Sunday, December 31, 2006
January Premiership Transfer Window Analyzed
By The Scout(Editor's Note: The Scout has researched each of the twenty Premiership clubs and provides you with an insightful analysis of the upcoming January transfer window)
Arsenal
Despite the constant rumours regarding more attacking midfielders and wingers headed to the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners could use some depth at the back and in the longer term a replacement for Jens Lehmann is needed. Eric Abidal, Lyon's starting left-back, would allow Gallas to play in his preferred role as a central defender. Another potential purchase could be Gareth Bale from Southampton. Another name often linked with Arsenal is West Bromwich Albion's Curtis Davies. Davies proved himself ready for the Premiership last season and was often West Brom's best performer in their failed relegation fight. The price tag during the summer was in excess of £10million and there is little to suggest that West Brom will drop the price drastically. This could be a major blockade to any potential move.
On the way out?
Arsenal have a number of their young players out on loan though it is unlikely that any will leave the club in January on permanent deals. Anthony Stokes has attracted interest from a number of clubs after scoring 13 goals in 11 games for Falkirk of the SPL. Charlton are the latest club to be linked to Stokes though Celtic, Sunderland, Everton, Manchester City and Middlesbrough have also been linked to him.Birmingham chairman David Gold has also indicated that should they win promotion he will "move heaven and earth" to sign the on-loan players Patrice Muamba, striker Nicklas Bendtner and midfielder Sebastian Larsson. The Blues already have an option to sign wide player Larsson, who is out of contract with the Gunners in the summer, but it may be more difficult to convince them to part with Bendtner and Muamba.
Aston Villa
Martin O'Neill has one of the smaller squads in the EPL and their form has suffered because of this. There could be a flurry of activity at Villa Park in January with Milan Baros, Lee Hendrie, JLloyd Samuel, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Patrick Berger likely candidates to move elsewhere. Hendrie and Berger have been on-loan at Stoke and could be sold to raise funds for new players. Baros has been a disappointment since coming to the EPL and might be best served with a move to a different league. Monaco may be a good fit as he has worked well with fellow Czech striker Jan Koller at the international level. Lyon and Hamburg have also been linked to Baros.
Depth is needed at almost every position though most critically at striker. A lot of Villa's goals have been coming from midfielder Gareth Barry, whose seven league goals are three more than his closest teammate - Juan Pablo Angel. Villa has been linked with Robbie Keane but a more likely move could be for Garry O'Connor who has reportedly not settled in at Lokomotiv Moskow after his big money move from Hibernian last season. O'Connor looks to be supplanted by Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke who joined Lokomotiv from Lyn Oslo of Norway.
Other players that could help Villa are Queens Park Rangers winger Lee Cook, right-back Andy Griffin from Portsmouth or another of O'Neill's former Celtic players - midfielder Stephen Pearson.
Blackburn
Unfortunately for Rovers fans, it looks likely that Lucas Neill will be moved in January, possibly in a swap deal with Liverpool for Stephen Warnock. Neill has been unhappy with contract negotiations and is eager to move on. Blackburn could also do a swap with Man City for out of favour Danny Mills, though City might have to top up the deal with some cash.
Jason Koumas from West Bromwich Albion or Sparta Prague's Tomas Sivok could add some creativity to the midfield mix and aid in their continued UEFA Cup run. However, Everton currently appear to be leading the race to sign the 23-year-old Czech Republic international.
Bolton
Don't expect much cash to be splashed by Bolton this January. The Wanderers spent over £8m on capturing Nicolas Anelka and any deals are likely to be loan or free signings. Bolton could use a couple more squad players to provide depth and a likely arrival is French international Vikash Dhorasoo, who is currently unattached after falling out with former club PSG. Sam Allardyce has a reputation for helping players rebuild their careers and Dhorasoo certainly fits that bill.
Charlton
The Addicks could provide some surprises in the January transfer window. New manager Alan Pardew inherits a side nine points from safety and is hampered by the fact that Iain Dowie, Charlton's manager at the start of the season, dipped into next season's budget with an £11.2m spree during the summer. What is likely to happen at Charlton is a mix of attempts to stay up with a precautinary eye towards being relegated. Speculation is that Pardew was hired because of his knack of getting clubs promoted and experience in the Fizzy Pop League (a.k.a Coca-Cola Championship).
There are a ton of rumours surrounding Darren Bent but if the Addicks are serious about trying to stay up they will need his goal scoring prowess. The players that should be moved out are J.F. Hasselbaink, who is on a big wage packet, and £3.75m summer signing Souleymane Diawara who has been a shambles at the back. Also a move could be made for Hayden Mullins and Marlon Harewood, both favourites of Pardew from his time with West Ham.
Charlton have made one signing - Chinese national team captain Zheng Zhi, who can play either in defence or midfield, joins from Shandong Luneng until the end of the season with Charlton having an option to buy him. Charlton have missed out on one target, former Hearts captain Stephen Pressley, who had undergone a medical at Charlton but decided to sign with Celtic instead. Pressley would have brought leadership to the side but it is unknown how well he would have adapted to the pace and style of the EPL.
Chelsea
With deep pockets, there will always be speculation about players moving to Chelsea. However, owner Roman Ambromovich has recently made statements about wanting the club's academy to start producing so the free-spending days may soon come to a close but not this January.
Of immediate concern is the situation at the back. Mourinho has lost confidence in his choices at right-back (Geremi, Boulahrouz, Ferreira) and is looking to either Manchester City wunderkid Micah Richards, Daniel Alves from Sevilla or Valencia's Miguel. Seville are currently top of the table in Spain and are unlikely to want to upset the club's chemistry. Manchester City are likely to want a massive dollar amount plus Shaun Wright-Phillips. This won't be an easy transfer window for The Special One.
SWP has been mentioned in a number of rumours as a potential loan signing for clubs such as West Ham or Man City. Also on the way out, though perhaps only on loan deals, could be midfielders John Obi Mikel (who had a bust-up with Mourinho) and Lassana Diarra who has not seen any regular football.
Everton
As mentioned they are in the hunt for Sparta Prague midfielder Tomas Sivok but the Toffees could also use another young central defender to pair up with Lescott. If they were to snag Curtis Davies that would give them a pairing for the future with massive potential. However, the more realistic buy is a cover player to tide them over the rash of injuries they have suffered. After being knocked out of European competition FC Copenhagen could be persuaded to part with right-back Lars Jacobsen who should come at a reasonable price. Lescott has been asked to play out of position and cover either flank and Jacobsen would allow him to move back to the centre of defence.
Their attack should be bolstered by the return of Tim Cahill from his knee injury and David Moyes has quashed any rumours of striker James Beattie leaving the club in the January transfer window. Moyes has further stated that he does not anticipate any players leaving the club this January as they are a bit short on numbers.
Everton will have one new player for sure -- attacking midfielder Anderson Silva de França whose passport/work-permit issues are finally cleared up after signing from Racing Santander at the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Without the necessary papers, the Brazilian midfielder was loaned to Málaga CF for 6 months initially which was later extended until the end of 2005/06 season, due to again, his failure to secure a work permit.
Fulham
The long-standing rumour has been that midfielder Clint Dempsey of the New England Revolution will join up with his US MNT colleague Brian McBride at Craven Cottage. After selling Steed Malbranque to Tottenham and losing Jimmy Bullard to injury, Fulham have lacked numbers, and more importantly creativity, in the midfield. Manager Chris Coleman may also struggle to hold on to his captain, Luis Boa Morte.
I'm not convinced that Clint Dempsey is the answer to their midfield problems. The Cottagers might be better off looking to a player with EPL such as Danny Murphy or Manchester United's out-of-favor winger Kiernan Richardson. Another option could be to bring in a slightly less-experienced player like Watford's left-sided midfielder Ashley Young.
Fulham have confirmed they will make some moves in the window and the most recent reports are suggesting that efforts to sign £2million-rated Norwegian defender Per Nilsson will be stepped up now that defender Zat Knight will be out for two months with a broken jaw.
Liverpool
Having invested heavily in new players two years in a row, one wouldn't think that Liverpool would need to bring in further talent but they are unlikely to stand pat in January. Depsite a run of excellent form in their recent matches, Rafa Benitez is thought to be unhappy with his choices at right back and Blackburn's Lucas Neill might fit in well. However, Liverpool has long been linked with Sevilla's Daniel Alves and they may bid for his services. As I mentioned earlier, I am skeptical that Sevilla would be willing to sell one of their key players at this point.
Without Harry Kewell, Liverpool have been lacking a solid option on the left-side of midfield and are thought to be interested in Simao from Benfica or Quaresma from FC Porto. Both Porto and Benfica are still involved in European competition so the asking price for either player could be quite high.
There are several rumours about who might be on the way out of Anfield. Stephen Warnock has been mentioned in swap deals for several players, while both Craig Bellamy and Peter Crouch have been talked about as moving in January. Of the two, Crouch would be the more likely to move on. Liverpool has been building a team with a lot of pacy players and Crouch does not fit into that mould. Kuyt combines quickness with the ability to hold the ball up and can be a target man with almost the same effectiveness as Crouch, who for such a tall player is not overly effective in the air. As Benitez cannot decide which of the three is his best option, a change to the mix might be in order.
Manchester City
Rumours have it that the City manager Stuart Pearce has been given about £1.5m to spend in January and his transfer fund will increase should Sylvain Distin leave. City's priority should be to bring in at least one winger and the hot gossip is that Shaun Wright-Phillips plus cash will be dangled in front of Pearce in an attempt to pry teenage right-back Micah Richards out of the squad. If City are to stay up and progress, Richards will be a key. His athleticism and versatility allow him to play anywhere across the back as well as in midfield.
To solve their width problems, a better option would be Olivier Thomert of Lens, a 26-year-old who can play on either wing and who reportedly came close to moving to City last summer. However, if the price is outside their range of available funds, City might turn to QPR winger Lee Cook or Luton's Carlos Edwards.
Obtaining a winger would hopefully allow Darius Vassell to move back to a strike role and attempt to address the shortage of goals. Georgios Samaras, Paul Dickov and Bernardo Corradi have been inconsistent, though some of that can be attributed to a lack of service from the midfield. Depending on what funds are available, Pearce might try and buy some goalscoring from one of the lower divisions. Pearce has apparently been a regular visitor to see Billy Sharp, the Scunthorpe United forward who is League One's leading scorer and is also monitoring League Two's leading marksman, Izale McLeod of Milton Keynes Dons.
Manchester United
The Red Devils got their biggest concern taken care of early by sealing a loan deal for striker Henrik Larsson. A long-time target for Sir Alex Ferguson, Larsson will provide relief for Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney. Also likely to return from a loan to Newcastle is Giuseppe Rossi. Rossi has not seen as much first-team action as perhaps was expected and will provide further depth up front. Alan Smith and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are coming back from injury and looking to break into first team action so competition for places will be fierce. There are a ton of rumours about United brining in Fernando Torres or Darren Bent or even Nani from Sporting Lisbon but those would likely be summer 2007 moves and it would be a major surprise if a big deal were to be made now. The club chemistry is excellent and they are currently six points clear at the top of the table so SAF is unlikely to do anything too drastic to the mix.
