2434: Manchester United: The 12 play

by : Antony Melvin

Sir Alex Ferguson has never been one to stand about and watch while his team disintegrates; but regardless of extra training or slanging matches in the dressing room the team is in decline. Why would Michael Ballack choose to join a team that is drifting through another season?

The reality is that there is a Chelsea team that is bossing every game (and winning almost all of them) and then there are ten other teams who can now have a realistic shot at second place. United and Arsenal are not what they were, but are picking up enough points to suggest that they will drift into another pair of top four finishes.

But is that ambition?

Arsenal and Manchester United need to demonstrate that the millions invested in the youth academies can produce players that will be world class. Arsenal fans can shout up the development of Fabregas and Clichy - but they are not yet international class, never mind world class. And in response Manchester United can big up Pique and Rossi - but in that case why are they rotting in the reserves?

So for United the ideal must surely be to bring the youth players through and buy in some world class players to change the team. For this to happen United must get rid of the players that are blocking up the system. Arsenal have already started this process and Manchester United must go down this painful road immediately or face a slide into mediocrity.

A bad plan is better than no plan, and with no apparent transfer budget there appears to be no plan. And so here is my bad plan - a list of players that, for various reasons, should be moved on.

Tim Howard

A decent number two - but he is blocking the progress of two keepers of great potential in Luke Steele and Ben Foster.

John O'Shea

John O'Shea has been struggling to recapture his early promise for two years now - and his inability to hold down a regular position could mean he is too flexible - or not good enough.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The most contentious choice - Cristiano Ronaldo is in here because, in the final analysis, his style of play may not suit the Premiership. There is little doubt that he is talented - but how many goals does he score, and how many assists does he make? The answer is clearly far too few. In a 4-3-3 he plays too narrow, and in a 4-4-2 he lacks discipline. There is time to become a conventional number 10 or right winger, but he is not a good enough inside forward - and he may find he needs a change of club and league to achieve his potential. No doubt he would be a godsend for Real Madrid or Barcelona due to the ease with which he would win free-kicks.

Louis Saha

It is difficult for Saha, he is genuinely talented and a good goalscorer. But you can't score from the treatment room - and Guiseppe Rossi is another with pace and a decent long-range shot. On the list to raise revenue.

Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand seems to have gone backwards since his contract renewal. Perhaps he is in a comfort zone, but regardless Ferguson should drop him immediately and see if he rediscovers his form in the reserves.

Mikael Silvestre

Nearing his 30's, and when his pace starts to fade his poor positional play will be exposed. May have two or three seasons left at the top level.

Roy Keane

Keane is too good a person to let people remember him as a faded star who hung on too long. Time to leave with dignity.

Liam Miller

Eighteen months and what? May not get another chance in any event.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The injury he picked up celebrating his goal in Barcelona meant that the high point of his career has destroyed what should have been the second half. For the sentimental (which, I guess, covers all football fans) if he could get a short run in the first team to say goodbye it would be nice.

Paul Scholes

What happened?

Quinton Fortune

Closing fast on 30 and is rarely fit for half a season - perhaps he needs a less intense league. Qatar?

David Bellion

Fast. Err, that's it.

If a team is to be rebuilt then there has to be some cash generated, because there are no guarantees from the Glazers that there is any transfer budget. Admittedly there have been some vague references to £20m/£25m per season - which you can believe if you are a very trusting person. So to generate cash sell on Saha (£6m), Ronaldo (£20m), Ferdinand (£10m) and O'Shea (£4m). Anything that the other six bring in would be a bonus, to yield a transfer pot of around £45m. If the Glazers then made this up to £50m-£60m then there is the kind of budget to target four world class players that would create a team capable of challenging Chelsea.

Fill in the gaps with van der Sar, Heinze, Rooney, van Nistelrooy, Neville, Park and Richardson and bring through the youth team to flesh out the squad, or cover for injuries. And attack every match with a plan of outscoring the opposition (rather than keeping a clean sheet and hoping something turns up).

This bad plan seems the best way for Sir Alex Ferguson to avoid a return to 1989 - when the fans nearly hounded him out of Old Trafford. But this may be his final season in any event.

Antony Melvin
31 October 2005

2433: Kettering: What are Paul Gasco

by : Hugh Larkin

The news that Paul Gascoigne has stepped into the manager’s chair at Kettering had been trailed extensively in the media but it still has a slightly surreal feel to it. Then again, this is a place where the former world star is more likely to feel at home than the wilds of China (where he went briefly) and an amateur set up on the Algarve (didn’t happen thankfully).

There’s no reason why managers starting out in non-league shouldn’t rise to the top. Martin O’Neill is the latest classic example, having begun at Wycombe, then outside the Football League. Such luminaries as Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough began their stellar careers at East Stirling and Hartlepool (though these were League clubs-just) and Jock Stein began in the humble surroundings of Aberdare.

The world Gascoigne is entering has changed greatly in the past 15 years. Since the creation of the Conference and granting of promotion to the League there has been a gradual move to full-time professionalism and so the Geordie playmaker should at least be able to ward off the problems that could afflict him if he has too much time on his hands.

Gazza still enjoys huge goodwill among the football community and on his rounds in the lower leagues he will meet many former colleagues and opponents who are themselves making their way in management. His name should be able to ensure top quality players are interested in coming to Northamptonshire.

Kettering Town are now in Conference North, the second tier of non-league soccer, although there have been times when the club has been one of the premier sides outside the Football League. They were members of the Conference at its creation in 1979 (then the Alliance) and only lost that slot in 2001; in the last 3 seasons they won the place back then lost it again. At the moment they sit 5th in the Conference North.

In the mid-80s especially, the club were one of the elite non-league sides; though they never won the Conference they consistently finished in the top 5 and were runners-up three times, the last only 6 years ago. They are one of those clubs that suffered from the absence of an automatic route to the League when they were at their peak and inevitably this has had a sapping effect on a club.

Like most things in football, money is the critical factor. A glance at the 30 highest attendance figures for Conference games shows Kettering’s name to be absent. The list consists purely of clubs that are currently in the Football League or who have at least been there. The Poppies have not been able to compete with the sort of crowds Yeovil, Doncaster, Halifax and the bitter rivals Rushden, were able to draw in.

Rushden remain an example of what can be done if a non-league club gets a sudden injection of funding and build a structure and leadership to utilise it. If the consortium can inject funding then Kettering may well be able to regain their former status and crowds could push up well past the 1,000 the Poppies get now.

On the down side, Conference North will be an extremely difficult league to get out of as there is only one automatic promotion slot and already the unbeaten leaders Northwich Victoria have established a 12 point lead over Gascoigne’s new squad. The current odds have Kettering at 14/1 to win the title, which seems a fair assessment.

Many people have jumped in to say that there’s no guarantee that Paul Gascoigne will succeed at Rockingham Road just because of his status but that surely misses the point. If the former England star is ever to have a management career he needs to prove himself and this is a place to do it.

The Poppies are by no means certain to win the division but neither are they a hopeless case. The town has supported a team that nearly achieved League football before and if some momentum can be produced this might be Gazza’s chance to shine again and what a story that would make.

Hugh Larkin
28 October 2005

2431: Tottenham Hotspur: Ledley King

by : Chris Sherrard

Tottenham’s revival this season continued to gather pace on Saturday as they took a point from fallen champions Arsenal at White Hart Lane.

And, in truth, it should have been all three points such was the home side’s dominance in the first half and right up to the point when Pires scored the equaliser.

But once again one man shone out as a beacon of brilliance in the white shirt.

Step forward Ledley King.

Not content with being an inspiration and a world class performer at the back, the England international popped up in the right place at the right time to open the scoring at the weekend.

Of course it wasn’t the first time that King had found himself on the scoresheet.

But it should have served to propel the big man into the heart and mind of England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, sat in the stands on Saturday enjoying the show.

Surely the national coach saw in that match what everyone with half an interest in this beautiful game already knows: Ledley King is among the best players of his type in the world.

You see, Ledley King, for me, should be an England regular.

If he had his choice he would play at centre-back, his preferred position. There, in an ideal world, he would partner the England captain John Terry (yes I know he hasn’t got the title) and all would be well.

The reality in Eriksson’s England is that no matter how good your form is, if you weren’t doing it two or three years ago you aren’t going to be in his serious thinking.

That is why an out of form David Beckham retains his place and why Michael Owen will always play, regardless of the displays of people like Defoe and Bent.

There can be little argument that on current form the top two English central defenders are John Terry and Ledley King. No doubt.

Rio Ferdinand is on easy street, free-wheeling his way through football. Sol Campbell is now injured as often as his old team-mate Darren Anderton. When he does play he is assured but how reliable is he?

Regardless, Eriksson appears to have restricted the fight for the central defensive places to a fight for two from three. And King isn’t one of those.

Shame. But never mind because good old Ledley can do a job elsewhere.

In fact his selection in midfield is now pivotal to England’s World Cup hopes.

See, Sven, here is your much-needed anchor. Go and enjoy. Just pick King and you’ll be sweet.

Without him in there England will be coming home from Germany faster than expected.

Gerrard and Lampard are both world class but they don’t work together. Simple as that. So give up trying.

England, in common with all the great sides, need a midfield anchor. Someone to sit in front of the defence and sweep away any potential danger with a quick swing of the boot.

It’s widely referred to as the ‘Makelele role’ but Ledley King has proven before that he can do it every bit as well.

King is football’s new Marcel Desailly. The Desailly of rampaging dominance with Milan and France in the mid to late 90s, not the shambling lazy so-and-so as much loved by Ron Atkinson at the end of his time in English football.

Desailly was crucial for the Italian giants whether he was selected in midfield or at the back.

And Ledley King the midfield holder is vital to England’s hopes in the World Cup.

His presence will allow Lampard to go and play and get the goals. It will allow Terry and Ferdinand/ Campbell behind him to see things quicker and be better protected.

Surely Eriksson can see the imperative of this selection. If he doesn’t he can kiss goodnight to his statue at the new Wembley.

Chris Sherrard
30 October 2005

2430: Arsenal: Was Pires' penalty in

by : Haby Assevero

"Now there is some bad news Alex. You know I don't like to interfere in team affairs but here's a list of assets we have to sell", said Glazer as he handed a now trembling Ferguson his purge list. Fergie studies the list. "Eh Malcolm, you've got Ruud van Nistlerooy on here. Surely you're mistaken, he is our star striker." "No Alex", replies Glazer forcefully, "we've studied this one particularly closely. Ruud has scored what, 10 goals this season. For every goal he has scored do you know how many extra uniforms we have sold in Holland?". Before Fergie can hazard a guess Glazer answers his own question. "None Alex, none. Compare that with Ji-Sung Park. Every time he's played we've sold 13% more uniforms in Korea. Now who would you prefer to have; Ji-Sung Park or Ruud van Nistlerooy? Exactly, it's a no-brainer. I can't sell goals Alex but with the money we get for off loading Ruud, we can employ a striker from a more profitable market than Holland and in turn sell more merchandise. It's a win-win situation. Great ain't it?" said Glazer blowing smoke from the celebratory cigar he was now chomping into Sir Alex's face. It's not clear whether it was the smoke or the absurdity of the situation that caused the change but Fergie was now positively green.

"So how much time do we got off during the off season to go home" Fergie enquired, trying to salvage something from this shipwreck of a meeting. "Time off?" baulked Glazer. "Are you kidding Alex? There's no time off in business. When the Asian market slows down each year we will turn our attention to the good ol' US for three months. But there will be changes there Alex. We won't be using defenders or goalkeepers in the States. Not suited to market conditions". "What about Rio?" enquired Fergie "he's our highest earner. Does he get three months off?". Glazer laughed aloud. "Why no Alex. Can Rio sing?". A bewildered Fergie, stripped of his desire to assert reason in what was obviously a domain purely for the insane, answered "Aye, he did a smashing version of that Verve song at last years Christmas party". Fergie, not renowned for his contemporary musical knowledge did his best to recite the song. "Och how does it go. That's it, "like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown...". Cannae remember the rest but Rio sang the tits out of it". Glazer's smile got wider still. "Awesome Alex. Snoop Dogg's record company has been in touch and apparently he is looking for a couple of months a year off. So they want us to lease Rio to them to double as Snoop and they are willing to pay us millions for his services. They win, we win and Rio gets to diversify and expand his skill set. Great ain't it?". "But he's a top class centre back" argued Fergie. "Alex my good man, in the States they don't much care for defenders and goalkeepers. So we need to tailor our product to the needs of the consumer. For too long the market has had to fit around the game of soccer. But we are visionaries Alex, we are innovators. Where the cart was previously in front of the horse we are going to put things in the proper order", said Glazer as he put his hand on a disbelieving Ferguson's shoulder. "Great, ain't it?".

Fred Tarow
26 October 2005Robert Pires will never forget last weekend’s match at Highbury against Manchester City. After all, it’s hard to forget making a fool of yourself in front of a sell out crowd and who knows how many more people sitting in front of their televisions all over the world. But is that what he did?

Was what Pires tried to do, with the complicity of Thierry Henry really so foolish? A reminder in case, by some quirk you haven’t heard. Arsenal were 1-0 up, thanks to a Pires penalty when they were awarded a second spot kick.

Pires stepped up to the spot and instead of smashing the ball in the back of the net, meant to pass it forward to the oncoming Thierry Henry, so Henry could score. The only problem was, Pires completely mis-hit the pass, as in the ball didn’t move so much as a centimeter forward, and the ref awarded possession to Man City.

Now if you look carefully at the images, you’ll see that Pires didn’t touch the ball twice and so really the ref should have called for the penalty to be retaken but that’s besides the point. More than the execution or lack thereof in this case, it’s the intention behind what Pires and Henry tried to do that’s up for debate. Was it disrespectful or genius?

They say that talent is always on the verge of folly. It’s safe to say that most people agree that both Pires and especially Henry are talented players and if they had pulled it off, we’d be praising their ingenuity. As it is, despite the fact that they made a muck of it, they’ve given football fans and pundits something to think about.

Not many people know that a penalty can be taken that way and now they do. Furthermore, people often accuse football players of not thinking or of not knowing the rules of the game. Yet here you have two players that have obviously given considerable thought to what the rules allow.

Football is a game after all and Henry and Pires should be applauded for having the guts to try something new, knowing full well that if it didn’t come off, they’d look silly at the very least.

The other thing that needs addressing is this idea that what Henry and Pires did reflects some sort of lack of ambition on the part of Arsenal Football Club and disrespect for their coach Arsene Wenger.

Lack of ambition, first of all, has nothing to do with anything. Arsenal are going through a transitional phase as Wenger himself has said over and over. He’s brought through several youngsters and they need experience.

The only way to give them that is to let them play. The fact that Wenger is willing to do that proves that Arsenal’s ambition isn’t just about doing well this season but is about creating a competitive side in the long run as well.

Second of all, attempting the penalty a deux is in no way proof of a lack of respect for Arsene Wenger. In fact, its just the opposite. When a player has respect for his manager, it means that they have a good relationship and that the manager has created an environment in which his player is comfortable.

Henry and Pires obviously know that their manager believes in letting them express their talent and sometimes this means trying new things. In fact Wenger himself said it to French media after the match. When you give your players free reign you have to take the good with the bad.

Honestly, can you imagine a Manchester United or a Chelsea player attempting what Pires and Henry did? Sir Alex Ferguson would blister the ears of any player who even dreamt it. Jose Murinho would probably just relegate the player to the depths of the bench, never to be seen or heard from again.

At the end of the day, what Henry and Pires tried to do fits perfectly into the Arsenal style of play. Just because they aren’t getting the results that they are used to doesn’t mean that Arsenal are going to give up their identity and the things that have made them such a pleasure to watch when they are at their best.

I say good on them.

Haby Assevero
28 October 2005

2429: Manchester United: Dude, Where

by : Fred Tarow

It's another cold and dreary Manchester morning. Malcolm Glazer peers out from the window of boardroom A, recently renamed the Texas room, overlooking Old Trafford. He is awaiting the arrival of Alex Ferguson for their weekly meeting. The Scot arrives on time, as always, and is greeted by a warm embrace from his unusually excited chairman. Fergie is clearly uncomfortable but reluctantly reciprocates. "Alex take a seat" he begins in his American accent, "Today is a momentous day Alex. We are making some changes to the business. I know they are gonna take some getting used to but you're gonna love 'em". "Oh aye" responds Fergie sceptically, "What kinda changes?".

Not even Ferguson, with all of his experience in the game, could have prepared himself for what was to follow. "Well we have undertaken huge market research since acquiring the business Alex, and we feel that, armed with this knowledge, we now want to push on and maximise the financial potential of the company" said Glazer proudly. "I'll start with the biggest change" he continued, "because I like to start big. We are relocating and re-branding the business". Sir Alex is visibly shaken by the mere suggestion. "The FA will never allow it, it's ridiculous. And the supporters won't stand for it, there's huge passion for Manchester United in this city and beyond." Glazer bursts into a patronizing cackle at Sir Alex's protestations. "The FA Alex? We have a name for them around here, ain't we Joel?". The younger Glazer nods enthusiastically. "Sure have Dad; the monarchy". "The monarchy?" Fergie enquires. "You see Alex, the FA rule in theory, but in practice they are as limp as Elton John at the Playboy Mansion, just ask Roman Abramovich. As for passion Alex", he continued without pausing for breath, "I went to my accountant the other day and told him I had half a city worth of passion and asked how much I could get for it. And do you know what he said Alex? Not a dime. So passion doesn't enter the equation".

Intrigued and abhorred in equally abundant measure Fergie asks "So where to? London ? Liverpool? Birmingham? Glasgow?". His face betrayed a flicker of excitement at the last suggestion for the thought of returning home was not entirely unpalatable. "No Alex, Roman Abramovich and Chelsea have sewn up the English and European markets. They've had too much of a head start on us. We are going to Asia". Fergie sank in his chair at the mere thought of the move. "Yer kiddin, ye cannae be serious" he stuttered. "I don't kid Alex. We are moving the company to Korea. The Asian market is ripe for us. But we can't be Manchester United in Korea , Alex, that would be just silly wouldn't it? So we looked for a name that represents what we stand for. And we have found one. Alex when I say soldier to you what words spring to mind?". "Well" begins Fergie, "I suppose....". "That's right Alex" interrupts Glazer, "bravery, loyalty and honour. And that's us to a tee. So in future when people look at us they will no longer think Manchester United. No Alex, they will think Soldier Seoul. Beautiful, ain't it?". Fergie's shock at the previous ten minutes was now visibly turning to anger as his face changed from its usual glow-in-the-dark red to purple.

Yet his boss was far from finished. "And we have made some adjustments to the uniform. Now we have decided to use it to pay homage to our tradition so I know you will just love it" said Glazer as he unveiled the club's new kit. Fergie's jaw dropped to the floor faster than the curtain that previously concealed the eye sore. "Beautiful ain't it Alex" enthused Glazer. "I know the shirt is essentially the same but what about those shorts?" Recovering his power of speech Fergie blurted "Th...That's the star spangled banner......". "Exactly Alex, these will sell like hot cakes in the motherland", said Glazer. "But Malcolm, how in the name of all that is sacred do you expect me to get Roy Keane into a pair of those? He isn't even too fond of wearing the Irish colours". "Ah, that brings me to my next point" continued Glazer. "We have noticed that Roy Keane has only played six games this season. That isn't enough, we need to maximise his output. Tell me Alex does Roy make good sandwiches?". " Ye what?" retorted a perplexed Fergie. Glazer repeated his rather odd question while explaining that due to the relocation some staff, including the caterers at Old Trafford, would have to be laid off. "Aye suppose he does. In fact he insisted on making the sandwiches for this year's club picnic. Said he had an abundance of meat to get rid of quickly. Some of the lads think it may have been Patrick Vieira but whatever it was, it was well tasty" said Fergie licking his lips at the thought of happier times. "So aye, Roy does a good sandwich". Glazers face lit up. "And tell me Alex is Roy allergic to prawns?". "Nae, not as far as I know" responded Fergie. "Excellent" said Glazer, now in full Monty Burns mode, "there's another job for you to tick off of the list Joel".

"Now Alex, I have some awesome news for you. You hate dealing with the media and public don't you?". Before Fergie could answer, Glazer delivered his next bombshell. "And Alex, we have discovered that as essentially the face of the company, you are not well....". Glazer paused to carefully choose his words, ensuring not to offend the Scot. "You are not cosmetically equipped to sell merchandise. Now you will still take practice and pick the team. You know your soccer Alex. But we are going to remove the parts of your job that you don't like and have someone else do them for you". "Who?" blasted Fergie in utter disbelief. "Well Brad Pitt and Colin Farrell have expressed interest. We believe that they can appeal to that 18-50 year old female demographic that we are currently underachieving with. Your workload is eased and we make more money, everyone wins. Great ain't it?" said Glazer proudly with a smug grin adorning his face.

2428: Referee decisions: Spare us th

by : Hugh Larkin

The Premiership weekend just past rang to familiar sounds of managers blaming officials for their team’s defeats. Steve Bruce, Steve McClaren and Bryan Robson all stepped into the spotlight to place the responsibility firmly on the men in black. Out of solidarity Rafa Benitez chipped in to call Fulham’s 2nd goal offside and Jose Mourinho chucked the rattle out of the pram because his team drew a game.

Whenever I go to a game I’m used to sitting/standing near a bloke who is convinced that there is a conspiracy against his side – within the first few minutes he will appraise the ‘lino’ that he’s rubbish, or if he does signal offside, that he wasn’t quick enough. Any refereeing decision against his side will see him turn around to no one in particular and remark “ we’ve got another one here” (expletives deleted)

I expect and accept that this is part of following the game. What I’m a bit worried about is that the paranoics have taken over the dugout. Hardly a game takes place in the Premiership these days where a team is beaten because they played badly or the opposition performed well. Apparently, if it weren’t for the officials every game would end in a draw.

A week ago Sam Allardyce decided that though his team lost 5-1 it would all have been different if Rob Styles hadn’t left Michael Essien on the park. It goes without saying that the Premiership’s bosses rarely, if ever, support a referee’s decision to send their own players off.

Not being a supporter of any of the five clubs mentioned above, here (and I hear the e-mails being prepared already) are five alternative views;

1.Eidur Gudjohnssen might be standing in the line of sight of Nigel Martyn. The linesman cannot tell from the sideline if he is directly in front of Martyn as we don’t have 3d vision- he has to play safe and signal.

2. Matthew Upson has his arms all over Paul Dickov in the penalty area. Yes, Dickov is backing in but Upson has given him the chance to do his fall and certainly prevented him from turning. At the very least, this is not the worst decision ever seen.

3. Luis Boa Morte’s goal is a marginal decision but the directive is clear daylight between defender and attacker. Plus, Liverpool might focus on how Steed Malbranque was allowed to turn so easily to set Boa Morte through and why a team of their talent is struggling against Fulham.

4. Clearly, the linesman made a bad error in the West Ham-Middlesbrough game but did it cost Boro the game? West Ham were already a goal to the good when it was given and though Boro got a late consolation this is another match where McClaren’s team were under-performing.

5. Albrechtsen felled Nakata for the foul from which Bolton scored their winner. Then Albion’s highly paid professionals-made a pig’s ear of organising their wall for the free-kick.

So having annoyed five clubs’fans at once, let me add that I don’t necessarily agree with all the above but there are alternative views.

Managers have always disagreed with referees. What is different in the modern Premiership is the amount of times they complain and the virulence with which they do it. The pressures are so intense that the bosses will do almost anything than admit the team isn’t good enough or that the tactics failed.

Next week it will be five other managers doing the complaining and some of last week’s aggrieved will benefit. Sport is riddled with mistakes like any other walk of life; players make mistakes week in week out, even the greatest of them, so why can’t we accept that officials make them too? And sport without incidents that can be debated and argued over, isn’t really sport at all.

Hugh Larkin
27 October 2005

2427: Aston Villa: David O'Leary is

by : Stephen Orford

It’s probably not the best time to be managing one of Birmingham’s two Premiership clubs. The problems surrounding Steve Bruce at St.Andrews have been in the news recently, and his Aston Villa counterpart David O’Leary appears to be under just as much pressure to remain in his job.

Villa lie a miserable looking 15th in the Premiership table after ten games, having won only twice in the league this season. The 1-0 victory in the recent Birmingham derby (October 16) was crucial for the under-fire O’Leary, Kevin Phillips goal earning a much-needed three points. The win was all the more precious considering Villa’s dreadful recent record against their city rivals, as a disastrous catalogue of goalkeeping errors have contributed to several unwanted defeats to the Blues.

Disappointingly, the win over Birmingham was followed by another defeat, when Wigan Athletic came to town and made off with a 2-0 win (October 22). Indeed, Villa’s only other win in the league came as long ago as August 27, when a Milan Baros debut goal sealed the spoils at Villa Park against Blackburn Rovers. Since then, defeats to West Ham United, Chelsea and Middlesbrough aswell as the Wigan reverse have brought O’Leary’s position under the microscope.

The 4-0 loss to the Hammers in front of the television cameras on September 12 was perhaps a low point of the season so far. On that occasion Marlon Harewood helped himself to a hat-trick, exposing some glaring frailties in the Villa defence. O’Leary has taken strides to improve this area of the team, bringing in Dutch defender Wilfred Bouma from PSV Eindhoven aswell as the dependable Aaron Hughes from Newcastle United, but still the team is leaking far too many goals.

