Off The Bar

FC Barcelona - A lesson in football

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:35:34 -0400

The typical win-at-all-costs attitude which accompanies British sport and football in particular, was once again proved more of a hindrance than a help on Thursday night as I witnessed a Tottenham side fall victim to a dominant Barcelona performance. Of course, this is only in my opinion, and many other supporters and football followers will argue that the gap between the two sides wasn’t that big. Also, you could argue that it was only an Under 19’s game, and that the first team is all that matters. However, if you look at the gap between the two senior sides and it’s even bigger.

This gap is created because of the way these sides are nurtured. And although, in recent years, Tottenham and other English academies have focused less on winning and more on developing players for the top level, which was proven by the little input forced upon by the Tottenham coach who stood back and observed, letting his players make their own decisions, the win-at-all-costs attitude is still present and delves deeper into the football spectrum, to the days prior to academy football and more to Sunday league experiences. An experience which no doubt featured Dad’s for coaches, who were screaming out directions at the children in an attempt to achieve one, sole aim; victory and three points.

I have witnessed this one aim as a player and a coach in the youth football sphere. Teams who don’t fairly rotate players, most of the time picking the strongest players who strive on big pitches and therefore don’t have a challenge so come across victory easily, over smaller players, who may be technically more advanced and could catch up the bigger players as they physically develop with age, but are never given the opportunity.

Compare this to nations such as Spain and teams like Barcelona, who are arguably two of the best sides in the world, where the number of qualified coaches is far higher and therefore the perception to develop children more important than winning matches. The result; at the latter stages of a football life, where there teams are far superior to other sides, because of the number of better technical players they have and therefore winning comes far more easily and when it matters most.

The issue here is not whether English players can have the ability, because the same number of English players with potential exist as in Spain, but it’s how these players are brought through and half of the problem is teaching parents and adults. At the game between Tottenham Under 19’s and Barcelona at White Hart Lane on Thursday, it became noticeable that the crowd were getting frustrated with Tottenham’s attempts to keep the ball. Sighs and boos were in the air, despite this only being a youth game, and far more happiness and excitement was brought when a player hits a long ball in hit and hope style to try and find someone. Yet, when we watch senior games and the English national side, we as supporters are always complaining, that technically the players aren’t good enough and they don’t keep possession (this being one of England’s biggest criticisms at Euro 2012). Yet, this is all a balancing act between technical development and developing to win. We have the evidence from watching Spain and researching there youth system to see which order this balance should come in, but the English still seem to get confused. I certainly know what order I want this combination to be, but does the nation?

Treacherous conditions didn't put off fans as record breaking crowds arrived at Silverstone

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 06:08:53 -0400

After Fernando Alonso’s emotion in Valencia, the F1 circus next visited Silverstone, Britain, where eight of the twelve teams are based. Ferrari’s Alonso led the championship coming in to the constantly changing British weather conditions. In fact, all twenty-four cars exited the pit lane in the opening seconds of qualifying, in the hope of getting the quickest possible time on intermediates before conditions worsened. Inevitably, this led to many near collisions, with Kimi Raikonnen nearly swiping out Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean.

The early struggler was McLaren’s Jenson Button who was missing the cut lap after lap on his depleting tyres. In the end, Button was unfortunate not to make it into the second qualifying session, after a yellow flag in the final couple of corners, caused by a spinning Marussia, ruined a potential fast time. He was the surprise package out of Q1 along with the usual suspects at Marussia, HRT and Caterham.

Qualifying session two brought yet more rain, and with six minutes remaining, the session was red flagged. This, after incidents for Schumacher, Hamilton, Massa and Alonso. After an hour, the session finally resumed, handing the Ferrari’s, who before the red flag were out of the top ten positions needed to get into Q3, a lifeline. In the end, Alonso just scraped into the top ten and therefore Q3, with his lap time questioned because of yellow flags in the final sector. Yet, the marshals agreed that he slowed down sufficiently. Romain Grosjean got into the top ten but beached his car, meaning he missed out on Q3 and would start tenth. Sergio Perez however, moved backwards after making the wrong choice of tyre when the session resumed, leading to him starting fifteenth.

All of the action of Qualifying session three happened in the final seconds, as Alonso pipped Webber to pole. Schumacher bagged third with current double world champion, Vettel in fourth. Lewis Hamilton disappointed, finishing up eighth after looking strong in Q1 and Q2 and Force India’s Nico Hulkenburg ninth. Although, a gearbox change in practice meant he incurred a five place grid penalty joining Charles Pic for a similar offence and Jean-Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi for penalties picked up at the previous round in Valencia. As a result of Hulkenburg’s drop, Grosjean was promoted to ninth without spinning a wheel in Q3. Button was also promoted two places to sixteenth.

After one of the most exciting qualifying sessions in recent history, race day at Silverstone had a lot to live up to. Similar to Saturday, Sunday’s weather forecast looked just as unpredictable, yet by lights out, there wasn’t a drop of rain in the air. In fact, the whole race survived on dry tyres, so after the testing conditions for drivers and fans previously over the weekend, race day was purely about the racing!

Due to the dry start after a wet qualifying, teams could choose what tyre to start their drivers on. As a result, Alonso and Hamilton both started on the harder compound in an attempt to strategically beat the other drivers in the top ten; all of which were starting on the softer compound. Initially, it didn’t work for Hamilton as his pace was slower than the cars around him. Yet, Alonso was able to build a lead, with Mark Webber not too far behind.

