twofootedtackle

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Major League Soccer 2010

Sunday, 31 January 2010

31st January has been something of a deadline in North American football this year. With the existing Major League Soccer collective bargaining agreement (CBA) due to expire, it became the day which could trigger a players' strike - or rather a lockout by the owners - as labour negotiations moved into February.

So it seems like a sensible enough day to kick of twofootedtackle's coverage of the 2010 Major League Soccer season.

The negotiation between the owners (MLS) and the players (Major League Soccer Players' Union, MLSPU) will indeed encroach into February, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is no lockout thanks to an agreement to shift the deadline to 12th February. The very fact that this agreement has been reached is encouraging, and means the players can return to work for pre-season.

I want to point you in the direction of the latest installment of The American Soccer Show, a stable-mate of the TFT Podcast on the Champions Soccer Radio Network. In a special edition, Jason Davis and Zach Woosley spoke to New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman (pictured) about the CBA negotiations.

Not only does Twellman give a good insight into where the players are coming from, but the conversation in general neatly explains the sometimes complicated detail of the CBA process. You can give it a listen here.

So why is there a dispute, why now, and what exactly do the players want?

The latest CBA, signed and sealed in 2004, will now expire on February 12th. I've previously written about the legacy of the 2004 agreement, and highlighted the monetary factors. MLS has come a long way in the last five years, and the league must be flexible in its approach to growth and progress - its potential is enormous.

Single entity, salary capping, parity - these are all phrases you'll hear a lot if you follow Major League Soccer, and all pose questions and threats to the league's growth as well as giving it the kind of stability that was so sorely needed in American football. The players do have the league's well-being in mind, but they want the owners to open their wallets in order to push the league to the next level.

And they have a point. Losing players to the Premier League or the Bundesliga is inevitable, and will remain so as long as MLS produces or nurtures talented players. But in recent months the league has lost players to the second division in Germany and to the Danish league. The players believe that by being just a little more ambitious with its money, MLS can go past those leagues and retain players like Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe and Yura Movsisyan, and rightly so.

But as the details of the players' wishes have gradually come into public view, it's become clear that money - at least on the face of it - is not their primary concern. Instead, their two main demands centre on reform of contract rules. As Twellman discussed with Jason and Ginge, the players want free agency and guaranteed contracts, both of which are available elsewhere in the football world and in some cases enshrined in FIFA law or even on the statute books.

Free agency is the ability of a player to move clubs upon the expiry of his contract. Currently, clubs in Major League Soccer still exercise control over players after their contracts have finished. While the single entity system is not really conducive to full free agency, some level of compromise would certainly be a good thing.

The sparcity of guaranteed contracts in the league is understandably a real bugbear for the players' union. In Major League Soccer, clubs can sign players through various means (trades, allocation, etc.) but can terminate contracts in-season, which helps them offload deadwood or create room under the salary cap.

It might sound like a good idea to the disillusioned European football supporter, but MLS players are, by and large, normal guys on normal pay. Knowing their pay is guaranteed, even just for the current season, would make a huge difference to their quality of life.

Clearly, these are both player welfare issues and MLSPU is understandably looking to help the players benefit from the league's improved solidity and potential, for which the players are largely responsible.

For their part, the owners are determined not to bankrupt the league with over-ambition. Again, that's a routine stance and compromise must be the answer here. Thankfully, the noise at the moment seems to be that agreement will be reached and a lockout avoided, so the league season will kick off as scheduled at the end of March.

And twofootedtackle will be there all the way, including a full series of team-by-team season previews in the days leading up to first kick and news and reviews between March and November.

(Pic via Sportsblog.projo.com)

If you're a fan of the Premier League, you're unlikely to have not noticed the presence of the Nike CTR360 boots favoured by a number of players. Their distinctive split colour scheme is difficult to miss and, with James Milner making a real case for a place in Fabio Capello's England squad for World Cup 2010, they're spending plenty of time in the spotlight.

I'm an especially enthusiastic supporter of Milner's case, and so my friends at SoccerPro.com kindly offered to send me a pair of boots to test out for myself. Now, I rarely play on grass these days because my football career tragically failed to live up to expectations, but I do play in a relatively good standard Monday night kickabout every week, so I made the switch to the astroturf version of the CTR360 and gave my own astroturf trainers a couple of weeks off.

After a couple of cancelled Mondays thanks to the so-called big freeze, I finally laced up the very attractive Nike CTR360 Libretto a couple of weeks back and have since given them a thorough testing.

So, what is it one looks for in a football boot? Comfort's the most important thing for me, and these days it's closely followed by the effect they have on your grip, touch and ball-playing accuracy.

Hour One

My first match in the CTR360s and it went like a dream. It helps that I played quite well (for the first time in months - my form's been absolutely appalling lately), but the boots feel great. Despite that 'new shoe' feeling they're pretty comfortable and a good fit. The grip is much better than my own boots, and the difference in my ability to change my pace from slow to really slow and back again - and turn in a small space - is noticeable. That's not bad considering the pitch has been covered in an inch of ice for the better part of a month.

I played deeper and more centrally than usual, and found that my touch at close quarters was more accomplished than it had been for a while. The CTR360s seem to help guide the ball onto the foot and also handled tight, first time passes rather well. Good work. I did score, but it was a left-footed tap-in that I would have managed in clogs.

Hour Two

Match number two, and I reverted back to my usual Monday night position which is somewhere between slow left winger, slow left wing-back and slow centre half. No goals for me, but one or two decent shots which hit the target from distance. It's not easy for an amateur player to give genuine feedback on the accuracy offered by football boots but let's just say I got the impression the ball was doing what I told it to do. I did play three top-notch passes, including one low, volleyed cross-field pass which surprised even me.

At the back, I made one last-ditch block to deny a certain goal. Sounds weird, but I have no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have been close to the attacker, never mind touch-tight, without the grip of these shoes. The talent and the Baresi-like reading of the game, obviously, were all mine.

All in all, the CTR360 Libretto is a comfortable, high performance astroturf shoe. And you can't say fairer than that.

Friday, 29 January 2010

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

Fulham vs. Aston Villa
Chris: Draw
Ian: Aston Villa
Gary: Fulham

Hull vs. Wolves
Chris: Hull
Ian: Wolves
Gary: Draw

Liverpool vs. Bolton
Chris: Liverpool
Ian: Liverpool
Gary: Draw

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

Wigan vs. Everton
Chris: Everton
Ian: Everton
Gary: Everton

Burnley vs. Chelsea
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Arsenal vs. Man United
Chris: Man United
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Draw

Man City vs. Portsmouth
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

Sunderland vs. Stoke
Chris: Stoke
Ian: Stoke
Gary: Stoke

TFT nominated in FA Cup favourite blog competition

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that our sidebar currently contains a widget advertising (well, promoting really - no money changed hands, no animals were hurt, etc.) the FA Cup's Facebook page. You will not know that this is because this humble little site has been nominated in a poll alongside Soccerlens, The Football Blog, Inside Futbol, Just Football and Premiership Talk in a poll which will determined the FA Cup Facebook fans' favourite football blog.

So it'd be very much appreciated if you could click through to the page and vote for TFT. If you want to show us the love, that is. (Oh and tell your friends.)

What's in it for you? Well, if TFT wins the poll we will be running a competition in the run-up to the FA Cup semi-finals. One lucky reader will win a pair of tickets to one of the semis at the wonderful Wembley Stadium, London. I'm sure you'll forgive the flagrant self-promotion but it would be really cool if we could win this vote because we work damned hard and it would mean a lot to us to be able to offer a reader something cool in return for your loyal eyes and brains.

But no win, no tickets. Capiche?

Thanks to the Football Association for the nomination, and to Charlie for letting us know.

Go vote!

Thursday, 28 January 2010

The worst thing about being at Villa Park to watch us draw 0-0 with Arsenal last night was that I missed the Manchester derby; in all fairness, they have served up some corkers this season haven't they. They always look a bit tasty too. That is always entertaining; football is FAR too soft these days, so any sort of spark like the apparent disliking these two set of players have for each other is far more entertaining than it should be!

Some Villa fans enjoyed United getting through on the basis that Gareth Barry didn't get to the final, and some were happy on the basis that they think City will go all out for it whereas United won't take it so seriously. Personally I don't buy into that; Sir Alex has installed a winning mentality that means they will want that final win just as bad as we do, even if on paper it does seem like it would mean more to us. That is probably true of the fans but I don't believe for one second that will be the case for the players.