The long saga of a potential for Owen Hargreaves might finally come to an end in January. Bayern Munich are reportedly resigned to losing the player but hope to land defender Wes Brown in addition to a dump truck of cash. In the long term, Hargreaves would add some steel and resolve to the United midfield but as he is recovering from injury, he is unlikely to make an immediate impact should he be acquired. His addition would likely spell the end of Kiernan Richardson's stay at Old Trafford. SAF is reportedly unhappy with the youngster's progress and would be willing to listen to offers for him.
Also mentioned to be moving out are left-back Gabriel Heinze and John O'Shea's name gets thrown around a lot in rumours. With United still very much in the thick of Champions League as well as in a tight title race, I don't expect either player to go anywhere as they both can provide coverage in more than one area.
Middlesbrough
Boro have a couple of obvious needs. First, another goal scoring option; a player with pace to complement either Viduka or Yakubu. If Craig Bellamy were to be moved from Liverpool, this might be a good fit for his abilities. A more realistic option is to buy a player from the Championship or bring in a striker on loan. David Nugent from Preston North End is often mentioned in transfer gossip but I would like to see Boro take a shot at either Aiden McGeady or Shaun Maloney from Celtic.
The Teesiders could also use some more depth at the backline. They brought back Abel Xavier after his drugs ban but a player like Matthew Upson from Birmingham or a potential loan deal for Wayne Bridge would add some strength to their backline.
In midfield, despite being linked with a number of players, I think Boro are just fine. Their best bet is to give their younger players, like James Morrison and Stuart Downing, an opportunity to develop.
Two players that I can see leaving are Gaizka Mendieta, who has been linked with a move to Spanish side Malaga, and Massimo Maccarone, who has been linked to several Serie A sides. Neither is getting many first-team chances at the Riverside and would be best served by moving on.
Newcastle
Another transfer season, same old problems on Tyneside. With one of the deeper midfields in the EPL, Newcastle need to shore up their back four and try to add another scoring option up front. Obafemi Martins seems to have found his rhythm and has been producing goals. With Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi injured and loan signing Giuseppe Rossi on his way back to Manchester United, rumours have been circulating that a bid for Liverpool's Peter Crouch will be made. Both clubs have been quick in denying those rumors but a big-little partnership with Martins could work out nicely.
At the back-line, Newcastle should target one of the "available" players such as Lucas Neill or Matthew Upson though they may make a run at an experienced central defender like Sylvain Distin from Manchester City or even Mikael Silvestre from Manchester United.
Adding to their transfer funds might be the sale of forward Albert Luque who has not settled in since his big money move to St James Park. Luque has been linked with Villareal and other Spanish clubs.
Portsmouth
What would a transfer window be without some activity from old Trader 'Arry? Through his wheeling and dealing, Redknapp has taken Pompey into the top six (at the time of this article) and outlaid very little in transfer fees to do it. Sol Campbell and Kanu came in on free deals and David James was signed for £1.2m.
It is known that midfielder Manuel Fernandes will return to Benfica as his £12m asking price is more than Redknapp is willing to spend on the player. Fernandes is a highly-rated prospect that has been tracked by big clubs like Manchester United and is thought to have the potential to develop into a Patrick Veira style of holding midfielder.
Though they have been linked with a number of players like Hibernian midfielders Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson, If they can keep their current crop of midfielders and forwards healthy, they should have sufficient cover for the rest of the EPL campaign. They have been caught a bit short at the back in recent weeks and could use another defender like Villareal's Juan Pablo Sorin or Taye Taiwo from Marseille or Fiorentina's Tomas Ujfalusi.
Don't count out Redknapp putting in a bid for either of David Nugent (Preston North End) or Robert Earnshaw (Norwich).
Reading
Still not assured of staying up, though looking very likely to do so, Steve Coppell has said he's after a striker in the January transfer window. The need arises as Dave Kitson will remain out of action for a few more weeks with his hamstring injury and Leroy Lita has just returned from injury and is not back in form as of yet. Kevin Doyle has been a fantastic bargain buy and I would expect the Royals to look for another similar deal from a lower division. Ipswich's Alan Lee (10 goals) or Burnley's Andrew Gray (10 goals) could be good buys. If they want a more proven scorer and are willing to spend, Norwich's Robert Earnshaw (16 goals) might be a good fit.
They have also been linked with Hibernian midfielder Scott Brown but could go after someone like Lee Hendrie from Aston Villa if they want to add midfield depth. I wouldn't expect any departures from Madjeski Stadium at this time as Coppell needs depth at all positions.
Reading have stated their intention to hold onto their top midfielder Steve Sidwell despite his contract expiring this summer. They hope to get a new deal done but could they be tempted by a big money offer for the 25 year-old? Now that Aston Villa will have a bit of money to spend, don't be surprised if they make a bid.
Sheffield United
Bramall Lane could be a high traffic zone come January 1.
Neil Warnock, has put eight players up for sale or loan ahead of next month's transfer window. Paul Ifill, Steve Kabba, Geoff Horsfield, Chris Lucketti, Alan Wright, Neil Shipperley and David Unsworth are available for either a permanent move or loan while Li Tie is available for loan only.
Additionally, Sheffield United shareholders approved a resolution to raise £10m via the proposed issue of convertible loan notes. Manager Neil Warnock has been handed £5m of that money to strengthen the club for their fight to stay in the Premiership. Warnock is unlikely to splash out big on just one player and will likely plumb the Championship for squad players. Two potential signings would be defender Matthew Kilgallon from Leeds, a highly rated prospect and David Nugent from Preston. Competition for Nugent is potentially going to be high but Kilgallon might be an easier deal to complete, particularly if Sheffield allow Horsfield, who is currently on-loan with Leeds, to move permanently to Elland Road.
One hope is that depth will be added at the back so that midfielder Phil Jagielka will not have to cover in defense. If the EPL had an MVP trophy Jagielka would deserve strong consideration as he has been heroic for The Blades. In their recent 1-0 win over Arsenal, he even covered in goal for the final half-hour after Paddy Kenny went off injured.
Tottenham
One of the clubs caught up in transfer window frenzy as of late, Tottenham are unlikely to stand pat in January. Their form has been inconsistent though largely due to a combination of injury and an ever-changing starting XI.
A lot of the interest will be to see which players may leave. Rumours have been flying around about both Jermain Defore and Robbie Keane, though at this point its hard to see either leaving on anything more than a loan deal. A loan move for Keane to a club like Aston Villa could be in the works, though he will still be out for several weeks recovering from a knee injury. One player hoping to get out will be Canadian international Paul Stalteri. After a sold season for Spurs last year, he has been relegated to the bench in favor of new signing Pascal Chimbonda. Stalteri is likely eager to get his career back on track and a loan move to a club like Sheffield United or Newcastle would be welcomed.
Tottenham have already arranged one deal ahead of the window opening, goalkeeper Ben Alnwick will be arriving from Sunderland with Martin Fulop and a cash payment of £1m going the other way.
Despite their spending in the summer, Spurs have been linked with defender Sylvain Distin from Man City, playmaker Yildiray Basturk from Hertha Berlin and highly-rated left-back Gareth Bale of Southampton. Following in the footsteps of former teammate Theo Walcott, Bale has been capped at the senior level by Wales and is noted for his his free-kick prowess. Spurs have made an initial approach while Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United and Newcastle also want the £7m rated 17 year-old. Man United are reportedly willing to let Gabriel Heinze move on should they acquire Bale.
Watford
Watford are going to have trouble attracting players and despite their need for a goal scoring, might find themselves coming up empty. Their best bet might be someone like David Healy, whose Leeds side is struggling to fight off relegation to League One rather than eyeing promotion to the Premiership. Their other option might be a loan deal for a player like their former striker Heidar Helguson. Helguson has not been able to get regular first-team action at Fulham and would likely welcome a chance to play regularly.
Their promotion last season was a big surprise and with their lack of additions during the summer, the club has struggled for points. In all likelihood, Watford are preparing for the drop and will not spend big money in hopes of staying up. They will attempt to work with what they have with one or two minor additions.
West Ham
West Ham are a complete mystery to me. They go from beating Manchester United, to failing to gain a single point from home games against Portsmouth and Manchester City. They continue to sit in the bottom three after last season's strong run and it appears that a shake up might be in the works at Upton Park this January. Alan Curbishley is reported to have up to £20m to spend on West Ham's survival.
First, Paul Konchesky might be moved as he and Alan Curbishley did not see eye-to-eye during their time at Charlton. Nigel Reo-Coker has been linked with a number of clubs and was reportedly disappointed that he was not told of Arsenal's interest in signing him this past summer. Reo-Coker has recently been linked with Everton and may be moved to make way for new signings. I think this would be a bad move in the long-term for West Ham but Reo-Coker's form has been poor this season and the fans at Upton Park seem to have turned on him so a change of scenery might be in order.
West Ham need another winger to complement Matthew Etherington and Shaun Wright-Phillips (on a loan deal if Chelsea's overtures for Micah Richards fail) would be a good choice to take up that role. If SWP is not available, Curbishley may look to Kiernan Richardson or another established EPL player. Bringing in players from outside the country could be risky as they typically need more time to adjust and time is not on West Ham's side. A bid for either of Matthew Upson or David Dunn from Birmingham could be in the works should Konchesky move on.
Striker Freddy Eastwood from Championship-side Southend United, whose stunning free-kick put Manchester United out of the Carling Cup will attract bids from a number of clubs, West Ham likely to be included.
Wigan
Last but surely not least, Wigan are one of the clubs to have already arranged deals ahead of the transfer window. Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist has joined Wigan from Helsingborg on loan until the end of the season. The 21-year-old central defender, rated as one of the top prospects from Sweden, has joined on a deal that could become permanent in the summer and could make his debut against Blackburn on 1 January.
Wigan have also beaten a number of other Premiership clubs to sign Norwegian international Kristofer Haestad. The highly-rated midfielder has won 11 caps for Norway. Haestad, who can play anywhere across the middle, has joined on loan for the rest of the season from IK Start and will provide depth for Wigan. Having just lost Paul Scharner to injury, this signing could not be more timely.
Wigan may make one or two other minor moves to shore up their squad. They could use some depth at striker to complement Heskey and Camara. A bid for former striker Nathan Ellington, currently with West Bromwich Albion. As West Brom are currently fighting for promotion, Wigan might have to turn their attention to other forwards such as Celtic's Derek Riordan or Fulham's Collins John.
