2nd December is D-Day

So in three days time, we will know the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. This is the first time that FIFA have decided to announce two consecutive hosts at the same time, and is also the earliest that they have ever assigned the tournament. One of the reasons for this is to give the eventual winners as much time as possible to get ready for the finals. Get the stadiums up to scratch, hotels built and transport sorted. What they don’t want is another situation like they had with South Africa this year, and the one they are facing with Brazil in four years time. One would be excused for suggesting however, that the reason for the double announcement is just a ploy for FIFA to maximise it’s revenues, through one avenue or another.

It was rumoured that the decision date was going to be put back, whilst the FIFA ethics committee investigated claims of bribery and corruption inside footballs governing body regarding the votes. Various members were involved in the claims, with 2 voters and four other FIFA officials all receiving bans, not only for voting, but for working in football in general. All will still go ahead however, on Thursday 2nd December, with 22 voters instead of the original 24.

So where will the two tournaments go then. The process of voting has never quite been a transparent one, with the unexpected often becoming the expected. It would take a brave man to place his own money on predicting where each tournament will take place.

The 2018 tournament then is coming to Europe, with bids from England, Portugal/Spain, Holland/Belgium and Russia. South America’s CONMEBOL federation have already said that they will be giving their votes to Portugal/Spain, giving them a 3 vote head start on the rest with 19 left to count. In my opinion Russia should not get the tournament. Not only do they have logistical issues with it being such a large country, but the attitude of the countries fans is of a particular distaste for other nationalities crossing their border. I know of a fair few incidents when England played them during Euro 2008 qualifying. Recently, black player Peter Odemwingie left Russian side Locomotive for English side West Bromich Albion. Upon leaving the Locomotive fans displayed a banner thanking West Brom for taking Odemwingie off them, with a banana in the middle. A clear display of racism which has no place in football. They have however, never hosted the World Cup, which may end up working in their favour.

I don’t believe Holland and Belgium should get the tournament either, as they hardly put on the best of showings for Euro 2000, or it could be argued of course that that was largely down to England hooliganism. This then leaves Portugal and Spain's joint bid up against the one from England. Both of these have great cases to host a large scale international tournament in my opinion, with the suitable stadiums already in place and efficient transport already running. Maybe because we haven’t had the tournament since 1966 (Spain hosted World Cup 1982) or maybe because I am completely biased, but me personally would like to see the tournament in England.

As for 2022, that is over 11 years away, giving just about anyone enough time to build whatever is needed. I think that USA should take the honors here, as they put on arguably one of the best tournaments in history in 1994, although they face competition from Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea. One thing that does bug me though, Mohamed Bin Hammam has recently performed a u-turn and stated that he will now not be running for FIFA presidency next year, when Sepp Blatter stands for re-election. Another four years in office in return for Qatar 2022? Surely not?

The End of the Draw?

Quick question to start things off, what did this years World Cup give you? What memories will you take from it, that will last for many years? Awful refereeing decisions? Big goalkeeping mistakes? Dirty tactics in the Final?

One thing is for sure, it won’t be the wonderful football that was on display because, quite frankly, there was none. A 25 man Technical Study Group came out with a 288 page book report that suggested “nearly all teams now play with a compact defence.” Well congratulations, I could have told you that for free, let alone the absurd amounts that these 25 members most likely earn. The fact of the matter is, is that in International - and some club - football now, the main objective in a match is to not concede. Now I’m not saying this is a bad philosophy, far from it, what I am worried about however is the number of teams who also don’t look to score either. The sort of teams that almost know they are beaten before they enter the field of play, and do all they can to shut the opposition out, with no sense of attacking play whatsoever producing un-entertaining games ending in draws. This cannot be good for the future of the game.

So what does world footballs fearless leader plan to do about all this negativity. “We are considering doing away with draws in the first round (of World Cups) and also ending extra-time play. If there is no winner at the end of 90 minutes of play, we could proceed directly to penalty kicks.” I forget the writer now, but I once read a column in World Soccer magazine that said “Sepp Blatter comes up with 50 new ideas a day, 51 of them are bad.” A fairly accurate description if you ask me. Other possibilities that the world football governing body has mentioned include increasing the size of the goals and reducing both teams players by one every few minutes during extra time.

There is definitely reason for something to change, because this years World Cup really wasn’t that entertaining to watch, likewise with the 2006 tournament, although I did spend a lot of time travelling to and from Germany for the England games, so maybe didn’t catch enough of that tournament. The ideas being proposed however, are not something that I would like to see. If we do away with draws and go straight to penalty shootouts, then these teams who know they will struggle to get anything from a game, will go even more defensive. The fact that a penalty shootout is an absolute lottery will mean teams playing for that outcome all the more. We shall see what they eventually come up with, but if the past is anything to go by, more than likely nothing and we shall continue as we are.

As ever, sources and quotes taken from World Soccer magazine.

Welcome Back Bellamy

Now there’s not many football players about that I really dislike, but I did take great pleasure in Craig Bellamy’s poor performance last night on his return to Coventry after leaving the club some nine years ago.

Despite only scoring 6 goals during his one season with us, I have no doubt about the ability of the Welsh front man. A top player I know that he is, and I was shocked when I seen him come down to the Championship. A man of his quality would have had no shortage of clubs from the Premiership willing to take him.

Ability apart though, the guy is nothing short of a trouble maker. He seems to fall out with the staff and players at pretty much any club that he has been at, including the ridiculous golf club incident with John Arne Riise at Liverpool. The reason for my dislike though, is because of his criticism of Coventry City Football Club, and the City itself when he left for Newcastle all those years ago.

I have to admit though, despite not doing anything all night, I was worried that he would pop up with the winning goal, to silence the boo boys in the Ricoh Arena. Cardiff manager Dave Jones said in a post match interview that the fans were scared of Bellamy. He was probably right, but he was far from the truth when he said that was the reason for the jeers.

As for the match, a penalty given in the fourth minute is an incident I would like to see again. From where I was sitting (half way up the stand behind the goal where it happened) it didn’t look like a penalty. Sure, Turner seemed to have hold of him, but if you’re going to start giving penalties for that, then you will be giving them all day long. Harsh I thought. In the end though, it was another former Coventry man that got the winning goal. Jay Bothroyd, another player that most of Coventry fans hate and abuse.