The coin throwing incident was not nice and I was disgusted that some of the United fans were cheering it. Sure, it is their local rivals and yes, Craig Bellamy is not exactly Mr Popular but that kind of activity should not be condoned. I hope they are punished, but on the flip side of that it is not really the fault of United is it? So more to the point, I hope the people that threw the objects have been/get caught.

For me, Wayne Rooney has been the standout player of this season. Some other players have had a great season and will undoubtedly be in contention for the player of the year award (Tevez, Lampard, Fabregas) but in my eyes Wayne Rooney has been THE standout player. He has actually improved this season, in as much as he leads the line better than he did. When you add that to the talents that he already had, it makes for one hell of a fine footballer.

The fine writers of this site have recently debated on whether or not there should be a winter break; while the argument 'for' is not without its valid points, for me it is a simple case of 'no' because the weather is too unpredictable here. Plus I too am a traditionalist and see Boxing Day as a day that revolves around football, horse racing and leftovers!

It is a sad state of affairs when administrators are deciding who can play for a football team. Sadly that is exactly what has happened at Crystal Palace, with Victor Moses getting pulled out of action this week. What is so, so frustrating about the current state of football is that anyone with half a brain could see this happening years ago; it will get worse before it gets better too.

In particular I fear for Pompey though. How bad do things have to get that you can’t even pay your website fees? I actually hope it is just a stupid administrative error rather than just a case of not being able to afford it, because if it is... well let's just say the likes of Manchester United will probably have a lot more supporters down south in a generation’s time.

When I was a wee schoolboy, I used to regularly play football against a lad who was very good with the ball at his feet and taking players on. Thing was, whenever he got tackled, he would either, a) limp around like he had been hurt somehow; or b) kick out (personally I used to love playing against him because he was easy to rile up!) and the reason I mention this is that on more than one occasion this season he has crossed my mind when I have been watching Real Madrid... dear oh dear Ronaldo, what an absolute moron you are.

Speaking of morons, I see that Adrian Mutu tested positive for a banned stimulant earlier this month. Seriously, how stupid can you get? Now in his defence it does seem like it was something mild (a weight loss drug) but after what has happened in his career, wouldn't it make sense to be absolutely extra careful about everything that goes into his body? Footballers, eh!

Hope you all had a good week. Speak to you next Thursday.

The Carling Cup this year has been sodding magnificent.

As a passionate League Cup advocate, I couldn't be happier about this. A really exciting quarter final lineup was brimming with Premier League sides and each and every one took their last eight match seriously. The semis drew Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers, two clubs desperate for success, against one another in one of the ties.

In the other, a diamond on a landmine: Manchester City v Manchester United, their first encounter since United's dramatic stoppage time win earlier in the season. With City's bottomless pit of money allowing them to edge closer to the club that overshadows them, this one was bound to be a classic.

But the tournament has had its ugly side this season too. West Ham United and Millwall's second round match was ruined by ugly clashes outside Upton Park and several pitch invasions during the game itself. In October, Manchester United fans caused trouble at Oakwell during a visit to Barnsley. Two entered the field of play and a food kiosk was ransacked amid reports of terrified staff.

And in the two-legged Manchester derby this month, the rivalry got out of hand.

United supporters were caught trying to enter the City of Manchester Stadium for the first leg in possession of darts and golf balls. Darts, for Christ's sake! Greater Manchester Police must have been fuming after the first leg, in which former United striker Carlos Tevez took it upon himself to turn his transfer into some kind of professional wrestling storyline with various gestures designed to wind up Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson and thousands of United supporters. I was amazed he didn't run around giving the United players the D-Generation X crotch chop or climb the corner flags shouting "Stone Cold! Stone Cold!"

Neville's one-fingered reaction was equally ill-advised, and the sum total result of the first leg (thanks in no small part to City's 2-1 advantage) was that the second was certain to be a policing nightmare at Old Trafford. Sure enough, Craig Bellamy found himself preparing to take a corner and getting showered with missiles including a cider bottle and a smaller object which struck him on the back of the head.

Charmingly, a section of United fans cheered the incident. And although I didn't see this first hand, I would imagine it was the same delightful chaps that reportedly pointed gun gestures at City's Emmanuel Adebayor, the captain of the Togo squad which suffered unimaginable fear - and loss of friends - in a Cabindan separatist attack on their team bus as it travelled to their Africa Cup of Nations base.

As often as I bang the drum about footballers having no empathy with supporters, I genuinely believe both Manchester United and Manchester City should be hauled up on charges of failing to control their players. On the pitch their conduct has been disgusting over these two matches. Tevez in particular has demonstrated no understanding of the consequences of his pathetic melodrama and completely lost control. Neville's behaviour in the first leg did nothing but poke the fire. And, as a result, the second leg was beyond ludicrous.

Clearly, supporters must take responsibility for their own actions, but clubs of United and City's standing should be more than capable of refraining from further increasing the intensity, which they wholly failed to do. Tevez's wanton outbursts were compounded by badly timed comments from City chief executive Garry Cook, who told supporters the club is on course to overtake United (obsessed much?), nullifying manager Roberto Mancini's admirable attempts to calm the situation.

The whole affair has been so unsavoury that the footballing nation is simultaneously laughing into their sleeves at United and City and welcoming the element of rivalry. But there's a line here, and the Carling Cup semi final crossed it in a heartbeat. Sadly, the clubs fanned the flames instead of calling for calm and actually meaning it.

Dion's Dube...LIVE!

You read it here, and now there's video.

Dion, you're a nutter but I bloody love ya for it.

Kolo Toure video for United Against Malaria

There isn't much on this planet that's quite as tragic as malaria. Every 90 minutes - that's the length of a soccerball match to you and me - 180 children die from malaria. And yet all it takes to give them some kind of protection is a mosquito net.

That's why United Against Malaria and Manchester City and Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure have launched the TV ad in the video above to raise awareness across several African countries. Nice work.

Wednesday, 27 January 2010

This week in the pod, Sam Coare joins Chris Nee and Gary Andrews to talk about the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, the Premier League, Liverpool, Rafael Benitez and the African Cup of Nations. Also on the agenda was a chat about how the UK media coverage of clubs in crisis is changing as we look at our blog post of the week from Ian King at twohundredpercent.

We also have an Audioboo from Crystal Palace supporter Terry Duffelen, recorded in the immediate aftermath of the club's administration announcement. Many thanks to Terry for that.

Episode 34 of the twofootedtackle Podcast is now available via iTunes, this MP3, the media player at CSRN or by clicking play on the gadget below.

If you would like to take part in the show, now's your chance. Terry's Audioboo was not a one-off, and we'll be asking lots of top bloggers and podcasters to provide some content for the show. However, we'll also be taking submissions from listeners, so if you have something you want to get off your chest it's time to get recording. If you can, use Audioboo and send us a link. If not, an MP3 will do just fine. You'll find our email at the bottom of the site.

That's all from me. Have a week.

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Football is in a fascinating position when it comes to the changing world of news consumption, media and social media. Our clubs are rare brands in that they have a ready-made army of evangelists to engage online (that's us), the ultimate goal of many brands in the social media space. Few other brands can claim to have this, save for the Apples and Coca-Colas of this world.

With both tools and culture developing in such a way that "celebrities" - players, in our case - can now choose to talk directly with supporters online, often in an open and honest manner.

And yet the clubs, despite their favourable opportunity and the clear benefits of keeping supporters onside and engaged, are primarily concerned with keeping everything vigorously on-message and preventing scandal. It makes sense, I suppose, but they're far too militant and reactionary.

In their defence, social media so far has been a bit of a troublesome foe for a handful of clubs.

Hull City striker Jozy Altidore had his wrist slapped in October for revealing via Twitter that he had been dropped from the side for arriving late for a match. Darren Bent's infamous Twitter rant led to Tottenham Hotspur imposing a ridulously prohibitive social media policy. Manchester United have now gone one better/worse.

In a bid to tackle multiple concerns, such as the proliferation of fake player pages, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) has revealed plans to set up an official, verified Facebook page for every professional footballer in the country. The stated objectives are to enable players to have a social media presence and help them avoid the possible pitfalls, presumably including potential damage done by imposters.

However, there are a couple of holes here. Firstly, where does this approach sit with Manchester United's wishes? Both parties want to protect players, but United's social media ban smacks of leak prevention. If that's the case, the two parties may clash on the social media issue.

Secondly, do the players with established footprints online really want to be reined in by the PFA? I can't imagine Bent or Altidore giving up Twitter, so is there really any point? It'll be a very interesting one to follow, that's for sure.