Wigan may have to fight to hang onto left-back Leighton Baines, who is sought by a number of teams including Arsenal and Manchester United. His loss would be a massive blow to the club.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Loss of John Terry Is Premiership Fans' Gain
Manchester United moved to six points ahead of second place Chelsea today when the Blues drew 2-2 against Fulham in the west London derby.Mourinho's defensive woes continue in what has been the most inconsistent form from Chelsea since the Portugese manager took over the club a few years ago. With Manchester United winning 3-2 against Reading at Old Trafford, the Red Devils now find themselves edging further from Chelsea.
While the rain poured down at Stamford Bridge and throughout England, the level of football on display today seems to be improving. It's unfortunate for Chelsea fans but good news for neutral Premiership fans that having John Terry injured has made Chelsea matches more entertaining to watch.
Chelsea's strategy of late is to score more goals than they let in. They almost tied 2-2 against Wigan (if it wasn't for Robben's last minute goal to make it 3-2). They tied against Reading, and now have tied against Fulham. These are matches which Chelsea would have cruised through in the past.
So far today, the three matches shown on television have been a great advertisement for the Premier League. Let's hope this trend continues.
Charlton Celebrates Deserved Win Against Villa
Full credit has to go to the Charlton squad for coming back from being 1-0 down even though they dominated the first half, and could have gone 1-0 up themselves if it wasn't for Kiraly in Aston Villa's goal making a super save from Darren Ambrose's curling shot.
The match was suspenseful throughout. It was one of those games where you didn't know who would win it in the end.
In the second half, Charlton found their equalizer and in a moment that sums up the kind of man Alan Pardew is, he celebrated the goal by walking past the dugout and giving a caring kiss to the top of the head of a disabled Charlton supporter near the touchline.
When Steve Hughes got the last minute winner for Charlton, the Valley erupted. Pardew ran over to the crowd and gave a few fans a hug. The sense of relief for Charlton, Pardew and the fans was plain to see. The Addicks don't look like relegation fodder. Let's see if they can mount a challenge between now and May to get out of the relegation zone.
Friday, December 29, 2006
The Journey From Florida to Everton's Goodison Park
The wonderful thing about being in Britain is that you can hear conversations about football in the most interesting places. Taking the train from Manchester to Liverpool last month to embark on a trip to see Everton at home against Bolton, you couldn't escape hearing people talking about the beautiful game. And that included wives, children, teenagers and grown men.Taking the train to Goodison Park, I had plenty of time to reflect on my youth growing up in the U.K. and how football has been such a integral part of the fabric of my life. From 1984 when I emigrated to America, I had a lot of catching up to do.
I wasn't quite prepared for what was about to unfold.
Everton's Goodison Park isn't the most convenient place to visit by train. After arriving at Liverpool Street Station and catching another train to Liverpool Central, I had to take another train before I arrived at Kirkdale station. From there, the walk was about a mile, which I didn't mind as the blood pumped through my veins in anticipation of my first visit to Goodison.
Walking up the streets toward Goodison Park, it was a typical Saturday morning in England with busy traffic on roads, women entering laundromats, kids chewing McDonald hamburgers and the usual bustle of a busy city. After walking up a side street past terraced housing, there she was: the Grand Old Lady, built in 1892 and one of the world's oldest and most historic football stadiums, Goodison Park.
To hear audio from my experience at Goodison, as well as additional thoughts, listen to the EPL Talk Podcast episode here.
Arriving at Goodison approximately 2-3 hours before kick off, I must have circled the ground twice before entering the Main Stand from Goodison Road. Everton was courteous enough to provide me with a press pass, so I was able to ascend the glorious carpeted steps in the executive area of the stand.
After walking up several flights of stairs, I found the press box and proceeded to take in the view in front of me: An expanse of green encircled by the glorious blue empty seats, an incredibly impressive sight indeed.
From the inside, the ground looks smaller. I proceeded to walk down the concrete steps to get closer to the pitch. With not a person in sight, it was hard to believe that millions around the world would be watching the match in a mere two hours.
Standing in the Main Stand, I was able to take in the majesty of the Bullens Road Stand and Gwladys Stand, both built by Scottish football designer Archibald Leitch. Only 11 of his stands remain in existence today, and two of them are at Goodison.
One of the things that I noticed about the Main Stand was how antiquated it looked even though it was built in 1971 after the 1909 stand was demolished (also built by Archibald Leitch). The giant concrete steps near the back of the stand obviously hadn't been built in preparation for the tiny seats, but the addition of the original wooden seats from Leitch in the stand was a nice touch.
After stepping into the press room behind the press box for a bite to eat and a drink, I was conscious about how much smaller everything is in the UK: parking spaces, restrooms, houses, and even press rooms. But what it does do is force people to mingle more in confined spaces. And what you find, especially in Liverpool, is that the people - for the most part - are charming.
The employees at Everton behind-the-scenes were stellar. And watching the fellow journalists was also interesting. Hearing the banter between them and watching them preparing their notes and thoughts for the game ahead of them.
With an hour to go before kickoff, I decided to step outside to take in the atmosphere. The number of people in the crowds had picked up by now with thousands streaming around the stands. However they were (as I've previously written) surprisingly quiet other than the occasional horn noise, chit chat or programme seller trying to catch the attention of passerbys.
I think part of the reason for this, other than the whole gentrification of the game, is that fans most often attend matches in small groups today (father and son, two mates together, or a small family). What you don't see as much is the large pack of young men going to matches together, which is more likely to be more vocal and intimidating.
Walking around the ground again, this time along with thousands of strangers, I stopped by St Luke's Church nestled in the corner between the Main and Gwladys Stands. While the church itself isn't the most aesthetically pleasing, its presence in all of places a football ground makes it so unique.
Continuing around the corner to the Gwladys Stand, you could sense that this end of the ground had fans who were more boisterous. You could feel a difference in the atmosphere, which may have been made more profound by the police horses that strode up and down the street.
Back inside the ground, the press room was buzzing with approximately 30 journalists crammed into a small area to grab a drink before the match began. Walking through the door and into the press box facing the halfway line, the blue seats had now disappeared and were replaced with the darker clothing colors synonymous with the blustery weather.
I'm not surprised that there are very few overweight football journalists in the UK. Judging by the exceedingly cramped conditions in the press box, there's no way a hefty journo could squeeze into the minute wooden seats where you sit cozily side-by-side with other reporters, while your knees brush up against the row in front of you. Still, it's one of the best views in the house with the director's box just a few rows below where Sam Allardyce sat for this first half.
The build-up to the kick-off was anti-climatic, as it was in all of the other matches I went to see on the trip. Looking at my watch, I could see that with ten minutes to go before kick-off, the crowd was silent other than the buzz of conversation. On television, you'd be seeing cutting-edge on-screen graphics and the sense of some kind of wonderful that was approaching. In the ground, it seemed that the fans were preparing for "just another match."
That all changed as soon as the fans were greeted to the theme of Z-Cars as the Everton squad walked out to the field next to the Trotters. And when the theme for the English Premier League sounded out from the PA system, a chill ran down my spine. The fans around Goodison seemed to erupt, too, with the Bolton fans outsinging the Everton fans during the first 15-20 minutes of the match.
A note of interest is that during the match, it was very difficult to see any of the TV cameras, so Sky does a good job at being inobtrusive.
During half-time, I slipped back into the press room to grab a drink and ran into Guillem Balague, the famed Spanish journalist who is one of the guests on The Game Podcast from The Times.
The match itself was not a classic by any means, but the goal that separated the sides was one of the goals of the season with a beautiful left-footed shot by Mikael Arteta.
After the match ended, I went to the changing room area and interviewed Bolton's Johann Smith, the promising American youngster who only days prior to the match had been in Florida playing for the U.S. under-20's side against Guatemala alongside Freddy Adu.
The area near the changing room was cramped. David Moyes was next door giving an interview in front of the Sky Sports cameras, and there was a horde of journalists waiting to get into the press conference area to interview Moyes and Arteta.
Moments later, I stepped outside Goodison Park and into the darkness. The streets around the ground were now practically deserted. My journey to Goodison Park had ended.
Later that evening, I stayed with my Great Aunt who lives about half a mile from Anfield. One of the memorable stories I heard was about my Great Uncle who one day got a job as a taxi driver in Liverpool. One of his first jobs was to drive to Goodison for a pick-up. He arrived at Goodison on a matchday and parked the car as instructed in front of the ground. Out walked several men carrying large bags. They proceeded to fill the car with the bags when my Great Uncle realized what the purpose of this particular taxi ride was...
He was there to pick up the money bags from the match and transport them to a local bank!
If you want to visit a British ground steeped in history and full of character, Goodison Park needs to be on your list. One of the reasons I went there was to see the ground since its future is in jeopardy due to the club considering a move to the Liverpool suburbs. The next time you go to England, stop by and visit the Toffees.
As promised, over the next several days, I'll be sharing more about my experiences touring England to watch four Premiership matches and one Champions League match. Stay tuned to this blog for observations about how different the Premiership is in person versus on television -- which is how most of us experience it.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Premier League Considers Chelsea v Man Utd Showdown
The executives at Sky Sports must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of a fixture rearrangement which could see Chelsea versus Manchester United being rescheduled from April 14 to May 8 or 9.The Premiership season is scheduled to end on Sunday, May 13 - so it's possible that the May 8 or 9 midweek match could decide who would be this year's champions. Of course, there's still several months to go until the season ends, so anything can happen between now and then. But the match certainly is appetizing.
The reason for the possible fixture change, according to The Guardian, is due to Chelsea being scheduled to play Man United at Stamford Bridge on April 14 -- which would be the date of the FA Cup semi-final. If either Chelsea or Man United progress to the semi-final round, the match will be postponed to the likely date of May 8 or 9.
Both sides are currently in the third round of the FA Cup. Man United face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on January 7, while Chelsea play Macclesfield at Stamford Bridge on January 6.
The conspiracy theorist in me makes me wonder whether the Chelsea against Man United match was originally scheduled for April 14 on purpose if the Premier League knew that the FA Cup semi-finals would be held that day. The match would be a perfect endorsement for the league and would generate huge amounts of interest around the world if the league is still a two horse race by then.
Looking at the fixture schedule, Chelsea play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on May 5, while Man United travel to Eastlands to play Man City on the same day. On the final day of the season, May 13, Chelsea play Everton at home while Man United are at home against West Ham United. The Champions League final, meanwhile, isn't until May 23, while the semi-finals of the Champions League will be May 1/2.
How many of you think that the Premiership title will come down to the May 8/9th match if either Chelsea or Man U qualify for the FA Cup semi-final??
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
There's A Little Bit of You Inside English Footballers
By John NicholsonFootball provides many social functions in society, from instilling local and civic pride to giving people an excuse to avoid doing DIY on a Saturday afternoon. However, one of its least recognized but most important functions is what your psychiatrist might call, if they were uneducated in psychiatry and was in fact a football journalist, 'transference of emotion.'