Our performances this season, I think, are beginning to get better. A win away at Ipswich and a narrow loss - albeit still a loss - against a good Cardiff side just 2 points off the top of the league are two not bad results. Last night we were fighting for the ball in midfield, going in for fifty-fifty balls whereas before we were bottling it. The one thing we are still missing though I feel, is a creative midfielder, someone that is going to make things happen, because with Marlon King in the side now, I think we have the goals in us.

"A noise we are dealing with"

What gets me, is why so many Liverpool fans are so eager for this proposed take over to be completed. Yes, Hicks and Gillett have done little good since taking over the club in 2007, and have run up debts of £300m in the process. But New England Sports Ventures (the people behind the bid) are an American company, with American investors. Do Liverpool fans really want another American consortium in charge of their club?

In my eyes there are 3 types of football club owner. First of all the regular owner, the sort of person who just looks to run a business, for the majority of the time because of their love for football or in some cases the club. Second is the mega rich owner, who sees the club as a play thing. Roman Abramovic, Sheikh Mansour. Lastly is the owner in the shape of the Glazers, Hicks/Gillett, and the New England Sports Venture (NESV). The foreign investor who is only in it to make money. Rarely do they care about the club, or anyone associated with it, all they are concerned with, is gaining a profit from the eventual sale of their “asset.” What makes anyone think that the NESV will have different intentions for Liverpool football club, and will actually look to do good for a club with so much history and tradition?

The fact that current chairman Michael Broughton was brought into the club with the sole purpose of finding a buyer for the current American owners, says it all about their initial intentions. Now that Broughton has found a buyer - and more importantly, an actual offer - the American pair are not happy. And why? Because if this deal goes through, the pair will stand to lose a total of around £140m. So with Broughton happy to sell - he has in fact accepted the £300m offer made by NESV - and the owners reluctance to at such a price, the matter will now be resolved in court. It is worth noting however that if the Royal Bank of Scotland don’t receive the £280m that they are owed by next Friday (15 October) then the club could be placed into administration. For everyone concerned with Liverpool football club, this could be catastrophic. Firstly, a 9 point deduction would be made by the Premier League, leaving them bottom of the table with -3 points going into the Merseyside derby next weekend. But even more problematic, would be the lack of interest in buying the club. With such debts and such a poor position in the league table, who would want to take over? As a fan of Liverpool myself, it is imperative that the club be taken over this week, although my concerns over NESV’s intentions are large.

And if it doesn’t go through, Hicks and Gillett had better stay away from Anfield. Not only would they have taken this massive club to the bottom of the English Premier League, not only would they have severely dented the reputation of one of the most famous clubs in the world, but above all, they have disrespected what is quite possibly the most loyal supporters in world football. Tom Hicks has been quoted as saying that Liverpool fans “are a noise we are dealing with.” What he means by this is anyone’s guess, but the club needs to be in the hands of someone else, and quick.

Soap Opera Part 2

So onto the second saga that has took place this summer at Coventry. Kieren Westwood, widely regarded as the best goalkeeper outside the Premiership and one of the most important players at the club, has recently refused to sign a new contract. His existing deal is up at the end of the current season, and despite alleged efforts from both sides, it now appears that we will lose one of our most sellable assets at a fraction of what he is worth.

Now this has been going on since Aidy Boothroyd became City manager back in early June, with Boothroyd stating that number one priority once he returned from his holidays would be to tie the Irish international - five caps now for his national team - down into a lucrative, long term contract. Then, as pre season became shorter and shorter, us fans were promised that talks were ongoing, with the extension imminent.

We are now 7 games into the new season, and as previously stated Westwood has announced he will not sign a new deal, so it now looks like a cut price move in the January window or risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season. The rejection of an alleged £3m offer from Celtic now doesn’t look so much of a good move.

During a recent international game, Westwood broke his silence, stating that a deal had only been on the table for 4 weeks. A deal that he said he wouldn’t be signing. He also went on to say that 6 months ago he would have signed, 12 months ago he asked for a new contract and 12 months before that he actually asked for a new contract. Now if everything that he said is true, you can understand why he is frustrated, trying to get a deal for 2 years, then one being offered only a week or two before the start of the season in which his current one would run out.

So if this is true, you have to ask yourself, why have the club been saying all summer that a deal is being discussed and that they hope he would agree to it? To please the fans maybe. But why would they leave it so late to tie down the best player in his position in the Championship, especially as he asked for a new deal the previous summer? Or maybe Westwood is bending the truth, not to make himself out to be another greedy player after a move to a bigger club. Either way the club have not publicly responded to Westwood’s comments and duly dropped him for the next game, a 3-1 defeat away to Millwall, before returning for the following game against Leicester. At the full time whistle of that game against Leicester, Westwood made his way to the fans behind his second half goal and had words with a fan in the front row. What was said only those two know, but both clearly had a point to get across.

Now, us fans just have to wait, more than likely until January when Westwood will be expected to move for a cut price fee. Both parties agreed to draw a line under recent incidents and concentrate on what is important, Coventry City’s season. For now, all we can do is believe exactly that, and hope above all, that it doesn’t affect on field results, because what actually happened during the pre season saga, is anybodies guess.

Soap Opera Pt 1

Listen to most people in and around Coventry City Football Club, and they will tell you that Ray Ranson is a good chairman, with the clubs best interests at heart. I don’t disagree with that, but I do ask what on earth is going on at the minute regarding two important players for Coventry.

First of all is the potential signing of Marlon King. The deal was all set to be wrapped up on Friday 11 September, but for whatever reason, there was no signatures on the dotted line. Then, in a national newspaper over the weekend, King’s agent was quoted as saying “A deal has been agreed, all that’s left now is to sign.” So what was the hold up? Anyone who supports Coventry, or indeed lives in Coventry, can tell you quite confidently that manager Aidy Boothroyd desperately wants to sign the striker that he worked with at Watford back in 2006. Boothroyd has made no secret in his desire to get his man, not least because of the current injury problems his squad is facing. So King wants to sign, the manager wants him but why still no deal? One of the club directors is rumored to be against the deal, holding the whole thing up. One can only imagine that the anonymous opposer isn’t a fan of King’s controversial past.

