As a player and a manager, Gary Speed was a model professional who embraced a forward-thinking approach and modern methods. This pioneering attitude made him a stand-out choice as an ambassador for the UKFA for Verheijen and co-founder Guus Hiddink when the institute launched in November. The new coach-education body is dedicated to bringing the world’s best coaches and football experts to the doorstep of UK football people. Speed had been due to speak at the February 8th event.

The Gary Speed Football Congress will become an annual fundraising event on the football industry calendar, supported by Gary’s close friends Shay Given, Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer, in association with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the League Managers Association (LMA).

Alan Shearer comments:

“Speedo’s forward thinking approach transformed the Wales National Team. He left a true legacy. The Gary Speed Football Congress will allow coaches to learn from this approach. It is an honour to support this event as it will not only remember him but also celebrate his achievements and everything he stood for.

The dedication of the event and setting up of the fundraising has been organised in collaboration with Gary’s wife Louise Speed. All proceeds of this year’s event will go towards a charity of Louise’s choice.”

Shay Given adds:

“Throughout his career Speedo never stopped giving to football. He would never resist the opportunity to discuss the game or to pass on advice to anyone who asked. This event will enable him to continue to give something back to football.”

The Gary Speed Football Congress will be open to managers, coaches and practitioners at every level of the game, where Hiddink and Verheijen will be joined as keynote speakers by UKFA ambassador, Sam Allardyce. Former Wales Head of Performance, Damian Roden will make a special presentation in memory of Gary entitled ‘ Building a Successful Team’ – A Tribute to Gary Speed.

As well as plenary presentations, the congress will comprise specific sub-sessions for professional, amateur and youth football, and also for medical and sport science staff. All presentations will be delivered by internationally-renowned football specialists, including Marcel Lucassen (Football Technique), Frans Hoek (Goalkeeper Coaching), Ton Van Roon (Football Management), Nigel Mitchell (Football Nutrition), Simon Bitcon (Football Strength Training) and Frans Lefeber (Monitoring Football).

For further information or to register for the Gary Speed Football Congress, visit www.ukfootballacademy.net.

To make donations or to discuss sponsorship opportunities please visit www.acornpeople.com or contact Mandy Atherton on 01633 660000. Acorn Recruitment is one of the UK’s leading recruitment agencies, and a Welsh-headquartered business that Gary Speed had a long-standing relationship with.

The game lived up to expectations and was full of goals and incidents.  Vincent Kompany’s two-footed challenge was in every way a fantastic, clean tackle.  He won the ball and didn’t touch the player.

However, both feet were off the floor.  To the letter of the law, that is a red card offence.  Ridiculous though it may be, the referee had to make a split second decision, and got it spot on.  Even though a red card is unwarranted for such a clean challenge that in no way was reckless or dangerous.

Man City were clearly shaken at losing their influential captain in the 12th minute not long after conceding an early headed goal from Wayne Rooney.

Ferguson and Manchester United fans were probably looking to avenge the thrashing from earlier in the season when they found themselves 3-0 at half-time.  But in the second-half Manchester City showed how far they have come as a team rather than a group of individual players and fought back to within an inch of saving the game.

A brilliant free-lick from Aleksandar Kolarov gave the blue half of Manchester hope while Paul Scholes was introduced to tighten up the midfield.  Unfortunately a lack of match fitness showed, and when Aguerro scored a second, it was City that looked the more likely to score again.

It ended 3-2 to Manchester United who will now face Liverpool in the Fourth Round.

Paulo Di Canio’s Swindon Town caused the upset of the round as they beat Premier League Wigan; and when Sam Allardyce announced a weakened West Ham team, it wasn’t a surprise to see League One promotion contenders Sheffield Wednesday win through to the next round.