Early incidents saw Brit Paul Di Resta drop out on the opening lap and then Pastor Maldonado collided with Sauber’s Sergio Perez. The second time in two races that Maldonado had ended someone else’s race, after previously crashing Hamilton into a tyre wall in Valencia. In Silverstone, however, Hamilton was able to climb to first as the other front runners pitted, yet the McLaren’s lack of race pace was evident as Alonso passed Hamilton even though the Spaniard had already stopped. Jenson Button worked his way up and squeezed into the top ten, eventually finishing only two places behind teammate Hamilton.

The story of the day was for Mark Webber, who left it late to pressure Fernando Alonso and eventually overtake, to take his second Grand Prix victory of the season. In doing so, he became only the second driver of the season to win two races along with Alonso and denied the Spaniard a second successive win after his home race victory in the previous round. Sebastian Vettel rounded off the podium, coming home in third and making it the first occasion in 2012 that both Red Bull drivers had been on the podium in the same race.

After the race, a steward investigation penalised Pastor Maldonado. The Williams driver was fined €10000 after his collision with Sauber driver Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, teammate of victim Perez, was fined €25000 for colliding with three of his pit crew during one of Sauber’s pit stops.

Mark Webber may have won plaudits after his race victory but off of the track, huge credit must be given to the British crowd. Despite treacherous conditions which in some cases made it almost impossible to travel to the Grand Prix, practice alone attracted 80000 spectators. No doubt a record in record times, whilst the whole race weekend in total brought nearly 250000 people to support three British drivers. In the end, the weather treated fans well and the race was another unpredictable ride. Silverstone 2012 will not be forgotten in a hurry especially for those travelling fans and of course, eventual race winner; Mark Webber.

The great British summer of sport has taken yet another stride....

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:21:10 -0400

The great British summer of sport has taken yet another stride. This weekend is one not to forget. The 2012 Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, drawing in its highest ever attendance with the hopes lying on the shoulders of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. And the final of Wimbledon 2012, which this year has even more significance. Andy Murray takes on Roger Federer, the six time champion, in a final which sees a British man participating for the first time in 74 years. To add to that, Britain’s unpredictable weather has certainly made it a typical but great British weekend!

Fabrice Muamba – One Game, One Family – Pray For Muamba

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:18:19 -0400

It’s twenty past five, Saturday March the 17^th. Supporters come filing in through the gates at White Hart Lane, as the stadium changes from blue seats to people’s faces of all cultures, races and religions. The reason they’re here? To witness an FA Cup Quarter Final, and a place at Wembley up for grabs.

For Bolton, it’s been a difficult season. Hovering above the relegation zone, the thought of Wembley and cup success may be their outlet and motivator to survive this season’s relegation battle. For Tottenham, a cup that has served them so well in the past, yet a twenty one year drought means the famous trophy is overdue its return to the Lane. Thirty five thousand supporters, of which around three hundred are Bolton fans, take their seats, with only the normal pre-match handshakes and team announcements to go until the ninety minutes between Wembley and home began.

Nothing unusual was encountered prior to kick off, yet now looking back, the mention of one name before the game will always be remembered. The Bolton team is hollowed over the tannoy by the stadium announcer. In number order, the starting line up is declared including ‘Number six, Fabrice Muamba.’ It was met with a small cheer from the Bolton fans, as they did for every player announced. The Zaire born, Walthamstow raised, former Arsenal player who Bolton signed from Birmingham for five million pounds in 2008 was making his twenty fifth appearance of the season. A near ever present, rarely would the former England Under twenty one international, be left out if fit or free from suspension. A driving force in midfield and scorer of possible goal of the season for Bolton against QPR back on the opening day, was, just like everyone else hoping for Bolton success and another chance at attempting to get to a Wembley final after a demolition by Stoke of five goals to nil, in the Semi-Final of the same competition last year where Muamba was present.

Yet, at this stage, little was anyone to know that this game would not last ninety minutes, in fact it would not last until half time. Little was anyone to know that people would be ushered out of the ground in an hour’s time, with the game abandoned and tears and utter devastation shown in people’s eyes and faces. Little was anyone to know that by 7 O’clock that evening, a Bolton player would be in intensive care, in critical condition and little was anyone to know that Fabrice Muamba would be fighting for his life.

Midway through the first half, Scott Parker is dispossessed in the middle of the field, and a Bolton counter attack appears. With the score poised at 1-1 after Gareth Bale’s fifth minute own goal was levelled out by Kyle Walker’s header, Martin Petrov breaks, up against Ryan Nelson. To his left, striker Ivan Klasnic waits, trying his very best not to stray offside. And then, coming in from the right, a typical bursting run from Fabrice Muamba, showing his athleticism over any player on the field. Petrov opts left to Klasnic who lashes into the side netting. No doubt, the better option would have been to go right to Muamba who seemed to have a much better angle at getting on the score sheet. The run typified the type of player he was. A fighter, a worker, a game changer. A weapon in the Bolton closet, that even the Scott Parker, who most recently captained England, couldn’t deal with. The finest specimen of a man, the role model athlete and fit and healthy looking figure that anyone would be happy basing themselves around.

Muamba carries on charging around, having a massive influence on the game. He challenges, distributes and creates chances yet on the forty first minute he is laying face down on the White Hart Lane turf, seemingly unconscious having gone down with no other player in close proximity. The severity of the situation was immediately apparent, the game was halted, paramedics swamped the pitch and players emotions visible through seeing the distressed twenty three year old laying motionless on the ground. Unlike most opposition players who dramatically fall and receive a bombardment of boos and jeers, the White Hart Lane crowd immediately watched on in silence. You didn’t need to be a health expert to tell how bad the situation was, and even though there was no clear view of the player who was obstructed by an entourage of doctors and paramedics, the reaction of everyone on the pitch told the story.

