Mark Lawrenson Must Be Stopped

So, Who Will Blink First?

2012-02-16T21:45:00.000Z

In the aftermath of Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Everton, there has been a wealth of ink dedicated to detailing what appear to be serious cracks in the relationship between Andre Villas Boas and his players. All this takes place against a backdrop of the reported continued presence of Roman Abramovich around the Cobham training ground.

Who is Roman there to keep an eye on? Is if the underperforming players or the ever more desperate and seemingly lost young manager?

Chelsea need to change, to develop. 1 year is a short time frame and perhaps it’s not reasonable to expect results to match the level of expectation at this stage. But the type of performance that was seen last weekend (flat) and the weekend previously (when Chelsea found a way not to win the game against Man Utd despite leading 3-0 after around 50 minutes) is not really acceptable. In the Man Utd game, the manager must face questions, especially over his choice of substitutes. However the players must take the majority of the blame for the Everton performance – it wasn’t the tactics, that’s for sure. So what course of action should be taken from here?

For me, it is simple. The revolving door policy for managers needs to stop. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, Chelsea have spent an obscene amount of money (£64m) firing managers in the past 3 financial periods. This is the very definition of dead money. The corollary to this is that the termination clause in the current manager’s contract is ‘only’ £5m – not a huge amount of money by Chelsea’s standards. The next reason is that this is the first time Chelsea appear to have a long-term plan and want their manager to develop younger players rather than relying heavily on expensive veterans. A more experienced or big name manager would likely demand a large transfer kitty come the summer – that appears to go against what the club should and need to do – for both long term sustainability and short term financial reasons.

The importance of finishing 4th (4th is the best than can be hoped for at this point) cannot be understated for the club’s financial position and its ability to attract players. Chelsea received £44m for reaching the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League, whereas Porto received less than £8m for winning the Europa League. This for me is the only compelling reason why the club would get rid of Villas Boas at this stage – Chelsea’s form is getting worse, and given that he does not seem to have the trust/support of the players, or indeed a sizeable number of fans, you would wonder how it will improve. The potential bounce that someone like, say, Guus Hiddink could provide in the short-term cannot be underestimated. But then Chelsea are back to square 1 – they need a manager and are no closer to meeting their long term goals.

If it’s the case that it’s the players or the manager, I asked the question earlier in the week ‘who has the most long-term value to Chelsea’ – is it the young and apparently talented manager or the aging and seemingly disgruntled senior players? Of the 3 answers I got, 2 seemed to feel that the manager should be cut loose. My view is pretty simple – back the manager, at least for another season. There is still a chance that Chelsea surge into 4th, and then, he has the entire summer to get what he needs to develop his side for next season, at the same time allowing those who don’t want to be a part of his project leave.

Until Victory Always

2012-02-04T14:38:00.001Z

(Thanks to @LeabharnaBeatha for the title by the way.)

So, the dust has long settled on the 2011 GAA season. The All-Ireland Championship is over, Glenswilly have won their first ever Donegal Senior Championship and Donegal have 3 All Stars and are back in Division 1. Tonight, we head to Newry to take on Down, and with 4 games at home, are odds of staying up are decent at this stage.

3 Donegal players received All Star awards - just reward for a defence that was surely the best in the Championship and anyone who tries to put this down to the system rather than the players clearly didn't watch Donegal too closely last year. Sure, the system yielded dividends, but McGee, Lacey and Cassidy were simply outstanding, and not just in a a defensive capacity either (witness the runs made by McGee, the playmaking prowess of Lacey and Cassidy's monster points at key moments against both Tyrone and Kildare)- and it is ignorant in the extreme (I'm looking at you Pat) to try and discount their contributions.

Of course, Kevin Cassidy is no longer on the panel - thrown off by Jim McGuinness for disclosures made in 'This Is Our Year'. It seems harsh, but if the team had agreed on certain things, then players should have stayed true to those conditions. It seems clear that Cassidy didn't and has paid the price. If it is the end, and until a ball is kicked in the Championship, I don't ncessarily beleive that it is (despite all that has been said, heard and written), it's sad way for the career of one of our best footballers over the past decade to end their career.

Can Donegal improve this year? Sure we can. Donegal didn't lose to Dublin because they weren't good enough - they lost because they didn't play well enough. The main reason for this seemed to be that the fear of losing trumped the desire to win at a key moment and Dublin (to their credit) seized the iniative and won out.

Jim McGuinness is saying all the right things. It's a 4 year plan, step 1 was making the team a more cohesive unit and hard to beat. Certainly looks like that was a success. But, the plan of attack needs to improve - we have enough talented forwards to win games, so let's get them more involved at the right end of the pitch. With Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden out, tonight marks a good opportunity for the likes of Stephen Griffen and Dermot Molloy to make their mark. Indeed, with Murphy and McFadden out, there might be a worry as to where the scores will come from. But Griffen's form has been good and Paddy McBrearty is a year older and able to win his own ball, so hopefully the manager will place enough trust in them to have the team play to give them the sort of opportunities they need to shine.

Donegal and their manager have received plenty of criticism in light of their style of play last season and were booed by Dublin supporters in the All Ireland semi-final (I've no problem with booing, but to boo the opposition for their 'style', that's a new one to me). And lately there's been 'Moynagate', for which Jim McGuinness has been further demonised. If anything, the criticism has made the supporters (and I suspect the players and management) more resolute - we don't owe anybody anything. The players delivered to the supporters more than anyone expected at the start of last season and for the first time in a long time, we ended the season with renewed pride in the jersey and hope for the future.

Tir Chonaill Abu - Until Victory Always

The Mask is Slipping

2012-01-30T23:44:00.002Z

So here we are. More than halfway through the season, and I think it’s fair to say, it’s been a letdown. Last season, despite an atrocious run of form either side of the Christmas period, Chelsea managed to finish 2nd in the Premier League and lost out to eventual runners-up Man Utd in the Champions League Quarter Finals.

Having lost 9 and drew 8 games all season, Chelsea have already lost 5 and drawn 5, so arguably are on the same pace as they were last season, but the opposition has improved – Man City and Spurs are on track to finish with more points than they ended up with last season, while Chelsea are on track to finish on 70 points – 1 point worse off than under Carlo Ancellotti last season – leaving us in 4th place. Contrast this with Spurs (on track to finish 19 points better off), Man City (21 points better off), Man Utd, (7 points better off) and you wonder – what was the point in getting rid of Ancelotti?

Today’s rumblings from Stamford Bridge have reinforced this belief. The manager seems to be entirely focused on the short-term – which is fine, but the results or the football haven’t been good enough to justify this sort of view. Maybe AvB feels under so much pressure that he has reverted into a conservative shell that sees Chelsea playing bland football and generally achieving victory by the narrowest of margins. That’s fair enough, but I thought he came with a mandate to play a more attacking form of football, or at least a more open brand that would yield more goals. This, allied with a financially rewarding termination clause in his contract should surely have encouraged him to foster a new approach at Stamford Bridge.
Let me clarify – I wanted Ancelotti to go at the end of last season as I felt that he was not the man to engineer the necessary changes at Stamford Bridge to ensure Chelsea’s continued competitiveness on both the domestic and European fronts. I welcomed the appointment of AvB as a young manager with interesting ideas and looked forward to an infusion of fresh talent and a new and more exciting brand of football. So far, I feel like I’ve been short changed.

For all the excitement and openness seen in games against Man Utd and Arsenal, Chelsea have largely reverted to the bland unimaginative football that became the norm under Ancelotti. Only the addition of Mata has brought any real imagination or creativity, and as he is only a cog in a bigger machine, we see only fleeting glimpses of his undoubted genius. Not since Zola have Chelsea had such a player, and hopefully we see more of him in a more influential role. So far, he has largely been used as an auxiliary winger, and much like Sturridge, I have to question if the manager is getting the best out of him in such a role.

And aside from the football itself, the development of the personnel is moving at a slower pace than I would like to see. Again, in today’s press conference, AvB apparently disavowed any interest in anything other than the short-term and seemed to have little to say on the potential role of Kevin De Bruyne at the club. Josh McEachran was allowed to fester on the fringes of the first team squad for much of the first half of the season before being allowed to join Swansea during over the January transfer window. I guess it might have been asking a lot for a loan to be arranged during the summer when AvB was not long in the job, but at the same time, it doesn’t appear that Josh got many chances to prove himself from September to January, although I will admit that I know nothing of what goes on on the training ground.

The most grievous mistake (as yet unpunished) is the failure to give Ryan Bertrand more first team opportunities. I have no idea if Bertrand is a tremendous prospect or not, but he’s all Chelsea have in terms of an alternative to Ashley Cole, who is no longer a dashing twentysomething, but has so far managed to avoid any meaningful absence through injury or suspension this season. The role of Romelu Lukaku has been a puzzle as well – someone who (physically) looks like he’s cut out for the Premier League as well as being a fresh face, has received little game time. Only Oriel Romeu has seen significant first team action so far, and his form has been encouraging. So let’s see more youth, eh?

It’s been a frustrating few weeks. The next 6 weeks will go a long way to determine whether this will be a successful season. Man Utd at the weekend, Napoli home and away and Birmingham in the FA Cup, and an away trip to Man City. There are also plenty of ‘easier’ ties, but nothing feels easy at the moment. If it doesn’t work out with AvB, I know of someone else who may be available next season. You know what I mean.

Growing Pains

2011-12-11T20:09:00.003Z

A lot of the media are reacting to AvB’s rant by saying that they ‘were swift to point out the folly of not letting this clearly very able and emerging young coach last beyond the first few months of his tenure’ (taken from Phil McNulty's piece after Tuesday night's win over Valencia). But it was the media themselves who were questioning whether or not Abramovich was going to retain the coach!

AvB has already revealed himself to be more human than previous coaches at Stamford Bridge. Sure there’s arrogance, and a degree of ‘nerdiness’ (sic) but there has also been worry and passion on display. With Mourinho, it was mostly arrogance – save for medals thrown into the crowd – Ancelloti seemed mostly cold/detached to me – and it was hard to get much of a read from Scolari, Hiddink or Grant due to their short tenure at Stamford Bridge.

AvB has had to endure more than any of these managers and in a much shorter space of time. He has taken over a successful team from a famous and popular manager (who many in the media and in the crowd had huge sympathy with when he was turfed out at the end of last season). His buyout price was high and is well known. He has many well loved and experienced players in his team, who have been 1st choice since they joined the club and are close in age to the manager himself. He has been saddled with an expensive ‘flop’ (no names necessary). He has not faced media scrutiny and the pressure of a competitive league like this before. So it is not entirely surprising to see the mask slip a little.

He was humble/honest enough to admit after Tuesday night’s game to admit that Chelsea got the result they wanted but not by playing how he would like them to play. This suggests that he still believes that Chelsea need to change and will continue along the path we’ve seen over the past few months – where results have not matched expectations. Chelsea are in a position where there’s only a small amount of margin for error – Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs all look like they are credible challengers for 3rd and 4th place (I’ll assume for now that both Manchester teams will continue to occupy 1st and 2nd for now). Development is important, but results are vital.

I think it’s a good thing that the young man appears to be developing a chip in his shoulder. Maybe it’s earlier than normal, but look at the Fergusons and the Wengers – they have faced down perceived adversity in a similar fashion to the bristling AvB the other night. And, having watched clips from the press conference, I honestly didn’t think the behaviour was as sensational as that claimed by journalists on Twitter. But developing a siege mentality is only a good idea if you can lift that siege at some point.

The win over Valenica was vital, but AvB does not have a ‘signature win’ since he came to Stamford Bridge. The biggest opportunity was the away game against Man Utd back in October, but Chelsea fluffed their lines that day. Sure they have played (and lost to) Arsenal and Liverpool since – games they were expected to win. But Monday night represents another opportunity to make his mark. Man City has been the team to beat this season. And the 4th Estate will be watching closer than usual after Tuesday’s outburst. What better way to cause a real stir by taking out the champions elect?

What I thought after the defeat to Liverpool 20/11/2011

2011-11-22T19:33:00.004Z

It seems ludicrous to suggest that the coach is under pressure - but the owner has form. He does seem sure of himself - or at least that it will cost too much to fire him. A dangerous assumption. Let's be honest - the quality/competitive nature of the Premier League is much higher than that of the Liga Zon Sagres or even the Europa League for that matter (where would Braga feature in a Premier League table I wonder?). Note that this is a slight on the quality in those competitions, not a pat on the back for the Premier League.

Drogba looks a spent force, certainly as a starter against the likes of Liverpool. Whither Lukaku - who looks at least as physical as Drogba but would no doubt present something of an unknown to Premier League defenders. He showed again ts Arsenal that he relishes the physical side of the game, which looks like exactly what we needed against Liverpool.

Speaking of physical - it was evident that we were 2nd best in this respect in all areas of the pitch on Sunday - a few years ago there were very few (any?) teams who could match us in this regard. Age, injury, and distractions have diminished the powers of Drogba, Essien and Terry, and Carvalho and Ballack have been dealt away. Ramires is wiry and energetic, but Mata is too easily pushed around at times. 2 guys I can think of who would compete well in the Premier League would be Romeu and Lukaku - surely they need to get more game time?

I don't like cricket. Or cricket scores.

2011-09-18T19:12:00.003+01:00

When all is said and done, I prefer my team to win games 1-0 or 2-1 than by the odd goal in 7 or 9. And I never like losing. Still, Chelsea played their part in an entertaining and open game, and even in defeat there were signs that point to an intriguing and encouraging future at Stamford Bridge.

I didn't expect Chelsea to win. Indeed, I feared slightly for them based going to Old Trafford given what I'd seen from both teams so far this season. My fear was somewhat justified - Chelsea's defence (and I use the word defence in the wider sense of the word, not just the back 4) was pretty poor for much of the game. The game was crying out for Mikel to play in a screening role. And I'm sorry, but to me, John Terry ishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif waning - if for no other reason than he doesn't seem to have the organisational ability that your captain and number 1 centre back should have. As well as that, Michael Cox points out here that Chelsea's passing out of defence was seriously deficient to that displayed by the Man Utd centre backs - my view that either Alex or Luiz should start is reinforced by this stat. The next position I would target in the transfer market is right full back - Bosingwa just isn't good enough defending or attacking to justify his position in the starting XI in my mind. And I wonder about Chelsea's eagerness to sign Alvaro Perreira - was this to cover the left side of midfield or as a replacement for Ashley Cole?

I don't mean to dwell on the past - but we never looked this ragged under the Special One. There's been too many games now when we've looked defensively suspect - Sunderland and Aston Villa at the Bridge last season come to mind quickly - and ok, the line was probably right for Man Utd's 1st goal today and we should have got the offside decision, but how often did Man Utd look like scoring aside from that? And, as I wrote yesterday, we've conceded to some pretty average teams. Clean sheets need to become a habit again.

Again, I ask the question - what is Frank Lampard's role in this team. Of the 3 that started in midfield, Meireles provides the creativity, Ramires provides the energy - what does Lampard bring to the table? His goal threat is considerably less than it was, and he doesn't have the range of passing or defensive qualities to sit deep. He needs to re-invent himself to remain relevant.

It was also a rude awakening to the Premier League for Juan Mata who was too often not willing/able/aware enough to work back when Chelsea lost the ball. I have no doubt that he will be an excellent signing, but he needs to pull his weight when Chelsea don't have the ball!

As for Fernando Torres...

1. He finally showed what he is capable of when the ball is put in front of him (a 'vertical ball' as AvB would say) - it was an excellent finish and hopefully a sign of things to come (more on that later of course...)
2. I wonder about his choice to square for Ramires in the 1st half. Many would laud his unselfishness, but I want my number 1 striker to be selfish. Would a more confident Torres have taken the chance himself?
3. Yes, his miss towards the end of the game was shocking - it's a great pity his goal didn't come after this rather than before it, and came at a key moment in the game. I can only hope that he takes the positives with him from this game.

Finally, yes there were decisions that went against Chelsea today, but hey, these things seem to even themselves out, e.g. Rooney missed the generously given penalty. If we'd taken our chances (Ramires, Torres), we could have come away with a point. But for a change, I have a 'glass half full' outlook. We created a bunch of chances. Fernando Torres scored 1 and could have had a hat-trick. AvB made a bold decision at half-time that by and large worked. We are only 2 months or so into a project that will hopefully lead to more than a Premier League title. The future is bright. The future is Blue.

Man Utd v Chelsea Preview

2011-09-17T10:02:00.003+01:00

So, Andre Vilas Boas (AvB) takes his 'new' Chelsea team to Old Trafford on Sunday looking for a watershed victory to really kick start his tenure at Stamford Bridge. The start so far has been solid but relatively unimpressive. It looks like change will be a slow process, and to be fair, why should it be any other way, given that this team finished 2nd last year and won it all the year before.

Man Utd rightly start as favourites, and I look at the game in terms of hope rather than expectation. Man Utd have been scoring for fun, and Chelsea have conceded to West Brom, Norwich and Sunderland. I can't see Chelsea shipping 8 or even 5 to Man Utd, but their abilty to score along with Chelsea's propensity to concede to pretty avarage teams concerns me.

But, Man Utd's defence is a strange mix of new and old and not so good at the moment, and Chelsea will have their chances I'm sure. Who starts in the middle of the front 3 will be interesting - it looks as if Drogba is certainly out, Anelka got the start against Sunderland last week, and Torres played against Leverkusen in midweek. Of the 2, I guess I'd have to go for Torres tomorrow - but I was much more optimistic about Torres' goalscoring abaility before the Old Trafford game last April than I am for tomorrow's game, and he was pretty subdued that day.

In saying that, Meireles and Mata look like good signings and just the sort of players that might create the sort of chances Torres needs to thrive. And I can't fault Torres' attitude in general - he played his part on Wednesday night, but I wonder would he have squared that ball if it were anyone other than Mata waiting?

So, Sturridge (who has just the sort of spark Chelsea have needed since they sent him on loan) last season looks certain to occupy the right side of the front 3, with Mata on the left. In midfield, I see Ramires and Meireles starting, with Mikel and Lampard likely to fill the remaining spot. Given it's an away game, I wonder if AvB would opt for Mikel? It would be interesting if Frank Lampard were to be left out for such a big game. On form, Ramires and Meireles deserve their spots and while Mikel has many critics, he is a very steady player, and will happily sit deep allowing those around him to play with more freedom. Lampard's role in the team is no longer clear to me I'm afraid.

At the back, it would be a huge shock if John Terry does not come back in. Given the form of Ashley Young, I'd be inclined to start Ivanovic at right back. This would leave Alex and David Luiz to fill the remainig centre back spot. Luiz of course was probably at fault for Hernandez' early opener in the April game, and seem to come in for unneecessarily harsh and public abuse from the then manager, Ancellotti. He returned to the side in midweek and scored a good goal and played some nice football, but was guilty of 2 reckless fouls that could have seen him sent off. Whether he is truly a centre back remains to be seen. So I would go for Alex - who a lot of people have written off after an average enough display against West Brom. But, I don't think he's a bad player, and maybe the time out has given him a chance to get back his focus. In my view, he was often the best defender behind Ivanovic at times last year.

For Man Utd, there aren't too many difficult choices, although goalkeeper could be an interesting one. Not that Alex Ferguson will entertain such questions. Their front 2 of Rooney and Hernandez and wingmen Young and Nani could cause Chelsea nightmares. Their weak link is probably the centre of midfield, where Chelsea will likely outnumber them in both numbers and quality. But Man Utd will probably move the ball quickly and expect their front players to work back and disrupt Chelsea posession (this could be a huge issue it both Mikel and Lampard play as both can be ponderous in possession these days) and so Chelsea's numerical advantage in that area may count for nothing.

There could be 2 wildcards for Chelsea. One is the defensive minded midfielder Oriel Romeu, who got a run out against Sunderland last weekend and performed steadily in limited action. The other more interesting option for AvB is Romelu Lukaku who could fill the 'No. 9' role - I'd like to see him up against Jonny Evans and giving David De Gea something to think about under the odd high ball. But, in line with the seeming evolution rather than revolution approach at Stamford Bridge, I suspect that a substutute appearance is the most either youngster can expect.

Given Man City's ordinary enough display during the week, a positive result for Chelsea in tomorrow's game could make many hastily re-think their 'only 2 teams can win it' proclomations of recent weeks. I'm not for a moment suggesting that Chelsea should be ranked ahead or Man Utd or Man City, but there's a lot of talent on the pitch and (potentially) on the sideline. I think they will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. But I don't expect them to win tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @CiaranMcMonagle

The God Delusion

2011-08-14T11:11:00.001+01:00

So on Sunday, the Andre Vilas Boas (I’m going to take liberties and refer to him as ‘AvB’ from here on) era begins in earnest at Stoke. Other than the absent Michael Essien, I expect it to be as you were for Chelsea under Carlo Ancelotti. After all, none of the 3 summer signings are expected to feature and line-ups used in pre-season suggests that the same players will be deployed in the same positions as they were last season. All of which leads me to believe that AvB really believes his own hype.

To be fair, both Josh McEachran and Danny Sturridge have seen game time in pre-season. McEachran saw very limited action under Ancelotti and while Sturridge did make a few appearances, he was of course loaned out after the acquisition of Fernando Torres and scored goals for fun at Bolton while Torres drew blanks. Sturridge is suspended to start the season, so I guess we’ll have to wait a while to see if he figures in AvB’s plans.

I’ll admit to seeing little of AvB in action, except for last season’s Europa League final, which I was able to attend in person. His Porto side were clearly technically superior to Braga and contained all the star power, yet the manner of their victory was far from convincing and the style of play most unsatisfactory for a neutral like me. Much of it reminded me of watching Chelsea under the doleful Italian! Of course I know of the statistics from Porto’s season – all the goals scored – but I remember watching Chelsea 6 goals a game at the start of last season, but at the same time being largely unimpressed with the style of Chelsea’s play. Yes of course results are everything, but ultimately Chelsea’s season was not defined by how they fared against West Brom and Wigan. It came down to performances against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, where they lacked the ideas and creativity to break down higher quality opposition.

Chelsea’s problems seemed to me to stem from 3 areas last season – an aging squad, a lack of creativity, players who didn’t respond to the manager, or a manger who lost his appetite for the game. The squad issue has only been partially addressed – how often Romeu or Lukaku actually play remains to be seen (Lukaku could very well be loaned out), the lack of creativity could be solved by AvB, but I still think he needs to sign someone like Modric if things are to change dramatically from last season. As to whether the players will respond to him or not, that will be interesting – sure Porto had some stars, but no one in the league of Drogba, Torres, Cole, Lampard or Terry. Can AvB’s methodical approach inspire them to heights they failed to reach last season? Let’s assume that he still has an appetite for the game!

Anyway, I am being harsh – despite all that has been written, the guy has not managed a game that matters at Chelsea at yet. So he needs time. Will his patron give him time? Judging by the signings Chelsea have made this summer, it appears that they are trying to build for the future rather than sign quick fixes. Strange, given the moves they made in the last transfer window, but maybe Financial Fair Play is weighing on their mind? He’s a young manager, he’s trained under some of the best, including the original ‘Special One’, he’s won trophies, and he’s likely to be just a big a hit with the media as Ancelotti (who it seemed could do no wrong in the eyes of most scribes). I’m happy to give him time – I just hope his employer feels the same way.

Our First Podcast! The Guff Report Premier League Preview 2011-12

2011-08-13T13:40:00.006+01:00

Here it is!

Guff Report Premier League Preview

All comments welcome. Please share with others if you think it's worth it.

Premier League Preview 2011/12

2011-08-11T20:11:00.004+01:00

Arsenal

You really have to question the competence of the decision-makers at Arsenal if the stories about the Juan Mata failed bid are true. Fabergas looks like he’s gone and Nasri may not be far behind. Sure there will be funds, but with less than 3 weeks left in the transfer window, the pressure will be on to bring in big name replacements. Or so you would think – the only name being floated around at the moment seems to be Scott Dann. Gervinho will probably be a success, Oxlade-Chamberlain has not played at a level higher than League 1 until now, so we’ll have to wait and see how he steps up in the Premier League. This could be the the season where Arsenal drop out of the Top 4. I’m sure their fans are frustrated, heck, they sort of frustrate me at times as well.

Aston Villa

What is the plan at Villa? Spending big money on Darren Bent last season seemed to signal ambition, but then selling his 2 putative providers in chief seems contradictory, although denying Ashley Young a move to Manchester United was probably going to be a difficult position to maintain in the short-term, while Liverpool’s offer for Stewart Downing appears to represent good business for Villa, especially when they can turn around and buy Charles N’Zogbia for half the money. Fans patience will be very thin this season, especially in light of the decision to appoint the man who has just overseen the relegation of their fiercest rivals.

Blackburn Rovers

David Goodwillie? This is what the Venky’s money is bringing to Blackburn? Where’s Kaka et al? Losing Phil Jones will hurt, and losing Chris Samba could be fatal. No better than mid table, and possible relegation contenders, but the fact that there are probably poorer teams out there mean that they might hang on.

Bolton

A quiet enough summer at the Reebok, where keeping Gary Cahill and getting Stuart Holden back from injury could go a long way towards defining their season. They haven’t had the best of luck so far this summer – Tyrone Mears and the Korean Lee Chung-Yong both look like missing significant time due to both suffering broken legs in pre-season. A team that will struggle to break into the Top 8, but should find it relatively comfortable to remain in mid table.

