Just as brown is the new black, the goalkeeper position is the new left midfield as far as England is concerned - except England never really sorted out their left midfield problem. Some decidedly square-looking pegs were forced into suspiciously round-looking holes by a number of England coaches in the past, such as the times Nick Barmby and Frank Lampard were stuck wide out on the left and told to run like Ryan Giggs. Of course, Ryan Giggs is Welsh - well, about as Welsh as Inzamam Ul-Haq is - and now, just as we're forgetting about that part of our team because Joe Cole seems to be doing alright, step forward Paul Robinson. No, not the actor from Neighbours or that left back who plays for West Brom... Paul Robinson, Spurs' Number 1 and somewhat controversially (and sadly) England's Number 1. It was his gaff that led to Germany's equaliser on Wednesday night in a friendly that everyone termed 'not a friendly'. Personally, I didn't care about the performance or the result because a) I wasn't watching it, and b) it didn't matter. Give me a couple of wins against Israel and Russia and then everyone will forget about the Germany defeat.
Anyway, that's about as much as I'm going to say on the small matter of football for now. Your Spy has to pack his things for Leeds festival this weekend and will, as a result, be totally detached from all football news. So until next week, Ta'ra!
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
It's a marathon, not a sprint
Every now and again I come across articles like this one on the football section of the BBC Sport website. The best bits are towards the bottom as I like to read about particular teams' chants, and how they can sometimes highlight the unimaginative creations of certain teams' fans as they unintentionally allow their inferior intelligence to shine through.
What an interesting weekend of football it's been... while Manchester City occupy top spot in the Premier League their rivals Manchester United languish in 16th place after three games. Rooney is injured, Ronaldo is unavailable after falling for the old fashioned wind-up tricks played by Pompey on Wednesday night, and what with Saha and Solskjaer injured it's a difficult time for the Red Devils. Everyone laugh!
Chelsea were given a helping hand from the bloke who paves their owner's driveway on Saturday, allegedly (see third from bottom). Yes, it was a ridiculous penalty decision; yes, Liverpool were unlucky; and yes, Liverpool were given a similarly dodgy decision just the week before, from which Gerrard scored the winner. Two points gained at Villa, two lost at home to Chelsea. It's swings and roundabouts, people.
It's been a season of goalkeeping gaffs so far. I'm not keeping an official count, you understand, but by my reckoning both Jens Lehmann and Tony Warner head the list of silly mistakes in the Premier League with two each. Even the usually reliable Brad Friedel decided to get in on the act in Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Arsenal, although his mistake was marginally less embarrassing than Lehmann, who let David Dunn's shot go straight through his hands.
Just when you think it's safe to come out and say that Middlesbrough are a 'nothing' team and will probably struggle against relegation, they go and win a tricky away tie. It shouldn't have been a win because David Healy's goal was disallowed because it crossed the line but failed to connect with the back of the net. As decisions go, I think that one was worse than Rob Styles' at Anfield. The goal-line dispute has come full circle since Bobby Zamora's effort was blocked on the line by teammate Carlos Tevez at Blackburn last season without the ball crossing the line, and on that occasion the goal was given. If Laurie Sanchez is anything like me, he'll feel like he's owed something, and he'll continue to feel like that - even beyond repayment.
I'm surprised with Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday - the only two teams in the Championship who have yet to win a point. Scunthorpe look like they're trying to emulate the good season Colchester had last year by hanging around the play-offs like George Michael around a public toilet. Charlton were rumbled at Stoke, who top the table, and Sheffield United's defeat at Watford supports my continued belief that the Blades are going nowhere with Bryan Robson in charge. I'm sure he's a nice bloke, even though you wouldn't guess it from looking at his constantly miserable face, but he just doesn't seem to have the mental toughness to be a football manager.
As we dip down into League 1 we see my relegation candidates Leyton Orient topping the table, closely followed by Huddersfield - the only other team in the league that can keep up with Orient's 100% start to the season. Well, that's what the league says, when in reality Leeds have also got a 100% record. But they're a bunch of bastards managed by the biggest bastard of them all, so it's too easy to discount them. Carlisle seem to be doing well without a manager, winning another game with a caretaker manager in charge. That means he'll get the job and their form will immediately plummet. Still, it's too early to tell these things so I'm not making any judgments. Apart from Leeds, that is.
After their midweek League Cup first round defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham put paid to the media theory that Peterborough will get promoted because they have the son of a really good manager in charge by beating the Posh by three goals to one on a rare Sunday game in League 2. The victory would have looked more convincing had it not been for the visitors pulling back a consolation goal two minutes from time. Peterborough have some money and an inexperienced manager, so it's only right that they're tipped for promotion. Take the name 'Ferguson' out of the equation however and suddenly they become also-rans. The day the media stops bumming Alex Ferguson is the day that crap commentator Clive Tyldesley starts calling him Alex rather than Alec. And don't call him Sir, it'll just inflate his ego beyond that of what we already have to put up with from José Mourinho. Elsewhere in the league we see Accrington and Barnet looking a bit crap, Rochdale (somewhat surprisingly) struggling along with Mansfield, Lincoln being extremely unpredictable by losing 4-0 at home and then winning 3-1 away, and MK Dons already under-achieving. They have a brand-spanking new stadium with soft bits on the plastic seats. Who wants comfort at a football match?
What an interesting weekend of football it's been... while Manchester City occupy top spot in the Premier League their rivals Manchester United languish in 16th place after three games. Rooney is injured, Ronaldo is unavailable after falling for the old fashioned wind-up tricks played by Pompey on Wednesday night, and what with Saha and Solskjaer injured it's a difficult time for the Red Devils. Everyone laugh!
Chelsea were given a helping hand from the bloke who paves their owner's driveway on Saturday, allegedly (see third from bottom). Yes, it was a ridiculous penalty decision; yes, Liverpool were unlucky; and yes, Liverpool were given a similarly dodgy decision just the week before, from which Gerrard scored the winner. Two points gained at Villa, two lost at home to Chelsea. It's swings and roundabouts, people.
It's been a season of goalkeeping gaffs so far. I'm not keeping an official count, you understand, but by my reckoning both Jens Lehmann and Tony Warner head the list of silly mistakes in the Premier League with two each. Even the usually reliable Brad Friedel decided to get in on the act in Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Arsenal, although his mistake was marginally less embarrassing than Lehmann, who let David Dunn's shot go straight through his hands.
Just when you think it's safe to come out and say that Middlesbrough are a 'nothing' team and will probably struggle against relegation, they go and win a tricky away tie. It shouldn't have been a win because David Healy's goal was disallowed because it crossed the line but failed to connect with the back of the net. As decisions go, I think that one was worse than Rob Styles' at Anfield. The goal-line dispute has come full circle since Bobby Zamora's effort was blocked on the line by teammate Carlos Tevez at Blackburn last season without the ball crossing the line, and on that occasion the goal was given. If Laurie Sanchez is anything like me, he'll feel like he's owed something, and he'll continue to feel like that - even beyond repayment.
I'm surprised with Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday - the only two teams in the Championship who have yet to win a point. Scunthorpe look like they're trying to emulate the good season Colchester had last year by hanging around the play-offs like George Michael around a public toilet. Charlton were rumbled at Stoke, who top the table, and Sheffield United's defeat at Watford supports my continued belief that the Blades are going nowhere with Bryan Robson in charge. I'm sure he's a nice bloke, even though you wouldn't guess it from looking at his constantly miserable face, but he just doesn't seem to have the mental toughness to be a football manager.