The silence continued. The constant sound of sniffing, where people were failing to hold back the tears echoed around the stands. Every now and again, the chant of ‘Fabrice Muamba’ worked its way around the ground being sung by Bolton and Tottenham fans alike. The noise of clapping and shouting appeared from the bottom of the East stand nearest the incident, where fans were trying to will him on. Yet the signs weren’t good. A fit, young man being resuscitated in front of the eyes of thousands will be remembered for many years to come if not forever.

He was stretchered off to a rapturous round of applauds and while waiting for further information on the future of the game, which none of the fans wanted to go ahead, along with the players, visibly distraught spectators found the comfort of others or spoke to close friends over the condition of the Zaire born midfielder. As the announcement was made, to abandon the game another distraught but enthusiastic round of applauds began. This was no longer about football, in fact that was furthest from people’s attention. This was about life and the well being of a son, brother, father and soon to be husband.

As people exited the stadium, and wandered back to their modes of transport home, a gloomy silence cast itself in the surrounding area. The noise of footsteps was the most prevalent sound, not the discussion of how good or bad their team was. A phrase which is to commonly associated with football springs to mind: ‘Life or Death’. Always used to describe an important football game, but this puts the sport into perspective. This was a real case of ‘life or death’ not a game where people kick a football into goals one hundred and twenty yards apart. This was the long journey between surviving and not making it.

Yet, of all the negativity of the incident, one thing is for certain. Football has come together. Whether you support rival teams, teams in different countries, different nations or even a different sport, everyone came together to pray for Fabrice Muamba. Bolton and Tottenham fans walked home arm in arm after the abandonment. Bolton and Tottenham players walked off comforting each other and those most affected and managers from both sides along with the referee walked off in full support of each other, all dreaming, wishing and praying for just one thing in the future: The survival of Fabrice Muamba.

Football has come together, sport has come together, the nation has come together and in a position of changing situation, one thing is all that people want at the moment. And that is the survival of a fellow human. The allowance to continue being a son, brother, father and husband. The hope that Fabrice Muamba pulls through and that all this praying has helped to allow a human to live a life past the tender age of twenty three.

I’m not a religious person, but in these circumstances: PRAY FOR MUAMBA!

Capello has walked. But who will replace him? Someone English?...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:24:22 -0500

Capello has walked. But who will replace him? Someone English? Harry Redknapp? Many questions that need to be answered and soon with the European Championships fast approaching

Is it possible for Tottenham?

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:43:00 -0500

As a lifelong Tottenham fan that has witnessed the ups and downs and has attended games at White Hart Lane since my earliest memories, I am as excited as anyone to see Tottenham peaking towards the top of the Premier League table. Just ten years ago we had lost 2-1 to Ipswich Town in an FA Premiership clash at Portman road. Now, after a comfortable victory over Everton at White Hart Lane in the Barclays Premier League, can Spurs really dream of a first Premier League title and a first domestic title in sixty one years? Just two points off of top after twenty games and sitting in third place ten points above arch rivals Arsenal shows how much Tottenham have come on over the last five months since the start of the season.

At the moment, Tottenham fans are tight lipped, yet right at the front of their minds is the belief that they can achieve something that seemed impossible at the start of the season after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United and 5-1 defeat at home to Manchester City. Yet why don’t they want to admit their beliefs and what are the reasons for Tottenham’s sudden up rise.

One of the main reasons that Spurs fans don’t want to admit their beliefs are because of the fear of failure towards the end of the season. It is very easy to drop off in the same way that you quickly gained positions, and as far as the Arsenal fans go, the dream of just finishing ahead of them in the league let alone winning it will makes the Spurs fans the happiest in the league, yet if they give it the big one and then flop towards the end of the season, the abuse from Arsenal fans will be huge. I suppose it can be called the fear of humiliation or embarrassment yet Tottenham have a reason to be confident. There are many reasons why they have been stronger this season than Arsenal and most teams. Firstly, they have a strong squad and not just one to eleven. They haven’t been hit hard by injury this season unlike Arsenal and Liverpool but when small injury dilemmas have occurred such as at Centre Back, they have the strength in depth to replace the injured player with just as suitable a replacement.

Being able to hold on to Luka Modric in the summer was a huge contributor to the team picking up results and although it took him a while to get his head back at Spurs, once he regained form, Tottenham regained form. Modric is a game changer; A player that has the ability to play for any team in the world. If Tottenham had given in to the temptation of receiving £25 million for the Croatian maestro and he had moved to Chelsea, the chances are that Tottenham wouldn’t have started their season so well scoring so many goals.

Another big contributor is the capture of Scott Parker from West Ham. Parker who has been linked with Tottenham on numerous occasions in the past, joined at arguably the peak of his career and along with Luka Modric held a solid midfield allowing the Croatian to move forward confident that his tracks would be covered by the hard working former, Charlton, Chelsea and West Ham midfielder.

A final contributor to the Tottenham work horse that has gained so much credit this season, are the work of the two wingers. Aaron Lennon has been at Tottenham since 2005 and has always showed great potential. Highs include representing Spurs in the Champions League, scoring famous goals against Chelsea and Arsenal and playing for England at two World cups, yet he has also endured some lows, where in some seasons his form has gone missing. Yet this year he has startled defenders with his quick skills and lightning quick pace. On the opposite side is 2010-2011 PFA player of the year Gareth Bale. In recent seasons, he has torn teams to pieces with his inch perfect directness and unbelievable speed. Notable performances against Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League sprung him to worldwide acknowledgement and this year has been no different making superb runs down the flanks providing for the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael Van Der Vaart to convert.

