Pedro Pompilio

Pedro Pompilio
President, Club Atletico Boca Juniors

30th October 2008

Rest in peace.

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PremWatch 30th October 2008

A night of intrigue completed a fascinating week of football in the Premier League. Here's the LD:

Joey Barton stole the headlines on Tuesday, making a Premier League start and scoring a penalty as Newcastle United defeated West Bromwich Albion. Ishmael Miller scored a consolation for Albion after Oba Martins scored Newcastle's second.

Last night, Evil Harry's first North London derby saw Arsenal lead 4-2 after 89 minutes only for Tottenham Hotspur to level in stoppage time. An impressive strike from David Bentley put Spurs ahead but Arsenal went 3-1 up through Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor. Darren Bent pulled one back before Robin Van Persie looked to have sealed the game. Amazingly, Jermaine Jenas and Aaron Lennon scored late on.

Stephen Warnock scored Blackburn Rovers' first in a dismal game at Villa Park. Luke Young bundled in the equaliser for Aston Villa, before Gareth Barry's well-worked goal and a predictably brilliant one-on-one finish from Gabriel Agbonlahor put the game beyond Paul Ince's side. Brett Emerton bent in a free kick at the death to make it 3-2.

Marouane Fellaini scored in the last minute to give Everton a 1-0 win away at Bolton Wanderers. It really cranked up the pressure on Bolton boss Gary Megson.

Andy "Andrew" Johnson scored league goals number 100 and 101 to take Fulham to a 2-0 win over struggling Wigan Athletic. Steve Bruce's team seem to have started playing badly having failed to pick up points when performing well.


The Hull City bubble burst when Chelsea came to visit. Frank Lampard scored a beauty to give Chelsea an early lead. Nic Anelka scored the second, and Florent Malouda the third to keep the Blues in touch with the top of the table.

A handball from Papa Bouba Diop gifted Liverpool a win over Portsmouth. Yet another lucky goal for Liverpool, though on this occasion at least it seems that they were all over Tony Adams' men and deserved the win.

Cristiano Ronaldo hit the scoring trail with a vengeance at Old Trafford. His brace provided the only goals of Manchester United's 2-0 win over West Ham United, continuing a terrible start to managerial life for Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola.

Manchester City fell foul of a cold night on Teesside. Robinho and Co couldn't cope as a pair of second half goals for Middlesbrough bagged the three points. Afonso Alves netted the first from the spot, and Gary O'Neil lashed in the second in injury time.

Finally, Ricardo Fuller scored the only goal for Stoke City as Tony Pulis' men ran out 1-0 winners over Sunderland.

So, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa make up the top four, with Hull City occupying the UEFA Cup spot in fifth. The brand spanking new bottom three is Tottenham Hotspur, Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic.

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)

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Pini Zahavi's future football superstars

Controversial football agent Pini Zahavi, in his role at IMScouting.com, has selected a team of youngsters destined for international footballing greatness.

The website itself claims to be "the first system of its kind to provide in-depth coverage of leagues and football players from all around the world" and, despite criticism from the excellent Ian Plenderleith in the latest issue of When Saturday Comes, seems to me like a decent enough starting place for what is a ridiculously ambitious challenge.

The input (and I just know you were wondering about the input) comes from a global network of local experts, most notably including a whole bunch of football journalists (though the expertise of certain journalists is questionable). Zahavi's backing seems key, which is why, after a load of players were identified by the network, it was he who selected world football's eleven best prospects. Oh, to be young again.

Anyway, here's the list. Once you've read it, let me know what you think. Is he right? Is someone missing? Does your team have a hot prospect we should know about? I look forward to reading your views. Here goes:

• Giedrius Arlauskis (20). Goalkeeper. Unirea Urziceni, Romania
  
  
• Oscar Wendt (22). Left back. FC Copenhagen, Denmark
  
  
• Ahmed Al Mohamady (21). Right back. Enppi Cairo, Egypt
  
  
• Breno (19). Centre back. Bayern Munich, Germany
  
  
• Sejad Salihovic (24). Left midfielder. Hoffenheim, Germany
  
  
• Tijani Belaid (21). Central midfielder. Slavia Prague, Czech Republic
  
  
• Almen Abdi (21). Attacking midfielder. FC Zurich, Switzerland
  
  
• Jorge Samir (21). Attacking midfielder. Dinamo Zagred, Croatia
  
  
• Mauro Boselli (23). Striker. Estudiantes, Argentina
  
  
• Pontus Wernbloom (21). Striker. Gothenburg, Sweden
  
  
• Filip Ivanovski (22). Striker. Polonia Warszawa, Poland

Who would you pick?