What I mean by this is that players, managers and clubs come to represent aspects of things we love, loath or are indifferent to in a broader social context. I first realised this about 35 years ago when watching Rodney Marsh playing for QPR against
By contrast at the time, Geoff Hurst, world cup hat-trick hero and still a top rank player at West Ham, was dull, boring and despite his qualities as a player, was symbolic of everything I didn't want to be. Solid, respectable, neat and tidy,
These two footballers somehow enshrined and encapsulated qualities of life outside of the football they played. I'm convinced that everyone feels like this to some degree. Fans will scream abuse at a player because he somehow represents in his play, in his appearance or his attitude something in society more broadly that oppresses or just annoys them. Equally they will be a fan of player because we feel he is either like us, or how we'd like to be.
Referees are an obvious example. The worst referees and I'm thinking of Mike Riley here, remind us of weak, small men who have invested themselves with some power in order to make themselves bigger and stronger than they really are as people. We've all met men like that, whether it's your bank manager, the shop steward in the factory or the useless fool in tech support. You can't respect them because you know their true nature and yet in the environment within which they work, they have some power or control over you. That is really bloody infuriating. So when we see the likes of Riley mincing around a football pitch with his sparrow-like, bony legs sticking out of his voluminous shorts, he automatically plugs into a whole reservoir of emotions we have stored up inside of us. Consequently, the opportunity to hurl abuse at him is taken with relish.
While this may seem like some kind of bitter, scary psychosis, I consider it a healthy thing. Football provides us with an acceptable way to blow off steam. It releases pent up negative emotion that might otherwise be held in and swallowed down so deeply that when it does surface you'll end up making headline news that will inevitably end with the words "....before turning the gun on himself."
Players and managers become a symbol of greater values and thus Ashley Cole is narcissism and greed, while Stuart Pearce is honesty and toil. We might do this all on a subconscious level but it underpins the game and indeed, probably all sport. It is the working out of our psyches and our world views. It helps us from an early age to order, understand and organise the world. It allows us to vent our hopes, dreams and ambitions, bigotries and altruism. It allows us to assign blame to people for our failures and disappointments and it allows us to share glories. It also helps us understand each other. If someone's favourite player is say, Kevin Davies they are likely to be a very different person to a fan whose favourite player is Joe Cole. A football fan would automatically gain an insight into that person's character without knowing anything else about them. It is a short-cut to understanding.
So when people criticize you for your passion and obsession about the game, tell them it's all part of your on-going project of personal psycho-analysis. This is especially useful if the Mrs wants you to go shopping when there's a game to watch on the TV. Just say "I am working out the true nature of my psyche by measuring the intensity of my emotional response to Rob Stiles decision making, err......darling."
And, though you may not stay married for long, you will, at least, not be lying.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Premiership Matches In Doubt Due to Fog
This holiday season it may be fog that will cancel many matches -- something which state-of-the-art pitch heating systems can't solve.
So when you're watching matches on Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports on Tuesday (Boxing Day), don't be surprised if many of the matches are cancelled or if you end up seeing teams that weren't originally scheduled to be shown.
Pardew Breathes New Life Into Charlton FC
Merry Christmas to all EPL Talk readers worldwide. While many of us are opening presents or giving them to our loved ones, Charlton fans will have something to cheer about this morning knowing that manager Les Reed has been replaced by Alan Pardew.While I believe Charlton made the correct decision in sacking Iain Dowie, the board made the rash decision to replace the former West Ham player with Les Reed. It was a short-sighted, risky and idiotic move. Thankfully, the Charlton board was honest enough with themselves to sack Reed and replace him with Pardew.
Even though Pardew has a huge task in front of him, I believe Charlton has finally found their right man to replace Alan Curbishley. Pardew did wonders at Reading and West Ham United (until this season's collapse), and his charisma will undoubtedly infuse the players with enough self-belief to start winning matches again and hopefully mount a serious relegation escape.
The last time Charlton was out of the Premiership was the 1999-2000 season. It'd be a shame to see Addicks fall out of the top league the way they're playing now. With some good acquisitions in the January transfer window, expect to see a new Charlton in the second half of the season.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holiday Wishes from Fox Soccer Channel
Happy Holidays,
The Gaffer
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Win Footy Loot from EPL Talk's Community Site
Seriously, I've decided to start posting more on the EPL Talk Community site as well as here. Visit the Community site to find out how you can win football video games, EPL Talk T-shirts and several other items. Plus feel free to read some interesting posts and blog entries from football fans who are as passionate about the sport as you are.
Of course, I'll continue to post here too.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
In Two Minds About the English Premiership
It's been a few weeks now since I've returned from my trip to England to watch four Premiership matches and one Champions League match in the space of eight days. During that time, I've had a chance to reflect on what I saw. I was originally planning on writing a series of articles for the EPL Talk Magazine, but now that we've decided to forego any future issues of the mag, and post the articles here, feel free to go ahead and read my first piece below which summarizes my feelings from the entire trip. Over the next week, I plan on writing more detailed pieces about each ground I visited (which totalled 12 in all).Ever since I've returned from my trip to England to watch five matches in eight days, I've been feeling a bit schizophrenic. That's because when people ask me how my trip was, I have two totally different answers depending on who's asking the question. Let me explain why.
Having lived in Wales until I was 14, I had the pleasure of seeing the meteoric rise of my local team Swansea City from the old Fourth Division to the First Division (today's modern day equivalent of the Premiership). I attended my first match when I was 10 and went to more than 50 games from 1979-84 watching some of the biggest clubs in the country at Swansea's Vetch Field.
After I moved to Florida in 1984, I had the pleasure of visiting the UK on numerous trips back and went to see plenty of football matches but they usually ended up being home friendlies played by Swansea (due to work reasons, I could only get back to the UK in the summertime). In the U.S., meanwhile, I went to all of the matches I could, which included international friendlies (Germany v Argentina, Brazil v Mexico, USA v Russia, etc) as well as local teams (Miami Fusion, Tampa Bay Mutiny, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, etc).
So when I went to England this past November, it had been more than 20 years since I had experienced the enjoyment of watching top flight football in the UK. For me, it felt like I was experiencing a time warp being sent back to England and re-living my experiences all over again, but being able to compare them vividly in my head to what I remember from the early 80s.
Of course, football has changed tremendously from 1984 to 2006. During that time, British football has experienced the tragedies of the fire at Bradford City, Heysel, and Hillsborough as well as a complete revolution in terms of football both on the pitch and off it with the formation of the Premier League, removal of the fencing, the move from terracing to all-seater grounds and -- let us not forget -- a completely different style of play on the pitch.
So why do I feel schizophrenic when people ask me how my trip was? Well, it all depends on the context of the question. If I'm being asked to share my feedback on the trip on the whole (without comparing it to the early 80s), then I can unequivocally say that it was a trip of a lifetime and a dream come true for me. Being there at grounds like Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage, Ewood Park, Emirates Stadium and several others, the experience was awe-inspiring.
I was able to soak up the atmosphere of being at the grounds. I felt the rush of blood as the build-up to the 3pm kickoff approached. As I walked through the thousands of strangers, I felt like I belonged and related to every one of them because we all had the same common passion for football. And, of course, I loved hearing the sounds of the fans cheering and singing -- so much so in fact that sometimes I found myself watching the crowds instead of the football on the pitch.
The football on the pitch wasn't surprising. I've been watching almost every minute of the Premiership ever since the first highlight shows starting appear on the air in the early 90s. The only moment I felt I had an advantage watching the football in person than on TV was during the second half of the Man United against Chelsea match at Old Trafford as I watched Mourinho change his tactics by bringing on Robben and witnessed Michael Essien playing right back but pushing far forward and creating acres of space down the right. I'm not sure how apparent it was on TV how much space Essien had (which resulted in Chelsea controlling the second half and Essien was instrumental in helping the Blues get the equalizer).
BUT when I'm asked about how my trip to England was in terms of how it compared to the football I experienced in the early 80s, I have to admit that the trip was a disappointment. I had heard the countless criticisms over the years about the Premiership being too expensive and losing a lot of the passion that used to be in the stands. But until you experience it in person, it doesn't sink in.
There were so many things that surprised me at the grounds. First was the lack of singing by fans prior to matches. Even a few minutes before kickoff, the grounds sounded like ghost towns outside. Second was the lack of singing inside the ground. There were many moments in matches when the fans would be silent even during the "match of the season" at Old Trafford versus Chelsea.
To me, the last bastion of the true Premiership football experience in England is following your team to away matches. In every match I went to, I was more impressed by the away support than by the home spectators (the Bolton fans against Everton, the Spurs fans against Blackburn, the Hamburg fans against Arsenal, the Reading fans against Fulham, and the Chelsea fans against Man United). In all of those examples, the away fans seemed like they were having more fun than the home support and the noise created by each away fan was MUCH more than louder than the average home fan.
In the early 80s, you could hear the sounds of the fans singing at least thirty minutes before kickoff from about half a mile away. The sound would make your hairs on the back of your neck stand up, or would strike fear in your heart (if you were an away supporter). You could feel the tension and passion in the air. You could smell it.
In the four Premiership matches I went to, the vast majority of fans were in their seats for the entire match and were practically silent except for small sets of more vociferous fans. The age of the fans had changed too. The majority of them were 30-40 or older and there were few teenagers there (unless they were accompanied by their parents).
The other surprising thing was how late the grounds filled up. I arrived at Old Trafford more than four hours before kickoff and was surprised but glad to see large numbers of people at the ground even at that time. But five minutes before kickoff, there were a huge amount of empty seats at Old Trafford and it wasn't until five minutes into the match that most seats filled up. This wasn't the case just at Old Trafford, but was commonplace at every ground I visited.
Another surprising factor was the mingling of the away fans with home fans. In the early 80s, I was used to seeing the away fans being herded into pens and treated like animals. They would have been escorted by police via train or bus to the ground, and then escorted by policemen and German Shepherds to the away turnstiles. All the while, the away fans would have been singing their hearts out and provoking the home fans who wanted a piece of them.
During my trip to England, away fans would walk down the street wearing their club's jersey and even sitting among home fans. The away fans arrived at the ground via their own transportation and, although there were police in the area keeping a close eye on events, they walked around the ground uninterrupted. For me, it was like watching aliens land on earth. I couldn't believe my eyes.
To summarize, the experience of watching football in England has changed 180 degrees. It's now watched by older, more affluent football fans who sit for 90 minutes but still support their club with a ton of passion. The experience of going to a match is safer, quieter and more organized. Take it for what it's worth, but the experience of going to a Premiership match now resembles going to a sporting event in America. Is there anything wrong with that? No, not necessarily, but the end-result is that the experience feels more plastic, more focused on capitalism (taking money out of your pocket at every opportunity) and less about the communal experience of sharing a football match with thousands of football fans.