But my all-time favourite footballer's social media cock-up was committed by Ashley-Paul Robinson, then a Crystal Palace winger with designs on a move to Premier League Fulham. He revealed this fact - in a manner of speaking - and it all went off.

Not sure any PFA involvement would've stopped that spectacular piece of digital idiocy.

Gone are the days of ex-footballers opening backstreet boozing holes in order to see them through their abnormally long retirement. Awaiting them now is a comfortable career in the football media or, should they choose, a lazy life of unimaginable luxury.

Still, it's always nice to see them trying their hand at something new. Former Coventry City and Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin, a player whose interest in music has been well known for years, would appear to be chucking his wiles behind a new venture: The DUBE.

According to its website, which may or may not be genuine (and was flagged up to my good friend 'Xann' over at VillaTalk):

"The unique percussion instrument is ex-international footballer Dion Dublin's invention. A stylish cube percussion instrument which comes in four sizes and can be totally customised in colour schemes and tones. It's ideal for musicians, in schools, even DJ sets, the list is endless."

And there we were thinking percussion had reached its peak with the Jingling Johnny!

Monday, 25 January 2010

You've read the arguments, now you can have your say on the verdict. If you have an opinion on the possibility of a winter break in England, please vote using the poll in the sidebar on the left hand side of the site.

If you'd like to ~~read the arguments for the first time~~ refresh your memory, you can read Gary's case FOR a winter break here, and my argument AGAINST a winter break here.

Ding ding!

Sunday, 24 January 2010

Pity the poor menfolk of Wrexham, who've probably put up more shelves and rewired more plugs over recent weekends than they could possibly have imagined. The Dragons have probably been the hardest hit by the wintery weather - their postponed game against Stevenage last weekend made it eight in a row to be called off.

It's not just the Welsh town that's come off worse in the extended cold snap. Luton have felt the squeeze through having a number of games postponed, while Rotherham went for a month without kicking a ball in anger. Countless other clubs are counting the cost of postponed games and the headache of rearranging fixtures between now and the end of the season.

Yet Wrexham's plight highlights the problems both with the calls for a winter break and those who oppose it. If we forget the Premier League, for the time being, most of whom have undersoil heating, then it's the Wrexhams, Lutons and Rotherhams of this world who have the most to lose from bad weather postponements.

Most lower league clubs run a tight ship. The loss of one or two home fixtures increases the strain on their finances, normally precarious at the best of times. Losing Saturday games to the weather is especially galling for these teams. Even if the game can be rearranged reasonably quickly, a midweek game will simply not bring in the same gate receipts as a weekend one, unless the two teams are particularly close geographically.

In this respect, it's easy to see how a break would help teams plan their finances accordingly. A scheduled break in the middle of the season enables smaller clubs to budget for this and minimise any financial damage.

If only it were that simple. Wrexham's case may be at the extreme end of the scale, but it's unlikely a break would have helped them that much. There's simply no guaranteeing when or how long the weather will be at its worst for. Last year, the snow fell in February. Who's to say we won't get a flurry at the end of November next year. Taking a break over that length of time is patently absurd.

But the winter break shouldn't focus just around postponements. They may be an issue at the moment, but January 2010 has been an exceptional month, weather-wise, and may not be repeated in 2011. Besides, Premier League clubs mostly have undersoil heating. It's only when health and safety considerations come into play that cancellations tend to hit the top flight.

Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to bad weather, it's worth considering a winter break in terms of the benefits to a team as a whole. Managers frequently complain about the length of a season, the number of games played, and mounting injury lists, and such complaints usually come from around November onwards.

A winter break doesn't have to be long, but an extra week or so would give players time to relax and recovery from the knocks and strains picked up in the first half of the season. Think about Liverpool - how Rafa Benitez would have loved to give Torres an extra week to work his way back to full fitness.

The benefits would be felt after the season has ended. How often have we heard England managers, or Premier League players, complain of fatigue after a long season at major tournaments. A break wouldn't be the cure-all, but it would provide a small amount of help.

If Germany and other continental leagues can have a winter break, there's no reason why England can't adapt to this as well. Once a break was decided on, the powers that be would have plenty of time to ensure the fixtures fitted. If the will is there, there is a way.

But, like Chris, I'm a traditionalist at heart and would be loathed to lose Boxing Day football. I love that the New Year gets off to a great start with the Third Round of the FA Cup. These are part of the footballing calendar, but there's no reason to lose them for an enforced break.

Instead, my proposal is this: we have a break in English football of one week, probably in mid-January. This would assume that it is a standard week, with just Saturday football, so teams would play one weekend and then play again a fortnight later.

But, in addition to this, the spare week need not be completely free. Clubs who've had games called off prior to this point can rearrange for the spare Saturday, ensuring they don't lose out on matchday revenue. If TV companies are interested, this may even boost revenue. In addition, FA Cup replays can be scheduled for this week, although teams won't be allowed to bring forward fixtures from later in the season.

This way, most teams get the advantage of a week off yet the Wrexhams who've already suffered have the chance to regain much needed gate money. It's far from perfect, but then that's the whole idea of a winter break. At the very least, though, it's the nearest thing to a solution that suits teams from the Premier League to the Combined Counties.

Friday, 22 January 2010

When England host Egypt on March 3rd, they'll be decked out in...well, red. The shot above is Umbro's teaser shot for England's away kit for the next couple of years, including World Cup 2010.

The strip has been designed in rather a cool way by "acclaimed conceptual designer" Aitor Throup, and Umbro have shared a nifty vid (below) which looks at some of the unusual elements of the design process.

As a bit of a kit geek, and a massive England fan, I can't wait to see the final product and I'm looking forward to wearing it while we spank the USA on June 12th. With any luck, it won't be too long a wait...

For Gerrard and Torres, read Aaron Lennon. Much as Spurs fans may be loathed to admit it, they are simply not the same team without the flying winger and Wednesday night was ample evidence of that. Harry Redknapp's team lacked creativity and width and Liverpool found it easy to push them infield and strangle their game. Jamie Carragher's legs may be going but even he could deal with balls lumped over the top to Jermain Defoe.

Yet this isn't just about Tottenham's current malaise. Liverpool were the better team against them, but that doesn't mean the Reds fightback was on. Benitez's team was efficient rather than swashbuckling, organised rather than thrusting. The team had the feel of a side set up not to lose, and while they were good value for the win, you suspect their limitations may have been surprised against the likes of Chelsea or Arsenal or, on current form, Everton and Birmingham.

And yet both sides are still very much in the hunt for the final Champions League slot. Tottenham may sit fourth going into this FA Cup weekend, but more performances like the one at Anfield and they're unlikely to be there for much longer. And Liverpool, for all their woes, are still just a point off Spurs.

Just as the top three were falling over themselves in December not to make a play for the top spot, so the pretenders to fourth are also doing their damnedest to pass the buck for fourth. As well as Tottenham and Liverpool, there's Villa and Manchester City. The former is a strong, well-organised side but one with fairly obvious limitations and perhaps two or three players short of a Champions League challenging side.

Manchester City still remain an enigma. On paper, they should be good enough to land that top four spot. On the pitch, their loss to Everton suggests those frustrating inconsistencies that bugged Mark Hughes' reign are still present. It would not be a surprise to see them drop points to surprising teams in the second half of this season.

Birmingham, Fulham and Everton are, realistically, too far behind for fourth place but it's still not inconceivable that any one of these three could end the season above Spurs.

For all the talk of the Premier League opening up, things still remain the same. What pundits now mean is that there's no one, or two, teams running away with the title this year, while fourth place is genuinely up for grabs. That isn't much of a change.

On current performances, there's nothing to suggest that Spurs, Villa or Liverpool wouldn't be dumped out of the Champions League at the group stages, assuming they manage to qualify for them. Manchester City have shown they can turn in the style over one game and may be best placed, especially if they strengthen over the summer, but they still look a little short of being able to hold their own against European giants.

So what we have here is one of the best four teams in England getting weaker and nobody stepping in to replace them, meaning you have an even narrower closed shop at the top. That isn't exactly progress in my book.

Advocating throwing money at getting into the top four isn't exactly a recipe for success either, as Newcastle and Leeds have shown, while Man City still aren't guaranteed such a finish despite the millions they've spent.

The final Champions League spot definitely matters to supporters of the clubs challenging for this position, and if, say, Villa made it into the Champions League group stages, the finances would make a huge difference. But currently the race for fourth just serves to show the discrepancy between the top three and the rest of the Premier League.

