tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20049187996313795182024-03-13T12:45:59.425+00:00Collins' BeansMatt C Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00430051593043567334noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-88588355265857343022021-05-28T08:42:00.000+01:002021-05-28T08:42:08.536+01:00Where next?<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0b-MWTmiZ7w/YLCeHn_J7aI/AAAAAAAAAaA/ppCqPBsvSjoAoFo06JFdGfszhtPCP89GQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1360/https___bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com_public_images_b9cb46fe-deb5-4abf-bb4f-6dc5938d184a_1360x765.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0b-MWTmiZ7w/YLCeHn_J7aI/AAAAAAAAAaA/ppCqPBsvSjoAoFo06JFdGfszhtPCP89GQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/https___bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com_public_images_b9cb46fe-deb5-4abf-bb4f-6dc5938d184a_1360x765.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now some of the smoke has cleared and dust settled on
Palace’s season, if I had to sum up the 2020/21 campaign in one word it would have
to be ‘slog’. The past several months has been a grind, with little to
captivate, or get excited about. Bar the odd bright spot; the debut season and
form of Eberechi Eze, the re-emergence of a goal scorer in the shell of
Christian Benteke and a heist of Ocean’s Eleven proportions at the Amex, this
has been a season of uninspiring, dull football, with performances lacking
dynamism and cohesion, and a feeling of apathy that has seemingly permeated
into all aspects of the club. And yet, at no point did I think we would go
down, nor were we anywhere near at risk of doing so. What to make of it then?<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a name='more'></a></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> </span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">The sense it has been a slog has something to do with
extenuating circumstances – namely, a global pandemic. No fans at games,
matches on a relentless treadmill where you regularly forgot you were playing
Burnley at 5 o’clock on a Tuesday and the general doom and gloom of being stuck
in your house 95% of the time has all contributed to that air of negativity,
yet, more than most, Palace have limped painfully along, and that despite
comfortably achieving their principle aim of not going down. And yet therein
lies a lot of the problem; it is a club treading water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">On one hand it seems churlish to criticise or complain –
this is the most successful spell in the club’s history by several metrics,
certainly in terms of the number of consecutive top-flight seasons at 9 and
counting. And staying in the elite of the Premier League, with the money and
fame is all important, particularly right now, with not just football, but the
world in economic and social flux. But while that is the stated aim for several
clubs, ultimately, shouldn’t there be something more to aspire to? To try and
answer that gets us into some pretty deep and fundamental questions about the
very nature of the entire global structure of football and deep-rooted
inequalities - best highlighted these past few months by the seemingly
short-lived European Super League - but even within the confines of the 12 or
so teams whose aim at the beginning of the season is ultimately to stay in the
league rather than think about winning it, it feels like Palace’s outlook is
particularly prosaic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">The goal for the club is to stay in the Premier League,
that’s clear, but what’s it’s vision for doing that whilst at the same time
trying to put in place the building blocks, the incremental steps that can
potentially put it in a place to shoot for more? Because that is possible.
No-one is going to pretend that without a Russian Oligarch, a Saudi Prince, or
the sovereign wealth fund of a national state you are going to compete to win
the Champions League, but Leicester City have shown what can be achieved. Which
is not to say they are paupers, and that they haven’t had strong financial
backing, but compared to the waters they have been swimming in they have taken
on considerably bigger sharks and won. And there’s other teams, such as a Leeds
or a Burnley where there is a clear vision and a strategy to what they are
trying to do on the pitch. In these two cases they may be vastly different
approaches, but they feel like approaches to where you as a fan can feel invested
in the journey, given they look to be following a map rather than just winging
it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">Perhaps most gallingly as a Palace fan you can compare
yourself to our friends down on the south coast. Brighton has a model and a
vision for what they are trying to achieve, and never get tired of telling you
about it either. You can argue its merits, and this is a team that have just
finished 15<sup>th</sup> and 16<sup>th</sup> in their last two seasons, and yet
look at the perception from the fanbase and some pundits – it’s a club that
people say is heading in the right direction, is on the cusp of a breakthrough,
where long-term planning will start to yield success any day now once they can
sign a half decent striker. Ultimately only time will tell, but it’s a
fascinating contrast when I see Brighton fans largely happy with what they are
doing, supportive of their manager and trusting in the ‘process’ (TM Mikel
Arteta) compared to Palace fans disillusioned with what they have seen on the
pitch this year and fearful of what the future brings, given, after all, we’ve
finished above them again (admittedly by a wafer-thin margin).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">It is why this summer is so critical at Selhurst Park – for
too long the club have papered over cracks and used sticking plasters on some
gaping wounds – it can’t keep going for the short-term fix. Looking at his four
years at the club as a whole Roy Hodgson has done a tremendous job –
stabilising the club when it looked to be headed back to the Championship,
comfortably staying in the division in all his full seasons and achieving the
club’s highest Premier League points tally, all the while barely having spent
any money in the transfer market compared to all the teams around us. Poor
performances in cup competitions are a black mark, however. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">While it may seem like a distant memory given the pandemic
era has felt so long, there have also been spells during those four years where
the team has genuinely played positive, enterprising football while crucially still
delivering results. Increasingly however and amplified in the period following
Project Restart last season and the campaign we’ve just had, the teams’ style
of play has looked increasingly laboured and one-paced, with little to no dynamism
or creativity. While they say the table doesn’t lie; finishing a hugely
comfortable 16 points clear of the drop zone, the underlying numbers suggests
it might just be trying to pull the wool over your eyes; third worst defensive
record (66 goals conceded), 17<sup>th</sup> for shots on target (132, or an
average of 3.5 a game), the highest amount of goals conceded in the last 15
mins of games (13). While your mileage may vary on all things xG, it usually
paints a fairly accurate picture of performances, and on expected goals Palace
were third worst (only above 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup> placed West
Brom and Sheff Utd) and on expected points, Palace should have been battling it
out with Burnley for the third relegation spot.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">So, while I wasn’t calling for Roy to be sacked, and want
him to be recognised for the fantastic job he has done, his contract coming to
an end felt like the right time to say goodbye and thank you. But it leaves a
big vacuum, given the stability he brought, and that comes at the same time as
the playing staff needs an extensive rebuilding job. Not so much needing just a
new patio, but a whole new house. And that’s where a lot of the understandable
worry comes from a lot of Palace fans, and why the phrase ‘be careful what you
wish for’ could’ve been added to the club crest over the past several months.
But to me, it was still the right time to move on from the Hodgson era – a
remarkable period of managerial consistency given our history – it needs
someone fresh and different to come in, with the energy required, and the
agreement from the Board and power brokers to back their vision for how that
massive overhaul can be done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">Now when you normally talk about ‘backing’ a manager in
football parlance, the presumption is that means them being given significant
funds, but that’s not what I mean in this instance, chiefly because it’s pretty
clear we don’t have very much of them. No, when I say Steve Parish and Dougie
Freedman need to back the new manager, I mean that they need to let that person
control who comes in based on a strategy for rebuilding the side and the way
they want to play, and then work together with them to facilitate that. If you
were taking a shot for how many times, I’m writing the word ‘vision’ here you’d
probably have fallen off your chair by now, but that’s what it needs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">Regardless of how much money has ever been available during
his time, to me it feels clear that Hodgson was never backed – that word again
– to bring in the players that <i>he </i>wanted to fit <i>his </i>idea of how
he wanted us to play. We ultimately can’t know if the style or game plan
would’ve ended up radically different had he been able to bring in more of the players
he wanted, although I think the team would have had a better sense of what it
was trying to do, with less lurches and wild variances in performance from one
game to the next. For the majority of his time in charge, it appears that Roy
was having to make do and mend, and while I’m happy to be proved wrong, it’s
never felt there’s been much join up between those doing the coaching and those
doing the player recruitment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">In a season preview for the 2019/20 season, which feels a
lifetime ago, I wrote <a href="https://attackingcentreback.wordpress.com/2019/08/06/crystal-palace-season-preview-2019-20/">here</a> I said: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">‘When Palace were promoted in 2013, it was a club wholly
unprepared for the topflight. The first eleven that beat Watford in the playoff
final cost just under £2.5m, and the club didn’t have a Premier League
infrastructure in place. While the squad as it exists now has seen some significant
investment, <b>in the areas of recruitment and scouting the club still appears
lacking</b>.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">And: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">‘It’s important to remember that Palace are in arguably the
most successful spell in the club’s history, when factoring in the consecutive
years in the top-flight and the touching distance they were to win the FA Cup
in 2016, <b>but true progress continues to be undermined by failings of
infrastructure, scouting and player recruitment</b>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: helvetica;">To me, these failings are all still too apparent, and not
especially helpful when you consider the number of players out of contract and
the number of new faces needed. And that’s why the whole club needs to work
holistically with the new manager if we are to move forward, rather than
continue to stagnate. If it is to be Sean Dyche, and he wants the team to play
with two front men, centre backs that head the ball rather than play it out
from the back and wingers to get crosses in, then enable him to do that by
trying to sign players with that skillset. If you take a punt on a Valerian
Ismael that wants a team with energy that presses high, then don’t give him a
squad of holding midfielders that are all 30+. Regardless of who comes in
however, and what their style is, there also needs to be the continued drive to
bring down the age of the squad and invest in players for the future. Maybe
it’s just a coincidence, but Palace regularly topping the charts of players
lost to injury as well as goals conceded in the last 15 mins of matches with
having the oldest squad in the league would appear to have some links.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">And that’s where we are right now at the end of May. Whoever
comes in as the new manager of Crystal Palace is going to have a full inbox.
There is clear, and understandable fear from many that next season could be a
real struggle, that without Roy Hodgson’s calming hand on the tiller the boat
could be heading for a crash on some very sharp rocks. It’s also no surprise
that the name ‘Frank de Boer’ has been on many people’s lips – people are still
fearful that the new man is not outside of any boxes. And yet, just because
that didn’t work out, doesn’t mean that the club shouldn’t ever try to do
anything different and try and be creative and bold in its approach,
particularly when such a radical rebuild is required. We’ve had all the old
firefighters; we’ve had Pulis, Allardyce, Warnock, Pardew and now Hodgson – if
we want to try and move forward, we at least need to stop standing still.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span> </p><p></p>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-23571148450758540052018-03-09T14:41:00.003+00:002018-03-14T11:45:26.489+00:00Reasons to be cheerful…or fearful?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQCoGXqK4_E/WqKcYkZtlDI/AAAAAAAAAQo/a6dlcn46Qj0_fUMy8o1WjRetlqbGC9_ewCLcBGAs/s1600/download_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQCoGXqK4_E/WqKcYkZtlDI/AAAAAAAAAQo/a6dlcn46Qj0_fUMy8o1WjRetlqbGC9_ewCLcBGAs/s1600/download_2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Following the final whistle on Monday night, you’d be forgiven for
thinking that Crystal Palace had just been relegated, given the collective
slumping of players to their knees. Perhaps a call back to an edition of MNF from
1998 when they had been by the same opponents. Yet while the game meant the
team remained below the dreaded red line of doom that signals the relegation
zone, it was the heart breaking nature of last minute defeat, rather than it
being a fatal blow that had so emotionally drained those players.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All defeats
to some extent hurt, but this one, this one, was extra painful. To lose in the
last minute is a kick in the ribs. To do so when having largely played very
well, and be 2-0 up, and in a game against a team you haven’t beaten since 1991
is like a sledgehammer, cricket bat and cannon ball to the ribs all at once. Followed
then by a kick in the groin. It wasn’t a game that Palace were expected to get
anything from at the start, but at the end it was at the very least one point
tossed away. The problem with being at the bottom and fighting for your life as
games run out is that while there are certain matches you want to be able to
write off, a failure to beat Swansea or Newcastle or West Ham this season,
means you can’t afford to be so picky. It’s why this weekend’s game against
Chelsea is not the free hit you want it to be.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course if
you were to return to Palace’s previous match against Manchester United this season,
the final whistle that day saw the team breaking records with their seventh
consecutive defeat to start a season and their seventh consecutive game without
even mustering a goal. At that stage, every decidedly lukewarm take was that
Palace were already certainties for the drop and would be down by Christmas. In
that context then, to not be adrift, not even to be bottom, to be only one
point from safety, within one win of a further five teams and actually be only
seven points from the top half is somewhat miraculous. And yet from a position
of relative optimism as the end of January approached, the feeling of doom and
gloom seems to have returned.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Going six
games without a win will do that. Winnable games against West Ham and Newcastle
only yielded draws. Tough encounters with Tottenham and Manchester United were
last minute concessions of a valuable point. Games at Arsenal and Everton
featured collapses in different halves. Nothing exists in a vacuum; Palace’s
winless run has come at the same time as a Swansea revival and Brighton and
Bournemouth putting together wins which have allowed them some breathing space.
The consolation remains that the league is incredibly tight, with between eight
and ten teams realistically fighting to avoid three spaces.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The optimism
of January was with the promise of new blood on top of the positive results
during the festive and New Year period. Last year Palace spent big in the
winter window and it was a gamble that paid off. All the players brought in went
straight into the first team, all helped make a sizeable contribution. This
time around, perhaps even more than last season, squad strengthening was
imperative. By and large Palace’s drop off in points has not been as a result
of a significant drop off in performances, rather it’s been due to a squad
decimated by injuries being stretched to breaking point. An entire first XI has
been unavailable, most of them key players. It’s led to a manager, rightly or
wrongly, failing to be satisfied that he can make a substitution, where there
are no options to change a game or try something different and where tired legs
have led to tired minds and the late conceding of goals.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The vast
holes in the squad were clear; a lack of legs in central midfield, little pace
out wide or the ability to carry the ball forward in the absence of the club
talisman and no options up front aside from a woefully out of form target man
with confidence seemingly long since shattered. Up to last week the club had
only one fit senior goalkeeper. And yet as the transfer window closed on the
last day of January, it was hard to argue the club had moved to resolve these
issues.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In reviewing
Palace’s January window seasoned Palace watcher and Guardian journalist Dominic
Fifield wrote: <i>‘Roy Hodgson had stressed
“a successful window would be cover at goalkeeper and centre-forward”. So,
while Alexander Sørloth’s arrival provides back-up for Christian Benteke, the
manager will be privately alarmed that his only other additions were youngsters
who need time to adjust. Palace have lost three senior players to long-term
injury since New Year’s Eve, so is their squad stronger now? Their window was
rather summed up by the sight of a glum Ibrahim Amadou trudging into the night
with his move from Lille unfulfilled.’</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Results since
that point would suggest the squad was not left stronger. A lack of options on
the wing and Wilfried Zaha’s injury has meant centre forward Alexander Sørloth
being pressed into action out wide on the left, a position from which he has
shown some raw promise but no significant end product. Long term the signs are
that the young Danish striker could prove to be an excellent addition, but not in
the short term shark tank of a Premier League relegation fight as an auxiliary left winger. One of the
reasons behind the last minute concessions in recent games was the tired limbs,
particularly in midfield and yet January loan arrival Erdal Rakip is yet to
make an appearance. The young Swedish midfielder arrived on loan from Benfica
but is running out of games to make any sort of impact. If he wasn’t judged
fit/experienced enough to play at this stage then why was he signed? Polish centre back Jaroslaw Jach, a £2m buy from Zaglebie Lubin has struggled to even
make the bench.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
concertinaed look to the bottom half of the Premier League with just 14 points
separating 11 teams means there is still all to play for. While West Brom are
not hilariously cut adrift in a Derby or Sunderland way, their survival task
looks too tough, but for the other sides all will have reasons for both hope or
despair. As shown by Swansea’s rise one or two positive results can change
perception, but even they lost 4-1 to Brighton two weeks ago.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">From a Palace
perspective, outside of a dreadful opening 20 minutes at the Emirates Stadium
and a 7 minute brain freezing loss of concentration at the beginning of the
second half at Goodison Park, team performances have largely remained solid to
good. After Saturday’s visit to Stamford Bridge, only one game of the remaining
eight is against one of the top six. Following the returns of Martin Kelly and
Jeffrey Schlupp on Monday there are more first team players to return,
including the team’s difference maker Zaha. And yet, the nagging feeling
remains that a failure to adequately strengthen in January has left the team
vulnerable and insufficiently equipped to maintain what had been upward
progression at the very point when injuries have bit hardest. Reasons to be cheerful…
or reasons to be fearful? </span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-89948947357533460582017-10-30T15:52:00.000+00:002017-10-30T15:52:28.637+00:00The good, the bad and the ugly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f6EXOdN-W8E/WfdGDmnmOBI/AAAAAAAAAQM/dHGWx-McEv4wX_8V6dSkYzaTQZWwQgDVwCLcBGAs/s1600/2526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="620" height="192" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f6EXOdN-W8E/WfdGDmnmOBI/AAAAAAAAAQM/dHGWx-McEv4wX_8V6dSkYzaTQZWwQgDVwCLcBGAs/s320/2526.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the end, a draw; one that felt like both a victory, but also a defeat</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">In the end, a
draw; one that felt like both a victory, but also a defeat. A victory in the
sense that at half time, and following a (sadly predictable) insipid first half
that found the team 2-0 down to another struggling team, getting anything out
of the game would’ve felt like a win. A defeat in the sense that after a hugely
impressive second 45 mins of one way traffic, that only emerging with one point
felt like a missed opportunity. Last minute goals tend to do delirious things
to football supporters – goals scored as the clock ticks down, and certainly
ones in injury time carrying far more weight than normal. Goals scored in the
97<sup>th</sup> minute are a collector’s item; hence the emotional outpouring as
Wilfried Zaha’s shot hit the back of the net Saturday; elation, ecstasy, delirium,
relief and a sense of justice being done all exploding together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">It reminded
me in a way of a game against Preston in 2005 in which Palace were trailing 1-0
deep into stoppage time. The context was that Preston had played the last 21
minutes with nine men. When Clinton Morrison equalised at the death there was a
similar release of satisfaction, quietly giving way to sheepishness that it
might not reflect too well that it had taken that long, or that the team had
found themselves in that situation. The last second goal in the game 12 years
later did feel like it was different though.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">The Palace
team of 2005/06 were freshly relegated from the Premier League and only a
couple of months into a season where they were expected to bounce straight back.
