ’95. Now a presenter on Talk Radio. Where the Ireland World Cup hero’s Glaswegian tones have wowed listeners.

Dean Saunders – 1992 £2.3m

With the first ever Premiership season just a month old, Ron Atkinson’s determination to buy up the Liverpool team continued with the signing of £2.9m misfit Dean Saunders. Despite finishing as Liverpool’s top scorer with 23 goals from 54 games in his only full season with the Reds, and helping them to the FA Cup, the Welsh international had rarely convinced that he was the right man to operate alongside legendary centre forward Ian Rush.

Having signed off his Liverpool career with a goal in a 2-1 home win over Chelsea [and a tackle that ended the career of Chelsea’s Paul Elliott], Saunders took to the field for his new employers the following week where the visitors to Villa Park were…yes, you guessed it, Liverpool. Saunders ran Liverpool’s new Danish defender Torben Piechnik ragged, scoring twice as Villa won 4-2 in a game that would become memorable for Liverpool forward Ronnie Rosenthal’s extraordinary miss in front of an open goal.

After leaving Villa in 1995, Saunders became Souness’ stalker, following his former Liverpool boss to Galatasaray, Benfica, and now Newcastle, where he is on the coaching staff and competing with Terry Mac for best perm.

2273: Arsenal: Heat off Wenger for t

by : Hugh Larkin

With two defeats already by Chelsea and the prospect of chasing Jose Mourinho’s team and Manchester United all season, on first viewing this looks like a very unpromising season for Arsene Wenger. However, the bookmakers rarely have matters wrong and the fact that most have Wenger as the least likely manager to depart tells its own story.

This is a season of transition and consolidation at Highbury. For years now, Arsenal have been competing successfully with Manchester United with crowds that are massively down on the numbers coming through the door at Old Trafford. United have certainly had the edge but three League titles, including one unbeaten campaign and numerous FA Cups have kept the Gunners well in the hunt.

The appearance of the Chelsea juggernaut is in many ways more threatening to United than Arsenal; Wenger has been competing with a bigger club for many years anyway and crucially, the upcoming move to the new Emirates Stadium should give him the spending power to compete much more effectively in the transfer market.

Gunners fans have become accustomed to being outspent in the last decade (although many would love their problems) and the sheer power of Chelsea’s money should ensure that the supporters will remain tolerant of the situation if Arsenal don’t capture any trophies this season. As long as the Frenchman can slip the club into the Champions League again- and that shouldn’t be a problem- the fans and the Board will be satisfied.

A decent run in the Champions League might be nice but Arsenal fans have been able to forgive the underachievement on the Continent for the stunning successes that Wenger has engineered periodically at home. Arsenal either have quiet seasons, or ones of joyous brilliance which have uplifted everyone at the club.

For 2005/6 the fans can watch an excellent crop of young players mature and speculate as to the further reconstruction that the manager will undertake. This is a bonus year for many of the young brigade at the club; the likes of Fabregas, Flamini and Van Persie can be indulged for a season and if they blossom and deliver a challenge to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge so much the better. But the real tests will come when the club move to Ashburton Grove when the expectation will be ratcheted up to higher levels.

Alex Ferguson hasn’t delivered the title to Old Trafford for two seasons and a decent run in the European Cup run since 1999. Jose Mourinho is backed by the kind of financial muscle that says anything other than Championship and/or European success is failure. Arsene Wenger’s situation doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as pressured as his two rivals, although clearly the Arsenal boss hates losing and can be expected to be crabby about it at some points in the season.

One of the big 3 teams has to finish third in the Premiership and none of them would find that position acceptable. However, Arsenal- for 2005/6 alone- are clearly the club most capable of withstanding the fallout from that relative ‘failure’. It won’t be pleasant if it happens but the smart money is on Arsene Wenger surviving the ‘calamity’ and taking the club forward to the new Emirates Stadium era.

Hugh Larkin
23 August 2005

2272: Liverpool: A striker crisis?

by : Stephen Orford

Rafa Benitez is already an Anfield legend. The night of May 25 2005 has ensured his place in Merseyside folklore as he presided over the Reds fifth European Cup victory. There’s no escaping the simple fact that, when it comes to Liverpool’s team affairs, Rafa knows best.

How is it then that writers with possibly too much time on their hands can pontificate on his methods, and criticise his squad recruitment policies over this past summer? Well see, here’s the thing. The beauty of football is that it is all about opinions, and so even the great man himself is not beyond scrutiny.

Consider then the sale of one Milan Baros to Aston Villa on Tuesday (August 23). The Czech striker left for Villa Park in a £6.5million deal. This in itself might not be considered such a bad move, given that the 23 year-old flattered to deceive during much of his time at Anfield. Though he was the top scorer at the club last season, his return of 13 goals is hardly prolific. His propensity to travel down blind alleys in the hope of fashioning a shot on goal was infuriating also, and it all seemed somehow to be just not working out for Baros at Liverpool.

Despite this, when judging the decision to sell Baros we must surely consider the other attacking options available to Benitez. It appears that Baros was pushed down the pecking order at the club after the arrival of Peter Crouch from Southampton. Blind alleys notwithstanding, surely the man who topped the scoring charts at Euro 2004 is preferable to the comical Crouch?

The words ‘awkward’, ‘lanky’ and ‘bean-pole’ have all been used at one time or another to describe the style of the former Aston Villa and Tottenham man. Yet somehow he managed to embark on a scoring spree at the back end of last season which secured his dream move to Anfield. Crouch bagged 16 goals in the Saints doomed Premiership survival fight. This rich vein of form came after he had struggled to convince the ever-changing St.Mary’s management that he was worth a regular starting spot in the first few months of last season.

Either Benitez’s genius for spotting talent where there appears to be none is beyond my comprehension, or the amiable Spaniard has made a grave mistake. Before his Southampton exploits, Crouch was a largely unwanted figure at Villa and Tottenham, aswell as Portsmouth. Now, we are suddenly expected to believe that he is a misunderstood, under-rated star. Even Sven Goran Eriksson has fallen for the joke, selecting Crouch for the England tour of the USA at the beginning of the summer.

Rumours of a return to Liverpool for Michael Owen persist as I write, with the striker insisting that he would prefer a move back to his old club ahead of a switch to Newcastle United. While the formidable duo of Fernando Morientes and Djibril Cisse will still challenge for starting spots should that happen, the more paranoid amongst us have visions of Crouch being paired regularly with the prolific England man. This big-man, little-man combination will not so much remind us of the great era of Kevin Keegan and John Toshack during the 1970’s, but of the 80’s pomp of the Crankeys on Crackerjack with Stu Francis.

If it is not upon us already, I genuinely fear a future in which the long ball becomes the norm at Liverpool. Though Crouch supporters would have us believe that the big man is technically sound, preferring to play his football on the floor rather than in the air, it seems unlikely that he has been brought in for his Zidane-esque mastery of the football. Somebody once said that if you have a big gun, you pull the trigger. Like it or not Crouch’s height will, at times at least, be used by Benitez to attempt to bully Premiership defences into submission.

The worry is that ball-players like Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard will become endangered species. They risk long-term neck injuries as they avert their gaze skywards in search of that spherical object that used to land so comfortably at their feet. In this horrific, post-Baros reality Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia could figure highly in fantasy football teams across the land, as their goal assist ratios explode.

Yet still we must accept the fact that Rafa knows best. He’s won the European Cup. He’s up there with Shankly and Paisley in terms of Anfield heroes, and it is surely only a matter of time before a set of gates are named after him. If Benitez says so, Peter Crouch absolutely must be better than Milan Baros.

I wonder what a quick straw poll of Aston Villa fans would reveal this afternoon?

Stephen Orford
24 Sugust 2005

2271: Newcastle: Misguided Magpies n

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Saturday’s 0-0 draw with West Ham seems to have been the catalyst for growing discontent on Tyneside to emerge fully.

Graeme Souness, never a unanimous choice as manager at St James’ Park is reportedly under pressure after a poor start to the season but he can justifiably point to a lack of backing from the boardroom if he does leave.

Souness was brought in to the club as a troubleshooter and has managed to get rid of those players such as Bellamy, Robert and Kluivert who were taking the club for a ride yet now finds himself in the firing line.

Whether or not Newcastle manages to bring in one or two more new faces before the deadline, their transfer policy is akin to buying expensive gadgets for the home when the roof is full of holes.

Players like Nicolas Anelka, Michael Owen or Albert Luque should be the icing on the cake of a solid squad that needs one more push to break into the top four or six in the table.

Instead, Newcastle’s seemingly constant need to remind people that they are a big club sees them chasing such players as replacements for good solid citizens like Andy O’Brien and Aaron Hughes whose departures have left the first-team squad desperately thin.

While Souness obviously had a say in these players leaving, chairman Freddy Shepherd is seemingly uninterested in any kind of long-term planning, preferring instead to keep the share price high and ticket sales booming with a steady stream of hype and unrealistic transfer targets.

By choosing to compete with the biggest players in the market, Newcastle have been exposed this summer because most top name players do not want to come to a club that is not in European competition and for foreign stars is not either Liverpool or Manchester United or a club in London.

Where is the sense in bidding £7.5m for a player like Luque, untried in English football when Souness is struggling for bodies to put on the bench?

It is all a far cry from John Hall’s past vision of a Newcastle team populated by eleven Geordies drawn from the wealth of talent in the region.

Newcastle fans are no fools. The vast majority would accept a change of focus from the club that saw the emphasis being placed on young, hungry players, especially at a time when the top three or four places in the league are virtually tied up anyway.

Some of the more fair-weather fans may disappear and things might be tough for a while but surely that would be better than spending millions of pounds on over-paid ‘stars’ who do not deliver and are gone within a couple of seasons.

At present Newcastle are acting like they are up there with Real Madrid, Manchester United or Bayern Munich when in fact they are nowhere near.

Shepherd needs to go back to basics and begin emulating the likes of Charlton Athletic or Middlesbrough or even Bolton before then using the unique selling points that Newcastle do have to attract better quality players to complement a hard-working, Premiership quality squad.

However it is difficult to see any other end to the current situation than Souness being sacked, a new manager being appointed and the same cycle being repeated again with millions more pounds being wasted.

Alex Wolstenholme
23 August 2005

2270: Villarreal vs Everton - Is the

by : Stephen Orford

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg against Villarreal, Everton have a lengthy injury list ahead of their visit to Spain for the second installment of their Champions League third qualifying round clash.

Definitely ruled out is full-back Allesandro Pistone. The defender damaged knee ligaments during the club’s 1-0 win at Bolton on Sunday (August 21) and will be missing for several weeks. The defensive problems don’t end there, as both Per Kroldrup and Gary Naysmith are also sidelined. Philip Neville could come into the back-line, having previously played in midfield since his £3million arrival from Manchester United, with Tony Hibbert, Josef Yobo and David Weir possibly completing the Everton back four.

Although the ability to keep the Spaniards out will be crucial to Everton’s hopes, improvements need to be made further up the field also. Lee Carsley is again missing from the midfield through injury, while Simon Davies continues to struggle with shin problems. The former Tottenham star has travelled with the squad, but doubts about his fitness remain. Mikel Arteta may move back to the centre of midfield to partner Tim Cahill, with Kevin Kilbane operating on the left. Leon Osman may start on the right, but that depends very much on the fitness of Davies, and of the strikers, which is also highly questionable.

James Beattie and Marcus Bent are both doubtful for the game. Former Southampton striker Beattie feared that he had suffered a broken foot during the opening day Premiership defeat to Manchester United, but that diagnosis appears to have been a little premature. He takes his place in the squad, as does Bent who is struggling with an ankle injury. After scoring the winning goal against Bolton Bent hobbled out of the action, but he too is said to be recovering more quickly than anticipated.

Should the pair fail to recover in time then Osman will probably be shoved further up the field, alongside veteran nuisance Duncan Ferguson. More and more an impact player rather than a 90-minute man, Ferguson’s presence from the start would probably reduce Everton’s hopes of progressing to the group stages of the competition significantly. His appearance in the first leg coincided with repeated attempts to hurl the ball hurriedly from front to back with little finesse, and a repeat performance tactically will make it easy for the accomplished La Liga outfit.

The fitness of Davies will be key, as Everton need to utilise their wide men to take-up better crossing positions for whichever front men make the line-up. Too often the long ball serves only to give possession away cheaply, and it will be a long time before the Goodison outfit can win it back against the slick passing game of Villarreal.

This is due in no small part to the talents of Argentines Juan Roman Riquelme and Luciano Figueroa aswell as former Manchester United bench-straddler and Uruguayan international Diego Forlan. With another Argentine in Juan Pablo Sorin and Brazilian Marcos Senna also pivotal to much of what Villareal do, Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini relies heavily on a South American influence to shape his team.

With turbulent preparations, especially in defence, it is hard to see the Toffees keeping what would be a vital clean sheet against Spain’s third best team. The movement and guile of Figueroa and Forlan should be enough to breach the Blues defence at least once, which could make the job for David Moyes’ men almost impossible.

At prediction time, look for Everton to put in a much better attacking display than was in evidence at the Reebok stadium on Sunday, but the 2-1 home reverse in the first leg a fortnight ago was possibly fatal. If Moyes has Beattie and Bent at his disposal, aswell as Simon Davies, then expect his side to come close. However, the Goodison club may just be found wanting by the slenderest of margins at the final whistle.

Verdict: Villareal 1 Everton 1

Stephen Orford
23 August 2005

2269: Tottenham: Defoe leading the c

by : Chris Sherrard

There are few words to sum up how good a footballer Jermain Defoe is, and will become.

Excuse my enthusiasm and overlook my optimism if you so desire, but the young Tottenham striker has got the potential to be the finest forward in world football.

Players like Defoe come along once every ten years. Spurs fans are well aware that they have got a special talent in their side. And soon the world will know, too.

I wrote once upon a time that Defoe will become the new Gary Lineker for club and country. Any reason to change that opinion, now?

Well not really, to be honest. He has started this season in top form and looks as though he could well score in every game.

Of course he won’t. But what he will do is bag more than 20 league goals this season. Guaranteed. Everyone is getting worked up about this new Tottenham side under the masterful control of the brilliant Martin Jol.

And rightly so. Spurs will claim a top six spot this season unless they become too self-aware and nervous. But they won’t do that. The great gift of young players is their ability to just go for things and not worry about the environment in which they are playing or the expectations on them.

Tottenham’s young guns will be able to just keep their heads down and focussed on their season and that will be enough to keep them in the healthy end of the league table.

But after that, Defoe should be joined by a number of other Tottenham players in Sven Goran Eriksson’s World Cup thoughts.

For me, Defoe would lead the line alongside Wayne Rooney in Germany. He should have been there at the European Championships in Portugal 2004 but for Sven’s blindness when it comes to new, fresh talent.

If you compare him with Michael Owen, as you must in this context, then Defoe has got everything Owen has - and with the addition of the pace which the Real Madrid man once used to blistering affect.

For the good of the national team, the best players should always play - not the biggest names.

It’s a sad state of affairs when someone like Defoe could potentially top the scoring charts in the Premiership, fire Tottenham to Europe and still not make it into England’s starting line-up for the World Cup.

That says plenty more about Eriksson’s policy of selection than it does for the brilliance of Defoe.

I think there will be a couple of other players from White Hart Lane worthy of inclusion at the World Cup at the end of the season.

Of course, Paul Robinson is superb and is the automatic number one for his country. But Michael Dawson is also an impressive prospect and by the end of the season could well be a considerable distance further up the pecking order for selection in defence. Ledley King will come back to fitness and pick up where he left off.

And Michael Carrick shouldn’t be ruled out as a real possible starter in the holding midfield role come the end of this season.

He can only learn from playing and training with someone like Edgar Davids and that guile and craft is something England desperately need to sit and protect the back four.

Nicky Butt held the role at the last World Cup and earned plaudit’s the world over. There is absolutely no reason why Carrick can’t do the same next summer.

These must be great times to be a Spurs supporter. There’s no doubt they are one of the teams to watch this season. And their handful of young English stars are the key to further progression in the months ahead.

Chris Sherrard
23 August 2005

2268: Liverpool vs CSKA Sofia: Anoth

by : Stephen Orford

It’s a week in which the letters CSKA are very much in the minds of everyone concerned with Liverpool Football Club. Ahead of the Super Cup clash with CSKA Moscow in Monaco on Friday (August 26), the Reds take on CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria in the second round of their Champions League, third qualifying round tie on Tuesday (August 23).

Rafa Benitez’s men lead 3-1 from the first leg in Sofia a fortnight ago, and their passage through to the group stages of the competition should be a mere formality. Despite an unconvincing performance during the 1-0 Premiership win over Sunderland at the weekend, the Champions League holders should have more than enough to see off the challenge of the Bulgarians.

Steven Gerrard’s absence with a calf injury is not necessarily a worry for this one, but the club will be anxious to have their skipper back in full health as soon as possible. Liverpool do not return to the more testing Premiership arena until September 10, and it is still thought that the England man could recover in time for the Super Cup final against CSKA Moscow before that. Heading the queue to replace Gerrard in the meantime are Mali international Mohamed Sissoko and veteran German international Didi Hamann. The former Newcastle man was absent from the side which beat Sunderland on Saturday (August 20), and his freshness could just give him the nod, although both could play should Benitez choose to give Xabi Alonso the night off.

Also missing is Peter Crouch, still not recovered from a hamstring injury, and Milan Baros is almost certain not to feature also. The Czech star continues to be linked with a move away from Merseyside, with Aston Villa thought to be on the verge of capturing his signature. Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier appears to have failed in his bid to take the striker to Lyon, despite the suggestion that the French outfit out-bid the Villa Park club by some distance.

Mystifyingly, Djibril Cisse is also linked with the Anfield exit, but is likely to take his place in the line-up against Sofia. Potential buyers such as Lyon (again) and Marseille appear unconcerned that Cisse is now cup-tied for European competition, a factor which has so far persuaded Benitez not to select Baros for first team duty in Europe. Fernando Morientes will again challenge for a starting berth, and Florent Sinama Pongolle makes the squad after a long-term injury lay-off. Whichever combination is chosen there is little doubt that the club’s strikers need to start firing if they are to enjoy a successful season.

Defensively, Scott Carson challenges Jose Reina for the goalkeeping berth, while Josemi returns to the squad after injury. Zak Whitbread may see some action at the heart of the defence should Benitez decide to leave out either Jamie Carragher or Sami Hyypia with more pressing business in the future in mind.

A goal glut was never on the cards at any time during the Sunderland encounter, so the Anfield faithful will be looking for a healthy margin of victory here. They have been able to score goals in Europe so far this term, so expect that trend to continue as they finally book their place in the group phase.

Verdict: Liverpool 3 CSKA Sofia 0.

Stephen Orford
22 August 2005

2266: Lincoln City: Rebels are force

by : James Prentice

It’s amazing how quickly things can change in the fickle world of football.

Just one week ago, the kindling to stoke the fire of mutiny was being lit by a small number of dissenting supporters of Lincoln City after the new season started slowly, with two draws and a defeat. But, call the fire brigade! A 2-1 win over Oxford United on Saturday put out the first signs of smoke and force-fed the rebels their ill-spoken hyperbolic words.

Oxford went 1-0 to the good after just two minutes and, after an abject first half showing, the natives grew restless until the opening period was mercifully put to bed. But alas for the visiting supporters from the city that is home to the dreaming spires. The vociferous backing given to their team did not help Lee Bradbury, who was one-on-one with the Lincoln keeper, Alan Marriott, early in the second half. He could only take the ball too far towards the touchline and could not then create an assist for a team-mate to score and save his blushes and blatant frustration.

Cue the Lincoln comeback. A pin-point header from Gary Birch levelled matters and Derek Asamoah’s first goal for the club – his shot squeezing through a pack of players and past the beaten keeper – brought emancipation for his team-mates and the manager, Keith Alexander.

Suddenly, things look a whole lot brighter for Lincoln and with a win away at Rushden & Diamonds next weekend it could even be said that the team have made a good start to the new campaign. Should that happen, it would be a salutary lesson to those supporters who claimed their manager was clueless and questioned his judgement after just three games. Casting aspersions and apportioning blame so early should only be the reaction of novices, not of seasoned football supporters who really should know better.