A good goal scorer that he is - 121 career goals in 383 appearances equates to a goal just over every three games - it has always been his private life that takes the limelight. A total of 14 convictions consisting of driving bans, theft and assault has earned him 2 separate prison sentences. The most recent, well publicised incident involving a young woman whilst on a night out in the Soho area of London earned him an 18 month sentence. A sentence that he has only just finished, travelling to Coventry to train under Boothroyd almost immediately after his release. Other incidents involve several fall outs with managers and an alleged head butting, involving team mate Dean Windass.

The deal was set to be signed (again) today - Thursday 16 September - before an announcement around midday stating that it would now be signed on the Friday. The fact that Boothroyd is “praying for a deal to be struck before the weekend” suggests that there is something or someone that is currently holding up the deal. Me, I think he could do a good job for us. He could be exactly what we are missing, someone who can stick the ball in the net. But we need to get it sorted sooner rather than later. Either sign him up, or let him go.

England V Slovenia

It always seems to be the hard way when it comes to England. After two unconvincing draws, they finally produced a performance of some quality to ensure qualification from Group C.

It was a much better performance by England as they controlled the ball a lot better than they had in their previous two games. With Jermaine Defoe and Wayne Rooney starting upfront, there was no big man to pump the ball up to. This meant a much more shorter, patient passing game could be played, one in which I thought we executed rather well.

Apart from a few lapses in concentration, I thought we defended well, something that comes as a nice change from what we have come to expect from England of recent times. When the ball reached our penalty area, the amount of players that were throwing themselves at the feet of the Slovenians was encouraging. Defending in numbers and as a unit. In particular I thought John Terry had a very good game. After a poor pass across the backline early on in, he recovered well to deny the Slovenians a number of times. One memorable moment was - after blocking the first shot - when Terry threw himself head first, just a foot off the ground to attempt to block a shot from Valter Birsa. He didn’t manage to stop the shot as Glen Johnson was behind to deflect the ball away, but the philosophy of “they will not score” was one to be admired from Terry throughout the game. He also had a couple of chances at the other end from corners. His first attempt was a header on the near post which was off target, but in the second half, he very nearly made it 2-0 as the Slovenia goalkeeper just managed to get a strong hand to a header he had on the far post. His partner, Mathew Upson, I thought was a little off the pace. One moment in the first half in which he almost gave up on chasing Zlatan Ljubijankic was a little worrying. Thankfully Terry was there to save the day with an excellent sliding tackle to stop the incoming shot. It has to be said though, that had it not been for a reaction tackle from Upson late in the second half, it could so easily have been 1-1 and a different story altogether for the England contingent.

Going forward, although we were against a relatively weak side, we were rather impressive, creating a number of goal scoring chances. A superb link up between Steven Garrard and Wayne Rooney produced an excellent save from Samir Handanovic down to his left. The two just seemed to know what each other was thinking, and the ball played through two defenders by Rooney, set Gerrard up brilliantly as he tried to place it into the bottom corner. With many fans and pundits calling for a front line consisting of these two, this particular bit of play would only have fuelled the fire had Rooney’s strike partner Jermaine Defoe not had such a good game. Two different players I know, but compared to Emile Heskey, Jermaine Defoe knows where the goal is and has that knack of getting into the positions that bring about goal scoring opportunities. He could have easily scored a hat trick against Slovenia as his goal was followed up by a powerful shot that - luckily for Handanovic - was straight at the ‘keeper. Then, in the second half, a header into the box from Frank Lampard found Defoe all alone but the bouncing ball proved tricky for the little man as his stab at the ball just found itself wide. Not too long after, he thought he had made it 2-0 as he comfortably placed into an open net from Rooney’s cross, only to see the goal disallowed for offside for the initial pass to Rooney. As for Rooney, he had a much better game compared to his two previous performances against the USA and Algeria, creating chances for both his team mates and himself. Only another instinctive save from Handanovic prevented him from getting on the score sheet as he was left all alone in the penalty area. The scuffed shot was superbly tipped onto the post by the ‘keeper. He looked a lot fitter, a lot sharper, and more importantly determined, although it was a selfish decision to go himself in the first half when a ball to the completely open James Milner looked a better option. Talking of Milner, he was another who had an excellent game. After his poor 30 minute display against the USA, I questioned his inclusion in the starting line-up for the final game. However, after a shaky first 10 minutes, he looked the impressive fired up player he has done all season for Aston Villa, producing the cross for the only goal of the game. That was the first good cross I have seen an Englishman produce this summer, and it was followed up by another three or four, inviting the strikers to get into the position to score a goal and the sort of cross that the defence hates.

After all the allegations recently of unrest in the England camp, it was nice to see all the players in a huddle at the end of the game, showing unity and team spirit. Fabio Capello said at the end of the game that he has refound the team that he knows and the form that he see’s from these very players week in, week out in the Premier League. One good performance doesn’t mean we are going to go on to win the tournament, but we looked good in that game and with the confidence the players now feel, I wouldn’t fancy playing against them.

Bring on the Germans!

Wrong About Rooney!

A good journalist always admits when they’re wrong. Okay I’m not that good, and I’m not a journalist either but I just thought I should mention that I was wrong when I mentioned, in an earlier post, that Wayne Rooney is the man for the England captaincy.

Just days after writing the piece, Rooney returned to performing his old tricks. In a friendly against Platinum Stars just before the World Cup, he was flying in to tackles, clashing with opposing players and arguing with officials, gaining a yellow card in the process.

His biggest mistake came at the end of the Algeria game when, as fans booed the team off the pitch, he said down the lens of a television camera “"Nice to see your home fans boo you, that's loyal supporters." Now as an England fan myself, I find his comments almost insulting. The amount of money a travelling England fan spends, and the things he has to go through to watch his country play, are something Rooney will never understand. It’s fine earning £100,000 per week, and travelling to South Africa on a private jet, but when you look at the fans, it’s a completely different story. These people spend close to - some even over - their respective monthly wage. Bearing in mind my trip to just the USA game cost me just over £1,000, some travel agents were offering a tournament long trip for £10,500 not including tickets. If someone spends this much to travel half way around the world to watch their country play a game of football, I feel they have a right to express their disappointment at such a dismal performance.