Even in a crowd of 76,000 at Old Trafford, I felt alone.
Now is the Time for a European Super League
By John NicholsonA couple of years ago I wrote a column for football365 saying that it was time for a European Super League. It wasn't widely welcomed then. But I think that's changed now.
To recap the concept; the top four of the Premiership go into the European Super league. At the end of every season the lowest positioned club from each country's quota of teams, whatever their position in the ESL, gets relegated back to their domestic league and is replaced with the winner of the top league.
In conjunction with the establishment of the ESL a wage cap is enforced so that the wealthier relegated ESL side doesn't have a financial advantage on their return to the Premiership
This makes the Premiership a proper competitive league again with any one from up to a dozen sides able to win the league every year. The winner would then benefit from the extra rich creamy money in the ESL for at least one season, this ensuring the money doesn't keep the money within a small tight circle of clubs.
The ESL would replace the Champions League and would be the primo European competition and would be the wealthiest league with the most TV money etc.
The idea is all the monied clubs are hived off so as not to bother the rest of us, and they can enjoy a genuinely competitive league themselves. But because of the domestic wage cap, a new side every season can get a dip at the big money and the already monied club coming down from the ESL can't use it's wealth to dominate once back in the domestic league. Players on big money would have to leave or accept a cut in wages in the hope of promotion back to the ESL next season.
If this was already in operation, we'd currently be enjoying a stonkingly tight league with a just a few points separating a dozen sides.
As clubs get bought up by billionaires, the rest of the clubs in the leagues are getting left behind. Something needs to happen to stop the whole concept of football being invalidated because of massive financial disparity.
How much longer do you want to see the same three or four clubs occupying the top places? It's crushing the whole competitive nature of the game. It's negating excitement and its preventing almost all clubs of having any chance of any success. In its place, mere existence is all that too many clubs have to look forward to. It's true that hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way, but it needn't be how football is run.
The ESL means we can enjoy the top sides playing equal, gripping contests to win their league. It will become the ultimate accolade to aspire to.
With this revolution everyone wins. All the currently big wealthy clubs get to make more money and play high profile football on the big stages. The rest of the clubs have real chance at success in the domestic leagues.
A clubs wealth doesn't protect it once relegated out of the ESL. A wage cap means their clout is limited. They can only pay as much or as little as most other clubs.
An added side benefit of this is that players wouldn't be so promiscuous because they would have no financial incentive to move to another club because once you were on maximum wage, you couldn't get any more. This would also reduce the corrosive influence of agents who wouldn't be able to benefit in agitating for players to move on.
It would also stop billionaires buying a club and pumping silly money in to buy players and running up big debts. The playing field would at last be much more even. Integrity to the game would be restored.
The only downside is that most clubs would never play the likes of Manchester United, so those big games against the big teams would be missing. However, that would be more than compensated by the real excitement of a proper league competition and the fact that all the ESL sides would play in the FA Cup, thus making those games a more rare and thus more glamorous occasion.
Something needs to change. Something radical. Every season is becoming like the last in every country in
The European Super League is the solution; there are no losers and everyone wins. Ask yourself what the future will be unless something changes. All of us can already predict who will be the top 4 clubs for the 2007/8 season already. That shouldn't be possible in a competition. The ESL, with promotion and relegation to and from the domestic leagues built into it, is the future of football but whether anyone in UEFA can grasp such a radical idea remains doubtful.
John Nicholson is the author of the exceedingly good "Footy Rocks" book (available now from his web site), and a veteran columnist for Football365. Nicholson resides in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Interesting Slice of Premiership-Related Stories to Read
Fellow Guardian reporter Paul Wilson questions whether Everton should return to playing at Anfield instead of moving to Kirkby as a solution to their Goodison Park "woes."
The latest episode of the EPL Talk Podcast has been published featuring four new exclusive interviews with John Nicholson (from Football 365), Phil McThomas (Soccer Shout), Graham Bell (The 2 G's) and Ronaldo (101greatgoals.com). It's a special holiday episode with football memories of holidays past, wishes for 2007, highlights of 2006 and much more including hearty debates about a European Super League and what the Premiership can do to improve. Plus EPL Talk announces how you can win a prize each weekday including FIFA 07, WorldSoccerShop T-shirts, EPL Talk T-shirts and much more (including football videos).
The Times newspaper, meanwhile, reports that David Beckham has insured himself at a value of $200 million.
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Football Grounds Debate: Should Teams Move or Stay?
For those of you who read this blog regularly and listen to the EPL Talk Podcast, you'll know that I'm enamored with football grounds. So, thanks to a tip from the Tokyo Toffeeman, he pointed me to an article on the BBC Sport blog entitled "Do you care where your team plays?"BBC's Football Focus is doing a documentary on football grounds and are asking fans whether they prefer old grounds or new. While the post itself isn't that interesting, the comments from football supporters around the world are fascinating.
There used to be only a few things you can count on in your life. Your family, death and taxes. But one most not forget football grounds, which are larger than life but sadly being replaced by modern grounds that lack the character of the cathedrals of football.
My personal recommendation is that the BBC visit the grounds of the past that are still standing (albeit perishing). The grounds are a good reminder of where clubs have evolved from. For example, traces of Arsenal's Invicta Ground from 1893 in Plumstead can still be seen today.
The topic is a hot one with Everton looking into the possibility of moving from Goodison Park to Kirkby, six to seven miles from their current home. In America that distance may not sound like much, but it's a huge in England for many reasons. One being that it would take Everton outside of Liverpool and away from their home since 1892.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
The Revealing Football Stories the British Press Ignore
I had a really interesting conversation tonight with Ronaldo from the 101greatgoals.com web site. I interviewed him for the next EPL Talk Podcast, which you will hear this Sunday as part of a special holiday edition. Other interview guests on the show will include Graham Bell from The 2 G's, Phil McThomas from Soccer Shout, and John Nicholson from Football365.The conversation with Ronaldo touched on the general feeling that the Premier League, clubs and even the press are out of touch with football fans -- and that the best way to hear the voice of supporters is via independent sites on the web, where fans can more easily share their honest feedback and debate key issues.
There are many stories about football that aren't given the weight they deserve. Why, for example, did we have to read countless stories about Ashley Cole and his clash against Arsenal when there are stories that could have mammoth consequences on the game of football such as this one (that Ronaldo brought to my attention) about a court case involving the recent World Cup Final? To me, the fascinating article reminds me of a investigative report similar to what happened at Dealey Plaza when JFK was shot and killed.
When I searched Google to see what other news organizations wrote about the court case, I found that only one other media group covered the story and that was News24 from South Africa.
During the interview with Ronaldo I brought up the story about the British press succumbing to pressure to interview Jose Mourinho only if, per Chelsea, the press would publish a sidebar article about Chelsea's charity work. The Daily Mirror, quite rightly so, refused to interview Mourinho on those terms.
Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees, but what for you have been massive stories that have been surprisingly glossed over by the press about what's really happening in football? And what do independent blogs and podcasts, in general, bring to your attention about football that the mainstream press is ignoring? And do you feel that the British press is "in bed" with the Premier League?
The 10 Most Boring Sides In The Premiership
The competition for the top 10 spots is tougher now than in quite some time. Here are my top 10 most boring sides:
1. Manchester City
2. Watford
3. Charlton Athletic
4. Fulham
5. Middlesbrough
6. Blackburn Rovers
7. West Ham United
8. Sheffield United
9. Bolton Wanderers
10. Chelsea
Stuart Pearce's side is as boring at home as they are away scoring very few goals. Trabelski's cracker against United this past Saturday was one of the very few highlights of City's season. The only two other moments involving City that brought a smile to my face were their demolition of Fulham at the Blue Camp and the last minute equalizer against Everton at Goodison Park earlier this season.
In previous years, you could always depend on Manchester City to be entertaining. Sometimes they were entertaining for all of the wrong reasons (blowing a comfortable lead with comical defensive errors). The spark has left the City of Manchester, and it's been replaced with a less imaginative display on the pitch. Thanks to Soccer Shout's handy-dandy email newsletter, it tells us that City are minus three points against where they were last season after playing the same number of matches.
Bolton, while yet boring, have been known to get the pulse racing this season with some emphatic wins (most recently the 4-0 thrashing of West Ham United).
Chelsea, despite their millions, seem to be content this season to win matches with a 1-0 scoreline rather than pull teams apart. They seem to be saving their energy a little bit more for those Champions League matches. So while the system is working, it doesn't raise the boredom factor (the Arsenal 1-1 tie and 1-3 loss to Spurs being noteable exceptions).
Let us know who your top ten most boring Premiership sides are this season by clicking the 'comments' link below.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Interview with Reading's Marcus Hahnemann
The latest episode of the EPL Talk Podcast is now available, which features an exclusive interview with Reading and U.S. goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.Hahnemann is arguably the top U.S. keeper in the world right now with Friedel faltering a little behind a weakened defence at Blackburn, and Kasey Keller (Borussia Monchengladbach) and Tim Howard (Everton) doing well.
Whether you're a Reading fan or not, I encourage you to listen to the interview. You'll hear some interesting comments from Hahnemann about his former boss Alan Pardew, how Eddie Johnson coped with the trial at Reading, what he dressed up as recently on the training ground and what guests spent Thanksgiving Day with him.
As with most EPL Talk Podcast interviews, we also ask the questions that often stump the guests (partly because they're used to hearing the same sort of questions from other reporters). For example, Hahnemann talks about what he misses most about America now that he's living in the UK.
It must have been about six years ago when I saw Hahnemann in goal for the Colorado Rapids against the Miami Fusion at Lockhart Stadium in South Florida. While Hahnemann was between the posts at the Rapids, Tim Howard was impressing the MLS crowds for New York/New Jersey Metrostars. Who would have thought that six years later both keepers would be two of the top keepers in the Premiership?
Enjoy the interview, and stay tuned for the next episode of the EPL Talk Podcast -- which will be a special holiday edition.
PS - If you enjoy(ed) the interview with Marcus, read this interesting article by him where he breaks down his matchday rituals and shares some insightful comments about his preparations.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Why Thierry Henry Must Go Now
By John NicholsonIt's a given in football that you don't sell your best player. To sell your best player usually indicates that the club is going down the toilet, is desperate for cash or the player concerned has been caught with some swollen part of his anatomy in the managers daughters 'downstairs bits'.
Selling your best player sounds like madness, I know. But madness, along with encouraging me to run through the streets with my underwear on my head shouting "pixies are chasing me" has never stopped me from thinking anything, which is why Arsenal should sell Thierry Henry. Now.
When I say something as radical as this, a team of paramedics usually turns up at my gaff and injects me with a strong sedative, but before they arrive, hear me out. It all makes sense. Honest.
After Arsenal's superb battling performance at Stamford Bridge without a lot of first team players and in particular without Henry it showed me clearly what I'd been thinking all season.
