Euro 2012 Day 3

Diana Ross was not required

Well 6 games in and we're yet to see a goalless draw so that can't be bad, and it was also a decent and relatively brief opening ceremony. Game of the tournament so far surely came today as Spain drew 1-1 with Italy. Spain were not on top form but came up against a spirited and tactically proficient Italian team in a game either side could have won in the closing moments. 

Fabregas slams in the equaliser

Ireland suffered a hammer blow as they lost 1-3 to Croatia. From the kick-off the team looked nervy in possession and when Croatia went 3-1 up I feared they could be on the end of a real thumping, but in fairness although the damage had been done they had opportunities to reduce the deficit near the end. I can't see any way through for Trappatoni's men, bearing in mind their poor defensive performance, inability to keep the ball and the fact that World champions Spain are next!

So, an exciting day tomorrow. I start a new job and of course it's France vs England at 5.00pm. I predict we may see our first 0-0 of the tournament as in 1992. That wouldn't be the worst result in the world.

England take on France at the impressive Donblass Arena

Euro 2012 Day 1

Here we are again folks, another tournament and we're all a bit older and perhaps wiser, no one is tipping England (unless they win against France and then the media machine will go into overdrive), and we can look forward to 3 weeks of football festivities. Or can we? 
Today's worrying news about some members of the Dutch squad being subjected to 'monkey chants' at the open training session in Krakow, Poland has only intensified the calls for UEFA to properly tackle this problem swiftly and effectively, it will not be easy. Michel Platini was asked by a BBC reporter whether he felt his position as UEFA president would be under pressure if there were further outbursts of racism, his response, correctly I believe, was "are you joking?". It is down to the police (who by some accounts have been apathetic in the past to such incidents) to deal with such crimes, as that is what they are. Let us hope that the tournament can be a success for both countries involved and we don't see an escalation of this unacceptable behaviour. 


It will have not escaped your attention that England have once again had major problems in the build-up to this tournament. Hodgson has performed admirably so far both on and off the pitch and has had to deal with several withdrawals and of course the Rio Ferdinand saga which the press have handled like a dog with a bone. For my money Hodgson has made his decision on the squad and has stood by it. Ferdinand has accepted the decision with all the good grace you'd expect from the serial tweeter and his response to being left out sums up perhaps one of the reasons why he has been omitted.

Rio - Not very clever and clearly very 'bovered'

Anyway, as David Bernstein has rightly said, it's about the players who are in the England squad, not any players that have been left at home, so for the sake of sanity I think it's time for the media to forget about Ferdinand and move on.

New Shirts, New Hope?

Oldham Athletic have unveiled new home and away kits for next season and a very pleasant surprise they are as well. Aside from the new badge, which is reluctantly growing on me out of necessity (you can't carry around a grudge forever!), the new Fila kits are pretty smart in my opinion. Now all we need is that 4th stand building and a decent team. Come Dickov we know you can do it. (Build a team that is, not the stand).

Tangerine Army!

Lovely Stuff

                                                          

                      

Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in South Wales, the natives are sharpening their axes as news spreads today of Cardiff City's astonishing move from blue shirts to red, and a 'brand' new badge to boot, and I thought we had it bad! Apparently 100M of Malaysian investment will ease through this small transition and quite a lot of the fans seem to be going for it looking at the Cardiff Forums. It's the old tactic, divide and conquer. Now we will see whether Cardiff fans can muster enough strength to defend 100 years of tradition, or whether the lure of the Premier League will produce much 'Granny-mongering' in an effort to reach 'the promised land'. The official website adopts a low-key approach to breaking this news 'Today we unveil the stylish new Cardiff City home and away kits for the 2012/13 season as designed and supplied by Puma', so far so good, anything else? 'As per the official statement launched today, from the start of the 2012/12 season, Cardiff City's primary home colour has been changed to red' WTF????? 'Cardiff City will also be changing their name to Wales FC' I made that bit up obviously but it's not hard to see what's going on here. 