(Photo Credit: Daylife)

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Tony Adams set for Portsmouth job

After Portsmouth became the latest club to watch Harry Redknapp up sticks and walk away, assistant manager Tony Adams, the former Arsenal and England captain, is in talks with the club over the vacant managerial position, according to the BBC.

Redknapp quit on Saturday night to take over as manager of Tottenham Hotspur following the exit of Juande Ramos. Amazingly, he will still be given the freedom of Portsmouth this week despite being something of a greedy bastard turncoat. I despair for football when Bournemouth and Portsmouth fans find it impossible to hate this man. Still, there's a silver lining: there will be no Harry Redknapp bell in the city.

Adams and Joe Jordan took charge of Portsmouth's draw with Fulham at the weekend, and apparently the former has already had Redknapp put in a good word with the powers that be at Fratton Park. Jordan, Avram Grant and Sam Allardyce are reportedly Adams' biggest competition for the post. I'm sure we'll know more pretty soon - things seem to move quickly down in Hampshire.

So is Tony Adams the man for Portsmouth? I think Adams has many of the attributes needed to become a successful manager, despite a less than groundbreaking start to his managerial career at Wycombe Wanderers. Please be aware that I say this with no insight into Adams' methods or ability, merely judging him on what I've seen and heard of him while following his career.

I think he is probably largely responsible for Portsmouth's recent success. He's a clever, clever guy, and a real football man. Adams knows the game inside out, and has demonstrated tactical nous as both a player and an assistant manager (if he is to be credited with this at Pompey). As a frankly awful TV pundit, he managed to do something no other pundit seems to manage: he taught me something I didn't know.

I know it doesn't sound much, but he just seemed to have that little bit more going on upstairs than the likes of Dixon, Hansen, Brother Gavin and Shearer. I take that as a pretty good sign for Portsmouth.

My concern is that management is so much more than just tactical knowledge and coaching ability. It's about man management, motivation, mind games. It'll be interesting to see how Ol' Donkey fares if Portsmouth do the brave thing and appoint him.

What do you think? Is Adams the man for the job?

(Photo Credit: Eurosport.yahoo.com)

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PremWatch 27th October 2008

On a weekend which saw the NFL rockin' it up at Wembley, proper football provided plenty of drama to show who's boss in England. Here's what happened:

Manchester United went ahead at Goodison Park with a neat finish from Darren Fletcher. Marouane Fellaini's second half header levelled for Everton, earning the Toffees a valuable point even as Wayne Rooney kissed the United badge and found himself substituted to avoid a red card.

The Wear-Tyne derby was massively lacking in quality before Djibril Cisse put Sunderland ahead by being in the right place at the right time. The play improved and Shola Ameobi thundered in a header to equalise for Newcastle United. Kieran Richardson won it for the Black Cats with a stunning free kick. Crowd trouble followed, but the furore which surrounded one idiot and his coin at Villa Park last week has still received more press.

Hull City stuck three past West Bromwich Albion in a second half demolition which leaves them flying high. Kamil Zayatte put impressive Hull ahead, and Geovanni and Marlon King finished Albion off.

In Saturday's other game, Middlesbrough were robbed of a perfectly legitimate Tuncay Sanli goal by an incorrect offside decision. Afonso Alves eventually put Boro ahead, but returning Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy grabbed the equalised at Ewood deep into stoppage time.


The UEFA Cup competitors played on Sunday, but all eyes were on two Champions League hopefuls slogging it out at Stamford Bridge. Xabi Alonso's deflected goal helped Liverpool to a famous victory over Chelsea, giving most Chelsea fans their first taste of home defeat by ending their impressive unbeaten run at the Bridge. Liverpool are three points clear at the top.

Manchester City saw the best of Robinho at home to Stoke City. The Brazilian scored a tidy hat-trick, but the best factor for me was the vision and cunning of Daniel Sturridge in providing two of those goals in quite brilliant fashion.

Peter Crouch and Clint Dempsey scored as managerless Portsmouth held Fulham to a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park. I saw a bunch of Fulham fans giving it the big 'un at Waterloo station late last night. Big brave 12-year-olds with fluffy facial hair and barnets like an electrocuted duck's arse. Terrifying, it was.

Ex-Pompey quitter manager Harry Redknapp has been taking plenty of credit for Tottenham Hotspur's first win of the season, at home to Bolton Wanderers. Obviously this credit is entirely deserved, what with Redknapp signing goalscorers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent - along with the rest of the winning team - during his five minutes in charge at White Hart Lane. Eh? Oh. Gavin McCann picked up a soft red card for Bolton.

