The way forward for England

Every two years after yet another failure, we examine what went right and wrong and what we need to do next.

The trouble is nothing ever changes. I think Hodgson did a good job at making the national team more solid and hard to break down, but had Italy been able to finish their chances, then it could have been quite embarassing for England.

As a general rule, England keep themselves stuck in the 4-4-2 of the past. In this system we concede too much possession. It is all well and good playing an open game game and encourage teams to attack so it brings the counter attck into play, but against Italy that will never happen.

Quite simply we need players in the side capable of keeping the ball and having the vision and ability to pick the right pass, which I feel England constantly fall short on.

The question of course is whether we have have the players with the techinical ability to do this. There does appear to be a shortage of technically good players in England, particularly midfield players.

The trouble with English football is as it has always been that our young players are not properly drilled in the technical side of the game. Younsters are coached into positioning and fitness but not how to trap a ball, keep the ball and play possession.

It may be up to the bigger clubs to dothis at academy level, but as long as the bigger cluns bring in youngsters from overseas, then our youngsters will never get the advantage of this and as such we will continue to improve the standing of other nations to the striment of our own.

Please get Mark Lawrenson off the TV

Come on seriously. Watching the England game last night and all the comments you get from Mark Lawrenson are negative. Oh here we go, different manager but same old England.

It must be a real pain the ass for anyone who has to sit there and listen to him. I am not a voilent person but I really want to smack him in the head. The man has nothing ever interesting to say, I just wonder what is the point of the man.

Apparently Rangers fans believe their club is above punishment

I won't be hiding my dislike for Glasgow Rangers here, and without trying to sound biased against the Ibrox club, all I can say is what the heck?

For their many misdemeanours, Rangers have been banned from transfer activity for players 18 and over and fined £160,000.00. Now even for a club heavily in debt, £160k doesn't appear to me to be a huge fine. Maybe they should have paid their taxes on time and they wouldn't have this trouble. I am not aware of the income of Rangers, but I would assume this fine represents less than 1% of their income. That would be the equivalent of a speeding fine as far as I am aware.

The transfer ban may hurt Rangers more as they are likely to have to release a number of their players on high wages in order to bring down their running costs, but on the other hand this may be good for younger players to get a chance.

I am sure the new owners will get a CVA in place and in doing so avoid any further sanctions. I think a number of people in the media and supporters should get off their high horse and accept this on the chin like any other club would have to.

Manchester City and the FFP

First of all, congratulations to Manchester City for a remarkable final few minutes to win the  Premier League title. Over the course of the season they have played the best football and fully deserve the title and probably should have won by a comfortable margin but no team can sustain their start for the whole season.

May I also congratulate Manchester United for making this a competitive season and keeping the title alive even beyond the final whistle at the Stadium of Light. I am sure it is no consolation as being overtaken by your city rivals is always a bitter pill to swallow, but gaining 89 points this season is still a great achievement and would have won the title in many past seasons.

Commiserations to Bolton, I really don't feel they deserved to go down, they are an honest hard working team and Owen Coyle is a quality manager, I hope and believe they will bounce back up.

Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters have been very unfortunate this season. Both teams sacked their managers in the last 18 months and in both of their cases, the board have directly contributed to their relegation's.

Steve Kean to me seems an honest down to earth man who has given his all to Blackburn and in the process has suffered an unwarranted amount of abuse from Blackburn supporters. There is no doubt in my mind that the decision to sack Allardyce and replace him with an inexperienced manager was the determining factor that has lead Blackburn to relegation. The ownership of the club with their lack of investment and complete lack of a grasp of football reality proves to me they are better of at sticking to their poultry business. It sums it up to me the sacking of Paul Hunt for sending a private email expressing his concerns over the club. Have they never heard the expression, "don't shoot the messenger". I fear things will get worse before they get better at Blackburn. Jack Walker must be rolling in his grave.