As we dip down into League 1 we see my relegation candidates Leyton Orient topping the table, closely followed by Huddersfield - the only other team in the league that can keep up with Orient's 100% start to the season. Well, that's what the league says, when in reality Leeds have also got a 100% record. But they're a bunch of bastards managed by the biggest bastard of them all, so it's too easy to discount them. Carlisle seem to be doing well without a manager, winning another game with a caretaker manager in charge. That means he'll get the job and their form will immediately plummet. Still, it's too early to tell these things so I'm not making any judgments. Apart from Leeds, that is.
After their midweek League Cup first round defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham put paid to the media theory that Peterborough will get promoted because they have the son of a really good manager in charge by beating the Posh by three goals to one on a rare Sunday game in League 2. The victory would have looked more convincing had it not been for the visitors pulling back a consolation goal two minutes from time. Peterborough have some money and an inexperienced manager, so it's only right that they're tipped for promotion. Take the name 'Ferguson' out of the equation however and suddenly they become also-rans. The day the media stops bumming Alex Ferguson is the day that crap commentator Clive Tyldesley starts calling him Alex rather than Alec. And don't call him Sir, it'll just inflate his ego beyond that of what we already have to put up with from José Mourinho. Elsewhere in the league we see Accrington and Barnet looking a bit crap, Rochdale (somewhat surprisingly) struggling along with Mansfield, Lincoln being extremely unpredictable by losing 4-0 at home and then winning 3-1 away, and MK Dons already under-achieving. They have a brand-spanking new stadium with soft bits on the plastic seats. Who wants comfort at a football match?
Friday, 17 August 2007
An apology (and first managerial casualty)
I do beg your pardon - I've just witnessed ITV's Carling Cup highlights programme, tucked away on ITV4. I guess it's more of a bullshit apology because what I saw was a load of shite anyway. I know there were a fair few games to cover but, even so, there's no excuse for showing just one goal from matches that had four or five in them. It's 11:45pm on ITV4; I hardly think their schedule demands more important things considering the only people who watch that channel at that time are channel-hoppers who look for any excuse not to go to bed. And if Robbie Earl gets any more rigid in his presenting skills then he'll turn into a bloody concrete pillar before long. Ex-players who try and make it in the media should know when to call it quits (I'm looking at you, John Barnes).
After finishing eighth in their first season in League 1 the Carlisle board have made the ingenius decision to sack their manager, whose name escapes me for now. I didn't realise there had already been a managerial casualty this season. The sacking is a mysterious one to say the least, considering Carlisle have had much harder times in very recent memory.
And Spurs have held a meeting with boss Martin Jol after their poor start to the new campaign. That meeting wouldn't have taken place, I don't think, if Michael Chopra didn't score with the last kick of the game on Saturday. Jol is a good manager, and Spurs need to remember where they were when he took over. Two solid seasons of finishing fifth, interspersed with a bit of European football is an improvement on what they had before Jol became manager.
Don't forget to tune in for ITV's The Championship (and other leagues that don't matter) on Sunday when they will be showing extended highlights of Watford versus Sheffield United: a Premiership reject game from last season. Yes, join Matt Smith and the gang to watch what was Match of the Day's last game last season.
After finishing eighth in their first season in League 1 the Carlisle board have made the ingenius decision to sack their manager, whose name escapes me for now. I didn't realise there had already been a managerial casualty this season. The sacking is a mysterious one to say the least, considering Carlisle have had much harder times in very recent memory.
And Spurs have held a meeting with boss Martin Jol after their poor start to the new campaign. That meeting wouldn't have taken place, I don't think, if Michael Chopra didn't score with the last kick of the game on Saturday. Jol is a good manager, and Spurs need to remember where they were when he took over. Two solid seasons of finishing fifth, interspersed with a bit of European football is an improvement on what they had before Jol became manager.
Don't forget to tune in for ITV's The Championship (and other leagues that don't matter) on Sunday when they will be showing extended highlights of Watford versus Sheffield United: a Premiership reject game from last season. Yes, join Matt Smith and the gang to watch what was Match of the Day's last game last season.
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Premiership preview
It has just come to my attention that I have yet to make predictions about the Premiership. With most teams having already played a couple of games, some of you may suspect foul play but in order to convince you that my predictions are entirely fair and were made before a ball had been kicked... I tipped Manchester United to win the title. So then, do you believe me now?
I had Chelsea down as second, Liverpool as third and Arsenal as fourth. Sorry, am I getting things confused with last season? Possibly. You see, as far as the title race is concerned, it's all becoming a bit boring. I'll refrain from calling it predictable because, I admit, no one truly knows who the winner will be at this stage. But when the same four teams are predicted to finish in the same four positions year after year, it begs many questions.
Right, I'll quickly mention who I tipped for relegation because I've already typed a lot today and can't be bothered to do much more. Bye bye Derby, Wigan and... Birmingham? I can't remember. Perhaps. I don't like them, but it's difficult not to confuse hatred with relegation.
I had Chelsea down as second, Liverpool as third and Arsenal as fourth. Sorry, am I getting things confused with last season? Possibly. You see, as far as the title race is concerned, it's all becoming a bit boring. I'll refrain from calling it predictable because, I admit, no one truly knows who the winner will be at this stage. But when the same four teams are predicted to finish in the same four positions year after year, it begs many questions.
Right, I'll quickly mention who I tipped for relegation because I've already typed a lot today and can't be bothered to do much more. Bye bye Derby, Wigan and... Birmingham? I can't remember. Perhaps. I don't like them, but it's difficult not to confuse hatred with relegation.
Midweek action
It may have occurred sooner than expected, but my first hearty laugh of the season arrived on Wednesday night when Christiano Ronaldo's red card sent me into a tight-fisted Tim Henman-esque celebration on my own sofa just before midnight. And yes, it's that important to me.
What do you get when 34 fixtures involving 68 teams get played? Absolutely no TV highlights, that's what. Ok, so there weren't many upsets in there, but if I were a Morecambe fan I'd be positively tearing my hair out at the lack of coverage of our 2-1 away win at Preston. Grimsby took Burnley to penalties but lost, and Shrewsbury beat Colchester after extra time. Rochdale beat Stoke on penalties and my relegation favourites Leyton Orient followed up their excellent weekend win at Southend with a 2-1 away win at QPR. I suppose I should mention MK Dons' win over Ipswich, but franchise clubs don't deserve any sorts of mentions.
Kieron bloody Dyer has finally joined West Ham from Newcastle for "something in the region of £6m," reports the BBC. At 28-years old Dyer has most probably pissed the best part of his career by - sorry, I mean passed the best part of his career by - and one can't help but feel that he never fulfilled his potential. Instead of concentrating on his profession like a professional he was paid to be, he acquired an attitude, urinated in the streets of Newcastle and seeked to express his essentially working-class identity by learning to fight with his own teammates. However, your Spy has to question the intelligence of anyone who actively seeks to annoy and antagonise Lee 'The Mentalist' Bowyer into a fight in front of 60,000 people.
Well, it's good to see Manchester United in the bottom half of the table at any time of the season. I can't say I'm thrilled to see Chelsea at the top after two opening victories but you can't expect everything, can you? In fact, you can't even expect normal things like Mark Lawrenson talking sense, or ITV making and showing decent highlights programmes.