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

•    Brighton or Wrexham v Newcastle
•    Sunderland v Middlesbrough
•    Dagenham & Redbridge or Millwall v Southampton
•    Hull City v Crawley Town
•    MK Dons or QPR v Chelsea
•    West Brom v Norwich
•    Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday
•    Arsenal or Leeds v Aston Villa
•    Stevenage v Notts County
•    Watford v Tottenham
•    Liverpool v Manchester United
•    Derby v Stoke
•    Everton v Fulham
•    Macclesfield or Bolton v Swansea
•    Sheffield United v Birmingham or Wolves
•    Nottingham Forest or Leicester v Swindon

All matches to be played over the weekend of the 28th & 29th January.  Too soon for a Suarez v Evra rematch. Though don’t be too surprised if Sir Alex Ferguson is calling Edwin Van Der Sar & Peter Schmeichel.

What with Chelsea continuing to stutter under the ‘leadership’ of Andre Villas-Boas as he attempts to stake a strong air of Mourinho-like authority and dampen any dissenting voices from the old guard, going into the Christmas period it seemed that Manchester United & Manchester City were going to sprint away from the chasing pack.  That was until last weekend when both clubs lost.

Unfortunately for the chasing pack didn’t take full advantage.

After scoring no less than 10 goals against Fulham & Wigan, Manchester United lost at home to bottom of the table Blackburn Rovers 3-2. Take nothing away from Blackburn whose mix of young and experienced players appeared to be playing out of their skins for under-fire manager Steve Kean, Manchester United were shocking; and Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to leave Wayne Rooney out of the squad for some petty disciplinary decision backfired.  Why when it comes to Ferguson making blatant mistakes do football pundits & journalists alike not tell it as it is? Yes he’s the most successful manager English football has ever seen.  But when he gets it wrong, say so!

Chelsea & Tottenham failed to capitalise on Man Utd losing points (Chelsea lost at home to Aston Villa 3-1 & Spurs drew with Swansea 1-1), leaving Arsenal as the only top 6 team to win last Saturday.

To cap a weekend of surprising results in the Premier League, Manchester City failed to take advantage of Ferguson & United’s blunder on Monday, knowing that winning at Sunderland would have opened a three point gap at the top.  But they failed to beat a rejuvenated Sunderland on Monday as Martin O’Neil continued to steer the Black Cats away from the threat of relegation & into the top half of the Premier League.

As the busy Christmas & New Year fixtures reached a final round of matches this week there were wins for Manchester City (Liverpool 3-0), Spurs (West Brom 1-0) & Sunderland away to Wigan 4-1 on Tuesday; and yesterday was a chance for Bolton to start the New Year with a win and for Man Utd to make amends for ending 2011 with their tail firmly between their legs.

Bolton was captained by Gary Cahill at Goodison Park as they took on an Everton side that included American Landon Donovan in his second loan spell from LA Galaxy. Cahill was probably playing his last match for the North-east side before moving to London.  Though it was interesting to see Harry Redknapp & his chief scout at Goodison, as personal talks between Cahill & Chelsea appear to have stalled.  I expect Redknapp to do everything in his power to sign Gary Cahill. The decision I believe is going to be down to Cahill.

The match produced the most bizarre goal of the season as Tim Howard hoofed a big clearance downfield only for the ball to get caught up in the gusty wind & end up in the Bolton net.  Howard becomes only the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League after Brad Friedel, Peter Schmeichel & Paul Robinson.

The other Premier League game saw Manchester Utd travel to St. James Park (yes, I kmow its been renamed!). Newcastle were in the midst of a bad run with only one win in their last three games, so I was thoroughly expecting Manchester Utd to hit them for four.  Wayne Rooney started along with Dimitar Berbatov.  But United played worse than they did last Saturday.  While Newcastle played with confidence and bossed the midfield.  Alan Pardew’s Newcastle went on to win 3-0.  Another shock result. United have leaked 6 goals in two games.  But more than anything else I believe they are missing a midfield general.  I wonder what Paul Scholes thought of Man Utd’s performance.

At the weekend Manchester United play Manchester City in the FA Cup.  I can’t wait!