So, the answer to the question is: yes. Yes, it is possible for Tottenham to win the league. Yet, can they throw it away as well? Of course. This season is all about luck and how you deal with the lows and how you build on the highs. For Tottenham, only time will tell if they can continue and finish the season the way they began.

Football’s funny continues...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:26:00 -0500

That traditional saying; ‘Football is a funny old game,’ has continued this season in another Barclays Premier League campaign that so far has not disappointed. In fact, the Premier League table is balanced on a knife edge with anyone of three teams still in with a chance of winning the title. In truth, a selection of teams in the top six could still be considered in the race and don’t be surprised if by the end of the season a new team has sprung a challenge.

I am writing this on the 9^th of January 2012, with the aim; to see how different this piece is come the end of the season.

For the first time since Chelsea won the title in 2005, the Premier League has an opportunity to see a new champion. Namely, Manchester City, who have been the force in this campaign. They have bossed the season and with their huge wealth from their Arab backers, City will add to their squad and go from new height to new height. Even Tottenham are in the race. Sitting in the top three and with more points than previous winners have had at this stage of the season, Spurs’ continuing rise could get even bigger. And who could write off Manchester United? The Red Devils are 19 time league winners and sit just behind City. Yet, after their 6-1 defeat in the Manchester derby, who would have considered them for the title? And of course, how could we ever write off Chelsea or Arsenal? Chelsea with big financial backing and Arsenal with top scorer in 2011; Robin Van Persie and the return of King Henry (The French striker that is!).

In truth this season has been the most topsy turvy ever. Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2, Tottenham 3-0 but lost to City 6-1. City, added to their stunning victory over United by beating Spurs 5-1 away from home, and Arsenal at the Etihad. They dropped points against Liverpool who Tottenham beat 4-0 and lost to Chelsea who Arsenal beat. QPR, who were newly promoted beat Chelsea 1-0, whilst City lost 1-0 to Sunderland. Aston Villa also beat Chelsea 3-1, whilst United lost to Newcastle 3-0. Results are becoming unbelievably unpredictable and with just 6 points and games in hand separating the top three, anything can happen. Anyone could hit a bad patch dropping points and yet any team in the top six could hit a good patch really gaining ground in the table.

As the table shows, every position is vulnerable which makes it a second half of the season not to miss.

This bottom half of the table is looking interesting with three teams who have become integral to the Barclays Premier League in recent years fighting to avoid the drop. And with more unpredictability, no matter how successful a side has been in the past managers are still facing the axe. Neil Warnock of QPR has been sacked. Yet can they regroup in time to stay up? Blackburn have no faith in manager Steve Kean, despite victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford and Bolton face losing key players in the transfer window through the likes of Gary Cahill. Just like the top, the bottom five are separated by just 3 points.

The chances are that the Premier League table come the end of the season will look nothing like what it looks now, despite over half the season being played. Yet that is why the sport is the most popular in England and the Barclays Premier League is the best league in the world.

To view the Premier League table, open this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/table/default.stm

The King returns!

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:11:00 -0500

Of all the names in football and all the teams, there are no better than Thierry Henry and his relationship with Arsenal. An absolutely unbelievable night that has sent a buzz around the whole of English football whether you’re an Arsenal fan or not saw Henry return to English football with a bang.

Not only did Henry appear as a sub against Leeds, who Arsenal played so many thrillers against during the Yorkshire sides stay in the Premier League but Henry scored the winning goal which is his twelfth in twelve against the Whites. The ‘return of a King’ is no doubt the statement of the day and in Henry’s 370^th Gunners appearance, he has bagged his 227^th goal and yet another winner against Leeds.

Yet even if you are a Leeds fan, or in fact a football fan of any team, tonight is a night never to forget with a Premier League legend returning. Regardless of the goal, his return has sparked a new upbeat period for Arsenal, his presence inspiring Arsenal’s young squad and even if Henry played and made no impact what so ever, for football to just get a glimpse of Henry in an Arsenal shirt again is something to savour. Yet Henry always makes memories in style, and that is why his already high status has risen yet another step with his legend category entering a league of its own.

Will the form continue? Will he play regularly? Well these are all questions that will be answered soon, but one thing is for sure: Henry loves Arsenal and Arsenal love Henry.

Monday 9th January

Fa Cup - Round 3

Arsenal 1 - 0 Leeds United

78’ Henry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/16381242.stm

‘It’s because we played the reserves’ – Why are the English so excusable?

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:29:00 -0500

Recently I made a tweet. It was against an English side and praised a foreign side that were underdogs but played football, which, if the English played would be talked about for weeks after. “Full credit to Rubin, they dominated with some fantastic passing moves and scored a fantastic goal. A force to be reckoned with.” For those of you wondering, it was after Tottenham’s defeat to Rubin Kazan in the UEFA Europa League group stages. After the tweet it got put on the BBC and for it I received some stick as my statement was apparently to strong and that ‘Spurs only played a reserve side.’ The typical English excuse which only seems to come into use over here. It seems the English can make so many excuses and they can be accepted, yet in truth they know they were defeated and are just saying this to comfort themselves.

I did receive at least one piece of support and that piece has stuck in my mind since that game on November the 3^rd. It followed the lines of the English always making excuses yet where has it got them? Nowhere is probably the answer to that question. And this anonymous caller stated that unless opinions change, England won’t get any success in the near future. Whether or not I agree with this statement is another matter, but what I do believe is that the English need to face the reality that from time to time, defeat is going to happen and if it does happen then it should be accepted and not made an excuse from. Whether a side plays a weak/reserve team with little experience or not, it’s the team that has been selected for that match and that’s the side that the opposition and fans need to respect. Therefore, if the opposition do win whether they play against a strong team or not, it needs to be accepted and learned from.