It's Wales isn't it?

Red - Confident, Blue - Unsure!

Imagine if Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United decided to change colours in return for investment? What about a nice new sky blue kit for United or perhaps Newcastle would prefer to play in red and white stripes in return for the promise of Champions League football? One poster on the forums used the old argument about football being a business, which pretty much means as long as someone has the money someone will always be prepared to bend over and take it.

Is This The Best Premiership Season Ever? Probably Yes!

In terms of Drama and excitement has there ever been a better Premiership season than the current one? Manchester City's 1-0 win over United on Monday night put them top of the pile on goal difference with just 2 games to go and we still don't know who will win it! Meanwhile the battle for Champions League and Europa League places is far from over and of course there is the relegation scrap. I make it that there are still 13 teams with everything to play for with most only having 2 games left.

Kompany powers in the only goal at the Etihad

The battle for the title


Quite simply, it could not be much closer. Both Manchester sides have 2 games to go (as if you didn't already know) and a win is not guaranteed for either side in any game. People have been pinpointing Citys trip to St. James' Park (Can't ever call it by it's 'official name') as the critical fixture but Swansea will present United with a different kind of problem than they have been used to this season. I have no doubt that Brendan Rogers boys will really give it a go at Old Trafford. Their open expansive passing game has won many plaudits in their debut Premiership campaign, and rightly so. If they were to get the first goal then who knows? 
Newcastle imploded at Wigan and got a right spanking, but critically, recovered superbly well to record a fabulous 2-0 victory at Chelsea on Wednesday evening. Remember their game with City is just as important to them with a Champions League place up for grabs and they are likely to be just as tense as City. 




Champions League Places


Obviously City and United are guaranteed Champions League football next season but the next two places are still unclaimed and what a situation is developing there. The crucial game on Wednesday evening with Chelsea hosting Newcastle went the Geordies way meaning realistically Chelsea are unlikely to get into the Champions League places.

As it stood before Sundays games

Arsenal have had a fantastic second half to the season but their incredible 3-3 draw with Norwich on Saturday has opened the door again for both Spurs and Newcastle. 
This could be absolutely crucial because the other factor involved in this intriguing battle is Chelsea's fantastic achievement in reaching the Champions League Final. Should Chelsea defeat Bayern at the Allianz Arena they will automatically qualify for next seasons competition as holders and relegate the team that finishes 4th into the Europa League. So the fight is on to grab that elusive 3rd spot and prevent an evening of additional tension by hoping that Chelsea lose should either Arsenal, Spurs or Newcastle finish in 4th.




The battle to beat the drop


And to add even more spice we have the relegation scrap where no fewer than 5 teams are still clinging to their Premiership existence with varying degrees of anxiety. 


Blackburn need a minor miracle to escape. I'm in the dubious position of wanting them to stay up for Steve Kean who I think has handled himself with great dignity, yet for the same reason wanting Blackburn to go down because of the majority of their fans! Their situation looks doubly perilous when you consider their lacklustre performance at Spurs plus the fact that they still have to visit Stamford Bridge in their final game. Roberto De Matteo's team will no doubt have one eye on the Champions League final but they really cannot afford to rest any players as they still need to pursue that 4th spot and give themselves cover should they lose on May 19th.


Bolton are giving themselves every chance having collected 4 points from the last 2 away games at Villa and Sunderland. They will probably need at least that many points again to stand a chance of playing a 12th successive season in the top flight.


It's all about home comforts for QPR who have been disastrous on the road this season picking up points in just 5 of their 18 away games and with Man City their last stop it seems their home game against Stoke on Sunday is win or bust. I can really see them being relegated. 


Wigan on the other hand have been in extraordinary form of late. Home wins against Manchester United and Newcastle plus a famous victory at Arsenal has given them a golden chance of staying up, and I think they will be safe now. One more point may be all they need.