To this day I would maintain that on paper, that squad should have been
automatic promotion certainties rather than mundane playoff hopefuls, bundled
out in the semi-finals by Watford. That Preston game actually revealed a lot of
the failings that prevented promotion that year and that having to rely on such
a late goal to draw at home with a workmanlike team of nine men shouldn’t have
been quite the moment for celebration that it seemed like in the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">But that’s of
course being wise after the event and removes the emotion that comes from being
a football fan. According to some West Ham fans, Palace celebrated Zaha’s goal
as if it was the winner in the Champions League final; it wasn’t even a winner
in that game. And yet, even taking away the sheer illogical thrill that every fan
gets from experiencing their team rescue something from the jaws of certain
defeat, in many ways it felt like one. Just like the Preston game of over a
decade ago, only time will tell in the long term if Saturday’s game was a sign
of the failings or the qualities of this side. As I’m sitting here right now, I’m
choosing to hope it’s the latter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">The encounter
with West Ham showed off the good, the bad and the ugly of Palace in a neat 90
minute package, wrapped up in a Zaha shaped bow. The ugly being very much the
first half display. Unfortunately it was a half that Palace fans have been increasingly
used to this season, in which the home side starts games so passively and in
such an underwhelming manner you think that the referee should check the
players pulse before the kick off. It’s why the team have lost so often this
season, trying to play their way into a game slowly before it’s usually too
late, the same thing that was within seconds of happening against the Hammers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">The games
away at Man City, Man United and Liverpool were always going to be tough, and
far better teams than us have already had their backsides spanked by City in particular,
but the reason the team is where it is - propping up the rest - and what has
been so disheartening have been the defeats to Huddersfield, Swansea,
Southampton, Burnley and Newcastle. While all the defeats have their own
individual caveats for what went wrong or hard luck stories that can be wheeled
out, most, or all could be characterised by slow, uninspired and pedestrian
starts, compounded in the games against Southampton and Burnley by early errors
that set the tone for a team already low on confidence. Saturday’s game against
West Ham followed that trend. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">The only
occasion in which the trend was bucked was the outstanding victory over Chelsea
in which Palace flew out of the traps, starting aggressively on the front foot
and it made a huge difference. You have to acknowledge that isn’t suitable in every
game. Against a team like Liverpool it makes sense to play deep and not allow
them the counter attack, a tactic that narrowly missed out on achieving a point
at Anfield. Likewise, against Newcastle the team employed a sensible approach
to getting a valuable away point through keeping possession and not giving up
chances. Again, it so narrowly, and in this case, undeservedly failed to result
in a point. But in games, most notably at home, and most notably to similarly goal
shy strugglers like Swansea, Southampton and indeed West Ham, there is absolutely
no reason for Palace to have started so far on the back foot they were
virtually in the White Horse Lane car park. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Those were
all teams there for the taking – just as Palace were of course to them – and the
failure to apply pressure from an early stage allowed the away team to settle
and eventually create a chance they ended up taking. Against Huddersfield,
Swansea, Southampton and West Ham, all those teams scored with their first meaningful
chance. Are Palace just unlucky? Or is it due to those teams being allowed to
settle under no pressure, when as shown in a lot of their other games that
their confidence is just as brittle as Palace’s. It was how the team found
itself two goals down at half time to West Ham’s only two chances of note in
the whole game. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">But if that half
showed the ugly, the second showed the good. The good being the trickery and
persistence of Zaha, the speed and non stop running of Townsend, fine
overlapping from Schlupp and Fosu-Mensah at fullback, interceptions and strong
tackling from Milivojevic and crisp passing and expert set piece delivery from
Cabaye. The good also being the players showing the quality we believe they
have but that is too often being undermined by they themselves failing to
believe that they do. Unfortunately it also showed the bad - the unbelievable
amount of chances the side continues to pass up as they battered a West Ham
team that ended up being saved in the second half by the holy trinity of the
woodwork, good fortune and Joe Hart. Much as starting games in neutral and catastrophic
individual defensive errors have characterised Crystal Palace version 2017_18,
so has the missing of so many chances. Just go back and look at the Burnley
game for the season summed up; an awful back pass from Lee Chung-yong in the
third minute being ruthlessly exploited, before miss after miss after miss of
highly presentable chances leading to defeat. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">The win
against Chelsea was meant to be the turning point, but that was followed up by
the defeat on Tyneside and the embarrassing capitulation to Bristol City in
which a number of the players given a chance to prove themselves only succeeded
in proving that while the first team may be underachieving the wider squad is
not fit for purpose. But the players on Saturday showed that hope is not dead,
and that the team retains, however hidden it may appear at times, both spirit
and ability. But it needs to show that from the beginning of games, and
particularly against teams outside of the top six, start on the front foot. Stop
being so placid and fearful of what other teams might do to them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Outside of
the Chelsea game, the second half of Saturday and most of the game against
Burnley, Palace have been pretty dreadful, and yet, there’s a lot of other
dreadful teams in this league that deserve less respect than Palace have been
giving them. Saturday showed that when Palace go at teams, they can have them
on the ropes. If they are to go down this season, it’s surely better to go down
swinging.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-66437542336913684442017-10-12T10:37:00.000+01:002017-10-12T10:37:07.386+01:00Can Palace survive this season? 2013/14 shows it can be done<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5IThhNjL8Vk/Wd83pw6wXbI/AAAAAAAAAPw/5T2A6X9g-0Y4as2aeQUwKdZgtt37RlCiACLcBGAs/s1600/promo306256345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5IThhNjL8Vk/Wd83pw6wXbI/AAAAAAAAAPw/5T2A6X9g-0Y4as2aeQUwKdZgtt37RlCiACLcBGAs/s320/promo306256345.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Looking at Saturday’s game logically - rock bottom against the champions
– Palace will finish the day with a played eight, lost eight, pointless record.
And yet, that could still mean being in a stronger position than when Ian
Holloway left back in 2013. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>“I don’t want
to criticise my players in any way but we are taking a few blows to the chin...we
are without Zaha, Benteke and Loftus-Cheek and we lost Scott Dann the day
before the game. We are playing with a winger from Wolves at centre-forward.
Add all those things together and we have to accept we are the boxer fighting
in a weight class he is not able to handle at the moment. We are taking the
blows and getting knocked down, but we are attempting to respond and not stay
on the canvas.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Hard to
disagree with Roy Hodgson’s use of a boxing analogy, given that watching Palace
this season and listening to numerous pundits and ‘humorous’ betting sites
banter Twitter accounts scathing assessments has led me to feel like I’m
repeatedly being punched. And while you could argue on the one hand that
playing teams over the past couple of weeks with the resources and squad
strength of a Manchester United or City, and this weekend against Chelsea, will
always be something of trying to punch above your weight, it still feels a
little uncomfortable trying to portray the situation as a team out of their
depth and a failure to compete seen as inevitable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The use of
the words “at the moment” is of course the caveat, and Hodgson was probably
trying to articulate that the current injuries, shattered confidence, and in some
games like the one at Burnley a genuine desertion of luck, are making it seem
that the club is stepping in the ring with heavyweights when we are barely a
featherweight. But looking at the situation like that, I feel gives people
something of a free pass. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">If the same
quote from Hodgson two weeks ago had come from Steve Coppell in 1997, Iain
Dowie in 2004 or Ian Holloway in 2013 I would have probably been in whole
hearted agreement with the tone. Look at some of the personnel in those teams
that came up and the quality they were coming up against every week. Look at
the money spent at those times compared to the teams around them, and the
argument of not fighting in a weight class they are able to handle holds a lot
of water, but not now. Not after entering a fifth season in the top flight and
not after the money spent and all the hard work. Hard work that looked to have
finally established the club as top flight presence; hard work that is at
severe risk of being flushed away. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The starting
line up that was victorious at Wembley against Watford in 2013 cost just under
£2.5m. In modern football terms that is a drop in the ocean. To try and stay
up, the club did a mad trolley dash of largely unwanted, bargain basement buys,
loans and free transfers, with the only significant outlay of £7.5m on Dwight
Gayle. That team went to Old Trafford and put up much sterner resistance than
the current vintage, ultimately being undone by Ashley Young’s usual pantomime
theatrics. The current squad though includes eight players that cost at least
£10m, with Mamadou Sakho being £26m and Christian Benteke a whopping £30m.
Palace can’t play the pauper card anymore for why they are losing matches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Games of
football are played on grass rather than on paper, but looking at the talent
and ability in the current side, compared to 2013 for example, why is this team
routed to the bottom of the league tables as a laughing stock with no goals and
no wins?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">What the 2013
team lacked in ‘name’ value it made up for in heart and determination, it was a
squad of leaders and big personalities and players that dug in when faced with
adversity. Those are values sorely missing from a horribly disjointed squad
suffering from being put together by too many different managers with such
varying philosophies and personalities. It’s also a squad put together without
seemingly a skilled recruitment and scouting set up, to where it is in the
position of having to go to Manchester United and play a winger from Wolves at
centre forward.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">It’s too easy
to say when football teams lose matches that the players ‘aren’t trying’ and
that ‘they don’t care’, and despite the dreadful run of results, I’ve never
felt that’s been the case. There have of course been bad performances, some
awful ones in fact, but never did I think it was a result of the players not
caring or not wanting it. It’s just a group of players that have lost game. A
lot of games. Not just in this run, but for the better part of two years, to
where confidence and belief has been pulverised. As Daniel Storey at Football
365 put it a few weeks ago; ‘it is a Crystal Palace disease. Fifty-four points
from their last 64 league matches under four different managers. Confidence has
not just been pierced; it has deflated and dried out.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">But amidst
the doom and the gloom, the experiences of Palace in 2013/14, in their first
season back in the big time does offer some hope, both for this weekend and for
the whole season. Looking at Saturday’s game logically - rock bottom against
the champions – Palace will finish the day with a played eight, lost eight,
pointless record. And yet, that could still mean being in a stronger position
than when Ian Holloway left back in 2013. At that stage Palace had a mere three
points from ten games, and, as highlighted, with what I would consider to be a
far less talented squad. That was also a team that went on a run of seven
defeats in a row. But incredibly, following the arrival of Tony Pulis and a
back to basics approach, where the game plan was perfectly tailored to the
strengths and attributes of the players available, a near improbable rise
culminated in an eleventh placed finish and Pulis walking away with a manager
of the year award. There you go Roy, there’s your inspiration – it can be done.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">It’s arguable that
the most impressive performance during Pulis’ time was the 1-0 home victory
over Chelsea, courtesy of a John Terry own goal in a game where Palace combined
doggedness and tenacity with genuine quality for a thoroughly deserved win. Even
the most optimistic of Palace fans would be hard pressed to predict a similar
outcome this weekend, but if the team can start to channel the spirit and
determination of the team that came up then there is the chance it can overcome
it’s dismal and record breaking start, after all, historical precedence says it
can be done. It’s time for the team to pick themselves up off the canvas and
start to fight back.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-90001458712028859062017-09-18T14:43:00.003+01:002017-09-18T14:43:42.216+01:00The Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SU0WkfoE1BY/Wb_M5JhnE2I/AAAAAAAAAPU/QVH9Bp2s9mcZo9o8TIcZ0hV4_hoXRHgyACLcBGAs/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SU0WkfoE1BY/Wb_M5JhnE2I/AAAAAAAAAPU/QVH9Bp2s9mcZo9o8TIcZ0hV4_hoXRHgyACLcBGAs/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Going by the Frank De Boer experience, Roy Hodgson has three more games
to save his job. Given that they are against Manchester United, Manchester City
and Chelsea, the former England manager might want to start preparing his cardboard
box to take away his belongings from his office already.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Palace
were hoping for a new manager bounce – although after the experiences of De
Boer and even Sam Allardyce before him I’m not sure that’s a thing anymore – it
took all of six minutes for that to fall very flat. It was all depressingly
familiar; start a game on the back foot, have men sitting deep behind the ball
but no-one close to an opposition player, a fullback allowing a cross to come
in largely unchallenged and a customary ‘not quite a howler’ but poor piece of
goalkeeping. 1-0 down at home early to a team previously struggling and who
didn’t appear that good either – if you were playing Palace bingo you would
have had a full house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s been
plenty written over the past week or so about the club and their decision to
sack Frank De Boer after just four winless, pointless and goalless games,
indeed for the past couple of weeks it’s felt like we were the biggest team in
the country given the amount of column inches and opinions devoted to Palace
from sources that scarcely acknowledge they exist most of the time. The one
thing that’s actually perversely humorous about the whole situation, is that
Palace being so ineptly bad has got the whole football world talking about them
diverting attention away from the ‘feel good’ story of Brighton being back in
the top flight for 30+ years. Every cloud and all that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether it
was the right decision to get rid of De Boer or not is something that will run
and run, but the general consensus after some of the dust and debris had
settled after the Dutchman’s sacking was that Hodgson was a good appointment; a
stable presence, a man with a good track record at clubs of similar stature and
a man with a local connection to the London Borough of Croydon. Sure it wasn’t
the long term future and evolution the club is seemingly after, despite the
managerial departure lounge suggesting this is a laughable ideal, but this was
a step in the right direction to the club achieving it’s short term aim of
staying in the Premier League. Unfortunately the players didn’t seem to get
that memo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the
most depressing aspects of Saturday’s performance against Southampton was how
much worse, and how much more disjointed it was than the one that preceded it
at Turf Moor under a manager that was effectively dead man walking at that
stage. The defeat to Burnley was a genuine hard luck story; Palace creating
enough chances to win a couple of games and the opposition manager saying they
had been much the better side. If the hope was that the team would carry on
that level of performance into an eminently winnable game at home to a goal shy
Southampton then this was horribly dashed. For large parts of Saturday’s game,
I genuinely thought Palace were dreadful – devoid of a coherent game plan and
lacking in any belief. It was painful to watch, seeing players gripped by fear
and bemused at what to do to make things better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard to
know where to start with what was going wrong on the pitch, which was summed up
by the first half performance down Palace’s left hand side. Jeffrey Schlupp,
playing at left back, and Jason Puncheon, playing at, well, I’ve got no idea
where he was meant to be playing, spent the first half pointing vaguely at
Southampton’s right sided players with neither knowing who should be picking up
which man. The result was neither of them picking up anyone. Time and again
there was a gap an ocean liner could have got through down that flank and it’s
unsurprising that’s where the Saints goal originated from. Whether this is the
fault of the manager (any of them), pre-match strategy or individual ineptitude,
I’m not quite sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other
side of the defence, Joel Ward, a player that has been a consistent performer during
his time at the club and a regular back to the team’s promotion winning season
is someone desperately needing a break from the first team. To be somewhat self
indulgent and quote myself, I wrote this back at the beginning of the year; <i>“At
right back, I believe Joel Ward is a good player, who has played almost every
game for five seasons now, but the lack of competition and being forced to play
out of position to fill the gaping hole on the left side of defence has taken
its toll. If ever there was a player that would benefit from being taken out of
the firing line for a few games, it’s Ward, but there are no other options to
have allowed this to happen.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those words are
even truer today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After
Saturday’s game, Daniel Storey on Football 365 wrote of a Palace ‘disease’ and
a ‘fear’ amongst the players that have been there over the past several
seasons. I definitely think there is something to that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">As Storey
writes: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #999999;">‘<i>For all the merited censure of
De Boer and Palace’s inability or unwillingness to match grand ideas with
processes, this is a group of players that has been under-performing for far
too long. Short passes are misplaced, wingers are left unmarked and shots are
snatched.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was not a De Boer problem, and
nor is it a Hodgson problem; it is a Crystal Palace disease. Fifty-four points
from their last 64 league matches under four different managers. Confidence has
not just been pierced, it has deflated and dried out.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Evidence for that is found in the
performance of individual players. With Wilfried Zaha injured, Palace’s two
brightest players this season are Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah, with
the latter their star turn against Southampton. Loftus-Cheek drove from midfield
with the ball, and was unfortunate not to equalise with a low drive. The
contrast with Benteke, Townsend and Jason Puncheon was embarrassing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #999999;">While Christian Benteke struggles for
goals, Yohan Cabaye struggles for rhythm and five or six other established
first-teamers just struggle, it is no coincidence that the two newest arrivals
are the ones most able to play with something approaching freedom. They are yet
to be suffocated by The Fear; it may choke them in the end.’</span></span><span style="color: #990000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s worryingly
familiar to something else I wrote last season before Sam Allardyce had managed
to galvanise the team to get the impressive and unlikely results that kept them
up last season: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“All over the
pitch, Palace are a team whose confidence has been shot to pieces. Losing every
week for a year will do that for you. It’s what’s happened at Sunderland and
what happened at Villa. Is it going too far to say that this group of players
are broken? Watching them this season, a goal against them often leads to
dejection, and in the recent West Ham game, capitulation. It’s not a case that
the team hasn’t been trying, or doesn’t care; I really don’t believe that; the
crazy games at Burnley, Swansea and Hull at the end of Alan Pardew’s time show
that. In every game, the team were constantly fighting to get back into games,
only to throw them all away with woeful defending and brain freezing moments.
But even that spirit seems to have been eroded now, leaving a team that has
talent but no belief in their ability to use it.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Palace are in
their fifth consecutive season in the top flight, a run that is the most
successful in their history, and yet the fantastic wins of just a few months
ago at Anfield and Stamford Bridge and against Arsenal at Selhurst Park already
seem a life time ago. That is Palace’s Premier League adventure summed up; boom
and bust with increasingly short cycles. Out of their depth under Holloway,
fantastic under Pulis. Lost under Warnock, everything clicking under Pardew. A
confidence shattering year under Pardew, salvation under Allardyce. If you
looked at the cycle, you probably could’ve predicted the bust at the beginning
of the season, but as the global financial meltdown of the last few years has
shown, just presuming another boom is around the corner is a dangerous game to
play. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This season, Palace
have managed the impressive feat of being the least coherent team in each game
they’ve played, while the game away at Liverpool apart, been the team that’s
created the most chances. On expected goals and looking at a Premier League
table if every team had got the points they ‘deserve’ given the chances they
have created and conceded, Palace would actually be 8<sup>th</sup>. Is the lack
of luck the side has had in front of goal simple misfortune, or another ill-effect
of the chronic lack of belief, ‘the fear’ that Storey talks about?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s also a
result of the haphazard recruitment over the past several transfer windows that
resulted in a bench on Saturday without a striker on it. That’s because,
outside of a misfiring Christian Benteke and the long term injured Connor
Wickham, there are no senior strikers in the squad. While on paper the talent
in the side as of right now far eclipses the honest tryers and odd bargain buys
that Ian Holloway came up with in 2013, there is still a distinct whiff of the
Championship to the players in the squad outside the first eleven required to come
into the side as a result of injuries or to put pressure on underperformers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s why the team
could quite realistically be on zero points from eight games this season, but
bizarrely, even if that comes to pass, and despite everything I’ve just written
above, I don’t think that would mean relegation is nailed on. A few people have
highlighted that on their first season back in the top flight under Ian
Holloway, the club only had three points from their first ten games and still
managed to stay up comfortably. Even with Palace’s general lack of cohesion in
the games they’ve played this season, other than Huddersfield – against whom
Palace created several great chances and whose keeper was voted MOM – I’ve been
distinctly unimpressed with the standard of the other teams. There are plenty of
points to play for, and when Hodgson has been able to implement his ideology
and vision onto the team then most pundits seem to think their will be an upturn
in performances, and hopefully some long overdue good fortune. The worry
remains however, at how far this can counteract the weaknesses and imbalances
in a disjointed squad and whether the players are brave enough to overcome The
Fear.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-67489009081735231002017-09-01T11:29:00.003+01:002017-09-01T11:30:15.491+01:00Soldiering on <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZchm6hs24I/Wak2ixuG99I/AAAAAAAAAO0/I92SAEoFaHMWqPRreUOuA_R1WbBw_qR3gCLcBGAs/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1125" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JZchm6hs24I/Wak2ixuG99I/AAAAAAAAAO0/I92SAEoFaHMWqPRreUOuA_R1WbBw_qR3gCLcBGAs/s320/Picture1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like supporters up and down the country, the hope for Palace fans was
that in the week up to the transfer deadline, and on the frenzied day itself,
there would be some significant squad strengthening going on. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Palace though have stood still, which in the Premier League is the equivalent
of reversing off a cliff. In this window I couldn’t stop gazing at West Brom enviously
as if I was in the guy looking back meme as Tony Pulis’ baseball cap sashays by.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This will
probably come across as more a stream of consciousness rather than anything
coherent, but then that seems very much appropriate given both Palace’s performance
on and off the pitch, and in their
general approach to this season. ‘Evolution rather than revolution’ was what
was preached, but so far confusion seems to be the best way to describe what is
going on; no-one involved, from Chairman, to Manager, to players to fans really
seems to have the foggiest clue what is meant to be going on, leaving the
muddled mess that has been a three match pointless, not to mention goalless
start to the new Premier League season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I say,
people far more learned and informed than this site are looking to try and make
sense of what’s going on, and at time of writing Frank De Boer’s position seems
to be hanging by a thread. Earlier in the week it was reported he’d been given
a stay of execution after some fairly, erm, ‘frank’ talks between manager and
owner, but following what could kindly be termed a disappointing transfer
window, but for most a terrible one, it looks like the Dutchman fears an imminent
axe swinging in his direction. It’s fair to say this wasn’t anyone expected,
although, really, if most of us ask ourselves, what did we expect? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">De Boer’s
appointment was meant to be the start of a brave new world at Selhurst Park,
but most would acknowledge that it was going to involve both a leap of faith
and a leap into the unknown. Three at the back, more concentration on passing –
this was going to be a world away from the sit back, let the opposition have
the ball and strike quickly and directly through counter attacking and set
pieces. What we have seen so far is a bizarre hybrid of the two that isn’t working.
