TFT Podcast Ep 40

At half time on Sunday, Aston Villa supporters were in bits. 2-0 down away to Reading in the FA Cup quarter final, opposing fans at the Madejski were gleefully gloating, telling the travelling Villans that they "might as well go home". I was in that crowd of Villa fans, cursing the team's lethargy and watching our season drift away over the horizon. On the back of Wembley defeat in the Carling Cup final, it was difficult to take.

Our guest this week, 7500 to Holte blogger Kirsten Schlewitz was in the same situation, and neither of us predicted what was to come in the second 45 minutes.

After a presumably hefty dressing down at half time, Villa came roaring back into contention with a quick goal from Ashley Young. John Carew followed up with an emphatic hat-trick to book Villa's second Wembley excursion of the season. They'll play Chelsea on the second weekend in April, and were joined in the semi final draw by Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.

Pompey made the last four thanks to a 2-0 victory over high-flying Birmingham City, a defeat made all the more difficult to swallow for Alex McLeish by a Liam Ridgewell header which clearly crossed the goal line but was not spotted by the assistant referee. Chelsea's 2-0 win over Stoke City was delivered by two Englishmen, Frank Lampard and John Terry. Terry's celebration - in which he rolled up his sleeve and tapped his captain's armband - has been the subject of controversy this week and I think it shows a lack of class regardless of whether it was aimed at Fabio Capello or was intended as a thank you to the Chelsea fans.

In the other quarter final, Spurs and Fulham couldn't muster a goal between them and will have to replay for a place at Wembley against Avram Grant's side. That reward is something of a poison chalice, but should Spurs make it through Portsmouth will be without Jamie O'Hara. His form has been central to everything positive at Fratton Park this season but he would be ineligible to play against his parent club.

In the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United took full advantage of Chelsea's cup distraction by picking up wins which dropped Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers deep into relegation trouble. Nicklas Bendtner, whose cause I've been championing lately, had a real shocker against the Clarets. In this week's show, Gary Andrews revisits my confident wager that Bendtner would score against Porto in the Champions League. As you'll know by now, he fired in a hat-trick as the Gunners demolished their Portuguese opposition 5-0.

We discuss this week's Champions League matches, make accurate predictions about last night's games (well, one of us does) and look ahead to Manchester United's tie with AC Milan and Real Madrid's game against Lyon. Time will tell on our predictions there, and there will be more about those games in next week's Champions League roundup.

Also on the agenda this week are the merits of trust ownership in the English game and a tribute to Macclesfield manager Keith Alexander, who sadly passed away at the age of 53 after the Silkmen's match at Notts County last week.

The show is now available on iTunes and the CSRN media player, or you can listen below.

Please leave your comments below, follow us on Twitter, be our fan on Facebook and send your questions and comments to twofootedtackle[at]googlemail[dot]com - we also want audio contributions to the show, so feel free to get in touch about that.

Have a great week.

You can listen to this week's episode below:
Download link (mp3, 37mb, 66 mins)

Read more

Rent-a-Quote Redknapp and the gloomy future of the British manager

One of the many downsides of having to take the day off work with a banging headache is sodding Sky Sports News. For all my prejudice, I still tune in when there's absolutely nothing else on. And today they took a break every hour from their sickening, blatant pro-technology agenda to turn their attention to Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and his latest moral quest.

In the aftermath of Tottenham's goalless FA Cup draw with Fulham, self-satisfied Telegraph hack Henry Winter reported on Redknapp's comments about the bleak outlook for home grown managers in the Premier League. What at first sounds like nothing more than one gobshite writing about the views of another actually has some value in this case. Or rather, the debate has some value.

In my opinion Redknapp is in no position to go swanning about trying to clean up football's many problems, and gets far too easy a ride from the media. And this is a perfect example of why; journalists love a newsworthy quote, and Redknapp knows it.

His point in this case is, as usual, buried within fatuous nonsense and weak comparisons with a bygone age. But he makes a bold statement here: "Every club will have a foreign owner eventually and you'll get less British managers." It would take a far stauncher Redknapp critic than me to disagree with that, and it is a prediction worth making.

On the face of it, I'd like to not agree with Redknapp's assumption that British managers will become extinct in the Premier League's future. It doesn't add up to me. The league will always be made up of an elite few and bulked out with regular, earthy clubs. That means British managers will always have a place and many will thrive.