It was the clash of the titans; the meeting of the big bollocks last night when Arbroath took on Alloa in the Scottish Challenge Cup first round and won 2-0, heaping further misery on Alloa after their rubbish 6-0 defeat at home to Airdrie at the weekend. And it is Airdrie who will play Arbroath in the second round, which then goes straight into the quarter finals after that. The Scots don't like to mess around with these things.
Oh no, here we go: Sheffield United are now wanting compensation from West Ham for their relegation from the Premiership last season, opening up yet another legal row that's bound to come to an obvious conclusion and prove once again that taking things to court is just an incredible waste of time and money for what could be decided by two chimps locked in the same room for ten minutes. Call me stupid, but doesn't this already exist in the form of 'Parachute Payments', covered by the Premier League, which is quickly helping to create and establish elitism in the Championship?
I'm not used to midweek Premiership action so early on in the season. If you were as cynical as your favourite Spy then you would make a logical assumption that this is an effort by the chief fixture list people to create more time for those teams in European competitions to complete their oh-so-important European ties. If they love European cup football so much, why don't they just go ahead and marry it.
What do you get when 34 fixtures involving 68 teams get played? Absolutely no TV highlights, that's what. Ok, so there weren't many upsets in there, but if I were a Morecambe fan I'd be positively tearing my hair out at the lack of coverage of our 2-1 away win at Preston. Grimsby took Burnley to penalties but lost, and Shrewsbury beat Colchester after extra time. Rochdale beat Stoke on penalties and my relegation favourites Leyton Orient followed up their excellent weekend win at Southend with a 2-1 away win at QPR. I suppose I should mention MK Dons' win over Ipswich, but franchise clubs don't deserve any sorts of mentions.
Kieron bloody Dyer has finally joined West Ham from Newcastle for "something in the region of £6m," reports the BBC. At 28-years old Dyer has most probably pissed the best part of his career by - sorry, I mean passed the best part of his career by - and one can't help but feel that he never fulfilled his potential. Instead of concentrating on his profession like a professional he was paid to be, he acquired an attitude, urinated in the streets of Newcastle and seeked to express his essentially working-class identity by learning to fight with his own teammates. However, your Spy has to question the intelligence of anyone who actively seeks to annoy and antagonise Lee 'The Mentalist' Bowyer into a fight in front of 60,000 people.
Well, it's good to see Manchester United in the bottom half of the table at any time of the season. I can't say I'm thrilled to see Chelsea at the top after two opening victories but you can't expect everything, can you? In fact, you can't even expect normal things like Mark Lawrenson talking sense, or ITV making and showing decent highlights programmes.
It was the clash of the titans; the meeting of the big bollocks last night when Arbroath took on Alloa in the Scottish Challenge Cup first round and won 2-0, heaping further misery on Alloa after their rubbish 6-0 defeat at home to Airdrie at the weekend. And it is Airdrie who will play Arbroath in the second round, which then goes straight into the quarter finals after that. The Scots don't like to mess around with these things.
Oh no, here we go: Sheffield United are now wanting compensation from West Ham for their relegation from the Premiership last season, opening up yet another legal row that's bound to come to an obvious conclusion and prove once again that taking things to court is just an incredible waste of time and money for what could be decided by two chimps locked in the same room for ten minutes. Call me stupid, but doesn't this already exist in the form of 'Parachute Payments', covered by the Premier League, which is quickly helping to create and establish elitism in the Championship?
I'm not used to midweek Premiership action so early on in the season. If you were as cynical as your favourite Spy then you would make a logical assumption that this is an effort by the chief fixture list people to create more time for those teams in European competitions to complete their oh-so-important European ties. If they love European cup football so much, why don't they just go ahead and marry it.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
The under-rated League Cup
I can understand the hype that surrounds the FA Cup but for years I've been left wondering why the same hype is never generated around the League Cup. Maybe it occurs too early in the season for most people to give a damn.
Premiership clubs see it as a hindrence and they basically toss it off until they realise that their reserve squad has got them to a late stage. This progression comes to them almost as a nice surprise, and only then do they start show an interest and become serious about it.
I can't help but feel that lower league clubs who pull off a cup shock never get the recognition they deserve, mainly because the 'big' team they beat didn't play their strongest eleven. A lot has been said about high-profile managers devaluing the competition, but that is a decision ultimately up to them. When I saw Peterborough had beaten Southampton last night, that's all I saw; I didn't bother to find out whether the Saints played a reserve side. It looks like they were beaten by a League 2 side and must therefore face the consequences.
If I was a manager (and I am, as all football fans think they are) then I'd want to avoid those embarrassments, and I would do that by trying to win every single game. This is quickly leading me on to squad rotation theory and 'resting' players, so as to avoid a massive rant on that front I shall return my attention to the League Cup first round.
It goes without saying that I would like to see Macclesfield triumph over cheating Leeds United.
Other than that, it's difficult to pick out any potential upsets. I find it ironic that a small team beating a big team is called an upset; I think it generally pleases millions of neutral fans across the country.
I really enjoy the League Cup for the fact that there are almost always plenty of goals and incidents. Ties need to be decided on the night so we see none of that conservative play that we're so familiar with from watching years of stagnant Champions League football. For the lower league clubs this is big business; the chance to make some serious dosh comes around immediately. And while no one really knows where their team is going to finish in the league, there's none of this 'affecting our league form' excuse. In fact, the League Cup is often a good indicator of the stronger lower league clubs - their form in the competition can carry them along in the league, whereas the FA Cup seems to have the opposite effect later in the season.
As for who I think will win the League Cup, well... one of the big four will - that's if any of them decide they want to. The first team to be knocked out of the Champions League will be the first to show an interest in winning the League Cup, but only if they're still in it. I've gone for Spurs this year, but only because I think they've got a better squad to deal with the league, UEFA Cup and one of the two domestic cups. I'd like to see Blackburn win it, or (for obvious reasons) any team outside the Premiership.
Premiership clubs see it as a hindrence and they basically toss it off until they realise that their reserve squad has got them to a late stage. This progression comes to them almost as a nice surprise, and only then do they start show an interest and become serious about it.
I can't help but feel that lower league clubs who pull off a cup shock never get the recognition they deserve, mainly because the 'big' team they beat didn't play their strongest eleven. A lot has been said about high-profile managers devaluing the competition, but that is a decision ultimately up to them. When I saw Peterborough had beaten Southampton last night, that's all I saw; I didn't bother to find out whether the Saints played a reserve side. It looks like they were beaten by a League 2 side and must therefore face the consequences.
If I was a manager (and I am, as all football fans think they are) then I'd want to avoid those embarrassments, and I would do that by trying to win every single game. This is quickly leading me on to squad rotation theory and 'resting' players, so as to avoid a massive rant on that front I shall return my attention to the League Cup first round.
It goes without saying that I would like to see Macclesfield triumph over cheating Leeds United.
Other than that, it's difficult to pick out any potential upsets. I find it ironic that a small team beating a big team is called an upset; I think it generally pleases millions of neutral fans across the country.
I really enjoy the League Cup for the fact that there are almost always plenty of goals and incidents. Ties need to be decided on the night so we see none of that conservative play that we're so familiar with from watching years of stagnant Champions League football. For the lower league clubs this is big business; the chance to make some serious dosh comes around immediately. And while no one really knows where their team is going to finish in the league, there's none of this 'affecting our league form' excuse. In fact, the League Cup is often a good indicator of the stronger lower league clubs - their form in the competition can carry them along in the league, whereas the FA Cup seems to have the opposite effect later in the season.