In all Villa have shipped in 16 goals in the league, eight of which have come at home. The fact that Martin Laursen has managed only one appearance due to injury problems may be a factor in all of this, and the continued absence of Welsh international Mark Delaney is also not helping. The right-back is yet to appear in the league this term, and his return when it comes will provide a much needed boost to the Villa ranks.

Gavin McCann is a key figure in midfield for O’Leary, and he has managed to start only half of the games so far with fitness worries of his own. The plus side of this is that Northern Ireland international Steve Davis has shown what he can do, but perhaps the opportunity to field the pair together in the engine room would make Villa an altogether more solid not to mention creative unit.

Elsewhere in the control room, Eric Djemba-Djemba was a curious signing from Manchester United. Unable to establish himself at Old Trafford, the Cameroon has had similar problems at Villa, making just three appearances to date. It may just be that he is either not suited to the Premiership or that he is simply not Premiership class. Similarly, Eirik Bakke has failed make a significant impact, unable to re-establish the kind of from he last enjoyed under O’Leary when the pair were at Leeds United.

And so to the strike-force. Villa have scored just nine goals this season despite having a forward line which boasts all of Baros, Kevin Phillips, Juan Pablo Angel and Luke Moore. The decision to dispense with the services of Darius Vassell when Manchester City came calling in the summer seemed to make sense, but those that remain need to step up to the plate and deliver for their manager. Baros looks set to return from an Achilles tendon injury picked up at Wycombe in the Carling Cup recently, and could eventually provide the threat that has been so patently lacking.

A trip to Manchester to renew acquaintances with Vassell is next on the agenda for Villa on Saturday (October 29), where frankly a win looks optimistic given the relative form of the two sides. City are flying high in sixth in the Premiership at the moment, and seem a different animal under Stuart Pearce from the inconsistent, frustrating mob they were at times under Kevin Keegan. The City test is followed by the visit of troubled Liverpool on November 5.

An international break follows, which is notoriously a time when club boards get tetchy and start wielding the axe on under-achieving managers. If not a certainty to be the next and refreshingly the first Premiership manager sacked this season, O’Leary is certainly a candidate. All things considered, he might reflect on his good fortune should he remain in his job by the time of the visit to Sunderland on November 19.

Stephen Orford
27 October 2005

2425: Why Tottenham Hotspur will bea

by : Chris Sherrard

It must be a terrible pain.

It’s bad enough seeing your neighbours and oldest rivals winning the league title.

But to do it on your own doorstep? Horrendous stuff.

Tottenham and Arsenal have each come some way since that day two seasons back when the Gunners wrapped up the Premiership title with a point at White Hart Lane.

But it has to be said that they are each now on contrasting courses.

Arsenal have struggled to recapture some of that ‘Invincibles’ aura since that title triumph. They have watched the Roman-financed, Jose-masterminded juggernaut that is Chelsea Football Club steamroller their way to the heights of English football.

And they have recently lost their midfield schemer-in-chief to Juventus. While their best player appears disconsolate and wishing for pastures new.

Meanwhile, down at the Lane, Spurs are busy re-establishing themselves as a major football team.

They have been in a deep sleep of late but the signs are that a re-birth is taking place and the club are getting ready to rise again.

They have got a brilliant, engaging manager, a board prepared to put up the money if it is requested and needed and, most importantly, their squad now could be fairly described as ‘top notch’.

And they will face another massive test of those credentials on Saturday when they welcome (if that’s the right word) Arsenal to White Hart Lane.

For the first time in some time I feel Spurs can go into this game expecting to take something.

Of course they hoped and wished for points in the past but this is the season and the fixture where that hope transforms into anticipation.

For what have Spurs got to be afraid of from Arsenal? One thing, two words: Thierry Henry. He alone is the only reason to be apprehensive about a game with the red side of North London these days.

Because let’s go through the respective teams.

Paul Robinson against Jens Lehman throws up only one winner and he ain’t wearing lederhosen. The Spurs stopper is among the best in the world and rightly his country’s number one.

Then, let’s take defence. And for me Ledley King plus any three others is more than enough. Of course they will need big displays from the likes of Lee, Stalteri and Dawson as well, but the boy Ledley is in top form and a true inspiration.

If he can get tight to Henry and nullify his threat early on then it should be game over.

Because in midfield it’s no contest. Whichever of Carrick, Tainio, Routledge, Jenas, Reid and Lennon starts the game will be enough. Even missing the suspended Davids Spurs have the better midfield.

Arsenal’s midfield, minus Vieira, is short of experience and craft and much in the way of drive or inspiration.

Reyes is a fair-weather player who is not interested in getting stuck in, in the mud and the rain, as Carrick and Davids inevitably will.

And that is just one example of the question marks that now surround Arsene Wenger’s side.

Another is, if Henry doesn’t score, who will? Because if Defoe doesn’t score for Spurs on Saturday, the chances are that Robbie Keane will. Or Mido will. Or now Jenas will pop up from midfield.

That is why this will be Tottenham’s derby day triumph. They have no reason to be afraid any more.

Arsenal’s halo has now slipped to the point it threatens to choke them.

Martin Jol’s Spurs have proven already this season, notably against Manchester United, that they are not the brittle and fragile side of the past.

They mean business. As Arsenal will find out on Saturday.

Chris Sherrard
27 October 2005

Why Arsenal will beat Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday

2426: Why Arsenal will beat Tottenha

by : Antony Melvin

According to Blur, modern life is rubbish. And it is easy to find agreement with that kind of opinion when you read of the decline and fall of Arsenal. Rome will be on our screens soon and we can compare the two to see how far Arsenal have fallen in the last eighteen months.

The answer is of course a little – but not enough yet to lose to Spurs.

According to some pundits Arsenal’s season is already over. And while they may not have got off to a flying start in the league three Champions League wins and progression to the last 16 in the league cup show an overall record of winning 9 from 13 games – hardly a disaster. As soon as the cup form is translated into the league then this kind of form will win Arsenal the 80 or so points that may not win the league – but won’t be anywhere near as far away as some people would like.

And with progress in the Champions’ League all but assured, Arsene Wenger can now turn his schemes onto the league. There is little doubt that once Arsenal get a fit side out with the proper motivation they can see off any side in a one off game. And that is the reason that Arsenal will prevail on Saturday – because they are treating the game like a cup final. And Arsenal don’t lose too many of those.

As an indication of how seriously a manager treats a game flying a few false flag injuries is right up there. And Arsene Wenger has today rolled out the mother of all injury crises – a leg muscle injury to Thierry Henry. There’s no need to go into too much detail because the 30% chance of Henry playing will be 100% by Saturday morning. I’m surprised that Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell hasn’t had a ‘reaction’ to his first game back since England duty – and that Reyes and Ljungberg aren’t ‘a month away from recovery’. But perhaps Wenger simply didn’t want to over-egg this particular pudding.

This will be a tense and torrid affair, and I think that the lack of TV coverage will make it so much more involving for the fans who pay for match tickets (rather than to feed the glowing box in the corner of the living room). To know that once more there will be people listening to radios, cursing Alan Green’s inability to actually talk positively about the game, will make everyone feel closer to the game than a TV can ever bring you.

The fact it is an away game will also help Arsenal. They have a great home record – but these days the away fans usually outshout the home fans in clashes between the top clubs and if the game is as tense as seems likely the away fans can spur Arsenal to victory.

The fact is that the Arsenal management are worried about this game means that they will get them wound up to a level of intensity that will be essential to see of the best Spurs side for a generation. Arsenal may be lagging in the championship race but they will not get the result they got against West Brom because Spurs will be treated as equals. This won’t be a repeat of the gung-ho 5-4 of last term – much more likely this will be dour, violent and aggressive.

With Arsenal prevailing 1-0.

Antony Melvin
27 October 2005

Why Tottenham Hotspur will beat Arsenal on Saturday

2424: Reading: Their time has come

by : Stephen Orford

Recent years have seen the likes of Barnsley, Bradford City, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic elevate themselves to Premiership status, proving perhaps that the competition is not always about who’s bigger, richer or more popular.

Hoping to add to the list of so-called less fashionable clubs dining at English football’s top table are Reading, currently lying second in the Championship behind Neil Warnock’s Sheffield United. The Royals trail the Blades by the three points after 15 games of an eventful campaign so far, and dealt a psychological blow to the Sheffield club by knocking them out of the Carling Cup last night (October 25).

Chairman John Madejski thinks that Steve Coppell’s class of 2005/06 are an ‘unstoppable force’ and though there is some distance remaining before the promised land is reached, it is difficult to argue with that statement on current form. Reading remain unbeaten since the opening day of the season on August 6, when a last minute goal from former Everton man Nick Chadwick earned all three points for Plymouth Argyle at the stadium bearing the chairman’s name.

Since then the team have gone on a staggering 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, and have handed a 2-1 league defeat to early-season title rivals United to go with last night’s 2-0 cup victory. A solid defence which includes American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and skipper Graeme Murty have conceded only eight league goals all season. Nicky Shorey has been as consistent as anyone at left-back, while Chris Makin offers more experience to Coppell’s squad.

In midfield, another American Bobby Convey has shown signs of a massive upsurge in confidence since his move from DC United. James Harper forms a formidable central partnership with Icelandic international Brynnar Gunnarsson, leaving former Burnley man Glen Little to make up an impressive midfield quartet.

Firing the goals is former Bristol City striker Leroy Lita, signed in the summer from the Ashton Gate club for £1million. The striker has found the net on five occasions in the league this term, and has been ably assisted by the contributions of Irish under-21 international Kevin Doyle who has four league goals and Dave Kitson with three.

One of those goals came in the 1-0 win at the Brittannia Stadium on Saturday (October 22) against Stoke City which, coupled with Sheffield United’s 1-1 draw at Leeds, cut the gap at the top of the table to just a single victory. The West Yorkshire club are next to visit Reading on Saturday (October 29) when another three points will pile yet more pressure on the Blades, and hopefully provide more separation from a chasing pack which includes Leeds, Southampton, Crystal Palace and surprise package, the newly promoted Luton Town under Mike Newell.

Reading have never played top flight football, their most glorious failure coming in 1995 when they suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 reverse at Wembley against Bolton Wanderers in the play-off final. They led 2-0 that day and looked all set to finally join the elite, only for a missed penalty by Stuart Lovell to prove the turning point, and the catalyst for the Trotters’ comeback.

What Bolton have achieved in the top flight since then needs no further documenting, and they continue to be a role model club for clubs like Reading hoping to make an impact on the big league in the future. The season is still in its relatively early stages, but the Royals time might just have come.

Stephen Orford
26 October 2005

2423: Liverpool: From Euro champs to

by : Simon Cole

A few weeks ago, Rafael Benitez claimed that Premiership champions Chelsea feared his Liverpool side. Yet now, the Chelsea Flower Show presenters would probably fancy their chances against the Anfield outfit.

Three months ago, Steven Gerrard nearly became a hate figure, before opting out of a move to Stamford Bridge. But even the most die-hard Liverpool fans could hardly blame him if he walked out now, in the wake of their Carling Cup exit to Crystal Palace. At times, Gerrard must wonder why he stayed. While he ran his heart out and tried to drive the team, those around him just didn’t seem interested. His efforts were even more in vein without the help of fellow work-horse Jamie Carragher, rested for this particular game.

Nobody can fault Iain Dowie and his men, who ran their socks off for 90 minutes. And few could question the dedication and passion of those in Liverpool shirts at Selhurst Park either. Well, the ones in the stands anyway. When Liverpool were 4-1 down at Chelsea, You’ll Never Walk Alone still rung from the stands. And again on Wednesday night – despite a windy evening down in London – the faithful fans were in fine voice. If only the players could give them something to shout about.

It is difficult to believe that this is the same side that were crowned European Champions on the 25th May. The dogged determination that was seen on all the way to Istanbul last season was non-existent on Wednesday night, as well as during Saturday’s pathetic defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. And Benitez should be thankful Liverpool won that penalty shootout, as otherwise his job may be on the line. That historic night in Istanbul is now just that: history.

And when Liverpool do struggle, it is always closely followed by strong criticism from players who were part of their illustrious past. The man who loves to do this the most is Alan Hanson. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans, it isn’t just a case of “In my day, we were better.” Hanson is an excellent pundit and most of the time, his analysis is spot on. One of his favourite lines – and if Liverpool stumble on Saturday then no doubt we will here is again – is: “When you’re not on form, put out your strongest eleven.” He said it after last season’s FA defeat to Burnley, and it must have been on his mind last after last nights near-identically poor performance.

Last season Benitez could have been forgiven for resting much of his first eleven He didn’t know the English game very well, and back in Spain these cup upsets are an extreme rarity. In England, they happen all of the time. But a year on, he should have learnt about the game over here and, with a team low on confidence, should have put out his strongest eleven to try and achieve a much-needed morale-boosting victory.

But then that raises the question, does he know what his strongest eleven is? All of the signs point to know, as Benitez has replaced Claudio Ranieri as the ‘Tinker man’ of English football. For a man who became a European Champion in his first season in English football, over-criticism would be harsh. There shouldn’t be any suggestion of the sack for Benitez, but Liverpool fans are quickly losing patience, and are asking questions as to whether Benitez is suited to English football.

It’s all well and good performing superbly against European giants, but the fixtures against the so-called ‘lesser’ domestic teams are the bread and butter of English football, and the reason Liverpool were in the Champions’ League in the first place.

While Benitez has won European football’s top prize and so he will be given time by the Liverpool board, he needs to turn things around quickly to keep the excellent supporters happy. Questions are being raised about his work in the transfer market, with Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko the only signings to have performed consistently well. £7million-man Peter Crouch seems to be the laughing stock of English football at the moment. Crouch is a good player who is getting unfair criticism at present, but that doesn’t justify Benitez’s bizarre decision not to substitute him on Wednesday night.

Fernando Morientes – another signing with a question mark over his head – looked far sharper and dangerous that Crouch, who just looked off form and desperately short of confidence. And while keeping him on may have been a sign of faith and confidence in his ability, the good of the team should be the priority in a crisis situation. And make no mistake, Wednesday night highlighted just what a crisis situation Liverpool are in.

More experienced players such as Morientes and Sami Hyypia seem to lack the hunger once seen in their game, while Harry Kewell has been given countless chances, despite failing to show any kind of form or commitment in a Liverpool shirt. Yet this season the players who seem to have fallen biggest victim to Benitez’s squad rotation system – John Arne Riise, Djibril Cisse and Sissoko – are the players that have shown endless energy and commitment to the cause. Yet Kewell and co still get the opportunity to have a casual stroll in the park.

After the Champions’ League success last season, there was hope among fans that Liverpool could mix it with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. However, the only players that could cement a place in the Chelsea line-up are Gerrard and Carragher. Alonso and Riise are also the only two that would realistically push for a place in any of the top-three starting teams.

Your fortunes can change so quickly in football. In May, Liverpool were on cloud nine and the future was looking immensely bright. Now they have fallen from the stars and are looking on as Chelsea disappear over the horizon. Everyone at Anfield needs to pray for another dramatic turn around in fortunes, and the player’s need to match the fans for passion.

Simon Cole
26 October 2005

2422: Chelsea prove why they are Cha

by : Daniel Kelly

Contrary to some interpretations, Chelsea demonstrated on Sunday just why they are Champions. Faced with a baying crowd and a revved-up, ultra-determined Everton side Chelsea refused to be bullied, standing up to a formidable physical onslaught and recovering from a goal down to preserve their unbeaten record. While Everton can take great heart from the courage of their display, Chelsea’s rivals can rule out the physical approach as the key to defeating the Champions.

Everton set out their stall from the first minute to be a physical as possible, denying Chelsea time and space to pass their opponents into submission. The key to this approach was to break up play into a series of set pieces; free-kicks, throw-ins, corners which a well drilled Everton side was happy to defend against. When it came to the attacking side of the game a similar approach was adopted, the ball being fired up to heads of James Beattie and Duncan Ferguson.

For the first half it seemed as though this physical approach might have rattled the champions. Manchester United and subsequently others adopted this approach successfully against Arsenal, negating their advantage in terms of movement and vision by forcing players to stop wanting the ball. John Terry took a series of blows to the head from Ferguson, and indeed was knocked to the floor on more than one occasion. At one point James Beattie jumped so high in his enthusiasm that he caught a standing Chelsea player in the head with his boot. Everton’s pressing, rather than the usual standing off most teams employ against them, shut down many of Chelsea’s usual outlets and forced them into a more predictable series of square passes and long balls. It was this pressing that enabled Everton to win the penalty that took them into a half time lead, forcing a dispirited and battered Wright-Phillips into a rash tackle.

Despite this physical challenge Chelsea at first endured, and then prevailed. After a first half of joined battle an Everton player was the first to fall with Valente substituted injured on the stroke of half time. Cahill also limped from the field after colliding with his own player, though recovered and turned out for the second half. Ferguson was next to succumb after jumping with the Chelsea centre-backs; his immobile frame lurched around the pitch for a few minutes more before he was replaced by Bent. Terry, Huth, Del Horno, and the rest of the side, after the battering of the first half, stood firm and lasted the match.

By this time Chelsea had equalised and the game changed in the second half. Chelsea pressed higher and in more numbers forcing the play away from their area and giving them more options in attack. Everton continued to defend impeccably and in numbers, but their composure ebbed away leaving Chelsea in control in the middle of the pitch. This was perhaps best exemplified by the home side’s inability to exploit fully the space offered on the counter-attack with Davies, Kilbane and Ferguson all guilty of squandering the ball when well-placed. While Everton could have won the game if Terry’s handball had been given it was one of only two clear chances they created all game. Chelsea looked at the Everton side relatively lacking in pace and guile and took the calculated risk to push players forward in search of goals. Whilst Chelsea did only a little better in terms of clear chances their control of the game was nearly absolute by the final whistle as they tried to find a way through the massed ranks of Toffeemen in front of them.

Chelsea remain unbeaten after a stern and slightly unexpected test at Goodison Park. Other teams, not least Arsenal and on occasion Manchester United have succumbed to a raw, physical away game with crowd and opposition players at their fiercest. Chelsea, without ever playing at their most fluent, stood up to the opposition and were counted. This, more than easy home wins and audacious finishes, is what makes a side a winner.

Dan Kelly
26 October 2005

2421: Manchester United: Is there an

by : Paul Meadows

I wonder exactly what is going through the mind of Michael Ballack at the moment. As he approaches the end of his Bayern Munich contract, he has a decision to make. Does he stay at the Allianz Arena and add to the two Bundesliga titles he has won since the summer of 2002, or does he pack his bags for one last big move?

These are certainly interesting times at Bayern. Their debut season in the new stadium, they currently lead the German league after winning eight of their opening ten games. There is a genuine feeling within the camp that this could be their year in the UEFA Champions League, and after winning their first three Group A games, it is easy to see why.

So although he has asked for more time before deciding whether or not he wants to remain in Munich, Ballack could do a lot worse than put pen-to-paper on the four-year deal currently tabled by the German giants. He has stated the need of ‘five or six weeks’ before deciding whether or not to stay and become the highest paid player in the clubs’ history.

Yet there is also a sense of change on the horizon at Bayern. Not only are they in danger of losing their star player, but another NINE players are out of contract next June. Amongst these are current skipper Oliver Kahn, Brazilian international Ze Roberto, fullbacks Willy Sagnol and Bixentu Lizarazu and intriguingly, the man they believe can fill Ballack’s boots – Ali Karimi.

How many of these will actually leave remains to be seen, yet can Ballack afford to spend the next couple of seasons playing for a team embarking on a transitional period? This same question could well be asked in relation to the constant speculation of a move to Manchester United for the midfielder, who will turn 30-years-old within a few weeks of next season beginning.

Suggestions the Reds are a finished force are somewhat wide off the mark. In Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo they have two of the finest young talents in world football. Ruud van Nistelrooy still has bags of goals in him, whilst Rio Ferdinand, at 26-years-old, is a year or two off reaching a peak that should see him fulfil his potential as one of the finest defenders in Europe.

Yet whilst Bayern are in danger of creeping into a transitional period, it could be argued that United are already there. How long Sir Alex Ferguson will remain in charge at Old Trafford is a subject of much debate; indeed, claims assistant Carlos Queiroz has much influence in the management at the club refuse to die. There is even a consensus in Manchester that a change of leadership is scheduled for the seasons’ end.

Only Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes remain of the famed crop of 1992; the latter two are considered past their best whilst the former was in danger of losing his place to Brazilian Cicinho, had United persuaded him to move to England rather than join a host of his compatriots at Real Madrid. All three are now in their thirties, yet able replacements are hard to find within the current squad.

And then there is the Roy Keane factor. That inspirational Irishman who has been key in much of the clubs’ successes of the past decade; the skipper who demands so much respect from colleagues and opponents alike; the one man Ferguson has dreaded leaving the club. Well, that day, at the moment at least, looks set to come sometime in May, giving little more than six months to have a replacement in place.

Ferguson would very much like that man to be Ballack. There is little doubt he would be a fine addition to any squad in Europe. Here is a man who rarely fails to impress, a man who has genuine designs of lifting the World Cup and is good for a healthy return of goals from midfield per-season. He is not, though, a like-for-like replacement for Keane; ideally, the two could play together, yet the reality is this is unlikely to happen – not just because Keane has stated his intention to quit in the summer, but also because when Ballack is weighing up his options, he is likely to get more attractive options than a move to United.

Italian champions Juventus may have ruled themselves out of the running, yet Inter Milan are known to be keen to take him to Serie A. In Spain, Barcelona have been long-term admirers (ironically, there is talk of Mark van Bommel heading to Bayern), whilst the whole world and its dog is expecting Real Madrid to make a move for the midfielder. Then of course Ballack could always stay where he is, with a club he freely admits is close to his heart.

Suddenly, a move to Manchester may not be the way forward after all. And when he reads his own chairman at Bayern, the respected Karl Heinz Rumennigge, casting aside United’s interest in the player as nothing more than laughable, it would appear Sir Alex has his work cut out with the pursuit of his number one transfer target.

As well as making some clangers in the transfer market, Ferguson has also made some astute signings in his time at United. Yet to persuade Ballack to ignore the lure of Italy or Spain, and to snub a new contract with Bayern in favour of trying his luck in Manchester would perhaps be as big a coup as he has ever made.

Paul Meadows
25 October 2005

2420: Chelsea: Merseyside chokers

by : Henry Knight

On Sunday evening 40,000 Evertonians were baying for blood, booing every time a decision went against them, cheering at every misplaced pass by the glitterati of West London. A rhapsody of joy, relief and elation almost blew the roof off of Goodison Park at 17:50 just as it had on a hot and heady Champions League night almost 6 months ago, just down the road at Anfield.

Chelsea once again had come unstuck on Merseyside, this time it was perhaps not as important to the London Blue’s but to the Toffees it meant so, so much.

Everton have had a mixture of dismal luck and dreadful injuries this year resulting in one of the worst starts to a season by any club domestically and being knocked out of the promised lands of Europe.

No Everton fan would have been comfortable with the first half performance of their midfield; whilst they carried out the managers wishes of pressing high they left enormous gaps and holes for Chelsea’s attackers to fill. Although David Weir and Joseph Yobo did a sterling job of closing down and marking up the Chelsea side of the last few weeks would have torn them apart without a second thought and certainly in the 1st minute the Essien of Wednesday night (vs. Real Betis) would perhaps have at least hit the target after finding inexplicable amounts of space, instead of blazing wastefully and wildly over.

However, fortunately for Everton, this was not the Chelsea of the last few weeks, this was the timid, sometimes lackadaisical, careless side of 6 months ago. James Beattie and Duncan Ferguson were reasonably well marshaled by John Terry and Robert Huth, but their presence and the 12th, 13th and 14th man represented by the Goodison crowd still made Chelsea look very ordinary.

Whilst Everton’s midfielders pressed and harried, Chelsea’s unusually held back and waited; patience may often be a virtue, but against a desperate side it is imperative that they are matched for hunger.

Jose Mourinho accepted, pre match, that this could be a banana skin if his players underestimated their opposition and certainly no player was lacking in hard work or effort, but every time Everton were forced up against it and every time a pass was on nothing went right for Chelsea. Some may give Everton all the credit for this, but even Moyes would have to admit that his defence looked porous at times and a lot of holes were there to exploit. The one time it did come off was for Didier Drogba’s legitimate goal which was inexplicably ruled offside because of Gudjohnsens presence, 5 yards away, who could not possibly have been interfering with play.

Jose Mourinho certainly thought it was a goal and that he could not complain about his Chelsea sides performance, because it should have been a win for him. This is of course nonsensical bravado, Chelsea simply did not deserve a win if Drogba’s was the only other real chance they could fashion all match. 20 shots on goal and only 5 on target is simply not good enough and perhaps Mourinho should be focusing on how to get his players to turn up for the first half of matches, something Chelsea have significantly failed to do for several weeks now.

This criticism aside it has been leveled at Mourinho that his after match comments were arrogant and disrespectful and only grudgingly gave compliments to Everton. Of course his compliments are grudging, he would much rather have been boasting of his wonderful Chelsea picking up 3 points and moving ever closer to their inevitable coronation. Short of giving a celebratory dance and song how much more praise could Mourinho have given Everton and their fans; “they fought hard and fair and their fans were absolutely fantastic/…/I believe they have a good manager and they will stay up”.