(Pic via This Is London)

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Forgive me for starting off with Aston Villa, but doesn't a 6-4 score line feel worthy of discussion?! (Football Weekly clearly didn't think so - ED) It was a very weird game, and one that had me on a - cliché alert - rollercoaster of emotions! I mostly want to talk about the absurdity of Sam Allardyce though. He moans a lot, that man. He is in the Benitez class of blaming the ref for his the shortcomings of his team! But as MON pointed out, we should have had two penalties at Blackburn, so when Allardyce said, "They say these things even themselves out by the end of the season, but they don't"... er, I think they just did, you clown.

On the subject of Benitez (I am not obsessed with Liverpool, honest! They are just doing my head in even more than usual lately) I had to laugh when I saw that they had already sent their e-mail regarding tickets for the 4^th round. Oh justice really did happen to that vile, arrogant bunch of scumbags.

A few weeks ago I dismissed Arsenal's chance of getting involved in the title race. Long term I may be proven right but in the short term... fair is fair, pass me the humble pie! Arsenal are a funny team. I love watching them, and I think they are an absolute example of how to run a football club. On the flip side, while I respect the way Wenger builds his team and gets them playing, his teams generally whinge and are, erm, less than sporting, shall we say. In addition their fans moan SO much! My lord, how many clubs would love to have Arsenal's problems?! But still, fair play to them and I genuinely hope they stay up there and make a real fight of it.

There has been plenty of talk about Manchester United must be regretting not keeping Carlos Tevez. I get that - I genuinely do - and there is probably some truth in it. But look at the situation - Rooney and Tevez are at their best in the same position and, as good as Tevez is, he is not Wayne Rooney. They would be better off with Tevez in the squad but they miss Ronaldo a lot more.

I hope Joe Cole keeps progressing nicely, as in theory he should be ready to go with all guns blazing come the World Cup! I felt sorry for Cole a lot during Sven's reign; the amount of times that he looked like the most likely midfielder to do something for us but got taken off when somebody like Lampard was doing nothing was pretty bad. As it is, I don't see things like that happening under Capello unless they are deserved.

People will probably say, "Yeah, if that was true why isn't Jermaine Defoe in the team?". BECAUSE HE DOES NOTHING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX! Yes I know that scoring goals is what wins matches but leading up to the goal is more complicated than just getting it in the box isn't it! To be honest I am not convinced we can win the World Cup with a conventional 4-4-2 but the beauty of the England team there is Wayne Rooney; tackling aside he could be a great central midfielder if he wanted to be!

I think that will do for another week. Before I go... looking at a final score of 6-4, don't you wish you had the Sports Almanac from Back to the Future II?! See ya!

At the end of December 2009 and the beginning of 2010, the United Kingdom found itself in the grips of the coldest and most prolonged period of bad weather for 30-odd years. It had an unprecedented effect on the English football programme, from the regional divisions of non-league to the very top of the pyramid.

The dubious nature of one or two high-profile cancellations has fuelled the annual debate over winter breaks. As we discussed in the podcast recently, there are strong arguments both for and against adopting a winter break in England. So we thought we'd tackle the issue head on. In this post, I'll explain why I'm not in favour of the break. Gary Andrews, whether he actually disagrees with me or not, will be writing a rebuttal.

Let's get down to business.

I'd like to begin with a story - don't worry it's only short. A couple of weeks ago, with the north of England buried under a blizzard, I left snowless Tooting to head to Lancashire, where Aston Villa were due to play the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final against Blackburn Rovers. I began my journey knowing that the match would probably be postponed, and, sure enough, news filtered through just north of Oxford that the game was off.

Two days later, I was back in Oxfordshire, admiring the beautiful snow-covered countryside near Burford. Where we were stranded at a crossroads which was somehow at the bottom of four impossibly steep, icy hills. In the snow. With no phone signal.

The point is that January 2010 has been an exceptional month in weather terms. And to implement a winter break because of a one-off winter strikes me as unnecessarily short-sighted.

Think back to previous winters. How many times per season are you generally inconvenienced by weather postponements? None? One? Certainly, the age of compulsory undersoil heating in the Premier League had all but eradicated festive cancellations at the top end of the English game. I have no idea of the meteorological accuracy of this statement, but for now I'm happy enough to go out on a limb. This is a freak winter.

And for me, avoiding knee-jerk reactions in football policy is as important as in the legislative process, medical diagnoses and life-changing decisions. You know, relatively speaking. Let's be sensible about this. If the next couple of winters deliver the same white evil, I'll happily reassess my position on the idea of a winter break. But for now, I'm simply not buying that we need one because of the weather. This is England, not Greenland.

Previously, of course, the main argument in favour of a winter stoppage was that of fitness. With the big clubs in the Premier League playing upwards of 60 matches a season, I can see their point. Furthermore, in even-numbered years, our top players are expected to play in a major international tournament in the summer.

And that is where the arguments in favour of a break begin go contradict themselves. The likes of Wayne Rooney must play a season at the top of the Premier League before being expected to peak for his country in June and, hopefully, July. For Didier Drogba, the fitness expectations are worse. On a recent episode of the BBC show World Football, Manchester United's fitness bod pointed out that the best African players are expected to succeed domestically as well as progressing deep into the Champions League, peaking for the Africa Cup of Nations and then doing it all over again at the World Cup.

But I don't agree that a winter break solves anything here. If anything, the moved fixtures would create an unnecessary intensity at the business end of the season. Let's remember, domestic leagues work to a FIFA-mandated cut-off point in a World Cup year, so it's not even possible to extend the season to accommodate a winter breather.

None of that explains my main reason for opposing a winter break in England, though. I consider it to be another affront to the supporters, another kick in the chops for football tradition. It's another example of football, unwittingly or otherwise, sticking two fingers up at us, the deluded mugs that give it life.

You see, the arguments in favour of a winter break may well be many, various and sensible. But football isn't about 'sensible'. My message to the football clubs calling for this break, in the Premier League, is this: fixture congestion is a side-effect of your expensive success and of globalisation, and so is the ludicrous size and depth of your squads. So suck it up and use them - you can't have it all ways, chaps.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here as a supporter fretting about the further erosion of the game's roots. I'm genuinely passionate about festive football. I love that I can either go to a match on Boxing Day or watch three on television. I love that I can do the same two days later. And I love that the third round of the FA Cup is right in our faces after New Year.

That's what it means to us, and that is why our football clubs, players and trainers need to man up and start reaping the squad rotation inevitabilities they've sown. The supporters, believe it or not, are more important than some Premier League manager having his cake and eating it. Sorry, footballing establishment. That's a fact.

And yet in my frenzied activism, I do see the logic behind a break - really, I do. But in refusing to back down in December, what about January? I suggested on Twitter that the only bearable compromise would be to have a break between the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup, with knockout games book-ending the stoppage. To my delight, nobody was having a bit of it. The January weather, as Gary Parkinson, the editor of FourFourTwo.com pointed out to me, is just too unpredictable. Unexpected weather: how's that for 'full circle'?

And so all of a sudden, this is a supporters v football issue. In my opinion, it's time we started to stand up for ourselves.

I'm not the only one who doesn't want a winter break. I did some preparation for this post on Twitter, so I'll close by sharing some tweets from our followers:

Do you want English football to implement a winter break?

FourFourTwo: No.

YorkshireSponge: What will we do on Boxing Day if they have a winter break...eat more chocolate?

yo_mikey_: No.

piav86: from a fans perspective it would be a bad thing. No Xmas / New year football?

MarkWhyy: definitely not the prem. I like my football too much for a 3 week break

FourFourTwo: Weather too unpredictable (and calendar too full) to block-book time off.

moodonthepitch: A league break only. Use 2wks for FA Cup, Carling Cup, etc.

Okay, ignore that last one. Power to the people!

(Pic via deekster @ Flickr)

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Gary Andrews and Chris Nee are joined in Studio 31 this week by journalist and Oxford United supporter Thom Airs. Top of the agenda is the Premier League, where we look back at a weekend which saw the top four pretenders trip over each other to drop points.

We also discuss this weekend's FA Cup fourth round ties and catch up with what's happening at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. And with Thom in the studio, it would've been rude not to dip into non-league for a chat about the Blue Square Premier and - of course - Oxford United.

On top of all that goodness, we tackle the issue of booing your own team, in the light of the decision by a section of AFC Bournemouth supporters to boo their side after defeat to Bury at the weekend.