Against Swansea we sat back and had none of the ball, so far, so
Pulis/Allardyce, but then when we did get the ball there was no urgency, no
moving the ball forward; complete passiveness with no aggression. There was a
promising performance at Anfield where the team was able to revert to it’s
tried and tested tactic that has taken big name scalps in the Premier League,
but once again, in the ‘comforts’ of home, it was a disaster. Although, it does
feel harsh in a way to completely pillory Frank De Boer about that, after all,
Palace’s very poor home record in recent years against teams of comparable size
and ability has been one of the key reasons behind constant managerial upheaval
and relegation scraps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like supporters
up and down the country, the hope for Palace fans was that in the week up to
the transfer deadline, and on the frenzied day itself, there would be some
significant squad strengthening going on. Whatever your view of De Boer,
whether you think he’s the right man for the job, and whether he will still be
here by the time this is posted, the squad as it was as the window closed did
not look good enough for the key task of staying in the Premier League. Waking
up the morning after the night before, I’m convinced the team is in serious trouble.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Palace have
stood still, which in the Premier League is the equivalent of reversing off a
cliff. In this window I couldn’t stop gazing at West Brom enviously as if I was
in the guy looking back meme as Tony Pulis’ baseball cap sashays by. They have
done impressive business, signed good Premier League players and also pulled
off what on papers looks to be a fantastic coup in getting Grzegorz Krychowiak
on loan from PSG. What’s more, when they’ve gone in for a player they’ve turned
it round in a day or so. Swansea have benefitted from Paul Clement being Carlo
Ancelotti’ mate, but have still managed to pull off the swoop of getting Renato
Sanches – a player Bayern Munich paid £35m for – for this season. I look at Burnley, where Sean Dyche – a man
heavily linked with the Selhurst hot seat in the summer – has assembled a squad
with fives strikers who I’d all rate as decent at the worst. Palace’s first
team has one senior striker. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whether it
was players that might better fit De Boer’s new system and style of play, or
whether it was players to boost the squad of whomever takes over from him very
shortly, the squad needed improving badly. At the very least it needed bodies.
Was Oumar Niasse a player that everyone might have wanted at the beginning of
yesterday? Maybe, maybe not, but It says it all that I was devastated to go to
bed hearing his move at collapsed at the eleventh hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Chairman
Steve Parish has outlined to the Croydon Advertiser: "I know we had one deal fall through from
Everton. (It didn't happen) for various reasons I don't want to go in to
really, it was a difficult one for lots of different reasons," said
Parish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was
a shame as he is a player we really liked, he's very Palace and could have
given us something special.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"But it
wasn't meant to be, we'll soldier on and we got the main target we wanted
(Mamadou Sakho)."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soldiering on
are the words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At least
Sakho was finally a deal that was dragged kicking and screaming over the line,
and it’s a move that a lot of fans were desperate for. Sakho’s arrival on loan from
Liverpool last season coincided with a run of form that essentially ensured
survival and included impressive wins at Anfield and Stamford Bridge and a home
victory over Arsenal. In those games and in that run Sakho was colossal, giving
the team much needed authority and a vastly strengthened back bone. Is the
squad better off for having Sakho in it? Undoubtedly, but why it did take so
long to get the deal done when it was clear we were the club he wanted to join?
One reason was Liverpool’s insistence on a £30m fee, and through some haggling and
leaving it to the last minute it looks like the club has saved itself a couple
of million, but it also seemed that he was a player that Frank De Boer didn’t
especially want, given that Sakho didn’t fit the template for the ball playing
defenders he would want to work with. This is of course pure and largely
uniformed speculation on my part, but Sakho feels a transfer very much pushed
through by the Chairman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is though
a positive move. The key issue, was that it ended up being the only move. The
Niasse fiasco, and reported bids for Besiktas front man Cenk Tosun showed that
the club were aware of the lack of goals and striking options in the team, and
yet, technically the squad finds itself one striker down this morning after
loaning out Keshi Anderson to Swindon Town. The destination of Anderson, with
no Premier League appearances under his belt, shows that he was unlikely to be
a viable option, but the fact remains that the team are one injury to Christian
Benteke – a player looking out of sorts and isolated so far this season anyway –
away from having no strikers at all. It almost got to the point yesterday that
I was crossing my fingers for the arrival of Kevin Doyle on loan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For most, the
very least that needed to be done, was bringing in a goalkeeper, a defender, a
winger and striker; one out of four is unlikely to be good enough to improve
upon a start to the season that has seen no points, no goals and a new manager
seemingly flailing hopelessly while rocking a lovely navy blue blazer and boat
shoes. Looking up and down the league, it is potentially only the squads of
Newcastle, Brighton, and perhaps West Ham that look comparatively weak. The
problem is, that squad building and development is an issue that has needed
improving ever since the club was promoted in 2013 and which still doesn’t
appear to have been addressed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking at
the Championship of today, multiple teams are able to spend £6-7m on a player and
no-one bats an eyelid. Middlesbrough have a front three worth almost £30m. A
lot of teams have spent a lot of money, and yet when Palace came up five
seasons ago, it was a team wholly unprepared for the top flight. It was not a
team that had benefitted from significant investment – the first eleven that
beat Watford in the final costing just under £2.5m – and survival since then
which has now progressed to an unprecedented fifth consecutive season in the
top flight has been a remarkable achievement. Obviously the squad as it exists
now, and during that time has seen some significant investment, but in the
areas of recruitment and scouting the club still appears sorely lacking. The
evidence is often there in the mad trolley dash that the club seems to go on
every deadline day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s been
very rare over the past several seasons for Palace to do any shopping overseas,
the club preferring to regularly buy in the British market. This brings with it
an air of greater reliability, but also inflated prices. Signing Luka
Milivojević from Olympiakos was a rare exception, but shows that creative
solutions can be found abroad. Is a Watford approach of having a squad full of
often little known players from around the globe a better way? I don’t know,
but most other teams seem to be able to unearth some rough diamonds, and
players, regardless of nationality, that bring a different skillset to the ones
that have been playing in England.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Compared to
other clubs, transfer dealings also seem much more protracted. Dougie Freedman’s
return to the club as Sporting Director has had a marmite reaction amongst
fans, but taking away the nature of his departure to Bolton five years ago, and
his credentials for the job, appointing someone to that role is a long overdue
move. Today, clubs need to be ever more smart about their recruitment. The less
said about why Iain Moody departed the club following a brief period in that
role the better, this is a family blog after all, but the transfer window where
he was in place in January 2014 was arguably the most efficient and straight
forward the club has had during its spell in the top flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Going into the international
break, spirits are low. There are many concerns, although arguably for me, the position
of Frank De Boer and the abilities he does or does not bring to the table is
only a part of it. Regardless of who is or isn’t manager long term, it feels
like they will be working with a squad that’s not fit for purpose and that has
been left behind while teams like West Brom, Burnley, Swansea and Watford have
strengthened impressively. It is important to remember that Palace are in one
of their most successful spells in the club’s history, when factoring in the
consecutive years in the top flight and the touching distance they were in to
the FA Cup in 2016 – and the rise from near liquidation in 2010 has been
meteoric. But modern football is unforgiving to those that stop to have a
breather, and while appointing the right manager is clearly a critical decision
to make, whoever is in that position will continue to be undermined while the
issues of infrastructure, scouting and player recruitment and developed are not
addressed.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-79772576487882988712017-08-14T15:26:00.001+01:002017-08-14T15:26:39.099+01:001 down, 37 still to go<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000:;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pypSEypNgOE/WZGytPYQ51I/AAAAAAAAAOY/GmNXxWj-IHgGNPkhDLx74Xh2gNqXILCGACLcBGAs/s1600/Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1360" height="221" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pypSEypNgOE/WZGytPYQ51I/AAAAAAAAAOY/GmNXxWj-IHgGNPkhDLx74Xh2gNqXILCGACLcBGAs/s400/Large.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">While losing
3-0 at home to a newly promoted team on the opening day was a fairly awful way
to kick start a new era at Selhurst Park, there needs to be some patience as
the teams style and philosophy changes </span></div>
</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">They say
history is written by the winners, and while the praise being heaped on
Huddersfield is of course justified in many ways, if you’d actually watched the
full 90 minutes at Selhurst Park on Saturday, for all that the Terriers were
impressive, it was actually the home team that created more chances.
Huddersfield were clinical; four clear chances - three goals. Palace were
profligate, six or seven clear chances – nothing. Wilfried Zaha alone could
have, and perhaps should have, had a hattrick, and for all the defensive
ineptitude, uncertainty over playing style and formation, it doesn’t seem too
much of a stretch to say that from where I was sitting that 3-3 would’ve been a
perfectly reasonable score line. However, that’s not the way football is played
– how many shots you have, how much possession you maintain and any other stats
don’t equal a result, and if Palace had got anything out of this weekend’s game
it would’ve been because of an individual moment of skill rather than collective
cohesion. On the day, it was the better <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">team</i>
that won.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">A lot has been
said about Frank De Boer’s desire to change the style of the team, put a
greater emphasis on possession, switch to a 3-4-3, but if these are his
ultimate end goals – and sometimes you do wonder if it’s just lazy stereotyping
to say that a Dutchman that used to play for and manage Ajax, as well as play
for Barcelona, will want to implement ‘total football’ – then he will need some
time and some patience to do so. Unfortunately time and patience are two words
that don’t exist in the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Century football dictionary. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Saturday was
not good, I don’t think anyone can deny that, yet it is important to try and
get some sense of perspective given that this was one game. If you listened to
the reactions to the first weekend of results in the Premier League, then you
might as well hand over the trophy to Manchester United already. While hugely impressive
in their first game, it is worth repeating that there are 37 more to go. Knee
jerkism and jumping to conclusions are all the rage these days, and while no
one enjoys losing, certainly not at home, certainly not three nil and certainly
not to a newly promoted team, already predicting doom and gloom and questioning
what the new man at the helm is trying to do isn’t helpful. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">This is not
to say that anyone should be immune to criticism or that fans shouldn’t be able
to voice their frustrations. Against Huddersfield a number of things didn’t
work well, and if they are still not working well after a few more games then
that’s when to take stock and look at the bigger picture. Of course the
transfer window, and it closing in two weeks adds a sense of urgency, and if
there was a conclusion to be leapt at from the weekend it’s that the squad is
not currently strong enough. But recruitment can’t be dictated by panic; if De
Boer has a tactical approach he wants to implement then he needs the right
players to do it. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">No-one wants
to be cut adrift, and Palace fans more than anyone over the past year and a
half understand that once a team gets stuck on a downward spiral then it’s hard
to pull out of the nosedive. For many fans there is a genuine fear and anxiety
over the move to a new style and way of playing. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Its human
nature to be wary and distrustful of change and some still feel scarred about
what they saw as Alan Pardew dragging the team away from a template that had
been successful. In fact any deviation from the style that was responsible for
the team getting promoted in 2013: solid defensive base, two deep lying
protectors in midfield, speedy, tricky wide men able to spring into attack at
pace and a clear single focal point up front, has met with decidedly mixed
results and reversion to the mean. Holloway tried and failed, Pardew, after
initial success, tried and failed; the two managers coming in to save the team
Pulis and Allardyce? Locked the door at the back and hit teams on the break.
Most games that the team has won during the past four years has been by looking
to cede the ball to the opposition and hit teams hard through counter attacks
and set pieces. De Boer will have to win hearts and minds as well as football
matches.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Against
Huddersfield I thought the team actually started OK. There were some nice interchanging
of passing and people were looking to play it short and keep the ball rather
than trying to get the ball forward at the earliest opportunity. But it was
also clear that there was uncertainty and a lack of clarity, an issue exacerbated
by the collective high press and high energy of the visitors. Wayne Hennessey
in goal looked decidedly uncomfortable – always looking to play short, even at times
when the manager on the side line was encouraging him to go long. But regardless
of whether he was being asked to play long or short, it was the familiar failings
of being indecisive with balls coming into his box where he was more pressingly
at fault.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Elsewhere on
the pitch, there were a number of other disappointing performances, with it to
be debated whether this was caused by structural or individual failings. Joel
Ward looked uncomfortable as a right wing back, highlighted by the failure to
stop the cross coming into the box that resulted in Huddersfield’s second goal.
On the other side Patrick Van Aanholt showed promise in an attacking sense but
looked confused at what his defensive responsibilities should be. In the back
three it was also a far from impressive debut from <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jaïro Riedewald who looked shaken at the speed
and intensity of the Premier League tempo. As the game went on the young
Dutchman started to show some poise and passing ability, but he will need to
become sharper to be able to grow into the good addition that I’m confident he
will become long term.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Of the other
new boys Timothy Fosu-Mensah, on loan from Old Trafford showed promise and his
pace in being able to produce an impressive goal saving tackle, while fellow
loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek was the best Palace performer on the day, particularly
in the second half when switched to his favoured central midfield role. His
struggle to get into the game on the right side of a front three in the first
half illustrating clearly both the strangeness of the decision to omit Andros
Townsend from the starting line-up and the lack of depth and alternative
options in the forward line. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Two of the
most impressive performers in the second half of the season, Jason Puncheon and
Luka Milivojević failed to gel in central midfield, and to me there has always been
question marks about Puncheon being able to operate as part of a two in the
middle of the park, his best form coming when he was able to operate as part of
a triumvirate alongside Milivojević and the man still coming back to first team
fitness Yohan Cabaye. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">Up front
Christian Benteke showed some nice touches in his build up play, but outside of
one excellent chance from a corner where his header was impressively saved by
the Huddersfield keeper, he was largely kept quiet from making a decisive
attacking impact. As already highlighted, and as ever, Zaha was the teams most prominent
attacking threat, and through some more composed finishing could have helped
himself to a couple of goals. Recognising the danger he poses, he was on the
wrong end of some heavy Huddersfield tackling early on, and the blow the club
will hope is not significant was the picture of his leg in a brace the next
day. It shows the reliance the team has on him for attacking inspiration.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #990000;">As you’ll see it was
hard to find any significant positives to cling onto after Saturday’s curtain
raiser, but I do think it’s important to not go full on 6-0-6 and try and give
the new style and new system some time to settle in and breathe. As some have
pointed out, it’s challenging when you already feel you’ve lost ground on a
team that may be ‘in and around you’ as the season progresses, but the club
need to hold their nerve and believe in their own decision to appoint a manager
with a new philosophy that he wants to bring to the club. But in backing their
own choices, the Board also need to back that up with an investment into
players that can complement and carry out what the new manager wants to do. And
as it may pain the sentimental side of me to say, move on those players that
may no longer fit.</span></span></span></span><br />Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-54731808657985194612017-07-28T11:57:00.000+01:002017-07-28T11:57:08.123+01:00I Believe in Miracles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KZpYEDDvvX0/WXsXzArdwoI/AAAAAAAAAN0/IzJtV5LiuVkV7DEOmK2UJCsb1qe9PCSawCLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BNzEwODk5OTkyOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTU4NzcyNzE%2540._V1_UX182_CR0%252C0%252C182%252C268_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KZpYEDDvvX0/WXsXzArdwoI/AAAAAAAAAN0/IzJtV5LiuVkV7DEOmK2UJCsb1qe9PCSawCLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BNzEwODk5OTkyOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTU4NzcyNzE%2540._V1_UX182_CR0%252C0%252C182%252C268_AL_.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“In feature
films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Alfred
Hitchcock</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If he’d been
alive to see ‘I Believe in Miracles’ the documentary about Nottingham Forest’s
amazing ride from the second division to double European Champions, then Brian
Clough might well have said “and God was the star as well”.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/d4_6hVPyKZw/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d4_6hVPyKZw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bravado,
the arrogance and the brimming self confidence of Clough are very much to the
fore in Jonny Owen’s film from 2015, and it’s not hard to see how the driving
personality of the man was able to galvanise a group of players to one of the
most extraordinary sporting accomplishments of it’s time. Viewed through a 21<sup>st</sup>
century prism, and at a time in 2017 when transfer fees for players are hitting
stratospheric levels, it’s easy to think that what Nottingham Forest achieved
between 1978 and 1980 could never happen again, but seeing such a tale is a
reminder, if anything, of what can be achieved when the perfect storm of a
group of hungry and talented people, galvanised by a charismatic presence comes
together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a fantastic
subject for a documentary, but that by itself is not what makes it a great
film, it’s the way that the story is captured that makes it a must see.
Documentaries are often based on amazing real life stories, but the way that
they are brought to life by a film maker is what makes, or in some cases doesn’t
make, those stories captivating. By itself, Nottingham Forest, a club that had
never previously won the top division in England before 1978, reaching the
pinnacle of European club football by lifting the extravagantly sized trophy
now known as the Champions League is a wonderful tale. When combined with the mesmeric
televisual personality of Brain Clough as its centre, it might be a challenge
for any account to not be something that sucks you in a viewer, but Owen takes
it to the next level by bringing the story to vivid life through the sights and
sounds that accompany the main narrative. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some
documentaries rely on the story at their heart to do the heavy lifting, but
around the interviews with the players that were the architects of the accomplishments
and the clips of goals and games that show just why Forest were such a
formidable side, they are glued together by archived television footage that
sets the context of the world of 1970s Nottingham, Britain and Europe in which
the back to back European Cup triumphs took place. You get the full sense of
what the achievements meant to a city often reduced to being the home of Robin
Hood and the sense of pride that the team brought to that community of fans. In
an increasingly globalised footballing world, it’s a link that often seems
under threat. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is
also the beautifully judged inclusion of the clips from other films, TV shows
and cultural moments that perfectly accompanies the stories from the players’
recollections, a personal highlight being the blending of shots of John Wayne
at The Alamo when describing an onslaught from FC Cologne in the second leg of
the semi-final in 1979. Alongside the pictures, the storming sound track sets
the tone and the mood and transports you back to the late 70s. I guarantee that
after seeing the film, there is no way that the titular track from the Jackson
Sisters won’t be going around and around in your head for days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the
skill of a great editor and interviewer to draw out the captivating recollections,
but from the way the players tell their story, through the humour and the
passion, you can see why they were able to achieve what they did. But of course
the star of the show is Clough. While some of the sound bites may have been
repeated often down the years, when seen within the context of what the team
were achieving and as the run to the first final in Munich goes on, it all
falls into place of what a legend of the game and an icon he truly was. The
account of his fateful time at Leeds United has become well known through the
re-telling of that time, both through the fact and fiction of The Damned United.