David Moyes is indeed an excellent manager and did as well as he could with a side that lacked its big name summer acquisitions and was limited to the aerial challenge when going forward. No doubt if the silky skilled winger Amdy Van Der Meyde was playing Chelsea would have had a much different onslaught to have coped with. Everton are clearly a side that is not going to go down. Their players are too good, their manager is too good and their squad is too big to be sucked into such a scrap.

Tim Cahill isn’t anywhere near top form yet and despite still being a hard worker, his return to full fitness and form will be like having bought another player for Everton. The same could be said of Beattie who looked to have all the desire of his Southampton days back against Chelsea. Phil Neville is constantly growing in stature as Everton’s main midfield man, his defensive covering is superb and his range of passing is that which could only have been learned after a decade at Carrington with such great midfielders as Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.

Whilst Chelsea’s squad is near perfection Everton still have a little money left to finance a spree in the January transfer window. Kilbane, VD Meyde and Davies are good wingers, but if an upgrade was available Moyes would surely be tempted. Certainly one more versatile defender and a pacey striker like Benni McCarthy could be of great help, but Everton’s biggest weakness is their lack of a No. 10 - a key, if you like, that can produce a moment of magic and take the responsibility of the team on his shoulders - a flair player that can score and create goals. Leon Osman is the closest player they have to this, but he perhaps is not good enough to carry the ambitions of a club
the size of Everton FC.

Henry Knight
24 October 2005

2419: Birmingham City: Steve Bruce o

by : Stephen Orford

Much has been made of Everton’s spectacular fall from grace in the early part of this season, as Champions League qualification has been followed by a spectacular slump to the bottom of the Premiership ladder. However, David Moyes’ men are not the only current Premiership club woefully under-achieving in 2005/06.

Many thought that after a period of consolidation in the big league, Birmingham City would go on to greater things under their highly-rated young manager, Steve Bruce. The former Manchester United captain was expected to leave the St.Andrews hot-seat only as a result of either his former club knocking on the door, or his home-town club Newcastle United chasing his services. Now, speculation is building that Bruce could be shown the door by the Blues, as the threat of a relegation battle increases with each passing game.

Though it is probably too early for such talk, Birmingham’s presence in the bottom three of the Premiership must be a worry for all concerned. Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Blackburn (October 22) represented the latest in a run of six games without a win, with their last Premiership point coming on September 24 when Liverpool visited the West Midlands.

City have managed only one win all season, a 3-2 victory in the local derby clash with West Bromwich Albion on August 27. All of which has left them with only six points from their ten games so far this season, and has left Bruce with much to ponder. Birmingham’s main strength during the Bruce reign has been their ability to remain difficult to beat, and it is fair to say that they have rarely dazzled with their attacking prowess. That solidity has disappeared so far during the present campaign, and the defence is leaking goals more regularly.

The one clean sheet achieved by the Birmingham defence this term came on the opening day, when they earned a pretty drab 0-0 draw at Fulham. Since then, all of Manchester City, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion (even in defeat), Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers have breached the Birmingham rearguard twice in 90 minutes of football. In addition, there have been 1-0 reverses against Arsenal and Charlton, and perhaps more tellingly in the second-city derby with Aston Villa a week ago.

As I write, Bruce has received that most unwanted of accolades, the vote of confidence from the chairman, as David Gold has publicly offered the manager his backing. The news is not all bad as many clubs are still within shooting range for City. A win or two could change the picture dramatically and is not beyond the realms of possibility, with Everton due at St.Andrews next on October 29. Following that, Birmingham face a trip to Newcastle United, before another home date with Bolton Wanderers on November 21.

It’s something of an achievement, not to mention a shock to find that no Premiership club has parted company with a manager so far this season. Never before has October passed without at least one Premiership casualty, and the Carling Cup clash against Norwich City this week could be crucial to Bruce’s hopes of making it past Halloween. A safe passage against the Canaries, and it looks likely that Bruce will at least be given the Everton clash on Saturday before his CV becomes blemished with a sacking. Should his troops bow out to Nigel Worthington’s Championship outfit, there could well be a vacancy at St.Andrews before the weekend.

Following George Burley’s recent and quite stunning departure from Hearts, his name is being routinely linked with the Birmingham job in the tabloids today (October 24). The time of reckoning is upon Mr Bruce, as a club that has worked so tirelessly to establish itself as a Premiership outfit cannot afford to let that status slip.

Stephen Orford
24 October 2005

2418: Carling Cup preview: Crystal P

by : Stephen Orford

Liverpool get to take their minds off the weekly slog of the Premiership when they visit Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup this Tuesday (October 25).

Just 32 teams remain in contention for a place at the Cardiff final on February 26, but as usual the apathy from the public towards the competition remains palpable. Regardless, it offers a route into Europe for the eventual victors, with this game in particular offering a chance for the recently relegated Eagles to show that they can still mix it with the Premiership’s elite.

If they want to test themselves fully they will be pleased to note that Steven Gerrard remains in contention for a starting slot. The England midfielder has been absent due to a shin injury in recent weeks, and was a late withdrawal from the squad which took on Fulham at the weekend. Whether his eventual absence contributed to the team’s second defeat of the season is open to debate, but his presence will no doubt add to the options at manager Rafa Benitez’s disposal.

A reasonably strong Liverpool side seems set to take the field, with only Jamie Carragher destined for a rest at the time of writing. This may offer an opportunity to reserve team captain David Raven who could operate at right-back, while American-born defender Zak Whitbread could come into the centre of the back-line.

Midfielder Darren Potter featured heavily in Liverpool’s run to last year’s final, and could again be given the nod to start either alongside or in place of Gerrard, or in a wider role depending on what Rafa The Gaffer intends to do with the Harry Kewell’s and Luis Garcia’s of this world. Bolo Zenden’s Anfield career has yet to ignite and it could be argued that the former Chelsea and Middlesbrough man needs games just as much as the recently returned Kewell.

Up front I tire of submitting pleas for the inclusion of Djibril Cisse, but it would also be interesting to take a look at the form of Fernando Morientes. The Spaniard is another who has failed to capture the adoration of the Merseyside public, despite arriving from Real Madrid with some pedigree. Dutifully, I should also point out that Peter Crouch is also an option, but then he has been described thus so many times now that it has gone beyond clich territory.

Crystal Palace will have to do without their main man Andrew Johnson. The England international has been out since picking up an injury in the 3-2 defeat at Reading on September 13. Shrewd man that he is, Dowie has since brought in Clinton Morrison from Birmingham City to fill the void. A return of six league goals since the move back to his former club has done just that.

Morrison will be shorn of the services of his regular strike partner, as former Manchester City and Preston man Jonathan Macken continues to struggle with a hamstring injury. This could give an opportunity to veteran Dougie Freedman to start in attack, which should still provide a stiff test for what could be an inexperienced Reds’ rearguard.

Also doubtful for Dowie’s charges are centre-back Danny Butterfield with a groin injury, and midfielder Jobi McAnuff who has an ankle problem.

Attempting to make sense of what might happen in the early rounds of the Carling Cup is a decidedly tricky business. A fully focused, if marginally under-strength Liverpool should have too much for Palace but anything less, as was seen in the FA Cup clash at Burnley in January, could see Benitez’s men exiting with tails firmly between legs.

Verdict: Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 3

Stephen Orford
24 October 2005

2417: Spare us from meaningless 'Pre

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Frank Lampard's goal for Chelsea on Sunday had Jonathan Pearce in raptures on Match of the Day 2 as he exclaimed the 800th Premiership goal for the Blues.

Similarly the previous day had seen some speculation as to whether Manchester United would get their 1000th goal in the Premiership.

Pretty harmless stuff but still part of the increasing tendency to hype the Premiership as an entirely new competition that started in 1992 and was so much better than anything that had gone on before.

All that happened in 1992 was that the top-flight of English football changed its name from Division One to the Premier League and a different body was responsible for the administration of that top tier.

Three teams were relegated and three teams were promoted from the second tier of the league ladder.

It has remained that way ever since with the only change being a reduction of clubs from 22 to 20 which is simply an organisational change along the lines of the play-offs when they were introduced to the game.

Talking about goals scored by a certain club in the Premiership or Liverpool's failure to win a Premiership title is completely spurious.

It is absurd as saying that Sunderland have won one 'Coca-Cola Championship' title or talking about the number of goals Watford scored in the Endsleigh Insurance Division One era.

Despite the advent of the Champions League, which is to all extents and purposes a separate competition from the European Cup with different qualification criteria and a different format, people still talked (correctly) of Liverpool winning their fifth European Cup last year yet as part of the whitewashing of certain aspects of English football pre-Sky the same comparisons are not made when talking about league titles.

It is certainly unfair on Leeds United whose 1991/92 title triumph has painted in an unflattering light as being pre-Premiership and therefore somewhat less of an achievement.

It also adds to the myth that the Premiership is somehow a better 'product' than what had gone before when it is simply a new guise for an existing product and one that, despite the boom it has experienced, will not last forever with it's current name.

Many things have changed for the better since 1992 but many things have not (for a number of clubs and for supporters) and talking about the Premiership as a different era does a disservice to the clubs, players and administrators even whose formation of the football league in 1888 and subsequent achievements have all contributed to the rich history of the game in this country.

Alex Wolstenholme
24 October 2005

2416: Sign of the times: Loan ranger

by : Hugh Larkin

Two of the features from Continental football that have taken root in the affluent Premiership are the phenomenon of the long-term loan player and the stockpiling of quality in the elite squads. There are now many international class footballers either acting as expensive bench warmers, enacting Owen Hargreaves-like cameos or spending whole campaigns away from the parent club.

LOAN RANGERS

Chelsea and Arsenal, both with Continental managers, have become serial practitioners of the art. Abroad, the elite clubs have always stockpiled talent against a rainy day and then sent them out for either experience, to be removed from the wage bill or just to be kept happy.

Young forwards Mikkel Forssell and Carlton Cole could be forgiven for forgetting what team they owe allegiance to. Forssell has now finally accepted that he isn’t going to get a break at Stamford Bridge and joined his loan club, Birmingham. Cole has been at Aston Villa, Wolves and Charlton.

Alexei Smertin is now on his second season long stint away, having swapped Portsmouth for Charlton. Jiri Jarosik is also with Birmingham who seem to becoming a home for surplus Chelsea players. In 2003-4 Chelsea had no less than 9 first-team squad members on loan for all or part of the campaign, such as Boudewijn Zenden at Middlesbrough.

General opinion is that Arsenal have a thinner squad than Chelsea but it hasn’t stopped Arsene Wenger using the system enthusiastically. This season he has David Bentley on his second club (Blackburn) while right back Justin Hoyte is at Sunderland and French striker Jeremie Alladiere is helping West Ham. Previously he loaned another right back, Maurice Volz to Fulham and he eventually joined the Craven Cottage side. He appeared twice in Gunners colours in 4 years at the club.

Liverpool have off-loaded under-achievers Salif Diao, Anthony Le Tallec and Bruno Cheyrou for the season and it would be a surprise if more than one of them ever came back to Anfield.

Manchester United currently have David Bellion out at West Ham although Alex Ferguson does tend to limit loans to youngsters looking for a chance to prove themselves, such as Kieran Richardson’s excellent stint at West Brom.

At the Riverside, Steve McClaren has a 37 man squad- partly thanks to the excellent youth system- and a lot of midfielders and forwards to satisfy. Joseph-Desire Job has been allowed to go on loan Al-Ittihad to make some room.

BENCH WARMERS

Several international class performers are basically warming the bench or filling out Carling Cup teams at the big clubs. Geremi at Chelsea is a utility man who has won the Champions League at Real Madrid and played in world level tournaments for Cameroon. Yet his record for the Blues is 3 appearances so far this year and only 19 in total last season, by no means all of them as a starter.

Liam Miller has disappeared from sight at Old Trafford after his move from Celtic. Thus far he has started 8 games and come on as a sub a further 11 times since his move last summer. He’s been positively busy compared to World Cup winner Kleberson who cost £6 million and started only 24 games in his time at the club. Alan Smith nearly became another expensive reserve but has recently forced a way back into the first-team picture.

Looking at the resources in the Liverpool midfield, at least one and maybe both, of Harry Kewell (when fit) and Zenden are likely to spend a lot of time watching the action.

It isn’t just the ‘Big 3’ that do it. At Spurs, Pedro Mendes can’t find a way through the logjam of midfielders- he’s taken to the pitch just 4 times this season. In the summer of 2004 Mendes won the Champions League at Porto. He’s unlikely to get trip to Germany 2006 sitting in Tottenham’s reserves.

There have always been stalwart players who preferred to wait their chance at a top club- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Steve Morrow come to mind- but what is different now is the numbers involved and the quality of the men stuck in limbo.

Hugh Larkin
19 October 2005

2415: Manchester United: Could Rio F

by : Henry Knight

Alex Ferguson has never been a master tactician, instead succeeding by motivation and determination. Currently his side is struggling; there is a distinct lack of talent and pace, the older players are clossing in on the other side of the hill and the younger players are not as productive as they could be. If this Manchester United is to be Ferguson’s next great side it has a very long way to go and a lot of millions left to be invested. There have been some crippling injuries recently, but this is no excuse for what is, even at full strength, a side riddled with problems and holes.

However, with Rooney and Van Nistelrooy up front and Van der Sar in goal it is in midfield and defence that the main problems lie.

Despite the best efforts of Alan Smith, Manchester United are seriously lacking a quick midfielder that can pass the ball and make good tackles. Even when Roy Keane gets back Manchester United simply won’t have the pace or energy to dominate the midfield area; breaking an oppositions attack up and creating an attack of their own.

At the back Gary Neville is the only true leader and easily the best and most reliable defender. Rio Ferdinand is not the organizer he needs to be and has certainly not helped his already deteriorated reputation by failing to put his body on the line for the cause. Mikael Silvestre continues to make absurd mistakes and is clearly still a fullback. The youngster Bardsley has performed well in recent games and could perhaps be Gary Neville’s long term successor; maybe now is the time to throw him into the cauldron and really test his potential.

So how can Ferguson sort these problems out without spending obscene amounts of Glazers cash? Well perhaps he can’t sort it all out without financial aid, however there could be some experiments with the distribution of talent that he does have.

Rio Ferdinand is undoubtedly a supreme athlete who is incredibly quick off the mark and an excellent ball player; he has a very good range of passing and is more like Paul Scholes than John Terry in an opposition’s penalty box. Many have argued for him to perform the sweeper role for England, but certainly he could do for Manchester United exactly what Ledley King did for England. When Neville is fit he could move inside, perhaps with Wes Brown instead of Silvestre to provide the organisation the Manchester United back four are in desperate need for.

There is one decision that might need to be taken that is sacrilege to most Manchester United fans; drop Paul Scholes.

Scholes has perhaps one good game in five and in the past 2 seasons his form has dramatically decreased. The arrival of Wayne Rooney, who regularly provides genius for Manchester United, has seen Scholes’s importance decrease even further as Rooney loves to drop deeper into Midfield and collect the ball before driving forward into space.

Ryan Giggs, like Paul Scholes, only has occasional patches of good form and Park JS is clearly going to be a big part of Manchester United’s future. He has talent, great work rate and stamina, if not a regular end product. Certainly a hard working Park is better than an inconsistent Giggs.

Cristiano Ronaldo has all the talent in the world, but his productivity has never been particularly good. External issues have made life more of a struggle for him this year, but last season he only scored 4 goals and provided a mere 5 assists. He should play because his presence and genius x factor forces opposition managers into thinking twice about him, but he needs to start proving himself to be a regular source of goals and assists if he wants to keep a place.

Darren Fletcher has talent and has done reasonably well for the side, but he has perhaps been more of a facilitator than an innovator, failing to really stamp his mark on matches like his great predecessors. Certainly he has a role to play for United but with Ferdinand in midfield Roy Keane could play a more active and important role as he would have less work to get through and more of a free role to harass the opposition and make the kind of mark Fletcher might never be able to make.

So what's the outcome of this pontification, other than seasoned Manchester United fans thinking I’m insane?

Hopefully it’s a Manchester United XI with a quicker, more dominant midfield, a sharpened attack and a better organized and more stubborn defence.

………….......VD Sar
Bardsley Neville Brown Heinze
…………......Ferdinand
JS-Park Rooney Keane Ronaldo
……………........RVN

Not good enough to turn the blue tides of Chelsea, but good enough to finish ahead of Arsenal and ensure a longer run in all cup competitions.

Henry Knight
21 October 2005

2414: Carling Cup: Big moment for Le

by : Hugh Larkin

Midfielders

Probables

David Beckham - Captain Fantastic, Golden Balls, whatever you want to call him, Dave will be the skipper in Germany. Despite recent calls for his omission in favour of Chelsea’s Shaun Wright-Phillips, Beckham has stayed in Sven’s plans to the point where many believe he is picking the team. Certainly, only someone as intellectually challenged as Beckham is alleged to be could have come up with the ’quarterback’ position in which he played during the Northern Ireland debacle.

Steven Gerrard - The Liverpool dynamo runs games at domestic level, so is possibly entitled to be completely anonymous in the white of England. Possibly not. Either way, expect Gerrard do benefit from Sol Campbell syndrome and be in the squad whether we need him or not.

Frank Lampard - The free-scoring Chelsea midfielder stole a march on Gerrard when he played alongside Ledley King in the recent World Cup qualifier with Poland. His volleyed winner left many to presume that he should be retained at the expense of Gerrard, whose agent was said to be very displeased indeed with such talk. His job is difficult enough as it is, thank you.

Joe Cole - Another Chelsea man, the diminutive Cole can be equally ineffective in a number of positions along the midfield, and is as close to an answer to England’s left sided problem as we are going to find without tampering with a few passports.

Owen Hargreaves - Yet to explain to a nation exactly what it is that he does, the Bayern Munich man has been a regular fixture in Sven’s squads until a recent injury. He’ll be back, no doubt, at which point we may or may not find out why. One possibility is that Sven needs every bit of support he can find on a long trip away when times get hard, and there are no TV weather girls or FA press secretaries to hand.

Ledley King - A late run from the Tottenham man was provided when he inspired everyone with his disciplined holding midfield performance against Poland. Everyone except Steven Gerrard that is.

Shaun Wright-Phillips - The £24million speedster is many people’s choice to replace Beckham in the first 11, but in all probability will have to settle for just the 20 minutes out of every 90 in which he can run at pace down blind alleys and tamely scuff clear-cut chances to score.

Possibles

Phillip Neville - If brother Gary can go, father Neville Neville might send the boys round to Sven’s house to insist that both of his awesomely talented sons are selected. Phillip offers the added bonus that he can operate both in midfield or defence, which is rather like suggesting that Jennifer Ellison can act and sing.

Michael Carrick - With the midfield partnership of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard failing to pay the expected dividends, there were many banging the drum for the inclusion of the deep-lying, rather casual but effective Carrick in the first 11. That was until his Spurs team-mate Ledley King came along and had the temerity to have a blinder against Poland. With friends like that………..

Jermaine Jenas - Another Tottenham man whose ineffectiveness seems no barrier to his inclusion in recent squads. Scored his first goal for the White Hart Lane club against a positively comatose Everton at the weekend, probably earning him rave reviews and international call-ups for the rest of his career.

Stewart Downing - England’s left side of midfield has been a problem for as long as Stewart Downing has been on the planet. Despite several references to how Downing could be ready to make an impact on the World Cup next year, Sven still seems reluctant to give the Middlesbrough man the experience he will require to do so. His recent injury problems could see him run out of time.

Strikers

Probables

Michael Owen - Now back playing regularly after he reluctantly agreed to join Newcastle United, Owen continues to chase Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time England goalscoring record. A certainty to start up front, Owen will no doubt thrive on the agricultural hoofing of the likes of Terry and either of the Neville brothers.

Wayne Rooney - The terrible teenager carries the hopes of a nation going into the World Cup, as it is hoped that his footballing genius will win the battle over his intolerable petulance. Get out the cotton wool, Sir Alex, for an injury to Rooney will see off England’s only realistic hope of turning games that are not going their way. As if Sir Alex cares.

Peter Crouch - Beanpole striker and acclaimed ‘different option’ Crouch has burst on to the scene after a scorching run of no goals from nine appearances for Liverpool. Adept at bringing other people into play, hopefully including the substitute who replaces him should he get a game.

Possibles

Darren Bent - The Charlton striker has made a sizzling start in his new surroundings, firing seven Premiership goals already. However, despite being included in the last few squads he has palpably failed to win a cap. One would hope that he will be given a chance to show what he can do in the friendlies between now and the finals, but then one would hope that Owen Hargreaves announces his international retirement.

Jermain Defoe - Once thought of as the natural replacement for Michael Owen, it has taken Defoe only a few short months to persuade Sven to go in a different tactical decision whenever his main striker is absent. All is not lost for the Tottenham man, but his current position behind Crouch in the pecking order is an indication that things are going slightly belly-up.

Andrew Johnson - England’s newest right-winger had been told that the drop to the Championship with Crystal Palace would not affect his international ambitions, but has been strangely absent from Sven’s plans ever since. A January transfer could resurrect his dreams, but the loan move to Coventry City touted by one tabloid newspaper probably won’t help.

Stephen Orford
19 October 2005
The Carling Cup may be an inconvenience for the elite squads of the Premiership but there will only be excitement among players and supporters of Barnet, Grimsby Town and Mansfield Town when they represent League Two in this weeks’ 3rd round. The ties are very welcome to three teams that have had hard times in recent seasons.

Barnet have got the plum draw with a trip to Old Trafford where they hope to emulate Exeter City’s heroics in last season’s FA Cup. This is reward for the tremendous season Paul Fairclough’s side put together to dominate the Conference last year and return to the League.

As non-league giants, Barnet made 4 runs to the FA Cup Third Round and as a fledgling League club, they held Chelsea goalless in 1993. However, like several of the clubs promoted from the Conference, Barnet found life in the League a bit of struggle to the point where they lost that status. This tie brings back some of the excitement that came to Underhill regularly when they were outside the 92.

Grimsby get the chance to welcome Newcastle United to their Cleethorpes ground and having already removed Spurs from the competition, hopes are high that the Mariners can make life difficult for Graeme Souness. Grimsby are enjoying a tremendous season in League Two and support is reviving again after the club plummeted down the divisions in recent seasons, suffering successive relegations.

For Mansfield Town, their home tie with Championship side Millwall is a chance to forget the disastrous run that has seen them rooted to the bottom of the Football League. In 2002 the Stags were promoted from the bottom division and though they came straight back down, they reached the play offs in 2003-4.

Last year though, manager Keith Curle left in a disciplinary matter and while Carlton Palmer stabilised matters a little, the Stags have fallen away badly this campaign. The Nottinghamshire outfit downed Championship side Southampton just after Palmer’s resignation to get here and caretaker boss Peter Shirtliff will be hoping for another morale-boosting effort against Colin Lee’s Londoners.

So what are the chances of League Two being represented at the last 16 stage? On the face of it slim, especially as Millwall have moved into form after a rocky period. The Lions were on a seven game unbeaten run before they ran into the Sheffield United steamroller last week. Mansfield will hope that their 4-0 drubbing has dented confidence at the New Den again.

Even if Sir Alex Ferguson decides to play a weakened team-in fact he may have no choice given his injury list- he can be expected to fire his side up as he was definitely annoyed at the performance against Exeter. Barnet are having a mixed season so far but the LDV Trophy win over Bristol City shows they are keeping their best for the cups. Even so, a draw would be a staggering result.

Grimsby might have the verve to upset their opponents and they will be willing Sunderland to take the game to Newcastle in the North-East derby. The Magpies have only two days rest before the trip down the East Coast on Wednesday and the League Two leaders have nothing to lose. Russell Slade will be hoping that someone comes up with a strike- the team have shared the goals this season with 10 names on the scoresheet so far.

Whatever happens, it’s pleasing to see some excitement for loyal fans at three clubs where life has been tough over the past few years. The Carling Cup may be maligned periodically but there are times when it injects a feel-good factor to the season.

Hugh Larkin
21 October 2005

2413: England: The word cup squad

by : Stephen Orford

The squad for England's jaunt-to-Germany-only-to-get-knocked-out-in-the-quarters is largely predictable. So we did.

Goalkeepers

Probables

Paul Robinson - The Tottenham shot-stopper has been the man in possession of the England number one jersey ever since a particularly atrocious blunder-fest in Austria by David James in September 2004. Comfortably devoid of a reasonable challenger to his position with England Robinson will, barring injury, be the man between the sticks when England begin their finals campaign.

Possibles

Chris Kirkland - Injury prone Kirkland took on Arsenal almost on his own in the Premiership last weekend, and few could doubt his ability. However, if anyone is likely to slip on a bottle of salad cream or meet with an unfortunate gardening accident it is the man on loan to West Brom from Liverpool this season.

Defenders

Probables

Gary Neville - Currently absent after tearing his groin early in the season, scouser-loving Gary is the housewives’ and Svens’ choice at right-back when fully fit. One of England’s most experienced players, Neville could be looking at a last tilt at the World Cup finals before finally retiring to further his career in drab and slightly nervous punditry.

Rio Ferdinand - Poor old Rio missed Euro 2004 after forgetting to take a drugs test, but looks certain to feature this time round despite a recent dip in form. Critics have pointed to Ferdinand as one of the reasons for a possibly suspect Manchester United defence this season, despite the presence of John O’Shea and Kieran Richardson in said defence. Even Sven wagged his finger and sat Rio down for the Austria game on October 8, only to be forced to restore him after Sol Campbell trod on his ego.