Ever since I started watching football, excuses have been a big part from an English perspective. Take the Carling Cup and UEFA Cup, which is now the Europa League. The English used these competitions to play weaker, less experienced players. That is acceptable in my opinion. Yet with a weaker side is a bigger chance of defeat. The opposition whether they play the game with an inexperienced or experienced side have the job of winning. The training in the build up to that match is all based on that game. Therefore, in defeat not only does it make an excuse for the defeated English side but it shows a huge lack of respect for the opposition.

I decided not to immediately post this piece as it may have looked like a heat of the moment rant. Yet, looking back on the event over a month later, I feel that this piece still very much makes sense. The English and their excuses will not only lead to a lack of development for players because people believe the defeat doesn’t matter but it shows a huge lack of respect to the opposition in this time of supposed respect to officials, opposition and supporters.

A round up of Premier League matches from the weekend of the...

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:18:00 -0400

A round up of Premier League matches from the weekend of the 13th of August. The sound quality isn’t great but I will purchase a new mic to improve this!

In my opinion, photo of the week. Joey Barton’s...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:24:22 -0400

In my opinion, photo of the week. Joey Barton’s confrontation with new Arsenal signing Gervinho resulted in the Ivorian being sent off, in a match that sparked controversy during a rather entertaining 0-0 draw.

A review of the football weekend coming up and news from the...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:13:05 -0400

A review of the football weekend coming up and news from the footballing world in the last week.

A fantastic demonstration from the BBC on why the Premier League...

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:17:20 -0400

A fantastic demonstration from the BBC on why the Premier League is the richest and most diverse league in the world.

The Football Weekend

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:10:25 -0400

The Npower Football League season began this weekend and we also saw Manchester United take on Manchester City in the FA Community shield in a mouth watering Manchester derby.

Here are my top five games of the weekend From England:

5. Southampton 3-1 Leeds United (Championship)

A surprise win for newly promoted Southampton. Leeds are meant to be one of the favourites this year but if they show the same ability to finish as they did at St. Marys then they will struggle. Hammond and Lallana gave Southampton a 2-0 half time lead. Connolly then tripled the lead. Max Gradel scored a last minute goal and consolation for Leeds.

4. Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 Doncaster Rovers (Championship)

A fantastic game to open Brighton’s new stadium and mark their return to the second tier of English football. Twenty thousand fans armed with flags welcomed the players out, and they didn’t disappoint. Doncaster went 1-0 up in the half time through Billy Sharp, yet he was stretchered off in the second half. Brighton manager Gus Poyet was sent to the stands and then he brought on new signing Will Buckley who levelled at the start of the second half scoring Brighton’s first competitive goal at the Amex stadium, before scoring a last gasp winner. A fantastic opening to the season and their new state of the art stadium.

3. Port Vale 2-2 Crawley Town (League 2)

Crawley Town were newly promoted from the conference last year. And what an entrance into the Football League. Despite being newly promoted they are one of the favourites to go up again because of their high budget. Tyrone Barnett opened Crawley’s Football League account by scoring on the half hour market. Marc Richards then scored moments before half time to equalise for Vale. In the second half, it looked like Crawley had grabbed a winner when Kyle Mcfadzean headed home, but Port Vale’s Louis Dodds spoiled the party by scoring a last gasp equaliser.

2. AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Bristol Rovers (League 2)

AFC Wimbledon’s rise to the Football League from their formation nine years ago has been astonishing. They stepped out in front of nearly five thousand fans to find themselves 2-0 down in twenty minutes after goals from McGleish and Harrold. Their was a fightback late on in the half when Stuart pulled a goal back. And the revival was complete when substitute Ademeno scored and equalised moments after coming on. Yet Wimbledon couldn’t compete the perfect comeback as Virgo scored a penalty to win the game for Bristol Rovers.

1. Manchester United 3-2 Manchester City (FA Community shield)

A mouth watering tie in the Premier League season curtain raiser. Any hints of a friendly were firmly dismissed when the game kicked off and the tackles started flying in. The atmosphere was bouncing and when City opened the scoring through Joleon Lescott, the game was certainly on. Moments later however, Dzeko doubled the lead for City possibly putting the game to bed. However, with Manchester United that’s never the case. Despite bringing on a handful of young substitutes, like Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Nathan Cleverly, United thought back. Chris Smalling’s header put City in reach for United. Nani then scored a wonderful team goal before winning the game with seconds to spare. United got their hands on the famous shield, knowing that since the new Wembley has hosted this event, the winners have always gone on to win the league.

Super Mario or Bad Balotelli?

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:27:00 -0400

Born in Palermo, Italy to Ghanaian parents, Mario Balotelli has become one of the most controversial names in world football. Starting his career at Inter Milan, he transferred to English side Manchester City for a fee believed to be around £24 million pounds in 2010. City obviously acquired him because of his fantastic footballing ability, which he showed often at Inter Milan. Yet there was a side to his game that football fans didn’t like, a side that football managers didn’t like and a side that football clubs didn’t like. So why did Manchester City sign him? And has he been worth the heavy price tag that came with him?