Arsenal took a long old while to beat West Ham United, but eventually bagged all three points at Upton Park. Unfortunate Julien Faubert scored an own goal for 0-1, and Emmanuel Adebayor took advantage of plenty of space to secure the win in stoppage time.

At the JJB, Aston Villa dismantled Wigan Athletic, netting four times to keep Steve Bruce's side near the foot of the table. Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew and Steve Sidwell scored, and Wigan might just regret playing so well but not picking up the points so far this season.

So, Liverpool top the Premier League from Chelsea and Hull, with Arsenal in fourth and Villa in fifth. Spurs remain bottom, but are now just one point short of disastrous Newcastle. Stoke make up the bottom three.

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)

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David Beckham joins AC Milan

Wow. Sometimes football can really surprise you, and today is one of those days.

I've been hearing whispers and rumours that David Beckham would make the most of the Major League Soccer off-season by dragging himself back to Europe. Over the last two days, rumours have strengthened that he'd be heading for Italy and Serie A.

And yet today's announcement, spotted here at BBC Sport, surprised me. He's only gone and done it - David Beckham is joining AC Milan on a six-month loan in January. The MLS season ends this weekend.

The move means that Beckham, who is contracted to Los Angeles Galaxy through the MLS, will have played in Europe's top three leagues. He made his name at Manchester United in England before joining Real Madrid.

I'm sure Beckham will get plenty of criticism for this move, but I think it's a great deal all round (except for Galaxy and MLS).

It's not unlike the transfer of Ronaldinho to the San Siro this summer. Milan will do fantastic business in merchandising - it's money for nothing, really - and will have six months' service from the best dead ball operator on the planet. The player completes a hat-trick of world class clubs, plays alongside Ronaldinho, Kaka and Pato, and gets six months' use of the famous Milan Lab.

Beckham, 33, is heading for exactly the right club to add another three or four seasons to his career. The Milan Lab is credited with the astonishing longevity of Paolo Maldini et al, and by their standards Beckham is positively wet behind the ears.

I can't wait to see Milan get Beckham back to his best - in a league where pace isn't the most vital attribute, they might just manage it. What do you think?

(Photo Credit: Babble.com)

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PremWatch 20th October 2008

So after my partisan rant about Harry Redknapp, it's back to balanced business as usual this morning, with this weekend's PremWatch at twofootedtackle.

The weekend began at the Riverside, where Chelsea dismantled Middlesbrough with a magnificent 5-0 victory. The goals came from Saloman Kalou (2), Florent Malouda, Frank Lampard and a ripsnorting 30-yarder from Juliano Belletti.

Arsenal beat Everton 3-1. Leon Osman's determination earned him an opener for the Toffees, but Samir Nasri, Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott struck as Arsenal fought their way back to a deserved victory.

Portsmouth travelled to Villa Park and picked up a point in a goalless draw with Aston Villa. Pompey's Sean Davis saw red - harsh, in my opinion, but the referee had little choice.

Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, and Fulham and Sunderland, also finished goalless. Kieran Richardson of Sunderland had a free kick disallowed because Pascal Chimbonda pushed the Fulham wall, probably provoked by much fondling from comedy genius Jimmy Bullard.

Two goals from Amr Zaki put Wigan Athletic 2-1 up at Liverpool, with a Dirk Kuyt strike sandwiched between. Pepe Reina and Dan Agger were at fault for Zaki's first, but the measured acrobatic volley for the second was utterly brilliant. Albert Riera and Kuyt, with a scuffed volley, helped Liverpool to victory after Antonio Valencia's red card.

In the late kick off, Manchester United took a while to get into their stride, but eventually hammered West Bromwich Albion 4-0. An impressive spread of scorers saw Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov and Nani hit the net for United.


On Sunday, Hull City notched up yet another victory, going third with a 1-0 home win over West Ham United. Michael Turner headed in the winner for Phil Brown's side.

At the Britannia, a staggering match between Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur saw Spurs stay bottom after a massive 11 minutes of second half stoppage time. Gareth Bale was sent off for up-ending Tom Soares, and Danny Higginbotham thumped in the penalty. Darren Bent equalised for lucky Spurs, but a Rory Delap tap-in settled matters. At the end, an injury to Vedram Corluka led to the stoppage time, and Michael Dawson saw red. A Ricardo Fuller penalty hit both posts (and the rebound hit the bar), before Fuller himself struck the bar late on. Amazing.