We'd love to know what you think about booing. Have you ever done it? Is there a time and a place? Is it ever okay to boo individual players? Please leave your comments below.

In the words of Mr Andrews, "all that and more, on the twofootedtackle Podcast".

Episode 33 of the twofootedtackle Podcast is now available on iTunes, the CSRN media player, this MP3 and, for all you RSSers, the player embedded below.

Please leave any comments either here, on Twitter or on Facebook, and your iTunes reviews would be much appreciated.

Next week we'll be discussing Rafael Benitez and his cunning inside job on Liverpool's credibility. Have a week.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

All Premier League ties bar on went ahead this weekend. It was a weekend of goals, draws, red cards and of course bad predicting by us. Bearing that in mind, let's see how we fared:

Chelsea 7-2 Sunderland
An emphatic win from, dare I say, the champions in waiting; Chelsea were unlucky not to win by another couple of goals. Sunderland were very poor. No surprises here, we all went for a home win.

Everton 2-0 Man City
Somewhat of a shock win from Everton as Citeh fell to their first defeat under Italian Roberto Mancini. What is it with Everton, they seem to always start slow and then glide up the table? No points for us in this game though.

Man United 3-0 Burnley
A lacklustre victory from the Red Devils, but as they say, a win is a win. Burnley were unlucky they held their own but as soon as the first goal went in they fell away; points for all of us.

Pompey P-P Birmingham
Postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, no points here for obvious reasons, dare I say Birmingham would have won like we all predicted.

Stoke 1-1 Liverpool
Another late goal inflicts pain on Liverpool supporters as they continue their abysmal run, they probably deserved to win, but such is life. Chris gets the points here.

Tottenham 0-0 Hull
Some fantastic goalkeeping from Hull’s Boaz Myhill meant the Tigers left White Hart Lane with a deserved point, not a result we saw coming though.

Wolves 0-2 Wigan
Wigan pulled off a good win over Wolves and gained an important three points, James McCarthy looks to be their secret weapon now that he is starting for them. Sadly, no points for us here either.

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham
Let’s just say we all predicted a home win, so no points for anyone. One important question is that why do all the teams looking to finish fourth seem to draw or lose on the same day?

Bolton 0-2 Arsenal
Bolton had been the Gunners bogey team over the past couple of years but not in this game, another three points for Arsenal as they keep in check with the leaders. Points go to Chris and me here.

Blackburn 2-0 Fulham
Something of a shock win from Blackburn, against probably one of the teams in the league that are hard to beat at times. A much needed win for Rovers though, sadly we didn’t gain any points.

Let's take quick look at our league table:

1.Chris - 86 points
2.Gary - 81 points
3.Ian - 79 points

No Prediction League this weekend as the FA Cup 4th Round is taking place, so we will be taking a week's break. I think we need it.

Monday, 18 January 2010

Soccerlens announced the nominees for its 2009 Soccerlens Awards today and Gary Andrews and myself are surprised and delighted to see that the twofootedtackle Podcast has been listed among the nominees for Best Football Podcast of 2009.

Our nomination is genuinely unexpected and we're truly honoured for our humble little podcast to appear in such illustrious and well-established company. The list of nominees is mighty impressive and we are the youngest and smallest of the five podcasts by some distance. At less than a year into the project, to be nominated for this award is an amazing achievement and our gratitude to those of you who nominated the show is difficult to express.

In terms of the other nominees, I have a huge amount of respect for the guys at EPL Talk and am chuffed to bits to be listed alongside their show and World Football Daily.

But my two favourite UK podcasts, The Football Ramble and Football Weekly, are on the list too and I'm genuinely proud to see our show on the same list as them. If you like the TFT Podcast and have the room in your ears for even better football chat, I strongly recommend them both. You can click through to the shows here: Ramble / Football Weekly

Congratulations to the Ramblers (Marcus, Lukey, Pete and JamesOrJim) and to Jimbo, Barry, Sean and the Guardian gang on their nominations. They couldn't be more deserving.

I know I'm supposed to go on the campaign trail between now and the closure of voting on 31st January, but in all honesty I feel like we've won the ruddy award already. I'll be giving the vote the occasional mention on Twitter and Facebook but I won't be going over the top.

However, if you do listen to the show and enjoy it, I'd be delighted if you voted for us.

Thanks.

Friday, 15 January 2010

Exactly how much crap must Portsmouth supporters deal with before something is done about the ownership of their club?

Black Thursday

Thursday was a bad day for Pompey fans, as the concerning news seemingly hit the dreaded Yellow Scrolling Bar of Doom on Sky Sports News on an almost hourly basis.

First, it was revealed that Stoke City's opportunistic manager Tony Pulis was in talks with Portsmouth about a loan move for goalkeeper David James. The reported deal would have seen City pay 50% of James' wages until the end of the season, and the fact that Portsmouth would have allowed their first choice goalkeeper (the good form of Asmir Begović notwithstanding) leave in order to get just half of his cost off the balance sheet spoke volumes for their plight.

More worryingly, the deal fell through earlier today, with Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie exclaiming that he'd never heard of a Premier League club not wanting to cover the wages in an intra-divisional loan deal.

The thing is, Mr Storrie, Stoke City do not exist to keep your shambolic club in business. They have a very good goalkeeper already and will rightly have no problem at having had to walk away when their cheeky punt on James didn't bear fruit. And in that quote, as much as his willingness to do the deal in the first place, Storrie has betrayed to us all the gravity of Portsmouth Football Club's situation.

Next, it was announced that the Crown Prosecution Service was bringing charges against former Pompey manager Harry Redknapp following a City of London Police and HMRC investigation into corruption in football which has also seen former chairman Milan Mandaric charged.

Redknapp has been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue. His involvement centres on the evasion of tax to the tune of around £40,000 relating to two payments made by Mandaric to the Tottenham Hotspur manager "via a Monaco bank account". Both men will appear in court in February to answer the charges which date back, of course, to their time at Fratton Park.

And finally, the Premier League announced that the latest installment of Portsmouth's broadcast fees would be funneled directly into the bank accounts of the club's footballing creditors, and left an echoing void where Portsmouth had hoped the end of their transfer embargo would be. In short, it wasn't a good afternoon for the Hampshire club.

Peter Storrie

All in all, the continuing involvement of Peter Storrie, Portsmouth's chief executive, is beginning to create a bit of a stench. Storrie has clung on to his influence despite takeover after takeover and would appear to be doing the club's reputation no good whatsoever.

A long-time friend of Redknapp, Storrie appeared all too willing to let his manager leave Portsmouth to join Newcastle United prior to his eventual Tottenham move, appearing in a jovial joint interview as Redknapp played Newcastle and BBC Radio 5 Live like a xylophone before eventually deciding he wasn't willing to move.

He is also implicated in the current corruption investigation. He was questioned about an alleged concealment of the signing-on fee paid to midfielder Amdy Faye by filtering it through the bank account of not-at-all-dodgy agent Willie McKay, charged, and given a court date of 20th January 2010.

Operate within our means? Nah!

Much of Portsmouth's financial woe seems to stem from the club's bizarre salary strategy under the ownership of Sacha Gaydamak (officially, at least). In October 2008, the News of the World reported that the wage bill at Fratton Park accounted for 90% of the club's turnover.

And while Gaydamak must take responsibility for allowing this to happen, high wage bills appear - like the hoarding of players - to be a feature of Redknapp's managerial style. The NOTW article in question suggests prophetically that Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra would have to be sold, along with Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell.

However, it also says that this would "rip apart the team carefully put together by boss Harry Redknapp". Why, exactly, is the man who signed all these players completely exonerated when their wages cripple the club? Redknapp, Storrie and Gaydamak should all be held accountable for that particular aspect of the club's demise - not just the ones that haven't ingratiated themselves to a comment-hungry football media.

Portsmouth fans were rightly overjoyed with their 2008 FA Cup win, but even then it seemed clear that Portsmouth Football Club was operating outside its means by a distance.

Ownership rollercoaster

Still, we can spend and spend and then just sell the club to a friendly Middle Eastern billionaire, right?

With things looking distinctly flaky, Storrie and Gaydamak agreed the sale of a post-Redknapp Pompey to "Dr" Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the high-profile broker of the Abu Dhabi Group's takeover of Manchester City. I'll make Portsmouth a great club, he said.

Only he didn't have the means, 'cause he didn't have a bean. Al-Fahim's habit of beefing up his CV was repeatedly exposed by twohundredpercent's Mark Murphy who researched the "Doctor" in microscopic detail.

