Dutch Master

Arsenal 3 - 1 West Bromwich Albion

1 - 0 Hleb (44)
1 - 1 Quarshie (72)
2 - 1 Pires (76)
3 - 1 Bergkamp (89)

Dennis Bergkamp day at Highbury, the crowd a sea of orange in his honour. Thankfully the non-Flying Dutchman entered the fray to become a major contributor to three important points, especially as the Tiny Tots produced a better than expected result by winning at Goodison Park.

The match itself was typical of the fare served up at THOF in recent seasons. Arsenal dominated possession against opposition intent on sitting back and soaking everything up before hitting the home side on the break. As is normal, Arsenal had too much for them despite squandering a host of chances, including one by Henry where he lost his bearings in front of goal, placing the ball well wide of the left hand post when rounding the keeper seemed the easier option. These things seem so simple from the stands.

Having toiled for most of the half, seemingly in vain, a neat one-two with Henry sent Hleb free in the area where he drove the ball home with some venom from a tight angle, beating the Albion keeper at his near post. The restart brought forth more of the same and with Villarreal beckoning on Wednesday, Henry was withdrawn after a little more than an hours play. Ten minutes later, Hleb and Van Persie departed allowing the Guest of Honour to earn his corn. It didn't go quite to plan as Quarshie, who had incurred the wrath of this correspondent earlier - more on that later - capitalised on an error by Eboue to finish excellently from the edge of the area and it seemed that fourth place would be disappearing over the horizon. Bergkamp however had other ideas - I guess it was his day to prove just what the club will miss in the coming seasons and a reminder of the glorious days of the recent past.

The Albion joy at drawing level lasted less than five minutes. A flowing move down the Arsenal right left Pires free in the area but his shot was well blocked by the keeper, only for Bergkamp to seize on the loose ball, take it towards the bye line, draw the keeper and a defender towards him, slot the ball to Pires who having had his initial shot blocked, lifted the ball into the right hand corner of the goal. It was a tangible relief spread around the ground.

Albion then pressed on looking for another equaliser and had a half decent penalty shout turned down as Eboue appeared to clip Davies leg in the area. The saving grace, I believe, was (a) the attacking players run across Eboue and (b) the fact that Davies went down as if he'd been hit by a right hook from Muhammed Ali in his prime. That proved to be irrelevant a minute from time as Bergkamp found himself in space and curled the ball around the keeper, reminiscent of all of those classic goals from yesteryear. And so three points keeps the gap to the Tiny Tots at four points, leaving us praying for a United win at White Hart Lane on Monday, the prelude to the derby clash one week today.

Three points are three points, today's job done. Some concern that the centre of the defence is proving to be suddenly vunerable to set pieces again, LuaLua scoring unmarked earlier in the week and Albion nearly repeating the trick today. But better that these glitches are ironed out now before the Semi Final.

And what of Mr Quarshie? What could that nice mild mannered man have done to incur the wrath of Yogi? He demanded a yellow card for Toure, duly delivered by the referee, for deliberate handball. I have not much issue with the card although from where I sat it looked like the Scotland international pushed KT in the challenge. But I cannot abide players who motion to the referee to book an opponent. It makes my blood boil. Why do it? What do they hope to achieve? Surely no referee has ever booked a player as a result of this? All it smacked of today was a forward of limited talent (and he is limited in talent) trying anything to gain the upperhand. Well, he got his comeuppance when his team lost. And this type of action infuriates me more than diving, prinicipally because very little is won through diving and more because the media make it out to be a bigger problem than it actually is in domestic football. The Daily Mail earlier this week ran a piece which interviewed three referees - Uriah Heep, Graham "as popular as" Poll Tax and Pearl & Dean - who agreed with me, being careful to distinguish those who went down easily and those who dived. Interestingly, they saw little wrong with a player going to ground after physical contact arguing that they had a right to do so. They were more reluctant to brand someone a "diver", equating this to cheating and believing that a player has the same right to be called honest and not wanting to brand them as dishonest unless they were absolutely sure of the simulation taking place. As an accompaniament to the piece there was a table that showed the names of players booked for diving this season. Three things struck me: (1) Bolton have had more players cautioned for this offence this season than any other club, (b) Van Nistelrooy was on the list and (c) Arsenal have had no bookings for diving this season, clearly something at odds with the media perception that Reyes and Pires are guilty of this.