But midway through the 2011/12 season and it isn’t too clear who will be the eventual winners.  Although Tottenham are having a great season, and by winning their game in-hand will only be four points off the lead, I can’t see the title going anywhere else than Manchester.  The problem is whether to choose Manchester United who have a habit of being stronger in the second half of the season, or Manchester City who remained unstoppable and unbeaten until they a late penalty against Chelsea earlier this month.

The Championship is almost as tight with Southampton three points clear of West Ham & a rejuvenated Middlesbrough.

League One has been dominated by Charlton who are currently seven points clear of the chasing pack after almost completely changing their squad last summer.  Sheffield United & Sheffield Wednesday are both showing good form with MK Dons & Huddersfield Town a further two points adrift.

Finally, Crawley Town are leading the way in League Two in their first season and look likely to continue their ascension from non-League football, though they are only three points clear of Cheltenham and four ahead of Southend, who have a game in hand.

So last weekend, unsure of the outcome of all four leagues I decided on Manchester City, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday & Crawley only to see Man City held by West Brom to a 0-0 draw while Man Utd thumped five passed Wigan, and Crawley Town lose at home to Gillingham.

My initial choice, and one I would have stuck to if it wasn’t offering such a poor return was Manchester United, West Ham, Charlton & Crawley.  Here’s hoping my bet is still alive come next May.

Man City took the lead after only two minutes when Mario Balotelli went round Petr Cech to score after a great through-ball from Sergio Aguero.  At that point it looked like it was going to be a long night for Chelsea and their young, under-fire manager Andre Villas-Boas.  In fact, for the first 30 minutes Chelsea did their best to hang on as Manchester City bossed the game with a master class of sublime football.

But Chelsea managed to claw their way back into the game and in the 34th minute former Man City striker Daniel Sturridge got to the byline and found Raul Meireles who scored with a great volley.

Against the odds it was 1-1 at half-time.  Chelsea had battled hard and showed some team spirit while Roberto Mancini would be berating his team as they should have finished the game off before Chelsea had a chance to get a foothold.

The second half started with a yellow card for Gael Clichy.  A red card followed in the 58th minute and that was enough to turn the game.  Chelsea played well to make the extra man count and were less overrun in the midfield.  Tempers frayed with Raul Meireles and Yaya Toure among those getting stuck in.

In the 73rd minute Frank Lampard come off the bench to replace Raul Meireles; and in the 82nd minute scored a vital penalty even though Juan Mata has allegedly been given penalty-taking duties.

Chelsea’s win end Manchester City’s 14 game unbeaten league run and inadvertently helps rivals Man United who are now only two points before City in the Premier League.

The win against Newcastle came as pressure mounted on the young manager’s shoulders after being knocked out of the League Cup last Tuesday with an awful performance against Liverpool.

AVB continues his quest to play exciting attack-minded football with a high defensive line. But with a slow defence this appears to be causing Chelsea as many problems on the field as their over-inflated egos.  I believe Villa-Boas needs to address the ‘clear as day’ fact that while John Terry continues to show his strength as a natural born leader, his pace is letting the side down, while central defensive partner David Luiz is a defensive liability.

The victory must have caused Andre Villas-Boas a sigh of relief even though he has continued to state to the media that he is still confident he has Roman Abramovich’s backing and fully expects to be at Chelsea for the next three years. Whether he honestly believes this or not, it will surely be a grave concern to know that Villas-Boas has the worst start of any manager at Chelsea since Abramovich took over; and he is not known for his patience!

It’s a job made even more difficult by the fact that Chelsea want instant success.  I remember this time last year Carlo Ancelotti saying these very words as the pressure began to mount on his Stamford Bridge future.  Success for Chelsea and Roman Abramovich is to win trophies, especially the quest to win the Champions League.  Failure is to win nothing and not qualify for next season’s Champions League.  But at the same time, Chelsea have not been able to replicate the level of success with gradual first team changes in the same way as Arsenal and Manchester United. But time has run out for Chelsea.  Now is the time to go with the likes of Sturridge, Mata, Torres, Romeu, Meireles and buy one or two solid central defenders – Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka in January.