Property developer? Er...no. Reality TV star? Not so much. UN goodwill ambassador? A bit.

And so within weeks of taking over at Portsmouth, Al-Fahim finally conceded defeat and watched on as Gaydamak secured a deal for a consortium led by another supposed property magnate, Ali Al Faraj, to take over the club. The latest takeover didn't, though, save the day.

Soon, Portsmouth's continued troubles were clear. Players and staff have routinely not been paid between Al Faraj's takeover and January 2010. This includes broken promises over the festive period which finally triggered exclamations of concern from the players, led by full back Steve Finnan.

Quite a lot has happened in the last three years at Portsmouth Football Club - a cup final, Redknapp's departure, police investigations, takeovers - but the ride is far from over. 2010 so far has been spent under the cloud of a winding up order, and desperate attempts to shed costs are failing. With no players coming in, relegation is almost a certainty, and the kind of spiral that could set in motion doesn't bear thinking about.

The football authorities need to ask themselves some serious questions in the light of events at Portsmouth:

Given his outstanding charge and his involvement with a succession of potentially fatal takeovers, isn't it time Peter Storrie was called in for a bit of a chat?
Harry Redknapp has been manager at Portsmouth, West Ham United, Southampton and AFC Bournemouth immediately before they fell into financial ruin. While there is no law about wage bills as a percentage of turnover, isn't it worth thinking about legislating against such a strategy?
If Sulaiman Al-Fahim and Ali Al Faraj were not deemed unfit and improper, what assurances can supporters take from the Fit & Proper Persons Test and its supposed protection of our clubs?

There are people at Portsmouth Football Club who are willing and able to drive the club into the ground. The supporters deserve better, and it's time the Premier League and the Football Association started to ask some probing questions on their behalf. The situation at the club may well have been avoidable had the proliferation of dodgy takeovers and overspending been spotted, prevented and punished.

(Pic via Ticket4Football)

After a lot of last weekend's fixtures were postponed due to the weather conditions, it looks to be business as usual this weekend with all of the Premier League ties going ahead. Here are our predictions:

Chelsea vs. Sunderland
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Everton vs. Man City
Chris: Draw
Ian: Man City
Gary: Draw

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

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

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

Tottenham vs. Hull
Chris: Tottenham
Ian: Tottenham
Gary: Tottenham

Wolves vs. Wigan
Chris: Wolves
Ian: Draw
Gary: Wolves

Aston Villa vs. West Ham
Chris: Aston Villa
Ian: Aston Villa
Gary: Aston Villa

Bolton vs. Arsenal
Chris: Arsenal
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Draw

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

Thursday, 14 January 2010

So I write this in the aftermath of Liverpool getting knocked out of the FA Cup. Anyone that knows me will know this pleases me… I despise Liverpool. The thing is, I didn’t always feel that way. I quite liked them when I was growing up; they were entertaining to watch. But then when I grew up, and I started to understand more about football, I had issue with them for a variety of reasons, and I still do. Here is why:

Rafa Benitez. He ties with Gary Neville for being the most dislikeable man in football. He constantly blames the ref, he consistently signs very VERY average footballers for large amounts of money, he is exceptionally arrogant (mocking the size of Everton, assuming Gareth Barry would sign for him, guaranteeing - GUARANTEEING - that Liverpool will finish in the top 4 this season) and puts out a team that are widely regarded as one of the most boring teams to watch in the country.
The fans; they are up there with Newcastle fans for being a myth! Sure they sing a bit with their scarves in the air but how many times have you seen them at home on the TV and all you can hear is the away fans? Having been at Villa Park on many occasions when they have visited I can also say that their away support isn’t that great either.
Jamie Carragher. He isn’t rubbish by any stretch of the imagination, but he is incredibly overrated. He also whines constantly, and claims for more decisions than an entire George Graham’s Arsenal back four put together.
Fernando Torres. Wonderful talent, but isn’t he a horrid character?
Also as a Villa fan, the local Liverpool fans celebrate and gloat when we lose almost as bad as the Bluenoses do. At least I understand when Blues fans do it, why do the glory hunting Brummie reds have to get involved? Most of them haven’t even been anywhere near Liverpool. PATHETIC!

So tonight, watching Reading - deservedly - win at Anfield, it was a very enjoyable experience. Well, enjoyable in terms of the win. The game itself was boring, as are 95% of games involving Liverpool. Then, watching the Rafa Benitz interview afterwards... I loved and hated it in equal measures! He is a vile little man isn’t he? I imagine he got bullied at school. Anyway, seeing him blame the ref again was as delightful as it was annoying. Personally, I hope he stays in the job for a VERY long time so he can continue messing it up.

I couldn’t go without mentioning what happened to the Togo team. A lot has been written in many places so I won’t go in to too much detail but there is something I need to rant about. Why the hell did the organisers not know where the Togo team were or how they were travelling? FIFA need to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again. If the hosts can not organise the event properly then they shouldn’t be hosting the event, it really is that simple.

That’ll do for another week, see you next Thursday folks. No hard feelings, hey Liverpool fans xxx

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

It's podcast time again and things are a little downbeat as Chris Nee and Gary Andrews are joined by Jonathan Fadugba from Just Football and one-time twofootedtackle podcast host Theo Delaney to discuss the events of the footballing week. In Episode 32: the horrific attack on the Togo team bus by Cabindan separatists and the action on the pitch at the Africa Cup of Nations.

We ask whether anybody can challenge Inter Milan for the Scudetto over in in Serie A, assess David Beckham's second debut for city rivals AC Milan, and gloat about Napoli's unbeaten run. Well, one of us gloats.

In England, the Premier League and Football League are in the grip of "The Big Freeze", so we ask whether it's time for a winter break in our Blog Post of the Week section, featuring Seb Gevers' post at Inside Left.

You can now download Episode 32 of the twofootedtackle Podcast via iTunes, this MP3 or the media player at CSRN. I've also embedded the audio file below for all you feed reader fiends.

And if you're searching around for new podcasts, my friends (and Gary's employers) at ITV have jumped in two-footed and started their own, very enjoyable show. Here's where you need to go.

Don't forget to leave your comments here, "fan" us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and please, please tell a friend.

Have a cracking week.

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Only three games survived the big freeze this weekend meaning that it was a VERY quiet weekend as regards to football and many other sports. It was also meant a VERY low scoring weekend in our Prediction League, although we don't need snow for that to happen. Anyway, here is a round-up of the games that went ahead:

Arsenal 2-2 Everton
I am sure Arsene Wenger will not be happy to have dropped two points, especially when his side have a game in hand, but it is better than a loss. The Gunners were very lucky to get a point; however, it's pity for us because we all predicted a home win.

Birmingham 1-1 Man United
Birmingham made it 12 games unbeaten now, but they were unfortunate not to snatch all three points. Still, I think if anyone said to Alex McLeish at the start of the season you are going to be 8th in the league, and draw with both Chelsea and Manchester United he would have said "I’d have to see to believe". Points go to me and Gary on this one.

Man City 4-1 Blackburn
A Carlos Tevez inspired performance meant that Roberto Mancini kept up his perfect record at Manchester City as he made it four wins out of four in all competitions, points across the board for us in this one.

No change in the league table once again as Chris still remains at the summit. But, once again the gap is narrowing and stands at just three points now:

1. Chris - 82 points
2. Gary - 79 points
3. Ian - 76 points

Monday, 11 January 2010

Spirits are high in the England camp as the World Cup year gets underway, but several questions remain over Fabio Capello's squad selection for South Africa 2010. An obvious one is "between the pipes", as supporters of one of England's Group C opponents might say.

I shared my thoughts a little while and came to the conclusion that Rob Green was the man for the job. Alongside him on the plane, I proposed that Joe Hart and Paul Robinson should be second and third choice respectively for World Cup 2010. I see no reason to change my goalkeeping trio, but the order is now a little different.

Since then, Birmingham City's on-loan stopper Hart has been in magnificent form, helping Alex McLeish's solid side to a record-smashing run of 12 unbeaten top flight games. And our friends at Castrol Football have been mucking about with some statistics which show exactly how good he's been. Obviously I'm only running these stats because I agree with their conclusion, just so you know.

The Castrol Rankings are based on the performances of every player in each of Europe's top five leagues. For goalkeepers, this means clean sheets, saves, distribution and the number and nature of goals conceded. And Joe Hart comes out on top of his English peers by a huge distance, checking in at number 28 overall.