Bizarrely, even though they are on the same number of points as Aston Villa, the same cannot be said of the Villains who have been sucked into the relegation vortex with seemingly no backwards thrust available. That point away at West Brom on Saturday could just be the one that saves them, because I think that if there were still 5 games left to play, Villa would be visiting Millwall next season.

Andre Silly-Arse Boas

Another week, another wacky suggestion. This time one that "is frankly offensive" according to Football League chief Andy Williamson. It concerns AVB (as he must be referred to at all times, by order of the media) and his bizarre idea of allowing bigger clubs to field their reserve sides in the Championship. 
"It could be a great benefit because you don't have to work with a 26-man squad, but a 19-man squad and just recall the best young guys with constant activity" he said, clearly not giving a flying fig about the traditions and passions of other clubs unfortunate enough not to be in the Premier League at this given moment. "What happens in Barcelona is a good model in terms of competitions. They promote talent," he said. Yes, they promote the talent of the top clubs!!

'Just before we go let's take a look at the top of The Championship'

I was absolutely astounded by the arrogance and downright selfishness of this suggestion. 
How would it be decided which Premiership teams could field a reserve side in The Championship? Would it be based on financial standing? Average attendance? It's an absolutely bonkers idea. If Chelsea could do it then why not Newcastle, Sunderland, Villa, etc etc all clubs of equal stature in most peoples eyes, regardless of performance over the last 10 years.


AVB would do well to look at Chelsea's history. Sure, they are one of the top teams in England at the moment but that hasn't always been the case, not by a long stretch. After forming in 1905 it took them 50 years to win a major trophy, the league championship in 1955 (great scott!). Indeed, before their FA Cup success in 1997 they had won the grand total of 4 trophies in their history. They were relegated twice in the 1980's and it is only since Roman Abramovich took over that they have had a period of sustained success. 

Andy Williamson summed it up for me; "Our clubs are constituted as sovereign entities which represent their town or city with pride, rather than being a subsidiary of another club in another part of the country, these are senior professional football matches that matter - they are not just platforms for developing other clubs' players."

Thankfully Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also waded in to show his disapproval, "The supporters of Barnet do not want their club not to be promoted because the reserve team of Arsenal is in front of them," he said.

Therein lies the difference, Wenger is a man who understands English football, clearly AVB does not. Comments such as this do not endear him to the football fraternity. I can't help hoping that Chelsea get knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league team after this!

A Grand Day Out

It's been a little while since I posted so there is likely to be a flood of posts now!
Back on Friday the 6th January it seemed like half of Oldham had decamped to Anfield, hoping to witness an FA Cup shock, or at least have a few beers and hope we didn't get thrashed. Liverpool vs Oldham Athletic, a fixture so mouth-watering to Latics fans that many of us queued for 5 hours in torrential rain and a small hurricane to get tickets. The banter kept us going throughout the morning and early afternoon. At one point I turned to my mates laughing and cried "what are we doing here?". It certainly seemed ridiculous. As someone who had been to Anfield twice in our Premiership days, I don't remember these kind of queues. Neither did the ticket office it seems, two staff were on to cope with selling nearly 3000 tickets, the club are simply not used to this kind of demand. Rumours circulated at various points that there were only 200 tickets left, cue anxious looks down the queue trying to assess whether we were going to miss out. It was all bollocks as it turned out. After 5 hours of queueing I could quite easily understand why 2 fans had been treated for pneumonia! As we limped away from the ticket office, walking was an arduous trial. 5 hours of shuffling along had taken it's toll, we felt like we'd been on an expedition with Scott.

We are half way down, still with 2 hours to go!