Chelsea

Is essentially the same squad that looked tired and unimaginative last season really the one to do better this season? Is Fernando Torres really finished or just not getting the kind of service on which he thrives? How much time will Andre Villas-Boas be given to win a Premier League and Champions League title? So many questions that look like taking a while to answer. Chelsea’s signings so far this summer almost hint at building for the future – in contrast with the big money signings of David Luiz and Torres in January which seemed to suggest a desire to win big, quickly. As things stand, I don’t see them overhauling Man Utd this season, and Man City are only going to get stronger.

Everton

Moving forward by standing still? It’s hard to see this team achieving more than say a Europa League or Cup Final berth – some good players for sure, but the squad is thin, especially up front, where Louis Saha is dangerous when fit, but alas that is never a given. Holding on to Baines, Jagielka, Fellani and Arteta is perhaps a more valuable coup than any signings David Moyes could hope to make.

Fulham

I guess the position taken over Mark Hughes shows that disloyalty won’t be tolerated, which is fine in one sense, but it also smacks to me of cutting off your nose to spite your face in another. Hughes seemed like a decent manager - although Martin Jol could turn out to be a decent replacement. Fulham have a pretty solid defence anchored by Hangelaand and Schwarzer, and some decent striking options in attack and from deeper. Assuming the players take to Jol relatively quickly, they could have a relatively comfortable season, but the Europa League via the Fair Play table is probably likely to be the zenith of their ambitions again.

Liverpool

Big spenders but value for money doesn’t seem to be a concern. The prices paid for Henderson and Downing seem inflated, but if they deliver, then no-one will care. Of the 2, Downing looks like he will be a good addition, but the jury could be out on Henderson for a long time yet. He was largely anonymous in the European U-21 Championships, but that was admittedly as a part of a pretty poor England team. What could be more relevant to Liverpool’s chances this season is how Suarez and Carroll perform given that they now have a full season to show their worth. Charlie Adam could also represent good value, but how Liverpool accommodate him and Meireles (and indeed Gerrard when he comes back) will be interesting. If nothing else, Dalglish has strengthened his squad, but keeping expectations dampened will be a challenge.

Manchester City

Sergio Aguero may be a very good player, but will he be as effective in the Premier League as Carlos Tevez? I suspect not. City however may not be denied for long – the squad is full of quality players at just about every position, but their style of play is far from that of champions. I would question the wisdom of signing Gael Clichy, over Leighton Baines, or in persevering with Jerome Boateng for that matter. There are still questions in attack as well, namely whether or not Mario Balotelli has anywhere near enough maturity to be trusted, or whether Edin Dzeko has the requisite quality. The Tevez situation is far from resolved either – it struck me last week that a swap between City and Inter involving the mercurial family man and Wesley Sneijder would make sense for City on so many levels – they rid themselves of a potential distraction while acquiring a quality player that their crosstown rivals appear to covet. This sort of move would go a long way to making City more than just noisy neighbours.

Manchester United

Whether David de Gea will be able to seamlessly fill the massive void left by the departure of Edwin van der Saar or whether Phil Jones represents an upgrade over John O’Shea in the short-term remains to be seen, as does the issue of the quality of central midfield, especially in light of Paul Scholes’ retirement, but the reality is that this squad is more than good enough to retain its title when you survey the Premier League landscape as it is presently configured. What Ryan Giggs has left to offer is a huge question, but the acquisition of Ashley Young, along with the talents of Nani and the return from loan spells of Cleverly and Wellbeck means that there are plenty of options available to take up the slack should age and other matters begin to impact Giggs’ form. The acquisition of Sneijder may not be what they need to beat Barcelona on the European stage, but it would surely but them over the top yet again in their domestic league. As usual, Man Utd. drive on while their domestic rivals dawdle.

Newcastle United

Follow their implosion live on Twitter! Another team that is in serious danger of falling into a relegation fight. Mike Ashley did very well from the sale of Andy Carroll, but his stance on Joey Barton signals his true intent for this proud club. I would question the decision to sell Kevin Nolan as well, but maybe it says something for his motivation that he was happy to move to a Championship club (what price that he will be back in the EPL next season?). Expect them to cash in on Jose Enrique before the transfer window closes. I don’t know enough (read: anything) about their 3 French signings to say what they will contribute, but Demba Ba on a free could prove to be shrewd business, and Hatem Ben Arfa should be fit and raring to go, so maybe it’s not all doom and gloom.

Norwich City

Based on the excellent writing of the Swiss Ramble, Norwich appear to be the best run of the 3 promoted teams and while they lack star power, they have a sustainable strategy, which seems to assume that they will be relegated this season, but have the resources to come straight back up and then fight to stay there. Sensible stuff, but based on what I think may happen at QPR and the fact that they finished so far ahead of Swansea last season makes me think that Norwich have the best chance of the 3 to stay up. Early form will be crucial.

Queens Park Rangers

Possibly one of the richest clubs in the league, but other than the fact that they have just hiked ticket prices, you’d hardly know it. Any signings made have been free (at least they have Premier League experience) and Neil Warnock is one of the favourites to get the sack. Not quite a soap opera of Newcastle type proportions, but it could get there by the end of the season. In Taarabt, they have a player I’m see many are intrigued to see on the Premier League stage (which is graced previously very briefly with Spurs). Having said that, PSG are reportedly interested and aren’t afraid to splash the cash. If he leaves, I will assume that they are doomed if the owners reluctance to spend continues.

Stoke City

Ones to watch? Very steady performers under Tony Pulis and very solid at home. Their style is not to everyone’s liking, but it is effective. Woodgate and Upson are high risk signings, and how can Tony contemplate leaving out goal machine Robert Huth from his back 4! Landing Scott Parker would be a coup, and outside of last season’s Top 4 plus Spurs and Liverpool, Stoke could be the team to break into the Europa League places ahead of more established names. Of course, they play in this season’s EL thanks to their runners up spot in last season’s FA Cup so how they handle the demands of Europe could have a bearing on their PL form.

Sunderland

Selling Darren Bent and buying Asamoah Gyan and then selling Jordan Henderson and buying Craig Gardner for around half the money (or less) received and Seb Larsson for nothing looks like pretty good business to me. How John O’Shea and Wes Brown fare away from Old Trafford, where they served as valuable squad players will be interesting, especially when Nicky Butt and Phil Neville performed similar roles for Man Utd but hardly distinguished themselves elsewhere. Steve Bruce appears to have the resources to survive, and perhaps challenge for a Europa League spot, but a long run of dreadful results similar to last season cannot be repeated.

Swansea City

Like the other team in white (Bolton), I’ll confess that not much about Swansea in the news has caught my eye this summer. Scott Sinclair looks a good player – someone that Chelsea could have done well to persevere with, but all indications are that they will be relegation candidates unless they can pull a few surprises early on.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are making all the right noises on the Modric issue, but they will look like fools if he does end up leaving. What they can expect from a player who has made public his desire to leave but has yet to formally request a move is a moot point. Whether or not Gareth Bale can continue his Footballer of the Year ‘form’ (which was fleeting enough to be honest!) and who is deployed up front are key questions. Even if Modric leaves, there is quality there to compensate – Sandro showed great development last season and Kyle Walker’s form for Aston Villa and England was very encouraging (if you’re a Spurs fan). Given Liverpool’s signings and Manchester City’s continued development, it seems unlikely that Spurs are good enough for the Champions League as things stand, less so if they lose Modric and fail to address questions up front.

West Bromwich Albion

Based on past history, would appear to be a leading candidate for relegation, but if they continue the form they showed under Roy Hodgson last season, they could survive with some degree of comfort, especially if Peter Odemwingie continues his good goalscoring form. Signings up until now weren’t very inspiring, but this week’s acquisition of Shane Long could be a good buy.

Wigan Athletic

The loss of N’Zogbia and Cleverly will hurt, but keeping Rodellega will help in their fight to stave off relegation. The continued development of McCarthy will be of interest to Irish fans, but how much we see of him in a green jersey is a worry at this stage. Roberto Martinez tries to play the game the right way, but perhaps a touch more pragmatism will be necessary this season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Like Martinez at Wigan, Mick McCarthy picks players and uses a system that yields football that is easy on the eye. Some great results last season, and they’ve managed to retain the likes of Kevin Doyle, who, if fit, could be the key to their survival this season. In addition, Jamie O’Hara and Roger Johnson add to the quality of the team. It’s hard to see them repeating wins over Chelsea and Liverpool, so beating their peers will likely go a long way to determining their final league position. They may struggle against well organised and physical teams.

Top 3
1. Man Utd.
2. Chelsea
3. Man City

Bottom 3
18. Wigan
19. QPR
20. Swansea

Why Stop Now?

2011-07-25T22:11:00.002+01:00

So, I expected to be drawn against Cork, but also had a sneaky suspicion it would be the Lillywhites. It should be an interesting game given that both teams tend to have similar modus operandi – slow starts, strong finishes, goals at key times, dodgy penalties and the rub of the green against Derry. Bookies have already made Kildare strong enough favourites at 8/13, and I have to say I am a little bemused by how much credit this team gets given they have won nothing in recent years and failed to beat 14 man Dublin in the Leinster final. Kildare have just beaten Derry by 6 points after Donegal beat Derry by the same margin, so why are Kildare favoured at all?

Donegal of course have one of the meanest defences in the country and held Kildare to 1-5 when the sides met in Letterkenny in February. In addition, they have held all opponents to single digit scores (aside from a late goal conceded via a penalty rebound to Cavan) in the Ulster Championship. Ok, Antrim and Cavan are not serious competition, but the system appears to be working. Donegal have also managed to score at least 1 goal in each of their 4 Championship games to date, scoring 6 in total. Kildare have also managed 6 goals, with 3 coming in a single game (their qualifier win over Laois) in their 6 games to date. Average scoring sees Kildare ahead by around 2.5 points per game, but average margin of victory is dead level at 6 points, and indication of their defensive superiority. Other than their opening game against Wicklow, Kildare have let all opponents hit double scores, although 2 out of the other 5 times, it was only 10 points allowed, which is reasonable given that the opposition was Laois and Meath (who would rank ahead of Antrim and Cavan I guess). So, what does this tell us? Nothing conclusive I fear! But, I do think that (a) Donegal will do very well to hold Kildare to a single digit score; and (b) Donegal are good value to score at least 1 goal.

Stats wise, Donegal have been 2nd best against both Tyrone and Derry. Scores not stats win games, but they are a worrying indicator. The one thing that concerns me most is not possession and midfield, but fouls conceded. In John Doyle, Kildare have someone who is an ace free-taker, but also someone who is very good at winning frees (just saying...), so Donegal will need to be smart as to when and where they foul (they’ve done a good job in this respect to date). It’s not been given a lot of attention to date, but Donegal’s propensity to foul could be a focus now that we’re at the business end of the Championship where games could be subject to ‘higher’ standards of refereeing....

Like their defeat at headquarters against Cork 2 years ago, how Donegal cope with Kildare’s ability to get scores from their defenders could be a key to the game. When the sides met in Letterkenny earlier this year, it was Kildare full back Mick Foley who popped up to get the equalising goal. Against Meath in their 2nd round qualifier, Emmet Bolton, lining out at wing back, got Kildare’s 2nd and decisive goal. Mark McHugh and Ryan Bradley will employed as auxiliary defenders and should help guard against this sort of threat, but as Derry showed in the Ulster Final, Donegal are venerable to backs who can shoot. But, Donegal themselves have shown they they can use their defenders to good effect in attack. Anthony Thompson scored 2 fine points in the Ulster Final; Kevin Cassidy scored an inspirational point late in the 1st half against Tyrone. Add to that the fact that (arguably) Donegal’s best playmaker is also our best defender (Karl Lacey) and some of the swashbuckling runs we’ve seen from Neil McGee this year, and I feel better about our ability to match up in this area this time round.

My main worry for Saturday is this – in the wide open spaces of Croke Park, Donegal’s propensity to sit deep and play with virtually no half-forwards will leave the exceptional inside line of Murphy, McFadden and McBrearty too isolated and allow Kildare to mount sweeping counter attacks, while at the same time cutting down on Donegal’s ability to score. Dermot Molloy’s fitness could be key in this respect – he is more of an orthodox half-forward, and could be a better option than McBrearty if Donegal decided to go with a 2 man inside line. It would be great if Leo McLoone were back as well, but I’m not expecting to see him on Saturday.

Donegal have nothing to fear and if they play accordingly, our chances are better than the bookies and pundits will give us credit for. I’m happy to be underdogs, let’s just hope we don’t play that way. I’m afraid I’m not brave enough to forecast a Donegal win, but based on what I’ve seen from this team so far this year, I wouldn’t bet against them. Winning is a great habit, so why stop now?

Tír Chonaill Abú

It's Time

2011-07-17T00:47:00.001+01:00

Donegal go into tomorrow’s Ulster Final against Derry as favourites, and should go on to claim their first Ulster title since 1992. There have been a few McKenna Cup triumphs and a National League along the way, but this is something that many supporters, including me, have wanted for a long time.

Until the win over Tyrone, Donegal had beaten no-one of consequence. Antrim never looked like repeating their shock victory of 2009 and Cavan were plain awful. Against Tyrone, for long periods in the 1st half, Donegal looked pretty awful as well and were somewhat fortunate not to be facing a bigger deficit at half-time. In the 2nd half, goals at key moments as well as some wayward shooting from Ryan McMenamin and Peter Harte let Donegal off the hook and here we are.

The main criticism I would have is this – Donegal have a potentially outstanding full forward line, with the already excellent Michael Murphy, the sometimes excellent Colm McFadden and a confident and talented Patrick McBrearty, yet they were starved of decent possession against Tyrone, mainly due to Donegal’s tactics rather than any kind of defensive scheming on Tyrone’s part. The team is built upon a defensive foundation, and for most of the game against Tyrone, there didn’t seem to be any ideas or strategy when Donegal found themselves in the Tyrone half. Such limited tactics bring limited success.

I saw Donegal play a few times in the National League this year, and to be fair, there seemed to be more of a complete game plan, which, yielded some nice scores (the game against Meath in particular was impressive enough, even if Meath looked pretty awful). But, Division 2 wasn’t necessarily a good indicator of true potential, so it will be interesting to see if Donegal can offer more against Derry than they have shown to date in the Championship. I’d like to think so – winning is great and all, but there has to be incremental improvement as the season progresses otherwise I fear that a rude awakening (a la Cork in 2009) could be in store at some stage. I’d be happy to be wrong on this score and tomorrow might go some way towards disproving my theory, but Derry are no world beaters, especially without both Bradley brothers. What would be really interesting would be how Donegal would fare if they came up against Tyrone again.

My uncle told me last night that he has a pair of boots belonging to Colm McFadden (his son used to share a house with him). I told him that they could be worth something someday soon...

Quick Hits-Champions League Final

2011-05-28T18:17:00.003+01:00

Barcelona typially enjoy 60-70% possession-but they will have to make better use of the ball than they have done against the likes of Arsenal, Inter and Chelsea in the past. Man Utd are renowned for punishing teams that don't take chances.

Rumours are that Man Utd will start with Fletcher. I don't really agree with this decision. He hasn't played in a while, and Hernandez could be a real thorn in Barcelona's side, especially if Mascherano plays centre back.

In saying that, it's hard to believe that Man Utd could survive with Carrick and Giggs in the centre. And, Hernandez can be just as effective coming on as a sub. Assuming the game hasn't got away from Utd at that point.

Lionel Messi is the best player in the world. It's on nights like these, players like him show their worth. But, if you looking for a guy to get a key goal, look no further than Andres Iniesta.

I'm not sure on Carles Puyol's ability to match up against Valencia if he does line out at left back.

Sergio Busquets is becoming one of the most hated figures in European football. It will be interesting to see if he adds to this reputation tonight. I don't like this aspect of Barcelona's game for sure (I've seen it against Chelsea more than once), however, I do think that the good outweighs the bad. No team is perfect.

Ibrhaim Affelay could be a real game changer from the bench for Barcelona. Maybe Nani for Man Utd also.

Rumours are that this could be Pep Guardiola's last game in charge of Barcelona and that he could leave to take over at Stamford Bridge next season. Would I like to see this? Yes. Will it happen? No.

My prediction: 2-1 to Barcelona. Scorers: Messi, Iniesta, Rooney.

Sunday Showdown

2011-05-07T14:35:00.000+01:00

So my predictions of 2 weeks ago are already looking foolish. Arsenal turned the world on its head last weekend by beating Man Utd at the Emirates, a victory it has to be said, was richly deserved. So Chelsea go into this Sunday's clash at Old Trafford with a chance to catch and overtake Man Utd at the top of the Premier League, with only 2 games to play thereafter. Given that both sides are level on goal difference, the margin of any victory will be vital. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves, a Chelsea victory is far from assured, despite Man Utd's wobbles and Chelsea's apparent return to form.

Chelsea, it has to be said, were somewhat fortunate to overcome Spurs last weekend. A combination of 'Arry's lack of tactical ability, his Brazilian goalkeeper's proclivity for English style error and match officials who cannot even get the basics right (ball not over the line, offside in the 6 yard box etc.). Still, they did boss the game and Sandro's audacious strike aside, Spurs offered little. Chelsea go into Sunday's clash buoyed by their come from behind victory, but with an all to familiar selection dilemma looming.

Torres has received much criticism-so much so that I wonder if those dishing it out actually watch him play for Chelsea? Fine, I have blue tinted glasses, but I think it's wide of the mark to say that he himself has played poorly-it still seems to me that the team is not set up to create the sort of chances on which Torres has thrived. Should he start on Sunday? Maybe not, but I'm not sure if we'll see the same sort of performance we saw from Drogba during his cameo at Old Trafford in the 2nd leg of the Champions League Semi-Final last month. And, I always feel that Kalou offers more as a sub than as a starter. Nicolas Anelka seems to be the forgotten man in all this-as is fitting for someone who had a game to forget against Man Utd at Stamford Bridge in the 1st leg of aforementioned Semi-Final-so it's unlikely that Ancelotti would start him. So, if it's to be 4-3-3, it seems like it will be Malouda, Drogba and Kalou. I was hopeful of Torres providing a spark the last time the teams met-that didn't happen, but perhaps Sunday is the time when he will be sprung from the bench to put Chelsea back to the top of the table. I live in hope rather than expectation.

Largely lost in Chelsea's recent 'resurgence' has been the return to the side of John Obi Mikel, who didn't feature (save for a brief substitute appearance) against Man Utd recently. Many scoff at my view that Mikel is an important player for Chelsea, given the system and way they play, but David Pleat (of all people..) pretty much sums up my views on Mikel in yesterday's Guardian. Mikel should start tomorrow, thereby giving Chelsea more shape in the middle and allowing Lampard and Essien to get forward more often. Chelsea were the last team to beat Man Utd at Old Trafford, and that was at a key moment around this time last year. The omens are good, but, regardless of the result on Sunday, Man Utd are still in the driving seat with games against Blackburn and Blackpool to come-thus giving them the edge in the opportunity to generate superior goal difference (Chelsea face Newcastle and Everton). Still, it's one thing to score goals freely when there is no pressure to do so, but when you need to score 3,4 or 5 goals in a game, the situation changes dramatically. I'll not get ahead of myself however, Sunday is enough of a challenge in itself. I'll back my boys for a result-there haven't been many (any?) in big games this season-they are due.

Looking at last Sunday's game at the Emirates, it was noticeable that Arsenal achieved their victory with Cesc Fabergas. I don't doubt the player's class, but I've been saying for a while that now is the time for Arsenal to cash in and trust their future to Wilshire, Song and Ramsey. Selling Cesc would generate enough funds to allow Arsenal to invest in players of both experience and quality-the kind that they have lacked at key moments this season.

At the other end of the table, Wigan and West Ham look best equipped to survive the drop, but Blackburn's points and goal difference advantage means that they may escape, however their fixtures are against them (away to both West Ham and Wolves, home to Man Utd) and I wouldn't be surprised to see them come away with nothing from their last 3 games. But, the fact that they hold the advantage right now and that no team in the bottom 5 is showing any kind of form (only Sunderland and Newcastle have earned less points in the past 5 games than those currently in the bottom 5) means that they might just hang on. Wigan to hold out also, given West Ham's awful form (0 points from 15), Blackpool's woeful defence (conceding an average of 2 per game), and Wolves' inability to beat mediocre opposition (over half their points have come from games with teams in the top half of the table). Happy trails Blackpool, West Ham and Wolves. I'd fancy the latter 2 to make a swift enough return, although the owners commitment to West Ham is tenuous at best.

The FA decided to give this afternoon's match at Loftus Road the party atmosphere it deserved by declaring prior to kick off that QPR would not be deducted points for transfer irregularities and so are now assured of promotion to the Premier League. They will be joined by Norwich City, whose ascent is quite remarkable given their financial situation, the subject of recent analysis by the always interesting Swiss Rambler. Good to see 2 teams that lit up the early days of the Premier League back in the big time. Based on today's results, they look like there's a fair chance they will be joined in next year's Premier League by, for the first time, a Welsh team, as both Swansea and Cardiff find themselves on opposite sides of the draw in the Championship play-offs, however Cardiff's form has been woeful of late and they enter a play off clash with in form Reading in bad shape. Nottingham Forest are the 4th teams in the play-offs and also have a 'historic' Premier League pedigree, but Reading are probably the team to watch.

The Amazing Race (not so much)

2011-04-23T12:41:00.001+01:00

Let’s not kid ourselves-Man Utd need to lose this league before anyone else (Chelsea) can win it. Here was I all set to pretty much wrap up the season and look forward to what might happen in the summer when Arsenal implode in consecutive games and Man Utd stutter away to a toothless Newcastle United. In the meantime, Chelsea took care of business (impressively) against Birmingham and we have a 6 point gap with 5 games to go.
Still, let’s have a look at the fixtures:

Man Utd: 70 pts; +38 gd Chelsea: 64 pts; +34 gd Arsenal: 64 pts; +32 gd
23 April Everton (h) 23 April West Ham (h) 23 April Bolton (a)
1 May Arsenal (a) 30 April Spurs (h) 1 May Man Utd (h)
8 May Chelsea (h) 8 May Man Utd (a) 8 May Stoke (a)
14 May Blackburn (a) 15 May Newcastle (h) 15 May Aston Villa (h)
22 May Blackpool (h) 22 May Everton (a) 22 May Fulham (a)

Let’s start with Arsenal, as despite Monsieur Wenger’s belief that they are still in the race, I am sceptical, especially after recent results-fair enough they are unbeaten in the league since mid-December, when they lost 1-0 at Old Trafford, but there have been too many damaging draws-4-4 v Newcastle after leading 4-0; 3-3 with Spurs after leading 3-1; 0-0 at home v Blackburn and at home v Sunderland. There’s no real shame in drawing 1-1 at home to Liverpool, but it was the manner of the result that raises questions-going ahead deep into injury time, a contender needs to see out the 2 minutes left to seal the win-the defending that led to Liverpool’s penalty equaliser was criminal.

Out of the 5 fixtures remaining, I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal fail to win any, although I suspect that Stoke may have other things on their mind a week ahead of the FA Cup Final, and surely Arsenal will be more motivated to take the points at home to Villa and away to Fulham. However, that motivation will depend largely on the next 2 results. They visit a Bolton team smarting from their FA Cup thrashing at the hands of Stoke last weekend. Bolton appear to have little or nothing to play for at this point, with the Europa League surely out of reach, however, you would expect that they will want to rebound after that defeat to Stoke, and, will have in-form striker Danny Sturridge back in the fold today. Let’s say that out their 4 games not involving Man Utd, Arsenal will garner 10 points, and improve their goal difference by 5 goals-which assuming Man Utd breakeven in goal difference at worst would not be enough to break a tie.

Chelsea moved ahead of Arsenal on goal difference after beating Birmingham 3-1, but still trail Man Utd by 4 goals. Chelsea should take full points at home to West Ham and Newcastle, perhaps able to pad their goal difference in the process. Spurs at home and Everton away are harder to call. Chelsea should have beaten Spurs earlier in the season, even in the midst of their horrific form through November and December, and Spurs are undoubtedly running out of steam, so I’ll assume 3 points (just) from that game as well. Away to Everton on the last day is a tough fixture-Chelsea have beaten Everton in 3 games this season, and Everton could be playing for points to move ahead of Liverpool, but not qualify for the Europa League, so it’s hard to say how motivation that will offer today’s professionals. Let’s say that excluding the Man Utd fixture, Chelsea can also win 10 points, but should improve their goal difference by 7.

Finally to Man Utd-the team very much in the driving seat. So much hinges on today’s game against Everton. Even if Chelsea and Arsenal can beat Man Utd and win their other remaining games (which I have not assumed above), they would need to make up a significant enough goal differential in the process. Given that Man Utd face Blackpool at home, you wouldn’t bet against a 3 or 4 goal haul in that game, which could be the deciding factor in the event of a tie on points. Away to Blackburn shouldn’t really present many difficulties for Man Utd, but, their away form is poor and Blackburn could be desperate for points. Based on their home form, I see Man Utd taking 6 points from Everton and Blackpool, and at best I expect a draw at Ewood Park, so 7 points from 3 games, which would leave Chelsea and Arsenal with 15 points to make up.

Assuming Chelsea and Arsenal both take 10 points from a possible 12 and then beat Man Utd at Old Trafford and the Emirates respectively, they would both finish on 77 points, with Chelsea ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Man Utd would also finish on 77, perhaps only a goal ahead of Chelsea, assuming they can beat Everton by 2 goals and Blackpool by 3, and only suffering single goal defeats to Chelsea and Arsenal. Wow-looks interesting, doesn’t it?