As for who I think will win the League Cup, well... one of the big four will - that's if any of them decide they want to. The first team to be knocked out of the Champions League will be the first to show an interest in winning the League Cup, but only if they're still in it. I've gone for Spurs this year, but only because I think they've got a better squad to deal with the league, UEFA Cup and one of the two domestic cups. I'd like to see Blackburn win it, or (for obvious reasons) any team outside the Premiership.
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Round-up #1
I was impressed with the way Newcastle won at Bolton. I think we might see the fortunes of both clubs swap around this season since Sam Allardyce knows what he's doing and Sammy Lee has all the tactical acumen and experience of the otter he's trying to model himself on. It's not often you see such pink-faced men with proper white-blonde hair.
The man may be deeply annoying but I think Roy Keane will be a good manager. Obviously he's impressed everyone already by guiding Sunderland to the promised land, but I like to give first-time managers an opportunity to fail too. That naturally happens - in most cases - within a year or 18 months, but a 1-0 home win over Spurs is a good result and I can't see the Black Cats rolling over like limp cocks this season.
Blackburn are a team I like; they've made a conscious effort to reduce ticket prices and they're not the best-supported team in the land - especially when you consider the size of the town and its population. They've got a good manager in Mark Hughes and I'd like to think that they'll do well this season too. Their 2-1 win at Middlesbrough was well deserved and Matt Derbyshire will be a young player to watch out for. He's got a bit of experience having been loaned out to lower league clubs over the past couple of seasons, and he caught the attention of your Spy a number of times last year when he kept scoring having just come on as a sub.
Iain Dowie could be the man to take Coventry forward after the club's been stuttering along since falling out of the Premiership in 2000/01. I can't work Dowie out; he did really well at Oldham and continued his good form at Crystal Palace. But then he came in for a lot of criticism in his short stint at Charlton but looks like he might have found his level at Championship level with a club looking to push for the play-offs. Their 4-1 win at Barnsley yesterday supports my theory that the Tykes are rubbish and destined for the drop.
Hats off to Scunthorpe for their 1-1 draw at Charlton. They had to come from behind and it was old Champ Manager favourite Izzy Iriekpen who scored the equaliser. The Addicks have gone from playing at Anfield to hosting the Iron in one swift move (that being downwards).
It's always nice to see Sheffield Wednesday get tonked. I didn't think that would happen much since they've got Brian Laws in charge (and he made such an impression since taking over last season) but I suspect it's just a blip; I can't make my mind up about Ipswich because in manager Jim Magilton they don't seen to have someone who can lead them to promotion, but he's been solid so far and might develop over the coming year.
Leeds pissed off Tranmere and the rest of the country's moralistic football fans by scoring in the last minute to register an opening day win and immediately reduce their deficit to 12 points. Them, Cheltenham and Leyton Orient - three teams I tipped for relegation just the other day - all won, so that's told me. Orient's 2-1 win at Southend was the most impressive of the three as many pundits were expecting to see Southend make an immediate return to the Championship.
I didn't know Michael Rickett's career had fallen so far - nothing against Oldham, like. He was such a big name at Bolton that it's difficult to accept that careers can take such drastic turns due to injury and serious loss of form. I guess it happened to Michael Bridges when he resurrected his career at Carlisle, but he's 29 now and his days of playing at the top are sadly long gone.
Ooooh, I almost forgot to mention - that Cheltenham win: three red cards! I saw the highlights on ITV's The Championship (poorly-named since it covers all leagues outside the Premiership) but none of them were exciting - just second yellow cards for stuff like not retreating ten yards at a free kick.
How I had to laugh at MK Dons' 2-1 home defeat to Bury! As you may have guessed by now, your Spy isn't a fan of franchise clubs and goes against the media grain when he says Paul Ince isn't all that great, so I took great pleasure in laughing at their misfortune. Two other 'surprise' results stood out in League 2, them being Accrington's 1-0 away win at Wycombe (I don't think the Chairboys will be going anywhere as long as Paul Lambert is in charge) and Shrewsbury's 4-0 hammering of Lincoln at Cincil Bank, proving that I'm not the only person to get predictions wrong after the BBC Sport website outrageously tipped the Imps to be League 2 champions.
If you like unpredictability then never look any further than the Scottish leagues. Second division Alloa began their season with a 4-1 away win at Peterhead, which was quite impressive since they've spent the past two or three seasons escaping relegation each time. Being top of the league is obviously pressure Alloa can do without as they wilted at home to Airdrie United 6-0. Airdrie themselves lost 1-0 at home to Raith on the opening day of the season.
As sure as eggs are eggs (or as long as there's a hole in my arse, as Grandad Spy used to say) East Stirling are Scotland's worst league team. But their 3-2 win over Dumbarton keeps them off the bottom for the time being - that acolade going to Forfar, having joined Elgin and Arbroath in losing their first two matches of the season.
The man may be deeply annoying but I think Roy Keane will be a good manager. Obviously he's impressed everyone already by guiding Sunderland to the promised land, but I like to give first-time managers an opportunity to fail too. That naturally happens - in most cases - within a year or 18 months, but a 1-0 home win over Spurs is a good result and I can't see the Black Cats rolling over like limp cocks this season.
Blackburn are a team I like; they've made a conscious effort to reduce ticket prices and they're not the best-supported team in the land - especially when you consider the size of the town and its population. They've got a good manager in Mark Hughes and I'd like to think that they'll do well this season too. Their 2-1 win at Middlesbrough was well deserved and Matt Derbyshire will be a young player to watch out for. He's got a bit of experience having been loaned out to lower league clubs over the past couple of seasons, and he caught the attention of your Spy a number of times last year when he kept scoring having just come on as a sub.
Iain Dowie could be the man to take Coventry forward after the club's been stuttering along since falling out of the Premiership in 2000/01. I can't work Dowie out; he did really well at Oldham and continued his good form at Crystal Palace. But then he came in for a lot of criticism in his short stint at Charlton but looks like he might have found his level at Championship level with a club looking to push for the play-offs. Their 4-1 win at Barnsley yesterday supports my theory that the Tykes are rubbish and destined for the drop.
Hats off to Scunthorpe for their 1-1 draw at Charlton. They had to come from behind and it was old Champ Manager favourite Izzy Iriekpen who scored the equaliser. The Addicks have gone from playing at Anfield to hosting the Iron in one swift move (that being downwards).
It's always nice to see Sheffield Wednesday get tonked. I didn't think that would happen much since they've got Brian Laws in charge (and he made such an impression since taking over last season) but I suspect it's just a blip; I can't make my mind up about Ipswich because in manager Jim Magilton they don't seen to have someone who can lead them to promotion, but he's been solid so far and might develop over the coming year.
Leeds pissed off Tranmere and the rest of the country's moralistic football fans by scoring in the last minute to register an opening day win and immediately reduce their deficit to 12 points. Them, Cheltenham and Leyton Orient - three teams I tipped for relegation just the other day - all won, so that's told me. Orient's 2-1 win at Southend was the most impressive of the three as many pundits were expecting to see Southend make an immediate return to the Championship.
I didn't know Michael Rickett's career had fallen so far - nothing against Oldham, like. He was such a big name at Bolton that it's difficult to accept that careers can take such drastic turns due to injury and serious loss of form. I guess it happened to Michael Bridges when he resurrected his career at Carlisle, but he's 29 now and his days of playing at the top are sadly long gone.