John Terry - Faultless, perfect, slightly feminine John is what Ron Atkinson might have called a stick-on for one of the two central defensive berths in the starting line-up come World Cup time. Brave, heroic, and an expert at the art of aimless hoofing, Terry has helped inspire the Chelsea defence to become tighter than Doug Ellis.

Jamie Carragher - Versatile, inaudible Jamie has become a model of consistency in the last few seasons. Able to fill in anywhere along the back line, he will probably not make the starting line-up but will be an adequate replacement for anyone thinking of going crying off when the going gets tough. That’s you again, Campbell.

Ashley Cole - Our Ashley missed the recent World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Poland through injury, but should be back in residence once he regains full fitness. Labelled ‘The Best Left Back In The World‘ by everyone except possibly Roberto Carlos and a chuckling Paolo Maldini, Cole is the best left back in the world in the same way that Carlsberg is the best lager in the world. Probably.

Sol Campbell - Reputation goes a long way with Svennis, and so expect Arsenal’s ship-jumping Sol to be among the 23 for the big shebang. Despite not producing a convincing performance at Premiership level since Teddy Sheringham was a lad, Campbell occasionally appears in the Gunners’ back-line to mutterings about how much they miss him when he is not there.

Luke Young - The Charlton right-back has filled in admirably for the injured Neville in recent times, and has jumped the queue to be his understudy ahead of the errant Glenn Johnson of Chelsea. Unfortunately, Young is not quite relevant enough to offer any scope for humour at his expense.

Possibles

Matthew Upson - The Birmingham defender has been on the fringes of the England squad for some time, sometimes being named, and other times missing out. His form for Birmingham City has been solid, but he will do well to oust one of England’s plethora of quality central defenders even if he does make the final cut.

Wayne Bridge - Ashley Cole may be an undisputed football genius, but he needs cover, right? Unfortunately for Bridge, his injury at the back end of last season plus the signing of Asier Del Horno by Chelsea could reduce his opportunities to shine in the Premiership.

Glenn Johnson - Another man struggling to establish himself at Chelsea, Johnson may have talked himself out of the running after some mysterious shenanigans with the under-21’s. Rumours that he was sent home by boss Peter Taylor were scotched, but in any event his displays when given a chance at senior level are enough to suggest that he might be up the terminal without a boarding card, so to speak.

2412: Everton: Don’t panic Toffees,

by : Chris Sherrard

It’s a curious thing, football.

There you are flying high, beating up the great and the good and mixing it at the top of the table.

You’ve secured Champions League qualification and everything looks rosy in the garden.

But, before you can say ‘who needs Wayne’, the wagon comes to a crashing halt and everyone is pointing and laughing.

The charge thrown at David Moyes and Everton is that their start to this season is perfectly understandable, it’s just a year overdue.

After they sold you know who to Manchester United at the start of last season, without the opportunity to spend the many yankie dollars on replacing him, the pundits roared that they were doomed, I tell you.

We all know that they since went on to laugh in the face of that assessment and eventually secured fourth place in the table and, with it, an improbable spot in this season’s Champions League.

But with that raised achievement came vaulted expectation.

Everton were expected to be right up there in the top half of the table at least this season.

But as it stands after almost ten games, the Toffees prop up the standings and have every other team, even Sunderland, peering down on them.

How did it come to this?

Well just as David Moyes was rightly acclaimed as an excellent manager last season so he remains one this season.

You do not become a poor boss over night.

He has been let down by some of his signings, notably the oft-injured James Beattie.

But for the most part, injury has robbed him of his summer purchases thus far.

Per Koldrup, a £5million defender and Netherlands international winger Andy van der Meyde have both yet to wear the blue jersey – both have the potential to be big players for the Goodison club.

There are other factors, of course, which have contributed to this current run which sees the club bottom of the league.

It has to be said that this is one season too far for keeper Nigel Martyn, in my opinion.

The former Leeds United and England player has been Everton’s best player for the majority of his time on Merseyside. But he is past the point where he is a benefit to the side now.

Martyn’s aging body is no longer capable of taking the punishment of football twice a week.

The trouble for David Moyes is who does he replace him with? Richard Wright impressed nobody with his comedic displays as a stand-in last season. He is a shadow of the man Arsenal once paid big money for.

They have got highly-talented teenager John Ruddy on the books as well, these days. But regular Premiership football could be just beyond him for the time being.

Everton have a good manager. But they have got a couple of passengers in their side this season.

My old favourite Kevin Kilbane will never win you very much, nor save you from anything.

Arteta and McFadden are blessed with great skill and talent but look too lightweight.

And that leaves Tim Cahill with the task of trying to cover every part of the pitch at the same time as scoring all the goals. Poor bloke.

What Moyes would desperately love, and equally need, is for Beattie to rediscover his scoring boots and Marcus Bent to replicate his namesake’s displays at Charlton.

Neither is going to happen particularly dramatically.

They retain something of a threat, but it has been watered down significantly these days.

But all hope is not lost for blues supporters.

When they get all their injured players back to fitness, and when they discover their way to goal, and when they reinvigorate an embattered goalkeeper, they will start to climb the table.

Everton really are too good to go down. But that is a question of being too good a club, manager and set of supporters, at this moment in time, rather than being too good a side.

But in Moyes they trust. And with Moyes they will bounce back. The best thing to do is just start this season again, well after the Chelsea game at the weekend.

If they can put aside the early-season disappointments, Everton can get back up and running.

They really can.

Chris Sherrard
20 October 2005

2411: Serie A: Death or glory as Rom

by : Paul Watson

For football fans in the Italian capital last season is best forgotten. Once again Roma and Lazio were equally insipid, failing to deliver anywhere close to expectations and finishing eight and tenth respectively. However, this term has seen the two clubs in contrasting form. Lazio fans, who could have been forgiven for approaching this season with trepidation, have been treated to a flying start with a shock 1-0 victory over Fiorentina leaving them in equal fourth. The mood amongst their Giallorossi counterparts is more sombre. Roma limp into Sunday’s grudge match with the indignation of a 1-0 defeat at Empoli fresh in the mind. After a generally lacklustre opening to the season, a defeat by the Serie A newcomers, who were reduced to ten men for much of the game, was described as ‘embarrassing and disastrous’ by the local press.

It would seem that Luciano Spalletti, installed at the beginning of the season, has been unable to lift the cloud of underachievement that has suffocated Roma for so long. The man who masterminded Udinese’s rise to a Champions’ League spot last season may well be regretting his switch from diligent overachievers to arrogant underachievers. Constant internal struggles have blighted Spalletti’s efforts to turn a collection of highly talented players into the appetising outfit they could be. Antonio Cassano’s persistent refusal to play a part sums up the situation. There is frightening talent at the club but all too often it is not delivered. Key players such as De Rossi and Totti have been well below par and Italy Under-21 international defender Cesare Bovo has looked out of his depth since his arrival from Palermo. A lack of confidence has caused the onset of a worrying vicious circle. Roma have the look of a side fighting their own demons.

Lazio are almost the polar opposite to their prodigal neighbours. Unlike past years the squad is built on a foundation of young talent and reliable, hard-working players rather than star names. Youngsters Valon Behrami and Emilson Cribari look very astute signings and, while there is no prolific goalscorer, Pandev and Rocchi look capable of shouldering the burden. Angelo Peruzzi has rediscovered an agility that belies his age, putting himself back into the Italy squad at the age of 35, and fellow veteran Paolo Di Canio is still an inspiration, albeit increasingly in a coaching role. Lazio’s success owes so much to the harmonious nature of the dressing room and coach Delio Rossi is quickly cementing his reputation as a shrewd manager able to bring the best out of a team.

Francesco Totti may well be regretting his brash declaration that Roma can be title challengers. At what is already a club in crisis, good UEFA Cup performances are by no means enough to appease the Ultras. Delio Rossi will look ahead to Sunday with high hopes but for Luciano Spalletti the derby could not have come at a worse time. Following his side’s humbling at the Stadio Castellani, Spalletti called for ‘drastic changes’ but he must know only too well that if the Giallorossi are beaten on Sunday he himself may well be the first casualty. One thing is certain, despite his poker face, the man in one of Serie A’s hottest seats is acutely aware that the stakes could not be higher.

Paul Watson
21 October 2005

2410: Time for Birmingham City to sp

by : Alex Wolstenholme

The days following their defeat by Aston Villa have seen both Birmingham City chairman David Gold and co-owner David Sullivan voice their thoughts on the start to the season made by their side.

Gold seemed fairly laid back about things, saying:

"It's a difficult time and it's not nice to be in the bottom three. But it's important not to panic.

"We have confidence in our people and that includes Steve Bruce who has done a superb job for this club.

"We have had horrendous luck with injuries, ones which have put people out for almost a year like Mikael Forssell and David Dunn.

"And we have also had three players sent off in successive games when you could argue that none were for serious violent play."

Sullivan though was more forthright.

"As far as I'm concerned, anyone who is not worried about our results and position in the table is crazy," he told The Sun.

"The time to start worrying is now, not with five games to go when we have a mathematical mountain to climb.

"It's obvious there is something wrong with our three strikers because they are not scoring.

"Nicky Butt is our top-paid player. But he's been suspended for four games for stupidly getting himself sent off. It's all very worrying."

First of all let me say I don't subscribe to the theory that chairmen and owners should be seen and not heard. Messrs Gold and Sullivan have sunk an awful lot of money into Birmimgham City and the club is unrecognisable from when they took it over. They more than anyone have the right to make their opinions known.

But they are in the 'papers more often than Charlotte Church these days and it looks from the outside as if the press know that they can get a juicy quote or two and ring up about every issue under the sun.

Quite aside from publicly slating Lee Bowyer's reason for not joining Blues in the summer and the Dwight Yorke affair there have been a whole host of less controversial comments on all sorts of issues both to do with Birmingham City and with football generally.

Steve Bruce is obviously used to this state of affairs but surely he could have done without criticism from within the club about his players ahead of a crucial series of games?

Equally confusing is the rather contradictory nature of what Gold and Sullivan are saying which points to a lack of communication somewhere along the line unless they carrying out their own version of the good cop/bad cop routine.

If Bruce is not the unanimous choice of all those with a say in the matter then if Birmingham's poor form continues the problem is only going to get worse.

The manager is experienced enough and well-paid enough to deal with the pressure of being in charge and it could be in Birmingham's best interests to let him do the talking in future.

Alex Wolstenholme
21 October 2005

2409: Everton V Chelsea: Can Everton

by : Colin Illingworth

For Everton fans, this season must be like having all your teeth pulled out without any anaesthetic by a blind, drunk monkey. Knocked out of both European competitions, seven defeats in the league, just one victory and goal to their name, Everton are currently languishing at the bottom of the Premiership and are in a perilous position. And it doesn’t rain but it pours when you’re down at the bottom, as the seemingly invincible Chelsea come to town.

If last week’s visit to Tottenham filled the restless Toffee faithful with dread then this week’s clash with Chelsea might just send them over the edge. Everton have only beaten the West London millionaires once in their last 14 league meetings and have only scored past them twice in the last eight. Not something that bodes well considering Everton’s distinct lack of goals this season.

The Toffees are in severe danger of setting a new club record of seven straight league defeats, and seven matches without scoring. The Blues have already matched the previous record of six successive defeats from the 1996/97 season and the six-game non-scoring run from 1951.

Chelsea themselves are on course to smash a few records of their own. Victory on Sunday will take them to ten straight wins in this campaign leaving them just one win away from equalling Tottenham’s record of 11 wins on the trot at the start of a season. And Frank Lampard is set to record a new outfield record if he plays at Goodison Park. This will be his 156th consecutive appearance for Chelsea which will take him to just four games away from breaking David James’s all-time Premiership record of 159 successive games which he set for Liverpool between 1994 and 1998.

Halloween may not be until next weekend but I’m sure that Moyes has had more than a few nightmares about the visit of the runaway leaders. It is hard to find any positives for Everton at all. They have totally failed to capitalise on last season’s excellent form and a number of players are simply just not performing. Whether this is due to Moyes losing his touch tactically or that teams have discovered how to play against them, I’m not entirely sure. One thing for sure though is that Everton are struggling and in dire trouble and Moyes has to rectify the problem soon before they are left adrift at the bottom and he is left to pick up his P45.

A lot can change in football and that fact cannot be more accurately summed up than this fact. In February when the two sides last squared up at Goodison Park it was a class between two sides in the top four. Today one is rooted to the foot while the other seems to have the title already wrapped up. Everton played the majority of that February clash with 10 men after James Beattie was needless sent off for head butting William Gallas, and performed admirably before Eidur Gudjohnsen finally made the decisive breakthrough.

One thing Moyes could possibly take from the previous four meetings is that Chelsea have only beaten them by one goal in three of them, with the other being a goalless draw. However, it doesn’t really mean much when you see that Everton can’t score for toffee and Chelsea guard their goal as if it’s the crown jewels. Also when you take into account Chelsea’s recent performances of 13 goals in three games against Liverpool, Bolton and Real Betis, even the most ardent Evertonian is probably expecting a hiding.

Everton’s last triumph over Jose Mourinho’s side came in November 2000 when Danny Cadamarteri and Kevin Campbell scored in a 2-1 win on Merseyside. And as if Everton fans needed any more proof how difficult this clash is going to be, Chelsea have only conceded two goals in a game twice under Jose Mourinho in the league against Arsenal and Bolton last season, while Everton, besides the victory in 2000, have to go back to 1998 for the last time they scored more than two past their London counterparts in a 3-1 victory.

Chelsea have injury doubts over Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben but such is the strength in depth at Mourinho’s disposal that Hernan Crespo, Carlton Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips are on hand to replace them if they fail to recover in time. Meanwhile, Everton look to have James Beattie and Mikel Arteta back in contention for a starting place.

Once Chelsea are out of town Everton face three teams which most Evertonian would expect to get something from as they face Birmingham, Middlesbrough and West Brom. If Moyes cannot stop the rot after that then serious action will need to be taken.

A spirited display against Chelsea may keep the vultures away for a short while but unfortunately for Everton I just can’t see it happening.

Forecast: Everton 0 Chelsea 4

Colin Illingworth
21 October 2005

2408: Champions League: Half-Time Re

by : Hugh Larkin

All 32 sides have now played 3 games and encountered all the other teams in their group. It’s now possible to run the rule over the sides and decide who’s showing title form and alternatively, who the strugglers are.

FAVOURITES GOING NICELY

Bayern Munich look strong and have already beaten Juventus on their way to maximum points in Group A. Joining them on a full score are Arsenal who are picking up speed in what is a moderate section and Lyon who are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in this competition. Real Madrid are included in their defeated opponents.

Though they don’t have the maximum, Chelsea and Liverpool seem to be carving up the spoils in Group G and it looks like another smooth passage to the knockout stages for Barcelona who have also been held just the once.

LIKELY TO GET THERE AGAIN

Real Madrid and Juventus have both suffered a defeat so far. While it will no doubt dent their pride, failure to qualify from their sections would still be a seismic event. Internationale have also been beaten but still top their group with two wins. AC Milan, as is often their wont, are doing just enough at this stage. A win and two draws is still enough to top their group, even if it means there’s still work to do before Christmas.

Manchester United are doing nothing special in their section but as it contains a couple of relative lightweights, Old Trafford should be hosting a knockout game yet again. Whether they get more than one though is open to doubt unless there is considerable improvement.

SURPRISE PACKAGES

Two teams that have never been at this stage before take the plaudits. Artmedia Bratislava are now causing serious concern to the other half of Glasgow; not content with dumping Celtic out of the qualifiers, the Slovakian champions are now threatening Rangers’ passage from Group H. Both teams are locked on 4 points and play the vital reverse fixture in Slovakia next.

In Arsenal’s section, tiny FC Thun are still afloat after three matches. They were desperately unlucky to go down at Highbury and they took the spoils off Sparta Prague. Ajax should wrap up 2nd place but Thun will still give them an uncomfortable ride.

Less surprisingly but still worthy of note, Panathanaiakos of Greece will be very happy to be level pegging with Udinese for second spot behind Barca.

NOT GOING SO WELL

Aside from Bayern, the German sides are not enjoying life so far. Werder Bremen hold only a single point in Group C and Schalke have only one point more in Group E. Both need to produce something special to have a chance of giving Germany a second contender in the knockout phase.

Although this is Villarreal’s first attempt, the quality of their players, their European experience and the way they removed Everton left most pundits expecting more from them then three draws. When Group D came out, the Spanish side were confidently expected to dispute group leadership with Manchester United. As it is, Benfica are a thorn in their side.

DOING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE

Mid-ranking clubs Benfica, Udinese, Fenerbahce, PSV, Rangers, Ajax, Rosenborg and Bruges are all still glad to be in the hunt. Some of them will make it, others won’t but it won’t be decided until the last round of matches for all of them.

NO HOPERS

Pride of place goes to Anderlecht of Belgium who continue their dreadful record in this competition with 3 straight defeats to add to the seven they had already racked up. Olympiakos have regularly found it tough away from Greece and that trend continues while Rapid Vienna are lacking at this level.

Lille are on a damage limitation exercise in United’s group, Sparta Prague always find life difficult and Betis have been unlucky to draw Chelsea and Liverpool. Leaving FC Porto, champions in 2003 yet bottom of Group H and missing ‘you know who’s’ guidance.

Hugh Larkin
20 October 2005

2407: Johnny Haynes

by : Stephen Orford

The football world mourned the loss of another of its greats on Tuesday (October 18) when it learned of the death of Johnny Haynes.

The 71 year-old former Fulham and England star passed away in Edinburgh following a car crash, but his footballing legacy is clear. It is thought by many that Haynes was the first genuine football superstar in England, and it was he who became the first footballer from these shores to earn more than £100 a week. This followed the abolition of the maximum wage for footballers, engineered by then Fulham chairman Jimmy Hill, allowing Haynes and many others since then to carve out the living that their talents deserved;

“When I got the wage limit scrapped all Johnny had to do was knock on the door and that's what he did.” said Hill, explaining how Haynes made the financial breakthrough that has arguably paved the way for the modern day football icon. From owning fast cars to dating film stars, Haynes displayed all the trappings of the celebrity lifestyle, with none of the arrogance and petulance of many of today’s leading lights.

For all his extravagances, Haynes remained fiercely loyal to Fulham, making 594 league appearances for the Cottagers between 1951 and 1970, when he moved to South Africa to play for Durban City. All of this despite numerous offers to sign for so-called ‘bigger clubs’ throughout his career, most notably when both Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan came calling.

Haynes also appeared in the white shirt of England on 56 occasions, and travelled with the national side to World Cups in 1954, 1958 and 1962. He was made captain of his country in 1960, skippering the side to their now legendary 9-3 demolition of Scotland at Wembley a year later, scoring twice in the emphatic win. That victory was part of England’s successful Home International Championship campaign of that season, a competition which many have touted for a return in light of the recent clashes in World Cup qualifying between England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the return of that competition would be a fitting tribute to Haynes, who joined Fulham as a 17 year-old, and will be best remembered for his masterful passing range. Haynes’ career influenced other England greats such as Jimmy Greaves and Alan Mullery, both of whom recognise the large part that he played in their own achievements.

“Forget David Beckham or Glenn Hoddle. Johnny Haynes was the best passer of the ball the game has ever seen.” said Greaves, while Mullery reckoned that;

“England have been lacking a player of his calibre ever since.”

Whether Haynes’ earning power and celebrity status have had a negative effect on the modern game is a matter open to debate. What cannot be disputed, however, is that the man born in Kentish Town in 1934 carried himself with the kind of dignity that, should others follow, would quickly dispel any notions of over-paid, arrogant footballers with behavioural problems.

Johnny Haynes - 1934-2005

Stephen Orford
20 October 2005

2406: Sunderland can spring a surpri

by : Chris Sherrard

The countdown is on in the North East to the return of the big one.

After a break from their hostilities, Sunderland and Newcastle United line-up against one another this weekend aiming to take three points, and the so-called bragging rights.

This one is eagerly anticipated, even far beyond the confines of the Tyne-Wear estuaries.

Everyone knows just how passionate the followers of both sides are. But when they come up in direct opposition, that rivalry intensifies to even greater proportions.

It might not be the prettiest football match you will watch this season. But it will probably be the most honestly fought.

Sunderland have struggled to assert themselves this season, certainly in comparison with their promoted cousins Wigan and West Ham.

But their lowly league position belies the fighting Black Cats who have been dogged and resilient so far.

They have fought hard and fought often and threatened to embarrass bigger boys like Liverpool and, more recently, Manchester United.

They are not blessed with the most technically gifted set of players in English football. But what they have is guts. In abundance.

I don’t necessarily agree with all the players Mick McCarthy brought to the Stadium of Light this summer. Andy Gray, for example, is not Premiership quality.

But what he has done is make a handful of astute signings that few others would have gone for. And it is the likes of Nosworthy and keeper Davis who have caught the eye most. Alongside the impressive Dean Whitehead and the gutsy Julio Arca.

Newcastle United, meanwhile, have made an indifferent start to the season.

Don’t go glossing it up by pointing to the signing of Michael Owen as proof that all is well.

Graeme Souness has still got a hell of a lot to prove on Tyneside. Because it seems to me that he has taken them backwards since replacing Bobby Robson at the helm.

Emre is a good player but his temperament suggests that he will have four or five times as many off days as good ones.

And while Owen is a great buy, there’s no point in him being there if the ball avoids him like the plague.

You have to feel sorry for Shay Given, too. Not only will he not be playing at next summer’s World Cup, he also has to contend with that aching back from carrying his club side for so long.

And a glimpse at who stands in front of him says it all.

Jean Alain Boumsong has been a disaster in his time at St James’ Park and his colleagues along the defensive line fail to inspire confidence either.

Football is as much about heart and desire as it is about quality.

There can be no doubt that on paper Newcastle should beat their neighbours this weekend.

But I don’t think they will. Simply because Sunderland will want it more. They look like they want to win their matches so far this season.

Looking at United in action is like seeing a team go through the motions. There is little in the way of desire or substance to their play.

As usual the first goal will be crucial in this one, and so too will the crowd.

St James’ Park will be heaving and baying for blood, on the pitch and metaphorically of course.

But if their team goes a goal down inside the first half and things don’t look like going their way, that frustration and anger will ensure another uncomfortable day at the office for their beleaguered boss.

Because if Newcastle United lose this one then there can be nowhere more for Souness to hide.

Chris Sherrard
20 October 2005

2405: Arsenal: A year of living dang

by : Antony Melvin

It’s been repeated so often it’s in danger of passing into a clich – but Arsenal are a team in transition. With Chelsea disappearing somewhere over the rainbow and Manchester United holding their form together pretty well Arsenal are going to have to kick start their season in the league pretty soon.

Or are they?

2005 may retrospectively be seen as Arsenal’s year of living dangerously. Arsene Wenger has suggested that Patrick Vieira may have left too soon but in any event he probably factored in Chelsea’s likely dominance in his sale decision. The £13m on offer for Vieira was probably unrepeatable and if Arsenal were unlikely to make a strong league showing this term then cashing in and buying for the future made good financial sense.

This kind of sang froid was likely the moment that he recognised that Arsenal were not going to be able to compete financially with Chelsea. His only real options were to buy in experienced players for a short-term shot at the title – or accept a couple of seasons in transition and emerge with a more youthful and dangerous team.

Given these options then he has clearly preferred the conclusion that he needed to rebuild from youth to overcome Chelsea. By building a team for the 2007/8 season Wenger could give youngsters the kind of experience that will be essential in two years time. The dozens of extra games for the likes of Clichy, Flamini, Fabregas, Reyes and Senderos should battle harden them to form the basis of a title challenging side for years to come.

But there is pressure on Arsenal to challenge for the title every year – not least from a media obsessed that there needs to be conflict in every aspect of our lives. So an open transition would be difficult. But the clever sale of Vieira lowered expectations sufficiently to give Wenger the feeling that he could come up short this season without too much criticism from the media. This would give him some of the precious time he needs to build the next great Arsenal team.

But the living dangerously aspect to subdued ambition is now evident in the contract difficulties with Thierry Henry. Without a big transfer budget, Henry may feel that he is carrying an average team – when he should be augmenting a great one. Whilst it is true it is a team with potential, Henry may well wonder whether it will peak when he is past his best. And from a personal level Henry wants to win every season.

It could be that Arsene Wenger has timed his team to peak next season – giving Henry the chance to play in another fabulous Arsenal side. It could be that this season Arsenal will be more competitive in the Champions’ League – and if Liverpool can win it, why not Arsenal. But it could be a gamble that costs them Henry.

These are dangerous gambles and dangerous times at Arsenal. If they can remain competitive whilst in transition they can retain Henry and quickly become great again – but if they lose Henry then they could start to drift.

Managers are there to make the decisions that are best for the team and not necessarily good for the immediate blood pressure of the fans. If Wenger can retain Henry and bring through all the mercurial midfielders he is nurturing then Arsenal will be a season long match for Chelsea.

But Henry is the pivot and without him it is difficult to see another title. Selling Vieira was a dangerous gamble.

Antony Melvin
19 October 2005

2404: Ireland: Who could manage?

by : Stephen Orford

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) begins its search for a new national team manager today (Wednesday) after taking the decision not to renew the contract of Brian Kerr.

Kerr’s 33-month reign comes to an end after the Republic failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. A 0-0 draw at Landsdowne Road against Switzerland in their final game in Group Four last week sealed their fate, and that of the amiable Kerr also.