But, here’s what I think happens in reality. Man Utd beat Everton handily today, Arsenal lose to Bolton and then Man Utd get a result at the Emirates and at least a point from their home game with Chelsea. Assuming they still beat Blackpool and get a point at Ewood Park, they would finish on 79 points, with Chelsea on 75 points, and Arsenal finishing perhaps on 74. Man Utd to regain the title, with one of the lowest points tallies in Premier League history (Man Utd won the league with 75 points in 1996-97).

Only one thing is certain-most of my predictions above will be wrong, but Man Utd will still win the title.

Stand and Deliver

2011-04-11T21:17:00.009+01:00

So, tomorrow night at Old Trafford an expensively assembled and overpaid squad will attempt to overturn a narrow deficit and force their way into the Semi-Finals of this years Champions League. It's time to put up or shut up. To be honest, a bit more bluster would do no harm I'm sure. Times were more interesting and encounters more fiery when the Special One was around.

In the 1st leg at Stamford Bridge last week, I had to watch (and listen) as the worse than average Carrick and geriatric Giggs schemed to create the scoring chance for the council estate thug Rooney to give Man Utd what could be a decisive lead. Chelsea huffed, but didn't really puff, and Man Utd looked comfortable throughout, helped I'm sure by the fact that Messrs. Ferdinand and Vidic were re-united at the heart of their defence. I'm being a bit unkind to Rooney-this was as well as I'd seen him play in a while, and he showed remarkable self-restraint when being kicked around by Essien and others earlier in the game.

So, tomorrow night, it's going to take something special. Nothing, and I mean nothing, I have seen this season gives me any faith that Chelsea are capable of getting the win in normal time. Fernando has had the time, if not the chances, to open his Chelsea account, but it didn't really look any more likely last week, even though I was relying on the big occasion and the memory of what he's managed to achieve against Vidic and Co in the past to spur him on. Tomorrow night he should have the bile of the thousands in the stands to egg him on-the fact that he has played for Liverpool and was booked for diving last week is sure to attract plenty of of ire from the Stretford End. Hopefully he will feed off this negative energy, but I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, Arsenal managed a win at the seemingly doomed Blackpool to 'stay in contention' for the Premier League title. Please. Arsenal must go to Old Trafford as well as face Spurs and Liverpool in the remaining 5 weeks of the season. If they win even 1 of those games I would be surprised. I for one am giddy at that the thought of Andy Carroll getting in Jens Lehmann's face at a set piece. This recent story suggests that he's still someone with issues. Prior to their win at Blackpool, Arsene Wenger unwisely had a go at the Arsenal supporters-calls for his head likely to grow louder between now and the end of the season-where they will end up, again, with nothing.

As I write this, Liverpool are dismantling Man City at Anfield, watched by the fawning Ray Wilkins-surely the nicest man ever to provide commentary on a football game (he was equally wide eyed and gushing at the Bernabeu last week). I still like him in the job better than the bald Scottish sexist.

Winding Down

2011-04-05T22:46:00.001+01:00

Ok. There have been several false starts since my last posting. So much has happened since then-unless your name is Fernando Torres of course. Between Man Utd. Losing their grip on the Premier League title (only to recover it again after recovering from 2 goals down against Avram Grant’s West Ham at the weekend), to Arsenal fooling with their supporters yet again (getting comprehensively outplayed by Barcelona in the deciding leg of their Champions League clash as well as failing to take 3 points from Sunderland, West Brom or latterly Blackburn, to Ashley Cole going postal on an apprentice, a lot has happened, but not much has really changed.

Liverpool are still a Jekyll and Hyde team-like no other it seems. Sure they have beaten Man Utd and Chelsea under King Kenny’s 2nd coming, but they have also lost to Blackpool, West Ham and now West Brom (managed by someone who seems to have found his level again). Players needed-apply within I guess. Even if he does get the job permanently, I figure Liverpool need at least 4 players to be considered a serious contender for the title itself, let alone the Champions League positions. Ashley Young is a player linked with them consistently-that would help-as would a centre back, left back and probably another midfield player, someone like Joe Cole, not the ghost of Joe Cole, who has been seen around Anfield at times this season. It’s hard to know what they will get from NESV-Meireles was signed by the Texans and the purchase of Suarez and Carroll was essentially self-financed by the sale of Torres. It should be an interesting summer on Merseyside.

I don’t think I’m the only one suggesting that Arsenal need a change of tack. If their current manager is not up to the task of either then they should look elsewhere. This is sacrilege according to most journalists, but what exactly have Arsenal achieved over the past few years, and who should be accountable for the lack of tangible success? Wenger is hailed for the football his side play-pretty at times for sure, but too often impotent and gets a lot of credit for the club’s financial position as well-a laudable objective to be sure, but surely the manager should concentrate on the football at a big club like Arsenal and leave the finances to someone else (like a Director of Football maybe?). Unless Wenger shows a bit more nous in the transfer market (Arshavin and Rosicky have hardly been success stories, Arsenal are said to have passed on the chance to sign Mesut Ozil, Chamakh was free, but hasn’t set the world alight) or changes the way his teams play-unlikely I would say, then Arsenal are simply gambling that the opposition declines enough to allow them to win a title. And if that wasn't this year, then when will it be?

For all his troubles, Wayne Rooney has scored some truly vital goals for Man Utd this season. Witness his ‘spectacular’ overhead kick to win the Manchester derby to Saturday’s hat trick, you can’t deny that his class is still there. Whether a mooted 2 game suspension will do anything to set him back remains to be seen. Yet again, Man Utd seem to ride their luck better than most. If it’s not Rooney escaping what would have been a longer ban for his elbow on James McCarthy, it’s Nemanja Vidic hacking all around him at the weekend, after being booked earlier in the game, and failing to earn a second yellow card. C’est la vie. Regardless of the circumstances, coming from 2 goals down at half-time is worthy of the title, this year anyway. I wouldn’t back against them for the league and cup double at this point either-Man City’s sterile approach to the game-even their manager was ‘surprised’ at their goal scoring exploits against hapless Sunderland at the weekend-suggests that Utd will find a way to win their upcoming FA Cup Semi-Final, which will set them up in a final against either Bolton or Stoke. Ahem. The Champions League? Please.

I have to believe that now is the time for Fernando Torres to ‘finally’ break his goal drought for Chelsea. What better way, time and place to do it than at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Although Chelsea’s form has improved since his signing, they still don’t seem like a well oiled outfit. Impressive as he has been, David Luiz showed that he has his faults-it was his rash lunge that allowed Jon Walters to commence his run that led to the opening goal for Stoke at the weekend (even though I still think he looks an excellent signing). Michael Essien still looks a shadow of his former self at times. No matter what combination is tried up front, the participants seem ill disposed to forming a partnership. The league title is surely beyond them now-so surely the Champions League Quarter-Final should see them going for broke. By and large, they now have a full squad to choose from, aside from the cup-tied Luiz and still injured Benayoun (who could feature in the return leg at Old Trafford). For around 40 minutes or so last month, Chelsea showed that they can be a better team than Man Utd-the midfield battle surely favours them if Essien, Lampard and Ramires can play to their potential. Tomorrow night, they need to play at a higher tempo for 90 minutes-their season depends on it at this point, and maybe Ancelotti’s job.

The result from Milan tonight-where Schalke have beaten Inter by 5 goals to 2-should serve as great motivation to whichever English team wins this tie-who will surely be heavily favoured to make the final at Schalke’s expense (I’m assuming that there will be no German miracle for Inter in this round), and, while Barcelona are still the hot favourites (rightfully so), in a one-off game, anything is possible. Chelsea v Barcelona at Wembley? A fitting site for a dish best served cold. But, dominant as Barcelona have been this season, they face a tough enough trip to the Ukraine, and more than likely will have to overcome Real Madrid in the semi-finals (as he showed last year, Mourinho is still a master tactician, but whether he has the players at Madrid to execute the type of game plan that has served him well at Porto, Chelsea and Inter remains to be seen. I suspect not.

I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here, but after tonight’s results, it’s nearly safe to say that Madrid and Schalke will feature in the next round. After tomorrow, I don’t necessarily think the picture will be any clearer, well at least as regards Chelsea/Man Utd, but I’m holding out for a Chelsea/Barcelona final on May 28th.

P.S. I have been saying all season (not on here it seems) that Spurs play schoolboy type football-attack and defend with no ball retention in between. Their tactical ineptness was cruelly (heh heh) exposed tonight, although Peter Crouch playing like Lee Cattermole didn’t help their case.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

2011-02-06T17:35:00.004Z

So, just over 10 days ago I wrote that Chelsea's problems would not be solved by the addition of Fernando Torres. And so it was evident in todays loss to Liverpool-this team is no longer fit for purpose. On a weekend when we saw records broken for goals scored in the Premier League, Chelsea could barely manage a shot on target in 90 minutes against a well organised Liverpool team. And the problems continue at the other end of the team-FUD is rife in the Chelsea penalty area of late, as witnessed by the events leading to Liverpool's winning goal (very well taken by their outstanding player of recent weeks, Raul Meireles), and by the tense exchange between Cech and Ivanovic late in the 1st half.

Torres is an excellent predator-but when there is no prey, he is just another body on the pitch. Chelsea's failure to create more that 1 opportunity for the mercurial Spaniard makes him no more useful than a Kalou or a Malouda. Not to mention that in 2 games for Bolton, Danny Sturridge has managed 2 goals (I'm not for 1 minute suggesting that Sturridge is a better player than Torres). Maybe if Chelsea were more willing to give youth a chance, this season wouldn't have turned so stale so quickly. Sturridge, McEachran, Bruma, van Aanholt, Kakuta have played sparingly and are now likely to feature less due to loan moves or the manager's conservatism.

This is now the 7th game in which Chelsea have failed to score in this years Premier League. Contrast that with last season, where they scored in 37 of 38 games, and Man Utd's record this season (have scored in 22 of 25 games), you can see that there is a problem, and the cause is a lack of creativity rather than a failure to take chances. When you add that to a shaky back 4, you are going to have more days like today.

On a weekend when Man Utd finally showed that they are far from invincible and Arsenal showed (yet again) that they don't have the mental toughness to win a Premier League title, this was an outstanding chance for Chelsea to get themselves back in the title race and put a bit of pressue on Man Utd ahead of next Saturday's Manchester derby. Instead, Chelsea now have 13 games left to overturn a 10 point deficit. Even if they manage to beat Man Utd twice, they will have to win every other game as well and hope that others can do to Man Utd what Wolves managed yesterday. No surprise that the bookies have Man Utd at 6/4 on to win the Title at this point.

Tip of the cap to Liverpool-Jamie Carragher epitomises true grit, and in Meireles, they had the outstanding midfield player on the pitch today. King Kenny had a plan that worked to perfection-surely NESV will hand him the reins on a permanent basis sooner rather than later?

A Bullish Move

2011-01-29T13:40:00.004Z

Well, just the other day I tweeted that this was the worse transfer window ever. Bent and Dzeko aside, not much has happened. And then, on Friday, we got some action.

To me, something seemed fishy. Chelsea allegedly had bid £52m for Atheltico Madrid pair Aguero and Godin, and nothing had come of it. Then, £22m or so for Benfica's Brzailian defender David Luiz. Off and on, now seemingly dead. Then, most surprising of all, a reported £35m bid for Fernando Torres. This coming just as Liverpool were in the process of sealing the signature of Luis Suarez, who would appear to be the ideal compliment to Torres in Liverpool's attack. My suspicion is that Chelsea were merely flashing money around to make it seem like they were taking action to arrest what has been an alarming decline, but weren't really serious about signing anybody. However, the news that Torres has in fact handed in a transfer request makes me think that there may be some substance to this bid for the Spaniard.

Anyway, let's just assume that Chelsea are serious about signing Torres. What would he add? Well, surely he is the best natural finisher in the Premier League, if not in world football. However, he wouldn't really have changed the shape of the Sunderland or Arsenal games in the past few months. And, he probably wouldn't have prevented Louis Saha's header in this afternoon's FA Cup tie. Still, he would surely provide more of a cutting edge than Anelka, and could have made the difference against the likes of Wolves and Birmingham, games Chelsea have lost 1-0 in recent times. And, Chelsea are a team that don't tend to create an abundance of chances-Torres is just the man to exploit such limited opportunities.

But how would Chelsea line up with the mercurial Spaniard on board? Surely they wouldn't persist with the 4-3-3? The most likely scenario to me is a 4-1-2-1-2, aka the 'Diamond' with Essien deep, Ramires and Malouda right and left respectively, Lampard 'in the hole' and Drogba and Torres up front. Surely they would not ask Torres to play the same type of position as Anelka? That formation doesn't really work for me, as Essien needs to be allowed to surge forward to get the most out of him. The alternative would be to play Essien on the right and Mikel as the anchor, but how can you leave out the ever improving Ramires? (I'm assuming that Lampard is 'untouchable, although I would argue he is the odd man out in a balanced midfield quartet at Chelsea these days).

All moot points until any transfer is confirmed, which is still far from likely at this point. The situation seems to mirror that which Man Utd faced with Wayne Rooney earlier this year, and we know how that has worked out. If Liverpool do manage to keep Torres, they will be hoping for a great return than 2 goals, which is what Man Utd have got from Rooney since he committed his future to the red half of Manchester.

Why exactly has Torres handed in this request now, just as Liverpool have signed what could prove to be a player of real class and have started making some forward progress under Kenny Dalglish, and, have American owners who appear committed to the club and appreciative of its heritage. At the same time, Chelsea appear to be a team in decline. Their chances of retaining their Premier League title appear remote. While they have a favourable draw in he Champions League, it's hard to see them beating the likes of Barcelona or Inter Milan should they progress past FC Copenhagen. And, their place in next season's Champions League is far from certain at this point. I can only think that(a) he has been offered (unofficially) a ridiculous wage; (B) is not enamoured with Dalglish; (c) is tired of having his house robbed and worried at the thought of his children growing up to sound like John Aldridge.

It's interesting as well that Torres waited until now. If money was the issue, then surely he should have been making noises earlier in January, when Man City were shopping for Edin Dzeko. It's hard to believe that money would be an issue for City now, even with the money spent on Dzeko, and so I wouldn't be surprised if we hear from them before close of business on Monday.

Right now, all that is certain is that Liverpool fans face an anxious wait for the next 48 or so hours. For Chelsea, the signing of Torres could be the spark the team needs this season if they are to complete an unlikely turnaround.

Far from 7th Heaven

2011-01-15T11:58:00.004Z

7-0 victories over Championship strugglers don't count for much. Especially when the striker that got 2 of the goals will likely revert to the bench for this afternoon's Premier League game away to Blackburn. Especially when Didier Drogba will probably lead the line again today, despite seeming a shadow of his former self since his bout of malaria. Especially when Roy the Boy wasn't around-otherwise it would have been much sweeter to savour. Since I last blogged, when the wheels were just beginning to come off Chelsea's season, things have been much worse than I ever could have imagined. The only bright spot in the past 2 months was the postponement of the Christmas clash with Manchester United, which surely would have been a United win (possibly by a big score), and, (trying to stay positive,) has given Chelsea the chance to take 6 points off the new favourites in the final quarter of the season.

It seems like the tide has shifted permanently in Man Utd's favour. Chelsea haven't played well enough to deserve more than they've got in fairness, but United aren't setting the world on fire either-witness their recent league game with West Brom-they should have been dead and buried at half-time, but hung around long enough for West Brom to miss a penalty, lose another centre back and forget to mark Chicarito from a corner. Chelsea meantime have missed a last minute penalty at Spurs, stormed back to take the lead late against Villa, only to lose in injury time, and contrived to lose to Wolves through a Jose Bosingwa own goal. Add to that a flat and pathetic performance at the Emirates and Chelsea now find themselves out of the Champions League qualifying places, and 9 points behind United, having played a game more than the league leaders.

What exactly is wrong at Chelsea is hard to say. Lack of interest/motivation? Perhaps, although the celebrations after the 3rd goal against Villa seemed genuine. Thin squad? Almost certainly-Kakuta, Kalou and Sturridge don't look good enough most of the time, although Kakuta and Sturridge need to see more game time. McEachran has looked really good in very limited action, but where does he fit in a 4-3-3 assuming Frank Lampard has to play. Ferreira? Not good enough, and Ancellotti's infuriating habit of using both right full backs in a game is a waste of a substitution. Injuries too have played a part-Alex, Zhirkov and Benayoun have missed significant time, as have Lapmard and Drogba, who have started slowly on their return to the 1st team. On the coaching front, it does look like the rug was pulled from under Ancellotti-the interaction between Ray Wilkins' replacement (Michael Emenalo)is non-existent during games. What exactly he contributes on the training ground is a moot point. Whatever is wrong, it needs to be fixed, and that needs to start today against Blackburn Rovers, who go into the game without Ronaldinho, but can welcome back Roque Santa Cruz from the free spending blue half of Manchester. A telling stat from the excellent Infostrada-Chelsea have picked up 7 points from a possible 27 in their last 9 Premier League matches. Only Villa (5) and West Brom (6) have picked up fewer in the same period.

For Man Utd, it's hard to say what is behind their form. Resiliance is the key I suppose. Rooney is nowhere near the player he was when fit last season, Berbatov is brilliant one game, boorish the next. Their defence has tend to bend rather than break, with injuries and mistakes leading them to concede goals to average opposition, although it has been somewhat better of late. Tip of the cap to Sir Alex, he's probably won another league title, and I wouldn't rule them out for the double after last Sunday's win.

Arsenal's win over Chelsea was seen as a 'pivotal moment' and signified 'men becoming boys'. 3 days later, Arsenal went out and drew 2-2 with 10 man Wigan. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. In reality, anyone with an objective view of the Arsenal v Chelsea game would have seen a poor game of football, settled by the side that made the most of the opporunities gifted to it by their opponent. Without Cesc Faberas in midfield, Arsenal were rudderles, and it was only when he was moved there did they begin to tick. Like Drogba at Chelsea, and possibly Rooney, Arsenal's best player seems to be short of the sort of fitness and sharpness that allows him to be an elite difference maker. Arsenal still lack the consistency and need a little luck with injuries before they can really contend. Right now, they are still too patchy for my liking, but have the most talented squad.

Of the others-Man City will hang in there, but play too grim a brand of football to win the league-unlike Mourinho's teams, they seem more interest in containing the opposition rather than taking all 3 points. Spurs are still around, but looking to bring in David Beckham and the circus that goes with him shows that 'Arry just can't resist wheeling and dealing.

In breaking news today, it seems that Avram Grant is yet again a dead man walking, and that he will be replaced as West Ham manager by Martin O'Neil after today's game with Arsenal. Avram seems to doom any club he is involved with, I would be surprised if we see him in the Premier League again. On the Martin O'Neill story, it seems strange that he would take on such a difficult task when the Liverpool job is likely to be available in the summer...

Crisis? What crisis?

2010-11-19T21:48:00.000Z

After Chelsea's somewhat surprising but certainly comprehasive defeat at home to Sunderland last weekend, the title race is 'wide open again'. Sure is. If Arsenal beat Spurs in today's lunchtime kick off, the Premier League will have a new leader for the first time since the opening afternoon. Man Utd face Wigan at home (a team that has not beaten them at 10 tries in the Premier League) coming off the back of a Great Escape against Aston Villa last week, and Wayne Rooney could see some action (on the pitch). Chelsea go on the road without Terry, Lampard and Essien to face a Birmingham team that held them to a 0-0 draw last season (the now departed Joe Hart had a large part to play in that result). Momentum appears to be shifting.

Losing John Terry for what could be an extended period (althought I suspect may only be a few weeks-especially since Alex has delayed what is presumably necessary surgery) will not help-he's not the best centre back in England, but he gives 100% and at least he knows the position-starting a game with 2 nominal full backs, one of which was playing on the wrong side of the centre, is not a recipe for a clean sheet. In addition, Chelsea lack impact players on the bench-Kalou aside, you don't expect to see goals from Sturridge, Kakuta or McEachran. On last weekend's evidence, Chelsea looked to have taken the wrong Danny from Manchester-Welbeck looks a much better prospect than Sturridge.

Looking ahead for each of the Top 3 is interesting:

Chelsea

20/11 A v Birmingham
28/11 A v Newcastle
4/12 H v Everton
12/12 A v Spurs

Prediction 5 points from 12

Arsenal

20/11 H v Spurs
27/11 A v Villa
4/12 H v Fulham
13/12 A v Man Utd

Prediction 7 points from 12

Man Utd

20/11 H v Wigan
27/11 H v Blackburn
4/12 A v Blackpool
13/12 H v Arsenal

Prediction 12 points from 12

If I'm right, by xmas the table will be

Man Utd 37 points
Chelsea 33 points
Arsenal 33 points (trailing by a few goals)

Italian managers really got people's goat on Wednesday night. Fabio Capello played Steven Gerrard for longer than he agreed with Liverpool in England's friendly over France, and Gerrard ended up aggrevating a hamstring injury and will miss a few weeks. 'Il Trap' decided that a meaningless home friendly against Norway was not the time to give a debut to Seamus Coleman, who is perhaps Ireland's outstanding/in form player in the Premier League at the moment. What exactly anyone was to learn from watching Aiden McGeady for 20 minutes at the end of the game is beyond me, and much of the Irish support as well I would think. The old Italian man is living off 60 minutes of football against a wretched French team and a reputation forged long ago in European club football (his record with Italy-a 2nd round exit on the 2002 World Cup to South Korea and a dismal Euro 2004).

And on a more sombre note....on my way to work on Wednesday morning I was listening to Des Cahill reading the sports news on RTE Radio 1. Des was singing the praises of the Munster rugby team, who had beaten the Aussies the night before. 'Thank God for Munster, they've lifted the mood in the province....' This after these stories were reported in the news the day before. Stay classy Des.

Warning-may contain inappropriate content

2010-11-12T22:37:00.009Z

Well, at least I'm not writing this on my laptop at work, and I'm not actually going to rate anyone, just give my opinion, without pictures.

I always thought that Ray Wilkins was a dull enough individual to be honest, and dull is an apt description of what we have seen from league leaders Chelsea since I last posted. Since the Special One departed, I am alaways worried when Chelsea go a goal down-they are no longer a team that seems to be able to wrest momentum from the opposition. For much of the 2nd half last weekend, they bossed the game, but never really looked convincing to the point you could say that they deserved anything more than they got from the game. The difference in the end was a timely return to form for Fernando Torres-without his goals Liverpool will not amount to much. Fortunately for them, he is certainly showing signs of life of late, and it's hard to believe that this team was in the bottom 3 around a month ago.

For Chelsea, Michael Essien was both hero and villan during the week. A crucial goal, and then an ill-judged (and potentially dangerous) lunge at Clint Dempsey deep in injury time, means that Chelsea will now be without both him and Frank Lampard for at least the next 3 Premier League games (home to Sunderland, away to Birmingham and Newcastle), at a time when they are struggling to score goals (5 in the last 5 domestic games, after starting with 21 in their first 5). Of course, the opposition has been better in some cases, but all through those 6-0 victories, Chelsea never convinced me that they were going to run away with the Premier League this year. A case of "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" I guess.

Man Utd had cut Chelsea's lead to 1 point before their stalemate at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday night, and that was without the recuperating Wayne Rooney, who, you have to believe, will come back from the US with a vengance in time for the glut of fixtures over the festive period. At the moment, I'm watching them struggle against Villa, but they are very much still in the game, and Villa are missing some key players, especially in the middle. Remember, Chelsea were held here not so long ago, it will be interesting to see if Utd can better that result.

Arsenal, shorn of their better players through injury much of the time, appear too inconsistent to mount a season long challenge, and this weekend face perhaps the toughest test of the Top 4 with a trip to Everton, who, like their Merseyside rivals, have begun to get things going. History is on Arsenal's side; they are unbeaten in the last 6 games at Goodison and won the corresponding fixture 6-1 last season. Still, I don't have much faith in a centre back pairing of Djourou and Squillaci doesn't augur well in an away game. Arsenal do have van Persie back in the frame, and can pair him with a striker in form in Marouane Chamakh.

Elsehere in the league, Spurs may be winning plaudits for their exploits in Europe, but conceding 4 to Bolton isn't likely to help should they wish to play in next season's Champions League. Rafael van der Vaart certainly looks worth every penny of the reported £8m transfer fee, and Roman Pavlyuchenko is beginning to show more and more flashes of class. However, at the back, they are a mess and this will be their downfall. Also, at home to Inter Milan, they showed the usual British shortcomings-they cannot keep the ball, their only have 'attack' and 'defend' modes, with little control exhibited in between.

Ian Holloway had a good old rant during the week (on whether the Premier League would fine him for making 10 changes to his lineup for a midweek game away to Villa, fielding a nominally weaker team), I have to say I probably agree with him, he's the manager, and a 3-2 defeat doesn't smack of a team that wasn't in a postion to get something from the game. Good for you Ian, let's hope the LMA come out and support you.

A chance to make a statement

2010-10-03T10:50:00.006+01:00

This should be an interesting game. Both teams are coming off Premier League defeats, Chelsea having failed their first true test of the season, and Arsenal succumbing to West Brom at the Emirates. Arsenal have been impressive at times, but their record against Chelsea of late has been awful, losing the last 4 in a row and winning only twice in the last 17 meetings. Their team is not set up to beat Chelsea, who have much more power and a more settled first XI. Add to that uncertainty at the goalkeeper position and a glut of injuries and all signs point to a Chelsea win. What better way to get back on track after last weekend's defeat and Man Utd's failure to beat Sunderland yesterday.