Todays Tunes are from Peter Hook's first spin off from New Order, the group Revenge. The recently re-released One True Passion contained a second disc that almost doubled as a greatest hits album containing remastered tracks and demos. Hooky's Monaco cohort, Dave Potts, joined the band as a bass player before pairing up with the mercurial Salfordian for greater things. Relatively speaking, that is.

These two are taken from a bootleg from 1991, No Pain, No Gain, which doesn't give details of the gig that these were from.

Deadbeat

Pineapple Face

I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday

The fervour with which the national press are trying to second guess The FA about the appointment of Sven Goran Erikssons successor is something to behold. If all of this energy could be harnessed then there is no doubt that this could be the most environmentally friendly fuel known to man. And yet there is something extremely pathetic about it all. It is not as if they have the inside track on the appointment process; rather they are forced to survive on the scraps that the Governing Body decide to feed them. Which makes this whole hullabaloo unseemly, unsightly and ultimately uninformative.

So far this week they have discovered the location of the "secret Oxfordshire mansion" where the second - or are they the first? - interviews have taken place. And yet we know not who has actually met with the Recruitment Panel. The only certainties are Allardyce and McLaren. O'Neill has to the best of my knowledge not commented on the job, publicly at least. Neither has Tony Soprano, other than to state that he would be lynched by the Portuguese public if he accepted the role before the World Cup. We do know that Alan Curbishley does not know if he will be interviewed (again) for the role. Here's a hint Al. If they've carried out second interviews this week and you weren't contacted, you were the first high profile casualty who didn't get the chance to run the gauntlet of media scrutiny which is probably more severe than that suffered by the Prime Minister. But if you trawl back through the press coverage, didn't The FA state that they would not be interviewing potential candidates this week if it impinged on their preparation for crucial games? Yes, I know McLaren was interviewed this week but it makes sense that he was one of the first as it meant he did not spend too much time away from his charges. It could be that the Panel felt that asking Curbishley to come on Monday afternoon was too close to their futile attempt at reaching the FA Cup Semi Final. Rather than sit and wait to see if he received a call either way, the Charlton manager decided to bleat in public about being kept in the dark. And in that instance he ensured that he will never become England manager. How could a potential employer trust him when he has run to the Press at the first sign of things not going his way.

And so the shortlist reduces by one, leaving Allardyce and McLaren to slug it out with O'Neill and just maybe Big Phil. In the cold light of day, there is only one candidate who has the proven ability to deliver the World Cup. And he's not English, not even British. Which means he won't get the job. Heaven forbid that England should be managed by a World Cup Winner. That would just be too much for the media. Ignore his track record if you will but surely the England team need to be challenged when they represent their country? Surely they need to be shown new ideas, new ways of thinking, open their blinkered horizons, be shown first hand that, hey, these foreign johnnies may actually know a thing or two about Football. Somehow I doubt the FA will choose this option. More likely, and possibly to the detriment of the English game, it is going to be a job for the boy or perhaps a job for the Bhoy.

Todays Tunes come from U2, a bootleg of their gig at Hammersmith Palais on 6th December 1982, a time when Bono was just starting to realise that the climb into his own backside wasn't as far as he first thought.

Gloria

11 O'Clock Tick Tock

Hello Sailor

Portsmouth 1 - 1 Arsenal

0 - 1 Henry (36)
1 - 1 LuaLua (66)

Two points dropped in the race for fourth although with the upcoming matches this weekend those points may not be as expensive as they currently seem. This results leaves us trailing the Tiny Tots by four points without the luxury of a game in hand, although by Monday that small benefit will be back in play. At this time of the season it is perhaps more important to have the points rather than games in hand, especially as the Champions League Semi Finals beckon and the fixtures start to come thick and fast.