Rooney has since apologised, although my thoughts are that this came more from Rooney’s PA and the Football Association rather than from Rooney’s own mouth. Either way I can respect that he made the apology however sincere it was. One thing is for sure though, Wayne Rooney is a big part of the England team, and any success we see this summer and beyond, you can bet the Manchester United striker will have something to do with it.

As disappointed as I am with the comments, I am still fully behind him and the team. Come on Rooney, and come on England!

England V Algeria

I thought I should hang back on the report of the England Algeria game for a few days for the fear of it turning into a complete slagging off of the team and their performance. Three days later and I still feel the same way, so here we go I suppose.

It really was an awful performance from the England team as not one player really played well. I never expected a big win for England, but I did expect a comfortable victory. Instead, what we saw was a lacklustre performance against a side that we really should have beat. Algeria only managed to qualify for the World Cup - for the first time in 24 years - after a sudden death playoff against Egypt. Both sides finished their qualifying group with identical records, so a match on neutral territory was needed to decide the qualifying team, with Algeria winning 1-0.

Defensive alarm bells rang early on when David James unconvincingly punched a cross whilst under pressure, with Glen Johnson also failing to clear as the ball fell luckily to John Terry. James did recover from the incident to have a good, solid game in goal without having too much to do. Johnson however failed to recover. On a number of occasions he was turned by the excellent Karim Ziani, and looked off the pace defensively for much of the game. The fact that Ziani got man of the match shows how dominant he was over the fullback. Once again it took too long to close down the player on the ball as Algeria were able to fire off a few shots from range with relative ease. A better team on another day would have punished us for the lack of pressing. As ever recently with England, the second half was a different story, not allowing Algeria many chances at all, although Terry did provide a worry after he put James under unnecessary pressure following a poor back pass.

Going forward, we rarely created anything, with the long ball game being once again enforced. Whenever Heskey or Crouch are in the team, it always seems to attract the hoof up field. In the days leading up to the game, Capello admitted that the Jabulani ball - the ball used at this World Cup - behaves unpredictably in the air, so why do we end up playing the ball high towards our front men. Surely the best way to utilise this ball would be to play a short passing game, to keep possession and to minimise the unpredictability of the ball. So a number of times the ball was played high up to Heskey, and whether it was the ball behaving as described or just a poor pass, it often flew well over his head. As for crosses, I saw two decent balls into the box all game, both by Aaron Lennon. One resulted in a scuffed shot by Frank Lampard, while the other was just flicked away from Wayne Rooney’s head. Corners were awful, rarely beating the first man. It was disappointing to see players such as Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard become anonymous for large periods of the game, neither putting in the sort of performance they generally do for their respective clubs. As for Rooney, it appeared to me that something was bothering him. Whether it be an injury that he may be carrying, or the system or position he is being used in is not one that he agrees with, his attitude looked completely off.

It really was an awful performance, you would expect better from world class players who ply their trade in one of the greatest leagues in the world, and the travelling fans let them know what they thought of the game. Next up is a must win game against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth, let’s hope we get the result needed and progress onto the next round.

England V USA - The Game

The 1-1 draw against USA is hardly the end of the world as some people have been making out. It does however, put pressure on the side to perform and get the right results in their remaining two games, especially after Slovenia picked up a win against Algeria. Anything other than a win in those games now, and we could be struggling to even make the second round.

When I saw the starting lineup, I was surprised to see James Milner in there, especially seen as he had been reported as being ill in the days leading up to the match. I expected - and hoped - that Joe Cole would get the nod instead. In goal, Robert Green would not have been my choice either, I just don’t think that he is an international class goalkeeper, but if David James was unfit, then I can understand why Capello selected him ahead of the inexperienced Joe Hart. Other than that, it was a lineup that I very much expected, and one that I though was right to play against the Americans. Capello gained a bit of criticism for selecting Emile Heskey, although as I had previously said, I thought that he was the right man to go up against the USA’s big defenders. Oguchi Onyewu is a big strong defender and I felt that had Rooney had been up top on his own, or even with Crouch then he would have dominated. Putting Heskey up top to almost deal with the defender would at least free up Rooney to do what he does best in and around the US backline.

We started brightly, with Heskey laying off beautifully for Steven Gerrard to slot past Tim Howard in goal. After going one up though, we never really controlled the ball and kept possession for large periods of time which we should have done. Instead playing silly passes that were easily intercepted. James Milner looked off the pace from the start and was booked for a reckless challenge on Steve Cherundolo, his third foul on the full back after just 26 minutes. He was substituted shortly after and replaced with Shaun Wright-Phillips. I was disappointed with the replacement, I felt that Joe Cole would have been a better choice on the left wing, a position that he has played - and well - many times before for England. Whenever Wright-Phillips got the ball down the left, he had to cut in onto his right foot before delivering into the box and I thought that he and Ashley Cole both had poor games. He did have one great chance to score, but where a left footer would have placed the ball into the far corner, Wright-Phillips used his right, merely passing the ball to the goalkeeper.

Going forward we did look dangerous, with Glen Johnson bursting forward whenever possible to support the explosive Aaron Lennon. Lennon again showed what a dangerous weapon his pace can be, often getting around the fullback and to the byline. As is too often with England though, the final ball was lacking. In the centre of the pitch, I felt that Frank Lampard was anonymous for large periods of the game, not showing the form that he does for Chelsea. His partner in the centre Steven Gerrard had a good game, looking as fired up as he has been in an England shirt for a long while. His opening goal was followed up by some excellent defensive work, although he could have done better in stopping Clint Dempsey getting his shot off in what resulted in the equaliser. Emile Heskey is another player that I felt had a good game, holding the ball up well before laying it off with accuracy. The one reason a striker is on the pitch though, is to score goals. When he was played clean through by an excellent through ball by Lennon, I was never confident of him scoring and although he struck the ball cleanly, it was straight at Tim Howard.