So Hull stay in third, below Chelsea and Liverpool but above Arsenal and Manchester United. Spurs, Newcastle and Stoke make up the bottom three, but Newcastle face Manchester City this evening.

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)

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Ban Harry Redknapp from football

First thing's first. The supporter who hit the assistant referee at Villa Park yesterday with a missile aimed at the loveable innocent cockney sparra' is a moron and should be banned from Villa Park for life.

But...

Harry Redknapp is a hypocrite. Last night he variously told reporters that the supporter involved "has no place in football", "is a disgrace to the game" and "should be banned for life". That's pretty rich coming from the likes of you, me ol' China. I'm not surprised that you rocked up on Match Of The Day for once though. When it suits, eh Harry?

My opinion, assumptions and assorted learnings on Harry Redknapp's spick-and-span conduct would get me phantom-sued just like the BBC, but for some strange reason I have the urge to recall some passages from Tom Bower's excellent book, Broken Dreams.

Please bear in mind that a) I grew up in Bournemouth and have a huge soft spot for the local football club, and b) to the best of my knowledge, Harry Redknapp has never commenced legal proceedings against Mr Bower or his publishers. There's plenty more, too, and much of it is worse.

Give it some thought - is this man in a position to declare himself football's moral guardian?

"In Harry Redknapp's life that passion nearly equalled his ambition for personal wealth. 'At the end of the day,' he pontificated with sincerity, 'no one gives a monkey's about you once your career's over so in my view you should make the bucks while you can.'"

"Shortly before, however, Redknapp had attacked foreign players in England for undermining the team spirit by refusing to drink. As a player, he admitted, his life revolved around drinking and gambling."

"Lying, he believed, was justified to protect his team and his personal interests."

"In the same month, he defended Hartson's aggressive kick of Eyal Berkovic, an Israeli midfielder, in the face. When his denials were challenged, Redknapp dismissed the attack."


"In 1990, despite Redknapp's expenditure, including generous contracts with the players, [AFC Bournemouth] was relegated to the Third Division. The club's debt was destined to increase to £4.4m...Redknapp had increased the clubs costs but not its income. The small profit on his transfers had been swamped by the players' annual wages, which had risen around fivefold to around £1m."

"Redknapp escaped any blame for Bournemouth's plight."

(Photo Credits: The Sun, Aftonbladet)

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Review: Puma V1.08 Italia - the ball with a brain

How life changes. At the beginning of March, I posted about the Puma V1.08, a supposedly intelligent 'soccer ball' (it's a football, folks!) Puma was launching having addressed the issue of a football's 'intelligence'. In September, the good people at SoccerPro.com (where you can buy said ball) very kindly shipped one to me from the States for me to review. On Monday, I finally got the chance.

Here's a small reminder of how Puma has made the V1.08 'intelligent':

"The concept is rather impressive. It all hinges on a layer of material between inner ball and casing - the d3o layer, in case you were wondering - whose properties allow the ball to adapt its behaviour to the type of contact made on it.

So, if a player controls the V1.08 with a deft touch, dribbles it up the wing, or cushions a pass to a colleague, the ball feels soft as a feather.

But here's the science part (concentrate!): give the thing some welly and the molecules of the d3o layer instantly lock together, meaning the world's roundest ball leaves the foot with acceleration increased by 6%. That, folks, is very clever."

Very clever indeed. So, the review.

Test conditions

In order to give the ball it's first test, I dragged it down to Chiswick for my Monday night game with an assortment of actors, ex-sportsmen, shopping TV presenters and media types. The game was reduced to four-a-side due to attendance, and played on a five-a-side pitch with various made-up-on-the-spot rules imposed to keep it interesting. It was damp rather than wet, and the surface was astro-turf, as opposed to grass, concrete, sand or moon cheese.

The ball

On a purely superficial level, I loved the Puma V1.08 - yes, that classifies me as a geek. It's sleek, nicely designed and it's got a layer of brain. What more could one possibly want from a ball? Well, it's used by the Italian national team, for starters.

Verdict

Neat close control at low speed? Check. True ball flight? Check. Predictable curl? Check.

I guess that shows that d3o technology is doing the trick. It was a tidy ball with which to play, and kept all its promises. Puma's ball felt comfortable to control with thigh, chest and foot, and swerved (unintentionally) only a little given it's relatively light weight. In short, I liked it. A lot. Whether or not that's because I had my shooting boots on during the review is under consideration. Either way, its intelligence appears to work.

So what now? Well, I've decided not to keep the ball. I'd rather it went to a good home rather than mine, which already houses a football, so if anyone has any ideas, please get in touch.