A game that was there for the taking was ultimately taken away by the same failing that has beset Wengers Arsenal teams for the last four or five seasons, namely a poorly defended freekick. Maybe that is harsh as D'Alessandro's delivery was perfect, plenty of pace on the ball and into the middle of the penalty area which meant it was crying out for someone to attack the cross as opposed to the defence which seemed to be a tad asleep. Having taken the lead through Henry's drive from the edge of the area, that he had created through winning the ball back midway in the Portsmouth half, Arsenal proceeded to squander half a dozen chances to kill the game off. The difference between the European form and domestic results could not be more stark; solid defence and some clinical finishing seem to be forgotten when it comes to the domestic fixtures.

Chief culprit tonight was Adebayour, who missed two clear opportunities, which is starting to be of concern when the team is on its' travels. Having done the same at Old Trafford, he needs to be more clinical in front of goal. You may think that is harsh given he is only in his third month at the club but this needs to be driven home to him from the start otherwise the comment that his style of play is similar to that of Kanu may yet see him follow the same path downwards and ultimately out of the club. I do not hold him solely responsible for the result tonight as it was a team effort to miss the chances that we did and also to fail to keep a clean sheet yet again on our travels. On another day, Ljungberg would not have picked up a booking for dissent as Taylors' foul on him in the area would have earned the penalty it deserved.

Campbell's return was OK - ring rusty as one might expect. He struggled at times against LuaLua but then the more athletic forwards have always given him some problems whereas the lump Benjani was no problem to him, aside from the stray elbow that is. I would expect him to start on Saturday against WBA although it would need a return to the form that is expected of him to retain his place against Villarreal. The head wound he received tonight ought not to be so serious as to rule him out of contention but with Sol's recent history, one never knows.

Which leaves the Easter Weekend as possibly the one that sorts the wheat from the chaff. Tottenham travel to Everton on Saturday, who have won five and drawn one of their last six at home whilst the visitors have won one and lost four of their last six on the road. A home win seems to be the form result in this encounter. They then face the Premierships' in-form team, Manchester United on Monday and whilst Tottenham have done well at home this season, it is difficult to see them getting anything from that one either. Overall, I suspect that they are realistically hoping to beat Everton which would leave them four points clear when they visit THOF on Saturday week. From Arsenal's point of view, three points against West Brom is a must and hope that Tottenham take only one point from their two games. Should that happen then the key result will be to beat them when the two sides meet. This would leave Arsenal clear by one point and have one game in hand.

Todays Tunes are four cover versions, all of Love Will Tear Us Apart. The first is by Simple Minds, which I have to say took me by surprise when I heard it. Firstly it isn't bad. Second, it's quite good actually and lastly it is probably the least Simple Minds sounding track I have heard, being a dance version of the track. For those who remember Jim Kerr as a Division Two Bono Wannabe in the 1980's, this is a genuine step up. In contrast to that, Jose Gonzalez is a current media favourite whose deadpan delivery over an acoustic guitar works well, a pleasant surprise to discover. Third up is a Spanish band, singing this in English. I didn't know what to expect but it wasn't to hear a Mandolin over guitars in a Leveller-esque way. Despite that unkind description it's a half decent stab at the ball and nowhere near as bizarre as the versions by Human Drama and In The Nursery. I couldn't bring myself to listen to their Avant Garde claptrap efforts beyond the first rendition of the chorus.

The last cover is by Elvis impersonator, The King, which is just a great pub rock piss-take to lighten the mood. Which you think sounds a bit of an odd mix. But nowhere near as bad as Moby's exceptionally crap version of the song.

Simple Minds

Jose Gonzalez

Pribata Idaho

The King

Awright me old China?

Sven Goran Eriksson is yet again under fire from the English Media for apparently undertaking a business trip this weekend to China, rather than watching any of the domestic football matches on offer. What puzzles me is why they, the media, believe this to be a story. I do not believe that the Swede has watched a match every single time that there is a selection on offer – more often, in fact, you hear a comment from the ever-faithful Tord Grip about a particular players performance than you do from the England Head Coach. And to be honest, what is the problem with that?