All the regulars are there among the list of possible candidates to replace Kerr, with Martin O’Neill having been installed as the bookmakers’ favourite. Since O’Neill is distinctly Northern Irish, his appointment could possibly be construed as controversial by some. With that in mind, any one of Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Alex Ferguson or even Kenny Dalglish or Roy Keane could get the nod to take over for the start of the 2008 European Championship qualifying campaign.

In the meantime Kerr is busy accusing the FAI of being ‘short-sighted’ in their decision to dispense with his services. Previously employed by the FAI to take charge at various youth levels, his appointment signalled a change of direction from the FAI, who hired from within their own ranks after previously giving the job to supposed big names like Jackie Charlton and Mick McCarthy. Now, it looks as if the game’s governing body in Ireland will revert to that policy, as many pointed to Kerr’s lack of big game experience when he took over in 2003.

To say that Kerr is merely paying the price for failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup is perhaps overly simplistic. Lest we forget that the Republic also missed out on Euro 2004, when they were beaten in the battle for a play-off spot by Russia due to their failure to win their final group game against Switzerland (ring any bells). Failure to make the play-offs meant that they were absent from Portugal. Few national managers survive two unsuccessful qualifying campaigns, although the seeds of Ireland’s failure in Euro 2004 were sewn by McCarthy at the fag end of his reign.

Overall Kerr’s record is respectable, with only four matches lost out of 33. In addition, he has presided over 18 victories, and the team has kept 18 clean sheets under his guidance. The team were within an ace of securing the Group Four play-off spot which eventually went to the Swiss, and spurned leads in both encounters against Israel in the end proved costly. Although there are one or two retirements in the offing, the new manager will have plenty to work with.

Keane, whether he is the new man or not, will be the major absentee from the playing staff in the years to come. He announced his second international retirement shortly after the Swiss disappointment, but his performances for both club and country were becoming less influential in any event. Of more pressing concern is the impending absence of defender Kenny Cunningham, who has also called time on his international career. The Birmingham defender has been a rock at the centre of the Irish defence, and will be sorely missed.

Back to the good news now, and in Robbie Keane the Republic have one of the modern game’s brightest talents. He is already his country’s record goalscorer above such luminaries as Niall Quinn and John Aldridge, and brings no small amount of skill, flair and ability to the team. Damien Duff of Chelsea is another who can trouble the world’s best defenders with his pace and trickery both out wide, or in a more central role. Furthermore, in Shay Given, the Republic have one of the finest shot-stoppers in world football, playing behind a well-drilled defence that includes the likes of Stephen Carr, Ian Harte and Richard Dunne.

Kerr intends to stay in football, and it would surprise nobody if a Premiership or Championship club came calling for his services sooner rather than later. Should that happen, that club would be getting a manager with good organisational and motivational skills, able to work with both talented and limited players, but who could not quite cut it at international level.

Stephen Orford
19 October 2005

2403: Chelsea: Challenging history

by : Antony Melvin

“I've more important things on my mind.” he assures us, ducking to avoid the moths which suddenly fly from Dave Whelan’s wallet.

On a sad note, former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain Noel Cantwell dies at the age of 73 after a long battle with cancer. Cantwell skippered United to their 1963 FA Cup win after joining from West Ham United in 1960;

“Noel Cantwell was one of the great characters not only of football but of Irish sport in general.” reflects FAI cheif executive John Delaney.

Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers serve up a depressing advert for Premiership football on September 11, drawing 0-0 at the Reebok Stadium. The game is tedious from start to finish, and neither manager is denying it. In fact, both Sam Allardyce and Mark Hughes seem strangely proud;

“When we get closed down we find it incredibly it difficult to break sides down.” admits 'Big' Sam;

“The fight for points is so desperate and money is so valuable, it almost overshadows performance.” he continues, leaving us all to shudder at the prospect of him becoming the next England manager.

Meanwhile former Wales manager and now Rovers boss Mark Hughes suggests;

“We grew in confidence as the second-half progressed and I thought if anyone was going to win the game it was going to be us.”

He might be right. It is difficult to tell when you are asleep.

Derby County are held 1-1 by Crewe after an infinitely more entertaining Championship encounter at Gresty Road. The Rams are reduced to 10 men when Andrew Davies sees red just after the hour mark. By then Mark Rivers had put Alex in front before Morten Bisgaard’s equaliser for the visitors;

“The sending-off changed the game and, funnily enough, we'd said that he might get sent off, that lad (Davies).” claims 'Mystic' Crewe boss Dario Gradi;

Opposite number Phil Brown also has a crystal ball it seems;

“He (Davies) got himself into trouble in the first half with a stupid handball and I said it could cost us.”

Hearts cruise to their sixth consecutive victory in the SPL, winning 4-1 at Livingston. The Edinburgh outfit have a surprising five-point lead at the top of the table after a Paul Hartley double and goals from Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster seal three more points. Paul Dalglish hits back for the home side, but to no avail. Afterwards, Hearts manager George Burley’s focus is elsewhere;

“I have total control over selection.” he insists, before letting the awful truth slip out;

“The last couple of signings were ones Mr Romanov (Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir) thought might improve the squad.” he confesses.

All of which leaves Livi boss Paul Lambert to reflect on the football, something he does with no small amount of blind optimism;

“At 3-0 down we got the goal back and if we had got the next goal it was game on.” he tells us, or possibly himself with the long relegation battle ahead in mind;

“And their penalty was never a penalty.” he adds, in further futile mitigation.

Lastly, Newcastle United will be without new signing Albert Luque for six weeks after the former Deportivo man injured a hamstring in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham (September 10);

“It is a proper one.” says Magpies boss Graeme Souness;

“It's what Bob Paisley would have called a 'six-weeker'.” adds the man who Bob Paisley would have called ‘a great player but a bit of a crap manager, like.’

West Ham thrash Aston Villa 4-0 in tonight’s only Premiership affair. Marlon Harewood, a man known to miss water after falling out of a boat, bags a hat-trick as the newly-promoted Hammers sweep David O’Leary’s team aside with the minimum of fuss;

“It was a perfect night, nothing went wrong, the back four were terrific.” beams West Ham manager Alan Pardew, typically focusing on defence after what will probably be his side’s largest goal-fest of the year, Yossi Benayoun adding the fourth late on;

“We looked quicker and jumped higher.” he adds, showing all Premiership managers which skills they should be prioritising.

O’Leary is predictably displeased;

“We didn't handle them defensively and were outmuscled all over the pitch. The players know that, they're an honest bunch and we have to do much better than that.” he admits;

“They (West Ham) played with great hunger and the way I want my teams to play - don't let people settle, play at a high tempo and get at people.” he continues, almost certainly telling the wrong people and doing so long after the horse has bolted.

The result fires West Ham up to seventh in the table with seven points from their first four outings back in the big time. By contrast, Villa sit 14th in the pecking order, with only one win from their first five games.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez comes up with a new and inventive way of setting tongues wagging, leaving Steven Gerrard on the bench for the Champions League opener against Real Betis in Seville on September 13.

Regardless, the Reds still manage what could be a vital 2-1 win in Group G, despite a second half performance that could most kindly be described as ‘cautious’. Goals from surprise inclusion Florent Sinama Pongolle and Luis Garcia put the Merseysiders in control before the break, before Garcia Arzu’s second half strike sets scouse nerves jangling;

“We tried to protect Steven.” explains Benitez;

“We must use all our squad to compete in top competitions.” he adds, while Gerrard himself toes the party line, publicly at least;

“We've got a big squad of fantastic players and I think you'll see the manager use them throughout the season.” he says, before making a quick call to his agent and several tabloid newspapers.

Lest we forget that Chelsea are present in Group G also, and they begin with a 1-0 win at home to Anderlecht, Frank Lampard notching the winner. Jose Mourinho doesn‘t seem to rate the Belgians too much;

“They couldn't get through our midfield and we played some very good football. In the second half we waited for them and waited for them but they never came.” he comments, yawning impatiently.

Rangers are also in on the winning act, securing a 3-2 victory over Mourinho’s old club and 2004 champions Porto. A late Sotirios Kyrgiakos winner seals all three points at Ibrox, after the Gers had twice taken the lead through Peter Lovenkrands and Dado Prso, only for Pepe Ferreira to twice reply for the Portuguese;

“I'm not going to talk about qualification yet.” insists Rangers boss Alex McLeish, wisely.

The performance of the night belongs to French champions Lyon, who crush Real Madrid 3-0 at home. Gerard Houllier’s new charges brutally expose the Real defensive weaknesses, with John Carew, Juninho and former Arsenal man Sylvain Wiltord all on target in the Group F clash. Also in Group F, a bizarre own goal by the unfortunate Dimitrios Mavrogenidis contributes to Olympiakos’ 3-1 defeat by Rosenborg in Athens.

Group E sees Jan Venegoor of Hesselink secure the award for the goalscorer with the longest name, netting the only goal for PSV against Schalke, while last season’s beaten finalists AC Milan see off Fenerbahce of Turkey 3-1 thanks to a Kaka double and one from Andriy Shevchenko.

Added to all this Champions League jiggery pokery, there’s a full programme of Championship fixtures to contend with this evening. England striker Andy Johnson is injured in Crystal Palace’s 3-2 defeat at Reading, but not before scoring Palace’s first goal. Chris Eagles’ goal for Sheffield Wednesday shocks Leeds United, while Norwich City are on the end of another defeat, 2-1 at Watford.

Millwall’s 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers rivals Wednesday’s efforts for the surprise result of the night, with an honourable mention going to Cardiff who beat Leicester City 1-0 at Ninnian Park.

Things are much more straightforward for high flying Sheffield United, who win 1-0 at Brighton. QPR beat Luton by the same score at Loftus Road, while Ipswich and Southampton share four goals at Portman Road. There are also draws for Plymouth, 1-1 at home to Crewe, and Preston who are held goalleslly by Burnley. Stoke City march into the KC Stadium at Hull and emerge with a 1-0 win.

The two League One games produce away wins for Barnsley, 3-0 at Gillingham, and Swansea City who prevail 3-1 at Milton Keynes.

In League Two Lincoln City beat Wrexham 2-0, and Macclesfield Town are too strong for Rushden and Diamonds, winning 3-1. Bristol Rovers and Oxford United play out a 1-1 draw.

Manchester United get their Champions League campaign under way with a 0-0 draw at Villarreal in Group D on September 14. The game is most notable for the dismissal of Wayne Rooney who, having been booked for a late challenge, decides to ironically applaud the decision. Danish referee Kim Milton Nielsen then encourages Rooney to head to the showers, prompting this reaction from Sir Alex Ferguson;

“I don't think he (Rooney) gave himself a chance. You can't applaud the referee like that. The referee may have picked his prey giving Wayne a yellow card, but I think he had no choice with the red.”

Benfica are the other winners in Group D, grabbing the only goal in the very last minute against Lille.

Arsenal also suffer a numerical imbalance as they are almost held by Swiss side FC Thun in Group B. Arsene Wenger’s men win 2-1, but not before Robin Van Persie is rather harshly red-carded for a high foot close to half time. After the break the Gunners take the lead through a Gilberto header, but Thun grab a freak equaliser moments later when Nelson Ferreira’s hook across goal loops over Manuel Almunia and into the net. It is left to veteran substitute Dennis Bergkamp to slot home the winner in injury time;

“I don't know how they scored - I think the guy wanted to cross the ball. Ten versus 11 is difficult. I think it (Van Persie’s red card) was the wrong decision, Van Persie did not want to make a foul and tried to play the ball. It was an accident.” says an unusually observant Wenger.

Group B rivals Ajax and Sparta Prague draw 1-1 in the Czech Republic, with both sides offering up early contenders for Goal Of The Tournament. Miroslav Matusevic’s 66th minute wonder strike for the home side was almost matched by a brilliant last-gasp rip-snorter from Wesley Sneijder for Ajax.

The red cards keep coming, as former Gooner Patrick Vieira is dismissed for two bookable offences in Juventus’ 2-1 victory at FC Bruges in Group A . Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet are on target for The Old Lady, with Matondo pulling one back for the Belgians with five minutes left. Peruvian Paolo Guerrero’s goal allows Bayern Munich to squeak past Rapid Vienna 1-0 in the group’s other fixture.

Rounding off Champions League matters for the evening Barcelona score an impressive 2-0 win at Werder Bremen in Group C. A deflected Deco effort sets them on their way before Ronaldinho adds a second half penalty. Champions League newcomers Udinese of Italy make a fine start in the same section, blowing away Panathinaikos 3-0 at home thanks to a hat-trick from Vicenzo Iaquinta.

At home, Derby County and Coventry City draw 1-1 in the Championship at Pride Park. Morten Bisgaard’s second goal in as many games puts the Rams in front, before Dele Adebola equalises for Micky Adams’ side. After Coventry defender Richard Shaw is knocked unconscious following a clash of heads, both managers are left to focus on the walking wounded within their respective squads;

“I'm led to believe he's (Shaw) regained consciousness. Matt Heath's got a groin problem which means I'm running out of centre-backs because Ady Williams is out on loan at Millwall and we haven't got a recall.” moans Adams;

“We had Andrew Davies out suspended and so with a makeshift defence I thought we defended very well for 99% of the game.” counters Derby boss Phil Brown.

With British sides having come away from the Champions League relatively unscathed this week, there’s one or two shocks in store for our UEFA Cup representatives on September 15;

“I can't give you an explanation.” says Everton manager David Moyes, failing miserably to fathom the reasons for his side’s 5-1 drubbing in Bucharest. The Toffeemen go down in the first leg of their UEFA Cup first round tie against Dinamo Bucuresti after a passable impersonation of England in Copenhagen, conceding four goals without reply in a barmy second half display;

“We win together and we lose together and tonight was a night when we've all lost together - there's no criticism of any players publicly, I wouldn't do that.” continues Moyes.

The Blues are stunned as strikes from Claudiu Niculescu, Ianis Zicu, Florentin Petre and two from Florin Bratu leave them needing a miracle in the second leg. Josef Yobo had given them hope on the half hour, but their European adventure looks to be over.

Bolton Wanderers don’t have things their own way either, as they win 2-1 at The Reebok against Bulgarian outfit Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The Trotters come from behind after Vladimir Ivanov’s opener, but goals from El Hadji Diouf and a late Jared Borgetti winner nudge them ahead in the tie;

“We committed the ultimate crime as usual - we were in the ascendancy and dominating, then we switched off and got punished.” complains BS;

“We needed not to concede and it's going to be difficult in Bulgaria - but we can sit back and play on the break at their place.” he adds, planning a complete overhaul of his side’s usual gameplan.

No such problems for Middlesbrough, who see of Greek side FC Xanthi at The Riverside. George Boateng and Mark Viduka are on the mark for Steve McLaren’s side, leaving the Boro boss crossing off the contents of his wish-list;

“We asked for a clean sheet and two goals at least and we've got that. We had 11 players left on the park, no red cards and no injuries.” he beams, making a mental note to ask for a PSP and an Ipod next time.

“There are no easy games in Europe - you ask Bolton and ask Everton.” he adds, becoming a little spoiled by now.

Hibernian are held 0-0 at Easter Road by Dnipro of Ukraine;

“Dnipro's pitch is big, with plenty of space that we can exploit, and I think we can cause them problems over there.” claims Hibs’ optimistic boss Tony Mowbray.

Other notable results in the UEFA Cup this evening include CSKA Sofia’s 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, Malmo’s victory by the same score at Besiktas, Guimaraes’ 3-0 drubbing of Wisla Krakow and a 5-3 defeat for AZ Alkmaar at Krylia Sovetov.

American shot-stopper Brad Friedel signs a new three-year deal at Blackburn Rovers, but isn’t really too bothered either way about the future;

“At the end of that contract, if we can go on year to year from there then great but, if not, that is fantastic as well.” he muses, stopping short of shrugging his shoulders and shouting 'ah, to heck with it dude!'

Liverpool and Manchester United doggedly refuse to threaten each other at Anfield on September 18, leaving the respective managers to reflect differently on a less than satisfying goalless draw;

“We can improve but we are now controlling games and going forward.” is Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez’s rather staggering verdict on events, while his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson is a little more honest about his team’s shortcomings on the day;

“You could see it had 0-0 written all over it from early on. Maybe this game it just too important now.” he comments, as United lose Roy Keane for an alleged two months with that celebrity injury, the broken metatarsal. The same Roy Keane who had been ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury a day before kick-off at Anfield. Expect him back before Halloween. Scary eh?

Former Liverpool star Michael Owen opens his Newcastle United goalscoring account in a 3-0 win at Blackburn. Much of the pre-match talk surrounds the appearance of Craig Bellamy against his old team-mates, but the Welsh whinger is upstaged by Owen and former team-mate and favourite text friend Alan Shearer, who notches Newcastle’s first goal;

“We were the better side in the first half. We created a reasonable amount of chances and just needed one to go in.” claims Blackburn boss Mark Hughes, showing a level of blind optimism that even Benitez would struggle to match.

Manchester City spend large parts of their afternoon bouncing the ball off the Bolton Wanderers woodwork at the City of Manchester Stadium, but still manage to lose 1-0 to a last-minute Gary Speed penalty. City rattle Jussi Jaskelainen’s furniture no less than five times before Richard Dunne’s cataclysmic handball gifts the Welshman the opportunity to seal all three points for his side;

“The result, and the manner of it, will galvanise my team and down the line someone will pay for it.” warns City boss Stuart Pearce.

Opposite number Sam Allardyce feels justice has been served eventually;

“It reminds me of playing Everton earlier in the season. We got mugged there and we've mugged Man City today.” he observes, still wearing his balaclava.

Wigan Athletic continue to sneak Premiership points, battling back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough. Ayegbeni Yakubu gives the visitors the lead, only for Henri Camara to equalise in the second half;

“If you go behind in the Premiership it's hard to claw it back. We've done it twice in two games now.” comments Wigan boss Paul Jewell, revealing the secret of his side’s success.

“Sometimes you have a bad day at the office but scrape a 1-0. We thought we'd done that so we'll take a point.” says a strangely satisfied Middlesbrough boss Steve McLaren.

Liverpool v Manchester United and Manchester City v Bolton are not the only local rivalries on display today, as Norwich City beat Ipswich Town 1-0 through a Darren Huckerby goal. The former Leeds United and Coventry City star comes on as a half-time substitute to notch the winner early in the second half, after Ipswich’s Luis Sita had been dismissed for a professional foul after only 18 minutes;

“He (the referee) has made a mistake. I'm not even sure there was contact.” is Joe Royle’s verdict on the red card, while Norwich boss Nigel Worthington begins crowing over local bragging rights at the earliest opportunity;

“It's a big result against the local rivals and I'm delighted with the performance and delighted for the supporters and players.” he beams.

There’s a barmy last ten minutes at Pride Park as Derby County and Southampton share the spoils 2-2. Brett Ormerod’s 58th minute goal looks on course to give the Saints all three points before a twice taken Inigo Idiakez penalty levels matters and Andrew Davies heads the Rams in front five minutes before the end. There is still time for Southampton’s Thomasz Haijto to be sent off, and for Ricardo Fuller to snatch a point for Harry Redknapp’s men; Harry’s unavailable for comment afterwards, leaving Derby boss Phil Brown to reflect;

“We've only ourselves to blame.”

Stilian Petrov’s early winner for Celtic against Hibs moves Gordon Strachan’s men up to second in the SPL, as they attempt to keep up with early pace-setters Hearts;

“We were guilty of a weak mentality in the box.” says Stachan, disappointed not to have witnessed a goal-fest from his charges.

“Their keeper made the better saves of the two.” says Hibs boss Tony Mowbray searching for, but possibly not finding any positives from the defeat.

Everton are now so bad that despite returning only recently from a long-term injury, Arsenal defender Sol Campbell can nonchalantly head the two goals which give the Gunners another routine victory over the hapless Blues on September 19.

Manager David Moyes is just relieved that the scoreline is not a repeat of the 7-0 thrashing that his team suffered at Highbury last season;

“We've come here before and been opened up. We stopped that tonight.” he claims, although Arsene Wenger’s men could have scored more.

“Now the target is to get a result away from home.” says Wenger, before going off on something of a tangent about the style of Campbell‘s surprise double;

“Ideally you would want to score all kind of goals, recently it has been set-pieces but we want to score goals the way we love to.” he adds, satisfied but clearly under-whelmed by the win.

Didier Deschamps resigns as manager of Monaco with the club languishing 15th in the French first division. The club from the Principality have lost four of their first seven league games and failed to make the group stages of the Champions League when they were eliminated by Real Betis;

“It's his choice and we have to respect it.” says President Michael Pastor, trying not to visibly sigh with relief.

Also leaving the managerial hot-seat is Graham Barrow at Bury. The Gigg Lane outfit terminate Barrow’s contract after a seven game winless streak which leaves them bottom of League Two.

The Premiership clubs not involved in European competition enter the Carling Cup this week, with nine sides in action on September 20.

All but two progress, with the biggest fish to fry being those fine friends of the diary Tottenham Hotspur. Martin Jol’s side are humbled by League Two leaders Grimsby Town at Blundell Park, with Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala volleying in the only goal of the game with just minutes remaining;

“The only thing you can do is take a shower and go home.” says Jol, sounding like a man who has fallen into a large pile of poo.

“The last thing I needed was extra-time. I wanted the game over quickly but to get a goal in the last five minutes was ideal.” says Mariners boss Russell Slade, as if he had planned it that way all along.

Portsmouth are also out, losing 3-2 in extra time to Gillingham. The loss is made more painful by the fact that Svetoslav Todorov has the chance to win it in the final moments of normal time, but places his penalty wide of the post. Pompey goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown is also highly culpable, his woeful throw allowing Darren Byfield to profit with Gillingham’s first, before scoring the second himself when another Byfield shot rebounds off a post.

Earlier, Gary O’Neil had put Portsmouth in front, while a Matthew Taylor penalty had restored their advantage following Byfield’s effort. All of which left Andrew Crofts to slot home Gillingham’s winner four minutes into the first extra period.

The news is no better across the south coast, as Southampton are knocked out by manager-less Mansfield Town. With Peter Shirtliff in temporary charge after Carlton Palmer‘s resignation, the League Two outfit snatch a 68th minute winner through the wonderfully named Giles Coke;

“In real football like this you are put under pressure.” laments Saints boss Harry Redknapp, explaining the difference between 'real football' and the kind of football in which rugby coaches are placed in charge of the youth teams at professional clubs.

Aston Villa tease everyone with the possibility that they too could be dumped by lower league opposition, as they trail Wycombe Wanderers 3-1 at half-time. However, David O’Leary produces the most effective half-time chat of his managerial career before sitting back and watching his troops hit no fewer than SEVEN second half goals to run out 8-3 winners;

“We have embarrassed them into putting in a performance.” claims Wycombe boss John Gorman, before his grapes turn a little too sour;

“That fifth goal was not deserved. The referee gave them a penalty but he didn't book my player or send him off. Don't tell me that goal didn't matter. It was the goal that finished our team.” he moans, adding;

“They got the breaks. The scoreline was unjust in the end.”

“In the end we ran out worthy winners and scored from good chances.” says O’Leary, setting the record straight.

In tonight’s minor shock category is Barnet’s 2-1 victory over Championship Plymouth Argyle, and possibly Watford’s 2-1 win over in-form Wolves. There is an early scare for Charlton who go behind to Hartlepool before winning 3-1, and West Ham resist a second-half comeback from Sheffield Wednesday to go through 4-2.

Sheffield United are taken all the way to the penalty lottery by Shrewsbury but emerge with a 4-3 spot-kick triumph, while Cheltenham and Bournemouth suffer narrow 1-0 reverses at Premiership outfits Sunderland and Wigan respectively.

West Brom progress with a comfortable 4-1 win over Bradford City, and Birmingham City overcome Scunthorpe United 2-0. There are also victories for Burnley, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Norwich City, Reading, Leeds United and Millwall.

In Scotland’s version of the League Cup, the CIS Insurance Cup, Rangers need extra time to beat Clyde 5-2, while Motherwell also need the extra period to see off St.Mirren 2-0. Dunfermline win at Kilmarnock by the odd goal in seven, and there are 2-0 wins for Inverness Caledonian Thistle at home to Dundee United and Aberdeen at Stranraer.

There is one League One result as Nottingham Forest beat Bristol City 3-1.

Manchester City are the prize scalp of September 21 in the Carling Cup, crashing out 3-0 on penalties to League One Doncaster Rovers after a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Darius Vassell puts City in front early in the extra period from the penalty spot, but with just minutes remaining Doncaster, who currently sit 21st in English football’s third tier, are awarded a spot-kick of their own, Michael McIndoe duly converting. In between times, Stuart Pearce’s side have Nedum Onuoha ludicrously sent off for a challenge on Doncaster goalkeeper Andy Warrington, who is unfortunately stretchered off.

In the shoot-out, no City player can find a way past Rovers’ Danish substitute stopper Jan Budtz as first Vassell clatters the crossbar, before Antoine Sibierski and Richard Dunne have their efforts smartly saved by Budtz;

“I fancied Jan as he's a big size and he's a different class on the training ground saving penalties.” says prophet and Doncaster Rovers manager Dave Penney;

“We went to extra time and each side had a dodgy penalty.” he adds, showing less potential as a referee.