I Believe in Miracles acts as an unofficial sequel, picking up the story right
after Clough’s ill-fated time at Elland Road, showing that if you can’t keep a
good man down, you certainly weren’t going to keep a brilliant one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Regardless
of who you support, this is a tale that needs to be seen. Indeed, the strength
of the film means that regardless of whether you even like football, it’s a story
to be embraced, told in a beautiful way.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"We
used to go to the pictures every Saturday night but we had to leave a little
bit early and get home and watch Match of the Day. My wife still complains she
missed the last five minutes of every film we saw."<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Brian Clough</i></span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-6371081923070067262016-03-10T14:27:00.003+00:002016-03-10T14:32:58.259+00:00Famous 5ive: the future at Chelsea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6eYNFaZenwM/VuGEEx9LWKI/AAAAAAAAARw/Ed1lO_KA044/s1600/Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6eYNFaZenwM/VuGEEx9LWKI/AAAAAAAAARw/Ed1lO_KA044/s200/Bridge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Following elimination from
the Champions League, the Stamford Bridge side of CollinsBeans looks at five
key areas that need to be addressed in SW6 </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Transfer policy</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Quite what “Technical Director”
Michael Emenalo has on Roman Abramovich is not clear, but it seems hard to
believe he is still being employed for his business in the transfer market.
Emenalo always comes across as a somewhat sinister figure, forever lurking
behind the dugout whichever manger is hired or fired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It is generally understood
that Emenalo is responsible for all player recruitment at the Bridge but his recent
track record is questionable at very best. The loan signings of Falcao and Pato
become increasingly bizarre and laughable each week that passes. Falcao has impressively
managed to make “the new Torres” tag look unbelievably generous, while it is
hard to get your head around the signing of Pato in January – a player, as of 10<sup>th</sup>
March, who has yet to make a single appearance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Emenalo also seems to have an
obsession for low-grade, cut-price centre backs that will be highly unlikely to
ever make the first team. Sure Papy Djilobodji (£2.7m), Michael Hector (£4m)
and Matt Miazga (£3.5m) may not have cost much, but the question really is:
why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">There has been some recent
success with bigger name signings like Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, but these
were hardly players that were under the radar. And the list of dubious names,
that for whatever reason have not worked out, is really starting to mount up – Juan
Cuadrado (£23m), Marco van Ginkel (£8m), Mo Salah (£11m), Andre Schurrle (£18m)
and Marko Marin (£8m) to name a few. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The squad looks like it needs
serious redevelopment in the summer, and the players coming in really need to
be the right ones. It is sadly hard to have any real confidence in Emenalo
delivering on this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Promotion of youth<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Lack of players coming
through Chelsea’s youth academy is hardly a new theme and it will be almost
impossible for anyone to replicate John Terry’s achievements. But surely with
all the money spent on the academy, there should have been decent first team
players in the squad by now? Clearly a revolving door approach to managers has
not helped, as anyone in the hot seat is understandably focussed on short term results
which inevitably leads to emphasis on experienced players.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet the whole approach to
youth seems strange, especially the staggering 30 plus players out on loan –
none of which you suspect will ever feature in the starting XI. Ruben
Loftus-Cheek looks one of the best talents around at Chelsea for years, yet despite
signing a whopping new contract, his game time is still severely limited. The
young lad needs minutes on the pitch, and with the current season petering out into
a trophy-less, mid-table finish, surely there is no better time to throw him in
and give him a run of games? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Lack of leaders<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Replacing a spine of
Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba was never going to be an easy task. They were
exceptional players with that rare combination of ability and character. These
types of serial winners do not grow on trees, and with it looking like the last
man standing will be unfathomably kicked out during the summer, the hole they
have left is huge. With these men in the side, you always felt Chelsea could
drag themselves over the line in big games even if quality-wise, the opposition
was superior. Beyond this big four, Chelsea sides of the past always had other characters
and players you would describe as winners knocking about too – Michael Ballack,
Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole for example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Quite simply, the current squad
lacks these sort of players. Chelsea desperately need to find a new generation of
leaders to take them forward into the next few years, Easier said than done of
course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Missing quality<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This campaign there have been
too many Chelsea players – particularly in the final third – who just do not
produce consistently. No one quite epitomises this like Oscar. Sure he scored
an impressive hat trick earlier this year when MK Dons gave him the freedom of the
pitch in a FA Cup game but away from that, dozens of matches go past where he simply
does not contribute. Oscar has gone beyond frustrating, and is now just a
depressing presence in the squad. The type of footballer for which the phrase ‘flatter
to deceive’ seems almost custom designed. It is time to sell up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Eden Hazard has simply stopped
trying which is mysterious, but primarily just enraging. Watching him go through
the motions for a last 16 tie against PSG in the Champions League was
diabolical, and he must surely now be sold too. Particularly given the fee he
will command. No team can afford to have players that only turn up when they
feel like it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pedro has been inconsistent since
arriving in the summer, Diego Costa is a constant injury concern, Loic Remy has
just not worked out and this all leaves a very patchy looking forward line that
cannot really be relied on to deliver week in, week out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Willian has been outstanding
this season, and Pedro looks worth persevering with. Costa is the type of
player Chelsea need to keep around too, but these three must be supplemented
with quality attacking players. Quite where these will come from, with no
Champions League football to offer, is another matter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A new gaffer<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Guus Hiddink has steadied the
ship and clawed back some respectability, but he was only ever a short-term
solution. Chelsea now desperately need a dynamic new manager who can rebuild and
essentially address the above issues – add quality and leaders in the transfer
market, and promote some youth into the first team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Not an easy task, and
securing a top four spot next time around already looks like it could be a
tough ask. Manchester United and Liverpool, likely to also miss out this
season, will no doubt strengthen. And this campaign has quite emphatically
demonstrated that you cannot rule out the supposed smaller teams either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rumours suggest Antonio Conte
might be the new man. He seems as good a candidate as any, but there is a lot
of hard work ahead…</span>James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-55591417321334192692016-01-07T14:53:00.003+00:002016-01-07T14:53:43.656+00:00Wandsworth Athletic Cult Hero: Istvan Borbely<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PJ-P1Zqa8gc/TGp1Wn9nGkI/AAAAAAAAAIE/OwKuikv5P9w/s1600/Chero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PJ-P1Zqa8gc/TGp1Wn9nGkI/AAAAAAAAAIE/OwKuikv5P9w/s400/Chero.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Premier League might be
awash with exotic, overseas stars but that’s not always replicated on a cold
Thursday evening in the South London amateur leagues. Some lad from Leeds who’s
moved down for a digital marketing role and a flat share in Clapham Common is
often about as close as you get to a non-native.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So when a stern-faced,
broad-shouldered Hungarian strode out of an old Chevrolet in early 2010, Rocks
Lane didn’t know quite what to make of it. Istvan Borbely had arrived for his
Wandsworth Athletic debut, but words were not really his strong point. The term
mumble seemed almost custom designed for Borbely, although at times grunt might
have actually been more appropriate. The man from Budapest had a harsh edge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">If fluent vocabulary wasn’t
Borbely’s best suit, hitting a football – hard – certainly was. In his
teammate’s parlance, Borbely had an absolute melt on him. He would smash the
synthetic leather off the size 5 with his sledgehammer left boot whenever play
opened up in front of him. And Borbely wasn’t averse to smashing other things
as well. Uncompromising is probably the polite way to describe him, although
his affectionate nickname amongst colleagues was the Hungarian Hardman.
Imaginative – no. Accurate – absolutely yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Borbely liked to mix it, and
it soon transpired that most opposition players didn’t really fancy mixing it
back. Not that anyone could blame them – Borbely was an intimidating
individual, with the phrase “you wouldn’t want to meet him down a dark alley”
especially apt. If Borbely hadn’t played with the rolled down socks look, you’d
have seriously worried what he had stuffed behind his shin pad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">To paint Borbely as a
bumbling bruiser would be completely unfair however. The Hardman had ability
too – not just the afore mentioned thunderous long ranger, but a deft touch,
quick feet and an eye for a pass. When he stormed into the Wandsworth side,
Borbely swiftly became an integral part of a title winning unit. Strong
defensively and a regular goal scorer at the other end, the Hungarian was a
real winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet as ever with a cult hero,
it was not just excellent ability and a league winner’s medal that secured
Borbely’s place as a legend to be fondly recalled for years to come. While SW13
will always wistfully recollect that brute of a left peg and the wonderful
goals it scored, the bone-crunching tackles and ferocious stare will perhaps
provide an even greater part of Borbely’s legacy. As will the magnificent
customised insults. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s been touched on already
that Borbely wasn’t exactly an extrovert chatterbox but when the time called
for it, he knew how to speak alright. On one dark evening in the inhospitable
Raynes Park Goals setting, a venue best summarised by the four word description
“a bit Jeremy Kyle”, Borbely brutally smashed a portly opponent who’d made the
earlier mistake of going in a bit late on the Hungarian. And he wasn’t finished
there. After an icy stare down, Borbley growled perhaps the best insult ever
delivered in a Wandsworth jersey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Shut the f**k up you fatty
cow”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Safe to say, there wasn’t
another peep all game. </span></div>
James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-56814771080390816242015-12-18T12:21:00.001+00:002015-12-18T12:21:26.952+00:00An Alternative Reality: A Championship Manager/Football Manager Dream Team<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hckeDbdK7GA/VnP5ieEzs7I/AAAAAAAAAMo/GN8CmmTC0YQ/s1600/image_thumb%255B8%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hckeDbdK7GA/VnP5ieEzs7I/AAAAAAAAAMo/GN8CmmTC0YQ/s320/image_thumb%255B8%255D.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
say that you should never meet your heroes. Perhaps that should also say “you
shouldn’t watch your Championship Manager Legends play in the real world.” On
several games, Northern Irish International Danny Griffin was a go to guy if
you needed a centre back that could bring the ball out from the back and also
do a job as a holding midfielder. It was guaranteed that if you didn’t snap him
up early he would always, without fail end up at Arsenal. It was sad then, that
seeing the actual player up close and personal several years later playing for
Stockport County, he didn’t quite stand out as much as I hoped he would. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been a while (cough *five years* cough) since we posted
a Dream Team, but surely this makes it even more anticipated right? The
inspiration for this particular entry came from watching the excellent, ‘An
Alternative Reality: The Football Manager Documentary’ last weekend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How much you get into a documentary can, to some extent,
rely on how interesting you find the subject matter. In this case it was
something that I have a definite emotional attachment to. As will become clear,
Football Manager, or more accurately Championship Manager as it was known at
the time, was an integral part of school, sixth form and then subsequently
university days, all times when I really should have been doing something more
productive with my time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite reaching an age when I really have become old enough
to know better, you know, since getting a job, buying a flat, getting married,
I still dabble in the game, although it must be said that Football Manager 2008
is basically the latest version of the series in which I partake; more than
enough detail to satisfy the football geek that lives inside of me, but simple
enough that you can still plough through a season in a few sittings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I enjoyed in the documentary were the jumps between the
‘serious’ side of how the game is made, and the incredible database that it has
cultivated which now has far reaching influence inside the game, to the perhaps
more important – for me anyway – anecdotes from fans about “playing that one
more match” despite it being three o’clock in the morning, imaginary press
conferences in the mirror and creating elaborate back stories for yourself and
the thought processes behind the decisions you make. I never personally got to
the stage of wearing a suit for a cup final, but the fact that Matthaus
Schnellinger, my German alter ego – a goal keeper that had spells with Borussia
Dortmund and PSG before a spell in the NASL in America - was created, I think
tells you all you need to know about how deeply ingrained the game became in my
psyche.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many fantastic sites, blogs and books out there –
including the outstanding ‘Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of
Beautiful Obsession’ as well as of course the documentary to enjoy, but
consider the opening to this piece as my own little backstory to why I’ve
decided to share my personal ultimate Championship Manager/Football Manager XI.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beauty of the game is that everyone has that Inter Milan
team that won seven consecutive Champions Leagues, or the Rochdale Team that
they took to the Premier League by 2030, that had a 40 year old Freddy Adu in
it. Everyone also has those players that have become legends to them – either
players from the real world, or those created by the game to restock the
playing database as veterans drop off the other end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That again is what makes the game so great. In the
documentary, the original developers talk about the fact that they wanted to
create a universe where there was so much going on around you that you didn’t
control and that then has an impact, be it direct or indirect back on you.
While there are certain players – your Mark Kerr’s, Cherno Samba’s and Tonton
Zola Moukoko’s of the world that became famous for all wannabe managers, there
are equally those players who for whatever reason, and perhaps on just one of
your games ever, turned out to be a legend personally for you. Along those
lines, my mind always wanders to Tomas Rosicky who in one game where I managed
Dortmund wracked up an obscene, and frankly system errortastic 9.29 rating over
the course of a 50 game season or the rather more agricultural Leeds centre
back Paul Butler who managed to score 20 goals from corners in a single season
by repeatedly steaming into opposition keepers.
We all have those stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, as a special festive edition and I suppose five year
anniversary of the last one, I invite you to enjoy this Dream Team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NB. Before I start, it’s probably important to note that the
positions below relate to those in the game. Hence ‘DMC’ – Defensive Midfield
(centre). It’s also important to note that I will try to remember the positions
of players from old games as much as I can. For example, Taribo West was a
centre back so *spoiler alert* I’m putting him in at DC. In the game he may
have been a DL/C (keeping up at the back) but please don’t call me out on that.
Please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>GK – Iain Lowe</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Goalkeepers were always an interesting one in the game. Even
if you had a really good one, with seemingly 20 for everything, they would rather
sadly still let in goals. Or more commonly get a regular six rating regardless
of whether your team won, lost or drew. Such is the life of a keeper really,
their contribution to a team’s performance never truly appreciated. But when
you do have a good one, one that won’t rush out of their goal at the drop of a
hat or one that has an unfortunate habit of directing goal kicks straight at
the opposing striker, you tend to keep hold of them for a long time. Arguably
the best side I’ve put together was an all-conquering AC Milan on FM 2008, in
which – don’t laugh – Dida was a bedrock for several years. He was then
eventually replaced by Hugo Lloris before I knew who that was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My choice though is Iain Lowe, an interesting note as he was
a fake player generated by the game itself. Signed for an austerity busting
£3,000 – even better than getting someone
on the ubiquitous free transfer – from Barnsley, he became a fantastic last
line of defence for a Crystal Palace side that was built on playing youngsters
and academy graduates as much as possible - the narrative over success – and
who ousted club legend Julian Speroni from the team. Eventually became an
England international, which for an outlay of three grand was pretty impressive.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DR - Michael Lamey</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I struggled with this one, I mean, no offence to Gary
Neville, but right back is not the most exciting or glamourous of positions. I
guess I could say Cafu, but then that would be because of the exploits of the
real one, rather than his computer counterpart, so I’ve had to wrack the memory
banks here. In the modern game, full
backs that can get forward and attack are seemingly far more valued than the
boring ones that stick to the day job, and it’s probably fair to say that’s
similar within the management simulation world. After all, those rampaging fullbacks that get
forward to score a few goals are going to linger longer in the memory than
those bringing home a steady 7.1 rating each season. To that end, I did manage
to convert Junichi Inamoto into a fairly decent fullback for Arsenal, although,
that’s hardly that impressive really. In
the end I’ve gone for Michael Lamey, a Dutch fullback who was an absolute
monster on the game, although you had to wait to sign him until after he moved
to PSV for something like £25 million in a transfer that was locked down and
inbuilt into the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DL – Scott Chipperfield</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through a combination of factors, there just sadly isn’t the
time now to sit down and play Football Manager these days, not least of which
is that the current version is just a bit too much of a data and stats machine
for me to handle, and that’s speaking as someone where that plays a part of my
day job. What’s more, I’ve always thought that as the game gets more complex,
there is less and less chance for the ‘system errors’ that enable a somewhat
unknown to achieve cult like status which is a shame. But playing FM 2013, I
did still manage to find someone that fulfilled nearly all of your criteria for
a cult hero by also ensuring you are able to sign a player that can play in
every position. The fact that man was 34 years old didn’t matter to me at all.
Once again, in Football Manager, for me, it’s about the story rather than the
sell on value. So half a million quid on an Australian left winger/wing
back/fullback from the Swiss League ticked a lot of boxes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DC – Taribo West</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For most people I know that have played the game, the first
thing to do as soon as you take over a club is scour the free transfer list,
because on certain games, there were some absolute gems hidden amongst the
multitude of failed Manchester United youth team prospects and ageing Spanish
midfielders. One such player was Taribo West – a go to man for everyone on CM
2001/2002. The beauty of good old Taribo was that he would improve any side at
any level. I had him at the heart of an Arsenal defence as a regular just as I
had him as the rock of a Falkirk one. And that was the other bonus, no matter
what level you were managing at, he would always come to you. There are not
many players that will do a job for you for any team, in any league and in any
country but if you could get Taribo West, and without having to spend a penny, your
chances of success went up exponentially. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DC – Danny Griffin</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They say that you should never meet your heroes. Perhaps
that should also say “you shouldn’t watch your Championship Manager Legends
play in the real world.” On several games, Northern Irish International Danny
Griffin was a go to guy if you needed a centre back that could bring the ball
out from the back and also do a job as a holding midfielder. It was guaranteed
that if you didn’t snap him up early he would always, without fail end up at
Arsenal. It was sad then, that seeing the actual player up close and personal
several years later playing for Stockport County, he didn’t quite stand out as
much as I hoped he would. Still, regular appearances in the Scottish top flight
and 29 caps for Northern Ireland meant he wasn’t a bad player, it’s just a
shame he never did make it to the Emirates after all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DMC – Andrea Pirlo and Kostas Katsouranis</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Football Manager world being accused of ‘tactical
inflexibility’ is a damning putdown. But while some love to tinker, and adapt
formations and tactics to suit the occasion and their opponents, I’ve never
generally had too much time for that, still scarred by sending a side to Old
Trafford with a back five, playing deep, and set to time waste from kick off
that conceded three in the first ten minutes. That’s also maybe why I’ve not been as
successful as some, but nonetheless, when there is a formation I settle on, I
tend to stick with it, come hell or high water. And no other formation in
recent times has been as comforting a blanket to me as a 4-2-3-1. Which is a
rather long winded introduction to say that pretty much all of my teams – be it
good ones or bad – set up with what I believe might be called a double midfield pivot. Or maybe it’s not; I
like to think of it that way anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me, it’s not just a case of packing the midfield with
two destroyers – sort of your Gilberto Silva era Brazil – but rather one to win
the ball, and one to play it. In terms of the ball winner, I was very tempted
to go with royalty and chuck in King Osei – another mainstay of my title
tilting Crystal Palace team on FM 2008 who I picked up for around a million
from Fulham’s reserves or the famous Mark Kerr who features in the documentary
as a legend for players of the game world over. My first midfield holder though
is Kostas Katsouranis, a guy that I had at the heart of a pretty decent Benfica
side I had, on either FM 2006 or 2007. Never missing a game, he was my Mr
consistency who also usually managed to get into double figures for goals
despite the defensive role I asked of him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrea Pirlo of course is a player that would walk into many
a real life dream team but a player who pioneered a position in the modern game
that then translated wonderfully to the Serie A universe in Football Manager.
