Blame it on the rain

Bloggers and tabloid journalists are enjoying the seeming fall of Manchester United this summer.  A number of international stars have appeared to turned their nose up on a move to the Premier League and the jewel in the crown, Cristiano “Tango” Ronaldo, has finally got the move to La Liga that he spent the last few years angling for.

Subjective opinion as it is, the Premier League has long been proclaimed the best league in the world – usually by jingoistic old men like Andy Gray and Ray Wilkins (who, incidentally, don’t have to pay the outrageous ticket prices). Et sequitur, usually the best league in the world has the best players.

But a cursory glance at the FIFA World Player of the Year awards since 1991 reveal just two players whom have played in the Premier League: George Weah (four years later when he was 33) and Cristiano Ronaldo.  Apart from them only David Beckham and Thierry Henry (two second place finishes each) are placed in the top ten of all time – and they have played a

While the award is not scientific, it is voted for by international managers and captains so it carries a certain credibility. But yet Ronaldo (the fat one), Zidane, Figo, Ronaldino, Cannavaro – arguably five of the best players of this generation – have not been lured to a league who have just come off five five years of European Cup domination – two wins and four beaten finalists.

Goofy as it might seem to suggest it but part of the reason must be attributed to the lifestyle and culture in Britain.  How many footballers can you recall raising objections to the boozy culture, the awful weather, ugly women and, recently, high taxation?

Reportedly Kaka, Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery have turned down the chance to come to the Premier League and Liverpool are struggling to keep midfielders Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano out of the clutches of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Compare what’s happening in Spain to the top of the Premier League.  Chelsea’s signing of decent but untested youngster Daniel Sturridge and Manchester United’s gamble on Michael Owen are significantly underwhelming by comparison.  There’s a long way to go but with Barcelona not looking any weaker for next season and Madrid assembling an incredible array of striking talent, it seems that the balance of power might temporarily be making it’s way back to Spain.

The backups

On the subject of Manchester United, I have read a number of United fans temper the disappointment in losing Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez with the knowledge that they have two up and coming young strikers in reserve who can do a job for them.  Frazier Campbell (who looked out of his depth in his irregular outings for Tottenham last season) is on his way to Hull for a ludicrous £6m.  So, in the event United don’t make another big signing up front, it’ll be Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda hoping to make an impact from the bench.

Macheda showed glimpses in his cameo appearances last season that he has an eye for goal but Welbeck doesn’t look up to it.  He might have a good scoring record for the youths and reserves but he doesn’t look to have Premier League presence.  I expect him to make a meaningful contribution to a Championship side in the second half of the season.

Can United challenge in Europe with Rooney, Sideshow Berbatov and the flaky Owen?

Something for nothing

The post-Bosman transfer system is a complete boon for those club chairman horrified by the wages that average players command these days.  With June 30th heralding the end of many Premier League contracts, here are some available players that might interest thrifty managers.

Jermaine Pennant (Right winger, released by Liverpool)

I’ve never quite understood the fuss surrounding Jermaine Pennant, another in a long line of young players that failed to realise their supposed (assumed?) potential. But, at the same time, he has spent nine of his ten footballing seasons playing for top four clubs Liverpool and Arsenal. Signed by Arsenal for £2m from Notts County when just 15, he appeared just 12 appearances in six seasons, making various loan moves to Watford, Birmingham and Leeds in that time. He is now a free agent after his Liverpool contract expired and you can be fairly certain that his days playing in the Champions League are now over. A drink-driving conviction for which he spent 30 days in jail and a conviction for public order offences means that Pennant is a potential liability and only likely to attract attention from the Premier League also-rans.

Possible destinations: Wolves, Bolton, Blackburn, Stoke.

Dietmar Hamann (Defensive midfielder, released by Manchester City)
At 35 one feels that Hamann’s top flight career might be over. He did a good job in Sven Goran Eriksson’s only season in charge of Manchester City but last year made just 9 appearances. The likes of Burnley and Wolves are unlikely to see a requiement for someone of his vintage given their relatively young squads, Hull have George Boateng in that defensive midfield position, Birmingham have Lee Carsley. A drop down to the Championship or a move back to Germany might be on the cards.

Possible destinations: Nottingham Forest, Leicster City, Ipswich Town.

Lucas Neill (Right back, released by West Ham)
Neill turned down a one year contract extension at West Ham, reportedly because he was asked to take a pay cut but possibly also because, at 31, he wanted a longer deal. He received a lot of criticism from fans in general after he chose the Hammers over Liverpool in 2007 with the general belief being that he went to Upton Park for the money. Blackburn fans have little time for him after he upped sticks and left aftersix seasons at Ewood Park. Leaving that aside, would he be an astute free transfer? The legs aren’t quite what they used to be but Neill is experienced and, on his day, can be formidable. He’s still capable of doing a job in the top half of the table but he might find a pay cut is facing him wherever he goes. Everton might like competition for Tony Hibbert and Portsmouth have just lost Glen Johnson.

Possible destinations: Everton, Portsmouth.

Henri Camara (Striker, released by Wigan)
I’m loathe to suggest Camara as a target but you know someone is going to go for it. The Senegalese international, now 32, has been something of a nomad since his controversial time at Wolves in 2004. He refused to play in the second tier after they suffered relegation and spent relatively unsuccessful loan spells with Celtic and Southampton. Wigan spent £3m on him in 2005 and while his 20 goals in 69 games was a reasonable return, he still found himself loaned to West Ham and Stoke without scoring for either. He has been relegated with Sedan, Wolves and Southampton so if he does stay in the Premier League it will probably be in a relegation scrap.

Possible destinations: Birmingham, Hull, West Brom.

Michael Owen (Striker, released by Newcastle)
For me, this is a no-brainer – if the contract is right. Owen, in spite of the spate of (preidctable) injuries suffered while at St James Park, still netted 26 times in 71 games. However, his performances at the tail end of last season were a sorry sight and it will be a shame if that’s what weighs on the mind of prospective employers as they look through his prospectus. I’m sure Owen does not feel all that motivated by reported interest from Stoke and Hull but he may be very interested in any interest from David Moyes and Everton. A boyhood Evertonian, the match seems perfect. He’s only 29 and if protected (in the same way that Spurs protect Ledley King) then he could do a great job for a club who are relatively skint.

Possible destinations: Everton.

Some wildcards

Radhi Jaidi (Central defender, released by Birmingham): Useful center-half. At 33, he might have a good year left in him for those in the bottom half of the table.

Andy van der Meyde (Right winger, released by Everton): Injuries blighted his four years at Everton but at 29 and a career that has taken him to Ajax and Inter, he finds himself of interest to Blackburn.

Lee Bowyer (Central midfielder, released by West Ham): A once-promising Leeds career collapsed to relative insignificance following the GBH trial of 2001. Stints at Newcastle and West Ham were only moderately successful and it seems he’ll sign with Birmingham where he spent the last six months of the season.

A critical eye on the latest transfer nonsense

First off we have some hyperbole from Carlos Tevez.

“I did not feel supported after they signed Berbatov…I gave my life for the Manchester United shirt”

No, clearly you didn’t.