Ooooh, I almost forgot to mention - that Cheltenham win: three red cards! I saw the highlights on ITV's The Championship (poorly-named since it covers all leagues outside the Premiership) but none of them were exciting - just second yellow cards for stuff like not retreating ten yards at a free kick.
How I had to laugh at MK Dons' 2-1 home defeat to Bury! As you may have guessed by now, your Spy isn't a fan of franchise clubs and goes against the media grain when he says Paul Ince isn't all that great, so I took great pleasure in laughing at their misfortune. Two other 'surprise' results stood out in League 2, them being Accrington's 1-0 away win at Wycombe (I don't think the Chairboys will be going anywhere as long as Paul Lambert is in charge) and Shrewsbury's 4-0 hammering of Lincoln at Cincil Bank, proving that I'm not the only person to get predictions wrong after the BBC Sport website outrageously tipped the Imps to be League 2 champions.
If you like unpredictability then never look any further than the Scottish leagues. Second division Alloa began their season with a 4-1 away win at Peterhead, which was quite impressive since they've spent the past two or three seasons escaping relegation each time. Being top of the league is obviously pressure Alloa can do without as they wilted at home to Airdrie United 6-0. Airdrie themselves lost 1-0 at home to Raith on the opening day of the season.
As sure as eggs are eggs (or as long as there's a hole in my arse, as Grandad Spy used to say) East Stirling are Scotland's worst league team. But their 3-2 win over Dumbarton keeps them off the bottom for the time being - that acolade going to Forfar, having joined Elgin and Arbroath in losing their first two matches of the season.
Championship preview
I'll keep this preview very brief for two reasons: a) I seem to have allowed the season to creep out of the starting blocks before I've had the chance to post my views, and b) it's a division I'm quickly coming to dislike since ITV think it's the dog's bollocks - despite the fact that ITV refused to accept it (or any other lower league) existed when they had The Premiership.
Right then, this could make me look stupid but I'm going to stick with my original predictions, which were (evidently) made before Saturday as I had Southampton - a superb 4-1 home defeat for them, by the way - down as promotion contenders. I also said Charlton would be going up with them, and Sheffield United will miss out because they've appointed a big name that, unfortunately for them, hasn't done much of note for a good while in Bryan Robson. I can see Watford maybe making a return - if not them, then perhaps someone like Cardiff, but that was based quite heavily on the signing of Robbie Fowler (and also based quite heavily on his ability to avoid injury).
As for relegation, well... Scunthorpe is one, Barnsley is another, but after that it's a bit of a pain. Hull could struggle but I went for Burnley in the end. I like Steve Cotterill but his side failed to do anything interesting last season and I just feel that they're a team that will need to improve their squad each year just to retain their lower mid-table position in the league. They might slip into the proverbial fight involving dogs.
But to be honest I don't really care about any of the other teams. Wolves and West Brom can f**k off, purely on the basis that they're from the West Midlands. Birmingham clubs just do my head in. Obviously I have a soft spot for Colchester and I hope they have a season of safety in mid-table. I think Bristol City and Blackpool will do relatively well.
Right then, this could make me look stupid but I'm going to stick with my original predictions, which were (evidently) made before Saturday as I had Southampton - a superb 4-1 home defeat for them, by the way - down as promotion contenders. I also said Charlton would be going up with them, and Sheffield United will miss out because they've appointed a big name that, unfortunately for them, hasn't done much of note for a good while in Bryan Robson. I can see Watford maybe making a return - if not them, then perhaps someone like Cardiff, but that was based quite heavily on the signing of Robbie Fowler (and also based quite heavily on his ability to avoid injury).
As for relegation, well... Scunthorpe is one, Barnsley is another, but after that it's a bit of a pain. Hull could struggle but I went for Burnley in the end. I like Steve Cotterill but his side failed to do anything interesting last season and I just feel that they're a team that will need to improve their squad each year just to retain their lower mid-table position in the league. They might slip into the proverbial fight involving dogs.
But to be honest I don't really care about any of the other teams. Wolves and West Brom can f**k off, purely on the basis that they're from the West Midlands. Birmingham clubs just do my head in. Obviously I have a soft spot for Colchester and I hope they have a season of safety in mid-table. I think Bristol City and Blackpool will do relatively well.
Friday, 10 August 2007
League 1 preview
It's going to give me great pleasure to know that Leeds United will be sitting bottom of the league for at least a month or so. I've tipped them for relegation - a move probably motivated more by wishful thinking rather than rational thought. A locat TV news preview said - and I quote:
"And with Leeds starting the season fifteen points adrift, the best they can hope for is the play-offs."
Credit to them if they achieve that, although it's difficult to give a cheating team with an ignorant cheating bastard as manager any credit whatsoever. But I'm going to rescue this preview by quickly turning my attention to the other 23 teams in the division. And I'll start at the bottom again.
Both Cheltenham and Leyton Orient did well to stay up last season, but I fear that they might get dragged into a relegation scrap this time around. Who joins them (apart from Leeds) is difficult to guess, and League 1 as a whole has given me a bit of a prediction headache, so it is with this in mind that I plucked the name of Bournemouth out of thin air and threw into the relegation zone. They've been a little bit of a yo-yo club between Leagues 1 and 2 in recent memory.
That means I'm tipping all four promoted clubs from League 2 to stay up. Walsall, Hartlepool, Swindon and Bristol Rovers deserved their promotions last season. The top three showed real consistency and Bristol Rovers finished as the form team, so the momentum might carry them through to the comforts of mid-table. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the other three secured a second successive promotion, you know.
As for the teams that came down from the Championship last season, well, we've already covered one of them substantially, and as for Southend and Luton it's anyone's guess. Naturally, both have been tentatively tipped for an immeditate return but I have to say that both clubs would have seen League 1 averageness as a good achievement two or three years ago, so possibly a play-off spot for both. I wouldn't discount them from the promotion race but I think it's more likely to be a top ten finish.
League 1 contains a number of under-achievers, most notably Huddersfield Town and Notts Forest. I'm guessing that Forest will make it this time around, whereas Huddersfield - under the guidance of Andy Ritchie - could make the play-offs. Ritchie's not a bad man to have in charge as he took Barnsley up from this division in 2005/6. He's a good young manager and we'll learn whether he's one for bigger things if he satisfies the Terriers' hunger for Championship football.
However, I've tipped Brighton to accompany Forest in the top two. Actually, I was undecided between them and Swansea. Lee 'Fat Ronaldo' Trundle may have left for pastures new (he's 31-years old so it's not that much of a loss considering he'll only get fatter and slower) but I fully expect the Swans to be challenging for promotion.
Just a few other clubs to mention: Doncaster could be potential play-off candidates, as could Millwall, Oldham and Tranmere. It'll be interesting to see how Oldham get on this season after falling away at the end of the last. Of course, we could see one of Walsall, Hartlepool or Swindon sneak a play-off place, as I've mooted earlier, but I'll be surprised if 'nothing' clubs like Port Vale, Northampton or Crewe get much of a sniff of anything.
In fact, Crewe's an interesting subject - I'm not sure what Dario Gradi's position is at the club any more, because I thought he left or retired, yet online sources say he's still manager at Gresty Road. Anyway, although he's weaved plenty of magic in the past I can't see them competing much this season and could possibly slip into trouble in the last few weeks.
Gillingham need to pull their finger out and start doing something interesting for a change.
Carlisle and Yeovil are the only two teams left that I haven't yet mentioned, so it's mid-table for you boys. I don't mind either team. They're plucky; I like that in a team!