Arsenal have played better this season without TH having won at Old Trafford and coming within a few minutes of beating Chelsea.
His presence inhibits other younger players, especially Adebayor and van Persie who have to play a subservient role to his lordship and are clearly in his considerable shadow. When he's not there they both play like they've had the shackles removed.
Arsenal's highly skilled but over-fussy game has been created by and to accommodate TH. When he doesn't play they are more direct and aggressive and more effective. They also seem to have much more bottle. His prissy, poutyness rubs off on the rest of the team and they seem to feel sorry for themselves too often.
He's a bad choice of captain. Only given the position to get him to sign a new contract, it was the worse thing Wenger could have done. He doesn't handle pressure well, is known to go missing in big games throughout his whole career, and being captain has just fed his ego. All these things are to the detriment of Arsenal.
They'd get a load of money if they sell him to Barcelona now, and given the club is strapped for cash after building the new stadium, that money could massively strengthen the whole of the first team which would give them a much better chance of winning the Premiership next season.
He thinks he's bigger than the club and has been indulged to believe that. His comments about the club matching his ambitions show how he thinks of himself. Everything about Arsenal has to be about him. He's recently said he'll be at Arsenal for the rest of his career -- well that's just so arrogant -- what if the club don't want you any longer Terry eh? It's not your choice to make to stay at the club.
It is never a good thing to have any player who thinks he's bigger than the club. Henry is a prima donna and sets a bad example.
He also advertised Renault cars, which are rubbish. I am shallow enough to hold that against him.
He's past his best at 30 years old in August 2007. Strikers wear out quicker than anyone else and fast players are always injury prone as they age. His best days are behind him. By keeping him Arsenal are just hanging on to his past glories. It's over, forget him and as Stevie 'guitar' Miller once recommended (no not that thing about being a Space Cowboy) take the money and run.
John Nicholson is the author of the exceedingly good "Footy Rocks" book (available now from his web site), and a veteran columnist for Football365. Nicholson resides in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Fox Soccer Channel Acquires Rights to UEFA Cup
FSC will show six quarterfinal matches, four semifinal matches and the final. The teams remaining in the tournament include Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers.
In prior rounds of the tournament this season, Setanta held the TV rights in the U.S. to the UEFA Cup.
ITVN Drops Setanta On Demand Service
"We are hoping to offer a video on demand service in the new season," said Fabian Citraro, VP of Sales at ITVN.
The live Setanta programming is available as before. However, the dropping of the On Demand service will be a huge blow for football fans since the ITVN box doesn't currently allow you to record programs (many of which are on during the daytime when football fans are at work).
It appears that Setanta's current license agreement doesn't give them permission to broadcast matches on an on-demand basis.
Alan Pardew Sacking Exposes Relegation Candidates
Thinking back to Saturday's four matches that were shown live on Setanta and Fox Soccer Channel, we witnessed an incredible amount of goals but they were all against relegation candidates:
- Charlton Athletic (five goals scored against)
- Fulham (four goals scored against)
- Manchester City (three goals scored against), and
- West Ham United (four goals scored against).
In West Ham's match at the Reebok Stadium versus Bolton, the Hammers were very much still in the game during the first half. But Bolton piled on the pressure in the second 45 minutes and opened up gaps in West Ham's woeful defense.
In the pouring rain, the last images I have of that match are the West Ham fans doing the conga line in the away section, and Alan Pardew applauding the Hammers fans after the final whistle.
The question I have is whether a new manager at the Boleyn Ground is going to make much of a difference at West Ham. Just a few weeks ago they beat Arsenal at home, but their results since then have been disappointing.
Any predictions who the next manager will be? My vote: Alan Curbishley.
Is the Premiership Race Over for Jose Mourinho?
Of course, the Chelsea versus Arsenal match was a classic. While Essien's goal was spectacular, don't underestimate Flamini's goal. If you watch the replay of the build-up, Flamini was involved early in the setup. Watch the highlights and keep an eye on how Flamini does a one-two and gets into an open space to have a crack on goal.
The question now is whether the Premiership race is over. If Chelsea can win their game in hand against Newcastle this week, they'll have played the same number of matches as United but will be five points behind. Can they catch up? Click the 'comments' link below and let us know your thoughts.
Update on EPL Talk Podcast
The second interview will be with Manchester United fan and sports radio producer Russ Schouweiler.
You can expect episode 45 to be published, as usual, on Sunday -- where we're planning to release a special holiday episode with plenty of surprises.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Sky Sports Anticipating Exodus of Commentators to Setanta?
You can narrow down the possibilities and infer that Wakeling is talking about Setanta Sports who will begin broadcasting Premiership matches in the UK next season along with Sky Sports. There are only so many quality commentators in England, and if you were Setanta, wouldn't you want some of the well known names on your team?
Earlier this year Setanta lured Sky Sports announcer Paul Dempsey over to Dublin to work on their brilliantly-produced Premiership coverage (which Setanta customers in the US can see most Saturdays).
Don't be surprised if Setanta targets a veteran commentator such as Alan Parry. In my opinion, he's the second best commentator in the English game. First place, of course, would be Martin Tyler (see his photo from Old Trafford at the recent match versus Chelsea).
Saturday, December 09, 2006
The Truth About the Hillsborough Disaster
It's been 6,447 days since the Hillsborough Disaster occurred on what many believe was the darkest day in the history of football. On that fateful day in April 1989, 96 innocent football fans tragically died when many of them were crushed to death at a FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough ground in Sheffield, England.I bring this topic up because many TV viewers in America are new to soccer and aren't aware of the history of this tragedy. Comments were made on Fox Soccer Channel earlier this week that infuriated soccer fans in the U.S. and around the world, so it's important than soccer fans know the truth about what happened and respect those who died a horrific death that day.
To learn more about the facts regarding what happened on that day, view the following:
- the Wikipedia entry,
- a personal account from one of the survivors,
- a chronological outline of what happened,
- a 20-minute video of the disaster (please be forewarned that the video features images of a graphic nature that should not be viewed by children),
- moving images and audio from the Hillsborough Disaster,
- and an article about the tragedy from the Liverpool web site.
What needs to be remembered is that Liverpool fans were not to blame for this tragedy. According to Wikipedia, "Sheffield Wednesday were criticised for the low number of turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end and the poor quality of the crush barriers on the terraces there. The Taylor Report however stated that official cause of the disaster was the failure of police control."
"The disaster was caused by the fact that the majority of fans entering the terraces headed for the central pens 3 and 4. Normally a police officer or steward would direct fans away from full pens, but on the day this did not happen. The official capacity of these pens was around 2000, however the Health and Safety Executive later found that this should have been reduced to around 1600 as the crush barriers did not conform to the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds 1986. It is estimated that the number of people in these pens shortly after kick off at 3.00pm was over 3000. This overcrowding caused the fatal crush."
The Hillsborough Disaster could have happened to any club, but unfortunately it was Liverpool.
The Heysel Disaster, meanwhile, can be blamed at Liverpool fans who charged Juventus supporters. Unfortunately the Heysel Stadium in Belgium was a decrepid old stadium, and when the Reds fans charged the Italians, a crumbling wall dividing the fans came toppling down killing 39 fans, mostly Juventus fans who were there to watch the 1985 European Cup Final against Liverpool.
There were other factors that can be attributed to the Heysel tragedy, but no official inquiry was ever made.
When the Hillsborough Disaster happened on April 15, 1989, I remember listening to the BBC World Service on my shortwave radio with my cousin in Florida. There were reports from the BBC that the match had been stopped due to crowd trouble. Listening to the live BBC Sport coverage, I remember that it was difficult to really fathom the scale of what was happening. It was complete chaos.
It wasn't until the morning after that I realized how horrific the incident had been when I was saw the images of the disaster on the front page of my local paper. Although I didn't have any friends or family members who died in the tragedy, I do have relatives who live in Liverpool.
When I was in Liverpool two weeks ago, I spoke to my Great Aunt about the tragic day. We discussed how even today, 17 years after the event, The Sun newspaper is despised and hardly sells any copies at all in Liverpool due to the lies it told.
When I was there, I visited the Hillsborough tribute which is next to the Shankly Gates at Anfield. You can view images of the stadium and the tribute here.
Man Utd & Chelsea Reportedly Battle Each Other With Online Video Games
After Cristiano Ronaldo scored Man United's third goal in the Manchester derby today, you may have noticed that he got into a pose with Rio Ferdinand and pretended to hold rocket launchers. This isn't the first time it's happened either.
So why the pose? Well, according to The Sun newspaper, the pose is a tribute to the video game SOCOM US Navy Seals.
What's more interesting however is that Chelsea stars supposedly play the game against United players online. Read the story at The Sun here.
Frank Lampard and John Terry have supposedly played the game.
ESPN & ABC to Televise Euro 2008 Matches in US
Read the article in Forbes Magazine here.
While the thought of having ABC and ESPN crucify the matches through their idiotic commentary and studio analysis, I have to admire the network's decision to show all 31 matches of the tournament.
ESPN's advantage is that they can show matches on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. The hope is that ESPN will be able to show all 31 matches live, although that decision hasn't been made as of yet.
Let's hope that ESPN makes the right decision and selects the best broadcast team available for the 2008 tournament. That means no Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa.
If you were ESPN, what commentators and color commentators would you choose?
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Stage Is Set for Champions League & Prem Matches
Jose Mourinho didn't get his wish, so there are now five British teams in the round of 16 draw for the Champions League (the draw will be made on December 15). This is the stage of the Champions League where it gets even more exciting (definitely more exciting than the Arsenal v Porto nil-nil draw).
In the Premiership, meanwhile, I missed the Newcastle against Reading match but was blown away by the highlights, especially Emre's winner. The sound of the ball hitting the net after the long range effort reverberated around St. James's Park. It seems the spark is finally back on the Tyne.
So the stage is now set for an interesting weekend of Premiership football. This Sunday is the Chelsea versus Arsenal clash (11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel), which you can follow via the EPL Talk chat with fans from around the world (from the homepage).
Saturday's fixtures include the Manchester derby (7:45am ET, Setanta), Portsmouth against Everton (2:15pm ET, FSC) and Liverpool v Fulham (10am ET, Setanta). With Sheffield United's run of form, their Monday fixture versus Aston Villa (3pm ET, FSC) could be more entertaining than we thought. (The EPL Talk Chat will be open starting on Saturday at 7:45am ET throughout the day).
You may want to take advantage of this weekend's Premiership matches. The next BIG weekend isn't until 20-21 January when Liverpool play Chelsea at Anfield and Arsenal battle Man United at Ashburton Grove.
Next U.S. TV Contract for Premiership: "$20 Million"
In Tse's article, he mentions many of the same thoughts I had (in that it's unfair to evaluate the Premiership based on just the matches that Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts). But what Tse does reveal is this:
"The next US TV contract for the EPL will cost $20 million each year, which is about 100 times compared to what the rights fee were for the 1994-1995 season."