Chelsea play without Lampard, but Arsenal will miss Fabergas more than Chelsea miss Lampard. Gilberto has been somewhat of a passenger in limited action so far, it will be interesting to see if he can make his mark this afternoon. Didier Drogba returns to the starting XI after missing the midweek game against Marseille through suspension, and being surprisingly substituted during last week's defeat at Man City. His record against Arsenal is tremendous-12 goals in 10 games. He could be the difference this afternoon, on the back of a dominant midfield platform built by the dyanamic Essien and the impressive Mikel, who has surprised me this season as I haven't been his biggest fan. Look for Anelka to shine against a wobbly Clichy as well.

Chelsea to win, 3-1 perhaps.

Blue Moon rising, but the sky is not falling

2010-09-27T13:55:00.008+01:00

So Chelsea have been defeated. I for one wasn't surprised-beating West Ham, Blackpool, West Brom and Wigan are hardly the test of champions, and I didn't see anything in those games to suggest that Chelsea were worthy of being crowned champions for 2010/11 at this point. Man City are strong in midfield, and took their goal very well. A draw or even a Chelsea win wouldn't have been an unfair reflection, but thanks to Joe Hart (double save from Ivanovic in the 1st half) and Carlos Tevez, City shaded Chelsea's first true test. For Chelsea, it was surprising to see Didier Drogba being substituted with the game far from over, and it's clear that Ramires is still getting used to life in the Premier League.

Luckily for Chelsea, Arsenal inexplicably lost at home to West Brom and Man Utd had to come from behind to save a point at Bolton, and so Chelsea still lead the chasing pack by 3 points and have a very healthy goal difference (12 better off than their nearest challengers).

Chelsea's next 2 games will give them the chance to show their mettle-away to Aston Villa and home to Arsenal offer the chance to get back on track, but won't be easy (Villa were the only team to take 6 points from Chelsea last season), and they will have to face both teams without Frank Lampard. Man Utd don't look like regaining form any time soon-but for the Ghost of Michael Owen, they would have lost yesterday-Bolton certainly looked the more likely winners for much of the 2nd half. Wayne Rooney's issues and absence aren't helping-but neither is leaking goals at a rate of over 1 per game-a record worse than nearly 50% of the other Premier League teams. Arsenal can make a real statement by beating Chelsea at the Emirates, but how likely is that given that the form of Manuel Almunia (I fully agree with George Graham's views here) and the potential absence of Fabergas and van Persie, not to mention Theo Walcott?

In other news, Spurs have already lost to both Wigan and West Ham (18th and 19th in the latest Premier League table), Liverpool will do well to match Fulham's record under Roy Hodgson last season, and Everton continue to struggle,finding themselves at the bottom of the table after the weekend's games. Early days for sure, but these putative Champions League place challengers have a lot of ground to make up on the current front runners.

Week 1 Review

2010-08-17T21:09:00.006+01:00

It's never to early to have a recap, right?

Woeful Wigan

I didn't expect Wigan to combust this early, and certainly not at home to Blackpool, but this team looks doomed.

A Change is as Good as a Rest

Aston Villa looked rejuvenated under the watch of Kevin McDonald. Young players like Albrighton didn't look out of place. West Ham were poor and James Milner is gone, so Week 2 will be interesting. For West Ham, this could be a close run thing come May.

No Cesc? Big Problems

Arsenal were poor against a pretty solid Liverpool. Liverpool coped much better without Torres than Arsenal did without Fabregas. Only an uncharacteristic error by Reina and a moment of madness from Joe Cole spared Arsenal. Chamakh was a peripheral figure and the only good thing you could say was that he showed himself capable of 'scoring' the type of goal Arsenal don't score often enough. Winning ugly ain't easy, but it's necessary.

In with the Old, out with the Young

For a 2nd consecutive week, Paul Scholes looked like Man Utd's best player and Wayne Rooney looked as out of sorts as he did in the World Cup. Surely the better teams will find a way to stymie Scholes and then Rooney will need to step up. Time is on their side at this point.

Hit for 6

Ominously for the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea start where they left off-scoring lots of goals against weak opposition. The performance wasn't great (seriously), but the win was convincing. Wigan should be running scared.

Getting there

Ok, so if it wasn't for Joe Hart, Man City could have been 3-0 down at half-time. But they weren't, and the 2nd half performance against Spurs was much better. This team has too many good players in too many positions not to succeed at some point, the question is when? A point at Spurs is a good start.

Plastic Dreams

Ironic that the poor effort to keep out Bassong's header that gave Spurs any hope was down to one Scott Sutter.

Pavlyuchenko showed what he could do with the 2nd goal-he's a player that has much more to give than we have seen so far in my view.

In other news

It looks like Real Madrid have landed Mesut Ozil-but surely they've picked the wrong Germans from the World Cup team-unless money is an object (and maybe it is?) I would have gone for Schweinsteiger and Muller over Khedira and Ozil myself. I thought Khedira was just ok in the World Cup (and might not have played at all were it not for the absence of Michael Ballack, among others), bar the 3rd place game maybe, and Ozil was very hit and miss.

Shay Given will hopefully have a new club before August 31. I really like Joe Hart and don't have a problem with him being 1st choice at Man City, but Shay is still too good a keeper not to be starting somewhere, and why not Arsenal? His perceived lack of command in the box coupled with Arsenal' lack of height at the back might not be a good fit.

Predictions eh?

2010-08-12T22:05:00.014+01:00

So after a relatively mundane World Cup, we had what seemed to be one of the quietest and less interesting off seasons in recent memory (Word Cup aside, I seem to recall saying something similar at this time last year...). So here we go, a few lines on each of the 20 Premier League teams, in the order I expect them to finish.

1. Man Utd

Wayne Rooney should have plenty left in the tank after the World Cup, and Javier Hernandez looks a live-wire, as well as possessing enough talent to score the type of goal we saw in the Community Shield last weekend, so Utd should once again score plenty of goals. There's also a chance that the languid Bulgarian could come alive but that would be stretching things I suppose. Utd should have plenty of motivation this year, and still look like the most dangerous team on the attack in the Premier League. As Chelsea showed last year, loads of goals can make up for deficiencies in other areas of the pitch.

2. Arsenal

Arsenal strengthened their team where they were weak (centre back and centre forward) and perhaps now only a decent goalkeeper stands between Arsene and some silverware. Shay Given would do the job (but why now and not 2 years ago?), but I don't realy know enough about Laurent Koscielny or Marouane Chamakh to say how they will adapt to an away game at Bolton or the attentions of Ryan Shawcross. And, as Alan Smith says, 'who will mark Drogba?' Still, Fabergas is still here and is fit starting the season, and Aaron Ramsey could be back before Christmas. Plenty for the Gunners fans to look forward to in the year ahead.

3. Chelsea

Ramires could be very good, and there is no Afrcian Nations Cup this year, so why do Chelsea drop 2 places? Last season, they relied on other teams failures as much as their own strenghths to win the title. I see a small drop off in their own form and a slight uptick in those of Man Utd and Arsenal leaving Chelsea just off the pace this season. John Terry and Petr Cech especially seemed to have regressed from the Mourinho years, and Ashley Cole doesn't seem to want to play in, let alone for, England these days. Most of the squad is free of serious injury at the outset, and the importance of the return of Michael Essien cannot be understated, so a hot start (their first 5 games should be considered very winnable) could change my mind, but for now, the glass is half empty. The pressure to win the Champions League could also impact the title run in (assuming Chelsea make it past the group stage).

4. Liverpool

Roy Hodgson restores some pride on the red half of Merseyside, and a potential takeover could provide funds to strengthen the XI, either now or during January. This prediction is only valid as long as Fernando Torres reverts to the 2009 edition and not the sorry sight we saw during the World Cup.

5. Man City

David Silva. Yaya Toure. Jerome Boateng. Mario Balotelli. James Milner. Some Serbian guy. Yes, half a team arrived at the Middle Eastlands this summer as Man City keep on keeping on. How will all these new arrivals blend with a team that was good enough to finish within 3 points of Champions League football last year? Maybe not this year, but soon, Man City are likely to get there, just as Chelsea did before them. What they don't have is a manager of the pedigree of Jose Mourinho, who had a lot to do with Chelsea's recent success.

6. Everton

It's hard not to like what David Moyes has done at Goodison. A solid team, with a lot of nice players. Hopefully Donegal's own Seamus Coleman makes the right back spot his own this season. Jermaine Beckford gets the chance to prove himself at a higher level than League 1.

7. Spurs

All this talk of signing William Gallas should worry Spurs fans. Another team that has pretty much stood pat this summer, with Brazilian Sandro that only signing of note.

8. Stoke City

Signing Kenwyne Jones for £8m is a statement of intent-and Stoke are well placed to consolidate last years 11th place finish. One of the most fervent home crowds and a positive style of play make them one of the best of the rest.

9. Sunderland

Can Darren Bent repeat last season's scoring feat? If he can, Sunderland could improve on last season's 13th place-which came about largely as a result of 14 consecutive matches without a win. Manager Steve Bruce has made some good moves in both the transfer and loan markets.

10. Aston Villa

A bad start before a ball is even kicked. I'm not Martin O'Neill's biggest fan, but he brought a fair bit of solidity to Villa. I can understand his frustration at a lack of signings, but look around the league and many other teams have stood pat this summer as well. As for losing James Milner, well, if someone offered me £18m and Stephen Ireland, I'd probably take it (even though a little less money and Craig Bellany thrown into the package might have made it more appealing...). Villa will regress, and barely fend off the Brummies for the right to call themselves Birmingham's first team in 2011.

11. Birmingham

Losing Joe Hart will hurt, but Ben Foster is probably going to turn out to be a decent keeper, once he gets regular playing time. Birmingham had the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League, but managed and average of only 1 goal a game at home. Nicola Zigic will need to hit the ground running for Alex McLeish's side this season, or Birmingham may struggle to stay on the top half. I'm not really sure what to expect from them this time round.

12. Blackburn

Unless he's coaching Newcastle, Sam Allardyce's teams have tended to be pretty solid. Phil Jones looks like a decent centre half and the supporting cast looks pretty solid, but Nikola Kalinic will need to up his scoring rate, otherwise Blackburn could struggle.

13. Newcastle

Let's be honest, Newcastle probably belong in the Premier League. However, they are in arguably the most competitive tier, i.e. those that find themsleves fighting to stay out of the relegation zones for much of the season.

14. Bolton

Owen Coyle looks like he made the right move in leaving Burnley for Bolton earlier this year. Ivan Klasnic is now on board full-time and has a record of 1 goal in 3 wherever he has played, which isn't bad.

15. Fulham

A good manager and the same sqaud as last season-so why not a higher league position this time round? I don't know, I just don't trust London clubs.

16. West Ham

West Ham will rely heavily in Scott Parker again this season. Avram Grant gets a crack at managing in the Premier League with less expectation than he faced at Chelsea and much less pressure (or an impending sense of doom) than he faced at Portsmouth last season.

17. Wolves

I'm surprised that Mick McCarthy's bunch stayed up (with something to spare) last season. If they can do it once, they can do it once more.

18. Wigan

Just how many Caldwells should you field in a team? Wigan held on to Rodallega and N'Zogbia, so might stay up. But I doubt it, and, once this team goes down, I don't know if we'll see them in the Premier League for a long time.

19. West Brom

Brom goes up, Brom goes down. I'd like to see Roberto Di Matteo (and indeed Steven Reid) do well, but I can't see West Brom doing much better than this.

20. Blackpool

A fantastic achievement to reach the Premier League, and that's probably as good as it gets, bar a few tasty Ian Holloway soundbites.

Football isn’t total without victory

2010-07-09T22:17:00.002+01:00

Could this slogan sum up Sunday’s World Cup final any better? 2 sides that epitomise the beautiful game but have find success hard to come by in times past. Holland suffered defeat at the hands of Germany and then Argentina in the World Cup finals of 1974 and 1978 when they were arguably the best side in the world, perhaps one of the best of all time. Spain, built on the back of Barcelona’s recent domestic and European dominance, have never come so close as Holland to global glory, but have failed to deliver on the promise of their (at times) breathtaking countless occasions in the past decade-the 2008 European Championship was only their 2nd title (they have 1 more than Holland in that respect).

So are we seeing teams worthy of the World Cup Final on Sunday night? I think so. Spain took out both Germany and Portugal, while Holland beat my favourites Brazil in their quarter-final. Spain are reigning European champions-Holland have not lost a game in qualifying or in the World Cup proper. Germany was my favourite after the quarter-finals, but looked more like what I expected to see before the tournament began against Spain. At times, Brazil looked like they were ready to cut loose and destroy the Dutch-but after conceding early on, Holland hung tough, grabbed a fortunate equaliser, and then the Brazilians ran out of ideas and temperament. So, it’s hard to argue that either side shouldn’t be there-let’s hope they prove my point on Sunday night and give us the type of quality game that has been in short supply at this tournament.

On Wednesday night’s evidence, it was apparent to me that David Villa is a more effective player with someone to lead the line playing alongside him, allowing him the opportunities to attack from the wing. Well as Pedro played against Germany, and as impressive as his 20 odd goal tally for Barcelona was this past year, I feel that Torres should probably get the nod for the final. He still cuts a forlorn figure, but has the ability to keep centre backs occupied enough to ensure Villa has the opportunities to worry a suspect Dutch defence. I’ve expressed surprise at the decision of Del Bosque to start Torres and then sub him after 60 minutes for a midfielder (with the exception of Llorente coming on against Portugal), but then Spain don’t tend to set up like many teams-they seem to rely on overloading the midfield with ball players to fashion opportunities for 1-on-1s for a solitary front man or advanced midfield player taking a shot from the edge of the box. It will be a surprise if the coach changes much from the semi-final, where they gave their most impressive display of the tournament so far.

Holland is available at odds of nearly 3/1 for Sunday’s final, surprising in my opinion. They are in the final on merit, and should Spain revert to the low tempo approach that has characterised most of their play in this World Cup, Holland could very well atone for the shortcomings of their 1974 and 1978 predecessors-teams that played total football, but ultimately failed to complete the course. In Robben and Sneijder they have match winners who have stepped up to score goals in the World Cup and in the Champions League when counted on. Indeed, Sneijder could end up with the Golden Boot, thanks in part to FIFA’s decision to award him the 1st goal in their clash with Brazil. They have experience, they are well organised, and other than a minor tiff between Sneijder and van Persie, have been relatively settled, for a nation that seems to make a point of falling out publically at major tournaments. You can be sure van Bommel will make Xavi and Alonso feel his presence-it will be interesting to see how much leeway Howard Webb (yes, an Englishman in the Final!) in this regard-he has proven to be an expert at avoiding bookings so far in the tournament, despite his propensity to hack.

Prediction
Form is temporary, class is permanent. Spain have most of the class, and their form has been average, while Holland’s form has been excellent. Spain should add the World Cup to their European Championship crown on Sunday night. They may even score more than 1 goal in the process.

Well, they deserved it.

2010-07-07T23:17:00.000+01:00

So we have a Spain v Holland World Cup Final, and this means new champions at around 9.30 Irish time Sunday night. Spain passed Germany by in Durban on Wednesday night-literally. They certainly overdo it at times, but they held possession so well that the Germans didn’t have enough of the ball to fashion the chances for ace poacher Miroslav Klose, who, unless he scores in the 3rd place play-off on Saturday night, will likely fall just short of Ronaldo’s World Cup record of 15 goals.

There was still a lack of cutting edge to Spain’s play against the Germans-witness Pedro’s failure to score late in the 2nd half to kill the game-and 1 goal is cold comfort for me. Germany had their chances, but it took too long for Mesut Ozil to find his groove, and their naivety in defence that gave Carles Puyol the chance to power the Spanish into their first World Cup final was perhaps a sign that this was a tournament too soon for a pretty young team.

Too often in the first half, Spain passed their way into the ‘red zone’, only to find themselves crowded out by the generally well organised Germans, or failing to see a man in front, the ball holder was forced to go lateral, or backwards. But nearly always, possession was retained-seldom did the Germans have the chance to counter-attack as they had done to such devastating effect against both the English and the Argentinians in previous rounds (it’s worth remembering that Thomas Muller-a key component of that success-was suspended on Wednesday night).

In Sunday’s final, Spain will face one of the surprises of the tournament in a Dutch team that can make history by going through qualifying and the tournament itself with a perfect record. With a mixture of class (goals 1 and 3) and a bit of luck (goal 2), Holland disposed of Uruguay in the other semi-final. They haven’t set the world on fire with their football, but they are surprisingly solid and I’m sure most fans would trade the chance to play in their first World Cup final in over 30 years for the type of high scoring and exciting defeats Holland have tended to suffer in recent history. In Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder they have world class players, both of whom are well capable of finding the net. In Mark van Bommel, they have someone who appears to be a licensed thug, who seems to have an almost infinite allowance of kicks and cynical tackles before earning a yellow card.

World Cup Quarter Final Weekend

2010-07-01T23:09:00.002+01:00

Holland take on Brazil in tomorrow’s first Quarter-Final at the 2010 World Cup. The names conjure up images of creative and attacking play-but what we have seen from Holland so far has been efficient, while Brazil have not yet scaled the heights of the likes of Pele and Co.

Despite his 4 goals, if Robert Vittek was truly world class, he would have taken either or both of the 2 great chances he had against the Dutch. If the game had gone to 1-1, it would have been interesting to see the reaction of the Dutch. As it was, a lack of concentration from Martin Skrtel and a moment of madness from ‘keeper Jan Mucha did for Slovakia as smart play from van Bronckhurst and Kuyt set up Sneijder for Holland’s second and effectively sealed the deal, Vittek’s penalty coming too late to matter. Holland advanced, one wonders if they can move on to the next level in football terms.

Brazil eased past Chile in their 2nd round game-a header from Juan-a ‘an English goal’ as described by ITV, opened the scoring early on, and Chile never really looked in at after that. Brazil have never looked in danger of losing a game so far, but haven’t always been convincing (witness a narrow victory over North Korea and a dull draw with Portugal-granted they were shorn of key players for that game through injury and suspension and had qualified anyway). Luis Fabiano has come up with the goals-I had questioned his temperament before the tournament. Their defence has been as impressive as any attacking qualities they have shown.

Let me digress for a minute....England’s international shortcomings were (cruelly) exposed against a ruthless German side. Players like Matthew Upson and Gareth Barry looked like they have no business playing football on the international stage-granted Upson was at least 4th choice at the centre back position, but surely Ledley King shouldn’t even be considered until he completes an injury-free season? What Fabio Capello is doing for his £5m odd salary is a mystery to me-a team should always be greater than the sum of its parts (see USA), but it could be argued that England are less a team than a collection of Premier League players. Surely it is Capello’s fault that this is the case? Thomas Muller looked a pretty ordinary player when I saw him in the Champions League (granted his nominal position was as a striker), but throughout the World Cup he has been excellent, especially on Saturday.

Interesting-Robinho, Elano and Gilberto Silva were deemed surplus to requirements of Premier League clubs and yet are lighting up the World Cup for Brazil. Arsenal play nice, but ultimately unsuccessful football in the Premier League, with a team staffed largely by non-English internationals. So, is it fair to say that what works in the Premier League will not translate to success on the international stage?
But, there are deeper issues at work. Other than Joe Cole (and this is a stretch), who in England’s squad would fit the role of a Messi, Sneijder, Kaka or Ozul? No matter whom the manager is for Euro 2012 and beyond, it’s hard to see what English born players are ready to step into such a role on the international stage.

The Germans face Argentina in what could be the tie of the round (I don’t honestly expect that Brazil v Holland will produce the game we would like to see)-neither side counts defence as a strength-and they produced 7 goals between them in their 2nd round ties. Maradona is doing a good job silencing the doubters-witness his decision to replace Gutierrez at right back and Veron in midfield for their 2nd round tie with Mexico. He certainly seems to enjoy himself on the sideline and doesn’t face the sort of pressure Dunga faces around the style of his team’s play. Gonzalo Higuan looks like the right choice up front given his 4 goals to date and Germany might struggle to contain both Messi and Tevez. Argentina should prevail, hopefully without the penalties and ugly scenes we witnessed 4 years ago.

Uruguay scraped through against South Korea, but based on the fact that they have the strikers, I fancy them to beat Ghana, who are solid but have trouble finding the net.

Spain came through their group and their 2nd round tie without always convincing. Their defence seems suspect enough and they suffer from the same ‘passing fatigue’ as the Barcelona team that provides the bulk of their side. The bright spark and match winner has been David Villa-a striker in awesome form. If only Fernando Torres could produce the sort of class we know he can Spain might not seem so fallible. They face a Paraguay side that have been miserly at the back so far-1 goal conceded, but even in Italy they have faced no-one in the class of the Spanish. 4 South American teams in the semi-finals? A long shot, but if there is to be one upset in the quarter-finals, I fancy Paraguay.

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2010-06-17T21:19:00.004+01:00

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Sorry, I just fell asleep on my keyboard while watching the French.

Fortune may favour the brave...or so we hope

2010-06-16T19:22:00.005+01:00

This afternoon saw the first round of group games in World Cup 2010 draw to a close with Switzerland upsetting many people's favourites Spain. Hopefully this is the result that spurs underdogs to give it a go, and favourites to play more like favourites.

Opening day saw South Africa lose their inhibitions as the game wore on and take a point from their tie with Mexico, despite seeing little of the ball for long periods. As I write this, they take on a disappointing Uruguay, whose goal must surely be to let Diego Forlan see as much of the ball as possible-aside from him, they had little to offer against France in their scoreless draw. Looking at France, it isn't hard to see why Ireland ran them so close. There aren't many countries that can field so many talented players yet produce such insipid performances. Of course, team and squad selection plays a large part-Florent Malouda (who was arguably the most in-form French international over the past 6-12 months) started on the bench, and Karim Benzema (who despite a disappointing season in Spain must be capable of offering more in attack than the cumbersome Gignac) not included in the 23.

Getting out of the group could be the hard part for France-assuming they do (as group winners), and they could end up facing the Koreans, who took full advantage of Greeks bearing gifts last Saturday lunchtime. You would still bet on the French to make the quarter-finals assuming such a scenario comes to pass. Elsewhere in Korea's group, Argentina won (as expected), but weren't wholly convincing against Nigeria. A team that can close the Argentines down in midfield and deny Lionel Messi possession will fancy their chances against Maradona's men. Granted the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama was in inspired form, but Argentina are not set up to protect 1-0 leads.

England's group was dominated by 2 goalkeeping errors-each as bad as the next as Robert Green gifted the USA a point and Faouzi Chaouchi went one better and handed Slovenia their first World Cup win. Green's blunder was not the only story of the night of course-Ledley King hobbled off at half-time to be replaced by Jamie Carragher-who struggled to contain Jozy Altidore, and we saw Emile Heskey go clean through only to shoot straight at Tim Howard's chest. Both of these players were debatable squad selections-King's tournament may be over, and Heskey looks no closer to scoring his first international goal in over a year. Capello's insistence on not naming his keeper publicly until 2 hours before kick-off is hardly likely to have helped Green's state of mind-I don't really understand Capello's caginess-England don't have that many alternates that would force teams to change their plans at the last minute-so why not name your team and give your starting XI the chance to focus on the game?

England will likely be desperate to win their group and avoid Germany, who I will admit surprised me somewhat in thrashing Australia 4-0. To be fair, Australia were nearly as awful as Germany were good, and losing Tim Cahill to a ridiculous red card decision didn't help their cause. Germany were neat and in Mesut Ozil, have a nice 'No. 10' type player that will prove useful when they need to unlock more watertight defences later on in the tournament. Still, I won't back off my assessment of quarter finals at best for the Germans-their centre backs don't convince me, and despite the goals, their first choice front pairing exhibited the kind of form that saw them score a total of 9 goals between them for their clubs this season (Klose was particularly wasteful). Still, they were as good as we have seen thus far.

The Italians got away with it against Paraguay-a goalkeeping gaffe giving them a just about deserved point on Monday night. They perked up after the goal, but it will surely take the return of Andrea Pirlo to provide some more craft to fashion the sort of opportunities that were in short supply against Paraguay. None of this is liekly to bother the Italian at this point-their progress to the 2nd round is virtually certain after New Zealand's late equaliser against Slovakia, and no-one knows better than the Italians that tournaments are not won in the 1st week.

Holland were comfortable winners against Denmark, but didn't impress. Elsewhere, Portugal and the Ivory Coast settled for a share of the points, although the Sven Goran Eriksson's willingness to risk Didier Drogba for 20 minutes would suggest that he wanted to try and win it. Brazil scored 2 wonderful goals (well wonderful by the standards of what we have seen so far and wonderful if you assume Maicon's goal from an improbable angle was the result of skill rather than chance). My suspicions about Luis Fabiano were confirmed-if he can't do the business against North Korea, I would question whether he can do it against better opposition at this level. Still, Brazil have plenty of options from other positions for there goals so it may not be an issue. They didn't set the world alight last night, but I would suspect that they are in no hurry to do so.

Olé, Olé, Olé...oh wait

2010-06-10T09:55:00.004+01:00

That doesn't look like Ireland playing Uruguay tomorrow night! Of course its not, it's France with arch-cheat Thierry Henry warming the bench! Oh well, World Cup 2010 kicks off in Soccer City tomorrow afternoon regardless. I'll be watching of course, more in hope than expectation of a good tournament-recent experience would suggest that the standard has fallen and that negative play will win the day. Add to the fact that an ever growing list of stars look like they will miss some (Arjen Robben) or all (Michael Essien) of the tournament

Spain are favourites, and rightly so, but all but very recent history suggests that they will flatter to deceive. Barcelona's failure to break down 10 man Inter Milan at the Nou Camp provides hope for those who would seek to derail their quest. Injuries may also have a say in how Spain fare-Torres, Fabregas and Iniesta have all had extended periods out this season, and in the case of Torres especially, you wouldn't be confident that Spain will be able to field a first choice XI in all their games. Still, a favourable group should allow them safe passage to the 2nd round. Things could get tricky at that point.