Wolverhampton were never likely to be more than a bottom six side and Steve Morgan's decision to enter the dressing room to berate the team only ever served to undermine Mick McCarthy, who in my view is a very good manager. I am sure had he not been sacked Wolves would have been far more successful and may still have beaten the drop. As loyal a servant as Terry Connor has been to Wolves, he should never have been given the job, much like Blackburn, a relegation battle needs an experienced man at the helm.

So back to Manchester City. An investment of around £1 billion has brought the title to the Etihad. Like Chelsea before them, they have used the money from a foreign owner to pay excessive wages and excessive transfer fees which has resulted in massive losses on the profit and loss account. They have brought a new spark to the Premier League at the cost of distorting the transfer market and making it more difficult for clubs to grow organically to challenge for the title.

The long term of clubs like these are less certain and something which the Financial Fair Play rules should have addressed, will I am afraid, be no more than paper rules that will never be vigorously applied. Much like the situation in Scotland where the league is held to ransom by the Glasgow giants, UEFA will not be looking to upset the big boys and provided Manchester City and Chelsea keeps other clubs onside, they won't be discouraged from continuing to run up debts.

So for the rest of the clubs looking to climb the mountain, all they can do is try to get into the Champions League and stay competitive and wait until the billionaires get bored with their toys.

My club, Tottenham, has gone from being a mid table and sometimes worse team to challenging for a top four place for most of the last 7 years, and without excessive spending on transfer fees and wages. There will be opportunities for the likes of Newcastle, Everton, Liverpool and Aston Villa in coming seasons to do the same. However as long as football authorities allow mega rich people to come in and throw stupid money at the game, it will be difficult for anyone to compete with them.

But I don't want to take anything away from Manchester City, it is a fine achievement to win your league no matter how much money has been spent, because at the end of the day, it is still eleven against eleven.

I look forward once more to August.

Roberto Martinez and Wigan, a great performance.

Since the inception of the premier League, the headlines have been written by Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and a few others, mostly at the top of table. This season we have seen a change and its about time.

Two managers this season have been absolutely fantastic and for different reasons. I have previously spoken about the great job Alan Pardew has done at Newcastle and has taken his team to the final day of the season with a Champions Legaue place in the offering.

But not to be outdone, I must take my hat off to Roberto Martinez at Wigan. He has the smallest budget and smallest squad in the Premier League and his team are always one of the first to be predicted for relegation each season. This side battle against the odds each season to stay in the top flight and may I say congratulations to all involved. They are a credit to the best football league in the world.

Martinez's decision not to go to Aston Villa now looks a good choice and I believe a very big job is on the horizon for this man. Well done and good luck.

Rangers are holding the SPL to ransom

In light of developments surrounding Rangers takeover and the possibility of the liquidation and Reformation of a new club, there have been some interesting and somewhat concerning statements made in the press.

It seems the SPL needs to make some decisions and no doubt commercial interests will be put ahead of integrity of the game.

Ally McCoist stated Rangers point of view, that if Rangers were thrown out of the SPL then many teams faced a very hard financial future. Therein lies the problem with Scottish football. The two Glasgow giants have far too much say in the direction and makeup of the SPL and there ongoing survival is essential to the survival of all other clubs.

In England if Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool were thrown out of the Premier League, there are plenty of others able to fill their place. Any one league should not be dependant on one or two teams.

It has long been mooted that Celtic and Rangers should move to England to help grown their clubs, however this episode just shows that they are better off in their protected league which will always feature the two Glasgow clubs. That is unless some competition comes out from Edinburgh or elsewhere, but that is highly unlikely.

So no doubt the SPL will take the option of maintaining the status quo and allow Rangers misdeeds to go unpunished.

Roy Hodgson - do I care?

So the shock announcement this week was the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager. Given previous appointments, this is not a huge surprise.