Surely there should be more questions asked if he is still watching players closely at this stage? By now, Eriksson should be able to name his final squad for the World Cup with the Reserves who will be on standby. My hunch is that Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell are the only players he wants to watch as he has been denied this due to their long layoffs through injury and whatever. Even when Michael Owen makes his return from his broken metatarsal (will this now be known as “Englishman’s Foot”?), I doubt that he will be watched especially closely as he is going to go to Germany with the squad, and it definitely will not be in the capacity as “Media Analyst”, probably not as Bookmaker either in case of adverse publicity. Re-reading the earlier comment, I am unconvinced that Cole is the one who will be watched closely; more likely Campbell to ensure that he is mentally as well as physically fit.

The only doubts in his mind will probably be about replacement forwards. Defoe is not a regular for Tottenham and must be a doubt for going but to counter this, has proved that he can score at International Level. Darren Bent is this season’s man but has not looked overly impressive for England on the pitch but much of a coach’s opinions are formed on the Training Pitch as opposed to the ninety or so, week in week out. Darius Vassell up to about three weeks ago seemed to be hitting the sort of form that could have given him a last minute flight but is possibly now suffering from his team’s abysmal run of results.

Barring last minute injuries, I doubt that Eriksson had planned to watch many new players and just how much more about his squad is he going learn in the four remaining weeks of the season. Unfortunately, the media think that anything derogatory about the Swede sells newspapers. Which shows how little they actually listen to their readership, given the scorn that was poured on the News Of The World and their fake Sheik story. More likely, this story serves their prejudices and feeds their ego in thinking they brought down the England Manager. Err, tad too late for that given his resignation a while back. Still, never let it be said that our journalists are anything less than the brightest bulbs in the box.

This morning’s Independent contains a salary survey for Professional Footballers, by age. Across the board, it shows that basic pay for top-flight players has, in the words of the journalist involved Nick Harris, risen by 65% since 2000. Quite a hike on the face of it but in reality it is somewhat different, as this represents roughly 11% per year, not quite as sensational figure. What would have been useful is a breakdown by club because my immediate thought is that for example, Leeds attempt to buy glory was in it’s full flow at that time but how do Wigan compare to that in terms of wages? And what impact has the Abramovich billions had on this survey? Are the base figures comparable? The sample size in the survey was 400 players which is not a high number considering an average squad size of around 25 at the clubs, meaning that about 25% of the professional game either responded or were surveyed in the first place. The problem with this is that the gap between the top earners and those not so fortunate (and I use the term loosely) is so disparate that perhaps a higher take up would be needed to make it an accurate snapshot. One key question that they asked was whether the players were in support of a salary cap to limit salaries to 75% of the clubs income? Nearly two-thirds of Premiership players thought this to be a good idea, with between 54 – 59% of the remaining professionals also agreeing. But why is the level pitched so high? Surely the cap should be set at 60% or lower to enable re-investment in football to be meaningful.

The idea of capping is supported by politicians and the clubs to a degree. Surprisingly the PFA does not support any sort of capping. Gordon Taylor argues that player’s careers are short so they should be able to maximise their earnings potential. He is quoted as saying that “of 600 16 year olds who enter the game each year, 500 will have left the game by 21, and that 75 players a year have their careers suddenly curtailed by injury.” I have tremendous sympathy for those 500 boys whose dreams are shattered but they have the rest of their lives in front of them to enjoy and find new callings in life. It would be unusual to find them having a wife and two children to support which is what the 75 who really need support. But do these give sufficient reason for not having salary caps? I would argue that they do not. Surely the PFA have a responsibility to the their members as a whole to ensure that clubs survive. The Union do sterling work in loaning the clubs money when they are in serious trouble to ensure their members get paid. They are an organisation that is often at the forefront of many of the good programmes that benefit the wider footballing communities. On this issue though, they are stuck in the 1980’s. Even the lower paid members of the footballing world, are well recompensed for their chosen profession. However, the biggest part of the problem is that the clubs costs, of which salaries are the largest single element, are more than their revenues so therefore the costs need to be managed more effectively. This is the responsibility of the Directors and Owners but also the PFA have to be pro-active and agree to a reasonable cap to ensure the clubs survive. If not, the benevolence may need to extend much further and on far more occasions.