Brazil are always in the discussion, and it's no different this year. However, this Brazilian side, under the guidance of former midfield stopper Dunga, are somewhat of a different propostion to sides that graced past tournments. Their success is just as likely to be based on solid defence as it is to rely on graceful attacking ability. They have a good goalkeeper, solid centre backs, and 2 holding midfielders. Expect to see the full backs operate very much as auxiliary wingers, but both can defend adequately when required to do so (maybe more so on the right side). Whether Kaka's miserable season at Madrid will affect his performance in South Africa will likely have a large say in Brazil's fortunes, and the same type question mark hangs over Robinho. It will also be interesting to see whether Luis Fabiano has the temprament and star power to make an impact and if the decision to omit AC Milan duo Robinho and Pato will backfire.

Argentina have the world's finest player in Lionel Messi, but a maverick manager in Maradona. Qualifiying was a slog, and there have been some odd omissions from the squad, as well as a few surprises (to me) included (Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Veron...), but any team that boasts Messi and a striker as clinical as Diego Milito will be a threat. They have a fairly easy group, with Nigeria and Greece providing a familiar look to their 1st round group in 2004 (Maradona's last World Cup, which ended with a failed drug test), and I would see them going as far as the semi-finals.

England will of course fancy their chances-don't they always-but in fairness, their belief may not be short of foundation this time round. They were very solid in qualifiying and have a world class manager. The form of Wayne Rooney was outstanding this year, and they will lean heavuily on him for both goals and inspiration in South Africa. His recent issues in a meangingless warm-up game highlight where it could all go wrong-it will be intresting to see if any teams deliberately wave the red rag at him-the US have said they won't, but don't believe everything you read. I don't think England will win-outside of Rooney they lack real class at this level.

Italy haven't done much too impress since Berlin in 2006 (you could argue they weren't too impressive that night either!), but if they were good enough to win it in 2006, and only lost to Spain on penalties in Euro 2008, then I can see them sneaking through to at least the Semi-Finals this time round. Cynicism and experience tend to go a long way towards being sucessful.

Of the rest. I just can't see Germany maintaining the high levels of excellence they have shown in past tournaments-to me, they just don't have the players. As Ireland demonstrated, France are not great-they may have good players, but their coach appears to be the weak link. While Holland strolled through qualifiying, I'm not convinced they will have as easy a ride in South Africa, but like Germany and France, should make it as far as the Quarter Finals. Of the remaining European teams, Portugal face a tough opening group, but a win in their opening game against the Ivory Coast should see them advance. Serbia have the players, especially in defence, but have a poor record in major tournaments. Australia and the USA will fancy their chances at a 2nd round berth. Ghana may struggle without the services of Michael Essien, and the Ivory Coast will go as Didier Drogba goes (and that may not be until after they play Portugal).

Prediction time
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Semi-Finals: Argentina and England
Golden Ball: Messi
Golden Boot: Kaka
Dark Horse: Portugal to beat Spain and make Quarter Finals (it's best I can do!)

Here we go...again

2010-05-30T12:57:00.004+01:00

So Donegal start Championship 2010 at home to Down today. Not much is expected, which is no harm, but I can't think of any result today that would surprise me. Down have been failing to deliver for nearly as long as Donegal have been maddeningly inconsistent. Donegal's final appearance in the 2009 saw them concede 1-27 to Cork, and their final Division 2 game (when there was still everything to play for) saw them lose at home to Armagh by 14 points. The bar is low. The faces are much the same as 2009-Dermot Molloy is the only débutante in a wearily familiar line-up-himself and Michael Murphy are the only players from the team that reached the All-Ireland U-21 final last month-and Barry Monaghan has returned from self-imposed exile, probably to play at centre back (nominally named at midfield). Tyrome lie in wait for today's victors-and for 40 or so minutes last weekend showed that they still have what it takes to be the team that scaled the Croke Park steps in 2003, 2005 and 2008. I'm not confident that Donegal will meet them on June 19, but I'll be happy enough to be proved wrong.

The countdown begins

2010-05-14T19:23:00.009+01:00

And so it was confirmed-Chelsea are Premier League Champions for 2009-10. Not much drama in the end, Drogba's histrionics aside, but I'll not complain. Chelsea probably deserving champions, if even for their record against the rest of the Big 4* (*I guess Sky Sports don't consider Spurs as part of the Big 4 and I would have to agree with them!), where they finished 6 from 6. Their victories over Arsenal home and away were certainly convincing enough, but last month's victory at Old Trafford was far from perfect, and, until Steven Gerrard decided to play in Didier Drogba to gift Chelsea the lead after 20 largely unconvincing minutes, they didn't look great against Liverpool 2 weeks ago (their play in the final third has been awful at times this season). Still, aside from a loss to Wigan (who would have thought after watching Sunday's game?), any of their defeats were generally against 'quality' opposition, so they were as deserving as anyone else. The fact that they scored over 100 goals in the process did their case no harm either. Where the Premier League title mind end up next year is a discussion to leave for another day-all contenders have plenty of question marks hanging over them for 2010-11.

During the week, we have several 'preliminary' World Cup 2010 squads named. And, no shortage of surprises (from where I'm sitting). Who would have thought that Argentina would feature 2 Newcastle players but cannot find room for either Javier Zanetti or Esteban Cambassio from Champions League finalists Inter Milan? Who would have thought that Kaka would be preferred to Ronaldinho (if we look at form)? France don't include Karim Benzema but have Andre Pierre Gignanc? And so on. For now, let's assume my predictions made (elsewhere) on Monday hold true-Spain are dumped out early and we have a Brazil v Italy final, with Brazil prevailing. Not much imagination on my part, but I'm only going on what I've seen and read.

Chelsea go against the hapless Portsmouth in tomorrow's FA Cup Final. If there's one team and manager I wouldn't mind losing to it's Portsmouth and Avram Grant. Let's hope for an exciting encounter, but if I'm honest, anything better than 2/1 on Chelsea at -3 is generous...

And now, the end is near

2010-05-06T20:40:00.006+01:00

So it's been a whole 2 months since I last posted. Laziness and volcanic ash are to blame I guess. Plus a lack of material. Well, not really.

The last time I was composing a post for this blog, I was going with the theme that Chelsea were going nowhere and I'd like to see them break up the team and start from scratch. Now, it looks as if they will win the Premier League, despite my misgivings back in March and a schizophrenic series of results along the way, Chelsea only need to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to deny Man Utd a historic 4th in a row and record breaking 19th English league title. Thanks to Steven Gerrard's errant pass last weekend, Chelsea are in the driving seat-surely they will be able to overcome a Wigan side that beat them 3-1 earlier in the season? The bookies make them 9-1 on, which I would say is about right. Roberto Martinez and Dave Whelan have been making all the right noises this week about Wigan giving it the full gun, and I believe they will, but surely Chelsea will be able to put together 90 minutes from the 1st minute to reclaim the league crown after what has been a poor Premier League seasons all round.

All 3 English clubs have since exited the Champions League, as have Barcelona, and we are left with a final featuring 2 former sons of Stamford Bridge set to play key roles for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Chelsea and Arsenal can have no complaints, Man Utd can feel somewhat unlucky to go out on away goals with Wayne Rooney not being fit enough to play a full part in their defeat to Bayern Munich. Barcelona finally met their match in a dogged and well drilled Inter Milan team, who managed to withstand the Catalans despite being a player down for over 60 minutes at the Nou Camp.

The Champions League final is scheduled to kick-off on May 22 around 45 minutes after the European Rugby Cup champions are crowned. No Irish representation this year, as Toulouse take on Biarritz. Last weekend saw Leinster bow out during an exciting 2nd half in the rain, while Munster went out without a whimper in sunny San Sebastian. Home advantage and injuries had a large bearing on both games I'm sure, but both teams rode their luck at stages this year (Munster in their final pool game with Northampton and Leinster in the quarter-final with Clermont Auvergne. Let's hope both sides rebound for 2011.

One way or another, Manchester will deny Chelsea the title this season

2010-03-05T21:20:00.008Z

4-2? At home? To Man City? Really? Yes, it was that bad. Chelsea succumed to a team that had failed to win any of their other games this season against the putative top 4. After taking a (deserved) lead late in the 1st half, indecision and incompetence allowed Man City to equalise and it all went downhill from there. Jon Obi Mikel is clearly not good enough to play a key role in a championship contending team, and to me, John Terry no longer instils a sense of confidence in the rest of the team. Mikel's replacement, the ageing Beletti, also showed his lack of quality in earning himself a red card in conceding a penalty that made the score 3-1 (although, it begs the question, what was the difference between Beletti's offense and that committed by Walter Samuel in the San Siro earlier that week?).

If Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, it is going to require what would appear to be a flawless 2 months on the run-in. You can argue the point, but I think that it's fair to say that with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and a visit from Aston Villa that they have a pretty tough run-in. And they must do it without both 1st choice full backs after Jose Bosingwa joined Ashley Cole on the 'out for the season' list earlier this week. I'm pretty sure Zhirkov will be an excellent replacement if he can stay fit, and Ivanovic has shown he has decent attacking abilities (see his run in the San Siro),so maybe they will be ok. Time will tell, but Michael Owen's loss could be a factor in determining whether or not the title returns to London-I don't believe that Wayne Rooney's run of goalscoring from can run all the way to the end of the season, and Dimitar Berbetov hasn't shown that he is ready or willing to pick up the slack. But, let us not forget that there is always the chance another Fedrico Macheda will surface (Mame Diouf?)

The other London team were hit with yet another broken leg last weekend. Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas were understandably upset after the game, but I thought their comments were out of order. Still, when I saw Liam Fox of Burnley (who escaped with merely a talking to) dive 2 footed at Theo Walcott (who was lucky to avoid injury) earlier today, I wonder if maybe they have a point.

The long and ridiculous saga at Fratton Park appears to be drawing to a sadly inevitable close with administration, the loss of 9 points and almost certain relegation assured. This sort of scenario isn't unusual in the lower leagues or the League of Ireland, and I'm not surprised it has happened in the Premier League, but it's not something you want to see in the putative 'best league in the world'.

I guess some people never change. Or, they quickly change and then quickly change back

2010-02-19T21:06:00.006Z

Well, well, well. Or, to put it another way, was anyone surprised by Wednesday night's carry on in the Champions League?

First off, we had Arsenal drafting Sol Campbell in as defensive cover. You're a team that has pretensions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. You need a centre back to cover for your 2 first choice stoppers. Where do you turn? To a 35 year-old who latterly played (1 game) in League 2 and who you allowed to leave the club on a free transfer over 3 years ago. Is this some sort of mid-life crisis for Arsene Wenger? I always thought his preference was to fill the team with as many 16 and 17 year olds as possible? Not with clearly washed up players like Campbell (just witness his reaction to the backpass that ultimately cost his side the game) or Man Utd cast-offs (Mikael Silvestre). But, Arsene quickly reverted to type post game. His ridiculous assertion that Campbell's poking of the football with his foot towards his goalkeeper did not constitute a back-pass was truly Arsene at his best, although, I would have got more of a kick if he had said he didn't see it!

Now, where Arsene might have had a point, was in his criticism of referee Martin Hansson in the way he 'handed' the ball to a Porto player and then allowed him to take the indirect free-kick straight away (it's hard to believe the ref could have asked the Porto player did he wish to take the free-kick quickly in the time that elapsed between the award of and taking of the free-kick. Of course, the same referee also had a significant role in 'handing' France their place at the World Cup. Was his attempt at appeasing Irish fans anger at the French (by playing a key role in the downfall of a team managed by a Frenchman and one who would count Thierry Henry as one of its greatest ever players)? I don't know. What I do know is that we will still get to see Mr. Hansson officiating in South Africa this summer. It's small minded of me, but I would like to see him turn up at an England game.

For a while on Tuesday night, it looked like Italian club football was going to redeem itself after several years in the wilderness. AC Milan had an early lead and played plenty of good football agianst Man Utd, but ultimately faded and were outdone by their failure to take chances and the English side's clinical taking of goals from a limited pool of chances. A late goal from Milan means that they only have to win but 2 clear goals at Old Trafford. I expect that odds might be long on that happening.

But the cruelest demonstration of incompetence, past performance being a predictor of the future and downright thivery was at the Allianz Arena, where a certain Tom Henning Ovrebo wronged the Viola not once, not twice but three times. The decision not to punish Bayern players van Bommel and Klose for dangerous tackles and the decision to allow Miroslav Klose's late winner ensured that Bayern escaped with a narrow advantage. Fiorentina, unlike Chelsea last May, have 90 minutes to right the wrongs visited upon them by Mr. Overbo. Let's hope for the sake of football that they do just that.

And it came from a partially cleared David Beckham free-kick....

2010-02-16T19:51:00.003Z

Jebus. Sky would have to find a way to ensure David Beckham had a starring role in the opening Milan goal on Tuesday night. Name: Martin Tyler. Favourite film: 6 Degrees of Separation from David Beckham. Given the choice between watching on Sky and TV333333333333, it really is a case of the lesser of 2 evils.

Far from Good My Son

2010-02-15T23:15:00.002Z

Will the defeat on Merseyside mark a pivotal point in Chelsea’s chase for the title? Bad enough to surrender an early lead, but the loss of Ashley Cole, possibly for the remainder of the season, made a bad night worse. All of this while Man Utd were down to 10 men and level with Aston Villa. Chelsea stay top, but their form away from Stamford Bridge, their propensity to concede from set pieces and the fact they still have to travel to both Old Trafford and Anfield doesn't fill me with confidence for their prospects for the months ahead.

Chelsea have Michael Essien to come back of course, but Man Utd have managed ok without Ferdinand and Vidic. And, I think it would be fair to say that Chelsea will miss Ashley Cole more (and for a longer period of time) than Man Utd will miss Ryan Giggs. At least expensive Russian recruit Yuri Zhirkov can step in-a proper left sided player, but he lacks Premiership experience, and I would question his defensive qualities at this point.

Let’s face facts-Ricardo Carvalho ain’t getting any younger, John Terry ain’t getting any better and Petr Cech hasn’t looked or played like Petr Cech since he met Stephen Hunt. Chelsea’s Achilles heel may very well be the centre of their defence and their goalkeeper. Someone like (confessed Chelsea fan) Roger Johnson would fit in very well at Stamford Bridge next season, but for the remainder of this season, Chelsea must make a better fist of the basics of defending than they have done to date.

Around the league, Liverpool did their best of making a mockery of my prediction that they would finish ahead of Arsenal in 3^rd place by losing 1-0 at the Emirates. Spurs stay 6^th and within a point of 4^th, despite losing 1-0 to Hull City, underling what a truly mediocre Premier League this has been to date. Man City have still not established any kind of consistency, but get the chance to make a statement when they visit Chelsea on February 27.

The January transfer window closed without much to get writing about-all I’ll say about Robbie Keane’s move to Celtic is that his career appears to have come full circle.

It's What You Do on the Pitch that Counts

2010-02-06T14:50:00.005Z

Apologies for the lack of new material loyal followers-matters of an automotive nature have monopolised my thoughts of late, but the fog is beginning to clear and a resolution (of sorts) appears imminent...

Chelsea certainly spluttered on Tuesday night-badly as Man Utd played at Hull over the Christmas period, they still managed a 3-1 victory. The returning Didier Drogba managed to score, but it was not enough-it would be ironic if Chelsea suffer a dip in form with the return of Drogba!

What better way for Chelsea to get back on track than by taking on a wounded Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal's performance last Sunday did not suggest that they belong in the Title conversation-and you would have to assume that a victory by Chelsea tomorrow would put that issue to bed-we should remember that Arsenal have been beaten convincingly by both Chelsea and Man Utd at the Emirates, while they contrived to turn victory into defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season. Given that they face an in-form Liverpool at the Emirates on Wednesday night, we will soon find out just how much 'mental strength' Arsene Wenger's 'youngsters' really have in what could be the defining weeks of the 2009/10 season.

We can assume Man Utd will beat Portsmouth today, we cannot say the same about Chelsea in the clash with Arsenal. Wednesday night has some interesting fixtures as well as Arsenal v Liverpool, Man Utd face Aston Villa at Old Trafford and Chelsea travel to Everton. It's hard to see Man Utd dropping more than 2 points, while draw draw is not an improbable outcome for Chelsea.

As I started to write this, 10 man Liverpool have beaten Everton and now sit in 4th place. A draw in the 5.30 game between Spurs and Villa would do the red half of Merseyside very nicely. Mark my words-Liverpool will play Champions League football next season, and, when/if Torres returns, I wouldn't be surprised if they catch Arsenal. As TMQ likes to say 'all predictions wrong or your money back'!

In other news, John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy owing to his affair with Wayne Bridge's publicity shy former girlfriend. And who has been been appointed has his replacement? Why it's suspected drug cheat and drunk driver Rio Ferdinand! Seriously, I could care less about John Terry's antics off the football pitch-I'm sure his moral compass points towards the same version of north as that of most other professional footballers in the Premier League today. For me, scoring away from home last weekend at Burnley is of more interest than his playing away from home off the pitch.

The Post without a title

2010-01-31T15:34:00.005Z

As January turns to February and the snows melt, we enter a few weeks that could go some way to deciding Premier League Champions 2009/10.

Chelsea have weathered the African Nations Cup absences without dropping points, and scoring goals at an impressive clip-19 goals in 5 games without their African quartet, and a 100% record in both league and FA Cup. Aside from the injury to Michael Essien (which to me seemed like it was caused during a challenge with Didier Drogba!), Chelsea go into next weekend's (pivotal?) clash with Arsenal in rude health (an update on Ashley Cole's early departure at Burnley yesterday is pending). I have to say that Carlo appears to have got his team selections right of late-I lamented the fact that he opted for a lone striker at home to woeful Sunderland, yet they scored 7 goals. Against Burnley, Drogba was omitted from the squad, yet Anelka's early tap-in and John Terry's late winner got them 3 points. In addition, Ricardo Carvalho has received regular rest, with Alex proving to be an adequate replacement (albeit against some of the Premier League's lesser attacking forces).

Meanwhile, Man Utd and Arsenal have maintained their challenge, despite ceding top spot to Chelsea. Wayne Rooney's form has been excellent (I was hugely unimpressed with his performance at Hull on the December 27, but he's been all goals since.

In the battle for scraps, my money remains on Liverpool. As unimpressive as they have been for so long this season, they remain in the hunt, and despite the fact that they lacked both Gerrard and Torres in their Anfield clash with Spurs, they never looked in danger of losing the game, and were worthy of the 3 points. Prior to this, Spurs has failed to beat (or score on) Hull City at White Hart Lane.

Check back during the week when I'll react to Arsenal v Man Utd, preview Chelsea v Arsenal, and give my predictions for top 6 and bottom 3.

The Magnificent Seven!

2010-01-22T19:23:00.005Z

Last Saturday, I went to my first Chelsea game. Was it worth it? Given they won 7-2, then the answer should be yes, but the curmudgeon in me has to say the following:

Sunderland presented no opposition-Ashley Cole was allowed to operate as an auxiliary forward for crying out loud! So even though there were 9 goals, it wasn't really a great game (Still, my fear about going to a Premier League game was always that it would finish 0-0 or Chelsea would lose, so I really shouldn't moan).
Florent Malouda was the most skilful player on the pitch. His recent comments about Frank Lampard haven't endeared him to the Chelsea faithful (there were more than a few boos when his name was read out and when he was on the ball) and himself and Lampard certainly seemed to get in each others way more than I would like to see.
Joe Cole ain't the player he was. I'm not entirely surprised about these rumours.
I would have liked to see Anelka get his hat-trick (and he should have-the shot that rattled the woodwork would have been a fine goal)
I would have liked if I could have seen the video screens (if only for the fact that because it was my first time in the stadium I kept looking around me and missing the on-field action...)
Beer in the stadium? Great. Heineken only? Not so much.
And lastly, no Drogba, or Essien-how I would have loved to seen the Bison rampage!

But I'll be going back some day, that's for sure. Tis hard to beat live action.

P.S. You and now Follow Me! Yes, that's right, I'm now on Twitter. I'm sure it will be just as interesting as this blog...

P.P.S. If you like that Uncle Kracker song, please stop following this blog and don't ever talk to me again.

Don’t forget your shovel if you want to go work....

2010-01-07T18:25:00.006Z

If you had a shovel.
If you had work.

Lucky me, I didn't have to brave the snow/slush/shit/frost/ice and venture out into the white today-I can work from home! So here's what caught my eye on the Beeb (and elsewhere) as I worked.

Portsmouth 'do not need to sell'

Odd-I was sure this headline read 'Portsmouth to sell stars' earlier. And so it did! The situation at Pompey reads like a League of Ireland saga involving the likes or Cork or Derry (more on that later). How on earth did whatever Sheikh/Sultan/Caliph/Ayatollah who currently owns the club pass the FA's 'fit and proper' test given that Pompey cannot seem to play their players on a timely basis (I wouldn't have thought bank loans are the best method of financing for a monthly expense like wages, but that's just the accountant in me....). Of course the situation isn't helped by the fact that the FA are withholding £7m in TV rights payments from the club and distributing directly to other clubs who are owed TV rights money from Portsmouth-Watford (who could use the money themselves I'm sure), Spurs (well 'Arry has to have readies to engage in his usual 'wheeling and dealing') and Chelsea (!!!).

Clive Delaney vents at the LoI

And who could blame him-given the fact he hasn't been paid for over 4 months? By the sounds of it, the days of the full-time footballer could be coming to an end in Ireland. And this might be no bad thing, right?

Disclaimer-I know Clive quite well and would consider him a mate. I hope he does well in Oz-I'd like to see him up against Robbie Fowler at some stage!

Opta Stats-they never lie!

Ok, I don't agree with the 'Lampard is the best player of the decade', but it sure is interesting that Kevin Kilbane has featured on more losing teams than any other player in that time. (I heard this story on Newstalk the other night, but the only links I could find were from that off forum above or the Sun. Easy choice which one to pick)

Birmingham are making moves

They've just signed Michel, enquired about Aiden McGeady, and had a £8m bid for Ryan Babel rejected. Egad-what are you thinking Rafa-take the money and run! At least someone in the Premier League is generating the right kind of headlines during the transfer window. Fair play to them-I'm seriously considering heading over to Stamford Bridge on 27 January to seem them play Chelsea-the last game wasn't bad. Hopefully Ghana and Ivory Coast will have exited the African Cup of Nations at that stage....

And finally, if you haven't caught the Winter vomiting bug, this should bring it on.

Rough justice?

2010-01-05T20:31:00.003Z

"The red was obscene. He'll miss three games unless the ref has the guts to rescind it"

Steve Bruce is to be charged by the FA following the comment above. Link.

Meanwhile, 'Sir' Alex Ferguson had this to say about Chris Foy adding 5 minutes of injury time at the end of Man Utd's home defeat to League 1 side Leeds Utd on Sunday:

"That is an insult to the game and the players out there."

The only insulting thing is the beetroot faced Scot himself. No FA charges are expected for "Sir" Alex of course. This comment was deemed to be within the rules (i.e. it did not imply bias, question integrity or be personal in the nature of his comments). I guess it's all a matter of interpretation.

A Festive Feast of less than Fantastic Football

2010-01-02T14:57:00.007Z

Watching games over the Xmas period, I am beginning to think that a festive break might be in order for the Premier League. The quality of play in the Hull v Man Utd and Aston Villa v Liverpool games was such that it would have been more entertaining for a supporter to stay home and watch the Great Escape or Wallace and Gromit. For the armchair fan, like myself, it's great having live sport to watch when pubs are closed or it's too icy too venture outside safely, but the quality of much of what was on show in the back end of 2009 was such that I wondered whether some players were guilty of eating and drinking as much as an above average slob as myself-there certainly were a lot of sluggish performances.

