Monday 22 March 2010

Four Fans. Four Clubs. Four very different seasons

With us fast approaching what we can call the ‘business end’ of the season, four football fans, supporting four different clubs, with four different perspectives, give us their thoughts on how their clubs season has gone so far, and where they see them ending up come May.

With that in mind, please welcome;

James Platt: Chelsea

Pete Thorn: Arsenal

Tim Rickard: Stockport County

Matt Snelling: Crystal Palace

Q1. We’re effectively now three quarters of the way through the season – how’s it gone for your club so far?

James: It’s gone ok, but the jury is essentially still out. If we win the double, then clearly we’ve had a fantastic season, and it’s been a great start for Ancelotti. If we don’t secure the league title, it’s been something of a failure (even if we do win the FA Cup). The team hasn’t really changed much – Ancelotti made one attempt to alter the formation, that failed, and we’re now back doing what we’ve been doing for the last four years. So it’s been slightly odd in that respect – there’s nothing particularly new or fresh about the side. Yet we keep churning out the wins, and that has to be admired. Come back to me at the end of the season, and I’ll let you know for sure how it’s gone!

Pete: Ah Arsenal, I love you, but sometimes I think you hate me. I suppose it is probably impossible to look at how Arsenal’s season has gone without looking at how we were predicted to perform. There was the odd optimistic assessment (basically Arsene Wenger, and some members of the Arsenal media contingent), but by and large it would appear that most members of the media believed that a) one of the ‘big 4’ was going to drop out of the Champions League places, and b) that it would be us.

I’m not particularly bitter about that assessment – on the face of it that would appear to be a completely fair assertion. United were champions, Liverpool has pushed them close, Chelsea were looking good and are consistently strong. Of the challengers we had some high spending clubs building decent sides in the forms of Man City, Aston Villa and another team that I can’t quite recall at present.

So, I’m sure that everyone can fully understand the pride I have felt in the way that Arsenal have performed this season. In previous seasons we have been justly criticised for sub-par performances against ‘lesser’ opposition, dropping points away at the grounds of teams up in Lancashire and Yorkshire on rainy January evenings. This season we have been getting those wins, including one against Stoke after the Ramsey injury. That was a win that I was particularly proud of, especially given the obvious parallels with the Eduardo injury and our subsequent crumbling in the 2007-2008 season.

Tim: This season has been as bad as it gets. After achieving such phenomenal success under the guise of County legend Jim Gannon- everything has turned from gold into shit. Quite literally to. We have been forcefully crippled in administration for 10 months and counting, and there does not seem to be a consortium out there prepared to complete a buy-out.

On the pitch, you have to feel for Gary Ablett who has had his hands physically tied. We have only had the option of occasionally dipping into the loan market (subject to stringent FA rules on clubs bringing in players whilst in administration), therefore relying on young players bereft of experience (or even adequate training facilities) has been our only option. After a reasonably promising start to the season, the results have been expectedly atrocious, including one horribly barren period of 12 consecutive losses. As a County fan you generally expect the rough with the rough but this season has been particularly bleak.

Matt: Pretty much conforming to the age old cliché, this truly has been a season of two halves. Up until the New Year, a small squad comprising of journeyman pros and precocious young talent, all marshalled together by a ranting, yet highly effective old school manager had been performing above themselves to mount a concerted play-off charge. Then, the Wall Street Crash.

Since January (and in no particular order) the club has gone bust, revealed a debt of £30 million, been placed into administration, had 10 points deducted, had the manager leave and the star player sold. With confidence shot, and the very future of the club seemingly hanging by the thinnest of threads, losses off the pitch are now being matched by losses on it. A push for the play-off’s has been replaced by a desperate fight against relegation, yet you feel the club’s most important battles over the next couple of months are to be fought away from the football pitch.

Q2. What have been your clubs major highs and lows?

James: Highs – Branislav Ivanovic. The guy is immense. After a slow start to his Chelsea career when he never really played, Ivanovic has really shown his quality this season. He’s also been at right-back all campaign, which is clearly not his preferred role. Nonetheless, he’s strong, powerful, quick, fearless and isn’t bad going forward either. A top player, and a great revelation this season. Other highs include the re-emergence of Ashley Cole as the best left-back in Europe, and the continued brilliance of Drogba and Lampard, who are both just so, so consistent. Despite not exactly setting the world on fire, a small mention should also go to Ancelotti, who if nothing else, has handed himself with great dignity in some trying circumstances.