Sitting in front of the back four, despite not being asked to do any tackling,
pressing or chasing, he was tailor made for orchestrating attacks from deep and
regularly breaking the 20-25 mark in terms of assists. Even in computerised dot
form, effortlessly stylish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AMR – Alejandro Domínguez</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released in 1997, this
version (Championship Manager 97/98) of the game included nine leagues from
around the world, three of which could be run simultaneously, new competition
formats to follow those implemented in reality, and many more tactical options.
The game remains very popular amongst fans of the series, mainly for its
simplicity compared to the huge, processor-intensive games that the series has
since developed into.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Never let it be said then that Wikipedia doesn’t know what
it’s talking about. When Championship Manager 97/98 extended the leagues that
you could manage in to a mouth-watering nine, it was if all of my Christmases
had come on once. This was just a drop in the ocean. Since then the game has
been grabbing extra leagues from around the world like a European colonial
power in the 19<sup>th</sup> century. The fact is though, that while this did
lead to some pretty randomly entertaining games, often it wasn’t quite as fun
managing in Hong Kong as you thought it would be, mainly due to a combination
of quotas on foreign players, having no attachment to most of the teams and not
being able to attract journeymen British players into going there. Despite all
of that, and despite once again being up against a quota system and not the
sort of money that you would think that Gazprom would have been pumping into
their account in the real world, three successive Russian doubles at Zenit St
Petersburg were largely won off the back of the mercurial Argentine Alejandro
Domínguez. Cutting in from the right flank, he was a veritable goal machine,
and became the Kevin Nolan to my Sam Allardyce that I then took everywhere I
went thereafter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AMC – James Gould</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who? A bonafide legend, that’s who. Did he help me win
things? Not really, although I think a Scottish First Division title counts.
Was he the heartbeat of a Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich side? No, but
he was the creative hub of a mildly successful St Johnstone team. Was he a
player that I’ve ever heard anyone else talk about when mentioning the Mike
Duff’s, Kennedy Bakircioglu’s and the ‘Champ Man legends’ of this world – no.
But for a man who was brought from Northampton Town and scored over 40 goals every
season from attacking midfield on CM 2000/2001 he was bloody brilliant. And he
was bloody brilliant because he was that personal discovery, that personal gem
that no-one else talks about. He’s also the reason why on every game since I
always have a player in the hole behind the front man. James Gould is my
favourite Championship Manager/Football Manager player of all time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AML – Juanjo</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s funny, the legend of James Gould (see above) actually
grew out of a game in which Juanjo – the diminutive, extravagant Spanish winger
that played for Hearts at the turn of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century was my
original attacking midfield sensation. I didn’t expect much starting a game in
which I was trying to take on the might of Celtic and Rangers with a squad
consisting of Fitzroy Simpson and Gary McSwegan, but it ended up being a tidy
little squad, capped off with a small piece of La Masia magic. Playing on the
left side of a front three, the former Barcelona youngster Juan José Carricondo
Pérez or ‘Juanjo’ for short was nothing short of a revelation. Regularly
crashing in 25 a season, most from outside the box, it was always a
disappointment that the Spanish national team scouts didn’t tend to make it up to
Tynecastle and he never did make it into their national team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also became another example of a real life football
phenomenon that then extends into the digital galaxy, becoming one of those
players that only seemed to click for one certain manager. Following my very
harsh replacement by the admittedly slightly more high profile Kenny Dalglish,
the Spaniard retreated into his shell and was barely ever heard of again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ST – Ibrahima Bakayoko</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve often liked the idea of Walter Smith
playing computer games. Maybe something like Unirally or Crash Bandicoot. Because
seemingly in 1997, he must’ve been playing Championship Manager to have decided
to splash out £4.5 million on Ibrahima Bakayoko. Indeed, that could have been
seen as a huge bargain…as in, you never would’ve got him for that little in the
fantasy Champ Man world. This was a man that simply put had unbelievable stats
for a 20 year old you’d never heard of that was playing for Montpellier. Even
Messi might have struggled to compete with his scores across every attribute.
It’s fair to say that the real Bakayoko didn’t quite live up to the hype that
the digital one did, but in game terms he was almost the second coming of Pele
and a must buy for any self-respecting manager with a few million quid in his
back pocket.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-92034326091342398692015-09-30T14:05:00.001+01:002015-09-30T14:10:52.238+01:00Football in England might have a few double standards <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Woe betide the unsuspecting
foreign player who waves an imaginary card…</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3LRIWWom63w/VgvdVIngDOI/AAAAAAAAARg/tAWOaI7KXbM/s1600/Dive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; font-size: 12pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3LRIWWom63w/VgvdVIngDOI/AAAAAAAAARg/tAWOaI7KXbM/s200/Dive.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are double standards everywhere
in life but sadly they do appear to be particularly prevalent when it comes
to English football. And it all seems to centre on the concept of how the game operates in this country. Ever since I can remember, there’s been a perceived </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">English</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> way of playing football that’s
promoted with genuine zeal and pride; sold on the basis of morals, principles
and honour.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">English players don’t dive.
English players love a tackle. English players are honest. And we certainly don’t
like Johnny Foreigner coming over here and bringing his “bad habits”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In basic terms, there’s absolutely
nothing wrong with these ideals. Diving is embarrassing, and we all love to see
a good, strong, wholehearted tackle. But I think claiming these principles are
always adhered would be, at very best, naïve. Like with so many situations,
when someone feels they are directly involved or affected, sometimes their view
wavers…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For example, a common gripe
of the average football fan is that it’s not a “man’s game” anymore; that
proper tackles have become fouls in the modern game and players rolling around
pretending to be hurt is ruining the sport. Yet if an opposing player gently
slaps the face of one of our own, the outrage and indignation goes through the
roof. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">He’s raised his hand! That’s a red ref! RED CARD REF!!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">At the prospect of the
opposition being reduced to 10 men, suddenly the need for it to be a “man’s
game” becomes less important. There’s palpable short term gain over long term
honour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s also interesting is
the perceived difference between what is essentially the same act – and I find this
one perhaps the most infuriating. In nearly every professional game you see,
you’ll come across players encouraging – verbally – the referee to dish out
yellow and red cards. And encouraging is the nice way of putting it. Players
are constantly telling the referee to book an opponent, imploring him to show a
red card for a nasty foul, desperately pointing out that someone’s already been
booked when they commit a subsequent offence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This is apparently all part
of the game. You will never, ever, hear anyone complain about this, or a pundit
highlight this as unsporting. I lost count of the number of times I saw Ryan
Giggs begging a referee to get his notebook out during his playing career, yet
Giggs is widely proclaimed as a brilliant professional and all round great guy
(with everyone seemingly happy to overlook the fact he had a long-term affair
with his brother’s wife - but that’s a whole different story on double
standards…).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet the second a player,
conveniently nearly always one from foreign shores, dares to wave that
imaginary card – well, they are open to criticism and anger from all corners.
Pundits will be quicker to denounce this act as disgusting and unsporting than
Ashley Young is to fling himself over an outstretched leg in the penalty box.
Oops sorry, English players don’t dive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I HATE to see that – trying
to get other players booked”, growled Alan Shearer recently on Match of the
Day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Shearer, never shy about directing
his elbow towards a centre back’s face in his own playing days, was also happy
to condemn Diego Costa for “crossing the line” in the Chelsea vs Arsenal game by
swinging his arm in a particularly Shearer-esque manner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What it all ultimately seems
to come down to is that most players and fans essentially just really, really
want to win. So if it’s a choice between pointing out a red card offence to the
referee or minding your own business as that’s the more honourable thing to do
– well, there’s only ever likely to be one outcome. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Still, at least good old
English warriors always stay on their feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-67783927194593316372015-08-10T15:43:00.000+01:002015-08-10T15:43:24.522+01:00Bring back Manish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c26IiyXtSRw/Vci4LRbPG3I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/Bt-D-stj6DY/s1600/624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c26IiyXtSRw/Vci4LRbPG3I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/Bt-D-stj6DY/s320/624.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be
careful what you wish for. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t.
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side; that other side being Channel
5 in this instance.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These phrases were just some of the things running round my head
as I attempted my viewing of the new Football League highlight vehicle –
Football League Tonight – which I’m afraid to say didn’t get further than approximately
eight and a half minutes in. That was all I could take before I had to turn it
off, which perhaps not co-incidentally was when one of the new hosts was ‘bantering’
with a rather boring bloke whose main item of interest was that he was wearing
a new lime green Sheffield United away shirt that he didn’t even particularly
like. #Hilariousbantz indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />In those eight and a half minutes I’d seen everything I needed.
Yes that makes me about as knee jerk as an Arsenal fan booing my side off on
the opening day of a season but I couldn’t take it anymore. At that stage I had
already seen the fact that highlights of the ‘main game’ was going to last
about four minutes, there was a *shudders* live studio audience - clearly
leftovers from the BBC warehouse where the Top Gear crowd is currently being
stored and Martin Allen in a pink polo shirt looking like he was waiting to be
called in for his root canal surgery at any moment. Then again, perhaps if the
first eight and half minutes hadn’t made me listen to Steve ‘whinging’
Cotterill moaning as usual about his ‘better team’ (©S. Cotteril) losing a
match then I may have made it further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />For all those who used to criticise the Football League
Show, moan about the late time slot, criticise Steve Claridge or argue that
Accrington Stanley deserved more than the already quite generous 2 minutes they
got then this is what <i>you</i> have created.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />In the Premier League centric world of modern day British
football I still like to watch the Football League and feel a connection to it.
That’s mainly because as a Palace fan we’ve spent most of our time there and I would
never feel arrogant enough to believe that we won’t return to it one day,
otherwise I would have been a Charlton fan in the mid two thousands. I also
liked to watch the Football League Show on the BBC and felt that while it got
off to a rough start – indeed a highly gimmicked, audience participation based
start similar to the new abomination on Channel 5 – the last couple of years it
had settled into a nice little groove of a fine hour and 20 minute highlight
programme. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Fitting 72 clubs into 80 minutes worth of show was tricky,
but I thought that Manish and co did a great job. Even League Two games, and
this is really trying not to be patronising, got a little bit of action outside
the goals scored, often accompanied by an interview from one of the managers
involved, especially if it was Ronnie Moore who was on more regularly than one
of the main pundits Leroy Rosenior. I know every football fan thinks the world
should revolve around their club, but looking objectively and rationally for a
moment (not things I admit it’s easy for football fans to do) how much more time
could you really expect? Yes, at least half of the program would be devoted to
the Championship, but once again, this is only natural when you consider these
are the biggest clubs involved. It worked this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The format was decent. Yes it wasn’t revolutionary, but it
didn’t have to be. It showed football – that’s all that is needed. At the
beginning it dabbled in excruciating social media involvement but quickly
dropped this when it was realised that Lizzie from Newsround reading out tweets
from ShrimperBabe69 and BantamsLad1988 was not what anyone wanted. Perhaps
there is of course time for the ‘brains’ behind Football League Tonight to change
things around accordingly and realise that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Featuring a couple of main games, some interviews – as in
with managers rather than gurning dullards looking excited because they’ve
basically been allowed into an All Bar One setting in their Chesterfield kit – a
little, admittedly limited analysis, a nice little feature on one club by the
now dearly missed grey jumper/white shirt combo wearing Mark ‘Clem’ Clemmitt
and a round-up of all the goals in league order, it all made sense. And was
decent – genuinely decent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />By way of contrast the new Channel 5 version segued from the
main Championship game randomly into League One goals from Gillingham through a
link between the Sheffield clubs Wednesday and United. Maybe it was an attempt to
make things less hierarchical, and of course different is not always bad, but
any positive ‘give it a chance’ thoughts went out of my head as soon as it was
clear that the goals from Priestfield were going to be talked through live by
the presenters basically talking over each other so you couldn’t work out what
they were saying. It would’ve been preferable to just see the goals going in
accompanied by silence like at Old Trafford.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I sadly didn’t get further into the show from that point, it
may have got better, but the excellent description from Carl Taylor’s (@NascarPlus)
review here <a href="https://carlltaylor.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/work-to-be-done/7/">https://carlltaylor.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/work-to-be-done/7/</a>,
doesn’t sound like it did. Unless you enjoy ex-Brighton and Celtic player Adam
Virgo struggling with an iPad of course:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Kelly Cates who at
one point in her career was an excellent sports presenter on Sky giggled like a
bad Blue Peter presenter whilst George Riley, a respected journalist gave out
the wrong twitter account and didn’t seem to know which camera he was on.
Pundit Adam Virgo looked lost holding his tablet which he never actually even
used and poor old Martin Allen who was dragged on as a guest looked as if he
just wanted to go home.</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Channel 5 seemed to
think they were showing Top Gear as the audience stood round picking their
noses as the nonsense played out. Instead of showing highlights by the division
the show jumped back and forth between leagues confusing everyone. The whole
thing looked like it had been thrown together over a few pints at the local
pub! There was even a weird lottery draw during an ad break meaning that the
break was nearly 10 minutes long.”</span></i></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The adverts of course mean that there is less time for all
the fun and games, potentially a blessing, and that is something beyond the
powers of the producers. Not to sound all Daily Mail, but all other channels
don’t have the BBC luxury of being licence fee payer funded so we’ll leave that
politically incendiary point alone, but one thing that seems to be getting
praise is that it’s on before the middle of the night now. The old Football
League Show did seem to treat followers of Leyton Orient as if they were
insomniacs, sort of like deaf people, where only programmes on during the night
are signed, but in the modern day of catch up TV, online streaming and also a
Sunday morning repeat, was the timeslot really a massive issue anyway?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I suppose I should at this point say that I should not to
jump to conclusions, give it a chance and let the new guys settle in – maybe it
will turn out to be a good TV show – but it’s just worrying these days that we can’t
let the subject matter, the sport, tell the story. Did nobody learn anything
from 2day at Wimbledon? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Or maybe I’m just a bitter man, past 30, that
doesn’t like change and isn’t down with the kids. Maybe I just don’t understand
the banter of post footy bar speak. Or maybe it’s just because I’m sad and miss
Manish and Clem. Either way, it’s making me more desperate than ever to hope
that Palace don’t get relegated from the warming embrace of the Match of the
Day pipe and slippers any time soon.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-78509841856914787362015-03-26T11:27:00.000+00:002015-03-26T11:27:10.645+00:00From the sublime to the ridiculous<span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What with the recent well publicised and much debated failure of English
sides in Europe this season, I thought it was perhaps interesting to look back
to the heady days of 2008 when English football was celebrating three teams in
the semi-finals of the Champions League for successive years and looking
forward to an all Premier League clash in Moscow.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><br />
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The following piece was written
seven years ago (to be found here: </span><a href="http://411mania.com/sports/breaking-the-offside-trap-04-15-08-england-champions-of-europe/"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">http://411mania.com/sports/breaking-the-offside-trap-04-15-08-england-champions-of-europe/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">) in the
build-up to the last four of the European Cup when it seemed that Premier
League dominance was here to stay, although that was really to be the high
watermark at current time of writing. So what has gone wrong since?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s interesting to note, and as I
referenced in the article which has also been reposted below, that the dominant
position of English club football was coming just at the time when a major
international tournament was approaching – Euro 2008 – at which England didn’t
have an invite to the party. The soul searching that had accompanied that
sodden night at Wembley the winter before had been eclipsed somewhat by the
machine of the Premier League as it steamrollered over Europe’s finest. The
concern that many were highlighting at the time was that English, as in English
clubs, success in Europe was in no way really connected to English players or
managers. That is something that clearly hasn’t changed, if anything it’s a
situation that’s got worse. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With 16 teams left in Europe this
season, across the two UEFA competitions, there is just the solitary
Englishman, so when people try to look for why English teams are not succeeding
in Europe, it’s difficult to get a firm grasp, given that the majority of
players playing for these teams are not actually English. It’s not like failure
of the English national team, that’s far easier to conceptualise – English players
not being good enough. As you will read in the post from 2008, one quote that I
found striking at the time when trying to look at the opposite, i.e. why were
English teams doing so well in the Champions League – once again with little
actual English involvement - was from an Italian journalist called Guido
Santevecchi. In his eyes, the foreign players that had come to England had
taken on board the classic English, and positively Alan Hansenesque sounding attributes
of pace, power and commitment, but also retained their skills and technique, well
drilled by tactically astute foreign managers. Given that was a theory back
then, what is the theory now?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In can of course be hard in one
year to try and draw any wide consensus opinion – it may just be a coincidental
series of individual failures on each of the English teams from which there is
no wider conclusion to be drawn. However there is a clear negative trend in the
experiences of Premier League teams over the past several years. Losses to
traditional European powerhouses such as Bayern Munich or Barcelona can be
written off but there have been defeats to teams with access to far less
resources than the riches of the Premier League. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Has the style of play of the
English teams changed dramatically? That’s hard to say. Tactics change over
time and different strategies become en vogue but the overall speed and
ferocity of the English game remains unchecked and as the overseas players and
managers ply their trade over here longer they become more accustomed with its
ways, picking up the bad habits. Perhaps then it’s the skillset of the players
being brought in to fulfil the requirements of the English game that’s the
issue; physical attributes being more valued than skill and technique. So while
their passports may not say it, they are essentially ‘English’ at heart. With
players being signed from abroad at younger and younger ages, technically
counted as ‘home grown’, nationality is less important; they’ve now been indoctrinated
into the wrong way to play.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may just be then, that whereas
success in the last decade was down to foreign players and managers taking on
the best parts of the English game and unleashing it with their own know how on
unsuspecting teams from the continent, failings in European competitions now
are as a result of failings in the way English clubs play the game regardless
of where a player is actually born and raised. And that is a scary proposition,
even stuffed with foreign players English teams are losing out in Europe due to
their players being ‘too English’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The post below was originally written
in 2008 for <a href="http://www.411mania.com/">www.411mania.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Chances are that the final of the
Champions League on the 21st May will be a very English Affair. In a city
closed off to the western world for much of its recent history, the Luzhniki
Stadium in Moscow is set to be the scene of an Anglo invasion. Three of the
four remaining semi- finalists proudly fly the flag for the Premier League; an
English triumph behind the former iron curtain seems almost to be inevitable.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This season, no other league has
been able to step up and match the dominance of the sides crossing the English
Channel to do battle with their European neighbours. Barcelona may have reached
the semi-finals themselves and be the last obstacle standing in the way of an
eleventh English triumph in the competition, but Spain’s other challengers all
fell by the wayside before the quarter finals. Italy, the other traditionally
dominant power in the competition’s history had only AS Roma to represent them
in the last eight. In fact last year, the semi-finals had something of a
similar look to them, what with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all
achieving spots in the last four and while AC Milan eventually went onto
triumph, the success of Premier league clubs in Europe’s elite club competition
has led many to declare that English football is the strongest in the world.
But is this newly acquired dominance of the Champions League necessarily such a
fantastic thing for the future of English football?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The absorbing and emotionally
draining clash between Liverpool and Arsenal, England’s other representative in
this seasons’ Champions League, last week garnered many plaudits. Press from
all over Europe showered the quality and excitement produced by this encounter
with praise and declared the strength and prosperity of the English game. Much
beating of chests has taken place in this country, with pundits, the media and
fans all happy to show their delight at a turn of events that appears to show
the vitality of the Premiership and its position above both La Liga and Serie A
when it comes to international bragging rights. Yet whilst so much praise has
fallen on the drama that took place at Anfield, the fact remains that over the
two legs only four of the players appearing in the 180 minutes are qualified to
play for England. Whilst Steven Gerrard struck the decisive penalty and Theo
Walcott so nearly won the tie for Arsenal with an intoxicating run to set up
Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal, surely one must point out that at the Emirates in the
1st leg, there were more players eligible to play for Spain starting the game
than those Fabio Capello could potentially call upon.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>So is the great success of the
‘English teams’ great for the ‘English game’? The debate over how much of an
influence the lack of English players playing in the Premiership has had on the
fortunes of the English national team is nothing new. The influx of foreign
players has unquestionably boosted the game in this country and raised
collective standards to higher levels, yet whilst Manchester United and Chelsea
it could be argued still institute an English core to their teams, it is highly
debatable just how ‘English’ these triumphs really are. None of the so called
‘big four’ have English managers. Indeed the majority are not English owned.