I do actually admire Roy Hodgson, I believe he is a very good coach and has good tactical abilities. The problem I see is how he will handle a high profile job and whether he can do what no other manager has been able to do and harness the talents of the England team and get the best out of them.

England should be competing with the best at every tournament but we often fall short, and that is not always the fault of the manager but the structure of our football, the philosophy we install in our youngsters and the lack of proper technical training at grassroots level.

I have not been inspired by an England manager since Terry Venables and I am still completely apathetic to this current England team and management. Hodgson's appointment, while it may have been good in another time, I believe is wrong for this moment. England need an inspired manager, who will generate excitement both on and off the pitch, whoever that may be, I am sure that is not Roy Hodgson.

I hope he does succeed, but I fear he won't and he will suffer much derision like his predecessors.

Kenny Dalglish: Great Manager or just plain lucky?

Kenny Dalglish was the last great Liverpool manager in a line that included Shankly, Paisley and Fagan. He managed to win the League Title on three occasions with the Reds. He later went onto a successful spell with Blackburn Rovers winning the Premier League with the Lancashire club. He also endured some difficult times with Newcastle and Celtic.

Last season Dalglish re-entered football management back at Liverpool. After a good end to last season, big things were expected of Liverpool this season having made some significant investment in the squad.

Kenny Dalglish had been successful in the past bringing in good players such as John Barnes to Liverpool and Alan Shearer to Blackburn, but now his ability in the transfer market is certainly questionable. The likes of Suarez, Carroll and Henderson have not set the world on fire.

Liverpool currently stand 34 points behind rivals Manchester United in the table and questions are being asked of Dalglish. But what is his true ability. He inherited a great team in 1985 and managed to build on that success with some good signings, but in those days everybody wanted to play for Liverpool.

At Blackburn he was bankrolled by Jack Walker and spent a large amount of money, for those days, on the likes of Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton etc. It may be fair to say anyone could have been successful at Blackburn in those days.

Anyone who wins the top division title at more than one club cannot be scoffed at and the likes of Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson or the late Bill Nicholson didn’t achieve that, although they didn’t have the chance either, but it is still a testament to his ability in the past.

Liverpool are very much a club living on past glories with over 20 years past since they last won the top division title. Perhaps Liverpool are in a decline and will be left fighting for Europa League places with past great clubs such as Everton and Aston Villa.

It is now up to Dalglish to arrest that decline.

The strange case of Alan Pardew

He played for such giants as Epsom and Ewell, Dulwich Hamlets and Corinthian Casuals, managed in League One and briefly gave up the game as a youngster. Alan Pardew has led a colourful life in football and has been the centre of controversy on a number of occasions.  There can be many opinions on Alan Pardew but there can be no denying he is a quality manager.

I don’t actually remember his playing career, although I know he playing the Cup final against Manchester United in 1990 and even went on loan to Spurs in 1995, I expect to make up the numbers for the Inter Toto cup.

My first recollection of Alan Pardew was at Reading as manager. I must say my first impression was not good, although his ability was there for all to see as he had taken Reading to near the top of the Championship and were in a position to challenge for promotion to the Premier league. Unfortunately for Reading, West Ham came calling. His club had refused West Ham permission to speak to him but Pardew saw the money and promptly resigned.

I suppose it is the mark of the man seeing a better opportunity and taking it, but I felt he should have seen out his job with Reading. It is interesting the parallels between the two clubs recently and even today only one position separates the two.

Pardew went on and had a reasonable amount of success with West Ham taking them to the FA Cup final and the most enjoyable aspect for me was that dust up with Arsene Wenger.

After his dismissal from West Ham, Pardew went on to manage Charlton and Southampton and was unfortunate in the circumstances of both his appointment and dismissals from both clubs.

Charlton was in the post Curbishly era and had experienced a successful stint in the Premier League, but a club with such small resources could not stay there forever and as had happened with other teams before it had trouble adjusting to life in the Championship after relegation. Pardew suffered abuse from the fans and was dismissed.