His nearest rival - and I don't have any desire for him to go to South Africa - is Chris Kirkland. At number 263. Rob Green (275), David James (354) and Paul Robinson (451) complete the top five. Scott Carson doesn't rank because he plays in the Championship, where he belongs.

Hart also ranks as the third best goalkeeper in Europe, but when the four around him include Edwin Van Der Sar, Thomas Sorensen and Nelson Dida (Cedric Carrasso of Bordeaux is in there too) then perhaps it's safer just to take the English list in isolation. Apart from Kirkland and James, natch.

(Pic via Bleacher Report)

Saturday, 9 January 2010

First of all, a very warm welcome back to Prediction League; I trust you all had a wonderful snow filled Christmas. Ah yes, snow, well, it has wrecked havoc on this weekend’s Premier League fixtures and has led to the cancellation of no less the SEVEN games in the top flight.

But, we've not let a little bit of snow cancel our Prediction League, because we have an important battle going on in the league, so, without further ado here are our predictions for this weekend’s three confirmed games:

Arsenal vs. Everton
Chris: Arsenal
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Arsenal

Birmingham vs. Man United
Chris: Man United
Ian: Draw
Gary: Draw

Man City vs. Blackburn
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

Update - At 2pm - West Ham vs. Wolves has since been called off, and have been removed from the list.

Friday, 8 January 2010

The build-up to Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations kick off turned tragic today when news emerged of an horrific incident on Angola's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The team bus carrying players and officials from Togo was attacked by rebel gunmen shortly after crossing into the Cabinda region of northern Angola. The news reached the wires when Nantes striker Thomas Dossevi told a French radio station that the players were "machine-gunned like dogs".

Vaslui defender Serge Akakpo was wounded and has undergone successful surgery, while goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale was said by Dossevi to have been bleeding heavily. Tragically, the driver of the bus was killed in the ambush and our thoughts go out to his family as well as Akakpo and Obilale.

Disappointing media coverage

The British media, of course, was preoccupied with the well-being of Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor. That's understandable, to a point - after all, City supporters would have had him at the front of their minds much as I was concerned for the welfare of Moustapha Salifou.

But Sky Sports News apparently reported on City's statement that Adebayor was safe before moving back on to news of the English weather. Every other report I've seen began with the words "Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor". The lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation is probably just my paranoia, but the focus does seem to be slightly in the wrong place.

Cabinda and poor organisation/communication

However, twofootedtackle friend Jon over at Just Football has been covering the unraveling of events superbly this evening and raises questions far more important than how our cock-eyed media has reported the attack.

Why was Cabinda chosen as a venue when nationalist rebels clearly remain active in the region? It may be hindsight for us, but for tournament organisers it should have been known. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has apparently claimed responsibility for the ambush.

Why were the team travelling by road through a volatile region when they were expected to arrive by air via the capital, Luanda. This is particularly troublesome because Togolese officials also seem confused by aspects of the journey and, as Jon notes, have a history of becoming embroiled in disputes with Togo players.

Will the ACN go ahead?

And what happens to the competition now? My personal view is that it should go ahead - after all, it may be difficult to defeat terrorists but we can at least stand up to them - but then I'm not there. My team-mates haven't been shot, and I'm not one of the many players now preparing to play a high-profile tournament in a country in which they may become targets.

The talk from the Togo players, via captain Adebayor, is that a team meeting will be held tonight and a decision made on whether to boycott the competition. Further doubt is thrown on the competition by Portsmouth, who have asked the FA to seek assurances over the safety of Aruna Dindane, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda and Nwankwo Kanu and threatened to bring them home otherwise.

So now we're just bending over when terrorists attack? Or is it, as one of my favourite cynics suggested, more to do with Portsmouth's precarious league position?

The latest news, according to FourFourTwo is that CAF has announced that the tournament will go ahead on Sunday.

The World Cup is in South Africa, not Angola

Predictably, comment is rife on the security of this summer's World Cup in South Africa. Henry Winter, a football hack at The Telegraph, was the unsurprising poster boy for the connection of two entirely different countries and the assumed unification of Africa which smacks of ignorance.

Africa, like every other continent, has dangerous areas. Hell, it may even have more than most. But to draw South Africa into the workings of a separatist group in northern Angola is misguided at best. As Dan at Aston Villa Central has highlighted in the final map in his post on the subject, the distance between Cape Town and Cabinda is comparable to that between London and Tripoli.

For his part, Jon pointed out on Twitter that Angola and South Africa are different countries just as are, say, Italy and Bosnia.

There are many, many valid security concerns for World Cup 2010. But it's unfair to make out that the actions of rebels hell bent on Cabindan independence is one of them.

Overall, though, the most important thing is that the injured - players and others alike - recover fully and quickly, and the family of the deceased are supported by the Togolese federation. My thoughts are with them and with all the normal, law-abiding people of Angola.

After several days of speculation, negotiations and snow delays, we're still waiting for confirmation of Burnley manager Owen Coyle's move to Bolton Wanderers. But he's making a mistake - even if he's relatively successful at the Reebok.

Coyle took over at Turf Moor in November 2007 after leaving Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone, and in May 2009 he took the club into the top flight for the first time in 33 years. In the summer, he turned down a move to Celtic and signed a new contract at Burnley, a step taken by most as an indication that the promising manager was at least going to see out the season in his post. And why wouldn't he? After doing all the hard work, why wouldn't he want to take on the challenge of joining his club in the big time?

It started well, too. While Burnley are hardly pulling up any trees (at least since their early victories over Manchester United and Everton) and may well end up getting relegated, they're certainly not the guaranteed relegation fodder so many of us thought they might be. They're a fantastic side with boundless character and a distinctive and attractive style of play. They're easy to like and Coyle, as a result, is remarkably popular among supporters of other Premier League clubs.

All of the above contributed to my surprise to hear him linked with the Bolton Wanderers job when they sacked Gary Megson. We know now that Coyle's appointment was something of a formality and there are lots of reasons for why he's chosen to move. As reasons go, they're pretty compelling: rumours of a substantial payrise (as much as three times his Burnley pay, I read somewhere), an affinity with the club as a former player and, of course, the fact that while Bolton aren't a huge club, they're ahead of Burnley in their development towards becoming an established and successful top flight outfit.

In fact, we know from Sam Allardyce's time at the Reebok that Bolton are quite advanced in football science terms and Coyle, presumably, will inherit some methods and habits retained at the club since Allardyce's departure in 2007.

So in essence there's not really much wrong with Coyle's decision to leave Burnley for Bolton, but it doesn't really sit too well with me. By staying at Burnley, Coyle could have put himself in a position where he'd taken them up, turned down two attractive jobs and kept them in the Premier League. In short, he would have deservedly been a real legend at the club and that is a status not to be undervalued. The thing is, so many within football do just that. I know money talks, but would you rather be Matt Le Tissier in Southampton city centre or Gareth Barry in Birmingham? Coyle won't be unpopular in Burnley, but he's jumped ship before becoming an all-time great.

I think he'll regret that in time.

And, regardless of his links with the club, Bolton seems a strange club for which to throw all that away. If he kept Burnley up this season, a real opportunity would no doubt have arisen, whereas Bolton isn't that much of a step up for him. What's more, he'll have to impose a complete cultural turnaround in order to apply his own football ideals to the team. Time is something Bolton don't have in their current position, so he'll be relying on the fact that Bolton have some good footballers and have played decent football more often recently than they used to. Otherwise he'll have to watch a traditional Bolton team scrapping against relegation, and where's the fun in that?

Don't get me wrong - as footballing mistakes go, this is very insignificant. I just think that six months of patience might have landed Coyle both a more enticing move away from Turf Moor and legendary status at the club.

What do you think? Is Owen Coyle really taking a step up by moving to Bolton, or his move just a sentimental (or financial) one? Will his stock in Burnley be damaged?

(Pic via Burnley FC)

Thursday, 7 January 2010

So my first post of 2010 finds me in reflective mood regarding 2009. From the madness of Manchester City and Real Madrid, Newcastle getting relegated, the States getting us all a bit worried that they might actually be getting a very good side together in the Confederation Cup, England qualifying for the World Cup with ease - and being rewarded a very group, and THAT handball from Thierry Henry.

Ryan Giggs rather bafflingly won the PFA Player of the Year and Sports Personality of the year, in what appeared to be more like lifetime tribute awards; Lionel Messi won just about everything in sight (anyone who has seen him play and still thinks Ronaldo is the best player in the world should be shot; not killed, just knee-capped or something) and on a personal note, one of the highlights was my beloved Aston Villa actually breaking that ridiculous hoodoo against Manchester United!