The full text of the report can be found here.

Today's Tunes come from a compilation album, Mod Funk, which surprisingly enough contains exactly what it says on the tin.

Detroit City Limits - 98 per cent plus tax

Moon People - Hippy Skippy Moon Stomp

Pointless Exercise

Manchester United 2 - 0 Arsenal

1 - 0 Rooney (54)
2 - 0 Park (78)

A minor setback in the race for fourth place is how this result should be viewed, the defeat leaving them trailing the Tiny Tots by five points but still with a game in hand, Tottenham to visit Highbury and an impending visit to White Hart Lane by today's hosts. So all is not lost in the attempt to secure qualification via domestic competition. It was a game where I expected at best that the team would take a point from based on recent performances but they never quite got their act together as they have been doing in the Champions League.

Despite Wenger handing United a boost before the game by dropping Henry to the bench - my own view is that if he is fit enough for the bench, he's fit enough to start - Arsenal made a decent fist of things in the first half, with Van Persie requiring his Dutch counterpart in the United goal to make two decent saves. Rooney twice went close in the opening forty five minutes including one effort that Toure, ahem, "appeared" to handle onto the post whilst Van Nistelrooy also had a chance to open the scoring but probably proved why Saha has been starting ahead of him by missing.

The Second Half was less than ten minutes old when Rooney struck, controlling Silvestre's cross on the edge of the area before shooting past Lehmann. Before Park sealed the win, Van Persie (again) and Adebayour both went close but a journey back home, still in sixth place and not closing the gap beckoned. Consolations from today? It was one of the better performances that we have put in at Old Trafford and the defence did OK, which may seem an odd thing to say given we conceded two goals. As George Graham pointed out this morning, the defenders are all young enough to grow as a unit together and could even rival his back four of Adams, Bould, Dixon and Winterburn given sufficient time.

Portsmouth on Wednesday and a possible return for Campbell in what is normally a hard fought fixture. This is exactly the sort of match that the team have lost in the early part of this season so is a good way to measure progress, domestically at least. For United's part, these three point keep alive their exceptionally faint hopes of catching Chelsea, who whilst down to ten men, tore West Ham apart 4 - 1 at lunchtime today.

Guus Hiddink appears to have thrown his toys out of his pram and has completely ruled himself out of becoming the next Head Coach of England, apparently insulted that the FA wanted to have an informal "chat" as a replacement for a first interview. Now whilst Hiddink has managed the Dutch National Team (unsuccessfully as it happens, remember their performance at Euro 96? I know they lost a semi final on penalties in 1998 but they did not win it) and been at Real Madrid for one year (again a failure), he has been relatively successful elsewhere - PSV, South Korea and Australia. Note those three. One Dutch club side and two International Footballing minnows. Hardly surprising then that one of the top five football jobs was not handed to him on a plate - yes, I am English and biased but let's face it this job is probably only outshone by Brazil and on a par with Argentina, Italy and Germany. No club job could ever compare with these. Even Chief Executives at top notch industrial conglomerates have to go through a selection process before being appointed so what makes Guus different? Nothing that's what, except for a rampant ego and complete arrogance. Unless of course, he had no intention of taking the job and was merely angling for an improved salary from his next employers, believed to be the Russian Football Federation.

Todays Tunes are two tunes taken from the Milano Mods Music Club Vol 1 - check their website out at http://www.milanomods.itgo.com/index.html - which was a collection of MP3's made in 1992. My thanks to Flavio, aka Cpt. Stax, who can be found at Mod Radio UK and the Captain's Blog

Primal Scream - Hammond Connection

Ian Paige - Worlds Collide