Lows – the lack of a fresh approach. We haven’t really shown anything different from previous campaigns. Also, injuries have struck at the wrong time. Every team gets them, but ours haven’t been timed well. Sadly, it also looks like Michael Essien is destined to always have problems and that’s a real shame, as when fit he’s one of the finest midfielders around. A mention must also go to all the off-field issues with John Terry. I don’t want to get into details, but it hasn’t helped.

Pete: I think that the highs and lows are relatively obvious. Our season has been a relatively consistent one, with small patches containing all of our defeats. Losing to Man United and City in subsequent games, recovering, losing to Sunderland and Chelsea, being written off, recovering, losing to United and Chelsea, being written off again, and hauling ourselves back in to the title race again. In this context, perhaps the 4-2 home win over Bolton serves as a metaphor for the season: behind despite not playing badly, leaving ourselves a load of hard work to, and a world of perseverance to get back into it. Despite those disappointing league defeats to Chelsea and Man United (with three-quarters of them not even being close competitions), I would still say that our low point was still the FA cup performance against Stoke. There are weakened teams, and then there was that team. I was embarrassed by that defeat, even more than the ridiculous Porto away game, from which at least we could draw positive about how we played, but I genuinely feared the rest of our season at that point.

Tim: Highs- I suppose if I scraped the proverbial barrel, I could point to one or two good early results.

Lows- The season generally. Administration, uncertainty on and off the pitch, the reliance on inexperienced young players, dwindling crowds (to be expected given the situation), having to sell key players, embarrassing cup defeat at home to Torquay (at home and yet being forced to play at Moss Rose, home of Macclesfield Town), the terrible pitch being destroyed by egg chasers week in week out and above all a general sense of further impending doom and gloom.


Matt: Where do you start with the lows? I think most were aware that money was tight and that the books weren’t looking great (the fact we haven’t paid a transfer fee for near on 20 months reveals that) but the announcement about just how far we were up a certain creek without a paddle was still a shocking blow. Being placed into administration and the 10 point deduction have both been bitter pills to swallow, but the real low for me has been experiencing the stark reality of just how out of touch modern football has become and the hammering home of how far the bodies that are meant to stand up for fans have spectacularly let them down in the pursuit of money.

The highs (and there have been some...) have basically come from the fact that at most games I’ve been to since the financial meltdown, despite the dwindling attendances, the atmosphere has been great, with most fans seeing that this is a time that requires people to pull together. On the pitch, the dramatic FA Cup run, where we smashed Wolves and should have beaten an Aston Villa team which cost a huge amount of money provided some spectacular moments, not least of which Danny Butterfield’s incredible seven minute ‘perfect hattrick’.


Q3. We’re approaching the final 2 months of the season – what happens to your club come the end of May?

James: Not to repeat my response to question one, but it’s all very much TBC. If we win the double, everything is rosy, Ancelotti stays on, we strengthen the side with quality signings, and go all out for the Champions League next season. If we fail with the league, there could be wholesale changes. Ancelotti may go (although I suspect he’ll stay as there aren’t exactly many other options available), but more likely it will be some of the fringe players who continually flatter to deceive – Kalou, Deco, Joe Cole and Ballack. Either way, I suspect a ‘marquee’ signing or two in the summer, after relatively little activity over the last couple of years. The squad needs new talent.

Pete: As for what can be expected from Arsenal for the rest of the season I guess would come down to how you perceive the ‘easy run in’ that they have in comparison to the other two contenders. The eternal pessimist that I am, it is difficult to imagine Arsenal not dropping any points at all in that time. We have to play Man City at home, and that will be a tough game will point-dropping potential, but I suspect that the real tests of whether the side have title-winning credentials will be Spurs and Birmingham away. There are certain teams that seem to ‘have one over’ Arsenal, and despite their comeback at Upton Park I don’t see West Ham as one of them, nor do I see that in Wolves. Birmingham and Man City though, they worry me slightly, and for the City game in particular I would love to see a convincing win after losing twice to them already this season. Regardless of how we perform, it is obvious that an Arsenal win would still require points to be dropped by United and Chelsea. Of their run-ins I see Chelsea’s as harder, so I suppose that it’s a case of wait and see, but I am quietly confident about our chances.

Regarding the Champions League I will keep it brief: it depends who Arsenal are drawn against. I am confident that they have the better of most sides in the competition, but I respected what Wenger said after the win over Porto. Arsenal have not done the job when it comes to United and Chelsea, so fearing the big teams is pointless. The competition can’t be won without beating the ‘big boys’ so we need to play these sides and to prove that we have what it takes.