Dimitar Berbatov has become a hate figure for many United fans, the Emmanuel Eboue of Old Trafford.  He’s going to feel the abuse more intensely next year after effectively running Tevez out of Old Trafford.  Most United fans would vouch for Tevez ahead of Berbatov but in terms of raw talent, Berbatov easily out-strips the Argentinian.

I remember watching Tevez in Man United’s FA Cup win over Tottenham earlier this year.  He put the Tottenham players to shame with an outstanding performance: chasing every ball, running around a lot, basically being an effective nuisance.  Sadly, these qualities will not sustain you in the big games – hence Tevez rarely appeared in them.

Irrespective of whether or not Berbatov is worth the money paid for him, for £25m needed to secure Tevez, you should expect a lot more.

Xabi Alonso looks set to leave Liverpool.

The Times reports: “Liverpool placed a £35 million valuation on Xabi Alonso last night after the Spain midfield player said his goodbyes to some members of the club’s staff.”

When Alonso was reportedly priced at £14m last summer I thought it was an awful lot of money for a player who had just completed two unspectacular seasons.  His 2008/9 season was better … but £21m-worth better?  It’s an exorbitant amount of money but Rafa is the man who got £8m for Mohamed Sissoko.

Olivier Kapo doesn’t like Wigan

“I have a big craving to play in a club better than Wigan for me to blossom.”

Wigan have a craving to buy a player better than Kapo who may be worthy of more than 10 starts next season.

Samuel Eto’o is still a fine player but he appears set to give up ambition for a huge wad of cash at Manchester City.  At 28, he is banking on City actually breaking the Premier League top four next year to ensure he plays in the Champions League again before 30.  On the back of the recruitment of Shay Given, Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge, one might question whether they are really of the class required to do so.

To fund the purchase of Eto’o, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (yes, I copied and pasted) is set to offload Darius Vassell.

Wait.  There’s more.  He’ll also have to sell Ched Evans, Tal Ben Haim, Javier Garrido, Felipe Caicedo, Dietar Hamann, Gelson Fernandes and Benjani.  Wow, that Sven Goran Eriksson thing really didn’t work out.

Also on the subject of Manchester City there are reports that they will launch bids for Everton’s Joleon Lescott and Arsenal’s Kolo Touré next week.  Few Arsenal fans will be that concerned considering that the fee mentioned is £12m for a 28 year old, he hasn’t been any good for a while and they’ve signed Thomas Vermaelen who is apparently a good defender and nice to his parents.

It’s more of a heartbreaker for Everton if the £15m bid finds favour with the Everton board and Lescott himself.  He’s been a bargain purchase who has only missed 8 games in three seasons, scored cruical goals, put in top notch performances and also filled in effectively at left-back.  Lescott is definitely the better buy here.

Finally, Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce thinks that a cold, northern shock is what Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy needs.

“The sort of salary that Ruud would be on at Real Madrid may be beyond us, but if he wants to play in England again and take less of a salary, then we’d be interested.”

From Madrid to Blackburn.  Would this be the most extreme transfer since Richard & Judy went to Watch?

2009/10 Premier League favourites: Liverpool?

I know the Internet is full of trolls – people who deliberately post inciting messages just to get attention and a reaction. Usually these messages contain outrageous claims and opinions that are clearly extremist for the shock value.  But sometimes, while obvously still troll-esque, they contain opinions that have a mainstream following and do have points that can be argued.

I saw one such post on the tabloid-style Football365 website’s letters page today.  A poster called Droopy suggested that Liverpool would be the ones to drop out of the Premier League top four next season and gave his arguments why.

I’m usually the last one to support Rafa Benitez given how he’s such a smug, arrogant git with an inability to lose with any grace whatsoever.  But Droopy’s shots at Rafa were twelve months out of date and the evidence of the last six months suggests that far from dropping out of the top four, Rafa’s Liverpool may actually be favourites for the league next year.  Let’s analyse.

Firstly, look at their squad. Liverpool actually have very little quality in their squad. Torres, Gerrard and Alonso all speak for themselves and would probably be key performers for any of MUFC, Chelsea or Arsenal. Beyond them though, who else is there? Arsenal could probably find something for Mascherano to do, a better manager than Rafa could probably do more with Babel, but that’s about it. The first 11 is weak, the strength in depth almost non-existent. Not great for five years under Benitez.

Ironically I would argue that Alonso is not in the same class as Torres and Gerrard but that’s a very subjective opinion.  In his place I would argue Pepe Reina should be considered top class, a better keeper than either Cech, van der Sar or that Spanish lad that Wenger inexplicably kept faith with last season.  But even if you put Alonso as a “Tier 2″ talent with the likes of Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano, Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher, it’s really irrelevant.

What Benitez did last year was get excellent performances out of Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt, Álvaro Arbeloa and Fábio Aurélio (although in truth I forget which of the latter two is which most of the time).  What he did was mould a team who were greater than the sum of their parts.  That is why the lack of top quality players is a moot point.

Secondly, look at their manager. The guy is a chancer unlike any I have seen at the top level. His best player remains Gerrard, a player that was not signed by Rafa, and whose winners and equalisers contributed far more to Liverpool’s overachievement last season than any tactical nous by Benitez.

He is a chancer, totally agree.  On a professional level I loathe the man.  To criticise him for not signing Gerrard is a nonsensical argument.  His job is not to sign players better than Gerrard – his job is to put a team together capable of winning the league.  And I think he was very unfortunate in not doing so last year.

His lack of balls in attempting to kill off games was key in Liverpool’s failure to win anything last year. His media performances are embarrassing – his ill-advised trawling through Google for anti-Fergie stats needs no further comment, and his constant bleating about the myth of Liverpool having had no money to spend makes me want to put my fist through the laptop.

We’re going to get on to the money bit in a second but it’s true to say that Benitez’s rant about Fergie was a complete PR disaster no matter how true it might have been.  Liverpool have had a fair share of decisions go their way and if you trawl through any club’s closet there are skeletons there that will swing an argument any way your bias leans.  But this is all immaterial too – plenty of pricks have won the league before (look at Ferguson).

Thirdly, their transfer record. I’ve previously mailed in on this topic, illustrating that since Rafa arrived over £100m has been splurged on forwards alone. The dross that has been purchased is well-documented. Virtually no players of genuine top class have been unearthed on the cheap, with Torres and Alonso remaining the best purchases, insight that any Football Manager-playing troll could have shared alongside Rafa and the board. Rafa can also say what he wants about the board’s control over transfers and lack of resources, there is no way he has not had a significant input into the better part of £200m of purchases. Don’t forget that in the last 12 months Rafa has tried to ditch Alonso (just see how many points he was worth to Liverpool last year) and replaced Peter Crouch with Robbie Keane.

Rafa’s transfer record is not great.  If we look at the upper end of the scale he has bought five players that cost over £10m: Torres, Mascherano, Keane, Babel and Alonso.  We can say that 60% of these purchases have been a success, 20% is leaning towards failure and the other 20% was an abject failure.

Looking at the players who cost between £5m and £10m, the record is patchier.  Agger, Skrtel, Reina, Benayoun and Kuyt have all justified their fees but even some of those who didn’t (Crouch, Bellamy, Sissoko) have been sold on at a profit.  Yeah there have been disasters – Lucas and Dossenna for example – but Liverpool will probably break even on them.  Again, this is not a poor record.