Defensive frailties once again shone through, as we never looked confident when dealing with high balls into the box and rarely getting close enough to the USA players when winding up for a shot or spraying the ball out wide. This was epitomised when Landon Donovan shot inches wide from long range and that weak shot by Clint Dempsey that somehow found it’s way into the back of the net. Robert Green went for the ball with his hands but didn’t put enough of his body behind the ball, as it slipped off his gloves and rolled into the net. A massive mistake by Green in a massive match. Jamie Carragher - Ledley King’s replacement at half time - showed his lack of pace and physical strength on this stage now as he was turned with ease by Jozy Altidore before Green saved the day with an excellent save at his near post. With Ledley King possibly now out for the rest of the tournament, it is worrying to think that our next best defender was turned so easily, and now also on a yellow card after making sure Altidore’s strike partner Robbie Findley couldn’t perform the same move on him.

All in all I think England played quite well, and a 1-1 draw against a side that made it to the Confederations Cup Final last year is not a bad result. The pressure is now on though, as the next two games really must be won.

England V USA - The Trip

I have recently returned to England after a relatively long trip to South Africa to see England play USA at this summers World Cup. It was yet another great away trip where the football put a slight downer on things, although I thought we played rather well. More on the game later.

Travelling with my Dad, we met up with the other 6 lads in the Heathrow bar, just in time for the opening game of the tournament. Not much of the game was seen however as we all began to get to know each other before our 2 hour flight to Madrid. Once in Madrid, we browsed the airport for a TV to watch the late game, France V Uruguay. With everywhere seemingly closed and no TV in the only café that was serving beer, we resorted to streaming the game over the internet using the internet café. Eight men crowded around a small monitor, it’s amazing what a fan will do to watch a football game. After the game we were kicked out of the café for drinking alcohol, so we returned to the bar before our long haul flight to Johannesburg.

Whilst in Madrid we met someone from Nottingham who was travelling to South Africa alone. He explained that he had bought a tent, and that his plan was to pitch it in Rustenburg for a few nights before moving on to Cape Town. We saw him again in Johannesburg at the baggage carousel. At the point of which we left the airport, his tent hadn’t arrived and he had missed his 11:30 coach to Rustenburg, not a good way to begin your trip. I took his email address so will contact him in the next few days to see how his trip went, and to see if he ever got his tent back.

Once we dumped the bags in the hotel, we set off for Rustenburg, stopping a few miles away from the stadium in a retail park. Standing outside a Nando’s, we bought a few crates of the local beer from an off license. Working out at 40p per bottle, it was a cheap build up to the game, and a good laugh as well. We weren’t too far away from the stadium, but with just one road to and from the ground, it still took us over an hour to get there. Upon reaching the turnstile, one of the blokes we were with realised he had lost his ticket. He managed to buy one outside the ground for just £20, less than the face value of his original ticket. That is unheard of at a major tournament, where most of the time you would expect to pay three or four times face value for an England game.

I was very disappointed after the game, as the England players stood in the centre circle and aimed a clap at each end of the ground. Us fans had travelled half way around the world to see them play, and had filled half of the ground as we always do when travelling away to major tournaments, so I thought they at least owed us enough to come down towards our stand and cheer us properly. In comparison, the entire US squad went over to their fans and saluted them for their support.

After the game, our South African chauffeur picked us up from the ground and took us back to our hotels in Pretoria. An absolute joke of a journey that took us until gone 2:30 to get back, a four hour journey that should have taken us around an hour and a half. A scary site welcomed us when we got off the bus, the hotel security guard was roaming the car park in a bomber jacket and balaclava, although he did greet us and wish us a good night.

The next day Ghana and Serbia were playing in Pretoria, so all the lads decided to get a ticket to the game. Me and Dad decided against going, especially seen as if we had got a ticket, we wouldn’t be sitting with any of the people we were travelling with. Instead we spent the day in the Eastwoods Tavern, a bar recommended to us by our South African driver that happened to be right down the street from where the Serbia game was being played. A little more expensive than the 40p a bottle the previous day, a pint was 350 ZAR (around £3.50). Two of the lads with us on the trip decided to stay until late into the first half and the four of us had a great laugh in the sunshine as we downed the beers, watching the game on the massive screen out the back of the bar.

We were then picked up after the game and taken to the airport where we began our long journey home. As I said, a great trip, although it is amazing when you think of what we all went through just to see our beloved country play a game of football on the greatest stage in the world.

Growing Up With Football

Recently in game world Voller on Football Manager Live, someone raised a discussion about footballing memories. Despite only being 23 years old, I feel that I have experienced enough to add to this discussion.

My Dad was a massive Liverpool fan growing up, following them home and away every game before getting into his home town club Coventry. I was born in 1987, the year Coventry won the FA Cup. I was born on Friday 30th January, the very next day my Dad went to the fourth round against Man Utd, so growing up I was always going to be seriously into football. I remember my first ever game was a testimonial at Highfield Road when I was very young, one in which my Dad can't even remember but he believes it was John Sillett. I don’t really remember much about that game other than the fact that my Mum was also dragged along. My first real memory of watching football was watching the 1994 World Cup, and seeing Roberto Baggio sending the ball into orbit in the penalty shootout that handed Brazil the Cup. For some reason though my strongest memory of that tournament was the very colourful (and small) Jorge Campos in goal for Mexico. I remember watching it with my Dad - he was trying to make us pitta breads using the toaster, an epic fail, just one of those vivid memories that stays with you forever - in a match that Campos had three goals against him, all disallowed.

Growing up I went through supporting a number of clubs that I really can't explain how I got into. Some of them I suppose was because they were successful, but others I have no idea. These included Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Man Utd and finally Blackburn. Whilst still a Blackburn fan, my Dad took me to see them when they came to Coventry. Coventry beat them 5-0 on a snowy day in December. After that I turned to supporting my home town club, much to the dismay of my Mum as she had already bought me a load of Blackburn merchandise for Christmas. At first I rarely got to go and see Coventry play, just getting to see them every now and then when I was taken, before my own money allowed me to get a season ticket in 2005, the first season at the new and impressive Ricoh Arena. I never renewed the season ticket after that season until last term, and have since signed up for next season also. Let's see what Aidy Boothroyd can do.