Maybe City’s sudden upturn in fortunes was due to the weather. After a changeable week and Saturday’s sporadic bursts of rain, then brightness, then rain again, the sun broke through the clouds and shone luck down on Sincil Bank. Admittedly it took a while to take its full effect, but it worked – eventually.

Following a team all over the country can be a laborious task. Much has been said within the discourse of football of countless journeys to Carlisle, Hartlepool, Swansea et cetera only to witness a shambolic display and a 5-0 drubbing. Or even worse – if such a thing is possible - taking two days off work to travel to Torquay for a heavy defeat viewed by a handful of hardy away fans from a windswept, uncovered terrace. After being soaked by unrelenting lashes of rain you’d be lucky to avoid a month in hospital with suspected pneumonia.

But there are times when such unjustified antics are worth their while. While a 2-mile trip to Sincil Bank and the relatively comfortable covered stand would hardly put a supporter on the shortlist for a club Lifetime of Loyalty award, seeing an appalling first half of football such as Saturday’s can be enough to put you off for life. (Just stay for the second half son, they’ll come good.)

But the home ground, bathed in sunshine and all its glory, can at times such as 4:45pm on Saturday August 20 2005 be greater than standing thousands of feet above sea level at the Inca Trail in Peru or next to a loch in the Scottish highlands – in essence, a quite beautiful place. And with the sun setting on such beautiful surroundings after the team had scrapped their way to their first win out of four attempts…well, I really did not want to leave.

James Prentice
22 August 2005

2265: Poor Start for the Newcastle,

by : Hugh Larkin

It hasn’t exactly been the sort of start fans of the three North-Eastern sides were hoping for in this season’s Premiership; a combined six matches played, no wins on the board and a running total of 2 points between the three teams. Newcastle have exited Europe before the Ashes series is halfway over, Sunderland lost their first home game to a team with 10 men and Middlesbrough haven’t scored a goal yet.

All three teams are having teething problems as they try to bed in new signings or chase new recruits before the transfer deadline. Although it’s still early days, none of the trio can afford to fall behind their respective targets. At Sunderland, the team will be only too aware that sides can become adrift and be left with a nine-month relegation battle. For the other pair, both have serious European aspirations but the battle for UEFA places will be a furious one- neither can afford to give rivals like Spurs and Charlton a head start.

Middlesbrough’s problems are a bit unexpected but Steve McClaren’s side can feel a little hard done by to only have single point from their two games. On the other hand, failing to convert good performances was what cost them in Europe last year and expectations are so high at the Riverside that mid-table isn’t going to be good enough. At just the wrong moment, the team also has to contend with injury to new signing Yakubu.

Sunderland were always among the inevitable favourites to be in the bottom three, especially as the bulk of their recruitment has been from outside the top flight. The defeat at Anfield wasn’t unexpected but there is concern that the side don’t have the cutting edge needed to breach Premiership defences. The opening loss to Charlton was a rude awakening as one of the division’s mid-ranking clubs easily saw off the Black Cats challenge with a man short.

Newcastle have gone through another turbulent summer as Graeme Souness has despatched about a third of the first-team squad without as yet bringing in a similar number of players. It does seem amazing that a club of Newcastle’s ambition can be left so threadbare in the striking positions at the start of a League campaign.

The upheaval hasn’t ended. There is still much talk about Jermaine Jenas leaving and Lee Bowyer is still at St James’ despite the evidence that the club wanted to sell him. The Niclas Anelka non-transfer has dragged on and the Luque deal is turning into a bit of farce. Fulham have clearly been miffed by the many stories about Luis Boa Morte and the London club’s position has definitely hardened over the summer.

All three have important games this week. Boro face a Tuesday encounter at Birmingham City, another club that have endured a sticky start and the sort of opposition that Middlesbrough have to beat to be serious European challengers. Sunderland have a home game with Manchester City and will be looking for a morale boost before the match with Wigan on Saturday. Another defeat will leave the media already talking about relegation six-pointers.

Graeme Souness doesn’t really like his trips to Lancashire these days. Blackburn isn’t a comfortable destination for him but a visit to the Reebok Stadium is probably even less welcome. Last season the Newcastle boss was disparaging about Bolton’s style (after a defeat) and Sam Allardyce won’t have to do much in his team talk to fire up his side for Wednesday’s game. Manchester United are due in town at the weekend so Newcastle have to find form at Bolton.

Everyone connected with each club will be hoping that this is just a minor blip and a couple of wins will soon steady the ship. However, if any team come away with nothing from these midweek games, the first early season crisis will be underway.

Hugh Larkin
22 August 2005

2264: How to beat Chelsea

by : Antony Melvin

Right now Chelsea look like utter certainties to be crowned as champions again in May - but fortune is fickle in the difficult second season. Other teams try to raise their game, some players may relax as they have 'made it' and the tactics and strengths of the champions are analysed and discussed at length. Last season Arsenal started as the invincibles, only for their tactics to be probed and dissected and eventually opponents found a way to nullify their strengths.

The way to nullify Arsenal was 'The Neville Gambit'. This tactic was utilised by Manchester United whn they aggressively plugged up Arsenal's inside left channel (which was populated by Ashley Cole, Jose Reyes and Thierry Henry) using the Neville brothers - and gave Manchester United the platform to control the game and eventually run out as 2-0 winners.

Obviously not many teams were able to both nullify Arsenal and also create the chances to kill them off, but Arsenal went from certain champions in the late summer sunshine into a sudden Autumn slump and to also rans in January. A strong finish pushed them back past Manchester United into second place - but this was scant consolation.

Chelsea have started the season well but are not without weakness. Chelsea's only league defeat of last term was at Manchester City who deployed an attacking midfielder - Antoine Sibierski - to harry Claude Makelele. Makelele acts as Chelsea's pivot enabling other players to move into threatening positions without fear that losing the ball will leave them exposed. By nullifying Makelele (and an inspired performance by David James) City were able to stretch Chelsea sufficiently to generate a penalty on the break. One of the most interesting features of the Chelsea formation is that they very rarely get hit on the break.

Liverpool also beat Chelsea, this time in the Champions' League. That performance relied on an early goal that pierced the Chelsea defence in the area that Makelele usually protects. After which Liverpool compressed the play into their own half and could have killed Chelsea off on the break. Long before the end Chelsea were struggling to generate any meaningful chances and the chances only came when Chelsea threw caution to the wind in the final desperate minutes.

The Chelsea victory against Arsenal, yesterday, was based on stretching Arsenal to generate space in the opposition half. Arsenal nominally invited Robert Pires to close Makelele down, but when the team reshuffled after an injury this instruction went missing. As a result Arsenal kept the ball in front of the Chelsea defenders and defensive midfielders. Both sides were happy with this and especially Chelsea who were creating more danger without the ball than Arsenal were with it.

The match may have fizzled out into a 0-0 - but for Didier Drogba deciding to mis-control a bouncing ball off his knee and past Jens Lehmann.

But Arsenal wanted to win to turn round expectations and perhaps precipitate a collapse similar to their own one year earlier. So Arsenal tried to press Chelsea back, but this was counter-productive. When a team loses possession and refuses to fruitlessly chase the ball in Chelsea's half they force Chelsea to play further up the pitch than they are comfortable. This can congest play between the half-way line and penalty box - but it also reduces the opportunities for Chelsea to isolate individual opposition defenders. Phillipe Senderos may have appreciated this protection. By stretching the game Arsenal isolated their own defence and eventually conceded.

When Manchester United were repeatedly beaten by Chelsea last season there was a large degree of goalkeeping error - but they hardly helped themselves by offering John Terry heading practice instead of using guile to generate chances. Other than that United seemed to be able to nullify Chelsea - but do little in response.

So few teams actually get a lead against this Chelsea teams that it is difficult to fully assess their weaknesses. Jose Mourinho has developed a team-spirit and structure that concedes few goals and is therefore rarely tested.

To combat Chelsea the tactics need to include man-marking Makelele, dropping deep when not in possession, passing (not crossing) into shooting positions and shooting from range. Arsenal tried most of this on Sunday without luck - so is there much hope for the rest of the division?

Time will tell whether or not Chelsea will fall to internal bickering, injuries, form or bad luck. But if they continue to win ugly whilst playing averagely they will walk this division breaking more records on the way.

Antony Melvin
22 August 2005

2263: Bolton: Borgetti breaks new gr

by : David Hulott

Strange though it may seem in an era when English football already seems to feature players from just about every country on the planet, the deal that sees Jared Borgetti move from Pachuca to Bolton Wanderers will be the first involving a Mexican footballer coming to these shores (ironically, Pachuca are the oldest Mexican club side, having been formed by English miners and technicians in 1900). That seems particularly surprising given that Mexico have a FIFA World Ranking of fifth, two places ahead of England.

One of the key reasons is that the Mexican league is probably the most economically sound outside of their major European counterparts, which attracts quality imports from the likes of Argentina and Brazil, as well as enabling them to retain the majority of their home-grown talent. A number of Mexican players have also struggled to adapt away from home, although Borgetti strikes you as one who might prove the exception to that rule given his experience and the way in which his career has improved with the years.

Borgetti is hardly one for the future, being 32 years old the day after Bolton kicked-off the new campaign away to Aston Villa. However, he is a proven goal-getter, having scored 36 goals (a national team record) for Mexico at a rate of one every other game, with a similar strike rate in almost 400 league games in Mexico for Atlas, Santos and Pachuca.

The fact that Borgetti began his career at Atlas is significant, with the club having the most famed academy in the country, producing a high number of players who have gone onto appear for the national side over recent years, including Barcelona star Rafael Marquez.

The height and aerial ability of Borgetti looks ideal for Bolton and he should have few problems adapting to Sam Allardyce’s style of play. It’s often commented that foreign players struggle to adapt to the number of games played in England, but Mexico play so many tournaments at both club and national level, that Borgetti may well regard the Premiership as something of a rest.

Allardyce has a fairly eclectic mix of players at The Reebok Stadium and it seems likely that some will fail to make the cut in the Premiership this season. Provided he’s given the opportunity, Borgetti is one who should be capable of making a significant impact.

David Hulott
20 August 2005

2262: Chelsea: Not an Essien-tial Mo

by : Peter Lee

It just had to happen sooner or later. The statement: “Jose Mourinho gets what he wants” was proven true once again. Despite Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas’ fierce attempts to persuade his star mid-fielder to remain at Stade Gerland, Michael Essien finally bid farewell to the club that provided him with much valuable Champions League experiences and signed for the Premier League champions: Chelsea.

A transfer of such large scale inevitably draws equally large media attention. Football fans worldwide were already following the two clubs’ intense negotiations closely, observing with pity and empathy as Lyon fought a losing battle to keep their best player, who was already determined to abandon the club for a long time. Although Michael Essien is, without a doubt, filled with brimming talent, the fact that Chelsea already possessed more than enough first class mid-fielders labels this particular activity as lacking purpose and unnecessary.

Likely so, Chelsea’s starting eleven is packed with arguably the best mid-fielders in the Premiership. Wingers Arjen Robben and Damien Duff provide demonic agility along the left and right flanks, while Claude Makelele protects the back four like an impenetrable wall. And Frank Lampard is self-explanatory. With players like Joe Cole, Tiago, Jiri Jarosik and the 21 million pounds new boy, Shaun Wright-Philips already designated to the substitutes’ bench, describing the competition level for the horrendously limited mid-field slot in the champion’s line-up as difficult would be a massive understatement.

Assuming Mourinho decides to remain with his successful 4-3-3 formation, Michael Essien’s slim chance of a regular starting spot decreases even more dramatically. Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele are virtually granted a place in the starting eleven. And unless something terrible happens to Mourinho’s brain, he would employ Duff and Robben alongside his lone-striker (Drogba or Hernan Crespo). That leaves one space for the remaining players to battle for. Just one.

Was this necessary though? Going back to the time before the Blues purchased Shaun Wright-Philips; they already had more than enough mid-fielders in their first team! Having two or three competitions for a certain position can be a good thing. A player is forced to work hard during training sessions, knowing that it is a do or die, sink or swim situation. However, in Chelsea’s case, the number of candidates far exceeds the ideal amount. Scott Parker is a good example of this situation. Touted as a future England international, Parker arrived at Stamford Bridge, hoping to make a big impact to further his career. Instead, the heavy mid-field competition wore the English man down, ruining both his career and reputation terribly, before the Blues off-loaded him to Newcastle during pre-season.

Although Mourinho has proven himself to be a smart buyer - with all of his last summer signings impressing – this time, the Chosen One seems to have made a mistake. Although Mourinho insists continuously that Essien will be a great addition to the team, perhaps by Christmas break, Mourinho will, for the first time in a long time, regret his summer move.

Peter Lee
20 August 2005

2261: Liverpool vs Sunderland previe

by : Stephen Orford

Liverpool play their first home match of the new Premiership season as Sunderland are the visitors to Anfield on Saturday (August 20).

The newly-promoted Black Cats have not won at Anfield since 1983, and go into this one without former Liverpool defender Stephen Wright. The right-back suffered knee ligament damage during training on Monday (August 15), and could be out for as long as three months. Summer signing Nyron Nosworthy looks set to take the place of Wright, while the defence could also be boosted by former Everton man Alan Stubbs.

Up front, another man with Liverpool connections, the on-loan Anthony Le Tallec, has been refused permission to play against the Anfield club.

Liverpool appear set to be unchanged from the team that drew 0-0 at another north east outfit last week in Middlesbrough, provided Jamie Carragher’s tooth infection does not prevent him from taking to the field.

Sunderland’s 3-1 defeat against Charlton on the opening day stretched a depressing run of top-flight games without a win to 21. Ironically, their last celebration of maximum points in the big league came against Liverpool, when they beat the Reds 2-1 at the Stadium of Light in December 2002. In addition, four of their last five visits to Liverpool have ended in draws, but they will be well aware of the fact that they have never won at Anfield in the Premiership. Meanwhile, Liverpool have not suffered a home defeat in the league since Manchester United came to town in January of this year, making off with a 1-0 victory.

All of which makes a Sunderland victory unlikely, with Rafa Benitez’s men having made a business-like start to their season. They have been playing competitive football since the second week of July due to their early Champions League involvement, and have rarely looked threatened by any of their opponents during their run to the brink of the group stages. They were arguably unfortunate not to take all three points from Middlesbrough last weekend. Having failed to do so, the hunger will be there to really kick-start their Premiership campaign at home to one of the relegation favourites.

It is games like this, however, that Liverpool have found notoriously difficult to win during their unconvincing Premiership form of recent years. Too often, negative tactics and no small amount of complacency have seen the Anfield side on the end of embarrassing 1-0 defeats or irritating and quite useless draws against the smaller sides. That trend has to stop immediately if Benitez and his charges are serious about closing the gap between themselves and the top three this year.

The injury to Peter Crouch, and ongoing reports of moves away from Anfield for both Milan Baros and, more surprisingly, Djibril Cisse, mean that the men charged with scoring the goals to fire the Reds to victory are not without their share of distractions. Fernando Morientes appears to be the one constant presence in attack at the moment, and has again been making noises in the media about his desire for Michael Owen to return to the club.

If Morientes and his team-mates can concentrate on the task in hand rather than the possible comings and goings at the club this month, then three points against Mick McCarthy’s men should not be too much to ask of them.

Verdict: Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0

Stephen Orford
19 August 2005

2260: Chelsea: Essien deal shows Che

by : Alex Wolstenholme

After a tortuous summer of speculation, Chelsea have finally clinched the signing of Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien from Lyon for a fee widely reported to be ₤24million.

Essien may be the final piece in Jose Mourinho’s jigsaw on the pitch but his arrival makes a mockery of the claims made by Peter Kenyon that Chelsea are looking to be self-financing by 2010 and match Manchester United and Real Madrid in terms of their off-field activities.

Great player though he may be, Essien is not going to sell shirts in the Far East (or even in the Chelsea club shop given the competition from Terry, Lampard and Wright-Phillips) or earn the club a return through his image rights.

Those sorts of things would have been talked about at Old Trafford or the Bernabeu before such a vast sum of money was spent on one player who remains a virtual unknown on the world stage (and is likely to remain so given that he plays for a country that is unlikely to make a real impact at world level).

Essien may contribute to more success on the field for Chelsea but that is a lot more difficult to quantify in financial terms.

In terms of resale value, players such as Didier Drogba, Ricardho Carvalho, Tiago, Paulo Ferreira and others are probably worth at best, half what Chelsea paid for them despite their role in a Premiership winning side simply because 99.9% of other clubs could not afford to match what Chelsea paid and the other 0.01% would not be prepared to.

Over the next few years that means a lot of money is going to be written off when these players depart Stamford Bridge.

No club aiming to make a year-on-year profit can afford to do that and although Chelsea’s status as Premiership champions has increased their marketability, they do not have the same worldwide appeal as a number of other clubs.

Of course if Roman Abramovich remains prepared to support the club for the rest of his days (and beyond through trusts) then there won’t ever be a problem as the interest he is earning on his fortune is more than enough to keep funding new arrivals at Stamford Bridge.

But Lyon kept pressing for a deal with Chelsea on Essien because they knew that they would get half as much elsewhere and until Chelsea take a firmer stance they are going to continue paying way over the odds for players.

Alex Wolstenholme
18 August 2005

2259: England: Negative tactics and

by : Stephen Orford

If nothing else, England’s disastrous showing in Copenhagen did at least provide the kind of drama that has been sadly lacking from recent friendly internationals.

The miserable second half capitulation of Sven Goran Eriksson’s men allowed the Danes to secure an impressive 4-1 win, England’s worst defeat in 25 years. On a night of few positives, only the fact that World Cup Qualifying points were not at stake can act as any kind of consolation for Eriksson’s beleaguered troops.

This won’t be the case in Cardiff in just over a fortnight’s time, as England take on Wales in a game crucial to their hopes of keeping pace with Poland at the top of Group Six. A marked improvement on last night’s performance (August 17) is a must if England’s World Cup campaign is to stay on track.

Starting at the back, David James has already admitted in quite startling fashion that he was not prepared for the Denmark game. Having been named as a substitute due to the continuing success of Paul Robinson between the sticks for England, James entered the fray at half-time with the score-sheet blank. What followed was another entry into his very own database of disasters, as he rushed out to meet Jon Dahl Tomasson with all the success of an Ipswich Town promotion push.

The former Newcastle man rounded the hapless, under-cooked James, and after being delayed slightly by Ashley Cole, rolled the ball across for Charlton man Dennis Rommedahl to tap into the empty net. This latest horror show from the former Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham goalkeeper, added to his perplexing display of honesty afterwards, could yet lead to the end of his international career. It has been a career blighted by lapses of this kind for both club and country, with notable examples for England being his bout of dropsy in Austria, and his even more costly rush of blood against France in Euro 2004.

Chelsea full-back Glen Johnson was next to switch off, allowing Claus Jensen to routinely skip around him before centring for Tomasson. Cole again got in the way for a while, before the ball broke to Tomasson for another extraordinarily easy Danish goal. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but in light of the fact that Johnson failed to make the 16-strong Chelsea squad which took on Wigan last weekend, his inclusion in the England team, even as a substitute, is perhaps slightly odd. Unlike James, Johnson has time on his side to learn his art. However, on this evidence the former West Ham man appears to be the kind of student that would struggle with a significantly 'dumbed-down' A-level in full-back positioning.

Even the dependable Jamie Carragher was not immune to the disease of lethargy spreading through the England defence. It was he, hampered by his otherwise anonymous Liverpool colleague Steven Gerrard, who allowed debutant Michael Gravgaard to steal in to head the third. By the time Rio Ferdinand was caught napping to allow Soren Larsen to slot home the fourth, England’s humiliation was complete.

If Sven’s men could not defend, they fared little better in attack. In truth, Wayne Rooney’s late consolation, which came just before Larsen’s effort, was one of very few clear cut chances created by England on the night. For all Eriksson’s rhetoric about how the team played well in the first half of the game, the reality is that the first period was something of a non-event, much more in the traditions of Eriksson-inspired England friendlies. Perhaps that is why the ultra-negative coach enjoyed it so much, working on the assumption that no news is good news as far as the scoreboard is concerned.