“It is disappointing as I really wanted us to do well in this competition.” is Pearce’s verdict, and that despite making several changes to the team that lost 1-0 at home to Bolton in the Premiership on Sunday (September 18).

There’s another 120-minute encounter at Craven Cottage, where no fewer than nine goals are scored between Fulham and Lincoln City. The home side just hold off the brave Imps, but not before Lincoln twice come back from two-goal deficits to almost force spot-kicks. The issue is not settled until the last minute of extra time when Brian McBride nets to make it 5-4.

Earlier, Zesh Rehman and Heidar Helguson put Chris Coleman’s men two up, but Lincoln draw level thanks to Francis Green and a Moritz Volz own goal. Liam Rosenior and Tomasz Radzinski restore the two-goal cushion, only for Scott Kerr and Marvin Robinson to level it up once more before McBride’s decisive intervention.

Craig Bellamy’s first two goals for Blackburn Rovers help Mark Hughes’ side to a 3-1 passage against Huddersfield Town. Zurab Khizanishvili also gets on the mark, with Pawel Abbot replying for the West Yorkshire outfit;

“It's a case of him (Bellamy) getting to know his team-mates and how to best utilise his strengths for the good of the team.” comments Hughes afterwards, expecting big things from his man from now on. Not to be outdone, Huddersfield boss Peter Jackson begins ‘bigging up‘ Abbot;

“He's got nearly a goal a game and he's still only 22 and he's got a big future.” adds Jackson, albeit a future without this season’s Carling Cup.

Runaway SPL leaders Hearts rest one or two players in their CIS Cup tie at Livingston and pay the price, bowing out to Ramon Pereira’s 54th minute goal. It’s second billing then tonight for Celtic, who need extra time to squeeze past Falkirk 2-1, Maciej Zurawski and John Hartson on target for the Bhoys.

In the night’s other tie, a Derek Riordan brace gives Hibernian a 2-1 win at Ayr United.

Jermaine Defoe gets back on the goal trail for Tottenham in a 1-0 win over Fulham on September 26, which takes Spurs to the giddy heights of fourth in the Premiership table. Defoe’s eighth minute winner has manager Martin Jol looking to the future;

“We proved we are very good team and we have good prospects in Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas.” says the Dutchman, adding;

"Lennon is a very big talent.”

“He’s crap, I did all the good stuff.” retorts McCartney.

“I was disappointed by our attacking play in the final third. We've looked really exciting in attack previously.” claims Fulham boss Chris Coleman, proving just how excited some people can get about footballing mediocrity.

Under-fire after his side’s 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers, Sir Alex Ferguson finds support from the unlikeliest of sources. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expresses his dismay at the criticism his old adversary has received;

“You know I'm not his best friend but I found it really appalling.” says Wenger of the Old Trafford booing and subsequent press pounding of the legendary Scot;

“(After) What this guy has done for the club, I find it horrendous and nearly unbelievable.” adds Wenger, who of course has never criticised the former Aberdeen manager in his entire life.

The somewhat hysterical gloom is lifted from Old Trafford a day later as patched-up Manchester United score a 2-1 win over Benfica in the Champions League.

Ryan Giggs, recalled for only his second start of the season, sees his free-kick deflected into the net for the Red Devils’ opener, only for one-time Liverpool target Simao to equalise with a set-piece pearler of his own. It is left to Ruud Van Nistelrooy to net his 43rd goal in just 50 Champions League appearances just five minutes from time to seal the points;

“We did exactly the same thing when we lost against Blackburn as we did here - and no, I am not going to explain myself.” says a frosty Sir Alex to the press afterwards;

“You have your own ideas on the game, carry on. I don't want to blunt your imagination.” he adds, looking forward to the morning tabloids with his usual relish.

United sit top of Group D after Villarreal could only manage a goalless draw at the Stade De France against Lille.

Arsenal gain an arguably even better result in Group B, as they beat Ajax 2-1 in the Amsterdam ArenA. Freddie Ljungberg puts a makeshift Arsenal side in front, before a Robert Pires penalty doubles their money in the second half. Markus Rosenberg pulls one back for the Dutch outfit, but the Gunners hold on for a crucial win;

“After a dodgy start we are getting a good run together.” warns Arsene Wenger, whose side top Group B ahead of surprise package FC Thun, who beat Sparta Prague 1-0.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich and Juventus take a firm grip on Group A. The Germans show off their brand, spanking new Allianz Arena during their 1-0 win over Club Brugge, while the Italians cruise past Rapid Vienna 3-0 in Turin thanks to goals from David Trezeguet, former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Group C action sees Barcelona’s Ronaldinho stick three past Udinese in a 4-1 victory, while Panathinaikos leave Werder Bremen at the bottom of the table with a 2-1 victory.

There’s an extensive list of domestic fixtures to contend with this Tuesday, as Championship leaders Sheffield United open up a seven-point gap at the top courtesy of a 2-0 win over Plymouth at Brammall Lane. Third-placed Luton Town beat Preston North End 3-0 at Kenilworth Road, while Glenn Hoddle’s Wolves are fourth after a resounding 4-0 win at Crewe.

Bottom club Sheffield Wednesday lose 2-0 to Crystal Palace, while Millwall’s home 1-1 draw with QPR takes them above Plymouth but keeps them in the relegation zone. Burnley record a surprise but much-needed 3-0 win over Ipswich Town, whose East Anglian rivals Norwich City beat Hull City 2-1. Cardiff City will also be happy with their night’s work, winning 3-0 at Stoke City.

Swansea City, Southend United and Huddersfield Town remain level on points at the top of League One, beating Bournemouth 1-0, Yeovil Town 4-1 and Tranmere Rovers 1-0 respectively.

Swindon Town are bottom after a 1-0 defeat at Carling Cup kings Doncaster coupled with MK Dons 1-0 win over Scunthorpe United. Bristol City’s 3-0 win over Barnsley eases some of their early season troubles, while Gillingham get out of the relegation zone by virtue of a 1-0 win over Chesterfield.

Elsewhere in the division, there are stalemates between Bradford City and Colchester United, Hartlepool and Rotherhaha Nottingham Forest and Blackpool and Walsall and Brentford.

League Two sees leaders Grimsby thrash Notts County 4-0, and second placed Wycombe hammer Wrexham 4-1. Chester City and Leyton Orient are in close attention after wins over Carlisle and Torquay United respectively, with a clutch of teams a further three points back. This is due chiefly to wins for Oxford United over Rochdale, Cheltenham Town against Peterborough, and Northampton over Rushden and Diamonds.

Lincoln City are the other winners on the night, beating Stockport County 2-0, while drawn games include Shrewsbury against Barnet, Darlington against Boston, and Macclesfield against Mansfield Town.

The most predictable result in Champions League history inevitably comes to pass as bore-draw specialists Liverpool are held 0-0 at Anfield by Chelsea on September 28.

“Everything we have done in training we did.” says Rafa, providing an insight into just how dull Liverpool training sessions must be;

“I'm not crazy with happiness but I'm not very sad.” chips in Jose, adding;

“I put Robert Huth on because he can dominate and play the basketball game.”

Unlike Peter Crouch, who seems patently unable to play any sort of game.

In Group G’s other encounter, Real Betis score a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht thanks to Oliveira’s 68th minute strike. All of which leaves Liverpool and Chelsea with four points from two games in the section, with the Anfield club topping the group on goals scored. Betis are third on three points, while the Belgians have yet to get off the mark following their second consecutive defeat.

Rangers play Inter Milan behind closed doors at the San Siro due to the crowd trouble at last year’s Champions League quarter final between the Milan clubs. David Pizarro’s 49th minute goal gives the Italians their second consecutive win in Group H by the only goal, leaving Gers‘ boss Alex McLeish oddly satisfied;

“We needed a good performance and the players did well.”

Elsewhere in Group H, Slovakian outfit Artmedia Bratislava continue to dumbfound the experts, coming back from a two-goal deficit to beat FC Porto 3-2.

Inter are out on their own at the top of the table on 6 points, with Rangers and Artmedia both on 3. Champions in 2004, Porto have yet to gain their first point in this year’s competition.

Aside from the Slovaks’ efforts, the surprise of the night comes in Turkey where Fenerbahce dismiss last season’s beaten semi-finalists PSV Eindhoven 3-0. Two goals from Brazilian Alex set them on their way, before Stephen Appiah seals it in the final moments. Also in Group E, AC Milan are held 2-2 in Germany by Schalke ’04. Clarence Seedorf and Andriy Shevchenko are on target for last year’s runners-up, but strikes from Larsen and Altintop ensure a share of the spoils.

Milan lead the group on four points, with both Fenerbahce and PSV on 3. Schalke’s draw against the Italians gets them off the mark but keeps them bottom after two games.

Real Madrid return to winning Champions League ways, beating Olympiakos 2-1 at the Bernabeu in Group F. Raul’s opener was cancelled out by Kafes before Soldado put the Spaniards in front for good. Lyon top the group after their 1-0 win at Rosenborg, courtesy of Cris’ 45th minute winner.

Despite their loss, the Norwiegans remain in touch on three points alongside Real Madrid. Olympiakos’ defeat was their second straight in the competition, and leaves them without a point so far.

There’s Championship action tonight also as second placed Reading only manage a 0-0 draw at Southampton, leaving them six points adrift of leaders Sheffield United. Some say they are lucky to even get that;

“I have never seen a game of football where one team has dominated the other so much.” moans Saints boss Harry Redknapp;

“We were all over them and kept missing chance after chance. But what more can I do?” he asks, again absolving himself of anything remotely resembling blame.

Leeds United go sixth with a fine 3-1 win over Derby County. Even a Sean Gregan own goal cannot spoil Leeds’ day, as Rob Hulse had already settled matters by then with a hat-trick inside 12 minutes;

“We more than matched them apart from that 12-minute spell.” says Rams boss Phil Brown, missing the point.

Coventry City also win, with Watford the victims of a 3-1 scoreline. Dele Adebola, Willo Flood and Gary McSheffrey are on the mark for the Sky Blues, while Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd has spent too much time with Phil Brown;

“We scored a great goal and had we nicked another I felt we could have won it.” he claims, referring to Ashley Young’s 51st minute strike which brought the score back to 2-1 before McSheffrey’s late effort.

By Stephen Orford
10 October 2005Britain and British society is riddled with complex class rivalries. But, in fairness, most other societies have a pecking order – a natural hierarchy. America may be famed for its classlessness but there are always frictions between the haves and have-nots. All of which brings us round quite neatly to Chelsea. Chelsea are being unfairly pilloried for having too much money – but is it at heart a class based prejudice?

At the heart of class snobbery is the concept that old money is better than new money. This is why Wigan Athletic’s promotion has been patronised within an inch of its life whilst West Ham and Sunderland have been accepted back into the Premiership much more readily. If the Premiership were truly a meritocracy then every new entrant would be considered an equal new threat – but most commentators wanted a better ‘name’ to be promoted. Wolves, a Sheffield club, Ipswich, Leicester, Leeds etc. would all have been given more of a chance than Wigan, regardless of the playing staff simply because they would have more ‘class’.

But the fact that Wigan may have a better team than 5 or 6 other top flight teams will not be in doubt when the league season ends – unless Wigan are cut down with injuries., because past success is no guarantee of future performance.

Chelsea on the other hand are unlikely to find injuries that will deflect them from defending the Premiership. In cup competitions anyone can be thrown off course if they lose several players in the same position – like Chelsea were when they all but lost Duff and Robben for the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool. But in the league the strength of the squad and management will see them home.

The jealousy of Chelsea’s achievements since the arrival of Roman Abramovich do seem to be a function of old fashioned class rivalry. If we were talking about an ‘old money’ club like those in north London, Manchester or Liverpool then there would not be as much fuss. Manchester United weren’t accused of buying the league when they spent £29m on Rio Ferdinand or £28m on Juan Veron – but Blackburn were when they spent £5m on Sutton and £3.6m on Alan Shearer.

It seems that spending money is only truly OK if you have always done it. Liverpool can field a £100m team with little expectation of winning the title this season – and there are no complaints. Yet Chelsea pay double that and are “killing football”.

The cost of Chelsea’s squad is huge compared to the 1990’s – but then again the costs of players in the 1990’s made the extravagances of the 1980’s seem like chicken feed. And on and on because each new decade brings new excesses. In 20 years time when Real Madrid are buying £200m players will there be the same wringing of hands that there is over Chelsea buying a squad for something similar?

Accusing Chelsea of attempting to ‘buy success’ suggests that English football has regularly had champion teams built on next to nothing. But there are no examples for several decades of a team built on a shoestring that has become Champions. Arsenal may have succeeded relatively cheaply – but relative only to other elite teams.

Only when Chelsea have been successful and rich for long enough for history to forgive their excesses will their wealth be accepted as the natural order of things. Until then, Chelsea and their fans will just have to put up with the jealousy of rivals and their fans.

Antony Melvin
19 October 2005

2402: Squarefootball diary: Best of

by : Stephen Orford

Thank God for cricket screams the whole of England as Sven Goran Eriksson’s men are humiliated by Northern Ireland in Belfast on September 7. David Healy’s 74th minute winner at Windsor Park sends Northern Ireland into raptures, and piles the pressure on Eriksson.

The man himself acknowledges his abject failure, but still isn’t budging;

“If we lose to Northern Ireland, I can't argue with that. But sacking is up to the FA. I'm not going to resign.” he insists, to groans of disappointment from the press and travelling fans.

“I'm going to try to make it right. In October, win two games and we qualify.” he adds, clutching white-knuckled to the positives.

England captain and part-time ‘quarterback’ David Beckham agrees;

“We have confidence in the manager. We believe that he is the right man for the job. Eriksson's record in qualifiers is quite amazing. If we had won tonight that would have been seven wins on the trot.” he comments, adding that if his aunt had meat and two veg she would be his uncle.

Wales don’t help the English cause, losing to a Maciej Zurawski penalty in Poland, and have now gone four games without a goal.

It’s a great evening to be Scottish, as when you are finished laughing at the plight of the English, there’s a memorable 2-1 win in Norway to enjoy which just about keeps hope of World Cup qualification alive. A Kenny Miller double puts Walter Smith’s side in command before a late Ole Martin Aarst strike gives Norway hope.

If only England could have been Aarst.

Bad news for the Republic of Ireland, who go down 1-0 to France. Thierry Henry hits the winner on 70 minutes, leaving Brian Kerr’s men floundering in fourth place in Group 4 after victories for both Switzerland and Israel.

Elsewhere the Czech Republic and Holland record big wins in Group 1. Turkey, Denmark and Greece all win to keep the race for second place alive in Group 2, while draws for the main players in Group 3 leave Portugal well in charge. A draw between Spain and Serbia & Montenegro leaves those two as they were at the top of Group 7, while Croatia hand the group 8 initiative to Sweden after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Malta.

Domestically, Tottenham appoint Damien Comolli to replace Frank Arnesen as Sporting Director;

“I believe he will be a huge asset to the club with his forward thinking approach to international networking and partnerships.” says a Chelsea spokesman.

Yet more mud is thrown in the direction of Chelsea by the FA on September 8, with hopes now slimmer than ever that any of it will actually stick. The Premiership champions are charged with misconduct following allegations that they had been carrying out their own drug testing independently of the appropriate authorities;

“The club feels that it has done nothing morally wrong.” comes the predictable response from Stamford Bridge;

“Chelsea is absolutely committed to the fight against drugs in football.” continues the club statement. The club is also committed to the removal of Adrian Mutu from the club pay-roll, they might have added.

Michael Owen rakes up a vintage but bog-standard phrase for use in times of turmoil for the national team as he attempts to convince the people that the Northern Ireland debacle was merely a blip;

“We take 'collective responsibility' for the performance.” he says, not mentioning trashed jets or dentist chairs whatsoever.

Barcelona defender Phillipe Christanval. Being club-less, the Frenchman doesn’t have to worry about tedious things like transfer windows, and can’t wait to get started in west London;

“I am looking forward to working with all of the players and being a big part of Fulham's future campaigns.” he says, preparing for life in the Championship.

One former Barcelona man who probably won’t be appearing in the Premiership is Joseph Guardiola. The 34 year-old midfielder is a free agent but looks to have secured a better offer than that received from Paul Jewell and Wigan Athletic;

“I think agents have become involved somewhere along the line, as tends to happen, and now the ball is in his court. I'm not going to chase it.” says Jewell, at least sparing us the sight of an overweight, middle aged man chasing after a metaphorical ball in a metaphorical court;

2401: Fun: 10 Goalscoring goalkeeper

by : Hugh Larkin

So you thought that sly glance at the bench just before a corner kick in stoppage time was utterly pointless, a meaningless meander before a groin threatening sprint back? Well here are 10 keepers who have made a difference at both ends.

Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay)

The daddy of them all. The Paraguayan skipper took free kicks for the national side as well as penalties. He’s got over 60 goals in matches playing in the No. 1 jersey including a hat-trick in an Argentinian League game for Velez Sarsfeld (2 pens and free kick). Typically, he got into it when he thought he could do better than the forwards on the training ground- and he could. Hit the bar against Bulgaria in the 1998 World Cup and so missed out on being the only keeper to score in the Finals.

Jimmy Glass (Carlisle)

Four minutes into injury time, the Cumbrians need a win to stay in the Football League and Jimmy Glass, on loan to the club at the time, goes upfield for the final throw of the dice. A flick on and it falls to Glass who smashes it home to relegate Scarborough and grab 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately, 15 was all he got because the keeper failed to build a career and drifted out of the game.

Peter Schmeichel (Man United)

Old Red Nose has done it more than once but his most remembered is against Rotor Volgograd at Old Trafford in 1995 when he steamed up at a last minute corner and planted the ball home. United still lost the UEFA cup tie though. He finished his career with an amazing 13 goals in all.

Arthur Birch (Chesterfield)

Who? Well Arthur Birch actually scored 5 times in one season during the 1920s, which is more than any other keeper in an English League season. He was the Spireites penalty taker that year.

Pat Jennings (Spurs)

If there is a ‘conventional’ way for goalies to score from open play it’s the big punt upfield that gets caught on the wind. Big Pat did it on the big occasion, sending one over the head of Manchester United’s Alex Stepney in the Charity Shield, captured by Match of the Day cameras.

Mart Poom (Sunderland)

The final minute of Sunderland’s game at Derby County in September 2003 and Estonian Poom does a Schmeichel, to give the Wearsiders a 1-1 draw. These goals have become more common in recent years because modern defences have everyone picked up and no one’s been detailed to take the goalie. Paul Robinson did the same for Leeds v. Swindon a few days later.

Alan Fettis (Hull City)

The East Yorkshire side were suffering an injury crisis in the early 90sso before a home game boss Terry Dolan casually told Northern Ireland international Fettis that he was on the bench as a substitute striker. Playing top of the table Oxford United, Dolan introduced Fettis in the second period and within minutes the sub got on the end of a near post cross in true sniffer style. He did it again a few days later at Blackpool with his first touch.

Marc de Clerc (Aberdeen)

In 1980, De Clerc’s debut for the Dons took an unusual turn when he hacked a clearance all the way into the opposition net after just 22 minutes. However, he only played once more for the first team.

Jorge Campos (Mexico)

The Mexican keeper in the day-glo outfits is a good enough outfield player to have appeared as a striker in the Mexican League. His big regret is that he didn’t register a goal for the national squad but he has over 50 as a striker.

Arthur Wilkie (Reading)

In a 1962 game against Halifax Town, Wilkie injured a hand early on. With no subs at that time it was decided that he would stay on as nuisance value. He did more than that by netting twice in a 4-2 win- the only keeper to score twice from open play n a League game.

Hugh Larkin
9 October 2005

2400: Unsung heroes: Steve Finnan

by : Simon Cole

When you’re a defender and part of an impressive back four, it is very rare that you actually get the headlines you deserve. That wasn’t necessarily the case for Liverpool’s Champions’ League winning campaign. But among all the plaudits taken by Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia, one man still managed to avoid the heaps of praise.

Throughout last season Steve Finnan was an imperative part of Liverpool’s back-four. And time and again as Liverpool marched to European glory, they knew they could rely on a formidable back-four. Although you can question their performance in leaking three goals in the first half of the final, throughout the competition they were outstanding. And while Carragher and Hyypia grabbed the headlines, the full backs Finnan and Djimi Traore managed to keep a low profile.

In the final Traore had looked out of his depth, while also making one or two clumsy blunders in the domestic campaign. Finnan however, was solid and reliable and hardly put a foot wrong all season. Carragher arguably used to be the ultimate unsung hero, but while he has now rightfully earned the limelight, Finnan has been happy keeping things quiet down Liverpool’s right hand side.

Since Rafa Benitez took over at Anfield, Finnan has gradually made the right-back slot his own. This is an incredible turnaround, given how bleak his Liverpool future was looking at the start of the 2004/5 campaign. A manager’s first signing is often a clear signal of who he wants to get rid of, so Finnan can’t have been too comfortable about his Liverpool future when soon after arriving, Benitez swooped for Spanish right-back Josemi. Finnan was instantly linked with a move away from Liverpool, most notably across Stanley Park to local rivals Everton. But instead of taking the easy route out, Finnan buckled down and vowed to win his place back.

The way in which he did this is proof that the Irishman offers plenty of attacking options to combine with his defensive reliability. With Liverpool lacking a right winger – a problem which is still facing Benitez today – Finnan slotted into the wide midfield role, and impressed Benitez so much that he publicly declared Finnan was not for sale. An injury to Josemi meant that Finnan got an early opportunity to play in his preferred right-back position, a chance that he daren’t throw away.

But the transformation from the Steve Finnan that Liverpool fans had seen the season before was phenomenal. Few could deny being disappointed at the impact Finnan had made since arriving for £3.5million from Fulham in 2003. Under Gerrard Houllier’s management he looked like a shaky full-back who overlapped the midfield well. He certainly didn’t look like the Mr Reliable who kept the likes of Alessandro Del Piero quiet over two legs against Juventus. But as with Carragher, Benitez seemingly rejuvenated Finnan into your typical reliable defender – no major thrills, no back-page headlines, but he gets the job done with aplomb.

Liverpool have a tradition of having a ‘Mr Reliable’ Irishman in the side, as previously displayed by the likes of Ray Houghton, Ronnie Whelan and Steve Staunton, as well as goalscorer John Aldridge. Finnan is looking to continue this legacy, and by lifting the European Cup he has out-done all of his fellow countrymen in from the modern era. Not that the papers would make you believe it. But if your defender isn’t making the headlines, then there certainly isn’t a problem.

It is clear that Rafael Benitez is building his Liverpool team on a solid foundation with a reliable back-four. Despite almost being on his way out of Anfield twelve months ago, the understated Steve Finnan is now a cornerstone upon which Liverpool hope to build a future of trophies to compare to their illustrious past.

Simon Cole
13 October 2005

2399: Arsenal: Thierry Henry – Shoul

by : Hugh Larkin

A worrying feature of the new season for Arsenal fans is Thierry Henry’s reluctance to sit down and discuss a new contract. As Steven Gerrard proved, this doesn’t mean that the player is definitely on the move but it’s an extra issue the club can do without after a sticky start. Listed below are five reasons for and against the Frenchman leaving London.

5 REASONS TO GO

1. Arsenal haven’t even come close to winning the Champions League in Henry’s time at Highbury. This serial failure is the only gap on the CV of a player who has won World Cups and Euro Championship medals.

2. However good Wenger’s management, Chelsea will dominate the Premiership for the next 2-3 years and Henry is nearly 30. He won’t want to spend his least 3-4 years as a top player in fruitless pursuit of the Blues.

3. The rebuilding of the Gunners team will take time. Henry will have to take the weight of the process as colleagues like Pires aren’t as influential, Cole nearly left last summer and Campbell is increasingly injury-prone.

4. Henry has done nearly 7 years at Arsenal. It’s difficult to resist the challenge offered by a move to Barcelona; a chance to play in La Liga, in the Barca-Madrid Derby and have a major tilt at Europe.

5. With Vieira gone and Bergkamp retiring, Henry may feel that he doesn’t want the pressure of being the team’s main attacking catalyst and chief goal scorer combined with the responsibility of captaincy.

5 REASONS TO STAY

1. Arsenal still have an excellent squad and with the Premiership not a realistic target this year at least, all efforts can be placed on the Champions League. So the Gunners haven’t won the Champions League? Liverpool proved that Premiership sides can do it and when Arsenal do click in Europe, the results can be breathtaking.

2. Chelsea are dominant certainly but if they win the Champions League will the hunger subside? Can they continue to keep so many good players happy? How long will the owner’s interest last? Nothing in football is ever certain and most of the squad will endure virtually 12 months of continuous games.

3. Arsenal have a tremendous crop of young talent and the new Emirates Stadium to provide the spending power to compete for the elite talent. ( and a wider pitch to stretch visiting teams) Arsene Wenger has brought some stunning players to Highbury while strapped for cash (relatively). Imagine who he could bring in when he can compete on a level playing field with Europe’s elite.

4. Barcelona are a club that go through cyclical periods of instability. There is no guarantee that Henry wouldn’t suffer in the same way that David Beckham has at Real Madrid. If not Barca, any club Henry goes to would be a pressure situation.

5. Henry will be one among many world-class players at the Nou Camp. At Arsenal he is a legend and can continue to be the club’s talismanic figure for the next 3-4 years.

Hugh Larkin
17 October 2005

2397: Chelsea: 20 Handy Facts About

by : Hugh Larkin

With Chelsea set for a double header against the Spanish dark horses – here is a quick guide that you can instantly forget.