"And with Leeds starting the season fifteen points adrift, the best they can hope for is the play-offs."
Credit to them if they achieve that, although it's difficult to give a cheating team with an ignorant cheating bastard as manager any credit whatsoever. But I'm going to rescue this preview by quickly turning my attention to the other 23 teams in the division. And I'll start at the bottom again.
Both Cheltenham and Leyton Orient did well to stay up last season, but I fear that they might get dragged into a relegation scrap this time around. Who joins them (apart from Leeds) is difficult to guess, and League 1 as a whole has given me a bit of a prediction headache, so it is with this in mind that I plucked the name of Bournemouth out of thin air and threw into the relegation zone. They've been a little bit of a yo-yo club between Leagues 1 and 2 in recent memory.
That means I'm tipping all four promoted clubs from League 2 to stay up. Walsall, Hartlepool, Swindon and Bristol Rovers deserved their promotions last season. The top three showed real consistency and Bristol Rovers finished as the form team, so the momentum might carry them through to the comforts of mid-table. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the other three secured a second successive promotion, you know.
As for the teams that came down from the Championship last season, well, we've already covered one of them substantially, and as for Southend and Luton it's anyone's guess. Naturally, both have been tentatively tipped for an immeditate return but I have to say that both clubs would have seen League 1 averageness as a good achievement two or three years ago, so possibly a play-off spot for both. I wouldn't discount them from the promotion race but I think it's more likely to be a top ten finish.
League 1 contains a number of under-achievers, most notably Huddersfield Town and Notts Forest. I'm guessing that Forest will make it this time around, whereas Huddersfield - under the guidance of Andy Ritchie - could make the play-offs. Ritchie's not a bad man to have in charge as he took Barnsley up from this division in 2005/6. He's a good young manager and we'll learn whether he's one for bigger things if he satisfies the Terriers' hunger for Championship football.
However, I've tipped Brighton to accompany Forest in the top two. Actually, I was undecided between them and Swansea. Lee 'Fat Ronaldo' Trundle may have left for pastures new (he's 31-years old so it's not that much of a loss considering he'll only get fatter and slower) but I fully expect the Swans to be challenging for promotion.
Just a few other clubs to mention: Doncaster could be potential play-off candidates, as could Millwall, Oldham and Tranmere. It'll be interesting to see how Oldham get on this season after falling away at the end of the last. Of course, we could see one of Walsall, Hartlepool or Swindon sneak a play-off place, as I've mooted earlier, but I'll be surprised if 'nothing' clubs like Port Vale, Northampton or Crewe get much of a sniff of anything.
In fact, Crewe's an interesting subject - I'm not sure what Dario Gradi's position is at the club any more, because I thought he left or retired, yet online sources say he's still manager at Gresty Road. Anyway, although he's weaved plenty of magic in the past I can't see them competing much this season and could possibly slip into trouble in the last few weeks.
Gillingham need to pull their finger out and start doing something interesting for a change.
Carlisle and Yeovil are the only two teams left that I haven't yet mentioned, so it's mid-table for you boys. I don't mind either team. They're plucky; I like that in a team!
League 2 preview
I was wondering how to approach the whole season preview thing and thought the best way to deal with everything is work from the bottom up, so here goes...
I've decided that Accrington and Macclesfield will face the perilous drop into the Conference National, mainly because both teams struggled last season. The automatic assumption that ex-players with a high profile make good managers almost rang true in Paul Ince, but he's earned himself a nice little move to MK Dons after doing a fairly decent job in keeping Macclesfield up last season. To be fair, they looked dead and buried in October, but by December they overtook Torquay and going into the New Year they were out of the bottom two. However, they failed to keep up their good form and basically played out the rest of the season like every other relegation-threatened team around them, and only secured safety on the penultimate weekend, which makes me wonder whether Ince was all that great. A good start, yes - a great manager? We'll see. And I guess we'll find out by seeing what MK Dons achieve this year.
As for Accrington, well... if they sort out that breeze-block wall down the side of the pitch and make more of an effort to look a league club then maybe that might rub off on the players and fans. They stayed up last season courtesy of a fairly decent start, but they showed no real signs of quality and I'd very much doubt whether they've brought any in over the summer. I'd like to see them stay up but I think they'll just be relegation fodder.
I can also see Mansfield and Hereford struggling a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if either of those two teams got involved in a scrap at the bottom. And Bury are just Bury. How many seasons is it now that they've continually finished in a lower league position than the season before? Keith Alexander might bring a bit of experience to the camp, seeing as Chris Casper is the league's youngest manager. I think Alexander and Casper is a clash of styles; we all know what the former achieved at Lincoln, where the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground. I remember Casper's side trying to play nice, neat football last season, albeit with no end result.
Looking towards the top end of the table we'll see at least two of the four teams that came down from League 1 last season. Bradford, with a popular manager in Stuart McCall and 14,000 fans at Valley Parade each week, will be the favourites. I'm not sure. The expectation on McCall's shoulders may just force him to buckle, and I'd like to see them finish in the play-offs. I'm not sure how I feel about Chesterfield though. Some suggest that they will go straight back up too, and they've bought well (Jack Lester from Notts Forest being the pick of them) but again, I don't see it being easy.
I think Rotherham will do well to make the play-offs. They're still in financial trouble and have a relatively new manager in charge in ex-player Mark Robins. They may surprise a few people but I reckon mid-table for them. Brentford could do what Walsall did last season, but I'm unsure as to how much quality they have in their team. Peterborough have Barry Fry and his money, along with a manager that constantly has the cameras following him because his Dad is doing an alright job with Manchester United these days. From where I'm sitting, the club has the money and resources to expect promotion now, and although Darren Ferguson did a decent job after taking over the managerial hotseat last season, it wasn't enough. Will he have the tactical brain to secure success this time around? If Daddy helps him then he might. But that's cheating.
MK Dons, or Bastard Franchise Scum FC as they're known in some quarters, will be expected to push for promotion on the rather flimsy excuse of having Paul Ince at the helm. They lost their top scorer from the past two seasons in Izale McLeod, although they did receive over £1m for him. How wisely they spend that cash remains to be seen. Personally I'd like to see them relegated but as much as I want my dreams to come true (and if they did then John Barrowman would have a golf club rammed through his oesophagus) I have to face grim reality and say they'll be in the top seven.
And despite just being bitten on the nose by a pesky fly I shall endeavour to continue my League 2 preview. Now for Dagenham and Morecambe... I think Dagenham might do well, although relatively speaking that's probably mid-table. Morecambe may struggle a bit more, so I'll say bottom six but they'll survive.
As for the rest, well, Chester are a bunch of thugs and are going nowhere, Barnet are a nice tippy-tappy side with no killer instinct but an experienced manager in Paul Fairclough will keep them safe, Darlington and Notts County will (once again) under-achieve while their fans will constantly insist that they deserve to go up on the basis of their ground having more concrete and plastic in it than other clubs' grounds, Wycombe will disappoint again, but I'd just keep an eye on someone like Rochdale - they finished last season on good form and clearly have an astute manager in Keith Hill.
And if I haven't mentioned the rest then clearly you're in for a season of being tantilised by the play-offs, threatened by the drop, or only interested in whether you'll be on page 3 or 4 of 4 on BBC Ceefax page 326 each week.