The midfield area still seems to be a problem for Eriksson. Rather than work out a system which works best for the team, the Swede seems instead hell-bent on naming the four best individual players and hoping it all comes together on the night. It rarely does, and again there was evidence of discord and a lack of cohesion in England’s engine room. David Beckham, formerly the most devastating right-sided midfield playmaker in the game, drifts almost subconsciously into the middle of the field these days, where he finds both Gerrard and Frank Lampard standing around idly looking for a valuable way to spend their time.

The presence of all three in midfield renders at least one of them inactive for large parts of any game, aswell as leaving Joe Cole hopelessly isolated out on the left. The Chelsea player was unable to influence the play for the most part, though some of that was due to the necessity to run in the opposite direction after the latest positional gaffe from namesake Ashley. Whichever way you arrange them, the words 'England', 'left-side' and 'problem' are a clich by now. However, though it is dull to discuss these issues time and time again, the fact is that time is running out for Eriksson to find the solution which will give England a realistic chance in the World Cup next year.

Jermaine Defoe was in from the start ahead of Michael Owen, who will miss the Wales game due to suspension. Unfortunately for the Tottenham striker, his chances to shine were very few and far between as the talented but disjointed England midfield again failed to create. When his opportunity came, Defoe smashed a Steven Gerrard cross straight into the ground allowing Thomas Sorensen to throw his metaphorical cap on the ball. Again there must be question marks about Defoe’s contribution outside the box, as too often he struggled to hold on to possession or find a team-mate with a pass.

Sixteen days to go, then, before England step out at the Millennium Stadium against Wales for that vital World Cup Qualifier. England’s shape, attitude and maybe even some of the personnel must change if they are to see off the challenge of what will be a fired-up Welsh outfit on September 3.

Perhaps we should start with the coach?

Stephen Orford
18 August 2005

2258: England: 4-4-2 So Outdated

by : Hugh Larkin

England were found out in the second half in Denmark but many commentators were taking comfort from the fact that England held the home team in the first half. That might be the case if the Danes were a major force but they currently sit no better than fourth in their World Cup qualifying group and have a slim chance of being in Germany. Despite this being a friendly, England have to face some harsh realities.

Almost inevitably, England faced a team playing a system other than 4-4-2; in this case the very adaptable 4-2-3-1 made so popular by Brazil. No one except Eriksson at the top level seems to think that 4-4-2 is worth playing anymore because it provides no flexibility- compounded by the Swede’s determination to get certain players on to the field whatever the system.

Watching England cave in during the second half at the Parken left England fans desperate to see someone parked in front of the back four providing some protective cover. All the successful sides in world football go into games with a defensive shield and Claude Makelele is presented-rightly- as a shining example. The French have desperately persuaded him to come back and shore up their barricades; he carries as much weight as the also returning Zinedine Zidane.

Brazil allow Ronaldinho, Adriano and co. free rein by anchoring Emerson or Gilberto Silva in the centre; Cafu and Roberto Carlos can power up from full back knowing the back door is shut behind them. Contrast that with Denmark’s opener when two passes caused havoc in the England defence from a corner and suddenly only Ashley Cole is covering. David James has taken a fearful hammering but he might be entitled to wonder where the rest of his team was when he decided to charge out.

Denmark’s pattern allowed Claus Jensen to float around the midfield areas to test for weaknesses. When he got to the left wing with Glen Johnson in front of him he found the spot and the second goal came from it. Contrast that to England’s midfield where even Gerrard and Lampard are rarely able to move into wide areas with confidence. Jensen had no such qualms with the bullet-headed Thomas Gravesen holding the centre areas.

Arguably, none of England’s current midfield is actually playing in their club roles. Joe Cole isn’t a natural left sider, Beckham has become a central midfielder at Real Madrid and wanders infield constantly, while Lampard and Gerrard are able to rampage from box to box at their clubs, with other players hanging back.

Not one is a natural ‘sitter’ and trying to accommodate this quartet in a 4-4-2 is always going to be shaky. The players have enough talent- with the aid of Wayne Rooney’s natural gift for linking play-to pull it off against most decent international teams but against quality opposition they are either going to be caught out of position or forced back and back as a unit, as happened against France and Portugal in Euro 2004.

4-4-2 works very well if England can dominate the opposition because all four are carried forward, dragging the defence with them. However, if the other side can keep the ball for long periods both banks of four will be pushed backwards to compensate for the lack of holding players.

Eriksson could alter this but that would mean making difficult choices about who to leave out, especially as the coach only seems to have eyes for players in the Champions League. Suggestions that Michael Carrick could do the holding job fall on the manager’s obsession with selecting from elite clubs, plus the next 3 games are qualifiers and experimentation is highly unlikely.

So it looks like we are stuck with 4-4-2 to the Finals; England should have enough talent to knock aside the mediocre challenge in the group (though Poland may dispute that) but come the real competition, high quality sides will feel that England have a talented squad restricted by an inflexible pattern. Without change, another quarter-final exit looms.

Hugh Larkin
18 August 2005

2257: Wigan Athletic: Why Wigan Shou

by : Andy Bowen

Wigan’s battle to survive in the top flight began against champions Chelsea and their struggle has just got even tougher. The arrival of the Senegal international from Wolves, has arguably turned the omens against them.

Yes, he is a proven premiership striker, but if history repeats itself this time next year Wigan will be facing up to a season in the Championship and trying to find a club to take an unhappy striker.

Three of his last four clubs have been relegated from the top flight (Wolves, Southampton and Sedan), perhaps it will be third time lucky in the premiership for Camara, as surely it will not happen again, or will it?

Given his ability, the lack of interest shown in the striker following his return to Wolves surprised a few, as initially both Portsmouth and Man City were apparently considering to bid for him. Perhaps other clubs were put off by his off field behaviour, as his desire to become African Footballer of the Year caused him to forget his contractual obligations to Wolves. The fact that Celtic paid the Black Country club a decent fee to take him then sent him back to his parent club mid-way through a season-long loan is a warning to Wigan. Paul Jewell has a fantastic managerial record, and just maybe he will curb the player’s attitude, which has outraged managers, players and fans of clubs.

Wigan are reportedly looking at bringing in several other targets before the end of August, this is essential if they are to have a chance of staying up. Immediately after promotion it was speculated that Jewell would have a hefty transfer fund of twenty million. Investment of such a level has failed to materialise so far, and although Wigan fans can take comfort from his previous premiership record, they must be slightly worried by the lack of new faces in the squad. Jason Roberts has already proved he is not up to the premiership standard, and it will be particulary interesting to see how he copes after the sale of Nathan Ellington to rivals West Bromwich Albion.

It is going to be a tough journey, and now Camara has joined for the ride it will be interesting to see whether he jumps ship if they are relegated and whether his hat-trick of relegations increases to four.

Andy Bowen
8 August 2005 (edited 17 August)

2256: Aston Villa: Juan Pablo to be

by : Peter Lee

11th – Charlton Athletic

Where does Alan Curbishley go from here? Realistically he isn’t going to take Charlton much further than he already has. But he has done a superb job, and if Souness isn’t quick off the mark at Newcastle, you could well see ‘Curbs’ at St James’ Park before long. As for his side, no doubt he will keep them ticking along nicely for another year, without relegation or European football being much of an issue.

12th – Everton

After last seasons heroics, the only way is down for David Moyes and co. If they can defeat Villarreal – which is currently looking a tall order – their Premiership form will suffer massively. It’s a shame because David Moyes is a great manager, but they just don’t have the numbers to balance the Premiership with playing on the continent.

13th – Birmingham City

Steve Bruce could soon find himself in a similar predicament to Curbishley. Just how far can you take a club that isn’t one of the ‘big four’? Bruce will be looking to push for European football, but the consistency will again be a problem at St Andrews. The problem with the Premiership – and it’s a great problem for the neutral - is that the difference between sixth and sixteenth is probably two refereeing decisions, and mid-table teams just need to keep their fingers crossed.

14th – Blackburn Rovers

Mark Hughes will be glad he didn’t spend too much in the transfer window, as at this rate he is going to need cash to pay fines for poor discipline. Blackburn have been tipped by some to be fighting the drop, but they have a tendency to pick up points against the big sides, and that is essential when trying to steer clear of the bottom three.

15th – West Bromwich Albion

Up, then down, then up, then still up. The psychological boost of last day survival – particularly after being the first team to stay up when bottom at Christmas – will be phenomenal. Chris Kirkland will add some solidity in goal, while in Nathan Ellington West Brom may finally have someone capable of scoring regularly in the top flight. Zoltan Gera looks a class act and the Albion should not have such a stressful time of things this time around.

16th – Fulham

Surely this years relegation battle can’t match last year’s for drama? Probably not, but I can see there being more teams involved this time. Chris Coleman needs to keep hold of Luis Boa Morte and Papa Boupa Diop in order for any kind of success this season, but even if he does, it could well be the latter stages of the season before Fulham can be deemed safe from the drop.

17th – West Ham United

Survival will be the aim for the Hammers, and I think Alan Pardew may just pull it off. Often for promoted teams, it takes an age to record a first Premiership win. West Ham did it at the first attempt. They have the combination of young promise through the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker and Anton Ferdinand, as well as a wealth of experience in Teddy Sheringham alone. No doubt this season will be a tough ride, but I think West Ham may just have enough quality to make it.

18th – Wigan Athletic

Poor Paul Jewell was just seconds away from an impressive point in Wigan’s first ever top-flight appearance. In fact, if his strikers knew where the goal was, they could have even taken all three points. But that slice of luck always favours the high-flying teams and I fear that this stroke of bad luck could be a sign of things to come for Wigan. They looked a useful team and will certainly put up a very brave fight against relegation, but the luck already seems to be against them, which will be a massive psychological blow.

19th – Sunderland

Last season, incredibly nobody was definitely relegated on the last day of the season. That surely won’t be the case this time around. Mick McCarthey’s Sunderland were comfortably beaten by a Charlton side who aren’t going to pose any threat to the top four. Sunderland have made plenty of summer signings to strengthen their squad, but for me they are a year short of being ready for the top flight.

20th – Portsmouth

Did you hear about the team who sacked the manager who turned them from nobodies into an established Premiership side? Well you won’t be hearing much about Portsmouth this time around. A manager who doesn’t know the English game, a squad lacking any real quality and a Chairman who seems more worried about giving his friends a good job than he does about the success of the club. Harry Redknapp looked like he was taking them places, but now it is all starting to fall apart.

Week one might not have proven the most explosive start ever to a Premiership season, and the international break has hardly helped things. The cricket is even stealing much of the limelight. But with 37 games to go, it is only a matter of time before the action is flying in the Premiership.

Simon Cole
16 August 2005For the past few transfer windows, Aston Villa manager David O’Leary has been desperate to purchase a deadly finisher for his Euro-aiming squad. The biggest reason for the former-Leeds manager’s obsessive search for a new striker can easily be traced back to Villa’s record 9.5 million pound signing from River Plate: Juan Pablo Angel.

The Columbian was part of a fierce attacking triangle at River Plate, partnering Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola. When he arrived in England, however, the Columbian scored only one goal, in a total of 9 league games (2 as a substitute).

Angel, however, seemed charged up with ambition to prove his critics wrong as he went on to score 12 goals during the 01/02 season, raising hopeful talks of the young finisher’s quick adjustment to a new league. However, another poor season in 2002/2003 where he scored 1 league goal in 15 games dumped cold water on the Villa fans – and manager’s – hopes as times of misery and disappointment visited Aston Villa once again. Then, Graham Taylor – the former manager of Aston Villa – resigned after a poor last match of the season. Villa’s replacement manager, David O’Leary – then controversially sacked by Leeds United – opted to stay with the Columbian, announcing that the striker would start off with a clean slate under his first season in charge. Angel then returned to the scoring chart in fashion under O’Leary, with 16 league goals in 33 matches. His past reputation as “one of the most feared strikers in the league” began to fly around people’s lips once again. That season, Villa finished 6th, closely missing out on European football via goal differences. Although denied once again, Aston Villa finally seemed to have something to build upon as Angel vowed to keep his scoring form going.

However, 7 goals in 30 league matches in the 04/05 was a completely shocking return from the talented Columbian, who claimed that his pre-season knee injury had prevented him from reaching full match fitness. That outcome spurred the manager on to look for a possible replacement up front as names ranging from James Beattie, Craig Bellamy and most recently Milan Baros have been linked with the club.

Now, manager David O’Leary has spent 750,000 pounds on Southampton’s Kevin Philips, who announced his arrival with a stylish debut goal against Bolton Wanderers last Saturday. England international Darius Vassell has been sold to Manchester City. This decision was a huge gamble for the club in many ways, as the club did not make any more additional signings up front until the beginning of the season, which meant that the future of the club would once again rest on Angel’s shoulders.

If Juan Pablo Angel is to truly become one of the most respected and feared strikers in England, then it is crucial that the striker maintains high form at a consistent basis. Aston Villa currently possesses only three strikers in Kevin Philips, Luke Moore and Angel. Now beginning his 6th season in the Premier League, it is up to the Columbian striker to fulfill his manager’s and club’s ambitions of qualifying for the European stages. Will Angel re-discover his deadliness with the ball that persuaded Aston Villa to dish out a record fee for him 6 years ago? Only time will tell.

Peter Lee
16 August 2005

2255: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Simon Cole

We are finally underway and it seems that nothing has changed. Chelsea got the rub of the green, Arsenal got a dubious penalty, Liverpool failed to break a team down away from home and Graeme Souness got angry with a referee. Welcome back!

The season ahead looks set to be a corker, with there surely being far more competition not only for the title, but also for European places. Having already looked in depth at what the coming 10 months holds in store for Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs, here I look how I see the Premiership panning out for the 20 sides involved.

1st – Manchester United

Possible a big shout given that Chelsea have strengthened an already superb squad, but with Wayne Rooney finally being allowed to play up-front rather than on the left-wing, United will be a force to be reckoned with. There is no way Ruud Van Nistelrooy will misfire two years running, and with Rio Ferdinand now seemingly settled, the rest of the country should beware of a United backlash.

2nd – Chelsea

What can you say about Chelsea that hasn’t already been said before? (http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2238 )They will certainly fight United right to the bitter end and while I wouldn’t be surprised if they did pip them, Wigan have already shown how motivated teams are going to be against Chelsea this year. The pressure of expectation will be the biggest factor.

3rd – Liverpool

Rafa Benitez’s men made a less than emphatic start against Middlesbrough, but with a couple more signings still to come, they could potentially have a very strong squad. They surely can’t be as unfortunate with injuries as they were last year, Gerrard is finally settled and Benitez has a squad that is his own. These factors – plus the confidence boost of being European Champions – should all contribute towards a much stronger Liverpool side. (http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2200 )

4th – Arsenal

How Patrick Vieira is going to be missed this year. Cesc Fabregas may be a superb replacement with the footballing world at his feet, but an injury to Gilberto Silva would leave Arsenal very short on experience in midfield and the likes of Matthieu Flamini don’t have the class or experience of Vieira to turn the tide when the Gunners are up against things. That said, you can never write off a team with Thierry Henry on the pitch.

5th – Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs fans have heralded the arrival of Edgar Davids as one of their infamous ‘turning points’ in Spurs’ fortunes. The bigger turning point has been the arrival of Martin Jol, without whom the purchase of Davids wouldn’t be possible. The biggest strength at Spurs though is the hunger and team spirit, spearheaded by the ever dangerous Jermain Defoe. Finally things are looking up for Spurs. (http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2199 )

6th – Middlesbrough

Steve McClaren’s men showed against Liverpool how well they can defend. Add the threat of Yakubu to the experience of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka, and you have a team that should be able to get goals from the supply they receive from the likes of Stuart Downing. They still lack the spark to push for a Champions’ League spot but once again, Boro will prove a very difficult team to beat.

7th – Manchester City

They may have lost their star man in Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Stuart Pearce has shown that he could well become a very prominent manager in the Premiership. Andy Cole was a very good signing and certainly still has what it takes to succeed in the top flight. If Pearce can finally get Robbie Fowler firing on all cylinders and carry on tightening the mandatory Kevin Keegan leaky defence, then European football is a real possibility.

8th – Bolton Wanderers

If there’s one thing that the success of Everton and Bolton showed last year, it is that physical football is very effective in this division. If Jay-Jay Okacha can return to top form, and Kevin Nolan can be as consistent as he has over the last three years, then Bolton can once again 1-0 their way towards the higher reaches of the table.

9th – Newcastle United

Unlucky against Arsenal, Souness has shown that things won’t be getting any worse than last season. Scott Parker has already shown on his debut what an excellent signing he could become. The biggest problem remains the lack of strikers, with an ageing Alan Shearer the only established players. This is the season the Shola Ameobi needs to prove himself at the highest level and after last year, things can surely only get better. (http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2207 )

10th – Aston Villa

You can’t expect much other than mid-table mediocrity from a side that hasn’t really got any better or worse over the summer. David O’Leary seems to be a man capable of making a team work very well together and run their socks off for the cause. Which is a good job really, because he’s not going to get much help or sympathy from ‘Deadly Doug’.

2254: SPL: Rangers hold the advantag

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Ibrox is the scene of the first Old Firm clash of the season on Saturday as champions Rangers take on their great rivals Celtic.

The ‘Gers, current SPL champions, go into the game in better shape than their neighbours despite a surprise 3-2 defeat at Aberdeen last week.

After winning the title last season, perhaps a year ahead of schedule after some hefty rebuilding, Rangers had a decent summer in the transfer market, adding Jose Pierre-Fanfan, Julien Rodriguez, Ian Murray and Brahim Hemdani to their squad.

After success in the foreign transfer market in recent season with the likes of Dado Prso and Jean-Alain Boumsong, much is expected of Pierre-Fanfan, Rodriguez and Hemdani.

A 2-1 win in Cyprus over Anorthosis Famagusta has put Alex McLeish’s side in good shape to make the Champions League group stage and trouser a pot of cash from UEFA.

They will be without skipper Fernando Ricksen at the weekend after his dismissal against Aberdeen but will feel that they have enough firepower to trouble a Celtic defence that has looked shaky so far this season.

Celtic meanwhile are out of European competition altogether after their horror show in Bratislava and dropped points in their SPL opener before two less than convincing home wins.

The jury is still out on new boss Gordon Strachan and his summer signings, particularly left-back Mo Camara and Polish striker Maciej Zurawski.

Celtic have been criticised by their fans for lacking ambition with their close-season buys but whatever the quality of those coming in, Strachan was left with an ageing side by Martin O’Neill and would have needed time no matter who he was able to sign.

One thing that Strachan has shown he is not afraid to do, in contrast to O’Neill, is take a chance on some of Celtic’s young talent.

Forwards Craig Beattie and Shaun Maloney in particular have impressed in their outings so far and Strachan has hinted that they may feature at Ibrox.

Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has also been a bright light for Strachan since his arrival from Reggina while Celtic still possess players such as Alan Thompson and John Hartson who have been matchwinners against Rangers in recent years.

The match has been given an extra dimension to some effect by the current media hype surrounding Hearts and their excellent start to the season.

George Burley has been given the financial backing to bring in new players and has guided his side to three wins out of three.

They may not be able to mount a title challenge this season but their presence, and the improvements made by Hibs, Motherwell and Aberdeen in particular does mean that the SPL crown may be depend on more than the outcome of the Old Firm games alone.

Alex Wolstenholme
16 August 2005

2253: World Cup 2018 Bid: A chance f

by : Chris Nee

On Tuesday August 16th the Football Association announced that it is to bid to host the 2018 World Cup. 2018 is the soonest the tournament will return to Europe after being hosted in Germany next summer. This writer believes that the length of time available to prepare a bid should be combined with the experiences of the successful London Olympics bid team, in order that an unbeatable plan is laid out.

The 2018 World Cup is a screaming opportunity to bring the greatest show on earth to the stadia of England once again. The successful hosting of Euro 96 has proven our ability to stage such tournaments, and all other factors are on the up and up as the FA begins to finalise its plans. The authorities are getting a grip on the hooligan problem which has blighted England’s summer trips in the past. Banning orders and arrests are beginning to show positive results, as proven by the exemplary behaviour of England fans in Portugal last year, praised by the Portuguese police. This is a prerequisite for any bid being successful, but what does England have going in its favour this time around, to give it the edge?