His time at Southampton was brief and his dismissal was more as a result of high expectations rather than unsound management, but we see this time after time so it should not come as a surprise when a manger gets dismissed.

At Newcastle United, Chris Houghton had done a great job, winning promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Newcastle were sitting pretty mid table the following season when Ashley in all his wisdom sacked Chris Houghton. His reasons were that he wanted a more experienced manager. This was puzzling to all concerned and the subsequent appointment of Pardew did not get the support of the football community and in particular Newcastle Fans.

Pardew’s job was not made easy with the sale of Carroll last January to Liverpool but nonetheless he carried on. In the summer Newcastle signed Demba Ba which must go down as the signing of the season.

Newcastle started the season well and were sitting in the top 4 for the first few months. Despite some heavy losses they currently sit in sixth position 11 points ahead of Liverpool and level with Champions League chasing Chelsea.

Alan Pardew must be satisfied with his time at Newcastle and he is certainly one of the English managerial stars of today. The Newcastle manager is now considered one of the front runners for the England job, which would be an amazing achievement for the former Barnet man.

Love him or loathe him, there is alot to admire about Alan Pardew.

Get well soon Stiliyan Petrov

Football has had its fair share of traumas recently, but it is good to see, amid all of the bitterness and passion, that the football community is a true brotherhood and is united when a player falls ill.

Aston Villa have announced that Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia. I join in with the whole football community in wishing him the best of luck and prayers and hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Hoddle for England?

 First I must say I am biased when it comes to Glen Hoddle. He was my boyhood hero, one of the finest players we have seen and in my opinion, the best England manager since Bobby Robson.

Glen Hoddle has recently expressed his interest in the England job and if for merely footballing reasons, would be a shoe-in.

There is a dividing line with Hoddle which cost him his job in the first place. His use of a faith healer in the past put him in a vulnerable position, as does any method which is seen as unconventional, had she been called a sport psychologist it would have been acceptable. As good as a coach and tactician he may have been, his handling of players and the media left him open to criticism.

In 1998 Glen Hoddle had a decision to make in choosing his World Cup squad. Unfortunately for Paul Gascoigne, his fitness was considered a risk and it was Gazza who didn’t make the squad. Perhaps Hoddle did not deliver the news in the way the player would have liked but perhaps it was the right decision, it is impossible to say.

As they say the rest is history. This England squad was certainly capable of winning the World Cup. Michael Owen had just appeared and the whole nation was pleading with Hoddle to start him, which Hoddle chose not to do immediately. England were impressive in the group stage and faced old foe, Argentina in the second round. Michael Owen announced himself to the world with an incisive break and scoring for England.

Unfortunately for England, David Beckham got himself sent off with a rather childish swipe at Simeone who did all he could to make sure the referee saw it. England eventually lost on penalties but not before putting in a fine resolute display which could have been rewarded had Sol Campbell’s goal been ruled out.

Hoddle tactically was spot on, he had got the best out of his players, and it seemed a good crack at the European Championships was on the cards. Unfortunately for Hoddle he let his own personal beliefs interfere with his public life and made that great faux pas, which i am sure to this day he regrets. Hoddle had said that the things that happen to you in this life could be a punishment for the bad things you do in a past life. The fact that this is a commonly held belief in some cultures was lost on the press and the general media and in fact the entire disabled community. Hoddle’s comments were considered inappropriate and insensitive and he was forced to resign.

It is unfortunate when a manager has to resign because of events off the pitch, and even more unfortunate for Hoddle who never really reached great heights as a club manager. He was however a good manager and had some success with Southampton before his return to Tottenham. Hoddle had managed to get Spurs playing attractive football again and it was the beginning of the rebirth of the club after many years in the doldrums, but for Hoddle it wasn’t to happen.  Player power forced him out combined with some poor results. I felt at the time and still do,  had Spurs had a young crop of players to mould, then Hoddle would have been the man to get the best out of them as his coaching abilities have been acclaimed by many a player. When he had a brief stint at Wolves as manager, the players there said he was the best footballer on the pitch, a great example for younger players.