I've decided that Accrington and Macclesfield will face the perilous drop into the Conference National, mainly because both teams struggled last season. The automatic assumption that ex-players with a high profile make good managers almost rang true in Paul Ince, but he's earned himself a nice little move to MK Dons after doing a fairly decent job in keeping Macclesfield up last season. To be fair, they looked dead and buried in October, but by December they overtook Torquay and going into the New Year they were out of the bottom two. However, they failed to keep up their good form and basically played out the rest of the season like every other relegation-threatened team around them, and only secured safety on the penultimate weekend, which makes me wonder whether Ince was all that great. A good start, yes - a great manager? We'll see. And I guess we'll find out by seeing what MK Dons achieve this year.
As for Accrington, well... if they sort out that breeze-block wall down the side of the pitch and make more of an effort to look a league club then maybe that might rub off on the players and fans. They stayed up last season courtesy of a fairly decent start, but they showed no real signs of quality and I'd very much doubt whether they've brought any in over the summer. I'd like to see them stay up but I think they'll just be relegation fodder.
I can also see Mansfield and Hereford struggling a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if either of those two teams got involved in a scrap at the bottom. And Bury are just Bury. How many seasons is it now that they've continually finished in a lower league position than the season before? Keith Alexander might bring a bit of experience to the camp, seeing as Chris Casper is the league's youngest manager. I think Alexander and Casper is a clash of styles; we all know what the former achieved at Lincoln, where the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground. I remember Casper's side trying to play nice, neat football last season, albeit with no end result.
Looking towards the top end of the table we'll see at least two of the four teams that came down from League 1 last season. Bradford, with a popular manager in Stuart McCall and 14,000 fans at Valley Parade each week, will be the favourites. I'm not sure. The expectation on McCall's shoulders may just force him to buckle, and I'd like to see them finish in the play-offs. I'm not sure how I feel about Chesterfield though. Some suggest that they will go straight back up too, and they've bought well (Jack Lester from Notts Forest being the pick of them) but again, I don't see it being easy.
I think Rotherham will do well to make the play-offs. They're still in financial trouble and have a relatively new manager in charge in ex-player Mark Robins. They may surprise a few people but I reckon mid-table for them. Brentford could do what Walsall did last season, but I'm unsure as to how much quality they have in their team. Peterborough have Barry Fry and his money, along with a manager that constantly has the cameras following him because his Dad is doing an alright job with Manchester United these days. From where I'm sitting, the club has the money and resources to expect promotion now, and although Darren Ferguson did a decent job after taking over the managerial hotseat last season, it wasn't enough. Will he have the tactical brain to secure success this time around? If Daddy helps him then he might. But that's cheating.
MK Dons, or Bastard Franchise Scum FC as they're known in some quarters, will be expected to push for promotion on the rather flimsy excuse of having Paul Ince at the helm. They lost their top scorer from the past two seasons in Izale McLeod, although they did receive over £1m for him. How wisely they spend that cash remains to be seen. Personally I'd like to see them relegated but as much as I want my dreams to come true (and if they did then John Barrowman would have a golf club rammed through his oesophagus) I have to face grim reality and say they'll be in the top seven.
And despite just being bitten on the nose by a pesky fly I shall endeavour to continue my League 2 preview. Now for Dagenham and Morecambe... I think Dagenham might do well, although relatively speaking that's probably mid-table. Morecambe may struggle a bit more, so I'll say bottom six but they'll survive.
As for the rest, well, Chester are a bunch of thugs and are going nowhere, Barnet are a nice tippy-tappy side with no killer instinct but an experienced manager in Paul Fairclough will keep them safe, Darlington and Notts County will (once again) under-achieve while their fans will constantly insist that they deserve to go up on the basis of their ground having more concrete and plastic in it than other clubs' grounds, Wycombe will disappoint again, but I'd just keep an eye on someone like Rochdale - they finished last season on good form and clearly have an astute manager in Keith Hill.
And if I haven't mentioned the rest then clearly you're in for a season of being tantilised by the play-offs, threatened by the drop, or only interested in whether you'll be on page 3 or 4 of 4 on BBC Ceefax page 326 each week.
Thursday, 9 August 2007
The Leeds debacle
Thank goodness the Football League retained some dignity and common sense today when they laughed in the face of Leeds United's downright cheeky appeal to have their already lenient-as-hell 15-point penalty decreased before the start of the new season. I would like to suggest that justice has been served, but even with the points deduction it doesn't even come close.
Essentially, the way I see it is, Leeds United have no obligation to pay off its creditors since the club went into administration last season, and have instead incurred a 15-point penalty before the start of season 2007/8. This decision spits in the face of all the other clubs in this country that have gone into administration but who have had to pay their debt off in full. Why should Leeds get away with it? Maybe it's because they're a big club, and it's one rule for them and another for the small clubs.
This 'big club-small club' complex is the result of Sky's meddling, which basically began when the Premiership was formed in 1992. Since then the rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer. The gap is widening for all to see.
Leeds United is a perfect example of how a so-called big club can fall from grace and appear to hit rock bottom, only for them to be granted special permission to get away with what a lot of other clubs haven't. Take Boston United, for instance: they ended last season with a mountain of debt (somewhere in the region of £2m) and in administration. They were relegated to the Conference National but have since been further demoted to the Conference North. If they were offered the same deal as Leeds were offered, then I'm pretty damn sure they would be more than happy to accept it. They would be starting this season one league up (albeit with a deficit of 15 points) and a debt of £2m completely vanished.
When a club is in administration it has a transfer embargo forced upon them. Since Leeds got out of paying off their debt last week they've been able to buy players again, and I've counted six so far. That's a massive advantage over those clubs that are still in administration or struggling financially. Some clubs have been relegated because of administration (see Rotherham and the unfortunate case of Scarborough) and other clubs have attempted to keep their heads above water and not go into administration, but have only succeeded in falling through the leagues as a result of not paying money for the good players they needed.
And one final point I will make on this Leeds subject is the nature of their debt. Most clubs outside of the Premiership fell into financial difficulty through no fault of their own. They were promised three years of ITV Digital money, only for that promise to be broken six months in. As a result many of the clubs had given out three-year contracts to players, which ultimately plunged more or less every club into debt. Most are still in debt; some went into administration; others coped but not without a few years of money troubles. Leeds' debt, however, is self-inflicted; by spending money they never had. As a result I have no sympathy for them, and in my opinion they should have been subjected to the same punishment as every other club that has gone into administration. Leeds' debt was so bad that it was mooted that it would take forever to pay the creditors off, so another agreement had to be reached. What was once a club with a crippling debt and a bleak future has just become a club with no debt and every chance of staying in League 1 this season - with the ability to build for the future once again.
Essentially, the way I see it is, Leeds United have no obligation to pay off its creditors since the club went into administration last season, and have instead incurred a 15-point penalty before the start of season 2007/8. This decision spits in the face of all the other clubs in this country that have gone into administration but who have had to pay their debt off in full. Why should Leeds get away with it? Maybe it's because they're a big club, and it's one rule for them and another for the small clubs.
This 'big club-small club' complex is the result of Sky's meddling, which basically began when the Premiership was formed in 1992. Since then the rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer. The gap is widening for all to see.
Leeds United is a perfect example of how a so-called big club can fall from grace and appear to hit rock bottom, only for them to be granted special permission to get away with what a lot of other clubs haven't. Take Boston United, for instance: they ended last season with a mountain of debt (somewhere in the region of £2m) and in administration. They were relegated to the Conference National but have since been further demoted to the Conference North. If they were offered the same deal as Leeds were offered, then I'm pretty damn sure they would be more than happy to accept it. They would be starting this season one league up (albeit with a deficit of 15 points) and a debt of £2m completely vanished.