The obvious answer, at least one would hope so, is a combination of being synonymous with both football’s history and its modernisation. A bid focused on this unique duality would instantly stand out. The inevitable spotlight on the ‘football coming home’ factor is perfectly logical, but alone will not cut it with FIFA. The most fruitful tactic will be to show the voters not only that England has a rich football history, but that that history is being used to ease English football into a position of leadership as the game adapts to the twenty-first century marketplace.

The combination of history and progress is demonstrated in part by the modernisation of another trump card, England’s stadia. The clubs maintain their tradition in most cases, while their homes become ultra-modern. We are not short of venues. Wembley will have been fully functional for over a decade, but in all likeliness will be yet to host the final of a major international summer tournament. Again, the history-modernisation dualism comes to the fore: the traditional home of football, rebuilt into the greatest stadium in the world. Surely the perfect venue for a World Cup final as soon as possible? Old Trafford is simply magnificent and would be certain to host a semi-final. Ashburton Grove will probably join it. And what of Stamford Bridge, Eastlands, Villa Park, Anfield, St James? What’s more, there will be even more fabulous grounds by the time 2018 rolls around. We’re spoilt for choice. These are all beautiful modern stadia belonging to clubs based on extremely traditional values. The FA should highlight this country’s multi-faceted game and use it to our advantage.

We also have the personalities. Being a cynic, this writer believes we should exploit the worldwide fame of our stars. Of course, the glittering lights and the red carpets will have been long vacated by the names we know now, such as David Beckham, but we will have other ‘alternative Royal couples’. That’s just the nature of English football. The young talented player becomes an international megastar. When the time comes for this bid to reach fruition, there is little doubt that we will have the players to give it international credibility on a more shallow level, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It simply reinforces the view that English football has it all: Tradition, forward-thinking, glamour, excellence, and the ability to host a major tournament.

The success of London’s 2012 Olympics bid will provide useful experience to the FA and so this writer’s final suggestion is that the FA enters into two stages of consultation with the London Olympics team. First, early consultation regarding the process of constructing a bid itself. Second, in order to give the bid that final necessary push, the FA should check in with the final stages of preparation for the Games as the date draws closer. The ability to say “we know what we’re doing”, and prove it, could be the difference.

Chris Nee
16 August 2005

2252: Manchester United: Media lose

by : Alex Wolstenholme

The Glazers were firmly welcomed into the Old Trafford fold last week according to the newspapers after watching United’s victory over Debrecen in the Champions League.

The Sun led the way with a report that Pravda would have been proud of, saying:

‘A MASS protest against the Glazer family by angry Manchester United fans was a flop.

In fact it was all smiles at Old Trafford last night as supporters queued for their AUTOGRAPHS!

Joel, Avi and Bryan Glazer, sons of United’s new owner Malcolm, defied threats and watched the Red Devils’ 3-0 win from the directors’ box.

And a planned boycott of the match fell flat as more than 50,000 fans turned up.’

On a number of levels the story is a complete nonsense not least the fact that the boycott of the match had no effect. For Manchester United to be selling tickets on the gate for any match, let alone a European game indicates that a large number of people voted with their feet and stayed away.

Other reports on the game at least mentioned that there were protests outside the ground but still focused on Sir Alex Ferguson’s praise for the Glazers and the reaction of the fans inside the ground towards the team.

Basically the media, having used the Glazer deal to fill a fairly quiet summer are saying that the fans should forget about it because the season has started and United have started well.

It’s a far cry from the time, a decade or so ago when Manchester City fans managed to remove chairman Peter Swales from the helm at Maine Road with the active support of the Daily Mirror and shows the changing priorities of the media.

Whether or not the Manchester United fans who are protesting against Glazer have your sympathy or not, the increasing cosiness of the media towards the bigger clubs is worrying.

At the heart of it all is the fact that the tabloids are increasingly reliant on the club’s own media outlets for stories.

A number of ‘exclusives’ now come from MUTV; Chelsea TV or club websites while others are arranged with a certain player’s own sponsor and include shameless plugs for the product involved.

This means that any kind of serious analysis of, for example, whether Malcolm Glazer is risking the future of Manchester United with his plans is not undertaken for fear of upsetting the club and missing out on the big stuff, such as Rio’s latest haircut or Wayne’s new car in the future.

It’s perhaps not so much of a problem with the tabloids whose output is often read with detached amusement but even at local level, newspapers that have been prepared to criticise constructively in the past are increasingly having to toe the line as clubs realise that they can now get their own message out to the fans through their own websites and magazines.

The hype of the Premiership is supposed to quash any kind of dissent from fans but opening day attendances and season-ticket figures at some clubs show that the high water mark may have been reached.

For now, there are enough ‘new’ fans to keep the whole thing afloat but if prices continue to rise and the Premiership becomes more and more dominated by a select band of clubs that will change.
If it does, the clubs themselves will need to listen to fans and give themselves a greater say in the running of their club. Whether the media like it or not.

Alex Wolstenholme
16 August 2005

2251: England: Poland offer echoes o

by : Hugh Larkin

As the Premiership kicks off and the England squad ships out to Denmark for a friendly warm-up, there’s already much talk about how the season will affect the players in next summer’s World Cup. It’s easy to forget that although England hold the advantage in Group 6 there’s still a deal of work to be done before automatic qualification for Germany 2006 is assured.

The fly in the ointment for Sven-Goran Eriksson is Poland. Though England produced a battling performance to win in Chorzow thanks to Jermain Defoe, the victory hasn’t shaken off Pawel Janas’ team. In fact, the fixture schedule means that the Poles sit on top of the group despite that defeat to England.

The Poles have benefited from the weakness of the rest of Group contenders. When the draw was made, Wales and Austria were expected to make a decent fist of their respective campaigns and dispute at least second spot with the section’s big two. In the event, the Welsh challenge fizzled away dramatically while the Austrians- apart from giving England a scare in Vienna-have been only average.

The problem this creates for England is that if they and the Poles continue to hoover up all the available points from their remaining matches, the end result will be a single game shootout on 12th October to decide the group winner. While it would be at home and England would only need a draw, it would be uncomfortably like the scenario against Greece in 2001.

Plus, on this occasion, England would be in direct opposition to their main group rivals who would turn up with little pressure on them. If results continue to go to form, the Poles will have secured second place and a play off berth and would have the freedom to play for the win that would snatch top spot. That situation might inspire the Poles to throw off the remarkable dominance England have held over them for the past 20 years.

Eriksson will be hoping that Wales or Austria can go to Poland and take points while England take maximum toll of Northern Ireland in Belfast and Austria at home. Unfortunately, the Poles have put together a run of five straight wins in the group since the defeat to England, plus useful away draws in France and Mexico. Home wins against Albania and more significantly a good Serbia/Montenegro side have put the team in good heart for the contests ahead.

So the Denmark friendly is more than just another meaningless international. Eriksson needs to be clear about the quality of his back-up performers should he enter the three autumn qualifiers without any of his first-choice lineup. If England are able to deploy their first XI they should be able to deal comfortably with the Polish challenge but if injuries intervene then the ride may be less smooth.

Janas leads a squad that lacks star names but includes a host of dependable performers employed in quality leagues around Europe. If they do arrive in October under no pressure to protect 2nd place, the England team can expect a big effort; if the ‘winner takes all’ game does come to pass, hopefully England won’t leave it until the last minute to settle matters this time.

Hugh Larkin
16 August 2004

2247: West Brom: Baggies buoyant for

by : Colin Illingworth

Pundits and a section of West Brom fans questioned Bryan Robson’s appointment at the Hawthorns last November? After saving the club from the drop in spectacular fashion on the last day of the season though the former England captain Marvel can now do no wrong in the eyes of the Baggies faithful as they start the season full of optimism.

The former Middlesbrough boss has been busy in the transfer market and has boosted the squad with the addition of future England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, on loan from Liverpool, Steve Watson, Diomansy Kamara and Darren Carter from rivals Birmingham City. There is also talk that Wigan Athletic hotshot Nathan Ellington will soon be coming to the Hawthorns too.

“So far so good,” says Amanda Hume, secretary of the Sutton Coldfield branch of West Brom supporters. ”I would have liked another forward and another full-back at least. I think Kirkland will be good if he can stay fit. Hoult is too risky now with his groin and back injuries. I’m excited about Kamara. Would love to see Ellington here too though.”

One player who won’t be at the Hawthorns this season though is Kieron Richardson who broke into the England set-up following his impressive displays with the Baggies. He has decided to return to Old Trafford and try to establish himself as a first team regular under Sir Alex Ferguson, a bad move according to Amanda.

“I don’t think we will miss him too much and I think he has done the wrong thing. He would have been a regular for us but he will be a bit-part player for Manchester United. I think the England tour probably gave him even more ideas of his worth than he had before. He was good but a bit selfish at times rather than a team player.”

Robson snapped up the promising box-to-box midfielder Darren Carter for £1.5 million from local rivals Birmingham and Amanda believes the Birmingham born star could be a real bargain.

“I think he is a real 100 per cent player and fans always appreciate those. He could be a real bargain at that price and my colleague Blue-nose is not best pleased!”

Carter is definitely one for the future and will be a huge part of Robson’s future plans but for the immediate future he has bought in some experience in the shape of Steve Watson who has been in the Premiership now for a number of years after spells at Newcastle and Everton, and Amanda is hoping that he will show the same sort of drive and determination as manager Bryan Robson.

There is still a few weeks left before the transfer window is closed and, as it stands, Nathan Ellington is close to agreeing terms to join the Baggies. His signing would give the club an added dimension up front with Kevin Campbell using his strength and experience to play in and capitalise on the pace of Earnshaw and Ellington. Fans will also be looking for former Arsenal striker Kanu to produce the sort of form that we all know that he is capable of on a more regular basis.

It’s almost four months since those ecstatic scenes at the Hawthorns as West Brom became the first team in Premiership history to beat the drop after sitting bottom at Christmas, but the spirit is still alive and well and Amanda is confident that there will be no last day heroics this season.

“I had hoped for a few more transfers in but still think we will finish about six up from the bottom. There are definitely enough teams to finish below us this season!”

If the Baggies can continue where they left off who knows where Robson can take them.

Colin Illingworth
12 August 2005

2250: Denmark vs England: Difficult

by : Stephen Orford

Under normal circumstances one might expect the first week of the Premiership season to be jam-packed with midweek action, as the clubs jockey for positions in the early going. This season is different, however, as club matters are put aside in favour of international business.

This being a World Cup year, Sven Goran Eriksson’s England side start their season early with a trip to Copenhagen to face Denmark this Wednesday (August 17). The old debates will rage again about the value of international friendlies which invariably turn into substitution-fests, but this is unlikely to be on the minds of Eriksson or the 23 men he has selected for duty on this occasion.

The main point of interest in the build-up to the game appears to be the question of who will play up front alongside Wayne Rooney. Michael Owen is indisputably England’s number one striker, but his forthcoming suspension for the World Cup Qualifier against Wales in Cardiff may well have given Eriksson something to think about ahead of the Denmark clash. It looks as if the Swede will be keen to test his team’s abilities to play without Owen from the off in Copenhagen, perhaps leaving an opportunity for another player to make his presence felt on the international stage.

The man in pole position to take Owen’s position is Tottenham striker Jermaine Defoe. On target for Spurs in their Premiership win at Portsmouth at the weekend, Defoe’s only competition for a starting berth appears to be the uncapped Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic. Liverpool’s Peter Crouch and Andrew Johnson of Crystal Palace are injured, while Alan Smith declined the invitation to join up with the squad as he attempts to work his way back to full fitness.

For many, Defoe is similar in stature and style to Owen, all of which should limit the need for Rooney to change his game. However, we may see the introduction of Bent at some point after his 8 goals in 12 under-21 appearances brought him to the attention of Eriksson. The England coach has stated on many occasions the need for 'something different’ in his striking options, and with Crouch absent and Emile Heskey again out of favour, Bent could yet provide that alternative.

Elsewhere in the side Paul Robinson should continue to keep goal ahead of makeshift centre-forward and some time Manchester City goalkeeper David James. Robinson has been an immovable object between the England sticks since James’ Austrian blunders in 2003, although both may see some action on the night.

Phil Neville is back in the international fold following his £3million transfer from Manchester United to Everton. Able to foul things up equally well in either midfield or defence, Neville’s versatility will probably not be enough to see him start the game. Despite this, don’t be surprised to see him introduced at some stage, while the possibility of him trudging around wearing the captain‘s armband late in the second half should not be ruled out either.

Brother Gary should start at right-back, with ‘The Best Left-Back In The World’ Ashley Cole situated the other side of a central defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. Waiting impatiently alongside Phil Neville for a sniff of defensive action will be Jamie Carragher of Liverpool and Birmingham City’s Matthew Upson, aswell as young Chelsea starlet Glen Johnson.

In midfield David Beckham picks himself. No, really. Alongside him is another self-selector in Steven Gerrard, while Chelsea’s Frank Lampard also now appears to have joined the list of players marked 'Impossible To Leave Out’. Joe Cole may get another chance to potter about on the left , and another Chelsea man, Shaun Wright-Phillips, will probably see some action as yet more square pegs are thrust forcefully into distinctly circular holes.

Owen Hargreaves is again included in the squad, and again this writer remains baffled as to why. Jermaine Jenas, fresh from his rescinded red card at Highbury on Sunday (August 14), will challenge Michael Carrick of Tottenham for the right to fill in for one of the exalted midfield trio of Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard at some stage.

The Danes are a squad packed with players with Premiership experience, as they count Thomas Sorensen of Aston Villa and Fulham Jensens Claus and Niclas in their ranks. Everton’s new signing Per Kroldrup features despite suggestions that he needs a hernia operation, while ‘The Best Left Back In The World’ could be tested by Charlton’s Dennis Rommedahl. Thomas Helveg of Borussia Monchengladbach spent much of last season watching his then Norwich City colleagues struggle, and Thomas Gravesen, Jesper Gronkjaer and Jon Dahl Tomasson are all names familiar to English football fans.

When all is said and done the result will barely matter, but it is to be hoped that better fare will be served up than has been seen in recent England friendlies. Sadly, that is very unlikely.

Verdict: Denmark 1 England 1

Stephen Orford
16 August 2005

2249: Newcastle: Steve Bennett shoul

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Despite Arsene Wenger’s assertion that Jermaine Jenas deserved to be sent off against his side on Sunday, referee Steve Bennett has seen sense and downgraded the dismissal to a yellow card offence only.

That doesn’t help Newcastle much of course (apart from having Jenas available for their upcoming games) but although Bennett deserves praise for admitting he was wrong, the referee should be punished for his error.

A suspension for such a mistake would convince players and managers that referees are accountable for their errors and hopefully, could put an end to the endless cycle of (mostly incorrect) complaints that are made after each and every Premiership game by managers, convinced that officials are out to get them and their team.

This wasn’t a penalty decision that could have gone either way or two contentious yellow cards. Bennett was guilty of being panicked by the new rules on dangerous tackles into producing a red card and the speed in which he requested the video and downgraded the red card shows that at the back of his mind he may have had doubts about the decision.

So if video evidence is used to change a red card to a yellow card why not the other way around?

In Rugby League, if a referee is unsure at first glance of whether a (high) tackle is dangerous or not, he can put the player involved ‘on report’ whereby the incident is looked at after the game has ended.

In this case, Steve Bennett, if unsure about the tackle could have done that for Jermaine Jenas and then a panel could have looked at it later and decided what action to take.

Arsenal fans could argue that their team would then have been penalised if Jenas had been guilty of a red card offence and stayed on the pitch but at least the game would still have been eleven versus eleven.

That may even have helped the Gunners who were faced with a defensive wall for the remaining hour of the contest and arguably found it harder to break Newcastle down than they would otherwise have done.

Otherwise it is going to be more and more commonplace to see games where one side is reduced to ten men early on and the remainder becomes a game of attack versus defence.

When the referee has some doubt in his mind it would be a more commonsense solution than having an extra card in between yellow and red as has been argued for in the past and it would only be used in a minority of cases as the red cards dished out for dangerous tackles on the opening day of the Premiership (Darren Ambrose for Charlton and Paul Dickov for Blackburn) looked fairly clear cut.

If necessary then, increase the punishment for a dangerous tackle to a four or five game ban to really punish anyone found guilty of such an offence.

Alex Wolstenholme
15 August 2005

2248: Blackburn Rovers: Bellamy to s

by : Colin Illingworth

Craig Bellamy is the final piece in Mark Hughes’ puzzle and will shoot Blackburn up the table, according to Richard Conway, a member of the Irish Rovers supporters club. The life-long Rovers fan is thrilled by Hughes’ £6 million summer signing and believes the former Newcastle man will put his bitter rift with Graeme Souness and the Toon Army behind him to solve the team’s poor scoring record.

“I think Craig Bellamy is a fantastic acquisition,” says Richard. “He's the sort of player who you absolutely hate when he's playing against your team, but is a fan’s favourite when on your own side. I remember another player who was just like that, Mark Hughes.”

High praise indeed for a man who has given Robbie Savage a run for his money in the most hated player polls. Not that it bothers Hughes or the Blackburn Rovers fans who want to see a team full of winners at Ewood Park, willing to fight tooth and nail for every ball and give everything for the cause. In Bellamy, Savage, Dickov and Nelson, Blackburn have that battling quality in abundance and they will not win too many friends this season but they will win games.

However, if you put Bellamy’s temperament to one side you will see that the Welsh international striker is a fantastic talent. He possesses blinding pace and has a great touch. He has an eye for goal and will have no worries about being asked to play out wide. Take his character away though and you will not get the same high-impact energy charged player.

Richard, who is confident that Blackburn can mount a serious assault on reaching Europe, cannot hide his excitement about seeing Bellamy in a Blackburn shirt.

“Bellamy is a fantastic player, fantastic pace, which is becoming ever more important in the modern game and also an ability on the ball for which he rarely gets the credit he should.

“As for his 'issues' at Newcastle, after having Souness at Blackburn and seeing the disagreements he got into with our own players such as David Dunn, we have a bit of a different perspective on such things I'd say, and we have a team shaping up nicely in terms of personalities, with Savage and Dickov here as well, so I'd expect a greater team spirit from now on.”

Blackburn were the lowest scorers in the Premiership last season hitting the back of the net just 32 times so the acquisition of Bellamy, who scored 22 goals for club and country last season, including his loan spell at Celtic, will surely boost that tally, providing of course that he’s not too busy texting Alan Shearer!

Bellamy will be assisted by Mark Hughes’ only other summer signing Ipswich’s Shefki Kuqi. The Finnish international striker scored almost a goal every other game for the Portman Road side. However, the former Stockport County striker has done nothing to excite Richard.

“My opinion of Kuqi is a big useless lump. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong though. I haven't seen him for Rovers, but he never impressed me at Stockport or Ipswich.”

Mark Hughes has made great strides at Ewood Park since taking over from Graeme Souness in September and the club enjoyed a strong finish to the season with an appearance in the FA Cup semi-final. While some clubs have been heavily active in the transfer market Blackburn have only added two new names to their squad but Richard is not concerned as he believes that in Bellamy Hughes has finally got the man he has been waiting for.

“I think Hughes signed the players he should have last year, the last piece in the puzzle was Bellamy. It would have been nice to pick him up in January, but I think Hughes avoided signing anyone else because Bellamy was the man he wanted and he knew he would sign in the summer. I think the squad is just about complete now, perhaps a few weaknesses but there aren't really players available that we could really use.”

But with four quality frontmen in their ranks just who does Hughes play up alongside Bellamy?

“I'd start with Bellamy and Dickov,” says Richard. “Two little, lively, incessantly annoying players like that could cause havoc to defences. Matt Jansen is another contender. If he can get back to where he was before his accident I'd start him ahead of Dickov. Keep Kuqi in reserve if we need some power off the bench.”

Things are looking up at Ewood Park, so much so that Richard has seemingly forgotten all about last season’s brush with the drop and believes the squad is capable for greater things.

“European football has to be the target this year, by league or cup, and I think we could just do it, probably just scraping a UEFA cup place, it will be a close thing though, there are many fine teams around this season.”

With Mark Hughes at the helm and a Welsh spirit running through the side, who would put it past them?