Yet while one can bang this somewhat nationalistic drum about the lack of
English involvement in English success does any of that really matter?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Honestly? Speaking truthfully? I
think if you asked the majority at Anfield, Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge
last week then you would get the same answer; does any of that matter? Not one
bit. The passport may not be English, but the shirt still carries the same
badge. The language may be different from that spoken on the terraces, yet the
stadium still has an English postcode. The manager may have served his
apprenticeship elsewhere yet the identity of the club’s fans does not change,
and to many, the fact that so many of the best players, coaches and managers
from all over the world chose to come to these shores shows the strength of the
English game – this is the country they all want to play in.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And the style remains. Despite the
influx of scores of international footballers, the pace of the English game
remains unrelenting. It may now be more refined and pragmatic, driven by
European hands when it enters foreign climes but the English game retains many
of its core elements. Watching the game at Anfield, one could be hardly blamed
for believing that the 22 on show were all born and raised in England, such was
the pace, directness and almost ‘fool hardy’ nature of the contest. This is
what has got observers all over the world believing in the strength of the
Premier League teams – the partnering of the classically ‘English’ style of
play with the continental technique. For the club sides of Europe facing up to
it now, it appears to have become a lethal combination. Indeed as Guido Santevecchi,
London correspondent of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera writes; <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“In stark contrast, the injection
of foreign talent has worked to strengthen English clubs. Charismatic managers
from France, Spain and Portugal have done nothing to tone down the natural
aggression of the English style. But they have brought greater order and
sparkle to the game – more of what we call geometrie. Above all, it seems to me
that foreigners in London, Manchester and Liverpool have diluted the famous
off-the-pitch excesses of English sides”.<br />
Whilst the nationalities may vary wildly then, the ideology would appear to
remain – the identity remains. Whilst the players may not be of English
descent, they appear to play in an English way, adding those particular Anglo
characteristics to their own individual skills. If these players perform as an
extension of the club’s philosophies, ‘becoming one’ with English tactics and
styles, then once again, does the place of birth on the passport matter?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>When it comes to the future of the
English national team, however, those playing at the top with an English
passport would seem to matter. It is at international level where the great
success of the English clubs, driven forward by great international names poses
the problems. England has not qualified for the European Championships this
summer. The pain and ramifications of this will become clearer this summer,
when the might of English club success in the Champions League will be less
obscuring. The reasons for this failure of the national team, when compiled
with all the numerous failures before, are open to intense and continued
debate. The lack of English players gaining the experience of playing in the Champions
League it could be argued is detrimental to the English game. This is the elite
club football competition, where the best players in the world compete. If
English players are not getting the opportunity to perform on this stage, then
the experiences that come with this cannot be replicated.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Once again though, it seems completely
fair to ask the question, does any of this matter? For years now the club game
has been steadily encroaching on that played at the national level, and it is
arguable that with the rise of the Champions League, that the international
games has lost a lot of its lustre. Certainly it would appear much more that
club rules country, not just in the boardroom but also in the fans mind. It is
a sweeping generalisation I know, but it seems that if continued English
success in Europe, fuelled by foreign millions, moulded by foreign coaches and
won by foreign technique comes at the expense of the national team then the
majority of fans will say so be it. Maybe both can co-exist, but the lack of
English players playing at the top level of club football does imply a negative
impact on the health of the national team. But if this is not a problem for
fans, then this issue is simply an irrelevance.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.8pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The success of the English club
sides this season has shown the strength of the Premier League; English club
football the best in the world. The clubs, packed with a large number of the
best talent the world has to see and taking on other European teams have almost
become national teams in their own. The players may be from different
continents and may speak different languages, but they, along with their coaches
and owners are achieving success in an English style.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>All well and good, as long
as fans don’t demand a winning national side as well, for one cannot be greedy
and have both. As long as fans are honest this will not be a problem, if they
are happy at English success in the Champions League, success built on
international names, then the English game would appear to be in full and
pristine working order, once again taking on the world. But once the dust has
settled in Moscow, and an English side may well have lifted the famous European
Cup trophy it will only be 17 days till Switzerland and the Czech Republic kick
off in Basle to signal the beginning of Euro 2008. It may just be then, with
the lack of Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney et al on show that this is when the
true strength of the English game will be far clearer.</i></span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-75065283397034653742015-03-16T21:47:00.000+00:002015-03-16T21:55:07.535+00:00The collective versus the individual<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lqTqubRgVY0/VQdOEX7DO0I/AAAAAAAAAL8/QpqOMQbE-_I/s1600/abErR0Pang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lqTqubRgVY0/VQdOEX7DO0I/AAAAAAAAAL8/QpqOMQbE-_I/s1600/abErR0Pang.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>How the experience of
young Darnell Furlong shows the importance of partnerships on the pitch and not
existing in isolation<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">You’ll have to trust me when I say that this is not one of
those “your opinion only counts if you go and watch games of football live”
pieces. Although in saying that I do think it helps sometimes, not to mention
being quite fun of course… but it’s often when you are at a game, your eyes
being able to take in the full picture and what’s going on ‘off camera’, that
you can sometimes pick up on the little things which might not always be as
obvious.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">As I was excitingly taking in the first half of Crystal Palace’s
rather comprehensive victory over fellow South Londoners Queens Park Rangers on
Saturday, admiring the pace, trickery and vibrant unpredictability of the home
teams wide men Wilfried Zaha, and in particular Yannick Bolasie, my heart did
go out to the rather unfortunate young full back Darnell Furlong, son of the
former Chelsea striker Paul. Making only his third appearance in the Rangers
first team he was cruelly beaten, time after time by the Crystal Palace number
seven, being sent this way and that, legs tied into a pretzel. Both the first
two Palace goals came from the position he was defending, and twice they came
from him being bamboozled by the acceleration and skills of Bolasie. Such was
the havoc being wreaked upon the youngster Furlong looked lost when even being
asked to perform those simple full back staples of booting it down the line and
taking the throws. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">After the youngsters chastening first half it was hard to
know whether it was cruel or kind to take him off at half time. While it was
clear Furlong was not having a particularly good game - although quite who in a
blue and white hooped shirt was - and subsequent reorganisation with the more
experienced Nedhum Onuoha moving across to right back did stop the bleeding, it
seemed that the young fullback’s removal painted him as something of a
scapegoat, particularly in the light of what was, or rather what wasn’t, going on
in front of him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">This leads me onto my point that when you are at a game,
your eye can sometimes pick up on things which may have not been as evident on
TV or which may not get picked out in post-game post-mortems. Bolasie’s
terrorising of young Furlong was right in front of me but when the eye wandered
up the line to see how the play was unfolding, it became clear that the rather diminutive
form of Shaun Wright-Phillips, playing in front of Furlong, was just as much,
if not more of the problem. There he was, if not quite hands on hips, apparently
happy enough to let his young struggling compatriot shoulder 100% of the
defensive responsibility. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">The erstwhile Chelsea, Manchester City, and of course
England winger, has never been one noted for his tracking back and defending,
and given this was his first Premier League appearance in over 700 days, it
seemed evident he was not going to be offering the best of protection to an
untried fullback. Thus his presence on the pitch was even stranger than it
might have been at the best of times, but SWP’s performance or indeed lack
thereof, showed just how important to a fullback’s game the assistance of the
player in front of him is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">This point was hammered home 24 hours later during the first
half of Manchester United’s game against Tottenham. Time and again in the first
25 minutes, Tottenham’s right flank was being ripped apart with the right back,
Kyle Walker, clearly struggling to live with the pace of Ashley Young and erm,
Marouane Fellaini. In this game it wasn’t the defender that was hauled off
however it was the man in front of him, with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
far from impressed with the lack of cover and support that the attacker, Andros
Townsend was giving to the man playing behind him. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">In both these cases it is not about the apportioning of
blame – in both games, it could be argued, all four players performed very badly
and were complicit in their teams downfall, however what it shows is how
important partnerships on the pitch are, and how much the success of someone
playing in one position is reliant on someone playing in front, behind or
beside them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">The same is equally true when the roles are reversed
somewhat and the fullback is required to play their part in allowing the
attacking player ahead of them to thrive. From someone that has watched most of
Palace’s games this season the struggles at times of Zaha or Jason Puncheon on
the left when compared with the success of Bolasie on the right has come
because of the lack of a natural left back. With either a right footed Joel
Ward constantly trying to come onto his stronger right foot – although the
irony of him scoring with his left on Saturday is not lost – or the
ultra-defensive Martin Kelly, not confident going forward, stationed at left
fullback, whoever has been playing left wing has struggled to get into the game
due to the lack of an effective partner to operate with. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Football is all about these partnerships on the pitch, central
defenders, strike partners, how within a greater framework, these little
pairings make the team operate successfully. When these break down, the team
breaks down. It’s a cliché but true; football is a team game. While it can be
won on individual moments of genius, it can more than not be lost at the point when
the collective falls apart. </span> </div>
Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-65897300942183409812014-10-17T11:26:00.000+01:002014-10-17T11:31:36.591+01:00Should Ched Evans by given a second chance?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As he's released from prison,
CollinsBeans has its say on the Ched Evans debate <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The issue of former Sheffield
United player Ched Evans' reemployment as he's released from prison today after
serving a sentence for rape is far from straightforward. It's clearly a very blurred
line where arguments can be made on both sides and ultimately, whatever
happens, there will be many left angry and frustrated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course on a very practical
level, there is no reason why Ched Evans can't be employed by Sheffield United,
or any other football club for that matter. Evans has served the punishment he
was given. He's now a free man; free to be given a job by any employer that
wishes to do so. Morally of course, it's slightly more complex.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As is so often the case,
double standards tend to appear in this debate too. There are many who would
argue that Evans deserves a second chance. That rehabilitating criminals into
work and society is important, in terms of forgiveness and in preventing
reoffending. Yet many of those putting forward this case, which is a valid one
no doubt, would probably rather Evans didn't turn up at their own football club.
"The kid deserves a second chance, just not in my team…"</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also personal experience is
an important factor to remember too. Those calling for second chances and
forgiveness may not have any direct experience of dealing with the victims of
rape. Would those people think slightly differently if it was their sister,
mother, cousin or close friend who was the victim of Evan's crime? It always
seems easier to preach about forgiveness from afar.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This situation also prompts
debate about other issues (far beyond football) such as sentencing. Certainly
one of the factors in the case of Evans is that many feel he hasn't really be
punished all that severely. Evans entered jail at 23, and he's now free aged
25. In football terms that means he hasn't actually lost a great deal of his
career. Some players miss two years with injury. There is a sense in some
quarters that Evans has got off lightly; that he still has a very long and lucrative
career in football ahead of him. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It feels out of this blog's
remit to debate and analyse in detail the pros and cons of Britain's criminal justice
system, but a perceived leniency in the case of Evans is definitely playing a
role in the debate on his future - and of course the high profile, extremely desirable
nature of being a professional footballer. The decision whether to reintegrate and
reemploy ex-offenders must be considered daily across the country, but a man convicted
of rape returning to football provokes a lot more interest. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As stated at the start,
whatever happens with Evans, there will be many that are left feeling wronged.
And sadly professional football in general does have a dubious moral compass,
so it's not the ideal place for this sort of issue to be played out. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is surely not in doubt
is that Evans will find a football club somewhere to employ him. Because when
it comes to professional clubs, it's the bottom line that usually wins the
argument. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-21529500450293751622014-10-15T16:02:00.000+01:002014-10-15T16:02:12.492+01:00Cult Hero: Frank Lampard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OYoZCPAEWmk/VD6Kq2IUOtI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/9qVBZqgDNyc/s1600/Lamps.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OYoZCPAEWmk/VD6Kq2IUOtI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/9qVBZqgDNyc/s1600/Lamps.png" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black;">There are several slightly
bothersome phrases that have worked their way into contemporary football
parlance, like "worldie", or if you're Tony Cascarino, "he's having
a Holocaust". And the misuse of certain words has also become prevalent,
none more so than the casual<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>way in
which the term "legend" is cheaply thrown about.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yet of course genuine legends
do still exist, and if there is one man who warrants this label, from a
South-West London perspective anyway, it's Frank Lampard. In terms of Chelsea
legends, Lampard is more than worthy and in the view of CollinsBeans, he's
actually at the very summit - Chelsea's greatest ever player to date.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Just the numbers themselves stack
up incredibly. 649 appearances. 211 goals (from midfield don't forget). Three
Premier Leagues titles. Four FA Cups. Two League Cups. One Champions League.
One Europa League. One Double. A record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances.
Three times Chelsea Player of the Year. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Quite a tidy little list.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course football is much
more than a numbers game, but those figures do provide an indication of just
how good, and how consistent, Lampard was in a Chelsea shirt. You knew what you
were getting from Lampard: unwavering excellence. Lampard had such a complete
game too - a tireless work ethic, a willingness to put a tackle in and defend,
a wonderful array of passing and of course, a great eye for goal combined with
clinical finishing. There's not much more you can really ask for from a central
midfielder. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Lampard could also excel at
either end of the spectrum. Nasty midweek away trip to Blackburn in February: Lampard
was there, getting stuck in and driving the side to three points. Champions
League semi-final against a European heavyweight: there's Lampard providing yet
another priceless goal. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Lampard was that rare breed
of player who had both heart and ability, and it's no wonder he's adored by the
Chelsea faithful. It was Lampard who scored twice at Bolton to secure a first
league title for 50 years. It was Lampard who captained the side to Champions
League and Europa Cup victories. It was Lampard who scored more goals in a
Chelsea shirt than any man before him.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Quite why Lampard was allowed
to leave Chelsea at the end of the 2013-14 is beyond CollinsBeans. And once he
turned up at Manchester City on loan it became almost inevitable that Lampard
would play, and therefore score, against his team. Yet in many ways that goal
against Chelsea underlined the special bond between player and fan - the type
of bond that epitomises a cult hero. Lampard's non-celebration was the most genuine
you're likely to see; a look that was a mix of horror, sadness and bewilderment. And the
reception he received from the Chelsea fans at the game's conclusion, and
Lampard's own tears, said it all.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Super Frankie Lampard doesn't
even begin to do the man justice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span></span><br />James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-88974112551620226022014-09-02T20:04:00.003+01:002014-09-02T21:57:25.625+01:00“BREAKING NEWS! We now go live to the Britannia Stadium car park…” <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ePFfv30lVE/VAYUSlhlKLI/AAAAAAAAALc/b4u5fbGT5oU/s1600/white2_2820751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ePFfv30lVE/VAYUSlhlKLI/AAAAAAAAALc/b4u5fbGT5oU/s1600/white2_2820751.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jim
White, yellow ties, Harry Redknapp’s car window, fax machines and Peter
Odemwingie; just like the rest of the football world, transfer deadline day now
has its own clichés. And alongside those clichés comes the ever increasing
belief that fans are now more excited by, and more eagerly anticipating the day
of last minute deals, ridiculous rumours and loan moves for unwanted League 1
strikers than FA Cup final day</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Our enormously productive economy demands that we make
consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into
rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in
consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and
discarded at an ever-increasing rate"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Victor Lebow, economist
(1955)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim White, yellow ties, Harry Redknapp’s car window, fax
machines and Peter Odemwingie; just like the rest of the football world,
transfer deadline day now has its own clichés. And alongside those clichés
comes the ever increasing belief that fans are now more excited by, and more
eagerly anticipating the day of last minute deals, ridiculous rumours and loan
moves for unwanted League 1 strikers than FA Cup final day, although it’s hard
sometimes to tell if it’s the media driving that desire or simply a savvy media
responding to the will of the people; the truth as ever, probably somewhere in
between. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are far funnier and more illuminating write up’s out
there if you really want a humorous dissection of Sky’s overblown obsession
with men standing in car parks, gradually becoming swamped by an ever rising
tide of kids and unemployed people that clearly have nothing better to do than
thrust dildo’s into the face of Merseyside football correspondents, but while
we can all laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, it does continue a trend
where what happens off the pitch seems far more important to people than what
takes place on it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The feverish cravings for signings and transfers is of
course driven by the desire for on the field success and yet just how exactly a
new player or prospective addition will quite fit into the tactical equation or
in any way compliments what you already have doesn’t seem to factor into too
many people’s thinking, most worryingly perhaps, including the clubs. I’m sure
most people would <i>want</i> Falcao, but
does Manchester United <i>need</i> Falcao?
Want against need is a philosophical debate to be had but in a consumerist
world where we always need more, then the consequence of not being able to
score against Burnley leads to perhaps an entirely logical solution; pay well
north of £200,000 a week for another super star striker. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But where does he fit? How will it work? What’s the plan?
It’s pay now and worry about that later. In the rush for the new shiny car on
the market it doesn’t matter what you’ve got in the garage at home, if you can
afford the repayment scheme or even if you’ve passed your test in the first
place; you <i>have</i> to have that new
model because that’s what consumerism tells you. Football is just another
player in the social and economic order that’s fuelled by the ideology that
encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater amounts, and
football is a player, especially when it comes to clubs in the Premier League
that has money - lots of money - burning a hole in its pocket.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gary Neville argues that you can tell how well run a club is
by the extent of its activity on the last day of the transfer window; efficient
clubs have done their business early, whereas those rummaging around in the
bargain bin at the last minute are the ones you wouldn’t want in charge of the
economy. It’s fine in theory, and perhaps even sometimes in practice, after all
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City didn’t seem to be doing too much
scrabbling around yesterday whereas Manchester United were… but the nature of
the fans to crave new arrivals almost leads clubs to being panicked into
action; no-one wants to be seen to be the club standing still and quietly
minding their own business on the day, not when there’s the prospect of missing
out on Fabio Borrini.</span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So are we to blame, the modern fan? Perhaps. Or
is it the Premier League, Sky, the media, FIFA, agents, Ed Woodward or even
dear old Jim White colour co-ordinating his sparkly yellow tie with his
breaking news ticker? Or is it in fact the fault of football itself? Or is
transfer deadline day simply an extension of the modern consumerist world in
which we live, where no-one is satisfied with what they have and where we
always want and crave more? As if a global economic crisis and the moral decay
of modern society wasn’t enough, capitalism has given us a sense of hysteria
over the prospect of Tom Cleverley going on loan to Aston Villa; it has a lot
to answer for.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-49612961623731010182014-06-26T16:21:00.000+01:002014-06-26T16:24:07.490+01:00Wandsworth Athletic – the third gold star<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A triumphant return to Rocks Lane </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Thursday 4<sup>th</sup> February 2010 was the day of
Wandsworth Athletic’s first league title. An enthralling, epic victory over
BRNO Athletic – surely the greatest game in the club’s history – secured a
maiden gold star on the white jersey. Just over four years and four months
later, a third star can now be stitched above the club crest. Wandsworth’s
designer (and number 13) Matt C Stokes has some work to do…</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Yet many would have doubted the need for Stokes to dust
off his pencil any time in the foreseeable future. For Wandsworth have been down
and out in recent times. After the pinnacle of 2010, when a second league title
was added later in the year after Wandsworth went unbeaten all season, form has
slowly but surely slipped away. 2011 saw an impressive showing during a European debut in Valencia, but the good times soon dried up. 2012
was arguably the nadir in Wandsworth history, as the club struggled with
injuries, player availability and form. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">After one particularly wretched season at Rocks Lane, a
major decision was taken in early 2013, with the club removed from its home in
SW13 and beginning competition in the less fashionable, lower standard Raynes
Park setting. At times in this cold, damp and hostile environment some must
have seriously questioned what the future held. But a promotion and league
victory in September 2013 began a slow journey back upwards, and now in June
2014 redemption is finally complete. Wandsworth are back in the big time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">At the first time of asking back home, Wandsworth won the
league title. There may no longer be the fierce, bitter rivals – no BRNO
Athletic, no Magic Monkeys FC, no Number 4 Kings – but a championship medal at
Rocks Lane is something to be savoured. And it marks a wonderful return to
success for the South West London club. Wandsworth have dragged themselves off
the canvas, beat the count and returned with a knockout blow. Their opponents
made the deadly mistake of letting their guard down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">When the campaign begun, even the most optimistic of
Wandsworth followers would not have dreamt of a league title. But a well-fought,
hard-earned opening win was a sign of things to come. Looking back now, that
8-6 victory over a well organised and experienced opponent was more significant
than anyone would have imagined. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">A comfortable win against a young Sheen Lane Royals side followed,
but a lack of shape and structure were an indication that everything wasn’t
rosy. And sure enough, the following week saw the low point of the season; an
11-5 defeat to the team that would become Wandsworth’s title rivals, Glipton
Giants. In truth it was a poor performance all round – slow, passive and
incoherent. There was clearly work to be done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Wandsworth showed what you need for a league title though
– character – and responded with a good win next. Another victory the following
week, albeit far less polished against the league’s whipping boys, made it four
wins out of five. Wandsworth were sitting ominously in second place, breathing
down Glipton’s neck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">With the business end of the season looming, Wandsworth
then secured an absolutely key victory, coming out on top in a 12-11 blockbuster.