As to some of the results themselves:

Birmingham 0-0 Chelsea. Chelsea's less than impressive sequence of results continued, albeit away to in-form Birmingham, for whom on loan Joe Hart was in inspired form. Christian Benitez scored a perfectly good goal but was incorrectly flagged for offside (thanks to Didier Drogba lying prone in his own 6 yard box.....), and Alex hit the bar with a thunderous free kick. Chelsea certainly didn't play well enough to win and a draw was probably a fair result.
Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa. The beginning of the end for Aston Villa's Champions League quest? I think so. Villa were ok for the first 15 minutes or so, but really lost their way after that-Stillian Petrov looked a spent force and James Milner looked out of place in the centre of Villa's midfield. For Arsenal-the same old story-some lovely passing and counter-attacking, but a serious lack of execution in the basics of heading and shooting meant that it needed the introduction of not fully fit Cesc Febergas to change the game for Arsenal. Eduardo is really lacking confidence up front and Andrey Arshavin was largely anonymous. Arsenal could really do with adding a striker (not just a forward player), or hope that the return of Nicklas Bendtner can help make up for the loss of Robin van Persie for much of the rest of the season.
Hull 1-Man Utd 3. What an awful game. After watching Chelsea play just ok and fail to win at Bermingham, I was worried that Man Utd would come out and crush Hull and gain the upper hand in the title race. Not exactly. What an awful game-it was hard to see why Wayne Rooney could be considered one of Europe's best, and why Ryan Giggs was in the running for player of the year less than 6 months ago. Hull look doomed-the loss of Jimmy Bullard until February is a blow for sure, but they look a worse team than West Ham and even Portsmouth based on what I saw on December 26th. Their comeback from 2-0 down away to Bolton did for Gary Megson-and rightly so I would say-but they are not a team I want to see staying in the Premier League.
Wolves 0-3 Man City. The Roberto Mancini era has started well at Man City, but when the opposition is as toothless as Stoke and then Wolves, it's nothing that should excite the blue half of Manchester too much. Wolves play a nice enough brand of football-but never looked like scoring a goal in this game-Kevin Doyle is good worker and runs the channels tirelessly, but he never looks like regaining the scoring form of his Reading days. Chris Iwelumo? Well, he's not bad as a target man, but this suggests that he won't score many in the Premier League. As for City, they remain indebted to Shay Given for keeping them in may games and to Craig Bellamy for always giving 100%. Robinho looks desperately out of shape and disinterested-it will be interesting to see whether Mancini can succeed in getting him in shape and contributing like a player that cost Man City £25 million. Stories linking him with Bercelona don't hold any water with me-isn't this the same club that cut loose another Brazilian malcontent (Ronaldinho) at the start of the Guardiola era? It's hard to believe they would risk disrupting the best team in Europe with an overweight, out of form ex-Real Madrid player.
Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool. 2 of the top 6 sides in the Premier League? Jesus wept. There are very few strikers who have the finishing touch of Fernando Torres-he was the only difference between what looked like 2 very average teams.

Here's hoping the level of quality increases in 2010 and that the Premier League is won on merit rather than by default.

Many things annoyed me today

2009-12-17T22:09:00.007Z

And here are just a sample

Arsene Wenger whining about Mick McCarthy, and the fixture list. Arsene-when you were successful in the past, the only reason I had to dislike you immensly was (a) your Germanic bearing; and (b) the fact that you refused to wear corrective lenses despite having such poor eyesight. Now, when you can't win a so much as a weekend in Doochary, you resort to bitching and moaning at very little thing. Get over yourself and spend some money.
The shitstorm in Kerry. They've given us John O'Donoghue, Jackie Healy-Rae, Tadhg Kennelly and The Bull McCabe. And now this. What next? 'Hitler conceived in Kerry- seed of evil planted in the Kingdom'.
Gombeenism and stupidity in Carlow/Kildare. Thankfully, people got off their soap box and harangued representatives until the decision was reversed.
The truck driver who pulled onto the M50, and, despite the fact that there was no traffic in front of him, attempted to pull into the middle lane in front of me. I, of course, held my ground and continued on my way. After I had passed him, he pulled in behind me and proceeded to flash his lights. I, as is my want, rolled down my window and gave him the V. You sir, Mr. Esso Tanker Driver, are a ****. You heard me.
Christmas. That is all.

It's been a while

2009-12-14T20:53:00.005Z

Staind-It's Been A While

Yessir, keeping this yoke up-to-date is tough going. Well, not really. If I spend less time reading what other people think and committed more of my own musings to the blogsphere, there would be more frequent updates.

How and ever......

Chelsea certainly have hit a rough patch. No win in 4 games (1 loss, 1 loss on penalty kicks, 2 draws), a lot of questions about their defence and goalkeeper, and the loss of Michael Essien for 4 weeks or longer have certainly made me less sure of things than I was up to a month ago. They got a huge break at the weekend, when, having failed to put away Everton when leading on 2 separate occasions, Sir Alex Ferguson went conservative at home to Villa and Chelsea actually gained a point in the Premier League race. To be fair, the latest setback to Everton had a element of fluke about it-the 1st and 3rd goals were certainly fortunate, and even the 2nd goal was a bit odd-how often would you expect to find Ricardo Carvalho lying prostate on the 6 yard line? In truth, other than the defeat to Man City, none of these results have made much of a difference-I'm not sorry to see them out of the Carling Cup, and the draw against Apoel Nicosia didn't deny them the top spot in their Champions League Group. So, I hope that this is the rocky patch that any team tends to encounter in the course of the season. Still, I would have been happier if it happened in January, when there would be good reasons to expect a dip in form.

One encouraging point in this average run of form is the potential I have seen in Gael Kakuta-he may have been worth the hassle after all. He certainly can pick a pass, and always looks like he can make something happen. Still a bit raw for sure, but a potentially dynamic and creative force at the apex of Carlo's diamond in the near future. With Mikel and Essien absent in January, we might get to see more of him, and the 'big' summer signing Yuri Zhirkov (who has featured in recent games), potentially in a FA Cup tie. I will be watching with interest.

Liverpool appear to be in bad shape-even with Torres and Gerrard back in the starting XI, they could not hold a half-time lead to Arsenal at the weekend and now find themselves 5 points off the final Champions League Qualifying spot (with no prospect of entering as winners this year....). Rafa Benitez certainly appears in no hurry to unleash Alberto Aquilani, but when you have Lucas Leiva, why would you? It's hard to believe that Liverpool will miss out on 4th spot (heck, I even fancied them for 3rd before Sunday), but then you see that Man City can't defend (it's amazing they have only lost once but have drawn over 50% of their games) and Spurs are, well Spurs. Villa look just ok-they were fortunate enough to beat Chelsea (well, maybe not, just about anyone can score from a dead ball situation against Chelsea this season), and have had some odd results (home loss to Wigan, away defeats to Blackburn and West Ham), and like Man City, draw too many games. For now, they are the front runners for 4th, but there is a long way to go.

World Cup 2010 draw took place (with only 32 teams included), and yes, we have some interesting groups. The 2 current African powerhouses, Ivory Coast and Ghana, have good chances to take out waning (Portugal) and rising (Serbia) European powers, and make their mark against former winners (Brazil and Germany). England will have nothing to fear in their group, but isn't that when it all starts to go wrong? In defeating Russia, Slovenia should give them something to think about, and the USA will certainly give it a go. Their nightmare scenario? An unlikely series of results leading to a 2nd round clash against Germany. Spain have what appears to be a straightforward enough 1st round, but after that, may find Portugal and Italy on their path to the semi-final. Ireland or no Ireland, I'm looking forward to it-with many half-days planned.

Bonjourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you cheese eating surrender monkeys!

2009-11-14T17:53:00.006Z

From the Simpsons-Willie teaches French

Les Bleus visit a damp and windswept Croke Park this evening for the 1st leg of what looks to be the pick of the UEFA WC2010 play-off ties. Ireland of course finished as runners up to Italy ion Group 10, whereas the French were squeezed out of an automatic qualifying spot by Serbia-their 3-1 defeat to Austria in the opening game proving costly. Along the way, they could only manage a 1-0 win in the Faroes (managed by the never bitter Brian Kerr), but did actually manage to defeat Serbia at home and get a draw in the return leg. All of this on the back of a disastrous Euro 2008, where they didn't win a game (alebit they found themselves in a fairly tough group). They arrive in Dublin with a host of injuries (Ribery and Diaby absent, questions over Toulalan and Henry), questions surrounding their coach, and the prospect of playing in front of vocal Irish support, both at Croke Park, and indeed in Paris.

Even with their injuries, France still should enough talent to take care of Ireland. Their midfield looks like being a bit of an unknown quantity, but their attacking full backs and pace upfront suggests that can cause Ireland plenty of problems (I'm looking at you Sean St Leger and Kevin Kilbane!) The reality, for me, is that France will have to play poorly and Ireland will have to play as well as they can to win through. The prevailing opinions in the 'meeja' here in Ireland is that Ireland have a good chance of going through because:

(a) France have such a hated coach;
(b) if they were any good they would have qualified automatically;
(c) Ireland are so strong at set pieces; and
(d) we 'nearly' beat the World Cup Champions.

We shall see. My prediction? France by the odd goal-no penalties required.

A small victory

2009-11-08T17:08:00.008Z

As goes the Faith No More song, this was my take on Chelsea's win over Man Utd. on Sunday. All that matters is that Chelsea got 3 points? Not so fast....

Chelsea were the home team and were at virtually full strength
Man Utd on the other hand were the away team and were short both first choice centre backs and Dimitar Berbatov (whether he would have started or not is a moot point)
Chelsea had scored 20 goals in their 5 games leading up to the clash with Man Utd.
Man Utd have won the last two Premier League titles and this was a chance for Chelsea to make a statement that they are the are ready to reclaim the title

What we got was a narrow victory in less than convincing circumstances. Man Utd fans will whine that the referee cost them the result-if I say that they have no case, I will of course be accused of bias-so I'll just say that Man Utd probably deserved a draw and leave it at that.

Man Utd sure frustrated Chelsea on Sunday-5 across the middle generally has that effect on Chelsea-even at Stamford Bridge. It should have been obvious what tactics Man Utd were going to employ-so I would question why Deco started the game-and was left on for so long when he was virtually anonymous throughout-and so there may have been a case for starting (gulp) Mikel in the middle to try and match up physically with Fletcher and Anderson. What was also obvious was that the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti is not going to find it easy to break down teams that arrive at Stamford Bridge with a 'what we have we hold' mentality (anyone else remember Chelsea's difficulties in beating Hull City in the opening game of the season?). And I am still bemused by the amount of time Nicolas Anelka spends outside the box and in deep positions. He is a talented footballer for sure, but is at his most dangerous when in the box-the fact that his either encouraged to drop back or else feels the need to do so does not sit well with me.

With Deco ineffectual, where was the creative supply going to come from within the Chelsea midfield? Joe Cole might have been introduced sooner, but in my view, what is really requiored to break teams down is more width. An orthodox 4-4-2 would be nice-maybe not when playing Man Utd lining up as they did, but certainly against lesser teams. Joe Cole on the right and Malouda or indeed Zhirkov on the left with some combination of Essien/Lampard/Ballack/Mikel in the middle please!

The way the game played out on Sunday will put some spring in Man Utd's step. Their sense of injustice at the manner of the defeat as well as the fact that their second string centre back pairing managed to render both Drogba and Anelka relatively ineffective will serve as tremendous motivators for the next few games (home to Everton, away to Portsmouth and West Ham and home to Villa) which should see them get back on track pretty quickly. There was plenty of bad blood stirred up during the Stamford Bridge game-the April clash at Old Trafford should be interesting for that reason alone, but it also comes at a point in the season where it could have a significant bearing on the destination of this year's Premier League title.

Chelsea now face Wolves at Stamford Bridge-a game which will hopefully see them regain their recent scoring form-and then travel to Arsenal, where I hope to see a better Chelsea performance than the Man Utd game, and indeed a better game. Nothing about Sunday's game really would entice you to watch Premier League football. The news that Jose Bosingwa faces 3 months on the sidelines and the ongoing concern around Ashley Cole's fitness won't help Chelsea-aside from their defensive abilities both full backs play a key attacking role in the diamond formation favoured by Ancelotti. Chelsea have adequate, if not ideal, cover for the right, the left is more of a concern, unless Zhirkov manages to return from his latest injury setback.

Right back where we started

2009-10-29T21:37:00.007Z

Chelsea beat Liverpool
Man Utd beat Arsenal
Liverpool beat Man Utd
Chelsea have lost 2 games already
Man Utd have lost 2 games already
Arsenal have lost 2 games already
Liverpool have lost 3 games already

Just who is the best team in the current edition of the Premier League?
Although Chelsea sit at the top of the table, Arsenal could move ahead of them on goal difference if they win their game in hand, and, were the better team for long stretches of their visit to Old Trafford. But, they shipped 4 goals to Man City and just blew a 2 goal lead at West Ham. Man Utd have been beaten by Burnley, needed an injury time equaliser to get a draw at home to Sunderland and beat Man City in similar fashion. Chelsea looked disinterested when losing 3-1 at Wigan and defensively naive when losing to Aston Villa. Liverpool have lost to Sunderland.

So, we might just be looking at one of the more competitive Premier League season in some time now. Note that 'competitive' does not imply that we are going to see a lot of quality-look at last Sunday's clash of Liverpool and Man Utd-the standard of play-flashes of brilliance from Fernando Torres and the odd cameo from Yossi Benayoun aside-was poor. Liverpool won despite the fact that they had surely the worst Brazilian ever to kick a ball in the middle of the field, and were helped by a largely anonymous display from Man Utd's midfield and an ineffectual display from their front 2. It's worth noting however that Man Utd still looked like a more natural attacking force when they got forward in the 1st half, and Liverpool's first instinct appeared to play the ball sqaure or backwards. How they miss the drive of Steven Gerrard.

Sure Man Utd might have benefited from the industry and strength of Darren Flethcher, and maybe even the likes of Park and Andersen would have made an impact, but Carrick and Valencia are first choice and hardly looked the part on Sunday. Fernando Torres seems to be Nemanja Vidic's kryptonite. It is debatable as to whether Liverpool really played well enough to win the game, but equally, it is a stetch to say that Man Utd deserved anything other than a defeat. Makes sense? Good.

November could make the picture a little clearer with Chelsea playing host to Man Utd and facing Arsenal at The Emirates. Clashes between the 'Big 4' don't always tend to matter greatly in determining the Premier League winner, but in a year where parity appears to have returned, points taken from your closest challengers could be more important than in recent years.

I think I smell a rat......

2009-10-14T20:16:00.008+01:00

Hmmm. The svelte Eamon Dunphy must be around. It was a bit much to listen to Eamo ranting and raving after Ireland had secured a place in the World Cup play-offs by virtue of a 2-2 draw with Italy (World Champions Italy as King George kept reminding us over the course of the evening)-we have had worse results recently, but Stephen Hunt couldn't avoid coming down to Eamo's level to hit back at Dunphy's 'shameful' comments. Dunphy came out and apologised (fair play to him for that I guess), but it wasn't as if he was goaded into making the comments in the first place, so you would wonder what he was smoking when he lashed out last Saturday. At least Trap didn't seem to let it bother him, but no surprise there I guess.

Eamo is right enough in one respect-it is 'shameful' that Andy Reid can't get in the Ireland squad, but at this stage, it's time to build a bridge. Ireland are where we expected/hoped to be at the start of this qualifying campaign, and for that, the current manager and squad should be congratulated. But, it doesn't take from that we led twice against Italy and failed to win. Indeed, the truth of it was that Italy looked like they score whenever they wanted or needed to do so-the point gained in Dublin was enough for them to win the group and qualify automatically. We also failed to beat Bulgaria, despite having led both home and away (and Bulgaria looked very average on both occasions) and Montenegro on 2 occasions (albeit the Croke Park game was a dead rubber). So Ireland were unbeaten, but their 4 wins during the campaign were single goal victories over Cyprus and Georgia (more than other Ireland managers could manage, which is a sign of progress I suppose). That doesn't look likely to get us through a play-off when our potential opponents will be one from France, Portugal, Russia or Greece.

Of that lot, it's hard to know who we should be hoping to draw next Monday. On paper, Greece appear to be the weakest of the 4, Russia the least desirable place to go at this time of the year, while Portugal and France have the star names and big reputations, but appear to lack form. Some of the match-ups are pretty daunting-Ronaldo v Kilbane; Arshavin v. St Leger; Ribery v. O'Shea; anyone in Greece v. the Irish midfield.

Whoever Ireland end up playing, not everyone will be welcome at the game. The FAI were offering an incentive to buy tickets for last night's game against Montenegro-post your ticket stub to them and you would have first preference for buying tickets to the play-off game in Croke Park. A few (un)lucky fans may not be there-because of displaying this banner-the FAI took umbrage to the banner, confiscated it and the fan's ticket stub, and asked the Gardai to get involved. It turns out that the guys got there tickets back, but only after the FAI had scanned/photographed them. What next? RTE actually showed footage of the banner at the end-will they be stripped of their rights to broadcast future Ireland games? Godwin's Law decrees I should say nothing further about the FAI.

A Machiavellian Outcome?

2009-10-09T22:01:00.000+01:00

The Greek playwright Sophocles wrote in Electra (c 409 B.C.), "The end excuses any evil". I've never read it, I probably never will. Heck, I've never even seen the film Elektra.

No, this blog has not 'got culture' all of a sudden. The above represents Geovanni Trappatoni's modus operandi it would seem, based on what we saw in the 2-1 victory in Cyprus where the performance wasn't really much better than that which saw us beaten 3-0 by Australia-the main differences being the result (better) and the quality of the opposition (worse), and indeed what we have seen from the septuagenarian Italian's Ireland XI's to date. Indeed, it was not surprising to stumble across this piece, which may give some insight into his seemingly ultra-conservative nature.

Ireland will take the field on Saturday without one of the most in-form Irish midfield players in the Premier League at the moment, one who actually wants to play for his country. Andy Reid's absence has become more baffling as his fitness and form has improved considerably since the last round of games, and it beggared belief when Martin Rowlands (who I have to admit I have not seen play, but given that he is now 30 years of age and has never played Premier League football, I have to believe is not a better player than Andy Reid) was called up as cover for the injured Damien Duff during the week. Ireland just don't have the luxury of leaving out players like Andy Reid-he's no world beater, and may not neatly fit in the manager's preferred system, but he has the ability to create-something that is severely lacking among the rest of the fit midfielders in the squad.

Il Trap appears to have brought some defensive stability to the Irish team, and you cannot argue that results have not improved, but I get the impression that this team is not set up to win the games that will really matter-if Italy come to the Northside to play, we will not be able to stand toe to toe with them. Ireland have trundled along with the attitude that its is the result rather than the performance that matters (or the end justifies the means), which is well and good, but sooner or later, mediocre performances catch up with you. I am waiting for a last minute sucker punch to do for us at some stage in this campaign-the knock out may not come on Saturday, but given the recently announced seeding system, I fear it will come via the play-offs.

In other news, Steve Staunton appears to have found his level-amazing that he managed Ireland before he was given the job at the team lying at the foot of League 2.

In other news (September)

2009-09-17T20:40:00.003+01:00

College Football and NFL seasons kicked off-this means that primetime gambling is here again, and I won't be tempted so much by football and other random bets (over the course of the summer it's been rugby, tennis, golf and who knows what else).

I spent 4 amazing days in Cleveland. What did I do? Went to watch sports. Friday night-Progressive Field, where we watched 7 or so innings of a meaningless game between the bad Indians and the equally bad Royals. Still, hard to beat watching live sports with your friends on a beautiful Friday evening while drinking overpriced light beer. Saturday was the real deal-I was at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio along with over 106,000 other people (Vince Vaughan and Will Farrell among them) to watch Ohio State slug it out with USC. The atmosphere, pagentry and noise was simply amazing. It was a pity that the home team lost late in the game, but it couldn't take away from a great experience. On Sunday, opening day at Cleveland Browns Stadium, and my first taste of tailgating. What a great idea-pubs before games are fun, but this is even better. Shame the Browns couldn't keep the party going on the field, but I did see Adrian Peterson score 3 touchdowns and LeBron James was not more than 100 feet away from where I sat. A great trip.

An American Football player at Oregon University was suspended by his own college for the rest of the year (after their first game) for throwing one punch at an opponent who was taunting him after a Boise State beat Oregon last week. LeGarrette (yes, Garret just wasn't enough apparently) Blount was Oregon's star player and a potential NFL star. I can't believe that his actions warranted such a discretionary suspension and that his coach was so tearful about the whole thing. Add to this the fact that many analysts/writers are now discounting his chances of being drafted by a NFL team, and I just can't help but wonder if the sometime shambolic disciplinary procedures we have in GAA and rugby are better than US style sports discipline.

I really felt for Tipperary after their All-Ireland final defeat to Kilkenny. Tipp had managed to turn a 2 point half-time deficit into a 3 point lead over The Cats with around 10 minutes to go. And then, a moment of madness (Benny Dunne's wild strike on Tommy Walsh-how ironic that Walsh would find himself on the end of a foul blow), and a moment of incompetence (referee Diarmuid Kirwan's decision to award a penalty to Kilkenny) ultimately turned the tie back in Kilkenny's favour. Not since Limerick's stunning collapse against Offaly in 1994 can I remember a hurling final where a team do deserving of victory were denied the Liam McCarthy Cup. However, it has to be said that Kilkenny are indeed a great team and they have rarely relied in fortune to win them games. They had the rub of the green on Sunday for sure, but great teams always stick around, and their never say die attitude along with some outstanding saves from PJ Ryan kept them in it to win it.

Chelsea score a late, late winner at Stoke, while Man City win a heated game against Arsenal. Man Utd put Spurs in their place. This weekend Man Utd play Man City at Old Trafford, while Spurs travel to Stamford Bridge. A big weekend then, with both local pride and Premier League momentum at stake.

The Champions League kicked off-with all 4 English teams winning, but only Arsenal providing any drama after coming from 2 goals down after 5 minutes to snatch a win at Liege.

A golden age of....shite

2009-09-03T20:30:00.006+01:00

They say, 'there's no such thing as bad publicity', and. and an ad works if it gets people talking about it, good or bad. As Mr Burns said, 'I disagree'. There's a plethora of awful stuff out there are the moment, such as:

Glade-"I want to do a poo..."
Remember-it's wrong to beat kids that ain't yours.

Volvic-"The Volvic Challenge"
What to say about this one. Words fail me. I don't want to post anything that may incriminate me at a later date.

Spar-"The S Factor"
The one on the radio is possibly worse. I like Spar, but not any more. Londis or Centra it is. The genius behind this masterpiece is Oliver Callan, aka 'Nob Nation'. How apt.

Guinness-"To Arthur"
Cop on. You can't get drunk enough on Guinness to engender the kind of bonhomie that ad implies.

Vodafone-"Mission Red"
Listen Vodafone (Chris), your mission is to stop dropping my calls while in am on the M50. Never mind this crap.

Vodafone-GAA/Sean Boylan
Such trite BS.

123.ie-"Ivan Answer"
Again, their radio ads are probably worse, but this is guaranteed to be muted. Just was well it's animation based-you wouldn't want to put a human face to this sort of evil.

There are many, many more (any ad on Comedy Central, any ad for ringtones, any ad for laser hair removal or laser eye surgery, pretty much any ad on the radio), but I can't find the videos so I won't bother linking to them. For now, I leave you with this gem from Bill Hicks:

Anybody in advertising or marketing should just kill themselves. Seriously

Trap laughs long and hard at his own joke

2009-09-02T19:16:00.007+01:00

4 weeks ago the good people of Limerick (for the price of €55 per ticket) were treated to Ireland being humiliated by Australia (the title refers to Trapattoni's demeanour after they scored their 3rd goal). Normally we might not be surprised to see our Antipodean cousins giving the Boys in Green a good beating at Thomand Park, but in soccer? Surely not. Alas, it doesn't say much for Ireland that we were well and truly beaten, indeed you could say outclassed, by an Australian team that didn't feature too many household names. Still, I was impressed with them-unlike Ireland, they looked like an international football team, as opposed to a mid-table Premier League team.

In Ireland's case, the whole doesn't seem to be greater than the sum of the parts any longer-we go as Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Robbie Keane, and, to a lesser extent, Kevin Doyle, go. The odd burst from Duff, McGeady or Hunt can produce a goal, but the lack of consistent end product from all 3 wide men means that you can't really say for sure what you are going to get from each one on any given night. And while both Dunne and Given are generally excellent, Keane does disappear on too many occasions.

And the rest? How John O'Shea was deemed a better player to keep at Man Utd than Gerard Pique (among others) is a mystery to me. Whoever partners Dunne at centre-back (whether it is St Ledger or McShane/O'Shea) is not up to the task. Kevin Kilbane has been a great servant to Ireland (I think I've even seen him singing the anthem), but to ask him to play left back on a regular basis is not fair to him, or Ireland's chances. A fair percentage of our goals conceded seem to stem from Kilbane's lack of ability to close people down and his lack defensive positioning awareness.

It is the Irish midfield that garners the most discussion, both in terms of who plays (Glenn Whelan) and who doesn't (Stephen Ireland). We have no-one selected at the moment who is capable of holding possession, or indeed acting as a link man between defence and attack. It is hard to say what Glenn Whelan brings to the party-a live body maybe, but not much else. I've seen Andrews play ok for Blackburn, but he's not good enough for this level, well not without someone of a higher standard alongside him. Darron Gibson hasn't looked great either-you would think Man Utd rate him highly enough or they would have let him go, but it's hard to see how much he will develop in their reserves or Carling Cup team.

Trappatoni seems to have brought a bit of order to the team-we no longer look like the shambles we did under Steve Staunton, but we don't look like we're developing much. We are at are worst when leading-our inability to hold the ball and our instinct to drop deep leaves us open to late equalisers or winners-the worrying thing is that this is a trend that was evident under Brian Kerr and has not looked like being reversed under successive managers.

Bulgaria will probably still be alive after this weekend given that they play Montenegro at home, but I expect Ireland to be one step closer to securing 2nd place in the group-if that is not motivation enough, then our 5-2 hammering in Cyprus under Steve Staunton and the fact that the Cypriots are without 2 of their better players through suspension should serve to focus the minds of the Boys in Green on coming away with a win. A win would go a long way to put us in a play off, and looking at some of the other possible 2nd place teams (Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Macedonia....), Ireland should still fancy their chances of making their first finals since 2002. Trap would surely be entitled to the last laugh if that turns out to be the case.