Like most top four managers, those sub £5m purchases were mainly forgettable.  Arbeloa and Aurellio are the only names to make an impact although the vast majority of the 36 players listed here are younger players who have been bought with an eye on their sell-on value.

But again I refer to the point that Benitez’s job is to build a team with the funds available.  We might say his transfer record is not great but that charge can be laid at Alex Ferguson’s door too – it just so happens that he’s winning the title in spite of over-spending (some might argue) on the likes of Nani, Anderson, Carrick and Berbatov.

Fourthly, their competitors will surely all improve. There is no way Man Utd won’t replace CR7, with their young players improving and pulling together in the vacuum left behind by the ego.

This is just innuendo and speculation.  Man United might try to replace Cristiano Ronaldo but until someone signs on the dotted line and then does the business on the pitch, it’s a pointless debate.  As for young players improving and pulling together, well it remains to be seen what sort of performances they get out of Nani, Zoran Tošić and Ji Sung Park.

Ancelotti, while not a dead cert in my opinion, will surely be worth more points over the whole season to Chelsea. Arsenal have already begun strengthening in their weaker areas, and would have more luck with injuries next season (they would hope anyway). I would also argue that with a good central defender, Man City’s spine of Robinho-Ireland-Barry-X-Given is better than Liverpool’s.

Again, just opinion and suggestion.  A counter-argument (which is just as valid) is that Arsenal will always struggle when injuries kick in and Chelsea’s ageing squad is a year older than it was last year.  In the “straw clutching” department is the suggestion that Robinho-Ireland-Barry-[unknown defender]-Given is better than Liverpool’s.  That’s simply waffle.  Robinho and Ireland are not in the same league as Torres and Gerrard, Barry and Given can be compared favourably to Mascherano and Reina respectively but can not be considered stronger … and the unknown defender?  Well I’m pretty sure it’ll be an over-priced English player in their mid-late 20s who will not come from a top four club.

I consider Liverpool favourites for the league next season based on current squads and even allowing for Man United to buy their replacements for Ronaldo and Tevez.  I’ll revisit the question in mid-August but as of now the momentum is all theirs.

Premier League Review 2008/9 [Full Time Report]

Back in August I predicted how the Premier League might pan out (part one, part two) and compiled a half-time report in January.  If there’s one thing I know, it’s, well, nothing.  Let’s take a peek.

1st Manchester United (Predicted: 1st)

It was an unimpressive Man U that completed the season as champions, perhaps fortunate that Liverpool had such difficulty with the likes of Stoke and Hull earlier in the season.  In spite of trailing in third place half way through the season I did suggest they would come out on top.  While Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo played their part, Dimitar Berbatov never did find the form he showed at Tottenham.

Player of the Season (POTS): Nemanja Vidic – a lot made of the disastrous performance in the 1-4 home defeat by Liverpool but otherwise Vidic had a terrific season.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Darren Fletcher – not someone I would have previously rated but his influence was noticed when he was missing from the team late in the season. Perhaps its more indicative of the mediocre (Carrick, Park, Nani, Anderson) and ageing (Giggs, Scholes) midfield stars on show elsewhere.

2nd Liverpool (Predicted: 2nd)

Rafa Benitez never did sort out the problem on the wings or work out how to play Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane together.  He did however, once again, get maximum utility out of Steven Gerrard, a player set to go down as the greatest in Premier League history.  His 16 goals in 30 Premier League games is outrageous for a midfield (albeit played as a second striker frequently enough). Liverpool’s final two months of the season produced some of the best football of the entire league season.  Their final 10 games saw them net 32 goals.

Player of the Season (POTS): Steven Gerrard – he’ll probably spend his career at Liverpool therefore allowing people to argue that he’s never proved his world class credentials, especially given his ineffectiveness at international level.  Make no mistake – one of the finest English players there’s ever been.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Yossi Benayoun – although not a top class talent, his 11 league goals (plus six in Europe) was a great return for a player considered a squad member at best.

3rd Chelsea (Predicted: 3rd)

Sacking your manager after seven months was a bold but effective movie by Roman Abramovich who replaced Phil Scolari with Guus Hiddink and saw his Chelsea side improve immeasurably afterwards.  Scolari’s only big buy was Deco who, as predicted, proved to be past his best.  He also missed Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien for extended periods of time which didn’t help his position.  But Chelsea were a better team under Hiddink and although never seriously in the title hunt they were unfortunate not to reach the Champions League final.  And they won a tournament called “The FA Cup”.

Player of the Season (POTS): Nicolas Anelka – there wasn’t really any standout performances from anyone at the club.  Didier Drogba played well in only 15 starts and Frank Lampard got over a slow start to net 12 times from midfield.  But although his form was erratic you can’t dismiss Premier League top scorer Anelka with 19 goals in 33 starts.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Florent Malouda – went from a flop of epic proportions to one of Chelsea’s key men under Hiddink.  Repeat this form in 2009/10 and Malouda will be like a new signing for the club.

4th Arsenal (Predicted: 4th)

My suggestion that the likes of Abou Diaby, Alexandre Song and Denilson were not good enough for Arsenal was proven during the season with Arsene Wenger and shareholders exchanging tit-for-tat criticism after a mediocre season.  There were some simply shocking performances (defeat to Stoke and Manchester City for example) and even the astonishing 4-4 draw at Anfield in April has to be put in the context of the Gunners being played off the park for most of the night. At some point Wenger will have to challenge for the league again but this fourth place was not a surprise.

Player of the Season (POTS): Andrei Arshavin – although 4 of his 6 goals came at Anfield, Arshavin was sublime at times.  The fact that he only played in 12 games and still warrants mention is testament to the general underperformance of the team.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Kieran Gibbs – the youth players did well in League Cup wins over Sheffield United and Wigan but Kieran Gibbs established and aquitted himself well with eight Premier League starts.

5th Everton (Predicted: 8th)

A lack of signings pointed towards a relative struggle for Everton this season but the late capture of the enigmatic Marouane Fellaini (eight goals in 30 games) aided the club in recovering from a slow start.  They played a sizeable proportion of the season without a recognised striker but a good spread of goals (6 in 10 starts for Louis Saha, six from midfield for Leon Osman, eight from Tim Cahill and five in 11 starts from on-loan Jo) saw the club finish fifth again and reach the FA Cup Final.  But David Moyes needs some real money soon.

Player of the Season (POTS): Phil Jagielka – not sure he’s international quality but Jagielka impressed alongside Joleon Lescott in the Everton defence.  At £4m, he’s looking a real bargain.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Marouanne Fellaini – it’s hard to believe this guy is only 21, with his Starsky & Hutch hair and ability to look hard-done-by all the time.

6th Aston Villa (Predicted: 7th)

I doubted in January that Villa would hang on to fourth spot.  In spite of some decent performances there was an awful lot of luck thrown in there for good measure.  Indeed, when that ran out, Villa were atrocious – they did not win a single game for over three months – and Arsenal took fourth at a canter.  Like most football fans, Villa supporters were less than impressed and there have been understandable rumblings of discontent at the way the season panned out.  But this is a Villa squad far removed from the painful days of Dave O’Leary and Graham Taylor.  While it’s only a work in progress perhaps it should be noted that Martin O’Neill’s win percentage is currently below 40%, lower than Brian Little and John Gregory.