My Dad also followed England home and away. I remember watching the news in worry when they showed rioting on the streets of Sweden at Euro 92, a tournament that he was at. Running battles were shown between England fans and police, with shop windows getting smashed and a lot of looting going on. He still has a (horrible) Hugo Boss shirt that he has kept as a souvenir. He took me to my first England game in 1994 at the old Wembley against Denmark, followed by a number of friendlies and qualifiers before going to Euro 96. I have fantastic memories of Euro 96. Before, during and after the games I experienced an atmosphere and togetherness that I never had before, and that 4-1 victory against Holland was something else. After that I rarely missed a home game. My first away game was in 2004 in Gothenburg, one in which we lost 1-0, but after that I was hooked! We stepped off the bus in the town centre and immediately an English couple walked passed us and said hi. We had never seen them before, but I soon realised that away from home, all fans were your friends. The first bar we walked into was packed out with English fans, as everyone was chatting, drinking and singing. The same could be said for once we got into the stadium, all standing it was non stop singing from start to finish. The game however, was disappointing, as can be said for most of the away trips I have ever been on. After that I just had to go to every game, no matter how much it cost. It got to the point where we were booking the trip without even thinking of the price, a dangerous point to get to. We have since learned.

After the Sweden game was Euro 2004 in Portugal. Again great memories of this tournament, although I was disappointed that we only got to go to the one stadium over three games. The group games against France and Croatia followed by the Quarter Final against Portugal were all held at Lisbon’s Estadio Da Luz, an excellent modern stadium. Rosario Square in the centre of Lisbon was amazing, full of England fans and flags.

Two years later saw us travelling to Germany for the World Cup in 2006. This is how bad it got, to save money we travelled over by coach on a three day trip, travelling there and back for every single England game. Another good tournament in which we got eliminated by Portugal on penalties. We were sitting behind the goal that the penalties were taken, so it was not a nice experience.

My travels with England has taken me to some of the best stadiums in the world and gave me the best experiences of my life, I must thank my Dad heavily for this! Next week we travel out to South Africa for England’s first game of the 2010 World Cup against USA. Although this will be my fourth tournament, I still have that same feeling of excitement as I had before any of the others.

Come on England!

UEFA - The Good, The Bad And The Downright Silly!

Two very interesting pieces of news came out of UEFA’s headquarters today. The first of which was the unanimous approval of “The UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations,” which was backed by every stakeholder in European football. What this means is that - after the three year phased implementation - clubs wishing to compete in UEFA European competition must be able to meet the following conditions:

- Break-even requirement - clubs must not spend more than they generate over a period of time
- No overdues payable during the season - towards other clubs, employees and/or social/tax authorities
- Provision of future financial information - to ensure clubs can meet their future obligations

It’s worth noting that there will be no limit on how much debt a club can have, although the resulting interest payments will be included and must be covered by the clubs income. So the £716m debt that Manchester United find themselves with will be fine, but the interest payments will go against them, bearing in mind that only the £80m transfer fee for Cristiano Ronaldo saved them from making a loss last season - the eventual profit was just £6.4m. It also spells trouble for teams like Manchester City, who have recouped hardly any of the £170m that they spent on new talent over the past year. In fact, a lot of clubs need to sharpen up financially, after it was reported that over half of UEFA’s 732 licensed clubs operate annually at a loss.

Any clubs not adhering to these rules will not be eligible to compete in any of UEFA’s competitions. A great idea in my opinion.

Second up was the announcement that there will be a further two years of experimenting with additional assistant referees (silly name to start with) behind each goal, starting with next seasons Champions League and Euro 2012 qualifiers. Now I believe - and most managers would agree with me - that this has already been experimented with enough and the conclusion is that it offers nothing. The AAR’s missed a number of key incidents in and around the penalty area during last seasons Europa League, the exact reason why they are there in the first place. I believe they are only being used to stall the call for video/goal line technology, as FIFA president Sepp Blatter hides nothing in his opposal to the calls. The amount of sports that now contain the use of video technology, how is it not that the biggest sport in the world refuses to include something that would in no doubt help the game. When at Fulham Chris Coleman had a monitor in the dugout that could review an incident from a number of angles just 30 seconds after it had happened. I agree that a few things would need ironing out, but come on Blatter, it can’t be that hard.

AAR’s = silly name and a poor idea.

England V Mexico

Despite the impressive 3-1 scoreline, there was not a lot to shout about regarding England’s performance against the Mexican’s on Monday night. There were very few outstanding performers, if any, and the formation showed no real strengths, nor did it weaknesses. Capello has to take something from the game though, so let’s try and analyse it in the best way possible.

First of all, let’s take a look at the back four and the goalkeeper. A half each was given to the two available stoppers on the night, with Green coming out with his reputation the most enhanced. A fine save down to his right prevented a certain goal from Carlos Vela, although a spilled bobbling shot just minutes after another important save gave worrying thoughts. Hart in the second half was solid, although not having a great deal of work to do, he did what he had to with minimal fuss. Glen Johnson showed yet again his great ability as an attacking fullback, getting forward whenever possible and scoring an absolute peach from the edge of the area, but questions do still remain about his defensive positional sense. Leighton Baines at left back didn’t have the best of games as he failed to get close enough to the ball on a number of occasions, resulting in dangerous balls being played across the face of goal. He could also have been blamed for Franco’s goal as his unconvincing clearance off the line from Marquez’s header allowed the forward to fumble the ball in, although had Ledley King not allowed Marquez to wriggle free of his marking in the first place, danger could have been averted. King admitted he didn’t have his best game, but to see him come through 90 minutes of football was an encouraging sign. In his first game as full time captain Rio Ferdinand worryingly lost a number of straight races, displaying his lack of pace and more importantly, lack of fitness.

In the first half of the game, Mexico ran the midfield and we didn’t do nearly enough to break up their play and to keep the ball ourselves. Michael Carrick in particular had a poor game, including far too many misplaced and needless passes, with James Milner not stamping his authority on the game as he has been all season for Aston Villa. Steven Gerrard once again started out on the left wing, a position I believe that doesn’t show the best of Gerrard and neither the team. Far too often he drifts infield leaving the flank and the left back exposed. Against a team like Brazil who play an effective counter attacking game - for once, Brazil have a very strong defence and one of the best goalkeepers around to protect them - this could spell danger, so we definitely need a more disciplined Gerrard, or a better option, a more natural winger. In the second half we looked to have more shape, after Capello moved Gerrard into the centre, brought on Huddlestone for Carrick and put Milner out on the left. Adam Johnson came on for the last 5 minutes of the game, and turned his defender nicely, but if you want to see what a player can do, he needs more than 5 minutes. I think South Africa has come to early for him, but expect him to have an important role in the 2012 qualifiers. On the right wing, Theo Walcott showed how much fear raw pace brings to a defence, although yet again his final ball was lacking. Running at the fullback and getting to the bye line is Walcott’s strength, but then deciding what ball to play, and executing it is his weakness. I feel he would be more effective through the middle as a fast striker playing off the shoulder’s of the centre backs with Aaron Lennon a far better choice on the right.