Ballotelli has been dogged by disciplinary problems. He has been involved in spats with managers on at least three occasions and has been hated by his own team’s fans. Yet there is a quality side to him. Known by many as ‘Super Mario,’ he has pace, balance and all round technical ability. He has been known to play anywhere across the frontline so is versatile and is seen as a set piece (Free kick) specialist. The quality of the man is shown by how young he was when he made his professional debut for Italian giants Inter Milan, at just seventeen. He managed to bag over twenty five goals in his three season stay there and ten goals for Manchester City already in only twenty eight appearances: a goal ratio of one in three, which is a fantastic ratio considering he isn’t even an out and out striker. He even openly admitted to ITV after the 2011 FA Cup final in which City beat Stoke 1-0 and he received man of the match that he has underperformed and not played to his best throughout the season, and stated that he actually tried his upmost on that afternoon in Wembley. In the end his performance proved the difference, and although he didn’t score, he contributed immensely coming close on more than one occasion and often setting up team mates for efforts on goal.

However, and as Balotelli said himself, he didn’t impress throughout the whole season on pitch, and in fact he didn’t impress off the pitch as well. He was sent off twice in his opening season at City. One red card that possibly cost his sides place in the Europa League after City fell out in the Quarter finals in the same game of Balotelli’s sending off. He also was involved in a spat with Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand after City beat United in the FA Cup Semi Final of 2011. Balotelli was accused of acting in an unsportsmanlike way after he rubbed his shirt in the face of losing player Anderson. It wasn’t the first time in his career that he had been involved in controversy. During his last couple of seasons at Inter, he was constantly causing problems to Jose Mourinho, the fan favourite of a manger who has been one of the most successful managers in recent times. Balotelli was banned from playing after an incident at training. He then didn’t help his cause by wearing an AC Milan (Inter Milan’s biggest rivals and enemy) shirt on national TV in front of many angered Inter Milan fans. Again Balotelli was banned for his actions. Balotelli’s last act at Inter was in the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final against Barcelona, where he was substituted to boos from his home fans, before throwing his shirt on the floor and shouting abuse at the manager, Mourinho. He took no further part that season and missed out on playing in the Champions League Final which Inter won.

All of these points make it seem hardly worth City splashing out £24 million pounds for. Although he has put in some good performances, it seems that he is in the headlines more for his bad behaviour off the pitch than he is for his behaviour on the pitch. And although many would have seen the FA Cup Final success as a turning point for the young Italian, he was involved in yet another controversial incident in pre season for the 2011/2012 season where he was substituted early for showboating and showing a lack of respect. Only time will tell if he will be a success in the Premier League. He is only 20, yet he has some way to go before knocking off that £24 million pound weight that hangs over his shoulders.

Thank you...

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:57:00 -0400

As the week at the Young Journalists’ Academy draws to a close, I thought I would stay away from my usual sporty posts and just express what this week has done for me. Not only have I met some great people, who also want to be Journalists and have spurred me on to achieve more, but I have met the people who have made it. People like Joanna Geary, Alan Fisher, Alyson Rudd, Ally Ross and Dean Piper who have surpassed all the barriers on the long hard road to writing or reporting at a national newspaper or broadcasting company. These people have aspired me to really work hard and never give up in my dream of becoming a journalist. Their attitude to never give up makes me believe I can make it and the tours to the places like The Times, Reuters and BBC have given me an insight into the workplaces I want to be in when I’m older.

Throughout the week, I have written pieces in the workshop that I felt unconfident about, but with positive feedback from both the students on the course and the staff, I now feel positive and ready to post. So here’s my opening paragraph about the opening morning in Canary Wharf that we were told to write for a newspaper:

‘Twenty seven people have entered Canary Wharf as part of the Young Journalists Academy summer school. Students, aged sixteen to eighteen, from London state schools, first took a tour of the tallest building in Britain, before heading to a workshop. Throughout the week, techniques and traits of journalism will be learnt with possible opportunities of Journalism companies, offering internships for students.’

And now for my TV review we wrote during Ally Ross’s visit:

‘Everyone seems to complain about Clarkson and co, but the fact is that Top Gear attracts some of the biggest audiences for the BBC. You only have to go on to BBC Iplayer to see the show in the top 5 most watched.

The style the show uses to talk about a car or set about a challenge is much more entertaining than other rival shows such as Fifth Gear. And that’s why the show keeps reappearing on our TV screens series after series. That is what everybody wants on a Sunday night when relaxing ahead of a busy week.

The style of the show stays the same every week: intro, joke, laughter, supercar, test drive, offensive comment, more jokes, star in a reasonably priced car, more offensive comments, then a challenge with more jokes and comments causing offence. People know to expect this, so don’t tune in if you’re expecting boring car reviews and serious chats about cars that everyone can afford.’

As I head in to the final couple of days, I really am looking forward to meeting Eleanor Mills, of the Sunday Times and all other guests that are appearing, in this once in a lifetime opportunity. I can only say Thank you to Nathalie Rothschild and the YJA for giving me this chance which I’m sure will give all students fantastic knowledge of journalism for the future.

Why is the level of Professional Scottish football so low?

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:21:54 -0400

On Wednesday evening, Rangers dropped out of the UEFA Champions League at the first stage of asking in the third qualifying round against Swedish side Malmo. It marks a low point not only in the clubs history but in the Scottish Premier Leagues (SPL) history. Even the leagues chief executive, Neil Doncaster has revealed this is a bad situation financially for Scottish football as they rely every year on a team making it into Europe’s elite competition. Now, we see Rangers alongside Celtic, who were the first British side to win the European cup, in Europe’s secondary competition, the UEFA Europa League.

