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.

Rooney 3 Game Ban is Absolutely Outrageous

Wayne Rooney learned his fate today from the UEFA overlords, a quite unbelievable 3 game ban for his petulant kick out in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro. Quite how UEFA have come to this decision is anybody's guess, but it smacks of retribution towards England and the FA for what was nothing more than a kick out we have seen hundreds of times before from other players, none of which I can ever remember receiving a staggering 3 match ban. The ban means that Rooney will miss ALL of England's Euro 2012 group games. Cynics have claimed that will mean he misses the tournament altogether such is the low expectation of success for the England team.

Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic certainly made a 7 course banquet out of the incident. Quite what players like Ron Harris, Jack Charlton and Franny Lee make of this debacle is anyone's guess, but has the game really gone so soft that action of this kind merits a 3 match ban? Times certainly have changed, particularly in the last 10 years. If proof were needed witness this challenge by Roy Keane on Neil Pointon back in 1994 and watch Pointon's reaction to a challenge which if Rooney's is worth 3 games then Keane's could have been 10!!

          

Premiership Preview

It's the first day of the Premiership and although I wont be predicting a riot I will try and predict the seasons winners and losers.

Predictions

Champions - Manchester City
2nd - Chelsea
3rd - Manchester United
4th - Liverpool

Relegated - Wigan, Norwich and Blackburn

Todays all-score bet recommendation:

Fulham vs Aston Villa
Doncaster Rovers vs West Ham

Notts County vs Charlton Athletic

Colchester United vs Wycombe Wanderers
Oxford United vs Bradford City

Football League Season Preview

League 2

Here we go with a brand new season and my preview kicks off with a look at League 2 which welcomes new boys Crawley Town and AFC Wimbledon in what promises to be a wide open league. In these previews I'll stick my neck on the line by attempting the impossible task of predicting all 4 league winners and backing up my views with cold hard cash. Crawley are many peoples tips to win promotion to League 1 mainly because of their financial clout. AFC Wimbledon may struggle at this level, manager Terry Brown admitted that his side had been 'battered' in their Carling Cup preliminary round clash which ended 3-2 to Crawley. Swindon, with their new controversial manager Paolo Di Canio are fancied by many to make an immediate return. It is little over a year since they lost in the League 1 play-off final to Millwall, since then they have nose-dived and will be hoping that Di Canio can give them a well needed boost. Perennial under-achievers Bradford City under former Huddersfield stalwart Peter Jackson are bidding to finally start their ascent and the signing of central defender Guy Branston should bolster their ranks. The well-travelled stopper has been immediately installed as captain.

Predictions

Champions - Swindon Town
Runners-up - Bradford City
3rd - Oxford United
Promoted through play-offs - Crewe Alexandra

League 1

There is a real mix of teams in League 1 this season. The two Sheffield clubs United and Wednesday will both fancy their chances as they compete in the 3rd tier of English football together for the first time in 31 years. Following on from their nightmare play-off final defeat to Peterborough, Huddersfield under Lee Clark are many peoples' tips to bounce back and clinch promotion. I'm not so sure that they have what it takes to succeed. True, they had a magnificent 27 games unbeaten run at the end of the season until their crucial game at Old Trafford but there really are so many contenders in this division. Preston under Phil Brown must be considered as well as Charlton and Scunthorpe. My team Oldham had a dramatic dip towards the end of last season falling from the play-off zone to eventually finishing 17th. I'm backing Paul Dickov to continue his good work and improve dramatically on last seasons' finish.

Predictions

Champions - Sheffield United
Runners-up - Charlton
Promoted through Play-offs - Oldham Athletic

The Championship

The relegated teams West Ham, Birmingham and Blackpool all have claims here. Blackpool have already started well, winning at Hull City on Friday night and although they have lost Charlie Adam I still feel that they can maintain a sustained challenge and buck the trend of unfancied teams fading away following relegation from the Premiership. West Ham will be strong and if they can hang onto Scott Parker will be a real force, although Chairman David Gold was on Radio 5 almost touting Parker around, claiming he was surprised that they had not received any bids for him but hoped they could keep him! Leicester City are another fancied to escape, and certainly have the money behind them to try and achieve their aim. Sven Goran Ericsson is a class act and their run at the end of last season suggests they could be up there in May. Dark horses could come in the form of Brighton at their new Amex Stadium and Nottingham Forest under Schteve Mclaren.

Predictions

Champions - West Ham
Runners-up - Blackpool
Promoted through play-offs - Nottingham Forest

And onto todays all-score bet. Both teams to score

Bristol City vs Ipswich Town
Middlesbrough vs Portsmouth
Carlisle United vs Notts County
Oldham Athletic vs Sheffield United
Rotherham United vs Oxford United

Relegation on a Plate!

Imagine if you will, a situation where Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal face a 2-legged relegation play-off against a team such as Hull or Cardiff, only needing a draw on aggregate to stay in the Premier League.....and losing! This is exactly what has happened to the famous River Plate, the most successful domestic team in Argentinian football history have been relegated to the Primera B Nacional following a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Belgrano de Córdoba. What makes this even more remarkable is that relegation from the Primera División is decided over the results of 3 seasons, a heavily criticised format which smaller clubs in Argentina believed was brought in to protect the bigger clubs such as River and Boca Juniors.

At the end the game had to be stopped 1 minute early and there were scenes of unbridled grief and anger. Fans rioted, most were in shock. The players were escorted from the field by police under siege from a barrage of missiles and a threatening pitch invasion. Water cannons were used to try and control the crowd and violence continued outside the stadium. It was a sad and disgraceful end to 110 years of continuous top flight football at the Monumental Stadium. According to the Argentian press over 65 people were hurt with 20 of those being police officers. A punishment by the Argentinian FA must surely follow. National newspaper Clarin stated that "No-one, absolutely no-one, will be able to forget this day." and that River had gone "From hope and euphoria to sadness and violence"
It was as if the heart and soul had been ripped out of the club, almost like a death. Argentinian legend and World Cup winning captain in 1978, Daniel Passarella, has been the focal point for this anger throughout the season. The current president of River Plate is under serious pressure to resign.

The Monumental Stadium, Buenos Aires

There is no guarantee that River Plate will come straight back up. The club is in serious debt, an estimated $19m (£12m), and most recently were forced to sell prize asset Javier Saviola and other young players. While there is no doubt that they will one day return this has been a sorry story in River Plates' proud history and judging by the fans reaction a spell in the second division might do them some good, there can be no excuse for the thuggery and violence that occurred and if they are not hit with a massive fine and/or points deduction, then that will intensify the belief that corruption still runs deep in South American football. As an aside this is a warning to big clubs around the world that you can take nothing for granted in football!