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One Game, One Community

Kick It Out has teamed with Football Against Racism in Europe to kick off the 'One Game, One Community' Weeks of Action, which launch this evening in London.

The Weeks of Action campaign's intention is to promote equality and community engagement in the sport. With participants ranging from professional clubs to community street soccer organisations - as demonstrated by a string of press releases from the Football Foundation this morning - the campaign has a huge programme of events which begin with a panel debate at Football Association headquarters at Soho Square this evening entitled 'Homophobia in football: the last taboo?'.

The panel includes gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and BBC broadcaster Bob Ballard. You can see what I think is Bob's quite magnificently shit website here. Get it sorted, fella.

It seems a logical place to begin this lengthy campaign. Call me naive, but football (in England at least) has become a much safer and welcoming place for players and supporters from ethnic minorities. But homophobia is still regarded as a problem. Graeme Le Saux, among others, often opine that we're a long way off having openly gay footballers.

The worrying possibilities are obvious. We football fans collectively are hardly a forgiving bunch, and any perceived weakness in the opposition is preyed upon without a second thought. I dare say there's a few who aren't quite in tune with the fact that homosexuality is here, it's real and it's just the way it is. It's probably not much different in the testosterone-driven unenlightened world of the dressing room. It should be a fascinating debate.

Throughout the Weeks of Action, several professional matches will give over some attention to the campaign, and plenty of events are due to take place between today and October 28th.

If nothing else, it's ambitious. In the first night, it tackles homophobia and racism (in a student event at Bromley College), and goes on to address ladies' football, kids' community football, Kickz, amateur football, unity, disabilities and football, coaching, crime, minority involvement and diversity.

Great stuff. Please support the campaign if you get a chance.

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Lippi targets 2010 success

In 2006, just as Italy was to succumb to the damaging Calciopoli scandal, Marcelo Lippi managed to install the 'siege mentality' with staggering success. Despite calcio's impending introspection - and impressive competition from an excellent Germany side, and France - the Azzurri fought their way to victory in the World Cup.

Going out on a high, Lippi was replaced by Roberto Donadoni. The former Milan player's uninspiring football did little to endear him to Italy's demanding tifosi and, with the national side slumping out of Euro 2008 without providing a single shining moment, Donadoni was inevitably out on his ear.

Enter one Marcelo Lippi, World Champion. And, as Ricardo Rossi posted at Serie Aaaaargh!, La Nazionale is ready for much-needed change under the silver-haired tactician.

So, it could be out with the old and in with the new in the Italian camp. Alex Del Piero's international career looks over despite a successful season in front of goal last term. Massimo Ambrosini, the AC Milan midfielder, finally looks out of favour too. I've never really worked out how he's made a career at one of world football's most illustrious clubs, so his absence will hardly be missed.

Antonio Cassano, sadly, is struggling for form at Sampdoria, and will find it difficult to regain his place in the national squad under Lippi, according to Ricardo's post. Cassano's magic is wonderful but all too rare, and with the young talent bursting through Italian football at the moment, he may suffer from his lack of consistency. Perhaps the Brat from Bari will begin to regret his inability to remain disciplined over recent years.

Perhaps the Azzurri's weakest point recently, though, has been up front. The European Championships this summer demonstrated perfectly what a lumbering, useless unit Luca Toni really is - at least at international level. Even worse, his presence imbued in Italy a tendency for hoof-ball. For football puritans, it was positively heartbreaking. Fortunately, Toni's place is under severe pressure from a resurgent Alberto Gilardino and a hugely promising crop of youngsters: Marco Borriello, Mario Balotelli and Guiseppe Rossi.

With Toni suspended for tomorrow's World Cup Qualifier against Montenegro, Gilardino or Fabio Quagliarella (or both) will get a chance to oust him for good. Other names mentioned in Ricardo's post as waiting in the wings are Riccardo Montolivo (23), Sebastian Giovinco (21) and Fabiano Santacroce (22). The future's bright, then, and Lippi has been making ominous noises for the rest of us.

Why? He thinks the squad is already ahead of schedule for World Cup 2010 in comparison with his successful charges back in 2006. If that isn't worth worrying about, I don't know what is.

(Photo Credit: Contraremate.com)

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Little Hooliganz: online game glorifies football violence

The great benefit of my brand spanking new NetVibes page is it tells me what's going on in the world of football in the event that I don't have the time or inclination to read a newspaper.

The Daily Telegraph falls firmly into the 'no inclination to read' category, but one click away from NetVibes I discovered an article about Little Hooliganz, a G-com (according to its creator, Blouzar) in which the player controls a football hooligan. It's the height of sophistication, I'm sure you'll agree.