Colin Illingworth
12 August 2005

2246: Lincoln City: Impish enthusias

by : James Prentice

The new season is only three games old but already there are rumblings of discontent on the terraces. While things would have to get a whole lot worse for mutiny to break out, it is clear as day that a below average start has not been welcomed by the supporters.

On Saturday, Lincoln City lost 2-1 away at Notts County, despite taking a first half lead courtesy of a stunning volley from Nat Brown. City’s promising opening took a turn for the worse when Jamie McCombe headed a long ball into his own net just before the break. On 59 minutes, Paul Mayo’s foul on the 18-yard line allowed Julian Baudet to fire a blistering free kick past Alan Marriott to compound the Imps’ disappointing start.

On the journey home from Nottingham, the local radio station’s phone-in was jammed with angry City fans berating their team’s performance and the manager Keith Alexander’s tactics. One fan stormed out of the visitors’ end of County’s Meadow Lane ground after the final whistle calling for the manager’s head, but his fellow supporters retaliated by keeping a vow of silence over his baited ranting. Such massed solidarity showed there is still faith in their side and the manager, but the good folk of Lincoln will surely become increasingly restless and cry foul if the team’s fortunes do not change for the better, and quick.

Three play-off appearances in three seasons have raised the bar at Sincil Bank; the supporters expect promotion this season, preferably via the automatic places to shield them from the possible disappointment that another play-off finish could bring. But on Saturday’s showing against the Oldest Club in England, they could struggle to make the top seven without rapid change.

City fans, however, should be able to find solace in the wake of the defeat by County and optimism in the future in the track record of their manager. Alexander built a good side with zero resources back in 2002 and signalled his loyalty to Lincoln before the play-off final defeat by Southend in May when he signed a new three-year deal. Despite being headhunted by a number of more prestigious clubs and knowing that failure to secure promotion would result in the loss of a large number of Alexander stayed and has brought in a new crop to try and realise Lincoln’s dream of League 1 football: what can be more inspirational than that?

The harsh hyperboles of the rebel forces amongst the City support are a microcosm of British society: we expect instant results with the technological advances of the internet and real-time purchasing; we believe that we can make better decisions and achieve better results than our politicians and football managers as if we want some autonomy over the choices they take for us; and, like so many high-flyers in so many cut-throat, duplicitous industries, we expect success and are not prepared to wait too long for it.

Maybe now is the time for the City support to stretch its philosophical muscles, pick a comfortable chair, sit back, relax and not worry about the team’s start to the new campaign. A profitable return from the first few outings was what everyone had hoped for, but so what? It’s where the team ends up in May that matters, not August.

The season’s opener was a 1-1 draw against Northampton, who played very well and have strong promotion credentials; while the first win of the campaign would have come the following Tuesday at Chester City – leading 2-1 with 15 seconds to go and conceding a penalty was rough justice after a courageous performance. The Imps were shorn of their defensive duo who have been the binding forces in the very spine of the team for a whole season, Gareth McAuley and Paul Morgan – who doubles as club captain – in Nottingham; so were things really that bad?

There are so many new faces in the City camp that people are still learning their faces and names. They seem skilful and brave enough, so long as the team can double their efforts, victory against Oxford United next weekend may very well beckon.

James Prentice
15 August 2005

2245: Manchester United: Alan Smith;

by : Hugh Larkin

We don’t know the substance of the conversations between Sven-Goran Eriksson and Alan Smith but it’s probably fair to say that the Swede was more than a little surprised when Smith told him playing against Bolton reserves was more of a priority than linking with the England squad for the Denmark friendly. The player’s decision called to mind the actions of Chris Sutton in 1997.

There are several similarities between Smith and Sutton. The Blackburn striker refused to join England’s B squad in November 1997- also in a season preceding a World Cup. At the time he too was only a fringe member of the international squad-although Smith has played more games-despite being a member of one of the most successful teams in the country. Smith has begun to develop a role as both midfielder and striker, while in 1997 Sutton was a very competent central defender as well as goalscorer.

Smith’s decision has not been couched in the same aggressive terms that Sutton chose to use with Glenn Hoddle. In theory there has been no outright refusal by the Manchester United striker, whereas Sutton simply wouldn’t turn out for the B side. However, that has to be a moot point because the end result is still a disruption in Eriksson’s plans.

There is speculation that the player has become unhappy at the promotion of strikers such as Andy Johnson and Peter Crouch, effectively over his head. Sutton clearly felt that he was a better player than some of those that Hoddle selected; Smith has been more circumspect in his public comments but his behaviour is certainly surprising if he still harbours serious hopes of a trip to Germany next summer.

If the player had no chance of being on the plane to Germany then his action would be more understandable, but clearly the England manager has not settled on his striker roster should England qualify. Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney are certainties and Jermaine Defoe very likely but Crouch and Johnson are by no means definites, while Darius Vassell and Emile Heskey have gone down the pecking order. His decision has only served to offer Darren Bent an unexpected chance.

Possibly Smith’s decision is a product of two comparatively recent developments in modern football. The first is the bloated squads that the elite sides can field these days; despite being a multi- million pound signing the ex-Leeds man has never been assured of a game at Old Trafford and may feel that it’s necessary to demonstrate his commitment to the United cause.

Second is the hugely enhanced importance of the Champions League. At both the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, star players had far less of an impact than was expected. At each tournament lower ranked nations with less players involved at this elite level came to the fore, leading to speculation that international soccer had lost some of its appeal for some of the stellar names.

There is now a massive pull that elite clubs can exert on their players given the huge wages they receive and the size of squad that teams like United can deploy. In the modern game, big name stars can actually find themselves as fringe players for both club and country, which creates a real dilemma. Smith’s situation appears to fit this scenario perfectly.

Alan Smith may genuinely believe that his decision to seek match fitness in a 90 minute run out is the correct professional choice and his reasons may satisfy Sven-Goran Eriksson. Alternatively, he has possibly decided that his England chances are too slim to jeapordise his United place. Either way he will be well aware- or he should be- that Chris Sutton has never played for England again, under three successive managers.

Hugh Larkin
15 August 2005

2244: West Ham: Carroll will be key

by : Colin Illingworth

The summer signing of the Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Roy Carroll could be the key to West Ham’s survival, says life-long West Ham fan Matthew Beeby. The former Manchester United shot stopper arrived at Upton Park on a free, closely followed by former Hammers keeper Shaka Hislop but Matthew is putting his faith in Carroll to take charge of the number one shirt.

“Roy Carroll could be a big signing for us. Not since big Ludo was at Upton Park have we had a keeper that didn’t cause some concern. Shaka was a good keeper first time round, but he was a bit shaky in the air. Now he’s shaky everywhere – I’ll be surprised if he gets a game for us. People will point out that Carroll was a bit Jamesesque with his calamity keeping at Man Utd last season, but I’m sure most teams in the league would take him on. He’s experienced and probably what we need if we persist with the young pairing of Ward and Ferdinand at the back.”

The addition of the experienced Carroll and Hislop has put paid to Stephen Bywater’s chance of playing in the Premiership after being farmed out to Coventry and Matthew, who is a season-ticket holder at Upton Park, thinks that he has had his chance.

“At times last season it looked as if even the Championship was above him. At one time I really thought that he could be another academy graduate playing for his country (behind a back line including Rio and Glen Johnson), but he has just never pushed on. He isn’t as good a shot-stopper as Carroll, and he obviously learnt his entire ball handling skills while David James was at the Hammers.

Another player that has been on the move away from Upton Park was Luke Chadwick, which really did come as a shock to Matthew. The former Manchester United winger was a main player as they won promotion through the play-offs and Matthew is concerned about his future at the club.

“The decision to loan Luke Chadwick to Stoke seems to be an odd one to me. He’s only just signed a new contract, implying that Pardew wanted to keep him, but he obviously doesn’t feature in his plans, behind Etherington, Newton, Williams, Noble, Benayoun, and even Harewood as an option on the wing. I suspect that unless we get relegated, he’ll never play for us again. An out and out confidence player, being loaned out to Stoke will have shattered him, and I can’t see him ever making that step up now.”

Alan Pardew has bolstered his defensive options in the summer with the signings of Paul Konchesky, Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Clive Clarke but a few question marks have been raised over their signings.

“Paul Konchesky is player who a few years ago looked like he might push on to bigger and better things, but he never stamped his mark on a first team spot and as a result his career has stalled,” says Matthew, who would like to see the Irons play a 4-5-1 formation. “Has he got what it takes to hold down a place in the Hammers first team? Only time will tell. But if he can’t, in a team that’s hardly blessed with quality left-backs, he will surely be heading down the football pyramid next season.

“Danny Gabbidon and James Collins have arrived from Cardiff City and in many ways look like signings we should have made last season. Both are solid players at Championship level and both have played internationally, but they are unproven at this level. In a team full of unproven premiership players it seems surprising to me that Pardew is bringing in more youth. Ok, it’s better than paying £2 million a year to some aging foreigner looking for one last pay check but it still seems risky.”

One signing that has grabbed the imagination of Matthew and fellow West Ham fans is former Racing Santander creative midfielder Youssi Benayoun.

“He is the one genuinely exciting signing that Pardew has made this summer – I’ve yet to read anybody say something bad about him. He’s a big part of an improving Israeli team and his scoring record in La Liga is impressive. He could be the player that we’ve been missing since Lampard went to Chelsea – a goal-scoring midfielder. The only concern I have is whether he’ll be able to cope with the physical nature of the premier league. He will be one of our key men season.”

Matthew is quick to admit that the signings Pardew has made are unlikely to set pulses racing throughout East London and would have liked to have seen a big name striker brought into the fold. However he is also quick to defend the under-pressure boss for his signings and believes that the re-signing of Tomas Repka is an absolute masterstroke.

“What Pardew has done is sensible, he’s bought nearly all British based players, many with something to prove, and nearly all with youth on their side. He’s also avoided splashing out on big fees or big wages. Even the re-signing of Tomas Repka on a reduced wage looks an inspired move. Love him or loath him, Repka is a big part of West Ham these days, and one of their most recognised players. Like Dailly, he can have the odd moment or two or complete ineptitude, but he’s got bags full of experience. I’d say that his re-signing is the biggest signing for us this summer.”

West Ham United are one of the bookies tips for the drop but Matthew is optimistic that the Hammers have the class to stay above the drop zone.

“I’m pretty confident that we can stay up this season – we’ve added some depth to the defence (even if it is unproven), and hopefully added that spark of creativity to the midfield, so I think we’ll be comfortable come the last day of the season. And we’ve got cash in the bank still to hopefully snap up a quality striker before the transfer window closes. If not, we’ll have something in reserve should we need to buy in January.”

Colin Illingworth
12 August 2005

2243: Charlton Athletic: Curbishley’

by : Chris Sherrard

Blackburn Rovers – Mark Hughes’s squad didn’t win too many admirers last season but they did pull themselves away from the relegation zone which when he took over from Souness seemed impossible. Hughes made some astute signings in the January window that steadied the ship. They are hard to break down and now with the summer acquisitions of Craig Bellamy and Shefki Kuqi Rovers will be much stronger up front and could end up surprising a number of pundits. They won’t leak many goals.

Newcastle United – As much as I would like to see Newcastle do well and fulfil their potential the sad fact of the matter is that they are going to fall short again. Scott Parker and Emre are impressive signings and Alan Shearer will no doubt add a few more to put his Premiership goalscoring record out of touch for his rivals, but I think the pressure on Souness from the fans will be passed on to the players. St James’ Park is not a happy place to be just now with both Jenas and Shay Given raising questions over their futures in the north-east.

Middlesbrough – Despite adding the scoring talent of Yakubu I feel that Steve McClaren’s men will slide down the table this season. Another crack at the UEFA Cup beckons for them this season but I believe that too many teams around them will mount substantial assaults.

Bolton – Sam Allardyce has worked wonders at the Reebok with a number of inspirational, but ageing, buys but I think the distraction of Europe will stretch their squad to the limit and see their league form suffer, forcing them to settle for a lower league position.

West Brom – Bryan Robson pulled off the Great Escape and I fully expect the former England captain to steer the Baggies to safety again. Their defensive frailties have been ironed out and with Chris Kirkland in goal the Baggies will be in safe hands. Darren Carter could be an important signing for them and Nathan Ellington would be a great addition to the squad.

Aston Villa – Another club with great history and potential but I can’t see anything exciting happening at Villa Park this season. Kevin Phillips and Patrik Berger have arrived in the summer and they should add some experience to the squad but O’Leary really does have to sort out the inconsistency at the club before they make any true progress which unfortunately I can’t see happening any time soon.

Charlton – It looks as though Alan Curbishley has taken the Addicks as far as they can go and they will suffer a significant drop down the table. They finished eleventh last season and I can’t see them breaking into the top ten this season.

West Ham – One of the favourites for the drop but I believe the Hammers will have enough about them to secure their Premiership status. Alan Pardew has bolstered the defence with a number of signings and in Roy Carroll they have a pair of experienced hands. Harewood and Zamora will have to take their chances when they come but with Sheringham’s experience and the creative ability of former Racing Santander’s Youssi Benayoun the Irons should be safe.

Fulham – Chris Coleman’s side flirted with relegation last season and without Edwin Van Der Sar in goal they will be hovering above the drop zone again. However, with Steed Malbranque, Legwinski, Papa Bouba Diop and Zat Knight in the starting eleven they should have enough about them to just scrape to safety. It might come down to the wire but the Cottagers will beat the drop.

Portsmouth – The Fratton Park faithful enjoyed the awful demise of their bitter south-coast rivals Southampton in May but I fear that Pompey will suffer the same fate this year. Yakubu and Berger have left for pastures new and the controversial Laurent Robert has come in from the Magpies. With Robert you never know what you are going to get and he could lead to Pompey’s downfall. Alain Perrin will also need to bring in a proven scorer to help out Lomano LuaLua or they will be in desperate trouble.

Wigan – I’m an eternal romantic and I would love to see Wigan do well but with all the best will in the world I just can’t see Paul Jewell’s men doing it. He has done it before by steering Bradford to safety a few seasons ago but I think this challenge will be even harder. Camara and Francis have Premiership experience and will chip in with a few goals but how will Roberts cope without his formidable strike partner Nathan Ellington, who looks likely to be on his way out of the JJB?

Sunderland – Mick McCarthy’s Mackems face a torrid return to the Premiership. Alan Stubbs is their only player with real Premiership pedigree and his best days are behind him. I have no doubt that they will fight for their lives but even McCarthy’s battling qualities will not be enough to save the Black Cats from the drop. Mart Poom is in for a hectic season.

CHELSEA
ARSENAL
MANCHESTER UNITED
LIVERPOOL
SPURS
EVERTON
MANCHESTER CITY
BIRMINGHAM CITY
BLACKBURN ROVERS
NEWCASTLE UNITED
MIDDLESBROUGH
BOLTON
WEST BROM
ASTON VILLA
CHARLTON
WEST HAM
FULHAM
PORTSMOUTH
WIGAN
SUNDERLAND
It’s not particularly fashionable to say so, but Charlton Athletic are a good side who will do well this season.

Alan Curbishley’s record at the Valley, since he took sole charge following a shared rein with Steve Gritt, has been nothing short of excellent.

Nobody talks very much about Charlton and yet they always seem to punch well above their weight in the Premiership and spring more than one surprise over the course of the season.

This time around it would be a surprise, for me, if they finished anywhere outside the top eight.

Curbishley has been extremely busy over the pre-season break trying to strengthen his panel to the point where they are no longer going to be marauding around mid-table.

And I think his summer signings are excellent. Obviously, Darren Bent will get a lot of the headlines because he is a goalscorer and sure to figure quite highly throughout the campaign.

There is no doubt the former Ipswich forward is a superb prospect - summed-up by his inclusion in the forthcoming England panel to play Denmark.

But aside from Bent, if you look at the other new boys at Charlton, combined with what they already had, then things certainly look rosy for the club.

They have now got two strong goalkeepers in Dean Kiely and Thomas Myhre. Kiely is an under-rated stopper who rarely makes mistakes and has been a superb servant to the club. Norwegian international Myhre, meanwhile, brings experience and an assured presence with him and will prove an able deputy as and when he is needed this season.

In defence for Charlton, it will be fascinating to monitor the progress of Jonathan Spector - on loan from Manchester United. The American can play at left-back or in the middle of defence and his performances could prove a key to the club’s hopes this season.

Curbishley has further strengthened his defensive pack with the signing of Inter Milan’s powerhouse Gonzalo Sorondo. We perhaps didn’t fully see his merits while at Crystal Palace last season but I’m quite sure there is plenty more to come from the Uruguayan.

Elsewhere, Darren Ambrose’s signing from Newcastle, regardless of his sending-off in the season opener at Sunderland, will prove to be a good buy for Charlton. His development at St James Park was severely stifled and the change of venue will provide fresh impetus to his young career.

If Ambrose can forge a good midfield unit alongside the likes of Danny Murphy, Jerome Thomas and the excellent Matt Holland, then things really will be looking up for Charlton.

It’s fairly safe to say that Bent will help himself to a hatful of goals this season. He is a selfish, one-track-mind sort of striker which is probably the exact type of forward Athletic needed. There are plenty of forwards at the club now but none in the mould of Bent and the £3million paid to Ipswich for his services looks great value for money.

If Curbishley can get the undoubted talent and potential of Francis Jeffers or Jason Euell to manifest itself in goals for the club this season then he will be doing very well. The truth is neither look particularly interested and if a suitable buyer had come in over the summer both would have been happily frog-marched out of the club.

Both remain in town, however, and retain the chance to prove themselves worthy of a Premiership place. It must be so frustrating for Charlton fans seeing such talent sit idle. If either can give themselves a sufficiently hard kick up the backside then their goals will be a blessing for the club.

You get the very real feeling that Charlton Athletic and Alan Curbishley feel they might as well really go for it this season. They have floated around mid-table for a while now - which is an achievement not to be under-estimated. But they can really kick-on again this season, thanks to some astute signings and seventh in the table is probably the least they should be expecting as their reward.

Chris Sherrard
14 August 2005

2241: Chelsea will be champions, at

by : Kieran McHugh

Professionals, pundits and purists alike are gathering to tell us that Chelsea will win the league again this coming season. All, however, appear to be keen to add the caveat that they will not find it as easy this year as they did last. Well, I’m prepared to stick my neck out and ask, “Why not”?

Playing as Champions will bring added pressure; only Manchester United have successfully defended the Premiership crown. However, as worthy successors to Ferguson’s great United teams go, there can’t be too many serious dissenters to this Chelsea group. I would also argue that playing as a team bought as a plaything by the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, has brought a pressure unique in world football.

Those that sought to crank up this pressure towards the end of last season, were themselves found wanting. The biter bit. A record points haul, defeat at the semi final stage of the Champions League and a League Cup trophy are illustration that Chelsea are hungry to be winners, and have a squad built to withstand the rigours of the modern season. Can anyone point to a single game in the Premiership’s denouement where they looked anything other than Champions?

The chief rivals to Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, will not be content to stand aside whilst Chelsea walk off with “their” title. However both appear to be in transition. Vieira’s loss will have an affect on Arsenal, despite his fading influence at Highbury last season. Although Cesc Fabregas is well capable of playing at Premiership level, there is no ready-made successor available to Wenger. Robin van Persie has also not yet proved able to step into the role fulfilled by the incomparable Dennis Bergkamp. Arsenal undoubtedly have a bright future, but is it expecting too much that they will pose a serious threat to Chelsea this time around?

Manchester United’s hopes appear to rest on the blossoming of young talent also, in Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, will United be able to put a disjointed pre-season behind them and make the start that Ferguson has identified as essential if they are to be in with a shout? They finished some 18 points behind Chelsea last season and it looks a big ask with an ageing and unconvincing midfield. Liverpool are, one suspects, more likely to close the gap on these two, than any of them are to mount a serious challenge to Chelsea.

The Champions themselves have hardly stood still in the close season. Their “problem” position of last season has been resolved by purchasing Asier del Horno, and their principal attacking threat from last season has been augmented by the arrival of another devastating wide player in Wright-Philips. Competition for places would be seen as vital at other clubs, at Chelsea focus tends towards which players might be unhappy. Whilst they are winning trophies, none of the major players appears to be bothered. Even Hernan Crespo has been welcomed back into the fold.