The saddest moment of 2009 was undoubtedly the death of Bobby Robson. I honestly can not think of a man more universally liked in football. Honestly; think of all the great players and managers that you can come up with. Now, you may respect them all, you personally may even like them all, but how many can you say that you have never heard anyone say anything bad about? Well Sir Bobby Robson fell into that category, and I have absolutely no shame in saying that I had a tear in my eye when he was on the pitch for the charity match in his honour.

One of the most annoying things about 2009 - in fact the past decade - has been Sky. Of course there are many good things to Sky; the amount of games we can see, the option of Football First, even the fact that there are no problems with coverage when games go into extra-time. Plus of course, Jeff Stelling! But the hype and nonsense that comes out of the mouths of the pundits and the commentators is absolutely nonsensical! The worst of all is the face of it all - Richard Keys. What a vile, grubby little man he is. A couple of things he come out with last month really annoyed me, such as suggesting the James Milner goal in Villa’s 3-0 win over Hull was bad sportsmanship. But what really summed up him and his company was this comment...

On the subject of Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League he said:

"This competition and the people of England need Liverpool to be doing well in the Champions League."

Word for word that might not be 100% accurate but it is very, very close. First of all - no competition NEEDS anyone to be doing well; teams get knocked out, teams progress, and ultimately teams usually end up about where they deserve to. Secondly, why the hell should anyone in

England

- or anywhere else for that matter - who is not a Liverpool fan need Liverpool to be doing anything? This type of narrow-minded, elitist attitude is responsible for a lot of what is wrong with English football.

I tell you what, love or hate Roy Keane, when he went on a rant about Keys and the rest of his cronies he was absolutely spot on with everything that he said.

On a more random note...if you mixed Jimmy Bullard and Steve Bruce, do you think you would basically get Rocky Dennis?

Anyway, that’s enough from me. Happy New Year to you all, and have a great 2010.

It's possible that, at the very early start of his career, Tom Taiwo would have envisaged getting a run out at Carlisle's Brunton Park one day, as perhaps a substitute or a starter as Leeds United looked to battle their way out of League One.

When he signed for Chelsea back in 2008, it's possible he thought he could forget all about the Cumbrian town completely. Signing a contract with Carlisle and becoming a fans' favourite with the club probably wasn't exactly what he had in mind at the time.

It was back in the summer of 2008 that the teenage midfielder made his controversial move from Leeds' academy to Chelsea, prompting the majority of right-thinking football fans into the distinctly uncomfortable position of agreeing with Ken Bates.

Bates complained to the FA and Premier League that Taiwo, and fellow teenager Michael Woods, had been 'poached' by the Premier League club. The two clubs eventually reached a £5m out-of-court settlement for the pair.

If Chelsea are interested in you, then it's reasonable to assume you must be a bit special, but Taiwo failed to make an impression at Stamford Bridge.

He was immediately loaned to Port Vale and made four appearances, but the Valiants opted against extending his loan. At the end of the season he had a trial with MLS expansion side Seattle Sounders, but nothing materialised.

In July last year Taiwo was on the move again - this time to Carlisle United, making an impression and battling into the first team. The northern Blues fans are delighted he's now signed from the more illustrious southern Blues.

While Taiwo's case is not unusual, it does highlight a worrying trend Premier League clubs and promising youngsters.

Clubs such as Chelsea can afford to hoover up promising young players for what is loose change to them, but often vital cash for the lower-league club that developed the player.

Is this a good thing? Well, on one hand it shows that Premier League teams are scouring the lower leagues for future English talent. On the other there's a good argument it stunts their development, denies them a chance to develop at their lower-league parent club and potentially earn a higher transfer fee if they go on to star.

It hurts clubs like Crewe who put a lot of time and effort into developing youngsters. The Alex's manager, Dario Gradi, recently complained that one of his young players had been tapped up by a Premier League club.

Remember John Bostock, the teenage prodigy who earned rave reviews at Crystal Palace? He moved to Tottenham for a measly £700,000, earning the fury of Palace chairman Simon Jordan (and agreeing with both Jordan and Bates is a highly unlikely event).

Bostock is currently on loan at Brentford, a division lower than Palace, and how the Eagles could do with the youngster at this point in time - not just for his footballing ability, but for a potentially higher transfer fee than the one they received from Spurs.

In reality, smaller clubs (and there's a sliding scale of small here) are powerless to keep hold of their young starlets, who are often lured, by means foul or fair, to sit on the bench for several years before getting back to where they started, behind 31-year-old journeymen in League Two.

There are exceptions. Transfers to Arsenal have arguably helped the footballing development of Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott, while Charlton's teenage sensation Jonjo Shelvey rejected a move to Chelsea and is developing nicely at the Valley.

As for Taiwo, he's has now ended up exactly where he started - League One - albeit with a lower-placed club. Who's to say that he wouldn't have been better off staying at Leeds, learning the trade with a club he knew and staff he were familiar with his abilities.

Who knows, perhaps this teenager could have been starring in Leeds' famous victory over Manchester United last weekend, rather than starring at a frozen Brunton Park.

(Pic via Carlisle United)

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

The Italian top flight returned from its winter break today and all American and English eyes were on San Siro, where one David Beckham was selected by Leonardo in AC Milan's starting line-up for a challenging clash against Gian Piero Gasperini's Genoa.

Another set of eyes on the former England captain this evening was the pair embedded in the sockets of one Fabio Capello, running the rule over one of his likely substitutes for England's World Cup 2010 campaign in South Africa.

He put in a very comfortable performance as Milan, led by the vibrant Marco Borriello and an in-form Massimo Ambrosini came from behind to put Genoa to the sword.

It took Beckham, playing very high up the pitch on the right hand side of an attacking trio, just three minutes to make his mark, picking up a loose clearance from the Genoa goalkeeper and bending in a lovely cross from which Borriello should have opened the scoring.

Milan had another chance to go ahead in the 13th minute thanks to a brilliant move ruined by a dive. Luca Antonini and Ronaldinho exchanged passes from a throw-in, before Antonini found Ambrosini racing into the box. The midfielder skinned his marker with a superbly executed drop of the shoulder but sadly chose to hit the deck under the slightest of tackles when a simple finish beckoned. Justice was done when Marco Amelia easily held Ronaldinho's awful penalty.

Milan paid the price in the 25th minute. Genoa progressed smartly down the right wing, and former Boca Juniors man Rodrigo Palacio crossed for Guiseppe Sculli, who nodded home easily with his marker in no man's land.

A second Milan penalty soon arrived after a lovely move of which Beckham was the focus. After a quick one-two he found Borriello with a superb pass into the area. Ambrosini was brought down this time, Amelia picking up a yellow card for his efforts before watching Ronaldinho smash the spot kick into the bottom corner.

Milan took a deserved lead in the 38th minute, finally rounding off a dramatic scramble. A free kick found Alessandro Nesta, whose cross was headed back into the danger zone and eventually fell to Thiago Silva, who tucked the ball home to make it 2-1.

It was an impressive first half performance by the Rossoneri but for all their dominance, they still appeared susceptible to some of Genoa's better attacks and the 2-1 half time lead was unnecessarily precarious.

But just two minutes into the second half, it was 3-1. Marco Borriello was the latest to benefit, turning in a cut-back from Antonini after Ronaldinho had found the number 77 in acres of space in the box. The Milan striker made it four on the hour mark after a quiet ten minutes, exploiting a very slight offside position to hit a bicycle kick against the ground and past Amelia from nine yards.

Genoa continued to chase a goal and came close in the 70th minute with Domenico Criscito's crisp drive just sneaking over the angle of Dida's goal. At the other end, a mistake from the same man presented Gennaro Gattuso with a golden opportunity to net Milan's fifth, but Amelia was out quickly to save at his feet.

And two minutes later, the Rossoneri had yet another penalty. Again, this one was an easy decision, Marco Rossi downing Ronaldinho as he squirmed through on goal. Dutch substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was handed the ball by Beckham and Ronaldinho, and made no mistake in smashing the ball into the top corner.

David Suazo pounced on a mistake and stayed on his feet after being clipped to strike a lovely shot beyond Dida from 20 yards to make it 5-2, but the match was already out of Genoa's reach.

Genoa are no mugs, and Milan just didn't give them a sniff in the second half. With Internazionale and Juventus winning earlier in the day, three points were vital for second-placed Milan this evening. They bagged them in style - and people say Italian football is boring.

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