If that number is close to being real, it gives you -- the reader -- a good idea why Fox Soccer Channel decided to sublicense some of the Premiership matches to Setanta Sports this past summer. With rights fees like that, it only makes sense for Fox and Setanta to partner.
While the Premiership is undoubtedly the most expensive league to own the TV rights for, it's no wonder that Fox let the Bundesliga and Lique Une go to GolTV and Setanta respectively.
The Modern Football Shirt: Fashion Faux Pas
By John NicholsonThere are few more unpleasant fashion creations than a modern football shirt. Comprised of those melt-into-the-skin-in-a-fire polymers which feel like a cross between your grannies old nylon stockings and liquid plastic, they're cheap and nasty and yet incredibly expensive.
It's not even as if they're especially flattering to wear.
Almost no man who isn't an athlete looks good in a football shirt. If you're even just a kilo overweight everyone is going to know as the shirts reveal, caresses and emphasises your lovely man boobs and shows off your lovely big, soft, flabby belly.
A lot of shirts now offer what they call 'wicking' properties. At first I thought this was Wicken properties which would have been much more desirably Pagan. But no, wicking fabric draws sweat away from the body apparently. However, the flaw in the thinking on this is that the only reason you're sweating like a wart hog in roll neck sweater is because the bloody shirts make you feel so hot in the first place.
Amazingly they offer no protection against a cutting north easterly winter wind and yet in summer make you feel hot as a fox in a forest fire. And then there's nipple rash! Now, I know some people would pay good money to have their nipples rubbed until sore, but even they would take exception at it happening while you play football.
This is why all players have to wear some sort of under garment these days. No not a bra, though some would love to I'm sure. They usually wear a t-shirt. I would call it a vest, but I know this confuses everyone in America because a vest is a waistcoat, and no footballer would ever think of playing in a waistcoat, though it'd be an excellent sartorial statement, especially if it was made of a nice tweed. What I mean by a vest is what most Americans would know as a tank top. But look, you've got it all wrong and it's our language so we make the rules, right? A tank top is actually a sleeveless sweater, unless you're in the Marines where a tank top is the big metal swivelling thing with a large gun on it. I'm glad we got that cleared up. Next week I shall explain why we English laugh so much at American's who wear fanny packs and who look so astonished when we 'smoke fags.'
So there you are, strutting around the pitch feeling like a boil-in-the-bag fillet of cod and hating every moment of it. You've paid upwards of 50 GBP for the pleasure of wearing this piece of tat that is manufactured in China for pennies, but at least you're supporting your club. The club you've loved since birth. The club you've followed through thick and thin and thinner.
But what's this on your front? In my case, wearing a Boro shirt means I am also wearing a huge ad for 888.com the world's biggest online casino and poker room. I'll be honest with you, I really hate it. I do not want in any way to be associated with 888. I have no interest in gambling or in poker unless women are disrobing as a consequence of it. And I really bloody object to my great, old club being used as a tart for 888.com or any of their successors. In fact, even if I had a passing interest in 888, their cluttering up of my clubs shirts would put me right off them anyway. I can't be alone in that. I already deliberately avoid buying anything that is sold to me in an advertisement that annoys the hell out of me.
It doesn't seem to occur to clubs that the sponsors they so hungrily suck cash from in return for putting their name on the front of the shirts, might actually offend the fans who they expect to buy the shirts.
I know sponsorship of clubs in Britain is over 25 years old but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Personally I'd pay extra not to have the sponsor on the shirt. In the same way that I would pay a premium on my TV cable service to have the ad breaks deleted and replaced with something more interesting and less annoying such as a film of paint drying or a picture of a dog wearing a hat.
Fans have no choice in who sponsors their clubs but I'm willing to bet that the growth in the unbranded retro shirt market is in part due to the fact that you don't want to be seen walking the streets with an ad for gambling, insurance companies or sanitary protection. As an added plus, retro shirts are usually 100% cotton and don't make you feel like you're wearing a polythene bag. This isn't too much to ask from clothing is it?
So here's an idea for free. It's radical. But it makes sense - which means it will never be adopted. Why don't clubs produce a shirt without branding, made of cotton and costing 10 GBP more for fans with taste to wear. And one other shirt made of the usual cheap and nasty polystyrene, plastered with advertising for the players and perverts who like nipple rash to wear. That way the club gets the money from the advertising and it gets extra money from the fans who don't want to wear advertising. Good idea isn't it?!
And you thought I was a drug addled old fool didn't you! And now I'm off to put vaseline on my nipples.
John Nicholson is a guest columnist for EPL Talk and will be contributing articles on a weekly basis capturing his observations and humor. To read more of John's work, be sure to pick up a copy of his book entitled Footy Rocks, which combines 50 of his most interesting columns about football, music, birds and extracurricular activities.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Catching Up With EPL Talk
First, EPL Talk will be interviewing Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann hopefully this week. If you have any questions for the American, please click the comments link below and I'll do my best to ask your question.
Second, I've decided to go ahead and halt the EPL Talk Magazine and instead publish all of the content on the blog. It's more immediate and you don't have to wait until all of the articles have been written and published before you see them. Instead, you'll see them here on the day that they're written.
Third, EPL Talk has been in the press quite a bit recently including an interview with The 2 G's yesterday and an interview with Inside Soccer this past Saturday. Feel free to listen to the interviews and read the articles (including parts one and two of the Blackburn Rovers piece on BBC Lancashire) from the About Us page at EPL Talk at http://www.epltalk.com/text/aboutus.asp
Fourth, don't forget about the prizes you win through EPL Talk. If you want to win the official matchday programme from Manchester United v Chelsea, simply post a review of the EPL Talk Podcast on the iTunes store by end of day Friday, December 8th.
If you want to win a copy of FIFA 07 for the Nintendo DS, be sure you've subscribed to the weekly EPL Talk Email Newsletter. Tomorrow's edition will announce how you can win your own copy. Subscribe today from http://www.epltalk.com
Thanks for the support!
Which Premiership Teams Will Be Relegated?
Despite the criticism of the Premiership so far this season, it's refreshing to see that all of the teams in the league have double digits after Charlton's last minute win last night against Blackburn.
Last year, if you remember, it seemed that Sunderland were stuck on single digit points for the majority of the season. The Black Cats ended up with 15 points. Bottom team Watford, right now, has 10 points.
But between now and the end of the season in May, there's still so much to play for. Only ten points separates Watford from eleventh place Manchester City. Sadly, the number of teams that could fall into the relegation trap far outnumber those Premiership sides that have a chance of winning the title.
So who do you think will be relegated? I'm still going with my original picks (made before the season started): Charlton, Sheffield United and
I still believe Watford has what it takes to survive in the Premiership. I see that hunger in them and their perseverance. If they can get a win or two under their belt, they should be able to regain their confidence. Right now, they've been rocked by injuries with goalkeeper Ben Foster and forward Marlon King just two on the physio's table.
Fulham, meanwhile, are on a slow downward decline. Watching them play in person against Reading, Luis Boa Morte looks like he'd rather be home than on the pitch. And he's the bloody captain! Defensively they look weak (which was exposed in Saturday's match against Blackburn). And defensively is where they've been the strongest in years of late. In midfield they lack the creativity and imagination. The midfielders seem too predictable. Hence the reason why Brian McBride isn't getting the service he needs to score.
The race to avoid the Premiership relegation battle could be one of the closest in years with the parity of mediocre teams this season. Who are your picks to go down and why? Click the 'Comments' link below and tell us.
Join England's Steve McClaren in an Online Chat
Steve McClaren will be answering questions tomorrow (Thursday, December 7th) via an online chat from The Football Association's web site beginning at 11:15am GMT (6:15am ET).
The chat is free to join. All you have to do is register beforehand to get a FAN number. Registration is painless and takes less than a minute.
More details about the online chat can be found here.
Premiership Referees Are In A No-Win Situation
I feel sorry for Premiership referees. Never before has their jobs been so scrutinized or have they felt a much pressure as they do now. The issues are compounded by the speed of the game and the advanced skills of some players where they've made diving in a penalty an art form, albeit a sickening form when you consider the harmful effects on the game.
What complicates matters is that even when players have the opportunity to stay up on their feet in the penalty area, they're deciding to fall down in the penalty area (after being knocked) because they know the referee has to call a penalty. The perfect example of this was Kanu for Portsmouth in their 2-1 win against Watford when the Nigerian could have easily stayed up and shot at goal, but decided to fall down instead.
Worse still, I feel that the referees sometimes can't win. A good example of this is the recent Blackburn versus Tottenham Hotspur match I attended at Ewood Park. The amount of controversy that rained down on Phil Dowd after this match was enormous, but Phil Dowd's decisions on that night would have been more controversial if he didn't make the calls he made.
This goes back to video technology and whether it should be used. I, unlike most others, am divided on the subject. For example, in that Blackburn match, Tugay seemed to foul Ghaly in the penalty area and Dowd pointed toward the spot. Later that night, Andy Gray replayed the incident over and over again approximately six times and even he couldn't decide 100% whether there was contact or not.
When commentators and football insiders claim that a video call can be made in 30 seconds, I disagree. For such an important decision such as that penalty incident, it could take a couple of minutes -- and even then, a wrong decision could be made because you're still relying on the human factor to make the final decision after seeing the video.
The other aspect that complicates matter is the sheer pace of the match. Whether it's in person or on television, I often find myself making rash decisions on whether a call should or should not be a penalty. But due to the speed of today's game, it's sometimes hard to tell if it's a foul or not. While in real-time, I may feel confident that a foul is a penalty or not, when I watch it on TV replay, I often find that my gut reaction decision was wrong. When TV replays slow the incident down to a fraction of a second, you can better make a decision. But again, not always, and what would a video judge decide in the Tugay-Ghaly case?
What needs to happen is that other options needs to be tested to see if it can work. Earlier this week, Udinese used goal line technology in Serie A as a test. There's also been talk about testing two referees on a field or using four assistant referees instead of two. That may help.
But what I believe is that the level of refereeing in today's Premiership is far better than it was 10 or 20 years ago. It just seems worse because of the amount of TV coverage where every incident is reviewed over and over again. Watching football in the late 70s and early 80s, I saw many horrendous refereeing decisions being made that were far worse than today. The offside problem also seemed to be far worse back then. These days, for the most part, most of the offside decisions are far more accurate presumably because of better training for assistant referees.
So spare a thought for people like Dowd, Rennie, Poll, Gallagher, Clattenberg, Webb and others. After all, without the aid of TV replays, could you do better than these blokes?
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Veteran U.S. Soccer Writer Takes Aim At Premiership & Fox Soccer Channel
Veteran Soccer America columnist Paul Gardner has never been one to refrain from writing what he believes, so it's interesting to read his take on the English Premier League and its recent lack of goals and quality in an article published in The New York Sun newspaper.