This England team is clearly at the crossroads and it needs a manager who can get the best out of the squad. I would give Hoddle another chance because he has proved it with England in the past his abilities as a manager, I am sure he can be forgiven for his off field transgression.

Football is warfare and there is honour in battle

On occasions, when meeting someone who does not follow football, I have tried to explain why we follow the game. But how can you explain the tribal nature of football and the unbridled passion of this great game.

I am a sports fan, not all sports, my favourite being cricket, Australian Rules and football. I love the Ashes, the greatest of cricketing rivals. I used to regularly go to Australian Rules games as well and I certainly felt passion and excitement for my team, North Melbourne.

But there is something special about football. Maybe it’s because scoring doesn’t happen too often that it is almost climactic when a goal is scored. I remember when my Spurs beat Chelsea in the League Cup Final, my reaction was to shout extremely loud, I think I scared my kids, and I recall throwing a table across the room in celebration, ok that is a bit weird but you get my point.

There is tribalism to football. The rivalries leave the football pitch and join us in life. I have met many Arsenal fans and while perhaps we could be good friends, the football thing would always come between us. Yes that is a bit childish, but to me football is warfare.

It is hard to describe to the non football person about this rivalry. But this is replicated all over the country; Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Bristol, Tyneside, South Coast, Glasgow, Edinburgh.  There are so many rivalries too numerous to mention all the sides, but many of these protagonists follow their rivalries off the pitch too, whether it is banter, coldness or perhaps something worse.

For ninety minutes every weekend we sing for our team, sing our players names and our club and goad the opposition and their fans. It is no wonder that hooliganism arose out of football. This game helps us escape from the anxiety and stresses of modern life, and on occasions our emotions do get the better of us. For me it means saying the odd F word and believe me I have many. For other the emotions can become violent, which has been a blight on our game for many decades.

During the First World War on Christmas Day, there was a brief suspension of warfare, and the opposing German and British/French soldiers joined together to have a Christmas feast and play football amongst other things before returning to battle  the following day.  There was in those days still an honour in battle.

Football is much the same, for those ninety minutes, football is warfare, and sometimes the battle will continue off the pitch for nine months every year. But every now and then there is a cessation in the battle, a time for all football fans to unite. There have been various tragedies in football in recent years; Hillsborough, Bradford, Heysel. Just recently after the death of Bobby Robson, a man admired by just about everybody, the football world came to together to honour his life. After the shocking suicide of Gary Speed, once again the football world was in unison.

This weekend while Fabrice Muamba lay unconscious on the White Hart Lane pitch, the football world was again in unison. Both Tottenham and Bolton supporters sang his name, the whole football community Tweeted away wishing him a recovery and prayers were sent by all and sundry. There were sentiments from all that some things are more important than football, well maybe?

But this warfare we act out week in week out has been suspended, as much as we try to carry on, for some their hearts are just not in it when a player’s life is in danger. There is honour in battle.

Is a giant about to fall?

In recent years we have seen some smaller clubs fall by the wayside; Rushden and Diamonds, Chester City and Halifax. But now obscurity threatens Portsmouth and Rangers.

I don’t expect Rangers to go into liquidation due to the size and potential of the club, but for now I fear for Portsmouth.  The South Coast club have entered administration for the second time in a couple of years and there is a real chance the club will fold unless a new buyer can be found.

News yesterday that the club will be seeking a new CVA and the offer appears to be a 20% offer on the 20% that creditors have already taken. The club is already under a transfer embargo and the situation concerning players is also unclear.

Portsmouth don’t have any assets outside of their playing staff and with relegation a real threat and with that , lower revenue, the club appears to be in an insolvent situation as the income of the club is far outweighed by its expenditure.