When asked about Redknapp's prediction, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce pointed out that British managers are - more often than not - in charge at promoted Championship clubs. In theory, then, the Premier League is annually replenished with two or three British managers and they might even be successful and remain.

In the Premier League today, 13 managers out of 20 are British. That immediately makes Redknapp's diatribe seem outlandish but the first part of his comment resonates. Will all 20 clubs be foreign-owned? English football's attraction to foreign investors will return post-recession, and the number of foreign-owned clubs will presumably increase.

But I am confident that Redknapp is wide of the mark here, even if I think he certainly has a point. For 20 out of 20 clubs to be owned by foreigners in any given season it would require foreign ownership to some depth in the Championship. I still think that's rather unlikely, but Redknapp's point stands. 16 or 17 foreign-owned clubs would still justify his concern.

However, one thing doesn't necessarily lead to another. British managers will always get opportunities in the top flight, even if there is more pressure on them to make the most of them and do so quickly. As mentioned, promoted managers are often British and, if they do well, they will continue in post regardless of the nationality of a club's owner.

And there's nothing to say foreign businessmen won't appoint British bosses. Although Doug Ellis' signature was on Martin O'Neill's first Aston Villa contract, he was Randy Lerner's man. Daniel Levy may not be a foreigner but his club has a history of appointing them, which was reversed when Redknapp succeeded Juande Ramos.

Either way, does it really matter? I'll leave you with the thoughts of one Roy Keane: if a manager is good enough, he'll get the opportunities he deserves. I think that's a message I can subscribe to.

(Pic via Vired)

Read more

Prediction League: Week 24 - Predictions

Portsmouth vs. Birmingham
Chris: Portsmouth
Ian: Birmingham
Gary: Birmingham

Fulham vs. Tottenham
Chris: Draw
Ian: Fulham
Gary: Fulham

Arsenal vs. Burnley
Chris: Arsenal
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Arsenal

West Ham vs. Bolton
Chris: West Ham
Ian: West Ham
Gary: Draw

Wolves vs. Man United
Chris: Man United
Ian: Man United
Gary: Man United

Reading vs. Aston Villa
Chris: Aston Villa
Ian: Aston Villa
Gary: Aston Villa

Chelsea vs. Stoke
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Draw

Everton vs. Hull
Chris: Everton
Ian: Everton
Gary: Everton

Wigan vs. Liverpool
Chris: Liverpool
Ian: Liverpool
Gary: Liverpool

Apologies for the late post, internet problems, but all predictions are genuine.

Read more

Nicklas Bendtner: a dirty secret

That's right, a dirty secret. And I'm not talking about a dirty secret of Nicklas Bendtner's, I'm talking about a dirty secret of mine. I think that in different circumstances, the Arsenal striker would have a much better reputation. In other words, he's not as bad as we all think he is.

Some caveats. Bendtner is a div. He is arrogant beyond his means, and he backs that up with the attitude to match. Above all of the things I'll discuss in this post, he must learn some humility and develop a better grasp on his own limits. His opinion of himself to date simply isn't realistic, and getting a grip on that will be his first step to redemption.

But I've been giving the Danish striker some thought lately and I think he's a very decent player. This blog post has been a few weeks in the writing, and began way back when I accepted a wager with my podcast co-host Gary after bullishly insisting that Bendtner would score at least once during Arsenal's two-legged Champions League tie with Porto.

He didn't score in the away leg that week, but he has been in the goals since, with three in three for club and country. He scored as Arsenal defeated Sunderland at home on 20th February and headed home the crucial equaliser in the Gunners' 3-1 victory over Stoke City on Sunday - and a bloody good header it was too. Last night, he scored Denmark's only goal in a 2-1 defeat to Austria.

Despite this good little purple patch, Bendtner will remain the butt of jokes and the target of criticism. So what is it about him that makes him so easy to dislike?

For starters, he clearly thinks he belongs in the 'big four' and hasn't quite lived up to that with what he's achieved on the pitch. He demanded a late change to his squad number so he could take number...er...52. And we've all seen his pants.

But there are also playing factors. Bendtner is lambasted for failing to turn a good number of chances into any kind of scoring record. He's scored just three Premier League goals this season, supplemented by one in the Champions League against Standard Liege and one against Liverpool in the League Cup. And it's not just about the quality of opposition; Bendtner's scoring record in the Championship for Birmingham was better, but hardly breathtaking.