Tim: Fingers crossed, a consortium of local businesses will club together and save us from this seemingly perpetual doom. Or else it could be liquidation and the end of SCFC. No melodrama here.

Matt: In terms of on the pitch, the next 10 games could shape the future of the club for years, even decades to come. I apologise if that sounds melodramatic, but given the current financial plight, a relegation to the third tier of English football could take a long time to come back from.

Since he’s taken over, I think it would be fair to say that Paul Hart has hardly set the world on fire, but we were in something of a slump before Neil Warnock left anyway. At the back we’re pretty solid, and we’ve a number of players who will graft and work for the cause but that’s maybe not enough. Going forward we’re sorely lacking (as we have been for about 3 years now) but I think the real issue is that because of a number of really disappointing home results against some very poor sides the players look frightened to try and take responsibility, afraid that they’ll make mistakes. It’s basically going to take a number of them to stand up and be counted and really go at teams if we want to stay up.

The team (in places) is still decent and I think we’re better than a few of the teams around us, but even those who looked dead and buried (Peterborough and Plymouth) have shown signs of revival causing everything to get ridiculously tight. Fingers crossed then, I think we can just about scrape it, but given the last game of the season is a potential relegation decider away at Sheffield Wednesday, it’s going to be tense all the way to the finish line.


Q4. If you can dare/afford (delete as appropriate) to think forward to next season – what does your club need to do?

James: As stated above, purchase some new, quality, players. Largely speaking, the club is in great shape – the stadium is brilliant (it may be relatively small but it has a top location), the figures are slowly making their way towards respectability, the youth team setup is moving in the right direction, and the playing squad is largely in place. We just need a couple of really top players, preferably the right side of 26/27. They are obvious shouts, but I’d love to see us buy an exciting forward player (such as Ribery or Gourcuff) and a complete, athletic midfield player (such as Jovetic or Milner).

Pete: I think that what happens for next season will be up in the air and dependent on how we perform in the remainder of our games this season. If we win something then I believe that there is potential that Wenger will regard that as justification of ‘his system’ and it will be hard to imagine anyone coming in, with the possible exception of a centre back if Gallas goes (as I believe is likely). Other than that I think I would like to see one strong midfielder come in: Denilson and Diaby are both alright, but if we could combine the two of them into one then it would be ideal. Not to join in on the bandwagon too much, but Fabianski will never, in my opinion, be good enough, and Almunia is at best a 7 out of 10. A good goalkeeper can get you 6 to 10 points a season, and I am sure that it would be of benefit to our team. Other than that, I would just love to see how we could perform if Robin Van Persie could stay fit and free of the Holland nation team’s medical staff for a season.

All in all, the future looks pretty bright for us. These are exciting but nervous times for us, and to see the potential, that has been spoken about so often, finally come to fruition would be a wonderful thing.

Tim: If we are fortunate enough to stay in the football league (depending on whether we are allowed to continue should we still be in administration), then it is certain league 2 football. Hopefully with the signing of some current loanees such as Jabo Ibehere and David Perkins, we can become reasonably competitive. Aside from some interesting away trips to places like Torquay and a few local derbies, the future is looking very very bleak indeed.

Matt: The £30 million question. That is, where do we find someone who’s got £30 million? What happens next season, regardless of which division it happens to take place in, is completely reliant on the fact that the club can’t afford to be in administration and therefore needs to be bought. There are various rumours about who’s interested (P Diddy anyone?), but providing someone out there is up for buying themselves a ‘fine sporting institution from South London’ then I’d hope that they take the following points on board:

1. Buy the ground when you purchase the club. Until we once again own the stadium the club can NEVER go forward
2. Appoint a young, dynamic manager. Paul Hart may well keep us up, and may be a safe pair of hands, but if a buyer is found then this needs to be a new start for the club and there needs to be a reinjection of energy
3. Continue to trust in youth. The academy is one of our strongest assets, turning out far more and far better players than most of the Premiership ones (which is why they come and steal ours). It also provides the link with the community and a sense of identity for the club
4. Invest (regardless of whether it’s £10 million or 10p) in some new strikers, ANY new strikers. This is an area of the team that’s been left to go to ruin for years, basically since Andy Johnson left

5. Don’t court controversy. Despite everything, I still respect what Simon Jordan did for us and appreciated, despite what others may tell you that he was a man who tried to stick to his principles. Yes he could make me laugh, but I also think his outspoken and volatile personality won us few friends and caused us a lot of problems along the way

Thanks to all the guys for their contributions

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