To give you a little background, a 'G-com' is a game "based on real life genres and communities". As a sociologist that in itself is enough to have me pissing myself laughing. When you consider Blouzar's other effort, Miss Bimbo, apparently involves the player controlling her little person straight into a boob job clinic, the giggles become plentiful.

I should acknowledge at this point that there are two sides to every story, and the Telegraph is painting a very different picture of both games to the one punted about by Blouzar itself. According to my not-so-favourite broadsheet rag, Blouzar's games are all about knives and gangs and tits and ass. But in the words of the developer itself, "Little Hooliganz is the newly launched g-com where sons, fathers and grandfathers can enjoy all things football." Cosy, no?

I don't believe them, and while the Telegraph is doubtlessly blowing the whole thing out of proportion by reporting it in the environs of knife crime rather than simply hooliganism (both wrong, I know, but entirely different subcultures - that's if you believe in subcultures, which I may or may not), the debate is raging elsewhere. The Football Association has voiced its distaste for the game, along with football fan groups.


The topic is an interesting one, which covers all sorts of issues:

• Should gaming be censored on the basis of its potential impact on future behaviours?
• Is Blouzar not an amateurish little piss-pot outfit scrambling for notoriety?
• Where does the reponsibility for protecting/educating children belong?
• What about free speech?
• Do games really influence behaviour?
• Should censorship be extended to movies, like The Football Factory and Green Street (not on the basis of quality, sadly)?

It's a never-ending argument. Does life imitate art, or art imitate life? Is a crappy online game art? The solution is probably out there somewhere, but we'll never find it.

From my point of view, Blouzar may as well be allowed to continue pushing this game - after all, I believe those few idiotic children who would become Little Hooliganz would probably do so anyway. But it needs to take a long hard look at itself and its business plan. Negative publicity will only get it so far, and seeing as its entire idea seems to be based on a load of bollocks, it's on shaky ground.

Ideally, we'd ban anything which encourages bad behaviour in football. But people need to be given enough rope, frankly, and the football establishment can't be held responsible for social doings - except that this game gives football a bad name, of course.

I'd also encourage the gun and knife crime campaigners to back off in this particular case. There may be a little overlap, but street gangs and football firms are essentially different issues in my view. To combine the two simply indicates a lack of focus.

Let me know if I'm squinting at this through wonky eyes.

(Photo Credits: Screenrush)

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Land of hope and nagging and moaning

What do you want from the England national team? Professionalism? Excitement? Entertainment? Or is it all about the results?

Last night England beat Kazakhstan 5-1. Call me easy to please but that's plenty good enough. Yes, I agree the scoreline doesn't even tell half the story. The team struggled to get ahead, and the touch and balance was largely absent. But it wasn't through any lack of pride or professionalism or effort. And, in the end, it didn't matter. We won, and we won convincingly. For me, the two most important criteria - effort and result - were met.

From the moment England went in at half time, it was inevitable that the newspapers would be sharpening the knives for the morning. The supporters became audibly frustrated before England took the lead. But let's be honest - who goes to Wembley expecting to be entertained? If you do, you need your head checking in my opinion. World Cup Qualifiers are all about results, and England are top of their group. Oh, and we've scored nine goals in two games.

Again, accept that last night's win wasn't as convincing as it seemed, but we didn't even qualify for Euro 2008 - let's get behind Fabio Capello, seeing as he's getting the results right. The entertainment can come when we're qualifying for tournaments and succeeding once we get there. For now, let's concentrate on the basics.


Then, of course, we have the Ashley Cole situation. Cole made an absolutely criminal error at 2-0 which led directly to Zhambyl Kukeyev dragging Kazakhstan back into the game. One or two moans and groans would be totally understandable, and Cole deserves a proper pasting from Capello for his mistake. But a large section of the Wembley crowd booed him every time he touched the ball from that point on.

You could almost hear the club rivalries in the boos, and I found myself surprisingly uncomfortable with that. It makes you wonder why people go to international matches, given that the Wembley crowd has been a) served a load of crap for years and b) uneasy and ugly for a long old while. In short, the only thing which happened last night which was more unacceptable than Cole's mistake was his treatment by the fans.

In other Wembley news, surely now we can all see at last that Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard can't play together. They weren't bad, but the balance was lacking - it was slightly disheartening to see Gareth Barry carry the can for that, but he doesn't play for any of the so-called 'Big Four', so it's to be expected. I thought Lampard was rather good, certainly better than Gerrard, and Wayne Rooney showed flashes of brilliance which have been missing in an England shirt for too long.