Two international goals in two games earned Denmark two points against Portugal and Albania in September, but they were Bendtner's only previous international goals. So it's understandable that Arsenal supporters get frustrated with him, and his attitude doesn't help his reputation outside North London.

But I think big things will come from Nicklas Bendtner if he learns to wind his neck in. He's got a great deal of quality and that shows in the goals he does score. He's good in the air and great on the deck, and many of the chances he squanders are created by him, usually quite brilliantly. Just imagine how good his record could be if his finishing clicks into place as he gets older.

I'm not saying Bendtner is a perfect player waiting to burst out of mediocrity, or that he will become a world-beater with one or two tweaks to his game or outlook. What I am saying is that I'd love him at my club because I think he does an awful lot exceptionally well and would offer a huge improvement in quality for teams who don't already have contributions from the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, Denilson et al.

Bendtner might not stand out at Arsenal, but he most certainly would at another club. And perversely, if he were to be the focal point of a Europa League standard club rather than a bit-part player at a Champions League club, I actually think his development would benefit and he'd score more goals by virtue of an improved scoring rate and more playing time.

I think I might be in a minority of one this time. Anyone with me?

Read more

TFT Podcast Ep 39

This week, English football has been taking a long, hard look at itself. On the field, Arsenal's 19-year-old midfielder Aaron Ramsey suffered a double leg break thanks to a tackle from Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross. And in the courts, AFC Bournemouth were slapped with a winding-up petition, Chester City have two days to appeal against their expulsion from the Conference, and Portsmouth's voluntary administration has been challenged by HMRC.

Ramsey's injury at the Britannia brought into sharp relief the debate about the tactics employed by teams playing against Arsenal. Their style of play means that they dominate the ball, frustrating their opponents. Physicality is the counter-tactic of choice and Arsene Wenger is highly critical of such an approach. But he should focus on the issues, on the bad tackles which have injured Ramsey, Eduardo and Abou Diaby. By tying those into a general tactical diatribe, the Frenchman is winning little sympathy.

Ramsey, however, is enjoying the best wishes of everyone in football. For a young player of such ability to suffer this kind of injury is heartbreaking, as the reaction of the Arsenal players demonstrated. Here's to a speedy recovery.

But debate is debate, and therefore the discussion has focused on Shawcross rather than the Welshman since his dismissal on Saturday. We've been reminded of tackles which the defender, currently on England duty for the first time, has been guilty of in the past. We've been told it was out of character. The conflicting arguments about an individual player have taken away from the argument we should be having about the frequency of shocking tackles in England. And no, they're not always against Arsenal, a team as guilty of them as any other.

In this week's show, we are joined by Arsenal supporter Graham Sibley from The Onion Bag and Some People Are On The Pitch, and his opinion on Shawcross is less sympathetic than mine.

We also talk through the game's financial meltdown, touching on the possibility of Phoenix clubs not just at Chester but also at Portsmouth, a Premier League club which has effectively been given two weeks to live. Just down the coast, Bournemouth are in a similar situation and I argue that the Cherries would not be replaced in the town if they went out of business.

We round up all the Premier League action from the weekend, discuss Fabio Capello's England squad for tonight's friendly against Egypt - hot on the heels of the Pharaohs' Africa Cup of Nations triumph - and review the Carling Cup final between Aston Villa and Manchester United.

We also talk to Sam Goode of Access Sport International about the Omnicom Haiti Fundraiser. As an employee of one of the works teams involved, I'll be playing alongside ex-Spurs stars Micky Hazard and Graham Roberts, former Chelsea man Kerry Dixon, Soccer AM presenter Max Rushden and actors Ralf Little and Shaun Dooley.

All proceeds will be DOUBLED and given to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, so come along. The game will take place at Dulwich Hamlet Football Club [map] in South London this Thursday at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 and you can buy one and get all the details here. Please make the effort to come down and watch me humiliating myself if you can - it's for an important cause and I'll need your support.

The show is now available on iTunes and the CSRN media player, or you can listen below.

Please leave your comments below, follow us on Twitter, be our fan on Facebook and send your questions and comments to twofootedtackle[at]googlemail[dot]com - we also want audio contributions to the show, so feel free to get in touch about that.

Have a great week.

You can listen to this week's episode below:
Download link (mp3, 37mb, 54 mins)

Read more