Up front Wayne Rooney didn’t have one of his best games, but the fact that he escaped the Wembley pitch unscathed at least put a relieved smile on my face. Say what you want - and most people do - about his strike partner on the night, but his 21st goal in 38 appearances is a record that most international strikers could only dream of. There is still something about him though, that doesn’t make him a world class striker, even if his record does suggest so. I was very surprised not to see Emile Heskey nor Darren Bent get any game time, especially seen as it appears it will be one or the other on the plane this summer.

With one game left before Capello names his 23, I would expect him to select as close to his proposed staring 11 as possible with any undecided players he has in his mind coming on for a chance to impress

2018 - It's Our's To Lose

Thursday December 2nd, 2010. That is the date that the footballing worlds governing body FIFA will name the host nation for the 2018 World Cup, along with the hosts for the 2022 tournament. Nine individual nations initially registered an interest in hosting the 2018 and the 2022 World Cup with Portugal and Spain registering a joint bid along with Holland and Belgium. Others included Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the USA, with Qatar and South Korea concentrating solely on 2022. Japan have since withdrew their bid for 2018, deciding to concentrate on 2022 alone, while Mexico withdrew entirely and Indonesia’s was rejected by FIFA early this year.

For the 2018 tournament then, we have 6 bids, consisting of Australia, England, Russia, USA and the two joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium. Sepp Blatter (President of FIFA) frequently comes out with laughable comments and quite often contradicts his own words. But if you dare believe or even listen to what the Swiss president says, then you can whittle those 6 bids down to just 2. “I think for 2018 it will be a European candidate,” said Blatter earlier this year, while in early 2009 he stated that as long as there is a valid individual bid that “double candidacies will not be accepted.” So that would leave just England and Russia.

It would be foolish to completely discount the joint bids, but I do believe that this World Cup will come to Europe after FIFA scrapped it’s rotation policy. After World Cups in South Africa and South America - the 2014 tournament will be held in Brazil, far from renowned as a safe country that can cope with a big sporting event, let alone having the suitable stadia or resources to build them - I believe they will want to select a country that they have complete faith in and one that already has the correct safety measures in place and suitable stadiums already built.

England are the early favourites, with most of the required stadiums already in place and the passion for the English game is one like no other. Another big positive is the transport, with trains running to every host city and also airports in all the major cities, fans can transport around the country with ease. It is also long overdue, by the time the tournament comes round, it will have been over 50 years since the last World Cup here, a long time for a nation claiming to be the home of football. As for Russia, despite not yet having the suitable stadiums, they have a nice list of new venues that are to be built before the tournament and they all look impressive. Safety however, remains an issue. In 2007 England travelled to Moscow for a Euro 2008 qualifier. During their time over there, England fans repeatedly came across violence with reports of bars and hotels being attacked by the locals. This really needs addressing if they are to have a chance of hosting the 2018 finals. If joint bidding is to come into the equation, then Spain and Portugal’s bid has to be up there. Along with England, the required stadiums are mostly already in place and Portugal’s successful hosting of Euro 2004 will only go in their favour. Despite hosting Euro 2000, I believe Holland and Belgium’s bid to be too small to host a tournament of this magnitude.

It really is England’s to lose, especially after coming so close in the bidding for the 2006 World Cup. Recent comments made by the former chairman of the bid however, could do just that. Lord David Triesman was secretly taped suggesting that Spain could withdraw from the bidding if Russia agreed to bribery during this years finals. An absurd comment made by someone who really should know better. Blatter and FIFA hide no secrets when it comes to their dislike of the English game, so something like this could really damage our chances, giving them the perfect excuse to reject England’s bid.

As much as I really hope England win the hosting to the 2018 World Cup finals, I believe it will now go to Russia, with the destination of the 2022 tournament being Qatar, given the recent sudden rise of football in the middle east.


The proposed new Stadium Kazan in Russia will hold 45,000 when it is complete.

Roo Deserve It

At the beginning of February John Terry was sacked as captain of the England national side after allegations were made public of an alleged affair between the Chelsea man and (former team mate) Wayne Bridge’s ex girlfriend. I feel the right decision was made by Fabio Capello, although replacing him with Rio Ferdinand would not have been something I would have done.

While the captain should be someone with good leadership skills and a regular top performer, it is also all about how they conduct themselves off the pitch. Youngsters around the country look up to their heroes and want to emulate them in every way possible. Footballers in general need to show these kids how to behave and what they need to be doing if they are to realise their dream of becoming a professional footballer. This is even more the case when you are the leader of the national side, leader of the country in terms of the sport.

Rio Ferdinand has not been completely free of scandal in the past. Aside from the 2003 missed drugs test in which he received an eight month ban, he has also been involved in various kiss and tells including a sex tape made with fellow team mate Frank Lampard, not to mention the three game ban he received this season for striking Hull City forward Craig Fagan. However, he was named as Terry’s assistant when Capello took over the England reigns, so he is sticking by his decision.

The new assistant, Steven Gerrard, would also not be a good choice, being in the public spotlight too much for the wrong reasons, including a recent alleged bar room brawl. Therefore my choice for England captain for the upcoming World Cup and beyond would be Wayne Rooney. I will agree that he also hasn’t had a squeaky clean past, but over the past season or two he has really quietened down and is even refraining from arguing with officials. He is by far our most outstanding performer, someone I believe would really lead by example.