Player of the Season (POTS): Brad Friedel – no surprise that the former Blackburn keeper was outstanding (and ever-present) through much of last season.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): James Milner – Milner played 36 times and showed the kind of consistency and workrate that has epitomised his long Premier League career.  May have to become the ‘new Gareth Barry’ next season.

7th Fulham (Predicted: 13th)

It’s funny the way football works.  Roy Hodgson spent about £16m on Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora and they netted 9 goals between them – compare this to Erik Nevland and Diomansy Kamara who scored a combined 8 in just 7 starts.  With a total of only 39 league goals, Fulham still managed to finish 7th and secure their highest ever league position.  At the other end they had new signing Mark Schwarzer to thank for the concession of just 34 goals – only the top three conceded less.  It’s worth noting the trajectory of Fulham vis-a-vis that of Schwarzer’s previous club, Middlesbrough.

Player of the Season (POTS): Brede Hangeland – a bargain £2.5m buy from FC Copenhagen, Hangeland turned heads everywhere with a series of commanding performances at centre back.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Danny Murphy – having seen Murphy puff and pant his way around the White Hart Lane midfield for 18 months, no one was more surprised than me at his effectiveness and genuine quality performances.

8th Tottenham (Predicted: 6th)

It shouldn’t have been this way with Tottenham stranded at the foot of the table for much of the early months of the season.  But they recovered under new manager Harry Redknapp to challenge for a Europa League place until the final game of the season.  The squad upheaval under Juande Ramos and Director of Football Damien Comolli was hugely damaging to the club but they have gotten away with it.

Player of the Season (POTS): Aaron Lennon – after two disappointing seasons, Lennon delivered career-best performances this season.  The final ball is improving and he gave quality left backs, such as Patrice Evra, a torrid time.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Benoit Assou-Ekotto – the French full-back was not expected to be part of the first team squad much this season but he ended up being the most improved player at the club with a string of consistent performances.  His best moments included keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet in the League Cup final.

9th West Ham (Predicted: 18th)

Yeah, I might have got this one slightly wrong.  But at the start of the season West Ham were a team led by the uninspiring Alan Curbishley, a squad of decent but terminally injured players and had bought no one of consequence.  In addition their 2008 form was appalling, winning just 5 games and losing three games 4-0 on the bounce.  Curbishley walked (with few tears shed) and the untested Gianfranco Zola came in.  After a period of adjustment he aquitted himself very well and secured their second successive top half finish.

Player of the Season (POTS): Carlton Cole – he’s had plenty of critics as Cole has jumped from the likes of Chelsea, Charlton and Aston Villa without much success.   Total league goals for Chelsea, Charlton and Aston Villa: 11.  Total number of league goals for West Ham last season: 10.  Incredibly he is now an England striker!

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Mark Noble – although he showed plenty of promise last season, the 22 year old further established himself and enhanced his reputation with increasingly-commanding performances in midfield.  How good can he get?

10th Manchester City (Predicted: 11th)

My initial prediction came against the backdrop of Thaksin Shinawatra’s stewardship of the club.  Surely the arrival of rich Arabs and Robinho would lead to a top four challenge?  Um…add Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy, Nigel De Jong and Shay Given then?  Er… No, it really wasn’t that good.  At home, with Robinho on form, City won 13 of their games – away, with Robinho invisible, they won 2.  Mark Hughes might deserve another season but I’m personally surprised he wasn’t given the boot already.

Player of the Season (POTS): Stephen Ireland – nine goals in 35 games and some terrific performances made up for underperformers elsewhere on the pitch.  Another season like that and Ireland might be on his way.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Vincent Kompany – just gets the nod ahead of Pablo Zabaleta after a solid season.  Is the second Belgian to make an impact after Everton’s Fellaini.  What’s going on there??

11th Wigan Athletic (Predicted: 10th)

When, halfway through the season, you lose two of your best players in Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios and another first team regular in Ryan Taylor, you can hardly be expected to maintain the same level of performance.  This proved the case for Steve Bruce’s Wigan side, a club still punching well above their weight in the Premier League.  They finished the season with just one win in eight games – indeed they won just three games after the midseason transfer window closed.  But this is still a success story for Dave Whelan – as long as he doesn’t ruin it next year by appointing an inexperienced managerial rookie to replace the now-Sunderland boss, Bruce.  Oh.

Player of the Season (POTS): Lee Cattermole – has impressed me when I’ve seen him; strong tackler, useful on the ball and full of effort.  Probably just edges out Antonio Valencia given the lack of hype that follows him around.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Titus Bramble – wow, he was, like, ok!  Pretty good season from Bramble who, largely speaking, avoided the comical defending that blighted his Newcastle days.  I think we should all be ready now to just admit that Newcastle brings out the worst in everyone.

12th Stoke City (Predicted: 20th)

Well at least I was correct in suggesting that Stoke’s performance would not be of “Derby” proportions.  They really weren’t in relegation trouble at all this season and a haul of 45 points saw them finish 11 points clear of the drop zone.  They did concede a lot away from home (0-5 at Man U, 1-4 at Arsenal and concession of 3 goals on five occasions) but they won 10 of their 19 home games including beating Arsenal – which was quite funny.

Player of the Season (POTS): Ricardo Fuller – it was a bit of a revelation for a journeyman forward to score 11 Premier League goals in a promoted side, the same number as Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie and more than Emmanuel Adebayor and Dimitar Berbatov.  Can he do it again?

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): James Beattie – Beattie was being overpaid in the Championship with Sheffield United and had been a flop in the Premier League with Everton, so it seemed a bit of a desperate move from Tony Pullis to bring in the former Southampton man.  Just to prove he loves red and white striped shirts, he netted seven goals in 16 games including crucial strikes against Manchester City, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough.

13th Bolton (Predicted: 16th)

I’m not quite sure why people detest Gary Megson.  Sure, he’s a ginge.  But football fans are blind to colour now.  It can only be the turgid football his teams play, general aloofness and unremarkable track record that turn many off.  When it comes down to it – leaving aside the mental £10m purchase of 5-goal striker Johan Elmander – he kept Bolton up with room to spare.  Just like Gary himself, it wasn’t pretty.

Player of the Season (POTS): Kevin Davies – probably the most underrated player in the Premier League.  Eleven league goals for a player who played a lot of the season on the right-wing (at 32 years of age) and was as whole-hearted as ever, makes him an easy call for Bolton’s top man.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Gary Cahill – £5m seemed a lot of money on a player who was viewed with relative indifference at Aston Villa.  But it has been an inspired capture and Cahill has even been called up to the England squad.

14th Portsmouth (Predicted: 5th)

Probably my daftest prediction as Portsmouth ending up losing their manager and several first team players to find themselves battling relegation in the closing weeks.  Not only that, but they then appointed Tony Adams.  It seemed Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe, fed by Niko Kranjcar and Glen Johnson, would win a lot of games for the south coast side.  But Crouch netted just 11 times in a disappointing season and Defoe (plus Lassana Diarra) left in January.  Paul Hart took over to keep the club up.