The reason for this is down to one man. Mourinho’s arrival at Chelsea has seen them transformed to genuine contenders on all fronts. This time last season we were being asked to believe that it was near impossible for Jose Mourinho to come into the English game and win the title at his first attempt. Having carried out that feat, we are now being asked to believe that he’ll find it harder to achieve a second time, with a year’s experience under his belt. I don’t buy it, frankly. When he can replace quality with quality all around the pitch and buy if necessary in January, can anyone look further than Chelsea at a canter?

Kieran McHugh
11 August 2005

2237: Everton: The Villarreal tie is

by : Henry Knight

Fulham have let their prized Goalkeeper go, along with Andrew Cole, who they have replaced with the unproven Helguson. It still remains to be seen whether they can hang onto Boa Morte and Malbranque.

If they do, then they may cling onto survival, but if either of those two leave the club, then it’s curtains for the Cottagers.

Portsmouth are a similar story. With Faye, Yakubu, Stone, Fuller and Berger all treading different turf this season, and with no outfield signings of any real note, the south coast side will really struggle.

One of these two will go and it will go to the wire.

The rest of the bottom half will as usual, be made up of the underachievers - Newcastle and Aston Villa - those who like to think they might be top half material one day, but are just very glad to stay up – West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn – oh, and Charlton, who will challenge for Europe until the cold turkey and Christmas pudding are polished off, and will then descend into freefall.

Premiership 2005/6 - Predicted Final Standings:
Chelsea
Arsenal
Manchester United
Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur
Middlesbrough
Everton
Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Newcastle United
Aston Villa
Charlton Athletic
Sunderland
West Bromwich Albion
Portsmouth
Fulham
West Ham
Wigan Athletic

Sean O'Meara
10 August 2005Everton were unlucky to lose 2-1 to Villarreal; they played well but inexperience was telling and the players and their superbly ebullient fans will have learned a very harsh lesson in the football art of ‘cutting edge’.

Many positives can be drawn from the match by Everton manager David Moyes; the superb performances of the central midfield triangle of Phillip Neville, Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill (particularly Neville’s performance as it was his first for the club and he clearly reveled in the extra responsibility) and the superb work rate of James Beattie who fully deserved his goal.

Even for a club with limited European experience like Villarreal they still took the role of experienced teacher subduing the class tear away. Perhaps they emphasized the innate technical superiority of the foreign leagues, but more likely reasons for their victory was the international experience of the forward trio of Juan Roman Riquelme, Luciano Figueroa and Diego Forlan. Despite not dominating the inexperienced Everton backline they managed to come to life when it mattered. Essentially all the valiant qualities of passion and effort that Everton brought to the match, spurred on by their superb fans, were subtly overshadowed by Villarreal’s calm, calculated style resulting in the aforementioned ruthless cutting edge.

David Moyes’s side suffered dreadfully from a lack of possession in dangerous areas and this came as a result of their Chelsea inspired 433 not quite working as planned. In order for said formation to work, the wingers (Kevin Kilbane and new signing Simon Davies) must come inside in order to keep possession of the ball in front of the opposition’s area and pull their man markers out of position, only then will the defence truly feel under pressure. As it was Everton tried too often to get the ball down the flanks and over the top of the Villarreal defence; a defence that was clearly expecting such a threat and coped superbly well.

The only worries the Villarreal defence had was man marking Beattie, Davies and Kilbane then mopping up any loose balls forward or knock backs to the midfielders who after the first 10 minutes of pushing rarely ventured away from the centre circle.

Moyes took off James Beattie in the 63rd minute who, despite playing well, never really had the correct service and did well to scramble home the Everton equalizer as well as help set up a couple of nice moves. On came Marcus Bent and Duncan Ferguson and the shape was changed to 442; this caused much confusion and for the rest of the match there was limited cohesion and purpose.

Although Luciano Figueroa’s first sucker punch was cleverly worked and brilliantly finished at a tight angle, the awareness of Joseph Yobo and the pace of David Weir simply must be called into question. Perhaps new signing Per Kroldrup would have been of great value in this situation. The second goal was almost unavoidable, however, as Juan Pablo Sorin, who for the most part was kept on the back foot by Cahill and Arteta, sent in a superb cross from the right that was brilliant headed in by the diving Jocemi. Not once did Everton truly threaten to mount such an attack and, corners included, the quality of crosses would have been disappointing to Moyes and the fans.

What became obvious during the match was there are a few players who in general looked out of place in the big time:

David Weir really is too slow for it and unfortunately does not have the tactical qualities of Paulo Maldini to counter act this deficiency.

Kevin Kilbane certainly has the work rate, but not the touch or vision to make an impact in an advanced position.

Marcus Bent and Duncan Ferguson perhaps did not get a real chance to impose themselves, however all that did come their way ended with them losing possession and being too predictable for an intelligent Villarreal defence.

Also it became clear that some of Everton’s players really are quite suited to this level and if they can sign a versatile defender and a pacey, skillful attacker they can do superbly well this season. What’s for sure is any serious lack of quality is made to look minor by excellent work rate and discipline instilled by their competitive and promising young manager. Certainly Everton should not give up hope of retrieving this tie from certain doom at Villarreal, after all if they give the away tie as much as they gave this home tie they could score early and heap all the pressure on Villarreal.

2240: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Antony Melvin

It’s difficult to defend the title. Only Manchester United and Liverpool have defended the title successfully since the great Wolverhampton Wanderers side of the 1950s. So Chelsea have an awful lot to live up to.

And I don’t think that Chelsea are any stronger this season. The return of Crespo, and the purchases of del Horno and Wright-Phillips are much more like a natural process of renewal than the massive squad building of previous seasons.

It’s just that although I can build a case for Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal to be champions – I think that they are all lacking something. But it will be close, the top four may well be separated by little more than a dozen points come the end of the season – but Chelsea should still sneak home. Every team will want to stop them and I think this will cost them 5-10 points over the season.

Man United are significantly better with a good keeper and an aggressive, pacy midfielder added. This should be enough to give them another 5-10 points.

Liverpool will be confident following their successes against Chelsea, Juventus and Milan in the Champions League and will again be a contender gaining 15-20 points in the process – mainly from better away form.

Arsenal are in transition, they started last season invincible but seem to be stunned for weeks on end with each defeat. Without the presence of Vieira, and with limited funds for rebuilding this year could see Arsenal lose 5-10 points.

Spurs seem to be buying everything that moves – and Edgar Davids. With more midfielders than many clubs have professional players they should be unaffected by injuries or form. So the squad is strong enough to gain 10-15 points – even if the first team is nothing special.

Newcastle are due a revival and a couple of smart midfield purchases should help. If Newcastle bag Owen then they will be worth another 5 points – but without him they should still move 5-10 points forward.

Middlesbrough are an intriguing blend of youth and experience. But the way they fell away at the end of the season suggests that the UEFA Cup badly stretched them. The league looks stronger again and Middlesbrough could lose 0-5 points.

Bolton are in Europe and the distraction will probably impact on their league form. So without causing too many problems I’d suspect Bolton will drift 5-10 points.

Man City will adjust to life after Shaun Wright-Phillips but may still weaken slightly from last term. Down 0-5 points.

Blackburn finished 15th last year, but Mark Hughes should start to move Blackburn up into the top half. Gain 5-10 points.

Everton have strengthened over the summer, but after overachieving will probably find the pressure of Europe affecting their league performance. Everton may ship 10-15 points, finishing at best sixth – at worst thirteenth.

Aston Villa and Birmingham City are treading water – about the same points.

Charlton could be the surprise losers of the season for me – they appear to be happy in mid-table, which is the sure signal for a relegation struggle. Lose 5-10 points.

Many people tipped Fulham to go down last season – and they finished 11 points clear of the drop. Won’t pull up trees but they are unlikely to lose more than 0-5 points.

Wigan aren’t the cannon fodder people believe – and should get 35-40 points.

Sunderland will get home points from their supporters alone – possibly sufficient to keep them up. In the 34-39 range.

West Brom will again be fighting for their lives – and their extra experience may yield them up to 5 more points.

Graeme Souness may be the bookies favourite to go – but Alan Pardew is a serious competitor. They will be competitive – but struggle to get more than 33-38 points.

Portsmouth have been drifting for the past year and the loss of Yakubu may alone cost them 5-10 points.

Premiership place and points prediction

Chelsea 85-90
Man United 82-87
Liverpool 73-78
Arsenal 73-78
Spurs 62-67
Newcastle 49-64
Middlesbrough 50-55
Bolton 48-53
Man City 47-52
Blackburn 47-52
Everton 46-51
Aston Villa 45-50
Birmingham 43-48
Charlton 36-41
Fulham 39-44
Wigan 35-40
Sunderland 34-39
West Brom 34-39
West Ham 33-38
Portsmouth 29-34

Antony Melvin
9 August 2005

You can hear Antony Melvin discuss these ludicrous predictions on The Inside Soccer Radio Show at around 11pm tonight. There us a link to the show is on the upper left hand side of the page. If you want to challenge these conclusions don’t wait until next May – if you have something to say, say it now or don’t bother.

2242: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Colin Illingworth

If I tipped Everton to finish fourth last season, Liverpool to win the Champions League, West Brom to beat the drop and Southampton to go down last season I would have had the men in white coats waiting at my door. However, that is exactly what happened. So please bear that in mind when you read my predictions for the imminent Premiership season. Mystic Meg I am not but this is how I think the Premiership table will finish come May.

Chelsea – Jose Mourinho’s men were the dominant force last season and with the signings of Wright-Phillips and Del Horno they are only going to get stronger. They are the bookies hot favourite for the title and it is hard to see who can stop them. In Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho they have the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and manager in the Premiership. Question marks still remain over their strikers but Drogba and Crespo will be out to prove the doubters wrong. Not that it really matters though when you consider that their midfield is so strong and continually get their names on the scoresheet.

Arsenal – Arsene Wenger’s men start the new season minus their captain Patrick Vieira but with youngsters Cesc Fabregas and Flamini in the centre of midfield, alongside a fresh Gilberto Silva the Gunners shouldn’t really miss the Frenchman too much who by all accounts wasn’t really at the races last season. The North London side suffered a small wobble during last season when United ended their incredible unbeaten record but if they can avoid a similar stumble this campaign they will push Chelsea all the way again.

Manchester United – This is a huge season for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men. For more than a decade the Old Trafford side were the kings of the Premiership. Having finished third now for the past two seasons the Red Devils need to get back to their scintillating best. Both Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo have another year’s experience at the top under their belt and they will be expected to terrorise defenders, and with Van Der Sar in between the sticks United will be harder to beat. A poor start cost them dear last season so Fergie will be looking to come out of the blocks all guns blazing. However, I think the effects of a long-season may take its toll on an ageing midfield of Keane, Giggs and Scholes.

Liverpool – The Champions of Europe will be a much stronger force in the Premiership this season but I don’t think they’ll have what it takes to break the top three’s stranglehold this season, although they will push them all the way. Rafa Benitez has transformed Anfield into a feared fortress and if he can improve their poor away form, which saw them lose eleven times on their travels last term, they will be a much tougher opposition. Fernando Morientes will be up to speed with the English game now and is sure to punish defences. They will cut the 37-point difference on Chelsea of that I’m sure.

Tottenham Hotspurs – Martin Jol’s signing of Edgar Davids has raised everybody’s expectations at White Hart Lane and his arrival could shake off their perennial underachiever tag. Spurs have a superb squad of midfielders to choose from and in Jermaine Defoe they have a striker desperate to book his place with England for the World Cup. Another team who suffered from a poor away record they will rectify it this season and book a place in Europe with a fine league campaign.

Everton – David Moyes’s men surprised everybody last season and a lot of pundits believe the Toffees won’t be able to produce the goods again and tipping them for a mid-table finish. However, with the signings of the tenacious Phil Neville and Simon Davies the midfield will be packed with ball winners willing to bust a gut for the cause. And with Tim Cahill bursting into the box the Toffees will definitely get another crack at Europe.

Manchester City – City were just a penalty kick away from the UEFA Cup on the last day of the season and I believe Stuart Pearce will secure a great first full season in charge by renewing his passport. Robbie Fowler is showing signs of his once sparkling best and with Andy Cole and Darius Vassell alongside him City will carry a more potent threat up front. David James will always have his lapses in concentration but the defence was a lot tighter towards the end of last season and they will be a lot harder to break down.

Birmingham City – Steve Bruce’s Blues are my surprise tip for a European place this season and it is all down to his summer signings. Nicky Butt will give them some steel in the middle of the park allowing the youthful Jermaine Pennant to push forward and help the likes of Forssell and Pandiani. Birmingham missed the threat of Forssell last season and now that he has returned to the fold, alongside the powerful Heskey and creative Pandiani, City will cause a few shocks.

2238: Chelsea: The season ahead

by : Simon Cole

As the big kick-off approaches, it is essential to have a look at the credentials of the mega-rich champions. Will they walk it again this time around, or will their Premiership crown be snatched away from them?

The one big difference between this season and last season is the pressure. Last year nobody expected all the big-money players to gel so well, meaning that the squad could play without expectation, which helped them cruise to the title with significant ease. This time though, they have the weight of expectation on their shoulders. But while the pressure may be on the side, in Jose Mourinho they have the master of intentionally stealing the media spotlight from his players, and allowing them to play to their full ability.

And worryingly for the rest of the Premiership, their full ability now looks even better than last year. They seem to have addressed the two biggest criticisms that were levelled at them last season. Firstly, they were accused of relying too heavily on Damien Duff and Arjen Robben. Now the pair have some great competition from the incredibly talented Shaun Wright-Phillips. But there was one individual who took more flack than any Chelsea player, and that was Didier Drogba. But if the Community Shield is anything to go by, then he has now added a good first-touch and goalscoring prowess to his power and teamwork.

Add to this the fact that they posses John Terry and Frank Lampard, and they are certainly going to be there or there about again this year. The next addition looks likely to be Michael Essien. For anyone else a fee of around £25-30 million would seem like a massive gamble. Not for money-bags Chelsea though, although there are certainly question marks over whether it will be money well spent. Only time will tell on that front.

While last year’s title triumph was fully deserved, Chelsea did have their fare share of luck, most notably Terry and Lampard avoiding any kind of major injury. If either of them were to pick up any long-term setback, then it would be extremely interesting how they coped without either their playmaker or captain. But the depth of the squad isn’t an issue, and even if it becomes one, Roman Abramovic can simply get his chequebook out again when the transfer window opens.

Arsenal will be the first to tell Mourinho that it is much harder to defend the title then it is to win it in the first. The fact that Man United are the only team to have won back-to-back Premiership titles just shows how difficult it is to do. You also can’t forget the fact that for the first time in their history, Chelsea are THE team to beat. Every opponent will raise their game against Chelsea, and will take them far more seriously than last time around. It is very much a matter of how they can cope with the pressure that will be on them this season, and make no mistake, the pressure will be huge.

One key factor in dealing with the pressure could be the influence of the fans at Stamford Bridge. It hardly has the intimidating size of Old Trafford, or the booming noise Chelsea experienced at Anfield in the Champions’ League semi-finals. This season could be the time for Chelsea fans to prove that they have proper supporters, rather than two typecast groups of fans: those who want to fight and those who have merely jumped on the bandwagon of a winning team. Money may be important in the modern game, but the fans still make football what it is.

Nobody can realistically claim that Chelsea won’t be fighting for the Premiership crown come May. However, I am predicting against a title win for one reason only; whenever you write of Manchester United they always bounce back and for me, Wayne Rooney is the man to help them do so again.

Season Prediction: 2nd in Premiership, latter stages of Champions League

Simon Cole
10 August 2005

2239: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Bill Urban

Numbered lists are so easy and internet friendly, but predictions mandate at least a bit of prose to back up the genius of a writer’s prescient qualities. Therefore, in very particular order, I give you, Squarefootball Reader, the Season Predictions for Season 2005-06...

1-5:

1) Chelsea
2) Liverpool
3) Arsenal
4) Manchester United
5) Middlesbrough

I rate Rafel Benitez’s chances at getting Liverpool closer to Chelsea, while Arsenal and United both seem to be going through struggles on and off the pitch that may put them off form. Boro sneaks into the top five mainly on the back of Steve McClaren’s astute and patient coaching nous.

Jose will be no easier to tolerate nor will Roman’s billions, but them’s the cards the Premier League were dealt and Chelsea will win the title again as a result.

6-10:

6) Bolton
7) Tottenham
8) Aston Villa
9) Manchester City
10)Everton

Big Sam will keep Bolton in the running for European places, while Spurs present the most interesting potential for a surprise package in the Premiership. Quite where all the money is coming from is a mystery, but the moves in the transfer market have been aggressive, the mood in the squad and among the supporters looks extremely positive, and if Spurs can defend a bit better than last season, they have the firepower to cause problems for the top sides in the Premier League.

David O’Leary will have Villa competitive and solid at the back, and Manchester City may produce the “Rooney Effect” in the absence of Shaun Wright-Phillips. “Psycho’s” first full season will be a very interesting one for him and City supporters. Everton look a much diminished side from last season’s gritty run to fourth place, but David Moyes will have his side playing very tight at the back, mean and fiercely competitive as ever.

11-15:

11)Birmingham
12)Charlton
13)Blackburn
14)Newcastle
15)West Brom

Birmingham and Blackburn will be very similar sides, tight at the back and physical, while Charlton might see the departure of Alan Curbishley if the Addicks slide out of the top 10 by Christmas. Hard to imagine Newcastle falling so far down the table, except that they did so last season despite all the talent, and with Graeme Souness running the show, anything is possible. Surprise package West Brom will have learned from their last-gasp...

Interlude: Promotion, Relegation, but what is the equivalent expression for: “pulling out the proper combination of results to remain in the Premiership on the last day of the season?”

Answers on a postcard, please, and the Baggies will boing-boing a couple of places up the table this season.

16-20

16)Portsmouth
17)Sunderland
18)West Ham
19)Fulham
20)Wigan

Portsmouth will dance on the brink of relegation yet again, but dodge the bullet simply because there are worse teams in the Premiership. It’s hard to believe that I can imagine a Mick McCarthy team able to remain in the top flight, but as West Brom proved last season while Norwich and Palace went down, it’s the ability to defend, in depth and with great numbers, that is the stuff of which avoiding relegation is made, and McCarthy will have Sunderland doing exactly that. The Hammers will no doubt try to entertain, and well they should stay true to their heritage, but they simply do not have the players to do so and win enough games to stay up. Fulham were struggling to be competitive at the end of the past season, and some of their old warriors look more than a bit long in the tooth. And I’d love to see Wigan stay up, they’ve certainly proved themselves capable of springing more than a few surprises in seasons past, but economic reality and squad composition and depth, or lack thereof, will ultimately do for the Latics.

While writing this sure to be laughably inept attempt at prognostication, it struck me that the coming season will likely see more than the usual number of manager sackings. Curbishley, Souness, Alain Perrin at Pompey, Alan Pardew, never a favourite of the Hammers faithful, even Chris Coleman who has done wonders to keep Fulham in the Premiership, any or all of these men may find themselves looking elsewhere for further employment, sooner rather than later if results go south early on. In which case, all bets, and more importantly predictions, are off...

Bill Urban
11 August 2005

2236: Premiership 2005/6 Prediction

by : Sean OMeara

Things are changing at the top. Well maybe not at the very top, but near to it.

This season will see a closer run thing between Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Last season saw a quite phenomenal season from Chelsea. A season of performances that sadly overshadowed Arsenal’s fantastic unbeaten achievement the season prior.

But, it’s hard to see how Chelsea could improve. So let’s assume they wont. They might even fare slightly worse. In fact, it seems likely that they will do very well indeed to retain their cast iron grip on the title, if only for the fact that there is room for Ferguson and Wenger to both raise their games, whereas Mourinho really cannot.

So, it’s going to be harder for Mourinho to maintain the momentum than it is for Wenger and Ferguson to step it up a gear, but that doesn’t mean the title will be leaving Stamford Bridge anytime soon.

No-no, just expect the Blues to be pushed a little harder this time round.

United missed their Dutch striker and their England centre back dearly for much of last term and will be a different side with both of those restored. In Rooney they have a player improving with every game and with Van Der Sar now installed between the sticks (ten years late) Ferguson should sleep a little easier at night.