1. Betis are from Seville. The club’s full name is Real Betis Balompie. They were formed in a split from deadly rivals Sevilla FC.

2. Last season they finished 4th in La Liga and this is their debut in the Champions League.

3. They reached the Champions League group stages by eliminating 2004 finalists Monaco.

4. Brazilian striker Ricardo Olivieira has played for the national side. He was originally brought to Spain by Rafa Benitez at Valencia.

5. The Betis squad is mainly Spanish with 3 Brazilians, a Uruguayan and an Italian.

6. The victory over Anderlecht was the club’s first ever win in the Champions League group stages.

7. The team colours are green and white.

8. Balompie is the literal Spanish word for football as opposed to the anglicised ‘futbol’

9. The green in the colours came after one of the founders brought back a green and black strip from Glasgow. The black was later deemed unlucky.

10. Last season Betis won the Spanish Cup for just the second time in their history (which began in 1907) beating Osasuna. The club have one League title win in the 1930s.

11. The three Brazilians provided the bulk of the goals last season. Oliviera scored 22 in La Liga, Edu added 11 and Assuncao 9.

12. In the close season Brazilian winger Denilson was transferred to Bordeaux. When Betis bought him in 1998 they broke the worlds transfer record, paying £22 million for him.

13. Betis have played in the UEFA cup six teams and have spent the bulk of their history in the Spanish totoflight.

14. Midfielder Marcos Assuncao is yet another acknowledged Brazilian free kick master. He spent three seasons with AS Roma in Serie A.

15. Pacy forward Xisco Munoz is another capture from Valencia. He has Spanish under-21 honours and is a threat on the left side.

16. At the back David Rivas and Juanito are a very dependable Spanish centre back pairing.

17. In away games, Betis have favoured a 4.4-1-1 system, though they went into their last game with Edu out injured and kept Assuncao on the bench after a 4-1 defeat to Barcelona at the weekend. Joaquin supported Olivieira with Xisco Munoz asked to get forward from the left side of midfield when possible.

18. On loan from Barcelona is young prospect Oscar Lopez who has slotted in at left back so far.

19. The win in Belgium gives Betis hope after Liverpool beat them 2-1 in their first group game.

20. Club supporters are known as ‘Beticos’. The name Betis comes from the Roman name for the Andalusia region- Baetica.

Hugh Larkin
15 October 2005

2398: Ireland: Martin O’Neill is the

by : Chris Sherrard

The glorious green of Ireland will not be on show at the World Cup in Germany this summer.

The tournament will be weakened by that fact. But more so off the pitch than on it.

Ireland stuttered their way through this current qualifying group but the stark fact is they failed to beat any of the other top four sides in the group.

Take France out of this for a moment if you want but they still couldn’t beat Israel or Switzerland – two sides ranked lower in the world rankings.

And it has to be said that this is not a golden French side, either. Beating them was never going to be as hard as it would once have been.

So all things being said Irish fans will look back on this campaign with massive disappointment.

But the biggest question being asked on this side of the Irish Sea is will this campaign mark the end of Brian Kerr’s short-lived reign in charge of his country?

All the pointers so far are that he will be bidding au revoir and shifting upstairs to co-ordinate the youth and under-age set-ups in Irish football.

It is perhaps harsh on Kerr but he simply hasn’t achieved enough with Ireland at senior level. He has failed.

But it must be said that he doesn’t have at his disposal as tight-knit or talented a group of players as Jack Charlton and, subsequently, Mick McCarthy enjoyed.

There are a few exceptions, of course. Damien Duff is world class, as is Shay Given. But beyond those, what?

Robbie Keane is a class act but shockingly out-of-form lately. While his strike-partner Clinton Morrison is not an international forward who is going to rescue a lost cause in crucial fashion.

So where is the rest of the true quality? Not at the foot of Kevin Kilbane – Ireland’s poorest ever international I would propose – or with Ian Harte.

And it is no longer with the conspicuously aging bodies of Roy Keane, Matt Holland, Kenny Cunningham or Steve Carr.

All great players in their time but now on the downhill end of their playing careers.

So Kerr has been unfortunate in that respect. The point made about him prior to getting the job was he is a lucky manager. Well that luck deserted him when he got the biggest job of his career.

And the factor which could hasten his removal in charge at Landsdowne Road is the sheer quality of some of the candidates to replace him.

Martin O’Neill will instantly be installed as fans and bookies favourite. And rightly so.

This could well be the perfect job for O’Neill. Forget the England job – there is no way he would take that, such is the great stall he places by the privacy of his family life – something that becomes public property with the England job.

No, Ireland, either North or South, is where his international managerial career, if he is to have one, lies.

And the Republic team appears more likely to me simply because of the fact he is ambitious to win big things and compete at big competitions.

He wouldn’t get that so much with Northern Ireland at this moment in time. Although the tide is slowly turning.

The Ireland job, in fact most international jobs, are essentially part-time – one of my gripes about the astronomical wages being given to Sven Goran Eriksson.

But that fact would work in O’Neill’s favour as he would be able to devote a fair proportion of his week to caring for his ill wife and then scout and watch a game on Saturdays.

O’Neill’s competitive instincts are strong enough to ensure he must surely crave football involvement as intensely as ever before.

He is Ireland’s man for the next generation. The man to unearth some gems from somewhere to fill the looming hole of medicority that appears imminent.

And if he doesn’t want it then there are others who would. Like David O’Leary while he waits for the call from Highbury (that will never come).

Or Liam Brady who, despite appearing to rule himself out of the running, would be a popular and impressive candidate.

And there are others.

It is not all Brian Kerr’s fault that Ireland came up short in this World Cup qualifying group. But there are not many signs under him that the Irish are going in the right direction.

That’s why Martin O’Neill’s signature should be sought out immediately.

Chris Sherrard
14 October 2005

2396: Chelsea: Anyone else enjoy Che

by : Paul Meadows

So there you have it. Nine games into the season, and Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have finally been vindicated. The whole country has been waiting, and the respective managers of Manchester United and Arsenal can well and truly now stand proud and say “told you so – we knew Chelsea would have their blip…”

So hats off to Sam Allardyce and Bolton Wanderers. And it took them just four minutes. El-Hadji Diouf, not good enough for a Liverpool side who are currently averaging a league goal every 126 minutes, easily outsmarted both John Terry and Asier del Horno before sliding the ball into the path of Stelios Giannakopoulos, who made Petr Cech look like any other ordinary goalkeeper by side-footing home from six yards.

Easy. In fact, the Greek international should have had a second soon after when he latched onto a long-ball – something this boring Chelsea side have perfected, apparently – only for his shot to be blocked by defender Ricardo Carvalho. Blimey, had that gone in and Gary Speed’s effort on the half-volley been a fraction of an inch lower rather than striking the crossbar, the unbeaten Champions would have been trailing 3-0 at half-time – on their own turf.

Oh yes, Jose Mourinho’s side were well rattled. Michael Essien, a midfielder who looks every bit as shrewd as any of the signings Portuguese coach has made, was booked when with a dangerous tackle on Tal Ben Heim that could have resulted in a red. And when the half-time whistle blew, del Horno was subbed as Mourinho opted to reshuffle his pack of flops.

They were on the ropes, the blip had set in, and as Arsenal were drawing at West Bromwich Albion and United were faring even better at Sunderland thanks to a Wayne Rooney strike, the two teams supposedly in the chasing pack were about to take advantage of the blip the whole country had been waiting for. At last, The Premiership race was about to begin.

The news filtered around the grounds that Chelsea were getting beat. Almost as one we all looked at our betting slips – “what odds were Bolton to win again?” Some even had the audacity to look at the league tables – if United could hang on to their lead at The Stadium of Light, the lead at the top would be reduced to seven points and the men from Old Trafford have a game in hand.

Okay, we all know what happened next. Before we had chance to ring a friend and check the ‘bet-in-play’ odds, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard had netted a brace each within seven minutes of the restart. Eidur Gudjohnsen then scored their twenty-third league goal of the season to register a not-too-unimpressive 5-1 win.

It was their biggest win of the season. Midfielder Lampard had took his season tally to seven - more goals than Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie and Jose Antonio Reyes have scored in total for Arsenal. Didier Drogba, still bizarrely underrated by so many, has now scored five goals from five Premiership starts, and has more assists still.

At least Cech is now starting to concede goals. That’s three in total now. In fact, you would have to go back all the way to September 17 to find the last time he kept a clean sheet. That was against second-placed Charlton Athletic, who were defeated 2-0 at The Valley. If he isn’t careful, he’ll lose his place to Carlo Cudicini, who was rated as the best goalkeeper in The Premiership a couple of seasons ago.

And what of del Horno? After a poor first half against Bolton, has cast doubts over his position at left-back. Mourinho must now decide whether to persist with the £8million Spanish international, or perhaps opt for France defender William Gallas. Then again, England star Wayne Bridge is also soon available following a lengthy injury lay-off, so maybe he will get the nod.

So there you have it – Chelsea have had their blip. It may have only last forty-five minutes, and it ultimately had no effect on an unbeaten league run that now stretches twelve months, but at least it gave the rest of clubs a glimmer of hope. Didn’t it…?

Paul Meadows
16 October 2005

2395: England: FA mess up ticketing

by : Simon Cole

In a week when the FA infuriated England fans who will have to travel to see their team play Argentina, you would think they would do anything to keep the supporters happy. But they made an absolute cock-up in the ticketing of Wednesday’s clash with Poland, where in many sections both home and away fans were mixed.

For England internationals at Old Trafford, the East Stand upper tier is usually reserved for away supporters. This tier was rightfully packed full of Poles on Wednesday night. However, two other sections of the crowd had a major split between the English and Poles which caused unrest among many supporters. The fact that both teams had qualified meant that any clashes were very light natured. But when the tickets were sold, this match could have been a must-win for both sides.

If that had been the case, the probability of crowd trouble would have been extremely high. On entering the stadium I was shocked to see the section in which I was seated in the East/South Stand lower tier had a 50-50 split of Brits and Poles. Neither set of fans are exactly renowned for their top-notch behaviour and in a more meaningful fixture, hostilities would have been extremely high.

Considering the FA’s strong stance against football hooliganism from the English fans, they are hardly doing their bit to avoid the problem. One supporter was being told off by a steward for nothing more than verbal football banter, and questioned why the Poles were in the home section. “This isn’t the home section, it’s the away section,” was the reply. If this East/South stand corner was the away section then what exactly was the upper tier, which was clearly full of visiting fans? The fact the security team didn’t know which section was which completely sums up the idiocy and lack of organisation of the FA in planning for this fixture.

One of the sections that had a mixed selection of fans had been used as the away section four days earlier when Austria visited Old Trafford. To most fans it appeared that different ticketing outlets had advertised the away section in different areas of the stand. Rather than just one grouped-section of Polish fans, there were three different sets, two of which were mixed among home supporters. The buck has to lie with the FA, who are fully responsible for ensuring that home and away fans do not mix, and that all ticketing outlets know the procedure. This clearly was not the case on Wednesday night.

It clearly wasn’t a case of the Polish trying to sneak in with the home fans as they couldn’t purchase away tickets. They entered the stadium proudly sporting their nation’s colours on shirts and scarves. And why not, since they believed they were sitting with their own supporters. Anyone trying to sneak into the wrong end would be far more subtle than to wear their team’s colours. And it was the same for the England fans, who expected to be among their own.

In every international football match, the police divide between home and visiting supporters is clear for all to see. They want to avoid the risk of crowd confrontation at all costs by splitting different sets of supporters. So how could the FA possibly think having home and away fans in the same section was a good idea? The answer is, they can’t have done, and clearly got the ticketing allocation all wrong.

Imagine the uproar had the English supporters turned up with the home fans in Poland, proudly showing off their nation’s colours. The saying ‘met with hostility’ would have taken up a whole new meaning.

While the FA’s procedures of stopping hooliganism by confiscating passports give out a good image of them fighting the problems of crowd confrontation, their lack of organisation could easily have caused all kinds of problems at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. Had both teams not already qualified for the World Cup, violence could have easily erupted. The FA should thank the Dutch for overcoming the Czech Republic and making this fixture meaningless in qualification terms. Otherwise, England’s participation in a major competition could have once again come under scrutiny because of problems with the crowd. On this occasionally, it would have been caused the FA’s own ineptness,

Simon Cole
13 October 2005

2394: Lincoln City: Impish optimism

by : James Prentice

So what exactly does a football manager do when his team can’t score goals for toffee and struggle to find the form of alleged promotion candidates? Of course! Eureka! He brings back his old charges.

From the ultimate disappointment of a 5-4 defeat after extra time in the Carling Cup against Fulham (in which the Imps battled valiantly and could so easily have won) to defeats by Torquay United and Cheltenham Town, a win over Stockport County and Bury snatching a draw from the certainty of a Lincoln City win, anyone who thinks that the Imps’ season has yet started is either a crazed Prozac-hyped optimist or a poor judge of character.
It is not as though the team are not playing well enough. The back-line has been pretty solid and has only leaked a handful of sloppy goals this season, while the midfield looks quite good and has already hit the net more regularly than the unit did in the 2004/05 campaign. (Dean Keats and Scott Kerr look to be real coups and have scored four direct free kicks between them since the summer.) It is in attack where problems lie and the lack of goals mustered have hamstrung the team’s divisional position, though a combined total of eleven games suspended for Lee Beevers, Alan Marriott and Paul Morgan, who were all sent off in the debacle at Torquay (Morgan was also given his marching orders at Chester City), has not helped matters.

It was no surprise, therefore, that as his side currently occupy the uncomfortable lodgings of 15th place in League 2, Keith Alexander, the Lincoln City manager, is planning one or two loan moves and a raid on the transfer market in January.

A week ago, Alexander brought midfield maestro Richard Butcher back to Sincil Bank from Oldham Athletic after it transpired Butcher had had a personality clash with Ronnie Moore, the Boundary Park chief. But the shock news came on Wednesday when the Lincolnshire Echo broke the story that Simon Yeo, who hit 23 goals for the Imps last season, is in line for a return to the northern hemisphere after his move to New Zealand Knights.

Could it be that Ben Futcher, Peter Gain and Kevin Sandwith, who also departed LN5 in the summer, will return? Such a notion is undoubtedly pie in the sky, but would make a Sincil Bank Class of 2005 Reunion party seem like a realistic prospect.

Butcher returned in time to play against Cheltenham and has since promised he would take a pay cut to guarantee a permanent return to Lincoln. His hasty departure to Oldham came days after the play-off final defeat to Southend and barely allowed even for farewell gestures; but Butcher has since claimed the move to the north-west to be a massive error of judgement and, in doing so, proffered seemingly bona fide affirmations of his love for the Imps.

The real prodigal son, however, would be Yeo. His move to kiwi land came amidst overwhelming acrimony over bonus payments to he and other squad members during his three-year tenure but, partly due to personal difficulties, he appears to be ready to jump ship and move back to Lincoln. The club’s supporters, meanwhile, seem to be thrilled by the prospect of his goal scoring penchant and such is likely to be greeted by a fanfare of excitement.

The pertinent question is: should one return to a place of former glories?

Any sensible person would, at least, consider the reservations: so many have looked on with dismay at the disappointing fate of Howard Kendall, Duncan Ferguson, Mark Hateley et cetera, while at local level, Paul Mayo’s summer transfer back to Sincil Bank after 18 months at Watford hasn’t exactly proved to be a rematch made in heaven.

But it was Alexander who moved back to Lincoln in 2002 after his spell in the hot seat in the early 1990s. He has achieved considerable success with scant resources and, in doing so, birthed Yeo, Butcher et al into the professional game.

So, surely, if they follow the chief’s example, the returning two can’t go far wrong.

James Prentice
13 October 2005

2393: England: Where does the Poland

by : Stephen Orford

England’s 2-1 victory over Poland on Wednesday (October 12) bucked the recent trend of abject negativity from Sven Goran Eriksson’s side, as they secured World Cup Qualifying Group Six with some degree of authority.

The pressure was off England going into this one, as they had already secured their passage to Germany for next summer’s World Cup finals. What resulted was a much more open, attacking display of high-tempo football, giving everyone a brief glimpse of hope ahead of next year’s big show.

There were many plus points, but chief among those being talked about today is the performance of Tottenham’s Ledley King in a holding midfield role. Brought in to replace the injured Steven Gerrard, King has perhaps given Eriksson a real selection problem when the Liverpool ace returns to action. There is little doubt that King, normally a central defender at White Hart Lane, offered greater balance to the midfield with his defensive discipline, and ability to break up opposition attacks before distributing the ball simply and effectively.

This in turn brought out the best in the previously subdued Frank Lampard at international level. It was the former West Ham man’s surging run and expert volley which brought about England’s winner, capping a much more threatening display.

And yet, it is unlikely that the improvement brought about by this new midfield pairing will be enough to oust Gerrard from the line-up when he is fully fit. Eriksson is a man known for sticking by his favourites, and so the notion that the Liverpool captain, or England captain David Beckham could be omitted to make way for King seems far fetched.

In Beckham’s absence, brought about by his harsh red card against Austria on Saturday (October 8), Shaun Wright-Phillips produced an energetic display. However, the Chelsea man lacked the creativity of his more illustrious rival for the right-sided midfield berth. Wright-Phillips’ willingness to run at people with the ball is not in doubt, but his end product still tends to let him down at the very highest level. He was replaced during the second half by Peter Crouch to a chorus of boos from England fans who were clearly pleased with his contribution, but on this evidence he is far from the finished article at international level.

Crouch’s appearance introduced us to yet another Eriksson-inspired concoction in terms of formation, as England went with an innovative if odd-looking 4-3-1-2. Joe Cole, previously industrious enough out on the left, continued to cause enough problems when tucked in narrowly alongside King and Lampard, allowing Wayne Rooney to operate in the space behind the front pairing of Owen and Crouch. Mercifully, Crouch’s presence did not always lead to the Liverpool approach of lumping the ball long in hope rather than expectation, but then Liverpool do not have a Dalglish-esque genius in their ranks any more.

Rooney, both before and after Crouch’s introduction, caused fair amounts of chaos in the Polish defence. His ability to find space in threatening areas is uncanny, as are his freakish pace for a chubby chap, and his penchant for threatening the goal from anywhere inside 30 yards. Michael Owen clearly becomes more of a threat with Rooney in the side, and it was not a surprise to see him notch up another England goal, turning in Cole’s wayward shot on 44 minutes.

Defensively there was one lapse moments after Owen’s opener, when an unfortunate misread by Charlton right-back Luke Young played the Polish attack onside to allow Tomasz Frankowski to equalise. In fairness there were several opportunities to clear before the situation became that serious, but on the whole the back four of Young, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and the versatile Jamie Carragher kept the Poles at bay while much of the game took place elsewhere.

So England are apparently not that bad after all. Just as the recent defeats to Denmark and Northern Ireland halted talk of England as potential world-beaters, so this performance holds off talk of a crisis for now. The truth is somewhere in between, and there is still much work to be done if England are to improve on the meek quarter-exits at major tournaments in recent years.

With a fully-fit Rooney in their line-up they will always have a puncher’s chance of beating anyone on their day. However, this performance suggests that Eriksson may have to make one or two tough decisions with his personnel if he is to get the balance of the team right for a serious assault on glory in Germany.

Stephen Orford
13 October 2005

2392: Chelsea: You can't win if nobo

by : Haby Assevero

Pretty football doesn’t win Premiership titles, at least not since Chelsea came to town. Furthermore, contrary to appearances that isn’t a criticism of Chelsea, it’s a criticism of Arsenal and Manchester United. If Chelsea are running things at the top of the Premiership table it’s not just because they’re solid, don’t concede goals and win matches, it’s also because Arsenal and Man Utd, and to a lesser extent, Liverpool aren’t doing anything to stop them.

The loss of Patrick Vieira is an excuse that won’t hold water for much longer when it comes to Arsenal’s difficult start to the season. Vieira was an important player but he’s gone and Arsenal need to move on. The team is significantly younger than it was last season, but the quality is there. Fabregas, Flamini, Reyes and Van Persie, not to mention Senderos and Clichy are talented players in constant progression. Patience is obviously required but it’s not an excuse for lack luster performances. We’ve seen Arsenal’s youngsters outclass full strength Premiership sides albeit in other competitions like the Carling and FA Cups.Right now, it seems that Wenger has not found a way to instill confidence in his players. Until he does it’s hard to imagine Arsenal playing the kind of football that saw them win the title unbeaten in 2004.

Meanwhile, what is going on with Manchester United? There seem to be problems all over the pitch. The losses of Gabriel Heinze and Gary Neville to injury aren’t helping things but it’s a collective problem. Man Utd are having trouble being the dominant force in any given match, never mind in the Premiership. Their 2-1 loss to Blackburn proves that teams are not afraid of them anymore, even at Old Trafford. The Red Devils are more fragile in defense and if not for an extraordinary Van der Sar would have probably conceded quite a few more goals than they have. On top of that, in spite of their obvious offensive potential, Man Utd seem to have a hard time creating clear cut chances. Van Nistelrooy, while still one of Europe’s top strikers does not appear to be the player he was two seasons ago. Neither do Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes seem to be contributing what they used to and this while the youngsters Rooney and Ronaldo still have progress to make. For Rooney its about keeping his temper in check and for Ronaldo its knowing how many step- overs is too many.

It seems that both Man Utd and Arsenal are going through transitional phases and this could be another explanation for why Chelsea, a side now at the peak of its cycle, seems so far ahead of them. For Arsenal this transition is to be expected as the veterans begin slowing down and the young soldiers begin building their own legacy. For Manchester United, though its becoming cause for concern. They’ve been in a transitional phase ever since their last Premiership title in 2003 which incidentally coincides with the departure of David Beckham for Real Madrid. Sir Alex has yet to hit on the right combination of players in their best positions. If Arsenal and Manchester United don’t get their acts together not only will Chelsea simply get farther and farther away but the spectacle that is the Premiership will suffer.

Haby Assevero
27 September 2005

2391: Spurs V Everton – Things are s

by : Colin Illingworth

Celtic though will miss the talents of Polish striker Zurawski who misses the game after being injured in Poland’s defeat against England. He is a player that is getting the fans off their seats at Celtic Park and the Bothwell Bhoy is expecting big things from him as the season progresses.

Despite the upturn in fortunes at Celtic Park George Burley will not be daunted by his first trip as manager to the home of Britain’s first European Cup winners as teams like Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs all left the green half of Glasgow last season with valuable away wins. Lee Miller and Mark Burchill were on target in April as Hearts ran out 2-0 winners as Celtic showed signs of falling at the final hurdle and Burley will take heart knowing that Celtic are beatable. However, the last time Hearts beat Celtic in Glasgow before last season was at the turn of the millennium when they came back from two down to win 3-2. So it will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Hearts have a team full of quality international players but the one man who the Bothwell Bhoy reckons Strachan must make plans for is the man who could have actually been in a Celtic shirt for this fixture, Paul Hartley.

“He has always played well against us in the past, and has been probably the outstanding player in the SPL so far this season,” said the Bothwell Bhoy. “And to think if we'd put in a more substantial bid at the summer he'd be a Celtic player by now. Hartley seems to be showing that he has always had ability, but now that he's actually surrounded by some other decent players his game has come on even more. I wouldn’t bet against him scoring at Celtic Park.”

“I'm expecting a great game - both teams seem to be intent on playing good attacking football. Still cant see anything other than a Celtic victory, but as I think Hearts will score, we'll need to score more than one. 3-1 to us, although a late last goal will make it look more flattering than it actually is”

Former Gillingham goalkeeper Steven Banks will replace the suspended Craig Gordon in goals for Hearts who will also be missing Czech striker Roman Bednar and midfielders Neil McFarlane and Graham Weir. Meanwhile, Celtic should be able to recall Neil Lennon to the squad but it’s feared that the game has come too soon for Alan Thompson.

Celtic striker Chris Sutton has publicly stated that he believes Hearts are genuine title challengers and will be taking the threat from the Edinburgh side seriously. Despite the Tynecastle side’s glorious start and disposal of Old Firm rivals Rangers last month the Bothwell Bhoy still cannot see Hearts maintaining their challenge this season but insists they could be a future force if Romanov pumps more money into the club.

“I have to say my opinion on Hearts hasn’t really changed yet and I still don’t think they can go all the way this time round. However, I certainly think they're a much better team than I ever remember Hearts being over the years, and its interesting to see how Romanov is making all the noises about them becoming a force again. If he backs it up with some more signings to get quality throughout their squad then I believe at long last Scotland could have a championship race that ends up with the SPL trophy going through to Edinburgh.”

If Hearts are to prove that they what it takes to be SPL champions then they must go to Glasgow which has kept the title for the past 20 years and get a result. If they can do that then maybe more people will sit up and take their threat more seriously. It will be a quality match as Scotland’s top two lock horns. Celtic have a huge advantage playing in front of just less than 60,000 home fans and are expected to win. Maybe that will help Hearts spring another shock result.

Colin Illingworth
14 October 2005
David Moyes’s Everton are a team in serious trouble. Currently languishing at the bottom of the Premiership with just one league win and goal to their name, Moyes is enduring his stickiest spell with the Toffees. The former Preston manager is probably telling his troops that things can only get better, and after the dreadful start they have made to this season’s campaign he’s probably right. Right, of course, until he looks into the history books and realises that Everton have not beaten Saturday’s opponents (October 15) Tottenham at White Hart Lane for almost 20 years and there last meeting on New Year’s Day ended in a 5-2 hammering.