Capello And His Preliminary Lions

So Fabio Capello has named his preliminary England squad for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa and, as ever, there are a number of surprise inclusions and omissions, none more so than the inclusion of the previously retired Jamie Carragher. One can only wonder what it was that Capello said to persuade Carragher to come out of international retirement. Keeping in mind the reason that the Liverpool defender quit the national side was due to him being annoyed at playing second and sometimes third fiddle to the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King, would he really come back into the fold to fulfil the same position of backup in South Africa? With the only natural right back in the squad being Glen Johnson, it appears Carragher has been called up as a full back who can also play in the centre. Question marks still remain over Johnson’s defending so don’t be surprised if the comeback begins with a start against the USA on June 12th. One thing is for sure though, he will be on that plane. Capello would not through all the trouble to get him out of retirement to drop him at the last minute.

Some would say Ledley King is another surprise selection - the Tottenham defender last played for his country in 2007 - although watching his performances this season, he is most definitely in there based on merit, whilst finally proving to his critics that he can play more than one game a week. King’s team mate Michael Dawson is also in there, despite not yet being capped by his country, after forming an excellent partnership at the heart of Spurs’ defence this season as Harry Redknapp’s men achieved Champions League qualification. Out of form for club and country Matthew Upson really is fighting for his place on the plane, and will be looking to impress should he get an opportunity in any of the upcoming friendlies. Behind the defenders there are no real surprises as - to Sam Allardyce’s disapproval - Joe Hart is selected in favour of former number one Paul Robinson.

The biggest decision in midfield was the selection of Gareth Barry ahead of Owen Hargreaves. Both are currently unfit with Hargreaves just returning from a long standing knee problem whilst Barry is currently carrying an ankle injury that will keep him out until just before the tournament. I believe the right decision was made here simply because Hargreaves has played just 1 minute of football in 19 months and cannot possibly be expected to be at full fitness come June. Wingers pose the only true selection problem for the Italian. He needs to pick two between Lennon, Wright-Phillips and Walcott. I’ve never been a massive fan of Walcott on the wing due to his final delivery not being good enough but I believe he will (just) get the nod over Wright-Phillips who in my opinion will be watching the tournament on the tv back home. Despite an excellent end to the season since joining Manchester City, I don’t think there will be any room for Adam Johnson in the squad while Tom Huddlestone will only get a chance should Barry not prove his fitness in time. James Milner should be as much an automatic choice as Frank Lampard at the minute whilst Michael Carrick seems to be a favourite of Capello’s.

No surprises up front as Darren Bent joins the usual suspects in Rooney, Crouch, Defoe and Heskey. Personally I would have preferred to have seen Gabriel Agbonlahor in there instead as he offers electrifying pace when coming off the bench but I can’t see anyone getting ahead of the usual four anyway so I expect them to be dead certs to travel.

This is who I believe Capello will take with him:

Goalkeepers: Hart, James, Green

Defenders: A Cole, Baines, Carragher, Johnson, King, Upson, Ferdinand, Terry. (I would prefer Dawson to Upson, but I think he will go with the experience)

Midfielders: Lennon, Walcott, J Cole, Milner, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Carrick

Strikers: Heskey, Rooney, Crouch, Defoe.

Manager-less Coventry

Back to the real world, my beloved Coventry City are currently manager-less after Chris Coleman received the boot at the end of the season.

The last game of the season was at home to Watford and was to be Marcus Hall’s last game for the club after many years of service. Coleman came out in the preceding week to say that Hall would not be starting the game on the Sunday because he wanted to put out a strong team and win the game. Although there was nothing to play for, you could (just about) understand his decision, coming off a run of 10 games without a win he wanted to end the season with a victory. With the current poor form and with Liverpool Chelsea on live at the same time, we decided to stay in the pub and miss our first home game of the season. It appeared a good choice as 2 goals in 2 minutes meant we were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes, with the game ending 4-0.

Despite sitting pretty just outside the playoffs for a short while after Christmas, we wasn’t playing well, and we were scraping games 1-0 or 2-1, masking the fact of how poor we were. His decision making wasn’t the best either, putting our star striker out on the wing after scoring 5 goals in 4 games and continuing to select a very poor winger, a winger that he had signed for £500,000 at the start of the season. A winger that cannot beat a man nor whip in a good cross is a poor one if you ask me. But the main thing that annoyed me was when he came out with a statement saying that the team needed more pace and power. By this point he had been here for 2 and a half years and the squad he was complaining about was in the majority his own signings. On the Tuesday morning after the Watford defeat Coleman was relieved of his duties, with chairman Ray Ranson stating that the decision wasn’t a knee jerk reaction to Sunday’s result.

So what of a replacement? Well bookmakers have Paul Hart and Tony Mowbray in as the favourites, although neither have yet to declare an interest. A “source close to the Mowbray family” has came out and said that he would love the job, but a source close to the family could be anyone, a distant cousins milkman more than likely. Three people that have came out and registered their interest are former Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo, Dion Dublin - thankfully this morning was ruled out of the running - and Romanian coach Laszlo Boloni. The latter has by far the most impressive cv, winning the league, cup and super cup treble in 2002 with Sporting Lisbon before moving to Stade Rennais who he guided to their highest league position in their history. He also won the Belgian league in 2009 with Standard Liege, sandwiched between 2 Belgian super cup wins. Add to that Champions League experience and he is the most successful candidate by a country mile, although two questions remain. First of all could we afford him, but more importantly could he adapt to the physical approach of the English second tier. He has said he would relish the challenge but I’m not so sure he would be a good bet. Likewise with Hart, as I don’t feel he has enough experience. Others said to be in the frame who I wouldn’t like in charge for various reasons are Phil Brown, Dennis Wise, Gary McAllister and Steve Cotterill.

What we really need is someone who has been there before and done it, someone who has experience in this division and of getting teams out of it. My choice would be Ian Holloway. What he has done at Blackpool with not much money is excellent, although whether he takes them to the Premiership or not, I can’t see him leaving. So I suppose that just leaves Tony Mowbray, who I wouldn’t mind at the helm for the job he did at West Brom. The only thing that worries me is his performance at Celtic, where the only real challenge is to beat Rangers, one in which he spectacularly failed.

Make no mistake though, Ray Ranson will pick who he thinks is the best man that his money can afford, no cost cutting here. The main - more like only - objective for him and his company SISU is to turn Coventry City FC into an attractive club for someone to buy so he can make a healthy profit. To do that he either needs to buy the stadium - the Ricoh Arena is currently rented - or take the club to the promised land. Seen as there is no money for the stadium, operation Premiership is at large.