Steve Kean can also rest in peace today after Blackburn Rovers beat Swansea 4-2 with Yakubu scoring all four goals in a rare treat for home fans that lifts Blackburn off the bottom of the Premier League table.

So while Sunderland appointed Martin O’Neil as their new manager yesterday, after sacking Steve Bruce in the week, who will be the next Premier League manager to lose his job?  If it was down to the voice of the fans then it would be between Aston Villa’s Alex McLeish and Wolves manager Mick McCarthy.

Wolves play Sunderland today; and while Martin O’Neil will be watching from the stands while assistant manager Eric Black takes charge today, Mick McCarty will be under the spotlight of owners and fans once again.  If Wolves lose to fellow strugglers Sunderland today at Molineux you might not need to read the football betting tips on BettingExpert.

God Speed you. Black and white Emperor.
Pure breath of granite hewed from the ground of Flintshire
where dragons fly and the hills sigh for the business of dreaming.
You were already formed as a warrior
As the Merlin alchemists mixed your being together
In the days before the men of Harlech began to sing your name
when your promise whirled and eddied from the valleys,
tendrils of smoke from the miners’ fires gathered
and formed on the terraces of Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton
where working men admired the chiselled stare, the rapier pass and the Aquila dribble
A club man that darted, never clubbed.
You served in the football trenches with McAllister, Batty and Strachan,
going over the top with them,
comrades in no man’s land, where even the enemy ceased firing to admire you.
You were the midfield General, the Captain and Sergeant of armbands
You played them at your own game
You did not go gently into the night
You were the black on the white, the raven hair and pithead eyes burning coals on the turf.
You saw the whites of their eyes and flayed them with black and white stripes.
And yet, the gentle cleft of your jaw, the downhill saunter of your nose,
were a softer frame for the imperial neck, a pedestal, a clenched life raised in victory,
the full motion slide on grass, cutting your legend into the soil,
a fighter blooding his territory with over 500 battle cries.
Many were victories, but you couldn’t win them all.
Your legend will grow in your passing.
When your foe faced you, you vanquished him.
But when he came to live within, you vanished.
God Speed you. The Emperor who did not fade to grey.

(c) Roy Stannard. 30th November 2011 (for Gary Speed 8.9.69 – 27.11.11)

There's A Golden Sky - How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever

A few weeks ago I was tuned in to the ultimate refuge of the sports saddo – ESPN Classic.

Between replays of classic Brazil sides providing cliché fodder for hackneyed commentators everywhere and documentary films of assorted pseudo-sports (BMX? Holy mother of god!) they showed a match from Tottenham Hotspurs’ season long dalliance with the old second division in 1977 (9-0 to Spurs against Bristol Rovers since you ask).

I don’t mention this purely out of self indulgence but because  of the differences between football then and now that leap out at you. Match of the Day consisted primarily of extended highlights of a single match – as opposed to the televisual orgy that Sky now serve up; the Spurs team that went down to the second division was made up of the same players from the previous year in Division One and also the following season, post promotion – whereas nowadays players leave a relegated team faster than the Gadaffis’ fleeing Tripoli; teams only had a single substitute on the bench – rather than today’s army of backups. Perhaps not the most insightful of observations but the ‘progress’ of football since those days, specifically following the formation of the Premier League, is precisely what Ian Ridley examines in the thoroughly entertaining There’s A Golden Sky.

Ian Ridley takes as his starting point the, at the time, Big Five clubs’ establishment of a Premier League at the end of 1991 and he journeys around the country profiling teams from the lower leagues (such as Wembley FC who scrape an existence in the shadow of the national stadium) to the Premiership itself (comparing Man United to the Kremlin in its control of access, image and output – MUTV as a modern day Pravda anyone?) and back down to the 88 amateur pitches at Hackney Marshes (the largest concentration of football pitches in the world).

There’s A Golden Sky – How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever contains plenty to interest and some chapters that are genuinely gripping. A surgeon’s account of the Bradford fire and its aftermath are tragically vivid while Matthew Etherington’s candid account of his descent into the abyss of a gambling compulsion engenders sympathy rather than schadenfreude.