Finally, congratulations to Emile Heskey. 'Rollerskates' put in another fantastic performance for England. As a Villa fan, I found it odd to be rooting for Heskey to score, but he certainly deserved one. Well done Big Emile and, by and large, well done England. We're going to South Africa and that's all that matters.

Isn't it?

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)

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Quick Hits 10th October 2008

Links to click on today.

• TFT wishes a speedy recovery to Geoff Horsfield (TeamTalk)
• Asia offers revival to Game 39 (Olympic Spirit)
• Technology backed by new cross-sport officiating body (Sporting Life)
• Chris O looks at the Israeli Premier League (Some People Are On The Pitch)
• Chelsea hunting Mikel refund (Guardian.co.uk)
  

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Quick Hits 8th October 2008

Reading material as recommended by twofootedtackle.

• Polish football and FIFA. What's going on? (20 East)
• Serie A and Serie B headed for a painful divorce (All Football)
• Beelzebub predictably revives Game 39 (Sky Sports)
• Lord Triesman turns debtbuster (BBC Sport)
• Steven Defour England-bound? (101 Great Goals)
  

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Blueprint for Better Refereeing, Part 2

Hopefully, by now, you’ll have read Part 1 of my Blueprint for Better Refereeing. If you have, it may come as a surprise that there will be no more criticism of referees - at least directly. That’s it. No more. From here on in, it’s all about fixing the problems, not identifying them.

At this point, take it as read that I’ve highlighted the lack of quality of refereeing in English football, and suggested that we need a whole new approach to officiating in order to achieve some level of improvement. It’s not about castigating referees, it’s about helping them to earn the Respect which is being asked for on their behalf by inadequate authorities.

Please note: the proposed framework within applies, at this stage, only to the Premier League. And yes, I’m aware there is football outside the top flight.

The central fixture in the proposed solution is a full-time, permanent review and assessment panel. In order to maintain a sense of diversity, perspective and consistency, the panel would be made up of two ex-referees (for expertise on rules and refereeing experience), one ex-player (for playing experience, obviously) and one independent adjudicator.

The adjudicator would come from the Football Association and the Premier League. He (or she) would be elected by the 20 Premier League managers from a pool of nominees, and stay in post for one season. The other three panel members are permanent.

Clearly, any full time employees which result from this proposal would require a salary, and I suggest that they are offered a generous one. After all, we’re asking them to do a pretty important job, and a not particularly attractive one. The funding? The clubs want improvements, so the clubs can help fund them. Whether this is channelled through the Football Association or the Premier League is a decision for a brighter man than me.

I’ll go into the details of the review process in the next instalment, but here’s the nutshell. The panel would watch all 90 minutes of every Premier League game the day after it is played. It would record errors and assess the general performance of the referee and his assistants, and file a report.

With help from that report, the panel would then feed back to the officials on their performance.

Barring an absolute clanger, the feedback should be always constructive and advisory. Stuart Attwell and Mark Halsey have found themselves shoved out in public and openly flogged this season, and I want an end to that. The full time panel would mean that the authorities no longer have the ability to be a closed shop one minute and scapegoat one of its own the next.

As I said, there will be more detail on the proposed review and assessment process to be undertaken by the panel in my next instalment. Until then, if you have any comments, ideas or criticisms, please feel free to air them.

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PremWatch 6th October 2008

A measly four Premier League games took place on Saturday. Late goals at the Stadium of Light saw Arsenal escape with a point. Grant Leadbitter scored a superb goal to put Sunderland ahead near the end, but Cesc Fabregas levelled for the Gunners in stoppage time.

A scrappy goal from Roman Bednar secured a 1-0 win for West Bromwich Albion over Fulham. Meanwhile, Jeremie Aliadiere cleverly tucked home Middlesbrough's last gasp winner away at Wigan Athletic.

In the late kick off, Manchester United dominated at Ewood Park. A controversial Wes Brown header opened the scoring, before Cristiano Ronaldo brilliantly teed up Wayne Rooney as United ran out 2-0 winners over Blackburn Rovers.


Bolton Wanderers sauntered past West Ham United in Sunday's early kick off, winning 3-1 at Upton Park. Kevin Davies and Sir Gary Cahill capitalised on errors by Hammers goalkeeper Rob Green, before Can't Control Carlton Cole made things nervy with 20 minutes left. A rocket from Matt Taylor settled matters.

At Stamford Bridge, Joe Cole and Nic Anelka scored as Chelsea swept aside Aston Villa.