Since that drubbing Everton have won just 10 games in all competitions and David Moyes’s position at the club is under intense pressure from frustrated fans who believe he has taken them as far as he can. Their only league victory this season came at the Reebok with a 1-0 win over Bolton, which also signalled their only goal of the campaign. Five straight defeats since against Fulham, Portsmouth, Arsenal, Wigan and Manchester City has really got the Goodison Park faithful feeling the blues and the last team they want to be facing at this moment in time is their bogey team Spurs.

With just one win in their last 16 meetings with Spurs home and away David Moyes may need to sell his soul to the devil to have any chance of leaving the capital with all three points. You have to go back to the mid eighties when Gary Lineker was an Everton hero for the last time the Toffees last left White Hart Lane with full points in the bag when they completed the treble over Spurs 1-0 twice in the league and 2-1 in the FA Cup in the 1985/86 season.

David Moyes cancelled a day off after the Manchester City defeat to hold crisis talks with the squad over their shocking performances so it will be interesting to see how they respond to the manager’s request.

Meanwhile, Martin Jol’s Spurs will no doubt be rubbing their hands with glee as an expected victory comes their way. Spurs have beaten Everton 14 times since the Premiership was introduced and they will go into the match full of confidence following their pulsating comeback against Charlton.

Currently sitting third behind Charlton on goal difference Tottenham are making great inroads in their pursuit for European football this season. They are by no means the finished article just yet but with the young English talent of Robinson, King, Gardner, Jenas, Carrick, Lennon and Defoe in the side, combined with the international class and experience of Davids, Naybet, Mido and Robbie Keane things are definitely looking up for Tottenham.

Following last season’s heroics Everton have come crashing back down to earth with a huge bump and will not be looking forward to playing Tottenham. However, if Moyes is thinking that there is a shining light around the corner he is going to be sorely mistaken as next up is runaway leaders Chelsea.

I fear for Everton, I really do. The squad is seemingly void of ideas and drained of confidence. The vultures are circling around David Moyes and I believe the only way he can prevent being the main course is to get something out of the game and for the squad to put on a performance worthy of the shirt. However, they will have to play a hundred times better than they have done this season and hope for the rub of the green.

Forecast: 2-0 Tottenham

Colin Illingworth
11 October 2005

2390: Celtic v Hearts – Bhoys aim to

by : Colin Illingworth

After successfully seeing off the blue half of Glasgow Hearts face arguably their toughest test to date as they travel to Celtic Park today (October 15) to take on a rejuvenated Celtic side who have the chance to go level with George Burley’s men on goal difference at the top of the SPL despite their awful start to the campaign.

The Jambos lost their 100 per cent winning start to the season a fortnight ago against Falkirk and they were extremely fortunate to leave with their unbeaten record intact. The Tynecastle team were forced to play most of the game with ten men after goalkeeper Craig Gordon was red carded for a professional foul and they were two goals down with just 20 minutes to play after skipper Steven Pressley freakishly put through his own net. However, Burley’s men showed the great team spirit that he has assembled in Gorgie. They rolled up their sleeves and recorded a 2-2 draw, which felt more like a point saved rather than two lost.

That result though cut their lead at the top of the table to just three points and gives Gordon Strachan’s Bhoys a great chance to draw level with the SPL’s surprise package.

Strachan’s arrival at Celtic Park in the summer was not well received by a section of the Celtic support who had enjoyed a wealth of success under Martin O’Neill. Following a 5-0 thrashing by European minnows Artmedia Bratislava in their premature Champions League exit some people were even calling for the former Aberdeen midfielder to be axed. The pressure built after the Bhoys blew a 3-1 half time lead over Motherwell to draw 4-4 and were then beaten by Old Firm rivals Rangers, which saw Alan Thompson and Neil Lennon sent off. However, the former Southampton boss has quietly turned Celtic around and the Bothwell Bhoy from the Bothwell Emerald Celtic Supporters Club has been pleased with the turn around.

“The turn around in fortunes at Celtic perhaps seems even more exaggerated now because although we were successful under Martin O’Neill, we haven’t been an exciting team to watch since Henrik Larsson left. Last season, the team were really unspectacular and grounded out results with lots of one goal victories, giving the fans little to be excited about.

“From what the players are saying so far this season, Strachan's new methods at the training ground have really shaken things up! Firstly, he actually takes the training sessions himself, and secondly he makes them train harder than ever before. It seems that Strachan is more willing than Martin O’Neill to change his starting eleven on a weekly basis, so now the guys who are playing well get a start - Maloney and Beattie in particular, while guys who are off form drop to the bench. This rarely happened under O'Neill who stuck by the same players indifferent of their current form.”

The most surprising thing from a neutral point of view at Celtic Park is the fact that Gordon Strachan is more than willing to throw the youngsters in with McManus, Maloney and Beattie all being given a chance to shine in the starting eleven. The Bothwell Bhoy who has supported the club for more than thirty years is delighted for the youngsters.

“It's great to see the young guys getting their chance at Celtic this season, and even better that they are all there on merit. Its always going to be hard for a young player to succeed at a club like Celtic where the expectations of the fans are so high (i.e. win every game), and it's even harder when they only get the odd appearance as a sub or if someone else is injured. Given a run of games, McManus has proven that he's a good a defender as we've got at the moment, and Beattie and Maloney keep getting better with every game. This season is perhaps ideal for these guys, without the pressure of playing big European games - concentrate on the SPL, where they can easily compete with players in other teams.”

“Having praised the youngsters though, the man most likely to turn the match against Hearts in our favour is Nakamura. Nakamura seems to be the prime example of the type of footballer Strachan wants at Celtic - lots of natural ability, vision and a fantastic passer of the ball. He must have created a goal in almost every game he's played so far. And at the other end of the park, I should mention that Boruc has been by far the most confident keeper Celtic have had for a long long time.”

2389: Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton:

by : Stephen Orford

Defensively West Brom were a shambles last season but eventually Bryan Robson taught them the basics of defending and the Baggies began picking up points instead of throwing them away. Robson identified this as a major area of improvement and snapped up future England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland on loan from Liverpool, the experienced Steve Watson and recently acquired the promising Curtis Davis from Luton Town. Nevertheless it seems that old habits die-hard and the Baggies have gone back to shipping sloppy goals, with “Big Dave” guilty as charged gifting Shefki Kuqi’s second against Blackburn Rovers. So what can Robson do to make West Brom a solid defensive unit again?

“He has no other option than “Big Dave” and has shuffled the entire pack,” says Amanda. “Gaardsoe was having nightmare games and had to be dropped. It’s a big step up for Davis given that he was only in “Division three” last year. He is one for the future I hope and it’s unfair to expect him to stop the rot. Clement is showing nothing like his usual form and Kirkland does not dominate his area as he should. Good shot-stopper though. Albrechtsen had a good game against Blackburn but isn’t really a right back. Robinson is very reliable at left back.”

Of course it started quite brightly for West Brom. Chris Kirkland was inspirational on the opening day of the season to record a draw against Manchester City and Geoff Horsfield was on form as he helped dispose of Portsmouth in the Baggies only win of the season so far. A visit to Stamford Bridge started the rot as the champions ran out 4-0 winners which was followed by defeats to Birmingham, Wigan Athletic, Charlton and Blackburn Rovers. Only an injury time equaliser by Gera against Sunderland has prevented it from being six defeats on the trot.

“This season has been a disaster and it makes you realise what a fluke it was we stopped up. We deserve to be where we are,” says Amanda. who claims that only Paul Robinson and Geoff Horsfield deserve credit from the start so far. But after last year’s heroics she is not resigning herself to relegation.

“If Robson can latch onto his best team and stick with it we can recover a little but it's going to be hard.”

So if Amanda was in charge what would her starting line up be?

“I would go for a 4-4-2 formation with Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Davis, Clement, Robinson – Gera, Greening, Chaplow, Inamoto – Ellington, Horsfield or Kamara. But the trouble is too many of these are off-form but we don’t have any real other options.”

There are no easy games in the Premiership but with Arsenal, Bolton and Newcastle United to play before the month is out Bryan Robson has a tough task in picking the boys up. The atmosphere at the Hawthorns is full of doom and gloom but despite how she may feel at the current dismal situation Amanda proves that laughter is still the best medicine when I asked her how many points she thought Robson’s men would get in October.

“That will be something akin to Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest!”

Bryan Robson claimed that the Baggies success coincided with keeping a miniature Buddha in his pocket that was given to him by his family for good luck following a holiday in Tenerife. The burning question is: Where has Robson’s lucky Buddha gone? Has he used all of its magic up? Was it just a six-month spell, or did Robson accidentally put in the washing machine with his trousers? Either way, if I was in Robson’s shoes I’d book the family a holiday to Tenerife immediately with the strict instructions to snap up every single miniature Buddha on the island before his time at the Hawthorns comes to an abrupt end.

Colin Illingworth
11 October 2005
Everton try again to kick-start their ailing Premiership campaign when they visit White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (October 15).

Rock bottom of the table with only one win from their first seven outings, things don’t get any easier for David Moyes’ men as they prepare to do battle with third-placed Spurs. Martin Jol’s side have impressed in recent weeks and a win would be their third in a row in the league, and see them climb into second place ahead of Charlton Athletic’s clash with Fulham on Monday night (October 17).

Part of Everton’s troubles this season have been down to injury woes, and again they have to do without the services of several established players. Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta is still out with the head injury suffered against Dinamo Bucharest in the UEFA Cup, while David Weir picked up an ankle knock while on international duty this week.

Doubts also remain about the fitness of James Beattie, with the striker seemingly cursed since his £6million move from Southampton. On this occasion an ankle injury threatens to force him out of action once again, as his Goodison Park career continues to stall. Danish defender Per Kroldrup has not been seen so far this season since his move from Serie A outfit Udinese, and is again doubtful due to a bout of flu.

Tottenham’s Ledey King, star of England’s 2-1 win over Poland in midweek, is struggling with a dead leg and is rated only 50-50, but there is better news elsewhere for Jol. Michael Carrick could return to action after a hamstring injury, and left-back Lee Young-Pyo is also fit again after a similar problem. Completing the trio of hamstring victims, striker Mido is less certain to take his place in the line-up, but has a reasonable chance of recovering to offer Jol more striking options.

Everton’s last visit to White Hart Lane ended in humiliation, as they were whacked 5-2 in a rare poor performances last season. That was one of 14 wins achieved by Spurs in the Premiership over the Toffeemen, who have won just two of the 26 meetings between the two since that 1993 watershed.

Overall the tale of the tape is somewhat closer, with Tottenham having won 50 times to Everton’s 43, with 43 games drawn. Tottenham have a definite edge at White Hart Lane, however, as Everton have never won at the ground in the Premiership era in 13 attempts. Going back further, Tottenham have come out on top 35 times to Everton’s 13 at the Lane, with 20 draws.

It is difficult to see this trend altering dramatically in this one given the relative form of the two sides. Everton have struggled to get anything going all season, while Spurs are slowly being shaped into a top five or six force under the careful guidance of Jol.

Verdict: Tottenham 3 Everton 1

Stephen Orford
14 October 2005

2388: West Bromwich Albion: Where ha

by : Colin Illingworth

West Brom fans entered the current campaign full of optimism following their Great Escape on the final day of last season. But just eight games into the new season and that optimism has been replaced by anger, frustration and despair. With just one win, five defeats and the Premiership’s worst defensive record the Baggies are where they spent the majority of last season, in the bottom three.

Bryan Robson, the so-called saviour in May, is under pressure from a section of the fans to be axed and even striker Kevin Campbell whose arrival in January signalled an about turn in fortunes has come under fire for his poor goal ratio.

Despite having recorded just one point from a possible 18 via Zoltan Gera’s injury time equaliser against Sunderland Bryan Robson is adamant that the Albion are “not far off” from putting it right. Unsurprisingly Amanda Hume, secretary of the Sutton Coldfield branch of West Brom supporters, is very concerned about what is happening at the Hawthorns and has been left fuming by some of Robson’s recent signings and tactics, but she is not calling for his head just yet.

“I’m very worried about Bryan’s laid-back attitude and his one up front let’s go for a point mentality. Many fans are saying he’s lost it,” says Amanda.

“I wouldn’t call for him to go but I do have serious worries about his team selection and the transfers he’s made. Where is Inamoto? Why does he buy Carter and Chaplow then not even put them on the bench? Why are Campbell, Wallwork and Johnson getting anywhere near the team sheet? We are missing Richardson far more than I thought we would because the others have all dipped in form. Gera is a shadow of his former self and Greening is too.”

Kevin Campbell’s signing in January last season seemed to be a masterstroke by Robson as the former Arsenal and Everton striker came in with bags of experience and used it to great effect to hold the ball up and play in intriquate balls for the lightning quick Robert Earnshaw to pounce on. But with a return of just three goals in 22 games in his spell at the Hawthorns the fans have turned on Campbell.

Former Middlesbrough boss Robson has leapt to the defence of his striker claiming that the abuse he has received is “a bit harsh”. Robson told the media after the defeat to Blackburn: "I disagree with what the fans are saying as far as Kevin Campbell is concerned. He led the line well at Sunderland and did well at bringing other people into the game. He did exactly the same against Charlton. Kevin Campbell can't help it if we keep conceding goals. I feel the fans are being a bit harsh as regards Kevin."

Amanda though, like the majority of the Baggies faithful, has been left incensed by Robson’s decision to stick with Campbell who has failed to score in the past 17 outings.

“He shouldn’t play Campbell. No goals in 17. Chance after chance spurned. Campbell and Wallwork must be related in some way we’ve concluded. It should be Ellington and Horsfield or Earnshaw up front with Kanu just behind the front two.”

Nathan Ellington’s arrival at the Hawthorns was viewed as a great signing by Amanda. The former Wigan Athletic striker had just enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career scoring 24 times and formed a blistering partnership with Jason Roberts. However Bryan Robson has only started the £3m hitman once in the Premiership, preferring to keep him on the bench. Ellington was on song against Bradford in the Carling Cup bagging a brace in a 4-1 win and Amanda still believes that he can be a hit in the Premiership.

“We are told that he is not fully-fit yet and let’s hope that is the case. He played well against Bradford in the cup and I think he is our best bet for goals.”

2387: Liverpool’s misplaced generosi

by : Paul Grech

In a world where greed is prevalent, generosity is becoming an increasingly rare virtue. Sadly it is one that can be wasted on those who don’t deserve it, as Liverpool have just found out.

When Sunderland were relegated from the Premiership in 2003 with one of the most abysmal records ever registered by a club in the top flight, it generated a lot of hilarity but very little compassion. They were seen as just another side that had gambled big money in hope of Premiership success and lost.

Yet their problems were very real and they needed all the help that they could get. A big squad, a huge wage bill and debts run up by the panicked signings of their doomed Premiership season were dragging to club towards administration. Paying for those players they had signed was becoming something of a problem.

Liverpool were one of those owed money, with Sunderland having to settle the final £250,000 of the transfer of young right-back Stephen Wright. But, rather than demand payment as you would expect of a modern Premiership club, they opted to forgo payment until Sunderland were back in the Premiership. This when it looked uncertain whether they would be back in the top flight any time soon.

It was, as Sunderland chairman Bob Murray admitted “a gesture from one club to another”. Disappointingly, he failed to reply in kind.

Instead Sunderland are asking Liverpool to pay £260,000 in compensation for the postponement of the televised fixture between the two, which decision was brought about by Liverpool’s forced participation in the World Club Championship.

Whilst Sunderland may feel that their claim is justified, it seems to be little more than a bid to exhort money from their richer rivals, a greedy and, in the light of recent history between the two clubs, misplaced course of action.

Yet it has also exposed the permanent confusion that reigns within the Premier League with the top flight’s governing body unable to confirm whether one of their top sides was going away in the middle of their league campaign on a whim or whether they were required to do so.

So much so that they’ve had to write to FIFA asking for clarification, apparently unaware that Liverpool had already been told publicly that they had no choice in the matter when they voiced the opinion that they would rather give the competition a miss.

Such reluctance to take definitive action greatly contrasts with the situation six years back when Manchester United were urged into forgoing their participation in the FA Cup – a severe blow for the cup - in order for them to take part in the same competition.

Naturally, it could just be a case of different time and different circumstances. But Liverpool are being left with the feeling that it is more one where different clubs are given different treatment.

Paul Grech
13 October 2005

2384: Leeds United: Forward thinking

by : David Hulott

A year ago things were looking unremittingly bleak for Leeds United. Relegation from the Premiership had seen the departure of almost every player left from the David O’Leary era who wasn’t stricken with injury, while the threat of administration loomed ever larger.

Now it appears that a revival could be on the cards though. Whereas the squad looked threadbare last term, there is now competition for places throughout, with Ken Bates seemingly having opted to punt the final season’s parachute money after relegation on getting back to the top-flight, with Kevin Blackwell receiving substantial backing in the transfer market over recent months.

The biggest improvement has been among the forwards, where Brian Deane, Michael Ricketts, Danny Cadamarteri and Julian Joachim have given way to Rob Hulse, David Healy, Richard Cresswell, Robbie Blake and Ian Moore. Even with Cresswell out for three months and Hulse having pulled out of training recently with another ankle ligament problem, Blackwell still has a stronger looking attack than he did this time a year ago, especially if he enters the loan market to bring in a short-term.

Elsewhere the squad also looks to be of a far higher calibre than last term. It could be argued that the heart of the defence is lacking in pace and the central midfield looks a tad short of quality and cover (the almost simultaneous departures of Seth Johnson, Eirik Bakke, Matthew Spring and Jermaine Wright didn’t help on that front), but these are minor points given the problems of the past few years.

There has long been talk of Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland joining from Viking, with a January move possibly on the cards. There has also been recent speculation concerning a loan bid for Aston Villa’s teenage centre-back, Gary Cahill. Such speculation can’t go down too well with the highly-rated Matthew Kilgallon, who would drop further down the pecking order as a result of any new recruits.

The midfield has been hampered by the long-term injury that has ruled out veteran Steve Stone since joining the club over the summer, although Jonathan Douglas has impressed since signing on loan from Blackburn Rovers as his replacement. Douglas has indicated that he may look for a permanent move away from Ewood Park and he would appear to be a good option for Blackwell. Shaun Derry has been in impressive form this term, while Eddie Lewis provides some of the creativity that was so patently lacking last season. With Blackwell still having plenty of loan options available, the midfield does look to be an area where some fresh faces would help. Perhaps he might be tempted to go for one of his former charges at Bramall Lane in Michael Brown. As one of a whole host of midfield players on the books at Tottenham Hotspur, Brown would surely welcome the opportunity of a decent run in the first-team?

Once again, the academy seems to be providing another talented crop of young players, with Gavin Rothery and Ben Parker probably being the closest to making a breakthrough at senior level. There has been a worrying inability to retain their best youngsters in recent years, with the likes of James Milner, Scott Carson, Aaron Lennon and Martin Woods all leaving when they should have been central to the club’s rebuilding plans. Liverpool are again said to be considering a bid for Simon Walton, one of the few plus points of last season. If the revival is to gain momentum, then it is surely imperative that Leeds start retaining their best young players beyond their teenage years.

Without the parachute payments next season, failure to win promotion this time is likely to see Bates rein-in the spending unless new investors can be found (crowd figures have already been badly hit by the hike in ticket prices). It could also spell the end for Blackwell and see the dismantling of another promising squad of players.

David Hulott
11 October 2005

2386: Tottenham Hotspur: Could Ledle

by : Paul Meadows

So, following his excellent performance for England against Poland at Old Trafford, Ledley King has predicted his future in the national side could lie in midfield. The 24-year-old believes he has a better chance of establishing himself at international level in this position, rather then the central defensive role he plays for Tottenham Hotspur.

There is no denying Sven Goran Eriksson is angling towards a regular centre-half pairing of John Terry and either Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell. And with the latter being 31-years-old at next summers' World Cup, King may not have to wait too much longer before he is in direct competition for a place in the starting eleven.

Sure, he will face challenges from the likes of Jamie Carragher and Matthew Upson, and with a little luck Wes Brown and Jonathan Woodgate. Yet his ability and consistency are as good as and possibly even better than his compatriots from Liverpool, Birmingham City, Manchester United and Real Madrid respectively.

All this considered, King isn't exactly a million miles away from a place in the England back four. You could say an injury or loss of form to one player of whatever combination Eriksson plumps for would give him an excellent chance of breaking into the team. But if he decides his best chance of establishing himself for the Three Lions would be by opting for a midfield role, his job would get so much harder.

For starters, he would have a couple of his White Hart Lane colleagues to battle it out with. Whilst Jermaine Jenas is one of those players very much on the periphery with England, Michael Carrick is a player who has shown more than enough ability to warrant a place in the squad and when called upon, in the first eleven. Indeed, in the much valued holding midfield role, the former West Ham United man could soon become one of the finest in the country.

As if that isn’t food for thought for King, there are also a number of other top class players busting a gut to get into the national side ahead of the World Cup Finals. Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Frank Lampard of Chelsea, of course, are very much Eriksson favourites and understandably so. And how about Joe Cole, more accustomed to a central role yet currently playing out of position at Stamford Bridge?

And if Scott Parker continues his fine form for Newcastle United, there is every chance he could force his way into the plans. Ditto Danny Murphy of Charlton Athletic, who can consider himself unlucky not to have been in the squad for the recent double-header against Austria and the Pole. And then there is Owen Hargreaves of Bayern Munich, who will be as eager as anyone to feature on his home-turf next summer.

England have a wealth of talent in the midfield department. On the basis of above, King would be better off focusing his attentions at playing in his regular centre-back berth than trying to force his way into the midfield four. Especially as all those players listed are all guaranteed to be asked to play in this position when called upon for their club sides. The same certainly cannot be said of the Spurs man, who has almost as much competition for his club as he does for England.

It has been well documents that Martin Jol has an abundance of midfield talent at his disposal. For those who need a reminder – or have simply lost count – here is a quick breakdown: Edgar Davids, Carrick, Pedro Mendes, Jenas, Michael Brown and Sean Davis. And then there is the likes of Teemu Tainio, Andy Reid, Aaron Lennon – all normally employed out wide, yet all capable of playing in the centre.

King has played – and impressed - in the midfield for Spurs on a number of occasions. Yet he is unlikely to be asked to play there for the foreseeable future, especially as he has earned a reputation as one of the best defenders in The Premiership over the past couple of seasons and especially as he is needed more in the heart of the back four.

There is another way for King to establish himself as a top-flight midfielder, mind. Roy Keane will soon be departing Old Trafford, and Sir Alex Ferguson will not need asking twice should he receive any indication the player could be available. Then again, perhaps King needn’t move so far north. After all, isn’t there another club that play in red and white, who are also in need of a new midfield lynchpin and wouldn’t even require him to move home…?

Paul Meadows
13 October 2005

2383: Fulham should be standing up f

by : Alex Wolstenholme

Fulham have requested that those supporters who are 'persistently standing' at Craven Cottage refrain from doing so or risk ejection from the ground and a potential ban.

"We understand that at various points in a match, you're going to stand up as part of supporting your team," said a Fulham club spokesman.

"However we ask that supporters stop persistently standing as this leaves us with no choice but to take action.

"We have tried to encourage supporters to sit.

"However as the problem has continued and is contrary to our ground regulations and our license from the Football Licensing Authority, we now have no alternative but to take action and start removing and potentially banning fans who break the rules."

Rather than pass the buck in this manner it is time that all clubs started to listen to what their fans want and try and their best to make that happen rather than hiding behind illogical rules and regulations.

This situation has arisen before at other clubs and as I have written in previous articles on Square Football, football fans are being unfairly treated in comparison to rugby union fans or even those going to gigs at football grounds.

Plenty of top bands these days perform at football grounds and plenty of fans stand up in seated areas to enjoy the gigs. Surely no-one can argue that there is more danger in a crowd of Manchester City fans standing to watch a game at the City of Manchester Stadium than there would be for an Oasis concert at the same venue.

Similarly, standing (in designated terrace areas) is still allowed at top-flight Rugby Union games, some of which attract comparable crowds to those going to Craven Cottage.

And if it is ok to stand at 'various points' as the Fulham spokesman indicates, then why not for the whole game?

By its very nature, the excitement that follows a goal would be the most 'dangerous' time to stand up yet that is seen to be ok.

The argument for safe standing areas is all too often confused with a return to terracing which most people realise now is never going to happen in top-flight English football.

It is about clubs for once, being forced to put the wishes of their fans (or customers) in business speak first as clubs in Germany have done by installing terracing that converts into seating for European games at considerably more cost than normal tip-up seats.

Fulham can ill-afford to victimise their fans in this way. If people are ejected from the ground simply for standing up then they will not come back and no-one will replace them and in the end it is the club who will suffer.

Premiership clubs can hire lawyers to argue against suspensions for their mollycoddled stars or threaten legal action to get compensation for players injured on international duty yet they make out that they are powerless in the face of the licensing authority and local councils.

If a section of Fulham fans want to stand, the club should let them do so in a designated area where they are not in the way of anyone who wants to sit down and deal with any problems the licensing authorities may have.

It would certainly help to lift the atmosphere at Craven Cottage, something that manager Chris Coleman has spoken about needing in the past.

Alex Wolstenholme
12 October 2005