When a club is in administration it has a transfer embargo forced upon them. Since Leeds got out of paying off their debt last week they've been able to buy players again, and I've counted six so far. That's a massive advantage over those clubs that are still in administration or struggling financially. Some clubs have been relegated because of administration (see Rotherham and the unfortunate case of Scarborough) and other clubs have attempted to keep their heads above water and not go into administration, but have only succeeded in falling through the leagues as a result of not paying money for the good players they needed.
And one final point I will make on this Leeds subject is the nature of their debt. Most clubs outside of the Premiership fell into financial difficulty through no fault of their own. They were promised three years of ITV Digital money, only for that promise to be broken six months in. As a result many of the clubs had given out three-year contracts to players, which ultimately plunged more or less every club into debt. Most are still in debt; some went into administration; others coped but not without a few years of money troubles. Leeds' debt, however, is self-inflicted; by spending money they never had. As a result I have no sympathy for them, and in my opinion they should have been subjected to the same punishment as every other club that has gone into administration. Leeds' debt was so bad that it was mooted that it would take forever to pay the creditors off, so another agreement had to be reached. What was once a club with a crippling debt and a bleak future has just become a club with no debt and every chance of staying in League 1 this season - with the ability to build for the future once again.
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
Summer musings
Here's an annoying footballer for you: Paul Dickov. I'm not really sure why he's managed to spend most of his time in the upper echelons of the football league, as he seems to have based a lot of his game on simply being a bloody nuisance. He's one of those small, irritating players who appeals for free kicks when he's shrugged off the ball, yet is ironically very aggressive himself. I don't get some players; they're physical when they don't have the ball, but as soon as they have possession they become the softest player in the world.
Anyway, it looks as if Dickov will be leaving Manchester City - along with Danny Mills (why is he still there?) and Joey Barton's best mate Ousmane Dabo. Sven Goran Eriksson appears to be getting rid of a lot of deadwood, replacing them with over-expensive foreigners. I don't know who half of them are. I'm totally ignorant when it comes to anything outside England and Scotland.
Why was Thierry Henry allowed to leave Arsenal for the paltry sum of £16.1m? This has been bothering me for a while. That's an absolute bargain for Barcelona, although I do feel that we have seen Henry reach the peak of his career in the Premiership already. There's no doubt that he'll do well in the Spanish league, but I wonder whether it will be to the same level he set back here in England.
Every top club has been spending big this summer, perhaps with the notable exception of Chelsea - relatively speaking, of course. It makes me wonder whether they've lost a bit of the hunger they acquired three years ago when José Mourinho first arrived at Stamford Bridge. I think it's fair to say that all the big spending clubs will be up there at the end of the season. That's a pity, because it's just gone to prove that football is becoming more and more predictable. Take League 2, for instance - do you know who the top seven clubs will be come May?
Since I've started my reportings so late in the day it's impossible to cover all transfer matters from the close season in all divisions. Even so, there is still time for me to make some predictions - more than enough to shake a stick at - so I'll report back soon with my thoughts ahead of the 2007/8 season. Why would anyone want to shake a stick at anything? That's pretty pointless...
Anyway, it looks as if Dickov will be leaving Manchester City - along with Danny Mills (why is he still there?) and Joey Barton's best mate Ousmane Dabo. Sven Goran Eriksson appears to be getting rid of a lot of deadwood, replacing them with over-expensive foreigners. I don't know who half of them are. I'm totally ignorant when it comes to anything outside England and Scotland.
Why was Thierry Henry allowed to leave Arsenal for the paltry sum of £16.1m? This has been bothering me for a while. That's an absolute bargain for Barcelona, although I do feel that we have seen Henry reach the peak of his career in the Premiership already. There's no doubt that he'll do well in the Spanish league, but I wonder whether it will be to the same level he set back here in England.
Every top club has been spending big this summer, perhaps with the notable exception of Chelsea - relatively speaking, of course. It makes me wonder whether they've lost a bit of the hunger they acquired three years ago when José Mourinho first arrived at Stamford Bridge. I think it's fair to say that all the big spending clubs will be up there at the end of the season. That's a pity, because it's just gone to prove that football is becoming more and more predictable. Take League 2, for instance - do you know who the top seven clubs will be come May?
Since I've started my reportings so late in the day it's impossible to cover all transfer matters from the close season in all divisions. Even so, there is still time for me to make some predictions - more than enough to shake a stick at - so I'll report back soon with my thoughts ahead of the 2007/8 season. Why would anyone want to shake a stick at anything? That's pretty pointless...
The Grand Opening
The new season is nearly upon us, ladies and gentlemen. I have been rubbing my hands and other bodily parts for a while now, all in anticipation for the 2007/8 campaign to begin. It's been an extremely difficult summer without any international football, which has probably contributed to my high levels of excitement and increased incidents of knocking things over and wetting the bed. I've become a mess; I can't live without football. Actually, that may be a slightly over-romantic way of putting it. Football isn't about life and death - it's more important than that.
I think I should begin by introducing myself to you. My name is The Football League Spy, and I have been sent on a mission to observe the leagues in England and Scotland and bring you my take on all things that catch my attention. It could be a lot; it could be very little. It could be serious stuff; it could be ridiculous stories. It could be transfer news; it could be idle transfer gossip. Either way, much will depend on my discipline to update this blog, but more than likely it will depend on my mood.
I don't think a pre-season discussion would be complete without a few predictions, would it? I don't want to make obvious ones, like:
Christiano Ronaldo will at some point cheat in order to win a penalty
Or
José Mourinho will get on a lot of people's tits by talking bollocks instead of criticising his team
It is my intention to remain as balanced as possible, but, as we all know, football fans aren't balanced. I apologise for this in advance. There are some things that just grind on me, and I don't intend to hide them because what's the point? If you want level-headed, nicey-nicey, tepid comments then you can just switch on the TV and watch Match of the Day and listen in amazement to Mark Lawrenson's banality. "But we don't want to give you that!".
Yes, I can be grumpy. But let's not get confused between being grumpy and simply speaking your mind. I may have one or two biased outlooks on football life, but that's just part and parcel of the game. If you don't like what I have to say, then there's always ITV.
For now, folks.
I think I should begin by introducing myself to you. My name is The Football League Spy, and I have been sent on a mission to observe the leagues in England and Scotland and bring you my take on all things that catch my attention. It could be a lot; it could be very little. It could be serious stuff; it could be ridiculous stories. It could be transfer news; it could be idle transfer gossip. Either way, much will depend on my discipline to update this blog, but more than likely it will depend on my mood.
I don't think a pre-season discussion would be complete without a few predictions, would it? I don't want to make obvious ones, like:
Christiano Ronaldo will at some point cheat in order to win a penalty
Or
José Mourinho will get on a lot of people's tits by talking bollocks instead of criticising his team
It is my intention to remain as balanced as possible, but, as we all know, football fans aren't balanced. I apologise for this in advance. There are some things that just grind on me, and I don't intend to hide them because what's the point? If you want level-headed, nicey-nicey, tepid comments then you can just switch on the TV and watch Match of the Day and listen in amazement to Mark Lawrenson's banality. "But we don't want to give you that!".
Yes, I can be grumpy. But let's not get confused between being grumpy and simply speaking your mind. I may have one or two biased outlooks on football life, but that's just part and parcel of the game. If you don't like what I have to say, then there's always ITV.
For now, folks.
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