What's more interesting to me, though, is how Gardner takes a couple of swipes at Fox Soccer Channel. For example, Gardner writes "The EPL being offered with such ballyhoo on FSC is a fraud. This is not the best, nor the most exciting league in the world. Merely the richest."
While I agree with many of Gardner's points about the overall lack of goals and quality this season in the Premiership, I do disagree with his criticism of FSC. Prior to this season (when many of the promos and marketing would have been created by Fox), many regarding the Premiership as the best league in the world (including me).
The other thing about Fox is that when they're promoting Premiership matches, they have no way of knowing whether the matches are going to be the most exciting of the season or "duds" as Gardner says.
Hopefully The New York Sun will publish my response to Gardner's article. I brought up a few other points including the fact that Setanta Sports is also showing Premiership matches, and the three that they showed on Saturday featured 11 goals and were extremely exciting.
Monday, December 04, 2006
3 Ways to Improve the Premiership Starting Today
There are lots of developments happening around the Premiership in the last 24 hours. Liverpool are in the midst of a takeover. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Watford score zero goals to make the Premiership's record of the lowest scoring league in Europe even worse.
So what can be done to fix the problem in the Premiership this season regarding the lack of goals? And what about the lack of really close end-to-end matches with goals a-plenty? How many 3-2, 4-3 or 3-3 matches do you remember this season?
Seriously, is there anything that can be done because the lack of goals and having a detrimental effect on attendances (when combined with the exorbitant ticket prices)?
Here are a few of my ideas:
1) Bring back the terraces. Allow football grounds to have small sections of terracing so fans can get more boisterous and passionate, which should translate into players pushing harder to get a goal for the die-hard fans. The pricing for terraced tickets would be heavily discounted to allow the middle to lower class to afford to watch their team.
2) Abolish goal difference. Instead of using goal difference to determine what teams are on top if the points are the same, a club's position (if tied with one or more other team for points) should be based on the number of goals they've scored. This will encourage teams to push forward and score more goals instead of clubs holding on to 1-0 or 2-0 wins.
3) Make it more competitive. Just 10 points separate first place and fourteenth place in the Coca Cola Championship League. In comparison, a huge twenty five points separate first from fourteenth place in the Premiership. In order to make the Premiership more competitive, each of the 20 teams needs to have a chance to win the league when the season begins. This means that salary caps need to be instituted as well as a cap on the number of foreigners who can play for each team.
These are just three ways to improve the Premiership. What ideas do you have? Post them here by clicking the 'comments' link below.
ITVN Adds GolTV: Wise Decision or Not?
The cost will be $9.95 per month, which also includes a music video network, radio stations and more.
Personally I don't see the wisdom in doing the deal with GolTV. Most cable companies provide GolTV, and if you have Fox Soccer Channel, you probably have GolTV on your cable box. Setanta Sports, meanwhile, is not available on most cable networks throughout the U.S., so unless you have DirecTV, ITVN is your best alternate solution.
For GolTV, it's a win because it means they'll have access to more subscribers than before. But how many more I wonder...
Let me know if you agree or disagree by clicking the 'comments' link below.
John Nicholson Tackles Cliches In Football
Editor's Note: This week we feature a guest blog post from author and Football365 columnist John Nicholson. John has agreed to write a regular column for EPL Talk. You can check out his work at Football 365 here, or visit his web site here.
It's a little known fact that rock stars like Keith Moon didn't throw TV's out of hotel windows just out of sheer wanton lust for destruction. Oh no. It was on almost every occasion caused by the sheer mind numbing, dumb ass cliches that litter football coverage on TV.
I spend a lot of time shouting at the television. I know it's a pointless activity and you can no more change the world by screaming at that inanimate box of light than you can by putting your underpants on your head. It doesn't stop me trying though - shouting at the TV that is, not he underpants thing. Not unless I've been drinking aftershave and there's a full moon.
I spend a lot of time watching football on TV, and let me tell you the coverage regularly annoys the hell out of me. And the thing that makes my head steam most is the use of cliches in when talking about football.
These are not cliches that you or me would say in real life. This is not the 'many hands make light work' type of aphorism. These cliches are just made up especially for football and then used and reused until they're threadbare and limp by lazy journalists and TV presenters.
In the UK, it's got so bad that I even designed a t-shirt entirely of the cliches.
There are several different categories of cliche. There's the national stereotyping - French players who are routinely described as having 'Gallic flair' even though there are loads of French players who are leaden footed and have as much flair as a dead dog. Just look at Jean Alan Boumsong.
Brazilians are said to play 'samba football'! Do they really play samba football? You can't dance and retain possession of a football all at the same time now can you? It's bollocks.
Germans are always 'ruthless and efficient' - You'd think it was still 1940 sometimes.
A good player from Holland is always a Dutch Master - why? They don't use this art world type reference in any other aspect of the game. A player is never described a French impressionist, mind you a lot of players do make a right Jackson Pollock of the game.
Any time a British club plays a European game in Italy, they are always, and I do mean always described as having to do 'An Italian Job.' Grrr! I don't know why. Perhaps they expect the whole side will be balanced on the edge of a cliff in a bus at the end of the game. Annoying isn't it?!
It has even started to penetrate the more stupid footballers brains that when they're interviewed, they should now try and avoid that classic cliched phrase "at the end of the day", or at least avoid saying it 10 times in 90 seconds, but at the end of the day, they don't seem to be able to stop saying it.
Occasionally someone will attempt a clever variation such as 'at the end of it all' but they're fooling no one. It's like a form of footballing Tourettes syndrome. You can see them straining to say it; they want to say it; they know they shouldn't but, like teenage boys who suffer form premature ejaculation, they just can't help it coming out.
And you'll heave heard these teeth grinding classics a few times - "There are no easy games in international football" - yes there bloody is, stop saying there isn't. Haven't they seen Andorra play?
"It's not the performance, it's the 3 points that matters." Of course the performance matters, it's the reason we watch bleedin' game, its what we've paid for, have you forgotten about us already? And if it was true, exactly when does the performance actually matter then? You're talking rubbish son. Your brain is in neutral. Shut it!
Or how about this media favourite, "He's got good feet for a big man"
For the last 2 years it has been used almost solely to describe Peter Crouch, though he's just the latest man to get the accolade. Never has a tall mans feet had such scrutiny. Why shouldn't he have good feet anyway? Is there some law of nature that if you're over 6 foot tall your feet will just flop around like useless flippers?
And while we're talking about all things fishy, why are players always said to leap like a salmon? Why not like a kangaroo? It's not like they've got scales and live under water now is it? I mean, I know some players barely look human but I don't think any have actual piscine DNA. At least a kangaroo is a mammal.
Then there's the vacuous euphemism, always deployed by a current or former player to describe a dreadful miss from 5 yards out. "He'll be disappointed with that."
It's a big, stupid under-statement and it's regularly deployed by the likes of Alan Shearer while wearing a face as expressionless as an arse. Why can't they just say "that's a shockingly, hopelessly bad miss?" Would that be so hard? Why do they have to be so inhibited? Just say what we all know to be the truth.
Other cliched phrases are so familiar you don't even stop to think about them, but when you do, they are truly surreal. Take this one, "He's got pace to burn"
Has he? Has he really? And how exactly do you burn pace? What type of flammable substance would you need to actually set pace on fire? What trippy world could this actually happen in? Can't you just say 'he is fast'. Is that so bloody hard?
A striker is often said to be "plowing a lone furrow up front."
What is he, some kind of farmer now? What is he plowing? Look you f**kers, he's not bloody ploughing and there is no furrow. He's just bloody running around. Right?
Then there are the phrases you never hear in real life but which are rife in football. The best example is "He's a bubbly character."
No man has ever been called 'bubbly' outside of football. Bubbly is a word football people only ever use to describe other football people. Bubbly should be a word reserved for air-headed blonde girls who giggle a lot after two Babychams, not for a lunatic of a man like Paul Gascoigne who was routinely described as bubbly.
Then there are the made up words, I think Glenn Hoddle created this one "he's out-strengthed him." Are you sure Glenn? Which spirit guide told you this? Are you sure he wasn't just stronger than him? The English language is a massive, complex lexicon, there are plenty of words to use, so let me tell you Glenn my son, you don't have to make up your own f**king words! He'll be disappointed with that.
When players start pushing each other around, it is inevitably described as being ".....just handbags". I'm not sure if you can out-strength someone at hand bags though. Just for the record, actual handbags are never present on the pitch, though I would love to see players running around with handbags - that's just a personal perversion though.
Cliche hell will be complete one day when there is a player who is a bubbly character, who has good feet for a big man, has got pace to burn, can leap like a salmon and out-strength someone while plowing a lone furrow up front who, at the end of the day, believes there are no easy games in international football, and its the not the performance that matters its the three points.
And when that happens, you know what? I'll be disappointed with that.
Premiership: Lowest Scoring League in Europe
Paul Wilson from The Guardian reports that the Premiership is the lowest scoring league in Europe. While teams are definitely playing more defensively, the main reason for the lack of goals is that the league has turned more continental than English. While the English style of play can still be seen with frenetic pace and lots of physical play, the continental approach has been on display more often.Getting a goal and then holding on for a win was made famous by the Italian national team long before Bolton adopted the practice.
The Daily Mail, meanwhile, analyses Blackburn's crowd of less than 17,000 for this past Saturday's match against Fulham. Part of the reason for the smaller crowd than usual was the fact that Fulham only brought 250 away fans. Pitiful. But if the above story about lack of goals, plus the fact that the ticket prices are exorbitant, it's no surprise that there are more empty seats this season than most.
Jamie Redknapp, meanwhile, picks the best 11 players in the Premiership right now from the 20 teams.
Simon Burnton from The Guardian wrote an interesting article about what it's like to watch Premiership coverage via the Internet for free (before the Premier League shuts those sites down).
Friday, December 01, 2006
Win a Man United v Chelsea Matchday Programme
While EPL Talk was at last Sunday's Manchester United versus Chelsea match at Old Trafford, we picked up two extra copies of the matchday programme (street price: $6 each) for you, the reader.To win one of the two official collectible matchday programmes, here's all you have to do:
Visit the EPL Talk Podcast page at iTunes and review the EPL Talk Podcast. It'll only take a couple of minutes. Then, between now and Friday December 8th, EPL Talk will pick two of the reviewers at random and will award them the matchday programme. It's as simple as that.
If you haven't had a chance to listen to the EPL Talk Podcast before, just go here and listen to one or more of the 41 episodes available for the only Premiership soccer interview show on the Internet.
Note: We ask that you include your name in the review so we can identify you. We'll pick out two winners. Each winner will receive one of the programmes. The winners will be announced on this blog. Both programmes are in mint condition.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