This raises the question of why the standard of Scottish football is so low. The national team are ranked a lowly sixty-first in the world rankings a place behind African side Gabon and Scotland’s representatives in the Champions League always under perform. In fact questions have even been raised over both Rangers and Celtic’s reign at the top of the Scottish Premier League. Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov has claimed that both Rangers and Celtic are nowhere near as strong as they used to be, and that the door is open to win the SPL for another side like Hearts who have finished third in Scotland’s top domestic league twice in the last four seasons. Yet no side apart from Rangers or Celtic have won the top division in Scotland in twenty-six years. Aberdeen last won it 1985 and since then Rangers and Celtic have reigned supreme. Many will argue however, that the standard of Scottish Football has been low for years now and since then no other side has won the league. Surely this shows that the standard of other teams around the SPL is even lower than Rangers and Celtic who are meant to be in a ‘poor patch,’ making the situation in Scottish Football even worse.

What’s more, there is no way of pinpointing where the problem is. The model of Scottish grassroots football is very well thought out. It is a better structure than the English grassroots football pyramid and if truth be told is a model for the English FA to follow. As well as that, football in Scotland is the number one sport, with no other sport even competing with their love for football. This means there are a lot of young people participating in the game. However, maybe the league structure at professional level is what is bringing Scottish football down. There is only a twelve team top tier and although people will say that the league is 12 teams full because there aren’t enough quality teams to make a 20 team top tier like the Premier League or Spanish La Liga, it leads to teams constantly playing each other which could possibly bore the supporters which could be a reason the continuing low attendances. Last year Rangers and Celtic played each other seven times and although all of these games attracted a full house, it seems that these games are the only games the supporters look forward to. Another problem is the lack of investment in the league. Sides can’t afford to bring in quality players like they used to. And with no disrespect to the players currently representing a Scottish side, but you don’t find the likes of Henrik Larsson, John Hartson and Paul Gascoigne in the SPL anymore. In fact a lot of the players are even drafted in from Eastern Europe or the English football league (Division one and two and not the Premier League) where the standard of football isn’t as good as in the rest of Europe.

I think it has to be agreed that the only way Scottish Football will pick up and reach the heights that it used to, is through further investment to teams and the league. This investment could improve the quality of the league as teams will be bringing in better standard players like the Hartson’s, Larsson’s and Gascoigne’s that used to light up Scottish football. Until then, Scottish football will continue in a slump until the much talked about grassroots structure produces young Scottish talent that are good enough to represent sides in the top division. Even then however, the teams need to invest more in the players to stay in Scotland as the lure of the Premier League can prove too much for young Scots like David Goodwillie, one of Scotland’s most talked about youngsters, who joined Blackburn Rovers from Dundee United last week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14404500.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14401070.stm

Is the Barclays Premier League the best league in the world?

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:57:25 -0400

I’m going to do something different today. Instead of sitting in front of my computer with pages of sources available for my blog post, I’m going to write my post through general sporting knowledge as I sit on a rather quiet tube waiting to get to my stop at the westerly White City.

I’m going to question why the Barclays Premier League is seen as one of the best leagues, if not the best league, in the world. After all, England as a nation never win anything internationally, so why are our domestic standards so high? Is it because of the vast amount of foreign players? Or maybe the amount of upsets caused by so called ‘lesser’ teams? Whatever the reason, the Barclays Premier League attracts bigger attendances and sells out more games than any other league in Europe and the world. Also, more games from the Barclays Premier League are broadcast around the world, than any other league.

These are all fantastic points, as I’m sure you’ll all agree, yet there are problems caused by this fascination of being the best league in the world. Firstly, due to high attendances, expensive TV right deals and money created through playing in Europe, where England have more representatives than any other nation, apart from Spain, the money available to sides in the Premier League is phenomenal. Mainly, this leads to the world’s best being signed for English clubs rather than teams bringing through young English players who have potential but need to be developed more on the professional game. This means that the future for English players looks even bleaker than it is at the moment. In the Premier League there is double the amount of foreign players to English players, and I’m not saying for the Premier League, this amount of foreign players is a problem, but certainly for producing a quality national team, the lack of English talent in the Premier League is troublesome.

Another problem caused by extensive spending sprees in attempts to become the best team, in the best league, in the world, is that teams are stubborn in looking after money. This leads to overspending where in some cases, teams struggle to survive. We’ve seen this a couple of times in the past ten years, firstly with Leeds United in the early millennium and then more recently with Portsmouth. In both cases, the club over spent and were unable to cover the costs very nearly leading to extinction.

If you compare this to Spain, they never have these problems. FC Barcelona are in debt, but the bigger sides like Barcelona, who have won the UEFA Champions league three times in the last five years, can survive without problem. And even though the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid do sign foreign imports, it is nowhere near the scale of Premier League foreign signings. In fact Barcelona are still bringing through so many featuring youngsters, that seven starters in Spain’s Under 21 European Championship winning side were Barcelona players.

This shows that overall, Spain is of better standards. They are certainly doing more than England in the long term by spending on world class players to make it as exciting and as technical as the Premier League, but also by helping youngsters who are being brought through to keep up there already world topping national side. It means clubs aren’t spending beyond their limits but they are preparing for the future in good fashion.

BSkyB is the limit

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:32:00 -0400

Last Friday, it was announced that for the 2012 Formula 1 season up until the 2018 season BSkyB, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and the BBC will share Formula 1 coverage in a deal that has broken all sorts of limits. It is the first time in the sports history, that in England, Formula 1 isn’t exclusive to one channel, and it’s the first time that Formula 1 will be shown on a non-terrestrial TV channel in England. Yet, it’s not as simple as that. Part of the deal said that BBC only has access to 10 live races throughout the season, with Sky hosting all of the races. This has upset many Formula 1 followers who see it unfair to take out a Sky subscription to watch a sport that has been traditionally a free-to-air event. What’s more, it shows that Sky is now the dominant force in British television with very little competition.