There are plenty of lighter moments as well. A power cut sees Arsenal cut short their pre-match warm up at Selhurst Park. As the players return to the dressing room Arsene Wenger asks what the problem is, to which Ray Parlour responds ‘There’s been a berm’. ‘A berm?’ quizzes Wenger, at which the rest of the team wet themselves. Then there’s the strange doggedness of Blackpool in retaining the frankly Vic Reevesian ‘Clifton Quality Meats’ as a sponsor in the face of slightly more glamorous post promotion offers. I also found Ridley’s description of the impotent and ludicrous pointy stick wielding 5th and 6th officials in European games pretty amusing.

As you might imagine, the thread that runs through the book is one of money. How it enables the realisation of ambition, attracts the talented and villainous in equal measure and, in some cases, corrupts and destroys. There’s the salutary tale of Blackburn Rovers for example. Jack Walker, possibly the first of the big time footballing beneficiaries invested the, for the time, astronomical sum of ￡30 million and watched his boyhood team win the league. Following Walker’s passing and subsequent corporate takeover and hamfisted management Blackburn were transformed into dour midtable makeweights along with the Boltons and Villas and are currently relegation contenders with their manager Steve Kean surely next in line for a statement of unequivocal support from his chairman.

The book isn’t without its flaws though. After an enticing enough start describing the circumstances of the Premier League’s formation Ridley fails to explain precisely what happened. I would have liked a discussion of what changed from the old Division One in terms of control, income and separation from the FA. Surely an understanding of these issues is crucial as a context for a reader’s appreciation of subsequent chapters?

Additionally, I think the structure of the book could do with a little tinkering. Maybe it’s just me, but, being a fan of non-fiction writers such as Misha Glenny and Michael Lewis who take pretty complex subjects and render them into the shape of a novel, I expect an overarching narrative to corral the various themes and ideas in a book – which doesn’t happen here.

These minor gripes aside, as a collection of essays on contemporary football in all its forms, there’s plenty of well researched material for any football fan to get their teeth into. Ridley doesn’t go for some post-fanzine elegy to an imagined past of heaving terraces on rainy nights in Scunthorpe and entire Saturdays filled with FA Cup Final Swapshop but a more measured series of observations on both the good and bad in football since the Premier League’s inception.

Bookending things are chapters about Paul Gascoigne then and now who, Ridley seems to hope, can be seen as a microcosm of the league itself – the road of excess leading to the palace of wisdom I guess. But whether Gazza’s current sobriety and realigned priorities will endure is anyone’s guess – and whether the Premiership will experience a similar phase of abstinence and reflection seems pretty unlikely.

There’s A Golden Sky – How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever by Ian Ridley is published by Bloomsbury priced £18.99.

The knives are already out for Chelsea’s young manager Andre Villas-Boas after just four months in the west London hot seat after yesterdays’ result.  Chelsea have lost three of their last four Premier League matches.  But AVB confidently deflected post-match questions that he is now under extreme pressure and insisted he was still in favour with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich & that together they were still working on long-term plans.  Though away from the media I would be surprised if Andre Villas-Boas isn’t looking over his shoulder, especially following the news last week that Guus Hiddink is now interested in a move back to Chelsea where his short reign as caretaker manager was heralded by all as a great success, culminating in Chelsea winning the FA Cup for some time now.

I see Hiddink being offered a ‘Director of Football’ type role, where he would effectively be on standby, ready to take over the reins if AVB becomes the latest manager to come and go as Roman Abramovich continues to crave instant success.

Liverpool are now joint fourth place, level on points with Chelsea ahead of Tottenham’s game tonight at home to Aston Villa.  The game will see the welcome return of Harry Redknapp after minor heart surgery.  If Chelsea end the year in such a position that Champions League qualification is not looking likely, I believe AVB will be sacked.

Nike Seitiro Hi-Vis Football

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