Player of the Season (POTS): Glen Johnson – Johnson continued his good form at Portsmouth, weighing in with three goals and four assists.  Way better player than he was at West Ham or Chelsea.  He now looks set for a (ludicrously) big-money move to the top four.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): David Nugent – not much to choose from at Fratton Park this year but David Nugent did make a spirited return to the side after being frozen out under Harry Redknapp.  He netted just three times but he suggested he has got the ability to make it in the Premier League.

15th Blackburn (Predicted: 15th)

I suggested that Paul Ince was not ready for the Premier League and so it proved.  This really didn’t look like a case of someone not being given enough time – he just seemed completely out of his depth.  He was unfortunate in losing Stephen Reid and Roque Santa Cruz to injury but Carlos Villanueva’s 50 goals in Chilean football counted for nothing as he made six starts and scored no goals.  The Robbie Fowler move fell predictably flat too (3 league appearances) and it could be argued that Paul Robinson (in spite of having a reasonable season) is no Brad Friedel.  Sam Allardyce took over in December and he lost just 7 of the 24 games he was in charge for.

Player of the Season (POTS): Stephen Warnock – in an unspectacular season, Warnock was the best of a moderate bunch.  A stint in midfield didn’t do that much for him but otherwise he was solid and determined.  He probably just edges out Benni McCarthy who netted 10 goals in 18 starts.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Keith Andrews – while by no means a great player, it takes some strength of character to jump from the fourth tier of football to the Premier League with fans already doubting you considering that you’re only there because you used to work under a manager they’re not utterly convinced by.  He found his feet and did ok and also made himself a regular in the Irish international side under (one of the most decorated coaches in European football) Giovanni Trapattoni .

16th Sunderland (Predicted: 9th)

I indicated in the half-time report that I thought Ricky Sbragia would get the bullet pretty quickly when it became apparent he was the new Les Reed.  As it turned out he kept Sunderland up by the skin of his teeth.  My 9th place prediction was based on the belief that Roy Keane would continue to push the club forward.  As soon as the dressing room disharmony began to manifest itself, Keane walked.  The squad had some big money buys but, in hindsight, a lack of real quality and no evidence of a team.

Player of the Season (POTS): Danny Collins – about the only Sunderland player who performed consistently last year and this was underlined by his second consecuritve “Fans Player of the Year” award.  The fact that he had to deal with Calum Davenport, Anton Ferdinand and Nyron Nosworthy scrambling around incompetently beside him only underlines his quality.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Dean Whitehead – a committed midfielder who seemed on his way out of the club after being replaced as makeshift right-back by David Bardlsey, but who ended up starting 30 games last year.

17th Hull City (Predicted: 17th)

It all started so well for Hull, comfortably sat in the top four in the early months of the season with wins over Fulham, Spurs, Arsenal, West Ham and Newcastle to their name.  It all went wrong when they conceded 7 goals in consecutive defeats to Chelsea and Man United at the end of October. They went on to win just three more games for the season.  Manager Phil Brown was cricitised for giving his half time team talk on the Manchester City pitch after Hull went in at the break trailing 0-4.  I personally thought he was right to do it but perhaps his players are a little too precious.

Player of the Season (POTS): Geovanni – Manchester City let him go and he scored 8 league goals including match winners at Arsenal and Tottenham.  A player that needs to be handled with care but when he’s on, he’s on.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Dean Windass – for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately.  Windass failed to get in to the Hull side, starting just 1 game.  The season ended under a cloud as even a loan move to Oldham didn’t work out .  I guess there was to be no Hollywood ending after all.

18th Newcastle (Predicted: 14th)

Unlike many, I didn’t take pleasure from Newcastle going down.  Sure, the club deserved it and there are a percentage of fans who need a wake up call (usually the ones proclaiming a new messiah every six months), but it’s a shame that this fine club will not be playing Premier League football next year.  The problems are well documented so I won’t go in to it but needless to say I don’t think they would have found themselves in the trouble they did had Kevin Keegan been left to run the club as he saw fit and Dennis Wise be let nowhere near the box marked “decision”.

Player of the Season (POTS): Sebastien Bassong – far and away the best player at the club (leaving aside former club legend Shay Given).  The defender was reportedly upset when he entered the dressing room after relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season to find most of the players seemingly unperturbed by their fate.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Nicky Butt – yes, he’s way past his best but Butt finally started pulling out some half-decent performances this year and his committment could not be faulted.  Damien Duff is also worth a mention for getting stuck in at left-back during the mental Alan Shearer reign.  A shame for him that his own goal sent them down to the Championship.

19th Middlesbrough (Predicted: 12th)

In January I suggested that Middlesbrough would survive but that was on the basis that they might finally get something out of Afonso Alvez.  They didn’t.  His record of 10 goals in 31 starts seems ok but only four of those goals came this season.  Tuncay played well but he netted just seven while Stewart Downing, scorer of nine goals last season, scored none.  That says it all.

Player of the Season (POTS): Tuncay – his masterful performance at home to Liverpool – a 2-0 win that seemed like it could be the springboard to keep them up – was typical of what he could deliver.  But a barren winter period where he went 10 games without a goal, contributed to the club’s predicament.  Still a cut above those around him.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): David Wheater – the 6′5″ trainee made a huge impact this season, starting 31 games and making it to Fabio Capello’s England squad.  He looks a good player and if he stays at the club then ‘Boro have a good chance of coming back up.

20th West Brom (Predicted: 19th)

There was lots of credit for Tony Mowbray’s side as they attempted to “play their way” out of trouble.  Ultimately they were relegated with 32 points and although only 4 points away from survival, most other seasons this would have seen sides relegated long before the final week of the season.  One win and 10 goals away from home undermined their decent home performance.

Player of the Season (POTS): Jonas Olsson – it can be hard to shine in a poor defence but Olsson looks a pretty classy defender and is now a target for the likes of Everton and Blackburn.

Surprise of the Season (SOTS): Gianni Zuiverloon – played 33 times this season in spite of having spent pre-season playing at he Beijing Olympics fresh off his £3.2m move from Heerenveen.  Occasional lapses in concentration aside, he aquitted himself very well.

Spurs 2008/9: Evaluating the players

Performance Analysis
I’m not going to bore you with some sort of unnecessary preamble.  I will simply say that Spurs have had an ok season and here’s what I think of each player’s individual performance.

The scale
I’ve rated all the players based on their performances through the season.  In a percentage of cases I saw the games, in a percentage of cases I saw highlights and in a percentage of cases I drew overall conclusions from media and fan reports. 

The player of the season won’t necessarily get 10 (and, in fact, doesn’t) but any mark over 8 indicates that they frequently made a key contribution to the side’s success.  We then slide down the scale in a fairly logical manner. 

10 – 8: Key contribution
7: Impressive
6: Useful
5:  Disappointing
4: Poor
3 – 0: Close the door on your way out

  
Heurleho Gomes
There was much mocking of the incompetent Brazilian goalkeeper in the opening months of the season with a series of high profile gaffes and repeated bungling undermining Spurs back line, contributing to the meagre 2 point total after 8 games.  Harry Redknapp’s arrival didn’t begin an immediate renaissance but he improved steadily and although his performance at Everton was shaky a few weeks ago he seems no more accident-prone than your average Premier League goalie.  May be only one mistake away from the sidelines but should be congratulated for the mental strength he showed to come back from his early season form.  His save in the first half of the 2-5 defeat at Man U from Ronaldo was world class.