The atmosphere before the game in the Anfield Road end was immense. We had plenty of time to wet our whistles after stopping for a couple of pints at The Arkles. I have to say there was not one hint of trouble from the Liverpool fans, there was plenty of singing in the pub but no hint of animosity. As you can see from the photos, our 'restricted view' seats were right on the front row. I was more than happy with this, and even happier when Robbie Simpson smashed in a 25 yarder to give us the lead. Could we hold on? My mates optimistic words of "I told you, we're gonna win" had barely left his throat when Bellamys' fortunate deflection levelled the scores. One dodgy penalty later and we were staring down the barrel. I knew deep down that there was no way back, but 5-1 was ridiculous! 

We're gonna win this!

We didn't know why the game had been held up for what seemed like 15 minutes. When I heard some of our fans singing 'You're just a town full of racists' I did wonder if we'd turned on each other! As it turned out Tom Adeyemi had been subjected to some taunting by a small number of idiots in the Liverpool end and he was unsurprisingly unhappy. you've probably read all about this. I believe that had this been any other club then the matter would not have received nearly as much attention, but the media always love a follow-up story and this was manna for those hacks looking to add to the Suarez situation. It was disappointing for us, firstly, because most right-minded people realise there is no place in the game for racism or any other prejudice, and secondly, because we'd actually played really well, and this incident had taken some of the attention away from the performance. We even had a couple of half chances to make it 2-2 and could conceivably been 2 or 3 up before we scored, Kuqi firing a particularly decent opportunity into the side netting. 

It was great to be involved in a big game again. Perennial Premiership mainstays tend to take these games for granted. We knew that realistically it would be a long time before we went anywhere like Anfield again, and we were determined to enjoy it. Of course, there was still the prospect of appearing at Wembley in the JPT final. Oh, hang on....

No relegation would be suicide for the English game

When League Managers Association Chief Executive, Richard Bevan, claimed certain foreign owners of Premiership teams had muted the possibility of scrapping relegation he opened a major can of worms where the lid was severly slammed shut on the idea. Every now and then a proposal to change our game surfaces but most often comes to nothing. You have to wonder why Mr Bevan even mentioned it at all. Either he was so concerned about the prospect that he wished to out it and nip it in the bud before it developed further between those involved, or has been advised to plant the seed of the idea into the public domain, thereby making such a move easier when it comes to plan.

I think most football fans would be against the idea of a model based on Rugby League where franchises are offered at the top table for 3 years at a time. There are simply too many big clubs outside the Premiership at the moment that cannot be ignored. Alex Ferguson made reference to there being at least 8 teams in the Championship with great history. I would suggest that nearly every team in the football league (with the exception of MK Dons of course) has 'great history' and to take away the carrot of Premier League football, however remote that possibility might be, would as Dave Whelan puts it "kill the game".

To his credit Whelan came out straight away on the offensive;
"It's the most stupid suggestion I've ever heard in my life," Whelan said on TalkSport Radio. "If it was to happen I would resign Wigan from the Premier League and go back and play in the Football League."
"It's a worrying thought that if we get 14 or 15 foreign owners, they come up with some mad idea and it gets voted through. It would ruin and kill English football." I think it is to his great credit that he vociferously adopts this stance. In a way it is easy for Ferguson to dismiss the idea, after all, no one in their wildest dreams could ever see Manchester United in a position where they could be relegated, but Wigan are down there every year.

The day after Premier League Chief Peter Scudamore came out to dismiss the claims as 'nonsensical'. In any event were such a move to be made there would have to be at least 3 or 4 years notice, and that would be sure to create a crazy round of impetuous buying as clubs like Derby, Leeds and Forest desperately tried to get into the elite before the door slammed shut.

Apart from that, in many seasons the main focus at the end has more often than not been about the relegation scrap rather than who wins the league or who (yawn) get's the European places. It's a major factor in the popularity of the league, and to get rid of it would sound the death knell not just for clubs outside the Premier League, but those in it as well. Who is going to go and watch Wigan vs Norwich if those two are bottom of the league but safe? It simply cannot work in my opinion.