The United side that finished last season was a very different proposition to the United that started it.

The biggest question mark over Arsenal is of course the Vieira thing. This writer expects to see Gilberto Silva step into the fray, with the Gunners forgetting the Frenchman ever graced Highbury, come Christmas.

They have added a little more attacking threat in Alexander Hleb (like they needed it) and the lengthy absences of Campbell last season showed that Senderos brings a little quality depth to the centre of defence.

It is just below the top three though, where the biggest change will be evident.

No disrespect to Everton, but Liverpool lost 4th spot last season and this time round, they will be pushed harder for that lucrative Champions’ League placing. Spurs and Middlesbrough will push the Reds mighty close this season.

This season’s ‘Boro will provide more goals than last season, with Hasselbaink and Yakubu leading the line. However, McClaren may have the same problem again, with European hangovers. UEFA Cup football was an ironic thorn in his side last term and he will need to address that if he wants to play on the big European stage in 2006/07.

Spurs have no such problem. In fact they are the opposite. With a bright young enthusiastic squad, brimming with talent, their squad depth and lack of European distraction will see them fielding fresh legs every game of every week. Jol has also found the missing piece of the White Hart Lane puzzle in Davids.

In the ‘chasing pack’ Bolton, Manchester City and Everton will be snapping at the heels of Spurs and Middlesbrough for most of the season.

Pearce’s City side had a fantastic run in at the end of last season and will concede few and score enough. They just need that creative addition to the middle of the park.

Everton were punching above their weight last season and Moyes hasn’t added enough quality or depth over the summer to reproduce the same domestic form while managing the added burden of European football. He would do well to book a lunch date with McClaren, and get the low down on dealing with mid-week lethargy.

Oddly, Bolton seem to be every season’s dark horse and it’s about time we stopped being surprised by their presence in the top half. They were in with a very real shout of Champions’ League football at the end of the season and should be taken a lot more seriously.

The last top half slot will be taken by a Birmingham City side that underperformed last season, mainly due to the lack of foundation for the season, born out of a shocking opening run of results. With Forssell fit and both he and Pennant now permanently on the books at St Andrews fans can expect to see a much better goals return. The biggest change to City though could be the introduction of Nicky Butt into a midfield missing Robbie Savage.

The bottom half, from the bottom up, will see Wigan, West Ham and Fulham drop out of the top flight.

It is getting harder and harder for the new sides to stay in the Premiership. The huge gap in quality is only growing and while some sides come up with one or two quality players, such as Johnson and Routledge in their ranks, most lack anything like the quality needed across the rest of the squad.

Two of the promoted sides will go and it wont be Sunderland. Mick McCarthy will be the big difference.

2235: Liverpool are not yet ready to

by : Dan Willis

Fresh from the success of winning the Champions League, Liverpool will embark on this season’s Premiership journey with renewed optimism. Manager Rafa Benitez has improved his squad, the players’ confidence is high and fans will be hopeful of ending the club’s 15 year wait for the league title. But is it realistic to consider a team that finished 37 points behind the champions and lost 14 league games as serious contenders?

Let us look at the positives. Benitez has added more technique and steel to his squad and he feels he now has more options than last season. The squad is now more equipped to play the quick tempo game he enjoys.

Spaniard Jose Reina has been bought to stem the flow of goals, Mohammed Sissoko to break down opposition play, and Peter Crouch to improve link up play in attack. Boudewijn Zenden will add technique and distribution, while Mark Gonzalez, assuming he is granted a work permit, will inject speed and energy down the left side.

Steven Gerrard’s contribution has noticeably improved since he decided to stay. He has already notched up seven goals in four Champions League qualifying games and Benitez will be hopeful his partnership with Xabi Alonso can continue to flourish. Injuries limited the number of games the two played together last season, but an unbroken run of games would allow both players to improve their understanding further.

Liverpool are unlikely to be as badly hit with injuries this season, so Benitez should be able to select his strongest side more regularly. Djibril Cisse, Harry Kewell, Milan Baros, Chris Kirkland, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, and Dietmar Hamann all had lengthy periods on the sidelines last year.

Benitez, his technical staff, and the foreign players he brought in will be better equipped to launch a stronger challenge on the title now they understand the rigours of the English game. Although Alonso adapted almost immediately and Luis Garcia finished the season well, Fernando Morientes, Antonio Nunez, Josemi, and Mauricio Pellegrino all struggled. Nunez and Pellegrino have moved on, but more can be expected from the other four.

The manager himself didn’t get things right tactically all the time. The summer signings show his desire to cure his team’s away game troubles by being more organised, retaining the ball better, and being more clinical in front of goal.

The players now have a much better understanding of Benitez’s methods after some early teething problems. The zonal marking confusion has passed and the team are following the manager’s instructions out more effectively. The defensive displays against Chelsea and Juventus in the Champions League bore testament to the new level of collective organisation.

And maybe the clearest indication that progress will be made is the new found confidence. A team of European champions will be brimming with self belief and should go into every game expecting to win.

Despite this and the many other areas of potential improvement, let us not forget the challenge they face. 37 points is a massive shortfall to make up in one season. Observers expect the top three teams in the Premiership last year to be just as strong, so Liverpool will need to vastly increase their points tally if they are to get among the leading places.

Even the most ardent Liverpool fan would have to admit the squad doesn’t yet match those of Arsenal, Manchester United and particularly Chelsea. Liverpool’s first team certainly has many strong players, but Benitez is yet to bring in a right sided midfielder and centre back. Add to this the concerns over the left back spot and it reveals some problems that need solving if Liverpool are to make significant strides this season. The squad certainly appears stronger than 12 months ago, but it is still some way behind Chelsea who have two quality players in each position.

Benitez has brought in more players than his rivals and they will take time to adapt, especially the foreign ones. Consistency has been a big problem for Liverpool, and the introduction of new players may prove an obstacle to achieving this.

Liverpool will also have to keep an eye on what is happening behind them. A strengthened Everton will be keen to repeat their league success of last year, while Tottenham, Bolton, Manchester City, and Aston Villa will be as determined as ever to get among the lucrative European spots.

Although Liverpool should improve on last season’s disappointing league showing, the Premiership title still appears out of their reach, at least for now. Solving their away form will give them a good chance of finishing in the top four and if they are able to put a consistent run together then the prospect of challenging for third place can’t be ruled out.

Benitez’s first aim will be to assure Champions League football but he will be hoping to maintain the title challenge for as long as possible. His target is probably to close the gap to between 10 and 15 points behind the winner as this represents good progress in 12 months. Assuming Liverpool achieve this, then talk of a serious title challenge the season after will be more realistic.

Dan Willis
11 August 2005

2234: Premiership Season Preview: Ma

by : Hugh Larkin

MANCHESTER UNITED

Last Season
Spent the campaign on the backfoot after Chelsea hared off into the distance. Sir Alex Ferguson added Wayne Rooney to his squad but his arrival was only negated by injury to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Gabriel Heinze slotted straight into the left back berth with aplomb. United reserved their best for the two League encounters with Arsenal- the Highbury win was less celebrated but a better all-round performance. Unfortunately, beating Arsenal doesn’t guarantee anything now.

Talk of crisis appears premature though. United were still creating chances by the binful but only 58 goals tells the story; if they convert a higher percentage then they’ll threaten Chelsea. Defensively United were better than Arsenal and not too far behind the champions.

For the past two campaigns the club have started sluggishly and paid the price. Hopefully the Champions League Qualifying Round will rev them up from the outset.

Expectations
We’ve reached a stage where 3rd place is a ropey season. Top two for United is a must and despite the bullish noises coming from Stamford Bridge, United are still the only team to retain a Premiership title. Chelsea will take all the beating but the Blues dodged a few bullets last season and if United can hold them in their head-to-heads the title race could go to the wire.

Comings and Goings
A relatively quiet summer but if Edwin Van Der Sar can address the goalkeeping problem then the manager will be content with his summer business. Park Ji-Sung should add industry and commitment to the squad, plus experience in international football. Sir Alex Ferguson may have his hands full with Chelsea but he hasn’t taken his eye off the European Cup.

A bit of pruning at the edges of the squad sees Kleberson finally depart. More surprising is Philip Neville’s move, although it’s understandable as he’d be a starter at most clubs and Heinze looks immovable at left back. Michael Stewart also leaves to find more chances in Edinburgh and a lot of youngsters go on loan. Kieran Richardson returns with his reputation enhanced by his loan period and will hope to start some games.

Pre-Season
There’s been a lot of stories and the Rio Ferdinand saga rumbled on when the press had little else to write about. Marketing concerns meant the players had to jet out to the Far East to finds pre-season friendlies, although the club did organise a fair few in the UK as well. Not much to read into them but when it came down to the real business Debrecen were swatted aside.

Key Men
United’s ‘Odd Couple’- Rooney and Ronaldo. Chelsea may be hovering up the talent available but Sir Alex wouldn’t swap this pair for anyone. Yes, Chelsea’s squad might have more depth but they can’t match United in pure flair. If the title is to come back to Old Trafford this pair have to be given full rein. Keane and Scholes may have slowed but with these two free-ranging talents they can adopt a more withdrawn role. That bloke Giggs can still play as well.

Prediction
Tipping against Chelsea probably isn’t a smart thing to do but retaining titles is harder than winning them and for all the positive talk, two successive Champions League semi-final losses and a shaky Carling Cup Final show they aren’t unbeatable. Plus, with Essien arriving as well, it will be harder to keep everyone happy this season.

United have the most varied attacking options and if they fire, then even Chelsea need to be concerned. And if they needed motivation, just pin Peter Kenyon’s various comments on the dressing room wall.

Premiership Finish-1st

Hugh Larkin
11 August 2005

2233: Everton: Goodison move to secu

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Despite being in the prime of his career at 28, with 52 England caps and over 300 starts for Manchester United to his name, Everton’s purchase of Phil Neville was seen in some quarters as rather a panic buy by David Moyes after a summer of frustration in the transfer market.

Neville does deserve credit for sticking his head above the parapet and choosing to leave the safety zone of Old Trafford (albeit he is being well rewarded financially by joining Everton).

Nicky Butt’s experience at Newcastle showed that such a move can go one of two ways for a player who has spent his entire career to date at Old Trafford but if Neville’s debut for Everton against Villareal is anything to go by, the switch to Goodison could actually be the making of a player who has come in for his fair share of stick over the years.

Neville performed well in a role in front of the back four, breaking up attacks and displaying an excellent range of short and long passing, helping to set up Everton’s goal in the process.

That position was one where he often looked best at Old Trafford, a superb display against Arsenal a few seasons back in particular standing out when an aggressive performance completely disrupted the Gunners’ rhythm.

However with Roy Keane around, chances in that position were always going to be limited and Neville went back to being a squad player and found first-team opportunities even harder to come by last season.

Despite Keane’s advancing years, Neville looked to have been bypassed for the Irishman’s role by Darren Fletcher or even Alan Smith.
Interestingly, after the Villareal game, Everton boss Moyes said: "Phil is a very bossy player, a good holding midfielder.
"He is very talkative as well, giving information out to the rest of the lads as well, which is very helpful.”

That side of his game is not something that is normally associated with Neville and it may be that the extra responsibility of being a big money signing for Everton is just what he wants at this stage of his career.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has continued to have Neville in his squad on a regular basis after taking over from Kevin Keegan and would require little persuasion to name him in his World Cup twenty-two if he was playing well and more often at Goodison Park.

Alex Wolstenholme
11 August 2005

2232: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Daniel Kelly

Bolton Wanderers are another who have had trouble acquiring new talent. Mexican striker Jared Borgetti arrived at the Reebok and immediately left for a holiday, while the only other major business was the permanent transfer of El Hadji Diouff from Liverpool. Jay-Jay Okocha will need to have a far greater impact than was the case last season if Bolton are to escape mid-table this time around. Also, the Trotters involvement in the UEFA Cup will test their squad to the limit.

All of which leaves the dross. The likes of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic are unlikely to face a relegation battle, but probably even more unlikely to achieve anything memorable at the other end of the table. Newcastle’s extra resources perhaps make them the best of a bad bunch, while Mikael Forssell could fire the goals to help Birmingham improve slightly on last season’s effort.

And so to the drop. The promoted trio of Wigan, West Ham and Sunderland are again automatically installed as favourites to be relegated come the end of the season. However, rarely do all three suffer that fate, and so it is perhaps Sunderland who will fight their way to safety. Mick McCarthy’s team will be well-drilled, and have the kind of battling qualities that will give them a chance of scratching out points from almost any fixture.

Wigan and West Ham will look pretty in their approach, but do not have the class to mix it with the big boys. Joining them in the Championship for 2006/07 could be Fulham, who have suffered a mini-exodus of key players during the summer. Edwin Van Der Sar and Andy Cole have gone to Manchester to play for United and City respectively, while Steed Malbranque and Luis Boa Morte continue to be linked to the exit door at Craven Cottage.

Verdict;
1.Chelsea
2.Manchester United
3.Arsenal
4.Liverpool
5.Middlesbrough
6.Tottenham Hotspur
7.Manchester City
8.Everton
9.Bolton Wanderers
10.Newcastle United
11.Birmingham City
12.Charlton Athletic
13.Aston Villa
14.Blackburn Rovers
15.West Bromwich Albion
16.Portsmouth
17.Sunderland
18.Fulham
19.Wigan Athletic
20.West Ham United

By Stephen Orford
10 August 2005As the season openers’ approach it’s the time of year for all fans to hope or believe this year will be their year. Transfer gambles will pay off, injuries will be a minimum and teams can exceed expectations. The dreams before the realities of Saturday and the new season hit home. For the record, here are my season predictions.

Firstly, the champions. Chelsea strolled the league last season and I expect them to do so again. They’ve improved the areas they were weakest in last season, namely at left-back and up-front and look likely to match last season’s one defeat and record points haul.

In comparison their closest rivals last season in Arsenal and Manchester United look dangerously light in midfield, and still lack the defensive solidity of Chelsea. Arsenal are also still one injury to Henry away from collapse. These two should provide the strongest challenge to Chelsea but at present do not have the squad to last the pace.

Turning to the European Champions, Liverpool have added depth to their squad but will field a first choice strike pair unproved in the Premiership. Whilst a large improvement should be seen this season, I still feel they will be vulnerable away from home. Add to this the fact that they have two strikers with aerial threat and no quality wingers and I feel they will not score enough to threaten a serious championship challenge A Champions League finish should be the aim.

Pushing Liverpool hard should be Spurs. They’ve added grit and class to the side over the summer, with four players likely to improve the first XI in Routledge. Taino. Davids, and Staltieri. Add to this a depth of squad not seen outside the top four and Spurs should be able pull away from mid-table this year and threaten an assault on the top four.

This season’s surprise package (given that everyone is tipping Spurs as this for me negates the surprise factor) could be Blackburn. Like Everton last season, they are solid at the back and work tremendously hard under Mark Hughes. If Pederson and Bellamy can add goals to this solidity, Blackburn could be this season’s Everton.

Other teams who should push for a UEFA cup space are Middlesbrough, Man City, Newcastle and Bolton. Much rests on Yakubu’s debut season if Boro are to improve, and Pearce’s City showed flashes of their potential last season. Newcastle expect to challenge but are still poor at the back and lack bodies up front. Some January surgery is likely to be necessary, in probability with a new manager at the helm. Bolton should be as eager as ever, but their aging squad may struggle to meet the demands of football on two fronts.

Safely ensconced in mid-table should be Everton, Charlton, Villa and Birmingham. Everton made it to fourth last season on the back of a string of one nil victories and will struggle to repeat the feat. Charlton too have been overachieving of late and may struggle a little this season. The two Birmingham clubs should complete this quartet.

Moving to the relegation battle, I see West Ham, Wigan and Portsmouth going down. The Portsmouth side that struggled last season have sold their best striker, their two best midfielders and look set to sell their best defender. Their replacements do not look like keeping them in the Premiership. As for the two new boys in West Ham and Wigan, I feel the goals conceded column will drag them down. Their open style is likely to see them exposed in the top flight, and confidence draining thrashings may be too frequent to sustain.

This leaves West Brom, Sunderland and Fulham to survive. Fulham have kept of their classiest players in Malbranque and Boa Morte and should just survive. Sunderland should win enough points at home to survive, and Robson’s West Brom should win enough games to avoid any last day survival struggles.

Of course injuries, new signings and loss of form will probably make this prediction meaningless at the end of the season, but after all the fun of pre-season is the hope and expectation that this year may be your teams’ year.

Table

1 Chelsea
2 Man Utd
3 Arsenal
4 Liverpool
5 Spurs
6 Blackburn
7 Middlesbrough
8 Man City
9 Newcastle
10 Bolton
11 Everton
12 Charlton
13 Villa
14 Birmingham
15 Sunderland
16 West Brom
17 Fulham
18 West Ham
19 Portsmouth
20 Wigan

Dan Kelly
10 August 2005

2231: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Stephen Orford

It hardly seems five minutes since the end of the last Premiership season. Last time out Chelsea strolled to their first title in 50 years under Jose Mourinho, leaving perennial title protagonists Manchester United and Arsenal in their wake. Everton surprised everyone by capturing fourth place and Champions League qualification, while two of the three newly promoted clubs were relegated.
So what’s in store this term? Foolishly, everyone is queuing up to have their say on what will happen as Wigan Athletic, West Ham United and Sunderland join the survivors from last season.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon recently showed the kind of wit that would have had him mistaken for Edmund Blackadder when he said that this year’s Premiership winners would come from “a small group of one.” Tee hee, but is the former Manchester United hanger-on right?

Probably. Mourinho’s squad was already bursting with star talent, in which the Portuguese has instilled a winning mentality since his arrival. The additions of Spanish left-back Acier Del Horno from Athletic Bilbao and Shaun Wright-Phillips from Manchester City improve Mourinho’s options even further. In addition, Hernan Crespo returns from a loan spell at AC Milan to try to eradicate the one tiny chink in the Chelsea armour, the lack of a proven goalscorer.

We can again expect Chelsea’s main challengers to be Arsenal and Manchester United. Arsenal may struggle to come to terms with the loss of Patrick Vieira, who finally jumped ship in the summer, joining Juventus. The Vieira-sized hole in the midfield could be filled by the young duo of Matthieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas, but perhaps Brazilian Gilberto will be even more pivotal due to his greater experience at the top level.

Manchester United may finally have solved their goalkeeping problems, for a while at least, as the superb but ageing Edwin Van Der Sar arrives from Fulham. The only other notable signing is that of South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung from PSV Eindhoven, but United still have a squad that is the envy of many.

Much will depend on Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Van Nistelrooy will need to return to his best to lift United to the level of their London rivals. The Dutch star missed most of last season with persistent injury problems, and his goals could be the difference between success and failure for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.

European champions Liverpool won’t trouble the top three, but will look to close the gap in terms of the number of points between themselves and the elite. Bolo Zenden and Peter Crouch have been brought in to the squad, but the key man could be French striker Djibril Cisse. Returning from an horrific injury last season, Cisse appears to have lost none of the pace and sharpness which marked him out as a potential star at Auxerre.

The next three spots in the table potentially offer European football, and a dogfight to secure them seems to be nicely brewing. Middlesbrough will be among the clubs hoping to grab 5th, and maybe even push the top four for a Champions League spot as Everton did last season. The addition of Ayegbeni Yakubu to the ‘Boro squad is useful, and the return from injury of Gaizka Mendietta will be key following Zenden’s departure. Stewart Downing is another year older, while Mark Viduka could be the x-factor for Steve McLaren’s men if he can stay fit.

Tottenham will fancy their chances also, having added a plethora of good young British talent to their squad, aswell as the experienced Dutch international midfielder Edgar Davids. However, Martin Jol’s persistent failure to settle on a strike pairing could derail their challenge, but expect a much improved finish of around 6th for the men from White Hart Lane.

Beyond those, Manchester City could gate-crash the top seven, having been only a penalty kick away last year. Andy Cole and Darius Vassell should add goal-power, and if Steed Malbranque can be added from Fulham Stuart Pearce’s squad will look even healthier. The loss of Wright-Phillips will not be allowed to affect the players’ morale, but there is no doubt that the England international’s pace and trickery will be missed.