Arrivederci August

2009-09-01T19:09:00.003+01:00

And so we have had our first 'grand slam' clash of the season, with Arsenal making the trip to Old Trafford for an odd Saturday evening kick-off time (I haven't looked into the reasons-anyone care to enlighten me?). The result wasn't exactly a surprise to me as I failed to see how Arsenal could have improved so much since last year having lost 2 starters and added only Thomas Vermaelen (who wasn't really tested enough on Saturday for me to have anything other than a pretty neutral view of him to date), but, it has to be said, they can feel slightly unfortunate to have come away with nothing after taking the lead and generally playing the better football. Still, after Rooney's penalty (I agreed with the award, just as I disagreed with the ref's failure to award anything for Fletcher's 'challenge' on Arshavin), I didn't see Arsenal coming back to win. Nicklas Bendtner did not impress me when coming on as a sub, and I still don't rate Clichy and Song. His poorly direct header for the winning own goal aside, Abou Diaby looks like a player. But I cannot help think Arsenal would be a better team if they had kept Mathieu Flamini, or indeed moved Kolo Toure into midfield (as has been suggested to me by my brother), as they still lack 'bite'. Their heads shouldn't drop too much after this defeat, but they cannot afford too many 'moral' victories if they are to challenge for the title. By the way, RVP doesn't strike me as someone who can lead the line, especially away from home on his own. Adebayor has scored 3 in 3 games for Man City, 2 on the road. Just saying.

Liverpool had a decidedly mixed week-losing 3-1 at home to a Villa team that hasn't impressed in a long time, and then coming from behind to snatch a 3-2 victory away at Bolton. A 3rd loss at this early stage would surely have ended any hopes Liverpool have of winning their first Premiership title and indeed ending Man Utd's charge at their league title record. Nonetheless, the signs are not good-a thin squad, with no notable reinforcements arriving since the arrival of the still injured Aquilani; Andriy Voronin as your primary striking option from the bench; and other than the goalscoring exploits of Glen Johnson, not much sign of form from the remainder of the starting XI, with Gerrard and Torres strangely subduded in the initial stages of the season.

All of the above is of course encouraging for Chelsea, who still haven't beaten anyone of substance, but look like they are improving with each game. The news that Joe Cole has returned to training is certainly welcome, but the return to form of Deco is also encouraging. Chelsea play Spurs on September 20th, and although an away trip to Stoke in the interim shouldn't be taken lightly, this will be their first true test under Ancellotti, and a good opportunity to establish their dominance over their London rivals. So far so good then, but a long way to go.

In other news,

Spurs kept up their unbeaten run with a late, late winner at home to Birmingham. A bitter-sweet victory, given the unfortunate injury suffered by the talented Luka Modric (which has triggered an interesting conspiracy allegation in the Balkans)
Everton got off the mark with a late, late penalty needed to secure a win over Wigan (who have regressed since their opening day win at Villa)
Portsmouth remain pointless, but a confirmation in the change in ownership has spurred a flurry of signings, which may help Paul Hart in getting things back on track. I watched their game with Man City on Saturday, while they were unfortunate not to get a point, it appeared to me that they have too many players that are not of Premier League standard in the starting XI. The loss of Niko Krancjar on deadline day (more below) doesn't help their case.
Man City are still unbeaten and have equalled their away win total from all of least season.

'Notable' transfers today:

Niko Kranjcar to Spurs. In the Man City/Portsmouth game at the weekend, I thought he was the best player on the pitch (granted Robinho was on the bench), and this is an excellent signing for Spurs, especially given the injury to Modric. I have to admit, Harry has built an impressive squad.
Richard Dunne to Villa. Was just confirmed today, a good move for both parties-City now have strength in depth at that position (Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Richards) and Villa need a quality replacement for Martin Laursen.
Johnny Heitinga to Everton. Any body with a pulse is an improvement on Tony Hibbert. The blue half of Merseyside doth rejoice!
Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter to Ipswich. I get the impression Roy Keane will not be long in East Anglia.

And finally-
Did Eduardo dive? Probably. Did he deserve a ban? Yes, but only if the same punishment is applied in all such cases. A bit of consistency would be nice to see from UEFA in this regard.

Bottom of the 9th for the 2009 Red Sox

2009-08-21T17:14:00.006+01:00

So after being swept in NYC over 3 weeks ago, the Red Sox take on the Yankees again this weekend, this time in the friendly confines of Fenway Park. The Sox currently sit 6.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, and even though there are 39 games left in the regular season after this weekend, a similar outcome as the NYC series would surely the Red Sox too much to do to catch the Yankees. There's still the Wild Card (or best runner-up to us here in Europe) to play for of course (the Red Sox lead the Texas Rangers by 1 game and Tampa Bay by 4), but anything less than 2 wins this weekend will not auger well for the stretch run and beyond, nor will it do much to sate a less than happy fan base.

The last Yankees series was pretty horrible for Boston. John Smoltz was battered in the opener (the Red Sox actually led on several occasion and Joba Chamberlain looked less than convincing) and was subsequently released, they lost in the 15th inning on Friday (when Junichi Tazawa made his first MLB appearance and gave up the game winning home run to Alex Rodriguez), and, despite his best start of the season at the time, Clay Buchholz ran into CC Sabathia in Ace form on Saturday. Worst of all, the Red Sox scored exactly 8 runs all weekend, 6 of them on the Thursday. It has largely been anaemic offence that has seen the Sox lose touch in the AL and find themselves in a dogfight for the Wild Card. Starting pitching, Brad Penny aside, has generally been good, and the bullpen, while not as stellar as it was earlier in the season, has not been costing them games. Even Penny gives them a chance to win, as good as most 5th starters, but the run support has frequently not been what it needs to be to compensate for his 5.22 Earned Run Average, which has not been helped by his 0-3 record and 7.54 ERA in his past 4 starts.

In short, the difference between the teams is this-the Yankees spent big over the winter and those signings (Sabathia, Teixeira, Burnett) are now proving their worth, while the Red Sox went cheap and low-risk (Smoltz, Baldelli, Green), and rarely has the adage 'you get what you pay for' been so apt. Add to this the fact that Yankees veterans are having good/great seasons (e.g. Johnny Damon and Derk Jeter), while Sox sluggers Ortiz, Drew and Lowell have been infective and/or injured for too many stretches this year.

The positives? Victor Martinez (hopefully he becomes the full-time catcher, but the Sox still seem to want Varitek doing the catching most nights), Clay Buchholz (he pitched well enough to win against NY and Detroit recently but came up against Sabathia and Verlander in great form plus he got no run support, however he got a win over Roy Halladay last night), signs of life from Ortiz in the Blue Jays series, and, the fact that there are still 42 games to go.

In the end, this series will not determine sucess or failure for either team this year-anything less than a trip to the play offs, and possibly a World Series, will be deemed less than satisfactory. Still, I'll be watching, and hoping for a Sox win!

Not much to go on, but enough to write about

2009-08-19T21:45:00.004+01:00

And so Ronaldo's absence hits home earlier in the season than Sir Alex might have imagined. Tonight's game at Turf Moor was the sort of game that Ronaldo would have found some way to salvage-if not through the penalty missed my Michael Carrick, then maybe through a more convincing header that that attempted by Berbatov late in the 2nd half. It's only been 2 games, but Man Utd have only managed 1 goal in total in their games against Birmigham and Burnley, and haven't exactly looked like they were worthy of much more. While the return of Ferdinand and Vidic will undoubtedly make them a better team, it won't necessarily open the floodgates at the other end of them team. Some stats to ponder-Wayne Rooney has never scored more than 16 goals in a season, Bernatov's record in the Premier League is about 1 in 3, and Michael Owen has not scored a goal since January.

The most impressive team so far (based on 2 games Arsenal fans!) is surely Spurs-a deserved home win against some people's favourite's Liverpool and a 5-1 thrashing of Hull at the KC, along with impressive starts by Bassong, Palacios and Defoe suggests Harry Redknapp may have a team to be reckoned with-and a more impressive squad than nearly any other team I can think of in the Premier League-with nearly 2 quality players to cover every position.

Liverpool made an inauspicious start-losing at Spurs with a sub-par performance from Torres and a general lack of quality in their midfield. Alberto Aquilani better get fit quick, and better be worth the £20m spent to bring him to Anfield. Still, Liverpool got back on track tonight, with a 4-0 win at home to Stoke, and a goal from Glen Johnson-which will surely please Liverpool fans greatly-given that many (like me) do not believe he was bought for his defensive qualities. Stories of Rafa being left with £1.5m to spend and subsequently storming out of the club have been doing the rounds today-tonight's win was extremely timely.

Signs for Portsmouth appear ominous-no end to the ownership saga in sight, and with the transfer deadline fast approaching, they could find themselves in dire straits by the time they can strengthen their squad. Narrow and perhaps unfortunate losses at home to Fulham and away to Birmingham also wouldn't fill me with confidence about their prospects, especially when looking at the results to date of the 3 promoted teams, who may be able to put up more of a fight than I first imagined.

If Arsenal produce many more performances like last Sunday's 6-1 thrashing of Everton, then I guess I will have to revise my opinion of them (as will many other 'experts'). When things click for this team, they are capable of great things. I'll wait a few more games before I see if they have improved on last season. For Everton, things are bad. Shipping 6 goals on opening day in front of your home fans is a sign that things can only get better, right? Maybe not. In what is turning into an increasingly ugly saga, wantaway Jolean Lescott was left out of their squad for a Europa League game-with David Moyes leaving us in doubt as to why. Surley Everton should just take the money offered by Man City and spend a (relatively) small portion of it on a Steven Taylor, Matthew Upson, Michael Turner, or, perhaps even extract old Goodison favourite Richard Dunne from City in a cash plus player deal. Lescott is good, but Everton have 2 pretty good centre halves as it stands (when Jagielka returns from injury), and there is a danger that this episode could continue to destabilise a club that will be under a lot of pressure from others for their top 6 place (a feat they have managed in 4 of the last 5 years).

And so to Chelsea. Things did not look great for much of the afternoon against Hull-and indeed look worse when compared to Tottenham's result against the same team, but, winning doesn't have to be pretty I guess. Still, the lack of fluidity and dynamism that has dogged Chelsea for the past few seasons was very much evident against Hull. However, things improved markedly aginst Sunderland, even Steve Bruce was quick to give Chelsea plaudits for an impressive display. Time will tell if Carlo's diamond is a real gem, and also whether Deco's sparkling display was nothing more than a flash in the pan.

Premier League Preview 2009/10

2009-08-13T22:22:00.008+01:00

Well here we go again, another season of the 'World's Best League'. That claim is even more tenuous this season, given Barcelona's mastery in the Champions League last year, and the rebirth of the Galactico era in Madrid. Of course, the departure of the 'World's Best Player' to Madrid should dampen the enthusiasm of Anglo-Saxon commentators in assigning such a lofty title to the English Premier League.

10 or 15 years ago, the offseason promised plenty of new signings from overseas, some famous, some less so, but there was generally an air of expectation/excitement (on my part) when the Premier League kicked off. This year, through a combination of credit crunch and maybe a degree of saturation (this is an interesting article on the BEEB on player nationalities) of foreign players, there have been less notable signings from overseas than in previous years. Thomas Vermaelen, Alberto Aquilani, Yuri Zhirkov are probably the biggest sigings this summer, but don't really compare with the Dennis Bergkamps, Gianfranco Zolas, Fernando Torres' or indeed Elanos of bygone and recent years. Still, other than the rumours surrounding David Villa and Franck Ribery, there wasn't much else happening this summer. We can only hope that among the likes of Christian Benitez and Nikola Kalinic we will find some unexpected entertainment.

Manchester City were probably the biggest movers and shakers this summer-but all their major signings were from English based players. Arsenal seemed more than happy to take their generous offers for Kolo Toure (who I think could discover his form again) and Emmanuel Adebayor (who reminds me a lot of Didier Drogba-for all the right and wrong reasons); Villa were likely to lose Gareth Barry anyway (and Rafa just couldn't hide his annoyance at being outbid by the Shiekh); and it's hard to know how Fergie really feels at losing Carlos Tevez to his crosstown 'rivals', but he has put up a good front at making us feel like he could care less. How Mark Hughes melds all of these talented but moody individuals into a team remains to be seen-remember-as well as Tevez and Adebayor, he also has Craig Bellamy and Robinho on his books. The addition of Jolean Lescott or another top defender will strengthen his hand, but to me City remain a team that lack a clear leader. Still, it will be an interesting season at the City of Manchester, although it is their away form (2 wins on the road last season) that could determine their bid for Champions League football.

Arsenal almost look like they have given up. Selling Adebayor and Toure to City made them a pretty penny, but strengthen a team that will surely be one of their main rivals for a Champions League spot. I know nothing of Thomas Vermaelen, but judging by the fee, he will surely be decent-Arsenal aren't renowned for splashing out on defenders. The failure to add a bit of steel in midfield (rumours of a move to bring Patrick Vieira back aside) will surely count against them. As will relying on their collection of talented forwards to remain fit and score the goals that their attractive football often fails to provide. Adebayor scored 24 goals in 2008, but only 10 in the last campaign, so he may not be missed as much as one would imagine. I see Arsenal holding on to 4th place, a full season of Andrei Arshavin promises much, but they still lack some of the key ingredients for further Premiership success.

Liverpool have been picked by quite a few pundits to finally win the Premier League this year, whereas the bookies have them as 3rd favourites. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I just don't see how swapping Alberto Aquilani (who seems to have a poor injury history) for Xabi Alonso improves their team, and I certainly don't rate Glen Johnson as a defender. So, it really comes down to Steven Gerrard and Fernando Alonso continually providing the goals and all round excellence that took Liverpool to 2nd last season. While I have no doubt that both players will be as good as they were last season, and perhaps better than last season in Torres' case, I feel that there is not enough quality in the squad to sustain a title challenge over the full season.

Like Liverpool, Manchester United don't seem to have the pieces to improve on last season. Indeed, the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is likely to significantly weaken their hand-I don't feel that Antonio Valencia and Micheal Owen will be as good as the departed, but maybe they just need to be good enough to get United over the line again. If they don't score as many goals, it may not matter, given the excellence of their defence last season, and you can be sure that Wayne Rooney will relish the chance to play a more pivital role than was the case when Ronaldo and Tevez had to be accommodated.

Chelsea are favourites with the bookmakers-as much due to the fact that Mancheseter United have lost players and Liverpool don't seem to have improved their squad. After just watching them eke out a 2-1 win over Hull City at home, I don't see much change in their style of play from last season. I guess I still fancy them overall-but they can't afford games like today-where they created 30 chances but could only take 2 of them. They have a decent squad, but players like Terry, Lampard and Essien are key-and at least one of Drogba and Anelka must hit form in patches for them to be more successful than last year. Injuries to key men cost them last year, this year the African Cup of Nations could derail their challenge, when Essien, Drogba and Kalou will definitely be absent, and there is a strong chance Mikel could be on duty in Angola as well. Chelsea can probably live without Mikel and Kalou, but it will be very difficult to compensate for the absence of Essien and Drogba. I've written more about Chelsea's prospects here.

So, Chelsea 1st, Liverpool 2nd, Man Utd 3rd is my top 3, with Arsenal retaining 4th place.

As to the rest, the 3 promoted teams, plus Portsmouth and Hull, will struggle and 3 from these 5 will go down. It will be interesting to see how last year's overachievers (Stoke and Fulham) do this year, as will watching the development of Gianfarnco Zola as a manager at West Ham United. Outside of that, there's not much to say about the other Premier League teams for now. Let's hope that the next 40 or so weekends give me plenty to write about.

Forward thinking-Premier League Team of the season 2009/10

2009-08-13T19:41:00.002+01:00

Goalkeeper Shay Given (Man City) I fancy Shay to get plenty of chances to showcase his talents for Man City-outside the Top 4, Tim Howard could be the best of the rest.

Right Back Bacary Sagna (Arsenal). If it wasn't for injury last year, he was probably the best right back in the premiership. One of Wegner's better 'unknowns'.

Left Back Ashley Cole (Chelsea) I fancy Cashley to finally start to fully deliver for Chelsea-there were signs of this last year, but Evra's form was too good to ignore.

Centre Back Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd). A shaky end to the season nothwithstanding, there are few better.

Centre Back Jolean Lescott (Everton) He might not be on Merseyside when the season starts, and if he does end up at the City of Manchester Stadium, all bets are off.

Midfield Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) Now that the court case has been settled, and as Liverpool have done little or nothing in the transfer market this summer, expect Gerrard to have to contribute handsomely again this season.

Midfield Michael Essien (Chelsea) Were it not for so much time lost to injury, and the sentimental nonsense that saw Ryan Giggs make the team last year, then Essien should have been named to this team-he will be key to Chelsea's title challenge on 2009/10.

Midfield Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) Another who lost too much time last year, but on his day, he is probably the most complete player in the Premiership.

Forward Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal) Only a cameo at the end of last season, but there's no doubting his talent.

Forward Fernando Torres (Liverpool) Assuming he stays free from injury, I think it's safe to give Fernando the number 9 shirt.

Forward Michael Owen (Man Utd) Not since Ruud van Nistlerooy left have Man Utd had such an out-and-out goalscorer. Someone will have to fill the void left by Ronaldo in the goalscoring stakes, Owne should get plenty of chances to do just that.

Player of the Year Fernando Torres
Young Player of the Year Stephen Ireland (Man City)-who will be 23 (and thus qualify as 'young player' for 2009/10).

I'll revisit this topic again in April and see how wrong I turn out to be in practice.

Benvenuto, Carlo

2009-08-11T21:57:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe that Chelsea allowed Guus Hiddink to walk at the end of last season. The guy steadied what could have been a sinking ship at Stamford Bridge, was hugely popular with the fans, and was getting much more out of hitherto underachieving expensive players (e.g. Malouda) than either Mr. Grant or Mr. Scolari. A pretty tough act to follow-even if his only silverware was the quickly depreciating reward of the FA Cup. But, Carlo Ancelotti would appear to fit the bill-massive international reputation, appears popular with his players, and a dry wit that has thus far gone down well with the British media.

But, I have the say that I am not convinced (ok, Chelsea haven't kicked a ball on a competitive or friendly match under his management) by the droll Italian. In 7 seasons at AC Milan, he won 1 Serie A title (Juventus were stripped of their titles 04/05 and 05/06, Milan were runners-up in both seasons), and his overall win percentage was just under 57% (compared to Jose's Chelsea record of 70%, Avram Grant's record of just under 67%, and Guus' record of 71%)-a statistic that looks suspiciously like Uzbek based Mr Scolari's record in his (brief) tenure at the Bridge. In addition, he failed to win anything in his 2 seasons at Juventus, finishing league runner-up twice (something Chelsea have become used to in the past few seasons) Now, this is a bit of an 'American' approach to assessing performance, but it's not a bad starting point.

What I didn't mention above of course is that Carlo has won 2 Champions League titles, and arguably should have won a third in his time with Milan (even Liverpool fans would agree?)-and it's pretty obvious what is Chelsea's primary ambition these days. So it certainly looks like it's his European pedigree is what has attracted him to whoever it is calls the shots on these matters on the Fulham Road.

The pre-season was successful (in the sense that Chelsea were unbeaten and players didn't suffer any serious injuries), but didn't answer many questions.

For example, will Chelsea play more adventurous/attacking football? Having only seen Sunday's Community Shield, I didn't notice any great difference in Chelsea's approach, and I don't recall any of Ancelotti's previous teams playing especially 'sexy' football. Note that I don't particularly long for more advanture and attacking just for the sake of more entertainment-but I do believe it is necessary to take the next step in Europe (a Champions League victory), and to wrest control of the Premiership from Manchester United. Plus, you have to admit that Chelsea have been far more successful in some of the battles with Liverpool when 'going for it' from the word go as opposed to adopting a policy of conservatism and containment. Still, it is too early to say what the weekly approach will be, and I am happy enough to reserve judgement on that score for now. The results will, hopefully, speak for themselves.

Will Ancelotti be able to motivate malcontents (Drogba), underachievers (Anelka) and underperformers (Ballack, Mikel, Malouda...) to greater heights than Scolari or even Avram Grant managed. That seemed to be Hiddink's key strength-he had the same players as those available to his short-tenured predecessors, but seemed to get more out of them. Malouda especially appeared revitalised, and his form in the 2nd half of the season was outstanding (there was a story about how issues with his wisdom teeth may have affected him earlier in the season), and, to be honest, I wonder about the decision to sign Zhirkov in light of Malouda's recent excellence, but than who knows who made that call.

Is Ancelotti happy with the players he has, or does he need his 'own man', specifically, Andrea Pirlo? The continuing rumnours about Pirlo appear to have died down after Pirlo's comments last weekend. I'm not too upset by this-I have great time for Pirlo as a player, but don't see his style translating well to the demands of the Premiership. This report worried me somewhat, if Carlo cannot accomodate Essien, prefarably in a central role, then I fear I will have little time for the guy. The fact that his role appears to be on the right side of a midfield diamond doesn't impress me-witness the one-sided attacking approach employed against Man Utd on Sunday-surely Carlo should be looking for a more orthodox right-sided player if he is to deploy the diamond on a regular basis? I haven't really seen anyone mentioned in transfer gossip who fits the bill. Breaking news-Roma have apparently turned down a bid from Chelsea for Daniele De Rossi-now that's a midfield player I would like to see Chelsea sign. You would also like to think that Joe Cole could feature in a right midfield role at some stage this season as well.

And so, as Chelsea prepare to kick-off against Hull at lunchtime on Saturday, as gentle an introduction as you can get to the Premier League as a new manager I guess, there is much to look forward to for Chelsea fans this season, not least the prospect of a double Champions League winner taking the reins at Stamford Bridge. Let's Chelsea can add to his trophy tally.

Sound & Vision (warning-may contain traces of sarcasm)

2009-08-11T19:52:00.006+01:00

'Lawro' gives his Premier League verdicts (in video!) here. Some wonderful insights-as always.

Arsenal
Arsenal miss the likes of.........even Ray Parlour
Really? The Romford Pele? I note that all the players that Lawro mentioned were English.

Birmingham
I know nothing about Benitez. Isn't that your job? You're nearly worse than John Giles in that respect.

Chelsea
2 players short And who might they be? Any idea what position you see them playing?

Fulham
Andy Johnson will score goals again. 7 goals in 31 appearances last year. Prolific.

Sunderland
On Darren Bent: The more you play him, the more goals he'll score. Sounds reasonable.

Wolves
Promoted teams-it's all about winning games. Indeed.

A Tale of Two Cities

2009-08-06T22:47:00.005+01:00

Tonight in New York, the Boston Red Sox meet the New York Yankees in the ninth game of eighteen scheduled for this season. As it stands, Boston leads the season series 8-0, yet find themselves two and a half games behind New York in the American League East standings. This series of games may or may not have much bearing on the rest of the season, but it comes at an interesting time.

The biggest news of recent weeks was the disclosure (in the New York Times) that beloved Boston slugger David 'Big Papi' Ortiz tested positive for PEDs back in 2003 (of course former Sox hero Manny Ramirez was also on the infamous list, but that didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know). The Yankee faithful haven't really had 'good' reason to boo Boston players since Pedro 'Daddy' Martinez left town, but you can be sure that Papi will be made feel welcome in the Bronx tonight. Not that it should affect his 'form' much-Ortiz started the season horribly, finally started to hit, but has not looked too good since the revelations about 2003 surfaced (his home run in Baltimore as the story was breaking aside). Somewhat overshadowed by all of this has been the acquisition of Victor Martinez from Cleveland at the July 31 trade deadline. He's made a nice start to his Boston career-and his presence in the line-up for this series is vital, given the form of Ortiz, and the fact that the (slumping) Jason Bay will be absent for at least 2 of the games.

Aside from the patchy hitting, the state of Boston's pitching is also cause for concern at the moment. At the start of the season, the Red Sox thought they had 6 good starters-they now have around two-and-a-half. Recent efforts to acquire the likes of Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez suggest that the Sox brains trust is worried-all of these guys are staff aces, not number 4/5 guys to fill out your rotation-perhaps they are writing off Dicey-K's season (and Sox career?), or know more about Tim Wakefield's health than the media. The Red Sox bullpen looked lights out, but now Justin Masterson is gone (and he had struggled mightily against lefties), there have been some meltdowns (a recent 10 run lead given back to the Orioles; Daniel Bard's wild inning in Tampa), and, even though his record doesn't show it, Jonathan Papelbon is often making the 9th inning mighty interesting.

Meanwhile, the Yankees pitching, Sergio Mitre aside (who misses his turn in this series) has looked pretty good. AJ Burnett was shelled last time out in Chicago, but has been excellent at Yankee Stadium. His Friday night duel with former Marlins team-mate Beckett is the match up of the series. The Yankees will hope to get strong outings from all their starters-their bullpen is still not great (until you get to their closer, who has had his issues with Boston in recent times), and, and the money invested in Burnett and CC Sabathia was undoubtedly offered with games against the Red Sox in mind. Add the pitching performance to a line-up that is begun to hit form, and things are certainly looking up for the men in pinstripes. While they don't need to win this series, you get the feeling that they expect to-if they don't start winning against the Red Sox sooner or later, you wouldn't feel too comfortable about their odds of doing so in a play-off series!

My call-bad and all as things are, the Sox should be able to split this 4 game series-assuming they are able to give Beckett and Lester enough run support (and assuming said pitchers are at the top of their game, which has been the case for Beckett lately, Lester, not so much). Anything they get from Smoltz and Buchholz is a bonus to be honest-the most I could ask to these guys is that they both make it through 6+ innings and save the bullpen. The long ball could be key-the new Yankee Stadium has given up more home runs than any other park this season (161 so far)-tonight would be a good night for Boston bats to come alive.