Carlo Cudicini
Was brought in to replace Gomes during the January transfer window but soon found himself on the sidelines after an utterly horrendous performance at Hull in February (a game Spurs managed to win).  Was his last appearance and he may move on again this summer to find first team football.

Vedran Corluka
I’m not sure what position Corluka was brought in to challenge for but he found himself at right-back for most of the season.  His lack of pace was exposed at times but he’s a wily and silky player and has played well much of the time.  Has struggled at centre back when called in as emergency cover but has a role to play in the first team next season.

Alan Hutton
Hutton played just four league games before injury struck.  Returned in April and played in three further games.  Has not convinced me that he’s a top class right back but neither has he had a good run in the side.  Looks to have the attributes and may start as first-choice right back next season. 

Chris Gunter
The young Welsh defender is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest and he may end up staying there.  Played in seven UEFA Cup games for Spurs this season and acquitted himself well. Looks a good talent and I hope if he does play elsewhere next season it’s just on loan.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto  
No one expected the French left-back to cement a place in the first team, especially ahead of the highly-rated Gareth Bale.  But cement it he did and he turned out to be arguably the club’s most improved player this season.  Occasionally does daft things in his own penalty area but has notably held his own against none other than Cristiano Ronaldo – who is apparently the best player in the world.

Gareth Bale
Bale still has a lot of goodwill at the club with many fans seemingly happy to give him the benefit of the doubt in spite of his appalling performances.  His explosive start to last season suggests that he has a great top flight career ahead of him but he needs to find his misplaced confidence and quickly.  Interesting fact, he has featured in just four domestic games since the middle of January and three of them were against Man United.

Gilberto. Apparently.

Gilberto
Hard to believe the Brazilian wasn’t just released from his contract in January out of pity.  Has played just three times this season and in the first two games, so poor were his performances, he was substituted at half time for Aaron Lennon.  He got a final run-out in the second string team who drew with Shakhtar in February.  His days are numbered.

 

 Ledley King
It’s unthinkable that Ledley King might be moved on by the club but scurrilous newspaper stories have suggested just that following his nightclub altercation in recent weeks.  This is not the first time that King has been caught partying a little too hard and I’m glad the club have taken a tough stance with him.  His contract runs out at the end of next season and although the frequency and quality of his performances have been impressive this season, I expect any extension may be weighted by pay-as-you-play incentives.  But he’s appeared 28 times in all competitions this year and, interestingly, was only booked twice.

Jonathan Woodgate
I liked his signing at the time and he hasn’t let us down.  I’m reaching for wood here *cough* but in 16 months he has made 61 appearances for the club and rarely succumbed to injury.  His performances have been excellent in the main and his partnership with King (and indeed with Michael Dawson) has been as good as anything outside the top four (and maybe Everton).  Has the odd penchant for poor clearing headers but I’ve seen Rio do the same thing so let’s not get too hung up on it.

Michael Dawson
The turnaround in Michael Dawson’s career has been monumental.  After a great start under Martin Jol, Dawson suffered a poor season last year and started it abysmally this season.  Last year was so poor there was transfer talk sending him to Newcastle.  But under Harry Redknapp, Dawson retained his excellent standards and never let the side down with a series of dominating performances at centre back.  It’s just a shame that he will only feature intermittently while the Woodgate-King axis prospers.

Pascal Chimbonda
Buying back the erratic Frenchman was always a puzzling decision and, indeed, he has started just once in the league since January.  His strength might be in his versatility but given that he was unhappy being shunted around the back four in his previous stint one can only assume he was just happy to get away from Sunderland.  A good player on his day, those days are all too infrequent. 

Ricardo Rocha
*tumbleweed*

 

 

 

Wilson Palacios
£12m was a lot of money to pay for a player who cost £1m a year earlier but his contribution to Spurs’ successful battle against relegation cannot be ignored.  He brought energy and enthusiasm to a previously-pedestrian midfield that could only boast the unreliable Didier Zokora as someone capable of upping a game’s tempo (and usually, after winning the ball, his second touch was to give it away).  Palacios’ season ended in tragedy when his brother was murdered.  He will have a first team place next season. 

Jermaine Jenas
As season after season passes, and Jermaine Jenas continually fails to impose himself in Premier League games, someone has to put their hand up and admit that he’s not really that good.  It seems that “potential” is used as a euphemism for “young and English” (c.f. David Bentley).  There’s no doubting his honesty but he just doesn’t influence a game in a way that a good central midfield player should be able to.  When he’s not scoring he has little use and this was, once again, a poor Jermaine Jenas season. 

David Bentley
I still maintain that Bentley isn’t all that great and never was.  He’s a passable player who did a job occasionally at Blackburn.  At Tottenham he’s shown a total inability to beat players, take a set piece or contribute meaningfully.  He played out of position sometimes but so what?  It’s not like he was centre back – he was just on the other side of the pitch.  Even when on the right he looked slow and short of inspiration. 

Tom Huddlestone
Hudd is an interesting dilemma.  He has the attributes of a top notch player in that he is confident, can spray the ball around and has a terrific shot on him.  But he also suffers laziness, complacency and inconsistency.  At times he’s sublime but at other times he has shockers.  I’m not sure he’ll survive a summer cull.  He’s a nice option from the bench but he’s not the sort of player to bring on when you need to infuse some energy when chasing a goal. 

Didier Zokora
Might seem a bit crazy to rate Zokora ahead of the cultured Huddlestone but there’s something enjoyable about his complete mentalness.  His inability to shoot straight and ability to roll a pass 10 yards short or wide of a team mate from 11 yards away is outrageous.  But his work rate is probably unsurpassed by anyone else at the club and his League Cup final performance was inspiring.  A useful player in small doses.

Aaron Lennon
After a great first season at Spurs in 2005/6, Lennon went off the boil for the next two – ironically he was still nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2006/7 but ignored (rightly) twelve months later.  But this season – presumably after a warning from then-boss Juande Ramos – Lennon is playing the best football of his career.  His much-criticised final ball has improved immeasurably and he’s weighed in with important goals too.  He’s only just turned 22 and he already has 209 career games to his name for Spurs and Leeds.  Spurs’ player of the year.

Luka Modric
Arsene Wenger called him ‘too lightweight’ and he’s probably half right.  Modric is quite lightweight.  Too lightweight?  Well it seemed that way early on but some of Luka’s performances in the second half of the season have been excellent.  He’s as prone to being invisible in a game as most gifted players are but that’s the downside of having someone with the creative brain like he does.  I hope we get another 12 months with him and Harry finds a way to get the best out of him more consistently.

Jamie O’Hara
Expectations are never high for O’Hara, a limited player with the ability to pull something special out from time to time.  But it’s the 22 year olds versatility, desire and occasional moment of magic that could see him become the David Howells of the 21st century.  It should be noted that in four years he has made just 15 league starts.

