Buzzin Football

After yesterday’s 3-0 win against Newcastle United at the newly renamed Sports Direct Arena that was, and still is to most people, St James Park, young Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas will be given a stay of execution.  That is until Tuesday night when they need to avoid losing or a high scoring draw against Valencia in the Champions League to go through to the knockout stage and with it the money and prestige that Chelsea have come to expect since owner Roman Abramovich took over at Stamford Bridge.

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 – a tribute to Gary Speed from Roy Stannard

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.

Heading towards December and Chelsea find themselves in fourth place in the Premier League 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester City – new money, new elite, after a late, spectacular individual goal from former Chelsea starlet Glen Johnson gave King Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool a 2-1 win yesterday at Stamford Bridge.

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

In the world’s leading football leagues, pinpoint accuracy, speed and intensity can make the difference between a top flight place in the standings or relentless pressure to avoid League and Cup disappointment. With the stakes so high, players look for a ball that gives them unrivalled touch and feel to ensure it goes exactly where they want it to every time.

The new Nike Seitiro football builds on a legacy of excellence in the T90 football range that is well established as the official match ball in the world’s leading leagues, including the Barclays Premier League, (Italy’s) Serie A and (Spain’s) La Liga.

Continuing to bring new innovations to football, the Hi-Vis ball features NIKE RaDaR technology, which means Rapid Decision and Response. As a lab and field-tested standard of visual performance Nike RaDaR technology allows players to see the ball better and capitalize on split second scoring and passing opportunities.

In the game of football, precision sight is of utmost importance. The Nike Seitiro is engineered to stand out on pitch when conditions are not ideal. The Hi-Vis yellow and purple color combination flaunts additional fluorescence and brighteners, making it even more visible in low light conditions than previous generations of Hi-Vis balls.

Containing its patented Hi-Vis casing, performance graphic, and unique five-layer construction, the Nike Seitiro is the pinnacle in football innovation. The ball’s touch, aerodynamic stability and Nike RaDaR technology make it the best ball on the planet. It’s no wonder that this is the ball of choice for the world’s best leagues and players.

Nike Seitiro Hi-Vis Football Features include:

1.    Micro-textured hand-stitched TPU casing for great touch and durability
2.    Nike RaDaR technology performance graphic for a strong visual signal
3.    A 360 degree sweet spot distributes pressure evenly across panels
4.    Optimal sphericity allows the ball to fly faster, farther and more accurately than other balls
5.    Flexible, cross-linked Nitrogen-expanded foam for shape retention and durability
6.    Six-wing carbon-latex bladder for explosive acceleration off of the foot
7.    Designed to FIFA’s approved specifications, weighing between 420-445 grams, and with a circumference of between 68.5-69.5 centimeters

The new Nike Seitiro Hi-Vis Football is available to buy for £90.00 rrp.