Leading comfortably early on, the players succumbed to an unfortunate
Wandsworth trademark of easing off the gas and losing concentration. Suddenly
Wandsworth were 10-9 down deep into proceedings, but a resounding late surge
with goals from Frank Pearce and Zaid ‘Shrubba’ Shoubber secured three points.
Pearce and Shoubber were both fine examples of the collective squad effort that
proved so important – stepping up when needed and providing vital
contributions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Another three points followed and all of sudden the
season hindered on a huge title showdown. Wandsworth’s winning steak had seen them
climb to the top of the table, but with three games remaining it was time for
the return encounter with Glipton – just two points adrift. Winner really was
likely to take all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">What followed was a colossal fixture between the league’s
leading sides. While the game may not quite have compared to that wondrous
finale against BRNO Athletic all those years ago, it was a fittingly tense and
close battle. Wandsworth, as history shows they often do in big games, started
strongly, charging into an early lead and stamping their authority on the game.
The predator, Andy Michel, was hungry and led from the front with early
strikes, while Liam ‘Lahm’ O’Brien fired home two utterly unstoppable hits. The
experienced spine of Wandsworth’s side stepped up to be counted, with Matt
Snelling sharp and commanding between the sticks and Ben ‘Romeo’ Lewis full of
energy and composed passing. Joe ‘Don’ Hancock linked play and ran hard, while
a mention must go to Dave Skinns too. Skinns was severely under the weather pre
kick-off but he wasn’t going to miss this and battled hard through illness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Wandsworth’s good start was soon undone though, with the
opposition’s organisation and experience coming to the fore. All of a sudden it
was 6-5 to Glipton, and the title was slipping away. But Wandsworth showed the
character that had been present all season and simply refused to be beaten. A
powerful burst saw a brilliant revival, and three goals from James Platt meant
the score ended 8-6. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">The title was mathematically obtained the following week after
a cancelled fixture – not the way Wandsworth wanted to secure the silverware,
but an emphatic 18-3 final day victory meant the winner’s medals were collected
in style. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">After some difficult recent times, Wandsworth’s return to
the summit of the amateur game in South West London is surprising, remarkable
and above all, very welcome. There was a notable shift up in gear from the
whole squad to meet the superior standards at Rocks Lane, and a mention should
go to Snelling, O’Brien and Skinns for being ever present. Wandsworth will now
hope it’s not four more years until Matt C Stokes can sketch out another gold star…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><u><span style="color: #990000;">End of season
statistics<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Played: 10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Won: 9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Drawn: 0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Lost: 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">For: 104<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Against: 58<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Player<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Appearances<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Goals<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Matt Snelling<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Liam O’Brien<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">21<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Dave Skinns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">19<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Ben Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Joe Hancock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Andy Michel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">James Platt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">20 (1 pen)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Zaid Shoubber<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Alex Platt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Frank Pearce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 226.55pt;" valign="top" width="378"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">Simon Hazelby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 120.5pt;" valign="top" width="201"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 103.75pt;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #990000;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-49866671693200274262014-03-18T14:06:00.001+00:002014-03-18T14:38:56.073+00:00Wandsworth Athletic Cult Hero: Pikey Runt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xrVELaVuCqM/UyhSfNfz2QI/AAAAAAAAAQI/dfTDqBGjIT8/s1600/Chero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xrVELaVuCqM/UyhSfNfz2QI/AAAAAAAAAQI/dfTDqBGjIT8/s1600/Chero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xrVELaVuCqM/UyhSfNfz2QI/AAAAAAAAAQI/dfTDqBGjIT8/s1600/Chero.jpg" height="25" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are typical types of cult hero – prolific goal-scorer,
flamboyant playmaker, tireless midfielder, defensive enforcer or even a solid, loyal
club man dedicated to his home side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes though a cult hero comes along who doesn't fit the
above profiles. Sometimes there’s a cult hero made by one incredible act or memorable
goal. And it’s into this scarce category that a young man known only as Pikey
Runt falls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pikey Runt was always a vacant, enigmatic figure down at
Rocks Lane in SW13. A journeyman filling in for club’s short on resources. A
nomad without permanent attachment. A quiet, scrawny figure that went largely
unnoticed. There were claims of a YTS contract at Leyton Orient, but no one really
believed it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pikey Runt’s association with Wandsworth was very much brief
and fleeting – like so much of his career. He made just a single appearance, but
it was certainly a notable one. Facing off against reviled opposition, Pikey
Runt ran hard and played his heart out. He made a beeline for that wretched
farce of a player known as Bandana. He hit him hard. Some even thought they
heard him utter the words “that one’s for Andy..."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether true or just myth, the point was made. Pikey Runt had
embodied the Wandsworth motto of <i>usque ad
mortem</i>. He’d taken on board the club’s values and bought into the fierce
rivalries and past experiences. Everyone was grateful to Pikey Runt for that
whole-hearted, one-off wear of the Wandsworth jersey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this enough to justify cult hero status though? On its
own, probably not. But there was to be another infamous Pikey Runt moment in
the history of Wandsworth Athletic. On this occasion, the young rascal was
lining up against the white jerseys. Filling in for another side in need –
Pikey Runt’s modus operandi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep into a tight encounter, a close-range shot was fired at
goal. Wandsworth stopper Matt Snelling had bravely raced off his line and flung
himself at the attacker. The subsequent effort, hit with real power, arrowed
right into the number one’s face. It struck him flush. Snelling was laid out,
unable to continue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a bizarre twist of fate the ball rebounded straight to
the feet of Pikey Runt. “Score!” demanded his temporary teammates. “Smash it in!” they roared. Under pressure and
eager to impress, no one would have blamed the young man for slotting the ball
home into the unguarded net.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But instead a moment of genuine, inspirational sportsmanship
followed. Pikey Runt stopped. He bent down and picked the ball up. He halted
the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Matty’s down,” he sternly proclaimed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“And I ain’t scoring like that.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-79124263139444396172014-01-21T23:19:00.001+00:002016-01-08T11:55:01.276+00:00Stick or Twist? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i><span style="color: #111111; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Almost two thirds of our way through the mythical January transfer window and most clubs
have kept their powder dry, but in the next 10 days teams at the top, and arguably
more importantly, teams at the bottom, must decide whether to take that big gamble - spend
money now…or end up paying later </span></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speculate to accumulate, or gambling put another way, is attempting to
make money (or build success) by investing big despite the inherent risks
involved. It’s rolling the dice and playing the pros of success against the
cons of financial meltdown. It’s an all or nothing game that football clubs deliberate on, arguably never more than during January when they
have that one manic month in the middle of a gruelling season to decide whether
to spend their money or play it safe; do they stick, or do they twist?<br />
<br />
Having reached the campaigns half way mark, the true challenge facing each club,
be it at the top or bottom, has more than likely been revealed. The month of
January, when the transfer window is flung wide open allows clubs to make a
crucial decision on just what level of risk they dare take on in order for them
to achieve what they need.<br />
<br />
In the condensed world of this 2013/14 Premier League, where the races at the
top and bottom are, for once, equally wide open, most have something to play for
and almost all will be looking to make investments for improvement. It’s usually
those scrapping away, precariously perched on that trapdoor to the oblivion of
potential trips to Yeovil and Bournemouth that have the most to gain, but then conversely,
the most to lose. For while teams at the top and challenging for trophies may look
to bring in that extra little ingredient or the cherry to top the icing, those
struggling are looking for things altogether more basic like eggs and flour in
their desire for a brand new cake.<br />
<br />
If things are going well, the old adage applies: ‘if it ain't broke, why fix it?'
It may seem obvious, but chances are if you’re in a position to be challenging
for titles then your team is probably, in the main, pretty decent, and you
won’t have to worry about sniffing around Carlton Cole or Kenwyne Jones. Thus
little, if any, additions it could be argued are imperative. Indeed sometimes the
gamble for those at the top is whether a new signing will unbalance a side,
upset the system or wreak havoc in a harmonious dressing room. English football
like’s a tale of a Rodney Marsh or Faustino Asprilla, signings to put the seal
on a title but that ended up, albeit perhaps more in folklore than reality, as
a catalyst for a club spectacularly falling away. So while those at the top
may think there is an inherent wisdom at choosing to ‘stick' those front runners
may also care to heed the warning that those that tend to be happy to
standstill risk the chance of being overtaken in the home straight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Arsenal are right in the middle of that catch 22 situation of whether to
hit the January sales or batten down the hatches. This season they are serious
title contenders rather than pretenders as they’ve been for much of the last several
years, but despite them being top of the league as we come to the end of
January, and currently benefitting from goals from a variety of sources, this
becomes a defining moment where they could seize the initiative to hold off the
bigger and more powerful squads of Manchester City and Chelsea or risk over
egging the pudding and throwing money down the drain. <br />
<br />Those in the hell of the relegation zone and
the purgatory currently extending up to 11<sup>th</sup> place in the Premier
League are the ones most seriously contemplating the mad dash to the transfer
window cash and carry however. These are the teams taking the ultimate gamble; risk
spending big money on what you can get hold of because you can't afford to
contemplate going down... <i>or</i> not spending the money because you can't
afford to contemplate the pitfalls of spending money <i>and then</i> going down. In many ways, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't.<br />
<br />
How many are in that position, stuffed wallet in hand, heading to the
roulette wheel? In a way it doesn’t matter how much money you <i>actually</i> have; more times than not it’s
the game of bluff to see if you can risk what you don’t have to achieve what you
need. The stakes for survival are so astronomically high. For many clubs
relegation wouldn’t just be a mild inconvenience, it’s simply not an option. To
fall from the cash-laden waters of the Premier League and into the murky depths
below, you risk being dragged under and scattered on rocks titled Birmingham City,
Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bolton. The prospect of relegation brings unwelcome
words like ‘administration’, ‘bankruptcy’ and ‘Leeds United’. Bigger levels of
cash coming into the game has meant bigger fees and bigger wages, but with that
unquestionably, bigger risks.<br />
<br />
It’s why people will spend, or indeed beg borrow and steal before the month is
out; playing it safe and sensible for the future goes out the window when the
here and now means potentially losing out on the big shiny golden pot at the
end of Peter Scudamore’s rainbow. Do you dare spend... or risk the drop?
Outside of some particularly shell shocked Chelsea fans still coming to terms
with an early 2000’s UEFA Cup elimination at the hands of Viking Stavanger and
keen watchers of Manchester United reserves in the late 90’s many won’t
necessarily recall Erik Nevland. But a number of Fulham fans just might,
notwithstanding the fact he didn’t really enjoy a hall of fame career down on
the banks of the River Thames. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The 2007/08 relegation battle may not be an eminently memorable one in
many (OK all) regards but illustrates a point, and how the role of Nevland but
more significantly a transfer window signing can have a seismic impact. Back in
January 2008, neither Reading nor Birmingham City significantly strengthened and
dipped hands in pockets with the result that both ended up paying the price. In
contrast, Fulham under Roy Hodgson brought in several new names and several millions
of pounds worth of new ‘talent'. When the season was said and done, how many of
the players brought in had actually substantially altered the quality of the
side? How many had long term futures? How many retained their market values? In
this simple equation however, all of that matters little, the end result was
they stayed up; they gambled, and won. <br />
<br />
The signing of Erik Nevland was used by Kevin McCarra, at the time Chief
Football writer for the Guardian Newspaper as a clear example of the fine line trodden
at this time between prudence and extravagance. As McCarra writes; ‘the forward
has started only two matches since Roy Hodgson spent £1.8m to buy him from
Groningen at the very end of the January 2008 window [however] Fulham fans will
still not scorn the signing vehemently. In the closing weeks of the season
Nevland came off the bench to hit the clincher in 2–0 wins over Reading and
Birmingham. Both teams were relegated, while Fulham preserved their status on
goal difference. Nevland made a small yet measurable contribution and that is
what managers yearn for.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s why apparently ‘sound
business practices' go out the window. Clubs faced with a player out of
contract in the summer, when they would be free to leave without their
employers receiving a penny would normally be keen to sell but there is often far
more at stake than a relatively small transfer fee in the here and there now.
Selling a player for the short term gain of 2 to 3 million can mean putting at
risk some 60 to 70 million in the summer. It's why January is a seller's
market; clubs able to charge eye watering prices to a captive market – supply
and demand. As McCarra wrote back in 2009; ‘Options are always limited at this
time of the year. The renowned footballers tend to be unavailable.' Any club
taking a punt will in all likelihood pay way, way over the odds, the market
becoming inflated; desperate men doing desperate things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">QPR went for that gamble of
spending big in January 2013, and the result was disastrous. The clear warnings
of staking it all on a particularly large and un-athletic horse summed up in
two words: ‘Chris’ and ‘Samba’. That’s not to say that the experiences of the
men from Loftus Road 12 months ago has dissuaded people this time around; Hull
have already thrown their chips onto the table and gone all in, breaking their transfer
record twice to bring in a brand new £13 million strike force of Nikica Jelavic
and Shane Long. They probably won't be alone. <br />
<br />
As former West Ham Chief Executive Scott Duxbury noted a few years back "January
is not the best time to be making any significant investments. As we know from
experience, it is an inflationary market with teams paying top prices out of
necessity." It may defy rationality but to a gambler, logic becomes
eclipsed by the rewards on offer. Clubs enter into a game of chance and who
dares wins. Survival in the world's richest league is all important. If taking
a punt in January and throwing tens of millions of pounds is an all or nothing
shot, then so be it, it's the ultimate gamble that clubs cannot afford not to
take.</span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-18150236087736938582014-01-19T14:44:00.001+00:002014-01-19T14:50:01.929+00:00Conspiracy, bad luck or something in between?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PqsQrNBk_vs/UtvjiedQN-I/AAAAAAAAAP4/rNpSpI_z_VI/s1600/Ballack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PqsQrNBk_vs/UtvjiedQN-I/AAAAAAAAAP4/rNpSpI_z_VI/s1600/Ballack.jpg" height="193" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">A
trip back through the archives to 2009 and one of Chelsea’s many controversial
Champions League clashes with Barcelona. This was the one officiated by
Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo. It was the one infamously described by
Didier Drogba as “a f**king disgrace”…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Conspiracy
theories are often fun, regularly intriguing, but mostly dismissed as the
ramblings of the delusional. Even when rationally and compellingly presented,
the majority of us – in the cold light of day – can’t quite bring ourselves to
truly believe that Neil Armstrong was actually filmed bouncing around an
American TV studio.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">So in the interests of preserving any shred
of respectability I may have, I’ll declare up front that I don’t believe the
Chelsea – Barcelona Champions League fixture on 6 May 2009 was a straightforward
fix. As effortless and fun as it is to suggest Michel Platini ordered a
Barcelona victory, it’s almost impossible to believe he directly instructed
referee Tom Henning Ovrebo to ensure Barcelona’s progression to the final.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">For those (most people I assume) who can’t
remember or can only vaguely recall this game, it was the second leg of a
semi-final. The first leg at the Nou Camp had been drawn 0-0. The second leg
finished 1-1; Andres Iniesta scored an injury time equaliser to cancel out
Michel Essien’s first half volley, sending Barcelona through to the final on
away goals. The game was dominated by controversy as Chelsea were denied
several strong penalty appeals (I’ll get onto this…), which fanned the flames
of an already strained relationship between both clubs.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Now I believe off-pitch lobbying, of some
description, must have taken place in this fixture – even if it was only in the
slightest manner. Watching the footage below (the first link runs through the
main penalty appeals, the second is SkySports’ analysis of the four main
incidents) nearly five years after the event with the burning anger at the time
subsided (although not fully), it’s clear that there were some strange
decisions in this game to say the least.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVWNbD0pu9M" style="cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVWNbD0pu9M</span></a><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhiURESngAM" style="cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhiURESngAM</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Put simply, there are four absolutely clear
penalties that should have been awarded to Chelsea, possibly even five or six.
And it becomes more farcical as the game progresses.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">To briefly assess the primary four claims:
the first challenge on Florent Malouda is patently inside the penalty area. There
is contact before then, but Malouda is still in possession of the ball and
progressing forward. No decision from Ovrebo is made at this point. He awards a
foul once Malouda has stopped and been hauled over – inside the penalty area.