At Goodison, Mikel Arteta and Marouane Fellaini put Everton 2-0 up against Newcastle United. But the Magpies drew level with goals either side of half time, from Steven Taylor and Damien Duff.

Stephen Ireland and Javier Garrido scored as Manchester City surged ahead of Liverpool at Eastlands. Pablo Zabaleta was sent off for City, and Liverpool mounted a comeback. Fernando Torres bagged a brace, and Dirk Kuyt scored the inevitable late winner.

At Fratton Park, Portsmouth defeated Stoke City 2-1. Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe again did the damage, with Ricardo Fuller scoring in between for Stoke.

Hilarious Tottenham Hotspur kindly brightened up my weekend by becoming Hull City's second north London scalp on the bounce. An early Geovanni free kick did for Spurs to continue their misery.

Chelsea, Liverpool, Hull and Arsenal make up the top four, with Villa in the UEFA Cup spot. Tottenham remain rooted to the bottom, with Stoke and Newcastle making up the relegation zone dwellers.

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)

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Joe Kinnear: desperately seeking marbles

I don't usually go in for the short posts, but this one was just too good to pass by.

Following Joe Kinnear's slightly random appointment as interim manager/ringmaster at Newcastle United for six/eight/two weeks, depending on who you believe, the former Wimbledon and Nottingham Forest boss followed ably in the wonky, insane footsteps of Kevin Keegan by venting his 'dismay' at some negative coverage.

His foul-mouthed attack on assembled hacks was surprising to say the least, and related to stories that United's players missed training on Monday. Kinnear wasn't happy. My favourite part, however, was when a Magpies press officer attempted to persuade the journalists to leave the air turning blue in the room without reporting it. When you read it or listen to it, you'll know how unlikely that was.

Transcript here and audio here. Bloody hilarious.

(Photo Credit: Guardian)

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Blueprint for Better Refereeing, Part 1

I am constantly critical of referees in the Premier League. I am convinced that the quality of refereeing in English football’s top flight has declined since its professionalisation. And surely that’s not right.

As much as I enjoy slagging referees off behind their backs, and making sure Mark Halsey is looking me in the face before mouthing a word my mother has never heard, I’d feel better about myself if I proposed a solution instead of just pointing out the problem.

Welcome, then, to twofootedtackle’s ‘Blueprint for Better Refereeing’, a five part series detailing why I think the Premier League’s refereeing needs an overhaul, and how I think it should be done.

The problem, as I’ve mentioned, is that England’s professional referees are not earning their money. I won’t report the various figures I’ve heard about what they’re paid for Premier League status because it would be unethical, but suffice to say that other professionals on the same pay would not get away with the mistakes made week in, week out by our top referees.

The main issue is quality. Obviously, I am of the opinion that the quality of Premier League referees is very low. But it’s not just my opinion. Loathe as I am to agree with Andy Gray (and I am), he epitomises the SKY approach to refereeing and, though they’d deny it, they clearly believe the quality to be wanting. They love that, of course.

The problem is sort of a heady mix of poor quality - as evidenced by Rob Styles and Mark Halsey already this season, among others - bad attitude (Halsey again, and Uriah Rennie), and the odd very, very basic error. Stuart Attwell, bless his cottons, awarded Reading a goal against Watford when he should have over-ruled his assistant.

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on. But I’ll stop there - out of Respect, of course.

Keith Hackett, a former referee, is general manager of the Premier League Match Officials Board (PLMOB), or whatever they call it these days. The board was set up in 2001 when Premier League refereeing went professional. It provides referees to the Premier League, and those referees are accountable to it. It is made up of the chief executives and refereeing managers of the game’s governing bodies, and the FA’s Head of Refereeing. And that’s it.

The PLMOB and the Football Association consistently seem to team together to come up with some odd decisions. Halsey recently sent off the England captain, John Terry. Despite Hackett’s insistence that he was not involved, the authorities rescinded - wrongly - Terry’s card. Halsey was demoted to League Two for the following Saturday. Every cloud…

Ironically, the fact that it took so long for Halsey to be demoted speaks volumes about the board and the FA’s refusal to act on the poor quality of refereeing.

Clearly, then, change is needed. But what are the goals?

I’m going to define the goals of change in terms which the Football Association will understand. I’m proposing four goals which, combined, work to increase Respect for referees:

• To improve the quality of refereeing and reduce errors
• To increase referees’ accountability for their performances
• To improve the review process
• To remove the ‘old boys network’

That’s all for Part 1. Next time, I’ll discuss my proposed solution. In the meantime, feel free to leave your comments and thoughts.

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