Everton will find it hard to repeat the heroics of last season. Their transfer activity has been disappointing so far this summer, but Phil Neville is a shrewd acquisition. The jury is out on Simon Davies and James Beattie, and so far links with Michael Owen and Milan Baros have come to nothing. Per Kroldrup from Udinese will bolster the defence, but this is an average squad which punched far above it’s weight last season.

2229: Premiership Season Preview: Ma

by : Sean OMeara

Manchester City

Last Season
In March this year, Stuart Pearce stepped into a role managing a City side a little lacking in the goal scoring department and a little leaking in the goal stopping department.

The former Wealdstone, Coventry, Forest, Newcastle and West Ham man rapidly turned things around at Eastlands. He lost his first game in charge, away at White Hart Lane, but then went on to take his team undefeated through to the end of the season eventually finishing just a missed Robbie Fowler penalty from UEFA Cup qualification.

On the defensive front, the last seven Premiership games of the season saw Pearce’s men concede only three goals; a stark contrast to the side with only two clean sheets in it’s last fifteen games under Keegan.

At the other end, following the January departure of Anelka to Fenerbache, the source of goals had been an ongoing problem. With Robbie Fowler lacking form and fitness and Jon Macken struggling with life in the Premiership, City looked to Shaun Wright-Phillips, the on-loan Kiki Musampa and Antoine Sibierski for goals.

During his nine Premiership games in charge last season, the former England full-back’s City side failed to score only once, in an Ewood Park stalemate.

Expectations
The form shown by the Pearce Man city at the end of the season will no doubt have raised the bar for the coming season. Fans will naturally be looking for a continuation of that form, but while many will maintain that they did not support a one man team last season, they will need to factor in the departure of Chelsea’s new right winger.

It remains to be seen just how sorely Wright-Phillips will be missed, but in Vassell they have the pace, if not the touch or finish. Between them, Cole, Vassell and Fowler ought to be able to notch up enough goals to push again for a UEFA spot, so long as Distin and company can build on the defensive solidity shown at the end of last season.

A major factor in the defensive side of City’s season will be how soon Richard Dunne returns following his disagreement with a door, although the defensive improvements witnessed last term were more due to the arrival of Pearce than the personnel on the field.

Comings and Goings
He made his love of the club no secret, but ultimately Shaun Wright-Phillips moved on / was moved on (delete as applicable) to the glamour and glitz of the Premiership Champions.

The biggest challenge Stuart Pearce will face this coming season is life without the England winger.

Wright-Phillips gave the team a tremendous potency from midfield, including 11 goals in 36 starts last term.

But, that sting from the middle of the park has gone and Pearce has had to look to bolster his front line, in an attempt to ensure the goals do not dry up.

With the acquisition of Darius Vassell from Villa and Andrew Cole on a free from Fulham, Pearce could have done far worse.

The renewal of the Kiki Musampa loan deal is good news too for City fans. The 28 year old Dutchman has signed on for another season long loan spell from Atletico Madrid, after an impressive spell for City earlier in the year.

With City looking to acquire Steed Malbranque from Fulham, Pearce certainly seems to be looking to spend his Wright-Phillips kitty wisely. However, City’s pursuit of the player has now ceased, with their maximum bid seemingly insufficient to prise the Frenchman from Chris Coleman’s grasp.

In addition to the £21m sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve McManaman and Jon Macken also depart.

Danish goalkeeper Kevin Ellegaard, who spent much of last season on loan at Blackpool, is also released, while midfielder-come-forward Christian Negouai moves home to Belgian side, Standard Liege. The twenty seven year old played only six games in three and a half years since joining from Charleroi for £1.5m during Kevin Keegan's reign.

2228: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Tony Rubin

Well the summer has already gone on too long for this writer! No World Cup, no European Championships not even an Olympic football competition to provide some distraction from seeing the British Lions get humiliated in New Zealand. My only hope in the weeks to come is that the Ashes are regained but I’m not sure I’d put much money on that outcome either.

So, with several weeks to go to the new season, and no meaningful football to watch I have had to get out my crystal ball and start working out where the top 20 sides in England are going to finish next season – for what it is worth here’s my best shot. I’m going to give myself 3 points for every spot-on prediction, 2 points if I am out by one place and 1 point if I am out by two places.

The Top Five
This is the easy bit – 3 teams are automatic – 1st Chelsea; 2nd Arsenal; 3rd Manchester United. Boring I know, and Manchester United have the most to do I think to hold on to their place despite finishing a massive 19 points above Liverpool who are the only side that might conceivably sneak into the top 3. So for me it is 4th Liverpool but then things get much tougher, my choice for the last member of the top five is 5th Tottenham Hotspur – ok this is where optimism overcomes experience but the time is right for Jol and his youngsters to make their mark.

The Bottom Five
Trying to pick off the easier placings first means looking to the bottom of the table next. Here there is one outstanding candidate for 20th Wigan Athletic. The other promoted sides have more chance than normal and although they will struggle, I take 19th Fulham to go down accompanied by brave but 18th West Brom. The teams just keeping their heads out of the relegation noose are 17th Portsmouth and 16th Sunderland.

The 3rd Quartile
For me these are the teams that flirt with danger for much of the season and rarely threaten to break into the top 8. They will all take points off each other, nick a few points from the top 10 teams but generally have enough to keep themselves above the real strugglers. I would have to put 15th Blackburn and 14th West Ham as the two sides most in danger of swapping places with teams in the bottom 5. Neither have strength in depth and a few early season reverses could see their confidence drop and their managers depart. Above these I have 13th Charlton and 12th Birmingham both now likely to find it hard to match their form of 2 seasons ago – their trajectories are downward and are likely to remain so. The final place in this quartile goes to 11th Manchester City who are likely to lose their talisman Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The 2nd Quartile
This is the hardest sector to place in order – though many will agree with the teams l have chosen to fill berths 6 through 10 many will dispute the positions. Just outside the top 5 I have 6th Middlesborough in Europe for a 2nd consecutive season an undoubtedly the form side from the North East. Hot on their heels will be 7th Bolton and 8th Everton, the latter suffering from the twin strains of excess expectation and new personnel. That leaves only 9th Aston Villa (mediocrity personified) and 10th Newcastle who will be more disciplined but might struggle to both blend their midfield and find a regular goal scorer to supplement Shearer.

I am sure you know better but given my method of points allocation, I think I will get 5 teams spot-on for (5*3) = 15 points; 5 teams will be one place out – for a further (5*2) = 10 points; and 5 teams will be 2 places out for (5*1) = 5 points – giving me a grand total of 30 points. Anybody out there think they can beat that?

Premiership season 2005/6 prediction
1. Chelsea
2. Arsenal
3. Manchester United
4. Liverpool
5. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Middlesbrough
7. Bolton Wanderers
8. Everton
9. Aston Villa
10. Newcastle United
11. Manchester City
12. Birmingham City
13. Charlton Athletic
14. West Ham United
15. Blackburn Rovers
16. Sunderland
17. Portsmouth
18. West Bromwich Albion
19. Fulham
20. Wigan Athletic

Tony Rubin
11 July 2005

2230: Everton can’t afford to wallow

by : Paul Meadows

Pre-Season
Ironically, of the six pre-season fixtures so far, the only defeat for City came in the only game to feature Shaun Wright-Phillips. The 1-0 at Tranmere on 15th July was also the only game City have failed to score in.

The winger was missing through illness (ahem) from the draw on the 16th at Macclesfield and signed for Chelsea on the 18th.

City then travelled to Thailand and played out 1-1 draws against Bolton Wanderers and Everton, with both going to penalties; City losing the first and winning the second.

A week later, back home, City travelled to Stoke and had to come from behind to with ten men, running out 1-2 winners.

So, with only one defeat in six, the departure of Wright-Phillips coming after the pre-season opener and new signings Cole and Vassell not featuring until the Everton and Stoke games respectively, things have gone rather well for Stuart Pearce thus far.

He had the ‘opportunity’ to field a number of youngsters on the Thailand tour with promising performances from the likes of Bradley Wright-Phillips and the midfield partnership of Micah Richards and Willo Flood.

Key Man
The key man at City is not there yet. He is the signing that Pearce needs to make if he is to push on from the success he saw at the end of last season.

Fulham’s Steed Malbranque would have been the man to do that job and with him, City should have had few problems servicing the new front men.

However, Pearce will now have to look elsewhere or concede to an increased bid for the Fulham playmaker.

Prediction
At the back he has a great shot stopper in David James and since taking the reins at City, an increasingly convincing looking central defensive partnership of Distin and Dunne.

Fans should see an improvement on the goals front too, with the new look front trio in place.

However, the key to City’s season will ultimately be replacing Shaun Wright-Phillips – a job few would fancy.

The more experienced midfield men at City lack quality and the youngsters lack experience.

The signing or not, of a big name like Malbranque could be pivotal in determining what kind of season Pearce’s men have.

Either way, expect to see City pushing for the UEFA spot that so cruelly eluded them last season and with the capture of a midfield maestro, who knows?

Prediction: 7th

Sean O’Meara
7 August 2005Everton could, of course, cause an upset when they visit the Estadio El Madrigal later this month and dump Villarreal out of the Champions League. Following their 2-1 home defeat to the Spaniards this week, the event of them causing such an upset is unlikely.

As the 37,000 fans who attended Goodison Park for the first leg will testify, Villarreal are no mugs; the third best team in Spanish football, no less. The fact Everton must score at least twice in Spain to progress to the Group Stages of the tournament represents a huge challenge in itself, and one that must not be underestimated.

Last season ‘The Yellow Submarines’ had the best home defensive record in La Liga, conceding just ten times from nineteen fixtures. They only lost once on their own turf in the league, whilst surprise Dutch package AZ Alkmaar were the only team to beat them at home – indeed, to score past them at home – in a European campaign that saw ten clubs visit them during a lengthy Intertoto and Uefa Cup campaign.

A fluke? Not quite. The season before, whilst their league form wasn’t as impressive, their record in Europe certainly was. Again they progressed to the Uefa Cup virtue of the Intertoto Cup, and again they had an awesome defensive record at the Madrigal. This time, they played nine times at home in Europe – yet this time, they didn’t concede at all, despite facing the likes of Galatasaray, Roma, Celtic and Valencia.

So, to say Everton have their work cut out to be amongst the thirty-two names competing for the most celebrated club competition in European football, is an understatement. Yet without wanting to sound patronising in any way, perhaps the club and its fans should not be too disheartened if they find themselves frustrated in Spain on August 24.

This time last year, you would have been hard pushed to find a pundit who didn’t envisage anything but a struggle in the Premiership for David Moyes’ men, particularly when Wayne Rooney was sold to Manchester United before the end of August. Sure, there were a number of teams in the top-flight who dramatically underachieved throughout, but this was of no concern to a team who celebrated reaching the 40-point safety mark before ringing in the New Year.

The same pundits who predicted a relegation battle also predicted their march up the table wouldn’t last. Although they never really troubled the top three, they hung on to fourth spot despite challenges from Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and, most of all, neighbours Liverpool. It was almost as if they gained an inner strength from their critics, a siege mentality that eventually took them over the finishing line and resulted in Moyes being honoured by the League Managers’ Association.

Yet that fourth-placed finish should now be forgotten. It is unlikely to be repeated this term; as much as it may frustrate the blue half of Merseyside, that spot is being reserved for Liverpool, with again Bolton, Middlesbrough and possibly Tottenham Hotspur providing stern competition. Yet that doesn’t necessarily mean progress cannot be made – far from it, in fact.

Armed with the money from the huge sale of Rooney and the not-so-huge departure of Thomas Gravesen to Real Madrid, Moyes has spent wisely this summer. Per Kroldrup has been one of the most consistent defenders in Italy for the past three years with Udinese, and could prove a shrewd purchase at £5million. The much-maligned Philip Neville is a fine footballer who will add quality and options to the side following his surprise move from Old Trafford; whilst providing he can stay injury-free, Simon Davies from Spurs could be one of the bargains of the summer.

James Beattie disappointed following his £6million January move from Southampton, yet he has now had time to settle in his new environment, and make no mistake, he will be amongst the goals once more this season. Mikel Arteta impressed during a loan spell last term and has been signed permanently from Real Sociedad; whilst Duncan Ferguson, new skipper David Weir, Alessandro Pistone, Gary Naysmith, Leon Osman and the excellent Tim Cahill have signed new contracts.

So as disappointed as they may be following the lesson they were undoubtedly taught by Villarreal, and whatever awaits them in Spain, now is certainly not the time for Everton to be despondent. Because despite many false dawns over the past decade, this time, perhaps there is genuine scope for optimism.

Paul Meadows
10 August 2005

2227: Premiership season preview 200

by : Hugh Larkin

Never came close to relegation but never threatened to crack the top half of the table. When four teams became isolated at the bottom, Fulham’s season could just meander to the end. Crucially, Chris Coleman’s side lost only one of eight against the bottom four and finished one win apiece with Portsmouth, Newcastle and Blackburn, which delivered a relatively comfortable 13th place finish.

Fulham have been impressively consistent in their four Premiership seasons. 13th, 14th, 9th and 13th again, being their final placings. There has been enough quality in the squad to force the results that really matter but that will be tested this season by key departures from the squad.

Expectations
Another lower/mid table finish seems the limit of the ambition at Craven Cottage. Some key players have left and another may well follow, leaving behind a squad with a lot of solid performers but possibly lacking a player who can deliver a 15 goal tally up front.

Comings and Goings
With less than a week to the opener, it’s still uncertain how many departures Fulham have to cope with. Edwin Van Der Sar has been an excellent keeper for several season now and his influence will be missed. The one year signing of Andy Cole delivered 12 League goals but he’s now returned to Manchester.

If press reports are accurate, one of Luis Boa Morte and Steed Malbranque will be allowed to leave. If this is the case the one staying behind will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility. Then again, Fulham are playing hard ball in negotiations with Manchester City and Newcastle, so the club may manage to keep both.

Heidar Helguson comes in hungry to prove his worth in the Premiership and will offer the option for a direct approach which teams like Bolton have proved can unsettle in this division Niclas Jensen is an experienced player with a Premiership background who can bring stability and forward trust to the left of defence.

Pre-Season
Fulham may have Americans in their squad but that’s where the fondness for the USA ends after defeat by Columbus Crew and 4-1 mauling by the MLS All-Stars in the pre-season build-up. However, this weekend’s 3-1 win over Greek First Division side Panionos is a timely morale boost.

Key Men
If they all stay, the trio of Boa Morte, Malbranque and Senegalese international Papa Bouba Diop should have the ability to engineer the openings up front. Between them they also delivered 21 League goals to support the out and out strikers last season.

Prediction
Without either Boa Morte or Malbranque the job gets harder but Fulham should manage to pull off their trick of taking enough points from the sides in the bottom half to secure another year in the top flight.

Hugh Larkin
8 August 2005

2225: Premiership 2005/06 prediction

by : Henry Knight

The Premiership title race will not be decided by anything other than the mental attitude of Chelsea Football Club and with Jose Mourinho on board it is unimaginable that blips and mental collapses will occur. Lower down the table; the battle for Europe and relegation is not quite as clear cut.

The spiky habit of winning has been painlessly embraced by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Mourinho has assembled perhaps the most impressive squad since Sven Goran Eriksson’s Lazio of 2001, there is a replacement for all players except Frank Lampard and Michael Essien could soon cover that “hole”. As far as their first XI is concerned; Chelsea have the best goalkeeper, defender and midfielder in the premiership with Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard and the most versatile and impressive set of attackers since Manchester Utd’s in their dominant treble season.

The community shield revealed a couple of interesting nuggets of information about what might be, during the coming season; other than the seeing the latent potential of Chelsea there was the joy of seeing young stars Cesc Fabregas and Matheiu Flamini rising to the challenge of filling Patrick Vieira’s void. If Arsenal perform as they did against Chelsea there will be very few clubs who could cope; expect new captain Thierry Henry to keep Arsenal closer to Chelsea than Manchester Utd, and Liverpool.

Manchester Utd. may have an exciting team but the insecurities surrounding Rio Ferdinand and his contract, the obvious inability for Paul Scholes and Roy Keane to perform as they once have and the inexperience of two players now considered key first teamers; Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Much of Manchester Utd’s potential success will rely on the form of goal scorer Ruud Van Nistlerooy and his link up with Wayne Rooney; however Edwin VD Sar and JS Park will provide some immediate improvement from last season.

The red chariot of Liverpool, emboldened by their Champions League triumph, marshaled by standard bearers Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, is led by dark horses with Rafael Benitez firmly in control of the stirrups. Despite the drama of Steven Gerrard’s future being decided pre-season, Liverpool have the squad, confidence and manager to break into the top 3.

If Peter Kenyon believes the Championship will be decided by a group of one, its possible to see that the UEFA Cup places will be decided by a group of four; Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle and Middlesborough. All four clubs have, on paper, assembled their strongest squads in years, and for Middlesborough it is perhaps their best ever in the Premiership. The addition of Edgar Davids to Tottenham could prove to be a master stroke and a very positive influence on all the young, nave English Midfielders at the club. Middlesborough have the more rounded squad but the departure of Boudewijn Zenden to Liverpool has left a potentially dangerous hole in the midfield. Newcastle are looking for a centre back, winger and striker to add to their team, if this is achieved they will be the best of this group and could get close to the top four. Everton are the weakest all round on paper, but this wont matter if David Moyes can instill the same intelligence and discipline this year. The team has been improved but a new defender and pacey attacker could really help.

David O’Leary has not had the ability to bring in players as was promised by Chairman Doug Ellis and his squad is running on empty. Despite losing players like Darius Vassell and Thomas Hitzlesperger (and the wisdom in these sales is yet to be shown) the first XI is very solid. Perhaps if Danish international defender Martin Laursen could make a swift return and Patrick Berger, Juan Pablo Angel and Kevin Phillips were to find form, Villa could at least maintain the same top 10 level as last season.

2224: Premiership season preview: Mi

by : Hugh Larkin

Last Season
A penalty miss in the last game gave the team a return trip to the UEFA Cup and was just reward for a season spent papering the cracks left by injuries. Yet such is the changed atmosphere at the Riverside these days that 7th place is only considered a satisfactory season.

For much of the Autumn Boro held a Champions League berth and with Liverpool and Newcastle misfiring there probably won’t be a better time to grab a place in the European elite. Everton turned out to be the beneficiaries, able to produce a little bit more consistency when it mattered. Steve McClaren can rightly bemoan the season-long loss of Gaizka Mendieta and other knocks to Viduka, Boateng, Parlour etc.

Expectations
After two seasons in Europe, not going back for a 3rd time would be step backward. It may have to be via the Cups or 5th/6th place though because with others strengthening, top four might again be out of the reach of McClaren’s squad.

Comings & Goings
Boro desperately need two reliable goalscorers. Last season Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink delivered 13 and next highest was a full-back, Franck Quedrue on 5. For the previous three campaigns no one hit double figures in the League. In comes Ayegbeni Yakubu from Portsmouth to try and rectify matters, after Mark Viduka just wasn’t available enough last year. The rest of the strikers are handy bench players but unlikely to produce double figures even with a long run in the side.

Emanuel Pogatetz is a useful acquisition if he’s free to play but his arrival is offset by Boudewijn Zenden jumping ship to Liverpool- Boro fans might wish him the same success as Christian Ziege- which demonstrates the problems failing to get into the Champions League causes.

Pre-Season
Hasselbaink was on the mark to see off Espanyol, the second team in the city of Barcelona, which offset a 2-1 defeat by Athletico Madrid. The quality Continental opposition might be useful for this year’s attempt on the UEFA cup, after the club ran out of steam following a promising run in last year’s competition.

Key Men
Yakubu and Hasselbaink (or Viduka if he sets his mind to it) could cause defences a serious problem and give the team confidence. The youngsters are a great potential crop but last year they had to fill gaps when they would benefit from being eased into a winning side.

Prediction
Unless someone in the elite four has a ricket of a season or one of their strikers bags a hatful, the Champions League places seem out of reach again. Boro still seem well placed among the remainder and should fight out 5th with the likes of Bolton, Spurs, and Man City, while possibly making an impact on the UEFA or Carling Cups.