Giovani
Some think the “diminutive” Mexican was unlucky not to feature more frequently but with Lennon and Modric regularly starting there wasn’t much room for the slightly-built midfielder.  Just six league appearances (with just one point attained from those games) quickly diluted all the pre-season excitement about Giovani who looked the real deal.  He’s done exceptionally well at Ipswich but I’d be surprised if he didn’t stay in a top flight league somewhere in Europe. 

Roman Pavlyuchenko
Pav’s season total of 14 goals seems ok but only 5 of them were in the league (where he made 19 starts) and a number of lethargic performances don’t seem to have endeared him to the management team.  He has a right to be lethargic given that he went from the Russian league to Euro 2008, back to the Russian league and then to the Premier League.  But even if he is a bit tired, his ineffectual ambling has soured too many performances.  Unfortunately for Pav, the last person to wear #9 and amble around the White Hart Lane pitch had the audacity to be utterly brilliant.

Darren Bent
Again it seems the goals don’t tell the story.  Bent has netted 17 times this season, 12 of them in the league, but he still seems likely to be sold.  Redknapp’s rather crude assessment of Bent’s missed sitter against Portsmouth in January (“My missus could have scored that one”) indicated he was frustrated with the striker.  Although the two made up it seems Redknapp wants someone with more facets to their game.

Robbie Keane
Robbie went north and his career went south.  Confidence is such a fragile thing and Keane suffered greatly partly due to the lack of love Rafa Benitez had for him at Liverpool.  I wanted him to fail but that’s because I’m a dick. Now that’s backfired.  The Robbie Keane back at Spurs is a shadow of the one who was electrifying alongside Dimitar Berbatov for two years.  He’s scored a few goals and his early performances showed promise but overall Keane looks bewildered and frustrated.  He needs to sort his head out this summer.

Jermaine Defoe
I haven’t really rated Defoe since his first six months back in 2004 but he’s done ok since he has come back.  He has suffered injury and lost his half-brother in a street attack so it’s not been easy for him.  If he learns how to stay onside and becomes a more composed striker then Defoe will be useful – not sure about first choice though. 

 
Frazier Campbell
Campbell started well at Tottenham, lifting the team in a dire 0-0 draw with Wigan back in September.  But he never found his feet and frequently showed he didn’t have the physical presence for the Premier League yet.  His best moments were in the 4-2 League Cup win over Liverpool where he netted twice in a terrific performance.  But with only one appearance in three months he looks likely to move back to Old Trafford.  To think a £7m fee was being bandied about last August.

It’s logical to have a conclusion at the end of one of these things so please welcome this conclusion.  Its name is Brian.

Webb of Deceit

Just noticed this.

Jermaine Jenas could face disciplinary action over his comments about referee Howard Webb following Tottenham’s 5-2 defeat at Manchester United.

The Spurs and England midfielder accused Webb of “crumbling under pressure” after the hosts were awarded a controversial penalty while 2-0 down.

An Football Association spokesman said: “We have written to Jermaine to ask for an explanation for his remarks.”

He has seven days to respond before the FA decides whether to take any action.

Following Saturday’s match, Jenas stated: “I think it was a case of a referee crumbling under the pressure at Old Trafford really.

“The atmosphere, the occasion, the importance of the match, a lot of factors take their toll when making decisions.”

He was also quoted as saying: “One thing which struck me about it was that he [Webb] didn’t even think [about the penalty decision].

“It was like he’d already made his mind up when he came out for the second half that he was going to give something.”

I’m not usually in to the whole “over-reacting thing” over individual refereeing decisions as keeping track of what goes in your favour and against you in the course of a season is a subjective and impossible task. 

But when you’re winning 2-0 at the Champions ground where you haven’t won since the time the Berlin Wall came down – and deserving it – having an awful penalty decision go against you is a bitter pill to swallow.  Clearly it was difficult for the team too who then collapsed in a 5-2 defeat – but that’s a whole other blog. 

As the FA look for an explanation from Jenas for his remarks perhaps they should also start looking at Howard Webb who, as of yet, has not had the spine to come out and state that he still believes he was right – or apologise for his mistake.

There will always be some people who will claim that black is white but I can’t believe anyone could look at the clip linked above and claim with a straight face that the goalkeeper doesn’t get the ball.

I was happy to see United win the league over that prick Benitez but now, with Liverpool playing some fab football and United getting their usual refereeing dig-out, I’m switching sides.  I hope Chelsea win it.

Update: Webb “demoted” to Championship 

Update 2: Hours after this blog post, Webb admits to mistake.

A Smidgen of Credit for ‘Arry

A smidgen of credit for ‘Arry

Yeah I was f’n and blindin’ ‘Arry three months ago.  Deservedly so, I think.  Now, Spurs are well clear of relegation and a point off seventh place and a place in Europe so I look somewhat “wrong”.  Right? 

Well, not quite.  I did say at the end of the piece that Spurs “should stay up this year” albeit I didn’t think it would be very clear-cut (and until we hit 38 points it probably wasn’t). 

With regard to his signings, Wilson Palacios has definitely exceeded my expectations.  He’s not the finished article but he’s certainly helped shore up a midfield where previously Jermaine Jenas and Didier Zokora had failed to perform.  Robbie Keane has been average at best although he seems to bring a zip and character to the team that wasn’t being provided by Bent or Pavlyuchenko.  

Jermain Defoe, I predict, will head off again in the next season or two, maybe after ‘Arry has left.  I find it unlikely that he’ll play with Keane much next season and if Bent and Pav move on then Peter Crouch might be making his Spurs return.  Crouch is fine but I am hoping that we maybe get someone a bit more “travelled” like John Carew or even Jo.  

Credit to Redknapp, he’s done well, far better than I thought.  I still don’t like him but you don’t have to like your manager I suppose.  

Berbatov is crap

Apparently.  His ineffectual performances recently for Man U and his lazy missed-penalty against Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals have led to a tirade of abuse from disgruntled Reds fans.  First point, why Man U fans give a rats ass about the FA Cup (or indeed the League Cup) is beyond me.  Surely, after where they’ve been, it’s the equivalent of bagging a minger after a string of supermodels. 

But you’d also think they’d never seen Berbatov play.  Absolute genius as he could be for Tottenham, around half his performances involved him sulking around the pitch and gesturing angrily at the rubbish rabble he was unfortunate enough to be paid £40k a week to play with.  Berbatov will only do it half the time – that’s the way he is.

Unfortunately for Berbs things get a bit tougher at the top and after engineering a move to “realise his Champions League dream” he now has to deal with the fact that people won’t be happy when he faffs about 50% of the time like he couldn’t give a shite.  

You reap what you sow – and when it comes down to it he might still end up with a Premier League/Champions League double. 

Wenger and his young players

After a rather demented display against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was defended by loyal manager Arsene Wenger who said: “I just want to see him recover because I firmly believe he will be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.” 

Although unfairly criticised (by Setanta commentators) for the first goal (an acute finish that went through the defender’s legs) there’s no doubt that the Polish keeper was badly caught out for Chelsea’s winner as well as looking all at sea on at least two other occasions. 

There’s supporting your players and then there is saying something that’s patently unrealistic.  If he made a reasonable statement about Fabianski along the lines of him being a very good young keeper who has yet to reach his prime, I could have bought that.  But declaring that he will be one of the best in the world?  Really?  