The situation being at the moment that it is not certain to be in a position to fulfil its fixtures this season. I admire those players who both refused the opportunity to leave in the January transfer window and have also deferred their wages. If I was an employee I am not sure that I would have accepted that myself, and let’s not forget as high as some of these players may be paid, they still have families to keep and bills to pay.

Of course for the players and backroom staff, there will always be other clubs and other opportunities. But for fans and volunteers there will only ever be one Portsmouth Football club. I hope for their sake, the axe doesn’t fall on this proud club.

What is wrong with fielding a B-Side?

Just recently Andre Villas Boas was criticised for proposing teams field a B Side in the same way that Barcelona do. In that system the reserve teams is placed in competition and the main stipulation seems to be they cannot occupy the same division as the parent team.

I am actually in support of this idea. Many players are sent out on loan through the season to lower division teams. I would pose the question as to whether it would benefit the club and player more if they were to stay at their club and play in a B side which would still have the opportunity of promotion and relegation.

Many owners and supporters don’t want their teams to be feeder clubs and it may restrict the ability of some clubs to grow. These difficulties can be overcome by certain criteria. For instance let’s say the Championship could restrict the number of B sides in the division and if a B side were to finish in the top two of League One then the lowest placed B side in the Championship could be relegated.

Tottenham Hotspur currently doesn’t participate in the Reserve League and instead send all their playesr out on loan in order that they can get some competitive football. They could be better served to be playing their reserves in either the Championship or League One.  Not only do these players get competitive football, they also get to play together which will benefit the first team in the long run.

There will still be players not capable of playing the level their B Side currently plays so the opportunity for lower league clubs to loan players should still be there and of course only the big sides may be able to have the money to field a B Side.

One other factor to consider may be the way players move between the first team and the B Side. Maybe a limit on how many first team games any player has been selected for would be an idea.

There has long been the suggestion of Celtic and Rangers joining the English League. The trouble there for me was that they would be parachuted in when other Scottish teams were not given the same opportunity. The same can be said for any B Side joining the football league. Who decides on the merit of each team?

This concept may never get off the ground but I do believe it needs to be discussed and investigate the merits of making this change. In the long term it may give the opportunity for players who are not being played to stay fit, stay motivated and put themselves in the shop window. It is the British way to fight against change, but sometimes change could benefit all.

ANother ridiculous ssacking

News today that Gary Megson has lost his job at Sheffield Wednesday adds to the long recent list of managerial sackings.

The average time for a managerial appointment is barely more than a year and I think it is time for something to be dome about this. Only last week Mick McArthy lost his job only a week after the chairman Steve Morgan sought to undermine him in the dressing room.

Last Season there was Chris Houghton who was doing a good job at Newcastle and whom i am sure will get Birmingham back into the top flight.

Sheffield Wednesday are currently third in League One behind Charlton and Sheffield United. I would say that is very respectable and I would expect them to be in a strong position for promotion in the final weeks of the season, so why sack him now. Mandaric thinks there is someone else better to finish the job. I doubt it.

Something has to change to bring back a little bit of dignity to our managers.

Another meanlingless friendly

I must admit international football for me has been less and less interesting since Euro 96 and that 4-1 demolition of Holland. I find most if the games sterile and the only thing that makes internatiional football exciting is when the smallwer nations have a stand out tournament like Ghana  at the last World Cup.

I would rather watch the Premier League over any international. So now we have another interuption for a friendly. Other than making the Football Association a bit opf money, and devaluing the England Cap by throwing a few new faces into the squad, what purpose does it serve?

Our players always end up returning tired, sometimes injured and it will only serve to disrupt preparation for upcoming matches.

The press with then rabbit on for days about how poor our side is or if we win will run down the performance as meaningless.

I understand the need for internationals, don'tget me wrong. But I just wish we could get rid of these friendlies after qualifying has completed until the end of the season. The football calender is busy enough as it is without adding more games.