Quarter Final Weekend (Where one-third of the games were worth watching)

2009-08-04T21:29:00.010+01:00

And so we now know who is for real and who are merely pretenders. 2 of the 3 Quarter-Finals were decided last weekend in nothing short of emphatic fashion. I have plenty to say on Donegal v Cork, but I want to review the tape and will in time devote a whole column to the sorry mismatch that was Sunday's first Quarter-Final. In the meantime, there is much to consider from the other games played at the weekend.

I predicted that Tyrone would beat Kildare easily enough and that Kildare were 'massively overrated'. I guess Sunday proved me wrong, even if I did pick the winner. But, you couldn't help be impressed by Tyrone's response to a 4 point half-time deficit. The blitz of Kildare carried out in the 15-20 minutes after half-time was simply awesome to watch-every ball fiercely contested; all 15 players getting involved; snappy, intelligent passing and some clinical shooting. Still, when all was said and done, Kildare were a kick of the ball away from winning the game-Tyrone really need to watch themselves in this regard-recall that Armagh could have won their Ulster Championship even though Tyrone were clearly the better team over 70 minutes. I get the impression that Tyrone are playing within themselves this year-they are aware that Kerry are gunning for them now more than ever before, and will need gas in the tank for that challenge, assuming they can get past Cork in an attractive semi-final. And not for one minute am I taking that as a foregone conclusion-but you would have to agree that a Tyrone/Kerry match-up would make for a most intriguing September 20th.

Kildare certainly looked the best loser of the Quarter-Finals played to date-but I can't help think back to the fact that they couldn't beat 14 man Dublin in the Leinster Final-what does that say about them given Dublin's display against Kerry? Hard to know I suppose. Kildare made Tyrone beat them on Sunday-and their disappointment in defeat shows that they have set the bar pretty high-not surprising given who is manning the sidelines. As I read elsewhere, one thing that might be worrying is that their 2 best players on Sunday (and in general this year) were Dermot Earley and John Doyle-neither of whom are getting any younger. Still, you would have to believe that Kieran McGeeney thinks that there is enough talent in the county to compete in the future given his public commitment to Kildare for the next few years. Promotion from Divison 2 and a Leinster title would be a good start on providing concrete evidence that they are the real deal.

If nothing else, Dublin's hammering by Kerry took some of the attention of Donegal's display against Cork. However, in the greater scheme of things, that is really neither here nor there. Both teams have pretty serious fundamental issues that will need to be addressed if they are to progress beyond the Quarter Final stage. I already wrote that the same players who had failed Dublin in the past would not be good enough to take them to the next level this year. And so it came to pass-Cullen substituted, Keaney anonymous, Whelan unable to make a difference when he was introduced, and so on. You really have to question the manager's decision-making/team selection-why on earth leave Ciaran Whelan on the bench when he is fit enough to start only to have to bring him on because your starting pair are so poor (against both Kildare and Kerry)? Not that it really matters I guess-given I don't think the guy is good enough any more anyway, but it's still a worrying sign. Dublin need more to introduce more new faces next year, but they also need more intensity-bullying inferior Leinster teams is no match for facing the likes of Kerry and Tyrone.

I have to admit, I was impressed with Ciaran Whelan's interview on 'Off The Ball' this evening. He gave an honest assessment of both Sunday's game and of the problems facing Dublin football. For someone frequently portrayed as a thug on the pitch, he is quite well spoken-if this is to be his last season on the intercounty scence, perhaps we could see him on a couch somwhere next year, preferably ahead of the Cork flyweight, Tony Davis, or even Bernard Flynn (if he is still around?).

I'll tackle the Donegal game next. I'm still looking for words for that piece.

No quarter given

2009-08-01T18:35:00.009+01:00

And so we are nearly at the 'business' end of the Championship. I say 'nearly' because I'm not really convinced that provincial runners-up or indeed winners from the Qualifiers belong at the business end of the Championship. Maybe I'll leave my assessment of the structures in football and hurling for another day, eh?

Tyrone v Kildare (Croke Park, Sunday)

Tyrone are firm favourites with the bookies and likewise with myself. Other than allowing a fading Armagh team to get within a score of them in the 1st round, I have seen nothing from Tyrone and little evidence from any other teams that would shake my faith in Tyrone retaining their title. The loss of John Devine shouldn't affect them greatly and the break since the Ulster Final should allow Brian Dooher and Enda McGinley time to recover further.

I feel Kildare are being massively overrated, based largely on their televised Leinster final display against Dublin. Let's see, Dublin were a man down for much of the game and still won comfortably enough in the end-of Kildare were largely on top for long periods of the 1st half, Dublin blitzed them in the 2nd half and never really looked in danger of losing. Their full back line was simply awful, but at least 'Geezer' acted decisively in taking off one of his corner backs after the 1st quarter-a good quality in a manager-but then again, it begs the question-why did he start in the first place? Looking at their wins outside of the Leinster Final, we see that they have faced Offaly, Laois and Wicklow-all Leinster teams, and none of whom I would rate highly. Just because Wicklow managed to dispose of 3 poor Ulster teams on their home patch doesn't make beating them any great achievement in my view, and Kildare made heavy enough going of doing so last weekend.

Tyrone should win comfortably-the bookies say 4 points, and it's a bet I might just take.

Dublin v Kerry (Croke Park, Monday)
If Dublin are to finally win against one of the top teams, this is the time to do it-Kerry are carrying injuries to key players and have been wholly unconvincing at all times in this year's Championship, save for maybe the final 20 minutes against Antrim. Dublin meanwhile have done all that has been asked of them-a mediocre enough display against Meath was followed up with a hammering of Westmeath and a 14 man win against Kildare. In Bernard Brogan, they may finally have found a forward that they can rely on to perform week in week out-his brother has frequently let the Dubs down in big games, and Colin Keaney is not consistent enough. That has often been Dublin's downfall in recent years, we will see if they have finally addressed this on Monday. Dublin's porous defence will offer Kerry plenty of opportunities though-whether the Gooch is in the frame of mind to take them remains to be seen.

One thing would worry me (if I was a Dublin fan) was that when the going got tough against Kildare, they turned to the likes of Brian Cullen, Ciaran Whelan and Shane Ryan. These are all players who have failed on the big stage in the past (Cullen is not a good enough defender to play centre back; Whelan disappears in big games; Ryan is not a good enough footballer at the highest level), and the the other sub they introduced was awful.

Kerry still have the class to beat Dublin-whether they have the motivation and cohesion is debatable. Dublin are favoured by a point-if it's that close, I don't think they'll win it. Kerry to sneak through.

Mayo v Meath (Croke Park, Sunday 9 August)

Well after just finishing Meath fall over the line against Limerick, Mayo should have nothing to fear. Ok the 2nd Limerick goal was a tad fortunate, and Meath did lose a man due to reasons unknown (As an aside, isn't it great that RTE cameramen can pan to the stands to look at Sean Boylan sitting quitely and a fat guy in a 1990 Meath jersey every 5 minutes, but miss a key moment of the game? Well played lads.) Meath have got to this stage by much the same route as Kildare-defeat to Dublin in a game that was there for the taking, and a series of victories over mediocre opposition-and will be missing their captain Stephen Bray after his straight red card this evening.

But, if history (and the Connacht Final) have taught us anything, it is that Mayo will always make life interesting/heartbreaking for their long-suffering supporters. They were by far the better team in their encounter with Galway, yet at the death, it was a level game, and better concentration from Galway would have ensured a replay. Meath will have to reach another level to upset Mayo and I doubt they will be capable of same. Mayo to win with relative ease.

Cork v Donegal (Croke Park, Sunday)
I've said enough about this game elsewhere. Both sides have named their teams-Anthony Lynch must pass a fitness test on gameday to play-his presence could be key to Cork's chances-while Donegal are unchanged-I'm surprised Leo McLoone starts again.

Cork to win by a few-I just can't see us overturning the odds for a third weekend running.

Rebel Rendez-Vous

2009-07-28T20:19:00.005+01:00

So Donegal march on through this years Qualifiers. Last Saturday's 1 point win over Galway marked the second week in a row where Donegal started as underdogs against teams that would have been ranked in the top 10 when the Championship began. Now they find themselves in an All-Ireland Quarter Final against Cork-the same team that knocked Donegal out at the same stage in 2006.

That day was a heart-breaker for me-I don't think I'll ever forget the names John Hayes (scorer of the 1st half penalty) and Ger Spillane (the centre-back who somewhat reluctantly took responsibility for kicking the winning point late in the 2nd half). Rather than dwell on what happened that day, I'll try to look forward to this Sunday, where Donegal again start as underdogs (Cork are giving them 3 points) against a Cork team that hasn't played since 5 July, when they barely overcame Limerick in the Munster Final-perhaps feeling that their Munster Final was played against Kerry several weeks earlier. Nonetheless, Cork will be favourites in my eyes as well, and that should suit Donegal just fine given recent history.

I was shocked when Donegal beat Derry. But I felt that having beaten Derry, Galway shouldn't have held any fear, and Donegal started with purpose. There was quick and smart ball being played to the inside forwards, and the Galway full back line seemed quick to give away frees in scorable positions. But, as the half wore on, Galway began to get top-not hard when you are able to win 100% possession at midfield and have (arguably) the finest array of forwards in the country. Having led for most of the half, Donegal went in level, and I feared for what awaited us in the 2nd half. My fears were realised when Galway continued their midfield dominance and were able to use their wing backs and half forwards to run us ragged when coming out of defence at speed. To their credit, Donegal stayed in touch, regained the momentum and were worth their victory in the end-indeed it could have been more comfortable had shots from McFadden (saved), Kavanagh (hit the bar) and Walsh (blazed wide) ended up in the back of the net. At this stage, any victory is a good one (I didn't apply the same thinking to the Carlow and Clare wins), and I went home happy.

And so on to Croke Park (assuming U2 get their crap out in time for the GAA to lay a new pitch) this coming Sunday, where Donegal must again surprise me if they are to make their first Semi-Final in 6 years (indeed, this will be Donegal's first visit to HQ since their 2007 League Final win over Mayo), and who would bet against them after recent results? Well, if my Paddy Power account hadn't dwindled so alarmingly in the past few weeks, I probably would back against them (I always bet with my head, never my heart, so rarely will I back Donegal!), but would happily lose that bet if it meant we would advance to meet Tyrone (I don't see Kildare doing it this weekend) in an all-Ulster Semi-Final (a rare enough site in the past few years!). To win, Donegal will either need to address the following deficiencies, or get extremely lucky.

Cork have one of the best midfield pairings in the country-they have done for some years now-since about the time they last met Donegal in Croke Park I'd say. Donegal on the other hand aren't even treading water, with Kevin Cassidy (a half-back) and Brendan Boyle (a club player at best) filling in as best they can in the absence of (a) Neil Gallagher and Christy Toye; and (b) an apparent lack of anyone else qualified for the job. The absence of the aforementioned players is both infuriating and unlucky-Neil is suspended (by the manager) and Christy is injured-both gone for the remainder of this season it would appear-and possibly longer. Going into the rights and wrongs of Neil's absence is somewhat pointless-all I will say is that his presence would be a good thing-and given what is at stake it would make sense if the issue was re-assessed. Christy's injury has come at an awful time for him-he was arguably Donegal's best player this season (even if John-Joe Doherty didn't seem to think so), Donegal are on the best Championship run since 2006, and Neil's suspension means that he is missed even more than would otherwise be the case. Somehow, Donegal have survived without either against one of better midfield pairings in the country in Fergal Doherty and Joe Diver of Derry, and made Galway look like world-beaters on Saturday evening. I don't expect the trend to be reversed this weekend. Shorter kick-outs (a tactic I don't recall being used against Galway) or more help from the likes of Rory Kavanagh or Conall Dunne could be potential solutions, but if Donegal win more than 30% of ball at midfield it will be a surprise.

Donegal rely heavily of Michael Murphy an Colm McFadden for their scores-and mostly by winning and scoring frees-the lack of scores from play has been a concern, but this weekend Cork have the defenders to keep both quiet-the absence of Anthony Lynch would be a boost for Donegal, but there is always the chance Colm McFadden will revert to more regular form, so I'm not feeling too confident about our scoring power-which hasn't been that frightening this far anyway. So, we will need others to step up-I would like to see David Walsh starting for this reason-he isn't prolific scorer, but is more of a threat than Brian Roper, or Leo McLoone for that matter. Rory Kavangh has a pretty good goal scoring record and came close again last weekend, and let's not forget that it was Kevin Cassidy who was among the goals against Derry. Goals win games-Donegal should know this-the majority of their Championship losses in recent years have come when they have conceded goals.

Watching Donegal last weekend reminded me of watching a game of rugby-the defensive style was reminiscent of 'drift defence'-and it was largely effective. But if Donegal want to play 13 behind the ball, they need to modify their attacking style-Tyrone are a perfect example of how to play this system-attacking from defence as a unit and making good use of their defenders when doing so. Antrim showed last weekend that they can play this system as well-as evidenced by their excellent goal against Kerry-made and scored by their wing backs. Only once on Saturday do I recall the Donegal half backs getting that far forward in the attack, and it should have resulted in a score, if only Colm McFadden has passed to Barry Monaghan instead of shooting wide. To be effective on defence again, Donegal will need to show the same tenacity in the tackle and get a degree of leniency from the referee (their play last weekend was by no means dirty, but given what I have witnessed recently, I was surprised that more frees weren't given), but they also have to commit more bodies forward when they do manage to win turnovers.

As far as team selection goes, I figure there won't be much in the way of changes. Based on last weekend's performances, you would figure that Leo McLoone and Brian Roper might do well to retain their places, with David Walsh pushing for inclusion. After Walsh, the names start to look a little underwhelming-Adrian Hanlon and Eoin Waide (last weekend's other subs introduced in the forwards) lack experience and both look a little 'light' to say the least. That leaves us with Michael Hegarty, and, well, let's not even go down the road. Our lack of scoring power from the bench also worries me-it would be nice if Brendan Devenney were fit enough to play some part (never thought I'd be writing those words!), because aside from maybe Stephen Griffen, there isn't much available as far as I am aware.

I was pretty impressed with Cork in what I saw from them in both games against Kerry, but have had to check that opinion based on Kerry's performances in the meantime. I also wouldn't be too impressed with most of their forwards-especially their half forward line. So maybe Donegal will have an easier time defensively than was the case against either Derry or Galway, but without the ball and if they fail to make the most of their limited scoring chances, it could be another heartbreaker in Croker.

I really hope I've got most of that wrong.

Tír Chonaill Abú!

Down but......not out

2009-07-23T22:34:00.004+01:00

Part 1

June 14 this year was probably my low point as a Donegal supporter. Losing to Antrim on your home ground in the Ulster Championship is bad enough, but it was as much the manner of the loss as the fact that we had lost to what was regarded as the worst team in Ulster at the time that left me feeling so deflated.

I remember texting one of the lads (on holiday in Italy) at half-time and saying that it felt like I was watching a McKenna Cup game in January-the performance and the atmosphere were unbelievably flat. It was essentially the same old, same old, with only 1 new face (Michael McGuire) in the starting line-up, and below par performances from some of our better players (Barry Dunnion and Kevin Cassidy among others). I expected a different story after the break-'hair dryer' treatment and a raft of changes would have been the order of the day-but no, one change, based on the late realisation that we didn't need 6 defenders if Antrim were employing a sweeper (which they had done from the throw-in).

The 2nd half unfolded in nightmare fashion-the low key feeling continued, right up until when Anrim cut through us for a goal-where the stupidity of one player and the sloth of another combined to make us look like a Junior team. After that, Donegal started to rouse themsleves, but it was much too little, much too late and we were out of the Ulster Championship-an Ulster Championship where we were heavy favourites to win out and meet Tyrone in the Final-Donegal can never seem to take 1 game at a time any more.

Note-I posted the following on another site already, so I'm not plagiarising!

The Sunday Game focused on Donegal's wides and the free awarded to Antrim at the death, but In reality, Donegal did not deserve to win for reasons that went beyond these 2 issues. The lack if intensity was shocking and the standard of play (shooting, passing etc) was awful.

It's actually difficult to single out individuals to blame for the Antrim debacle-the general play was so poor that you could have easily justify 10 changes for our next game, but, as I suspected, this did not happen.

Donegal should have beaten Cork in an All-Ireland Quarter-Final less than 3 years ago. Cork have kicked on since then, improving every year, and are seen as All Ireland contenders this year. This is in stark contrast to Donegal, who cannot even contend for an Ulster title (and the current team/panel does not look like doing so anytime soon).

John Joe Doherty has presided over relegation and a 1st round Championship exit to a team that was probably ranked 9th in Ulster before yesterday. In addition, we had only 1 championship debutant in the starting 15, and our most consistent performer (IMHO) during the league (Toye) was on the bench yesterday. What John Joe has given us over Brian McIvor isn't immediately obvious to me.

Congratulations to Antrim-they deserved victory and it has proved to be something of a springboard for them. Their attitude should serve as a lession to our players, and the joy of their supporters after their Semi-Final victory over Cavan was a sight to behold-especially for a Donegal man starved of such scenes by his own county.

P.S. the commentator on The Sunday Game was some feckin' eejit. I won't go to the trouble of posting his name, but it wasn't funny listening to his take on this game. That's what happens when you reach rock bottom though-you are allocated commentators (and indeed referees!) of lower quality.

Part 2

The Qualifier draws have been kind to Donegal so far-home fixtures against Carlow and then Clare should have allowed the team to show us that Antrim was a fluke (in performance terms at least), but, from what I have read and heard, that was not the case. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend either game due to other commitments (despite my disappointment at the Antrim result, I would have liked to have been there to see for myself were Donegal capable of turning things around), and so will say no more than that on those encounters.

And....I missed the Derry game! Just when hope appeared to be lost, and I had wagered moderately heavily on various outcomes that all involved Derry winning, Donegal gave their long suffering supporters cause for hope with an extra-time victory that seemed unlikely to even the most optimistic supporters on Saturday afternoon. Their position appeared not to be helped by the absence of former captain and primary midfield ball-winner 'Big Neil' Gallagher and half-forward Ciaran Bonner through suspension from the panel for 'disciplinary reasons'.

This is the first time in a long time I've missed 3 Donegal games in a row-I will right that wrong this Saturday in Sligo-where Donegal meet a Galway team that faces high expectations, but has yet failed to impress (me) in Connacht Championship clashes against Sligo and Mayo. Galway have fine forwards, but they all rarely seem to hit form together. Of course, Donegal will more than likely start the game with a patched up midfield (Christy Toye lost for the season through injury and Big Neil unlikely to return).

I don't expect Donegal to win, but I'm a wee bit more optimistic than I was this time 7 days ago. Roll on Saturday.

Championship 2009 Part 1

2009-07-21T21:01:00.007+01:00

Well all provincial champions are now decided, with no major surprises.

Tyrone and Dublin were favourites for their respective provinces at the start of the season, and Cork and Mayo's wins are hardly that surprising. There was actually real drama in 3 of the 4 finals, with the Connacht final providing high drama in injury time at Pearse Stadium on Sunday. So what do we know now that we didn't know at the start of May?

While Kildare put them up to it, Dublin proved they are still the team to beat in Leinster. I'm not one to give kudos to Dublin lightly, but getting the win after going a man down in the middle of the first half and an outstanding performance from Bernard Brogan were worthy of praise. However, I felt that Kildare did as much to lose the game as Dublin did to win it-Johnny Doyle's missed free kicks and a propensity to play 'suicide' type passes that were hoovered up by the Dublin backs were 2 of the main reasons for Dublin's victory. It was the type of game Brian Cullen was bound to thrive in-a lot of broken play and not much organised attacking-he was a weak link in the Dublin defence last year, and if he remains a starter (which I presume he will after Ger Brennan's rush of blood), he will be a weakness again this year. Still, there are few teams left in this year's championship that I would pick to beat Dublin at Croke Park, and so they are rightfully counted among the favourites-nothing much new there however.

My opinion of Cork has shifted dramatically given the events of the Munster Final, and Kerry's games in the Qualifiers. I was mightily impressed with Cork's displays against Kerry-they reminded me in no small way of Tyrone-attacking in waves as a team, huge commitment to the tackle and 50:50 ball and generally smart football. But, their struggles in the Munster Final against Limerick, and Kerry's narrow and highly unimpressive wins over Longford and Sligo, have made me reconsider my opinion-we won't really know if Cork are for real until they beat another 'top' team, and win a game in Croke Park-a ground that they haven't fared so well on in recent years. The longish lay-off between the Munster Final and the All-Ireland Quarter Final may not be in their best interests either. Still, on their day, you have to like the look of their backs and midfielders-whether they have enough class or aggression in the forwards remains to be seen.

Tyrone won the Ulster title last Sunday at a canter-Antrim were beaten after about 20 minutes, and although they greatly improved over the course of the 2nd half, Tyrone were well able to trade points with them throughout and you never felt they were in any danger of succumbing to an upset. Since they allowed Armagh to come back at them in the first round, Tyrone have looked extremely focused and they have a fine squad of fit players-which looks ominous for the rest of the contenders. They have managed this without really ever getting out of 3rd gear-players like Stephen O'Neill and Brian Dooher have yet to fire on all cylinders and Enda McGinley has been carrying an injury. Still, they have so many players who are capable of contributing-witness the revival of Kevin Hughes and the re-invention of Owen Mulligan as a playmaker. Yes, Tyrone are well worth the favourites tag at this point, and it is really hard to see past them lifting the Sam Maguire again in September unless complacency and/or injuries get the better of them-and in saying that it appears that they may have the squad to weather the latter this year.

While last Sunday's Connacht Final was not settled until Peader Gardiner's coolly taken score deep in injury time, the reality was that it should have been over long before that moment. However, as ever with Mayo, you can take nothing for granted. I felt that they should have been favourites from the start, given Galway's unimpressive performance against Sligo and Mayo's demolition of Roscommon in their respective semi-finals. Galway have many fine forwards, but they never seem to hit form simultaneously-both Joyces (especially Nicky) gave fine performances last weekend, but Michael Meehan (his injury-time goal aside) and Sean Armtrong were relatively anonymous/ineffective for most of the contest. Add to that the fact that their defence should scare nobody bar their own supporters and see a team that doesn't really look like All-Ireland material. With Mayo, impressive as they were at times on Sunday, like Cork, I feel we need to see more of them before we can say for sure whether they are the real deal-but even at this stage I would fancy them to beat any teams who didn't win their provincial championships.

So there you have the provincial champions for 2009-and my 4 favourites for the title. Tyrone are clearly the pick of the bunch-I can't really separate the other 3, and so I won't bother doing so at this stage. If they win their forthcoming quarter-finals (opponents to be determined) we may know more-for now they still have a lot to prove.

My thoughts on the Ireland situation

2007-02-10T15:04:00.002Z

For anyone who didn't see the game the other night. The performance and the result (yes the result) was unacceptable. Heaven forbid we are in a tie for 2nd place and it comes down to goals scored/goal difference. 2-1 against San Marino ain't gonna cut it. Mourning and calling for heads is justified in my view. But in reality, John Delaney is going nowhere, and Stan will be given the Croker games at least I'm sure, and even then I would be surprised if he doesn't last through qualifying.

I know we may not be world beaters any more, but I feel that the standard of football has dropped and we should be doing better. Why shouldn't we beat San Marino convincingly? Why should we concede 5 goals to Cyprus? Is there any reason why we shouldn't feel confident about playing the likes of Cyprus, Wales and Slovakia at home? And getting at least 2 draws away from home against those teams?

And remember, it's not like the team is trying hard or having a bad run of luck. If that was the case, there wouldn't be so much anger.

The truth is, that aside from Given, Doyle and possibly 1 if not 2 of the Reids (S&A) that was close to our 'best' team. You could argue that Hunt would push out Kilbane, but who else out there could seriously say they should be starting? Of the 11 that started against San Marino, all bar the goalie are Premier League (en Espanol in Ian Harte's case) players and should be good enough to put 5 or 6 past the likes of San Marino (and keep a clean sheet).

Some want to blame/fire the players-who would go out of the current starting 11 and squad? Who would come in? Maybe they should get 'a severe kicking', but can you see 'The Gaffer' doing a credible job given his coaching background? Yes, the players should take some of the blame. Against Cyprus I felt that Steve Finnan was a disaster and he's one of our best. Paul McShane was proclaimed the next Kevin Moran after one game but looked like the next Titus Bramble the other night. Damien Duff was nominated as FAI player of the year-you have got to be joking!

But does anyone seriously believe that the manager is getting the best out of these players? What was he thinking saying that Lee Carsley had no part to play and then having to climb down a week later? Who decided to make Robbie Keane captain? Who ignored Shane Long for meaningless friendlies against Sweden and Holland where the price of failure was zero?

Oh yeah, and losing the feckin' rag like a spoilt child against Germany? What good did that do the team? There's nothing wrong with passion, but that was just idiotic.

I'm not a fan, but I think that David O'Leary was probably the best qualified Irishman the last time out. I don't think that the likes of Hiddink, O'Neill etc. would have seriously considered the job. I kinda felt sorry for Kerr, but he too failed when it counted-let's not forget the tactics employed against Israel.

Re. John Delaney-he failed his first test-appointment of a manager/management team IMHO.

Let's see how he does with the League of Ireland. I'm sure that Dundalk fans would say he's failed at that already! But lets give him a year anyway.

And yes, the media are a joke-over hyping friendlies (no matter who we beat) is an old favourite of theirs. And we shouldn't get too carried away after a draw against a fairly lethargic Czech team. Israel, Cyrpus, San Marino, Switerzerland. Those are the results/performances that are killing us.