Wenger really does put a lot of faith in players who have let him down all too often.  Diaby, Denilson, Djourou and Eboué have not impressed me consistently when I’ve seen them.  There’s a reason I don’t include the likes of Clichy, Sagna, Fàbregas, Walcott and – to a degree – Song.  These players have performed.  

I know that every season Wenger expects it all to gel and for his young players to become the new next generation that sweeps all before them.  But as every trophyless season passes, more of his established stars seem to head for pastures new.  There is a real risk that Fàbregas could be next this summer if Arsenal don’t at least reach the Champions League final. 

Some love for Newcastle

When I mentioned to some fellow Spurs supporters today that I would not like to see Newcastle relegated due to the fact they’re a bit more interesting than a side like Stoke I was met with relative derision.  The point was made that their fans are cocky (what fans aren’t?) and that it’s always fun to see a big club who have blown a lot of money get relegated.

Maybe I’m too empathetic in my advancing years but – and I don’t mean to pick on Stoke here – I would find games with Newcastle to be far more glamorous and involving than those involving the Potters or whatever.  That’s not to say I wanted Stoke to go down (even though I did tip them for rock bottom) as I admire what they’ve done and it’s a terrific achievement (substitute any of the less glamorous teams for the basis of this discussion if you like).

I think the real truth of it is that I see the likes of Newcastle, Villa, Man City and Tottenham to be all cut from the same cloth – big clubs who brim with potential but excel at underachievement.  Maybe in my mind I’m thinking that if it were Tottenham in Newcastle’s position (and it could very well have been given that – apparently – we only had 2 points after 8 games*) I would like to have seen “fans of football” extend a warm hand of encouragement in our battle to stay up.  

Given that most football fans are footballing misanthropics (myself included) I guess that’s not very likely.

 

* reproduced with the (assumed) kind permission of H Redknapp.

Should Trap be shown the door?

 

Ray Houghton and Giovanni Trapattoni

I’m sure a certain amount of self-delusion must be required for the likes of Darron Gibson, Anthony Stokes, Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews to retain their self-belief as part of the Republic of Ireland international squad.  Few would argue that the above are good enough to be selected in a squad ahead of Fat Andy Reid, Stephen Liarland and Lee Carsley.  And while the circumstances are different for the different players, frustration is starting to mount amongst fans, pundits and journalists. 

Ireland may have recorded three wins and two draws in their five qualifiers so far but outside of a resolute performance in Montenegro, there has been little to get excited about.  Last night’s dreadful performance against a reasonable but uneven Bulgarian team may be the last straw for a lot of people.

By “last straw” I don’t mean that they are going to demand Trap’s sacking.  That would be fairly insane.  But then again “insane” might be a good way to describe his persistence with unremarkable footballers like Whelan, Gibson and Andrews. 

We understand why Stephen Liarland isn’t there – well, we actually don’t completely understand as there is a lack of transparency and sincerity from both sides – but Andy Reid’s exclusion is a divisive issue that’s only going to cause the management team uncomfortable moments as the performances continue to deteriorate. 

There’s a fear that we make Reid out to be Zidane.  He isn’t.  But he is a talented, creative player who, in the context of the current midfield selection, stands head and shoulders above.  Andrews is a hard worker and a decent player who tries to get involved but he is a class below the likes of Liarland and Reid.  Whelan is a complete non-entity who looks afraid of the limelight.  His selection baffles.

And with Kevin Kilbane struggling at left back last night (several times he failed to read high balls hit in his direction and one of these misjudgements led to his own-goal) and Stephen Hunt routinely showing himself to be devoid of any technical ability whatsoever, Ireland’s qualifying campaign looks to be in serious trouble.

If Ireland fail to get anything out of the next two games away to Italy and Bulgaria (and that looks likely) they will then need to go to Cyprus and win to stand a chance of staying ahead of Bulgaria in the group.  Pessemistic as it may seem, this situation is completely of Trapattoni’s making.  While he is unlucky to lose Stephen Reid to injury and Liarland to circumstances, his ignoring of Andy Reid is even more underlined.

If Ireland fail to qualify for the World Cup then Trap should be fired, simple as.  And not because we failed to qualify but because he has failed to make the most of the limited resources he was given.  Maybe Denis O’Brien, who contributes a substantial percentage of the Italian’s salary, should have a quiet word.

Recommissioned: The David Beckham Story

Axe

I don’t really have an axe to grind with occasional footballer David Beckham.  He seems a good family guy (leaving aside the Rebecca Loos shenanigans) and a pretty decent bloke.  However, it’s fair to say that David Beckham’s career has always been about David Beckham.  

Man U

There’s a fairly strong argument for him to be considered the fourth best of Man United’s turn-of-the-century midfield with himself, Scholes, Giggs and Keane.   Beckham’s celebrity status often saw him capture the headlines ahead of more talented players albeit, at times, not without justification.  But Alex Ferguson wasn’t a fan of Brand Beckham and shipped Becks off to Real Madrid in 2003.  

Real

In 2006 Beckham struggled to make an impact under new manager Fabio Capello at Real.  After being dumped by useless England manager Steve McClaren (although it seemed a fair decision at the time given the burgeoning form of Shaun Wright-Philips and Aaron Lennon) in August 2006, Becks decided, probably in a bit of a strop, that the game was up and announced that he was going to the USA to earn hundreds of millions of dollars revolutionise the sport. How could you have The David Beckham Show – a dramatic production about a young, pretty family with a distant footballing back-story – without David Beckham at the forefront?

US

The American experience turned out to be largely underwhelming for Beckham and his club, and the former celebrity was becoming a footballing afterthought.  But a lifeline emerged as Beckham was recalled by a desperate McClaren after just nine months in the United States footballing wilderness.  In spite of concerns over his fitness and the effects of jet lag, Beckham continued to turn out for England under McClaren and, eventually, new coach -ironically – Fabio Capello.

Milan

Now Beckham really was “back” and in order to maintain match fitness his US club Los Angeles Galaxy agreed to loan him to AC Milan during the off-season.  Beckham was a surprising success and Milan inquired about taking him permanently.  Suddenly the David Beckham Show had been recommissioned and, like the ultimate opportunist, Beckham started making noises about abandoning his failed US project.

“I know it will be difficult to go back after everything that’s happened,” he said.  ”There will be more talks this week between the two clubs and hopefully, as I’ve said before, they can come to an agreement.” 

Circus

Everything is a circus with David Beckham and it’s very disappointing to see him walk out on his contract with LA Galaxy in the manner that he has.  I doubt he ever intended to go back once he had engineered the loan move to Europe.  

I can’t blame the guy for trying to extend his career at a high level but, let’s face it, the guy did the math two years ago and liked the number of zeros avaialble in the US.  He wasn’t center of attention at Madrid (at the time he signed the LA deal – he went on to influence the title race in Madrid’s favour) and England had dumped him.  So he got the hump and sodded off to attend dinner parties with Katie and Tom and their nutter friends.

I would have had more respect for him if he gritted his teeth, accepted his place at Real or at a club of lower stature and played in a competitive football league in his final 2-3 seasons.  

I guess all that’s happened now is that the rights to The David Beckham Show have been sold back to the European market and, no doubt, it’ll be shoved down our throats again.