Yet, the disappointment that I thought would be expressed by F1 team leaders and bosses in the sport has been minimal, with the main man running the business, Bernie Ecclestone, describing the deal as ‘super.’ He went on to add: “It will mean a lot more coverage for the sport. There’ll be highlights as well as live coverage on two different networks now, so we get the best of both worlds.”

It seems in the F1 world that this deal has been accepted in good heart, yet are these people thinking about the public? Ecclestone will be able to subscribe to Sky with the change in his back pocket. The diehard fans are going to be the ones losing out. And although people will say; ‘if they are that much of a Formula 1 fan, then they would travel to the events themselves,’ people need to remember that to travel to every race in the Formula 1 season is almost impossible. People need to work so therefore won’t be able to make it out to races, they have families that they need to focus on and most obviously, some hardcore fans can’t even afford a Sky subscription, so how are they going to afford to travel to all of these different venues around the world?

Ecclestone said that there will be extensive highlights on the BBC, yet the fans don’t want to be sitting down at 7 o’clock on Sunday night watching action from an event that has already happened!

Now, you may be thinking that I am over exaggerating here and that if people want to watch the sport, then a sky subscription can be taken out for £20 pound a month and the action will be covered. Yet, it’s the principle. Before 2012 you could watch a Formula 1 race without paying £20 a month. The coverage was excellent and there would be no advertising in between the race that marred ITV’s coverage. You could even catch up with races you missed through BBC IPlayer. With Sky everything is money related. You don’t have access to special options during the races throughout the season like you do with BBC via the red button. You can only watch the coverage if you catch it live as there is no way of catching up on the full race without paying and the coverage will be nowhere near as in depth as it was at the BBC.

At the end of the day, there is nothing now that can be done. However, for future decisions, Formula 1 needs to think about the fans more than the money. In fact, on the story of money, many will be hoping that Sky lose out through this deal, as audiences on Sky will be a lot lower than the audiences BBC picked up. For now we just have to wait, as the only way we will find out if the deal works is through waiting for the action to commence in 2012!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9550930.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/29/bbc-sky-share-f1-broadcast-rights

Is football over watched on the box?

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:40:00 -0400

Recently Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, has been quoted as saying “There is too much club football on TV”. This raises the question; if the FIFA President has been saying it, surely he is right? However, that’s not the case. Blatter, who has been under huge scrutiny in the last few months, has been trying to make dramatic changes to football, yet many people have been disagreeing with his suggestions. And this is another one that will most probably upset fans.

It is true that there is more football on TV than ever before. But surely, this is only a problem if it is affecting the clubs. In all honesty, many would argue that TV games shown live would help clubs more than hinder them, especially if those clubs are in the lower league and need the money that airing live football games has with it.

In England alone, 100 games are shown from the Football League and League Cup, with Sky airing the majority of games, but with the BBC also chipping in with 13 games a season. ESPN host 23 Premier League games, with Sky showing 115 Live Premier League games a season. In the FA Cup both ESPN and ITV show games, with ESPN showing 25 live games, and ITV showing around 20 games. The Champions League is also shown on ITV and Sky Sports with Sky showing more games than ever with the viewer being able to watch even more games via the red button. And the Europa League is shown on 3 channels live (ESPN, ITV and Channel 5). In total, that adds up to 400 live games a season shown just on English TV. As well, there are highlights with Match Of The Day being the most popular attracting some of the BBC’s biggest audiences when it is aired on Saturday nights throughout a season.

Because of the endless amount of football on TV, other people have complained as well saying it is hampering English football. In a way, this is true, as Malcolm Clarke, Chair of the Football Supporters’ Federation, has stressed. He claims that it is ruining the football tradition as most games now on a football weekend won’t be at the usual 3PM on Saturday, as no companies have rights to English football games at that time. He also claims that because of that, attendances will fall as fans struggle to get to midweek games or as he pointed out; “One game kicks off on Saturday lunchtime and the other eight are all to be played on Sunday. For the away supporters, these include such delights as Sunderland fans having to make it to the Emirates Stadium by noon - the earliest public transport is only due to arrive in central London 30 minutes before.”

However, statistics show that football on TV hasn’t been an issue in lowering attendances in Premier League matches. Richard Scudamore, Chief executive of the Premier League has confirmed that attendances have grown every year since the formation of the Premier League, in fact the numbers are up by 65%. He has also confirmed that the average occupancy of grounds is 92% which is the highest rate in Europe ahead of top leagues like Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Budesliga. To add to Scudamores argument, the amount of games last year for clubs that were sold out were higher than ever and only a handful of clubs attract an average attendance lower than the capacity of the ground.

Another argument that backs Scudamore’s point is the high cost of travelling to a game. There is such high demand for tickets that clubs can afford to price their tickets very high. Yet, some find it better value for money to take out a Sky or Virgin Media subscription and watch the games from their sofa. If the amount of football on TV was decreased it would lead to big television broadcasters like Sky losing out heavily. Also, fans would be in uproar as on some occasions high demands for tickets would lead them to miss out watching the games at a ground and without the game on TV, highly anticipated matches would be missed. To add to that, supporters would be left out of pocket by the continuing growth of ticket prices and food prices within grounds. At least with games being aired on TV, there is flexibility and teams don’t lose out and neither does the league, therefore, if there isn’t a current problem in England, why change things. If anything, all that should be changed is the price of tickets, to make football more affordable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14367144.stm

http://www.worldfootball.net/zuschauer/eng-premier-league-2010-2011/1/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/oct/03/sport.comment2