But Ovrebo awards a free kick.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The second incident with Didier Drogba
requires little description or reasoning. It’s a clear, obvious penalty.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The next incident – Nicolas Anelka and Gerard
Pique’s handball is perhaps the most ludicrous of all. I appreciate my levels
of wrath are rising and becoming more apparent as I type this, but it’s
unfathomable how this penalty cannot be awarded. Plus, Pique should also be
sent off, as he’s denying a goal scoring opportunity – if his hand does not
stop the ball, Anelka is in front of goal with a clear shot. Likewise the
previous incident with Drogba – Eric Abidal should be dismissed.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Jamie Redknapp, often maligned on these
pages, actually makes a rather witty comment concerning Pique’s handball: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The only thing about this one is that it’s
only one hand. It’s so blatant it’s incredible.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The fourth incident occurs after Iniesta’s
equaliser, which adds further intrigue. Despite waving away so many appeals,
Ovrebo is almost given a get-out-jail-free card here. Iniesta scored in the 93<sup>rd</sup></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;">minute,
but there was still time for Chelsea to win a corner and for a shot at goal to
be obviously blocked by Samuel Eto’o’s arm, which is raised above his head in an
unnatural position. A clear handball offence. I cannot understand how this is
not given, and Michael Ballack’s quite brilliant reaction is beside the point.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">What you’ve also got to consider by this
stage is the increased pressure, and awareness of possible mistakes earlier. Of
course a penalty or major decision can never be justified by “you’ve turned
down two now ref, so you’ve got to give us this one”. Each incident should be
treated on merit.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">But we all know that intensity can build in
football, from players and the home crowd, and particularly in big, passionate
games. Ovrebo must have been aware of the growing frustration and anger, and
must have had an inclination that he’d potentially made mistakes. So once the
Pique handball incident occurs in the second half – the most apparent penalty
possible – it’s clear Ovrebo has become totally entrenched in a mind-set of “no
penalties to Chelsea”. You can only feel at this stage that if Pique had walked
over and punched Anelka in the face, Ovrebo would have waved play on.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Evidently it could be argued that Ovrebo had,
by this stage, entered a state of paralysis – aware of previous errors but
unable to make a proactive decision. He could have become blinded by pressure
and fear. It’s a valid argument, but I just feel that an elite referee awarded
a Champions League semi-final second leg should have the innate ability and
experience to overcome mounting crowd displeasure and make decisions on merit.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">This is where the conspiracy rears its head.
Now as stated initially, I am not suggesting Ovrebo was given instructions. I’m
absolutely not saying he was told to fix the game.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">What I am insinuating is that a casual word
may have passed someone’s lips.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">“Would
be great if Barcelona got the final, wouldn’t it?"</span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">“Barcelona
are just a brilliant side to watch – what a final it would be with them there”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">"Chelsea
are effective, but they don’t play like Barca. They could make the final a bit
dull”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">An off-hand remark here and there from a
senior UEFA official may just stick in a referee’s head. It may, subconsciously
even, have an impact on major decisions. It might make him think twice
about giving one team a helping hand…<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">What I am certain of is that no elite referee
could make so many dreadful errors in one game without</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span><i><span style="color: black;">something</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;">having
an influence. Maybe it was Ovrebo’s own preference – maybe he just enjoyed the
way Barcelona played. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Personally, I believe someone from UEFA had a
casual word and it stuck. I think Ovrebo had been influenced before the game.
Of course I have no proof of this – none whatsoever. It’s pure speculation. And
I probably just sound like a madman with a conspiracy theory…<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
</span><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; line-height: 15.6pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 16.2pt; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span></span><br />James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-17899864243801277442013-11-18T21:45:00.001+00:002013-11-18T21:45:21.562+00:00In Jose we trust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NA7Kxr54t9Q/UoqJVdo2voI/AAAAAAAAAPo/RB9ViI2It6c/s1600/JM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NA7Kxr54t9Q/UoqJVdo2voI/AAAAAAAAAPo/RB9ViI2It6c/s1600/JM.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">It’s good to have Mourinho back </span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span> </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s only November – the season is still in its infancy;
the jury very much out on everyone and everything. No matter how much pundits
want to discuss player of the year or next summer’s World Cup squad, it’s
simply too soon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">And certainly it’s too early to judge the return of Jose
Mourinho to Chelsea. A man always keen to ostentatiously flaunt his silverware,
it seems only fair to assess the Portuguese on his end of season trophy haul.
Yet already, I’m delighted to see the man back at the Bridge. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I’m desperately trying to avoid that loathsome phrase
“X-factor” here, but Mourinho just has something about him. One minute its broody
stare, clipped sulky responses, petulance personified. Then suddenly it’s all
suave charm, playful anecd</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">otes and perfect stubble. Media
hang onto Mourinho’s every word, and it’s easy to see why. He’s pure box
office.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">From a Chelsea viewpoint, Mourinho has returned the
passion. There’s a spring in the players’ steps and a sense of real unity
between staff and fans. Chelsea supporters are proud to have this man in
charge. Proud of his previous success and delighted by the swagger and style.
Mourinho is a man who makes you want to turn up and sing his name. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Whatever some people said, Rafael Benitez was simply not
wanted last year – no one ordered a fat Spanish waiter Roman. Despite his
moderate success (I maintain the moderate assertion – one cup and Champions
League qualification was only par considering the squad available), it was
always clear that Benitez was in it for himself, looking to add polish to his
CV. He was certainly not concerned about the future of Chelsea football club. And
quite simply, that didn’t make for a good atmosphere down in SW6. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Which means the Mourinho love-in is all the more welcome
and enjoyable. And there’s inherent trust too. Loaning out Romelu Lukaku to
Everton seems odd – but if Jose thinks that’s best, then so be it. Forking out
on another creative midfielder (Willian) when we already have a stack of them –
there must be a reason. The only one I really can’t understand is occasionally
playing David Luiz ahead of the heroic Gary Cahill – but in my lovestruck
delirium I’ll just turn a blind eye to that one. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">What is certainly clear is that having the fans onside
and right behind you does make a tangible difference. Us supporters might be
marginalised at every turn in an increasingly corporate environment, but we
still carry influence and that must be cherished. A willing, supportive, passionate
crowd really can make an impact and there’s a new mood in the air at Stamford
Bridge this year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Time will tell whether this reunion is a quick fling
ending in another ugly divorce, or a contented, long-term marriage. But at the
moment it certainly does feel nice to have Jose back where he belongs. </span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span></span>James Platthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397831400724125424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-47387219978613518862013-10-30T21:20:00.000+00:002017-08-14T15:23:33.110+01:00More than just a game?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D2tXerL1ymc/UnF3dqylJvI/AAAAAAAAAKw/mZJbvLy12MM/s1600/Pig-Head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D2tXerL1ymc/UnF3dqylJvI/AAAAAAAAAKw/mZJbvLy12MM/s320/Pig-Head.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Rivalries manufacture
the drama that gives you sport at its most intense and compelling best and at
the apex of sporting spectacle is the fixture now known the world over as El
Clasico: Real Madrid against Barcelona.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>'There
it was, the severed head of a pig, sent sailing Luís Figo's way'<br />
Sid Lowe, Fear and Loathing in La Liga, 2013<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a defining image, a
fairly ridiculous image in many ways, but a defining one nonetheless. How a pig’s
head gets onto a football pitch is one of those questions that there really
shouldn’t be any logical answer to but the vision of it staring up from the
hallowed turf of the Camp Nou after being aimed in the direction of Luis Figo,
already suffering under a hailstone of coins, batteries and mobile phones goes
to show what an extraordinary fixture it has become an iconic part of. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">All over the world
people are captivated by sport and competition. Never more than when two great
rivals come together for a head on collision. When a match or event becomes
intense and personal, fan interest peaks while temperatures rise. It is great
rivalries that define sport, creating the passion and building the fervent
support. It is when sport is at its best; clearly defined protagonists that
allow fans to identify passionately along ideological fault lines. It’s when a
game can transcend from a weekend pastime to something that becomes a visceral whirlwind
to lose yourself in. Rivalries manufacture the drama that gives you sport at
its most intense and compelling best and at the apex of sporting spectacle is
the fixture now known the world over as El Clasico: Real Madrid against
Barcelona.<br />
<br />
More than anything else on the sporting spectrum, the world of football thrives
on its intense rivalries. Between certain clubs an ingrained animosity runs skin
deep, fans with that burning desire to get one over on their fiercest
opponents. Geographic, sporting, political, cultural or historic – all route
causes for how footballing conflicts are born. The rivalry between Madrid and
Barcelona could be said to comprise all these elements together, helping us to start
to explain why this particular clash is footballs biggest.<br />
<br />
On the face of it, it's a clash between Spain's biggest and most successful
clubs. Invariably since the beginning of a professional league in the country
these two sides have been locked in an unrelenting battle for supremacy and so
unsurprisingly the importance of these games is massive – they are often title
deciders. That’s never more evident than in today’s era of the clubs now
seemingly unassailable duopoly at the top of the Spanish game, where draws are
the new defeats and losses are just too catastrophic to imagine; to win a title
means aiming for a century of points. Where a fixture deals in such fine
margins with such small gaps between success and failure the pressure and
subsequently standing of the game becomes ever higher. <br />
<br />
The significance of when the two clubs clash does however go far beyond the
field of play. Some elements may have become overplayed in recent times in the
bombastic circus that is the media madness of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century
football world, but it is clear that this is a rivalry which transcends the
simple boundaries of two teams, albeit two giants, playing a game of football.
It is a rivalry riven with deep historical, cultural and political undertones.<br />
<br />
Myth and reality are often blurred when it comes to Real Madrid versus Barcelona,
but politics and ideology unquestionably play their part in why this is such a
captivating clash. It is often said that perception is greater than reality,
but to many this fixture represents wider cultural and political issues that
exist in Spanish society. It is seen, or indeed proclaimed by many as a battle
between the forces of centralisation and authoritarianism, represented by Real
Madrid and regionalism and ‘freedom', represented by Barcelona. Freedom in this
case being the ability of Catalonia to be able to control its own affairs, free
from the hand of Madrid. Now in an age of globalisation and Hollywood, where
the game spreads to all corners of the world the conflict offers a perfect
narrative for those that like to cache things in terms of good versus evil and
in the oppressed versus the oppressors.
</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><br />
<br />
Looking at this commonly perceived break down, it's not hard to see how the
rivalry has classically been framed – Madrid to many, the bad guy's of the
piece. As Spanish football expert Sid Low wrote back in 2008 in World Soccer
magazine (which named the fixture No. 1 in its feature on the top 50 games in
the world); ‘Perceptions prove stubborn, fuelling the rivalry and prompting one
columnist to lament: "Madrid have won the sporting battle, but Barcelona
have won the propaganda button".‘</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><br />
<br />
With its roots in the Spanish Civil War, Real against Barca is seen as the
embodiment of arguably the deepest political battle that exists in Spain; a
strong, central nation state versus political autonomy for the regions. It's a
battle also being waged all over the world, explaining why the fixture takes on
a global appeal, perhaps allowing for someone with a Scottish National Party membership
card to live vicariously through Ronaldo versus Messi. With Spain possessing
such fiercely defined examples of regional cultural identity, the most
prominent of course being that of Catalonia and the Basque region, it is not
hard to see why the game takes on such importance. As Jimmy Burns, author of</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Barca: A People’s Passion</i> and </span><i><span style="font-size: 9pt;">When Beckham Went to Spain: Power, Stardom and
Real Madrid</span></i><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt;">wrote a few years ago in
the Financial Times;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"It was during the
Franco years that the political scars left by the Spanish civil war found
enduring expression in the rivalry between the clubs. While Real Madrid allowed
itself to become closely identified with the Franco regime, Barcelona became a
channel for Catalan regional identity that was repressed beyond the playing
fields."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
Perhaps there is some guilt on our part of overstating things a little but to
those involved, the game of football, during the years of the Franco
dictatorship after the end of the war took on huge importance and while it
sounds like a cliché there are countless examples of where sport, and football
in particular has been a significant political tool. That’s not to say that a
certain fantasy around the fixture hasn’t been allowed to flourish: It's a long
accepted part of the narrative for example that Franco himself was a
Madridista, bending over backwards for the club while creating the footballing
equivalent of the evil Empire from Star Wars. As the popular line goes,
Madrid’s successes came on the back of a favourable regime that was prepared to
allow the club to circumvent the rules. Whether this is true or not is open to
huge debate, and indeed as Philip Ball argues in his excellent book</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Morbo</span></i><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">on the history of Spanish
football, Franco's perceived allegiances were more myth than reality. However
the game of football, and Barcelona's role as a symbol for Catalan identity
should not be underestimated.<br />
<br />
Whilst tales of corrupt officials, dodgy transfer dealings and various other
under hand tactics are regularly thrown about when describing this time, and
indeed still thrown about now by</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">both</span></i><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">teams,
what it is true to say is that under the rule of Franco any moves or calls for
greater autonomy or indeed independent rule for Catalonia were not tolerated.
Games of football for Barcelona fans became the place for those to voice any
political views and make demonstrations. While Barca's motto of ‘More than just
a Club' may be somewhat pretentious, the team remains central to the regions
identity and its clashes with Madrid stir up the passions of those on both
sides, that go beyond the realm of sport and into the fields of politics and
society.<br />
<br />
It is against this deeper ideological backdrop that the epic clash of two of
the world's biggest (if not <i>the</i>
biggest) football clubs is framed. Outside of the political spin, the fixtures
reputation has been founded on bringing together the biggest names in world
football, throwing them into the powder keg of bubbling animosity. It's about
the pomp and the pageantry, and few other clashes in sport have provided such
iconic moments. After all perhaps no other fixture can carry such a roll call
of football’s international hall of fame. Di Stefano, Puskas, Kubala, Cruyff,
Hugo Sanchez, Laudrup, Romario, Stoichkov, Raul, Figo, Rivaldo, Zidane, Ronaldinho,
Messi and Ronaldo, just some of the names that have lit up
this special occasion on the sporting calendar.</span><br />
<br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">
Saturday night’s edition of the Clasico from the Camp Nou was
not one of the classic encounters from this fixtures rich heritage – although
one that will go down in history as being the first Clasico for one Gareth
Bale, the most expensive player of all time – but this is still the biggest
club football game in the world. Regardless of the circumstance or form of the
teams involved it is an occasion to be savoured. People like to say that
politics and sport shouldn't mix, but when fervent regional and national
identities are mixed with some of the best players in the world, the results are
an explosive cocktail that transcends the simple equation of 22 players plus
one ball.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2004918799631379518.post-55312312877809106002013-09-29T17:21:00.002+01:002017-08-14T15:23:33.115+01:00Reality bites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ziwU77STFU/UkhTBlLorDI/AAAAAAAAAKg/NwKoiTa8X5c/s1600/Crystal-Palace-v-Swansea-City-Premier-League-2293038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ziwU77STFU/UkhTBlLorDI/AAAAAAAAAKg/NwKoiTa8X5c/s320/Crystal-Palace-v-Swansea-City-Premier-League-2293038.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The received wisdom of trying to achieve top flight
survival is that encounters with the teams around you will dictate your future.
Games against Champions League contenders are written off as freebies; hope for
little and expect nothing. D</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">efeat to Swansea however – with no disrespect
meant to an evidently impressive Welsh football team – was a sobering
experience.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Note: The following
was written before the weekend and Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat at Southampton,
however after another game in which the team’s naivety was front row and centre
the points I was trying to make definitely would seem to still apply <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />The received
wisdom of trying to achieve top flight survival is that encounters with the
teams around you will dictate your future. Games against Champions League
contenders are written off as freebies; hope for little and expect nothing.
It’s the matches against the rest where your time and effort should be
concentrated, a simple case of using resources efficiently and targeting your
most likely sources of points. So while it took a dodgy call and unwarranted
penalty to lose at the home of the Champions, the burning indignation was
offset by the sense it was just a rather annoying way to succumb to the
inevitable. Sunday’s defeat to Swansea however – with no disrespect meant to an
evidently impressive Welsh football team – was a sobering experience. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />As Valencia
might attest to, the men from the Liberty Stadium are a highly accomplished
outfit, mixing a progressive passing style with rapid and pin point counter
attacking. It was not as if going into the game as a Palace fan you were
banking on three points (as a Palace fan there’s never really a situation where
that’s the case) but given the Swans are not one of the so called ‘elite’ and
given they had just played twice in the space of six days with a trip to Spain
thrown in there, the thinking had to be that this was a game where opportunity
might come knocking. It took all of two minutes for that optimism to evaporate,
and after a chastening 90 minutes spent chasing white shadows, for that
optimism to have been thoroughly obliterated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />No-one likes
losing games. Obvious perhaps, but there are different ways of losing; as shown
at Old Trafford being on the wrong end of a dubious decision can be comforting
in a way, giving you that straw to clutch at. There’s a reassurance in thinking
the main reason you lost was the ineptitude of the man in the middle rather
than any failings that fall closer to home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Likewise,
being the victim of a smash and grab raid from an opposition you’ve had under
the cosh all game, whilst frustrating at the time, gives you a strange sense of
satisfaction; play like that every week and nine times out of ten you’ll come
out on top. Well, that’s what you tell yourself, but when you are so completely
and overwhelmingly outclassed, the sort of match where you would hope the
referee would have the sympathy to step in and end things early on
compassionate grounds, it can be as demoralising as that bubble bursting trip
to the schools careers adviser when you are 16 and finding out your personality
perfectly suits a job in recruitment or telesales.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Crystal
Palace had acquitted themselves well during the first four games, at no point
had they been overawed, the defeat to Swansea however was an eye opening, or
perhaps more accurately, eye watering experience. At times it was embarrassingly
one sided, at others Michael Laudrup’s team appeared to be playing a completely
different sport given the rather dramatic contrast in what both were attempting
to do. Playing their vibrant brand of tiki taffa, an exhilarating zip to their
passing, there was no wasted motion from Swansea and in Michu, the games
outstanding performer, the Welshman possessing a man capable of explosive
moments from a deceptively languid gate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Michu famously
cost just £2million, the ultimate bargain from a shopping trip abroad. His
purchase was part of a continued smart recruitment drive supported by a clear
methodology. On Sunday that was set against the more scatter gun approach taken
by Ian Holloway on transfer deadline day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />From the
moment the final whistle sounded at the play-off final it was clear Palace
would have to strengthen, but, without the resources to shop at the high end of
the market, lacking the clout and reputation to turn the head of a big name
looking to re-establish themselves and with a management hierarchy not
connected to an exotic and spiralling scouting network across the globe, cloth
would have to be cut more accordingly. It was more a case of hit and hope;
looking to unearth a diamond from amongst the rough. It’s not to say that the
players signed were poor, most bring a lot of different qualities to the table
and a number should prove very shrewd acquisitions in the long term, it’s just
there didn’t seem to be a coherent strategy between looking at what was needed
and looking at what arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />That lack of
clarity on how exactly the new additions would fit together appeared to pay a
significant role in the jumbled up puzzle that Holloway put out last weekend.
Gone were the two holding midfielders and three forward players behind the lone
striker and gone was the settled line-up that had been serving the team well so
far. In came a number of the new recruits into a 4-3-3 where several of the
players looked uncomfortable and out of sorts. Big striker Cameron Jerome
marooned on the wing, a central midfield trio overrun and Jason Puncheon
attempting to play everywhere but only succeeding in performing nowhere.
Playing with two target men a strange gambit when there were no wingers to
cross to them and when they were never close enough to each other to play in
tandem. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Any team
would have struggled to live with Swansea on the day but you can’t help feeling
that Palace played into their hands with players struggling to grasp the basic
game plan. Tried and trusted had worked for the opening fixtures but it’s hard
to criticise a manger too strongly for daring to be creative with his thinking.
In a league where even a team that finished md-table last time out can dish out
a footballing lesson, thinking from outside the box can be just as useful as a
goal poaching from inside it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Let’s
not be pessimistic, in four out of the five games, Palace have more than held
their own, matching their more illustrious opposition. If anything, the major
concern after the club had lost at Old Trafford was that the club might have
realistically had a couple more points to add to their haul of three so far.
Nonetheless the Swansea game provided something of a wakeup call, the evidence
of the standard required to compete at this level slapping them squarely in the
face. Can they compete? Of course, but the Welsh teams masterful control of
first the ball and then the game showed that the honeymoon period is well and
truly over. Now it’s the bills, arguments and hard slog that come with
attempting a marriage to the Premier League. </span></span>Matt Snellinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15247992273157507327noreply@blogger.com0