A Cultured Left Foot

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2006-07-07T14:54:00.000Z

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Portugal get Les Bleus

2006-07-06T11:14:00.000Z

After the entertainment provided by the first semi-final, it was little surprise that last night's match could not live up to those standards. Having got this far by conning referees, whinging incessantly and being generally the least likeable team in the competition, Portugal's campaign came crashing down around their ears in a crescendo of jeers and unseemly behaviour. Ricardo Carvalho having been the victim on Saturday turned villain last night, bringing down Thierry Henry in the area for the penalty that was the only goal of the game. Having bragged beforehand that he knew where the taker would put the penalty before it was taken, Ricardo proved that it was no idle boast, narrowly failing to stop Zidane's spotkick. Thereafter the match faded out, with little to speak of in the way of chances for the remaining seventy minutes.

For one who has been berated in the English media for his ungentlemenly conduct following Rooney's dismissal, Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have learnt little or nothing from that episode. A deserved reputation for "exaggerating" any physical contact by an opponent was enhanced further with his theatrics shortly after the French penalty. When attempting to meet a cross from the right, he threw himself at the ball, performed a little hitchkick in mid-air and jerked his head wildly to try to con the referee into thinking he had been impeded by a French defender. The referee to his credit was having none of it and let play continue. However, the credit is taken away as he did not caution the chinless wonder for his theatrics.

For France, a number of players were treading on eggshells for a caution could have kept them out of the final. Henry and Vieira fortunately escaped missing Sundays match but inexplicably Louis Saha got himself booked less five minutes after replacing Henry in a replay of his booking against Brazil. At the end, Scholari's undefeated World Cup record went to the wall and he reacted with all the petulance of a six year old whose favourite toy has been taken away. Quite what view FIFA will take of his verbal assault on the referee is unknown but it is a poor reflection on him. It is one thing to be passionate, quite another to be a bully.

Todays Tunes

2006-07-06T10:36:00.000Z

REM again, another bootleg from the mid-1980's. This time it is from the Paegentery Tour, New York's Felt Forum the venue. Download it here.

Bowyer Loses Pounds And Feels Fine

2006-07-05T18:06:00.000Z

Whilst Italian football is on a high on the pitch and low off it, English football had a day of shame with Lee Bowyer being fined for his on the pitch brawl with Keiron Dyer, Craig Bellamy being forced to defend himself against accusations of assault in a nightclub (again) and Gary Charles in court for assaulting a taxi driver.

Like most neutrals I was amazed when the Bowyer / Dyer incident happened but highly amused also, the now West Ham player acting like a complete drongo during yet another home defeat for Newcastle during Souness' reign. The question is to where this crossed the line in the minds of the police to report the matter to the CPS? There have been numerous incidents in recent years where more than two players have been involved in a scuffle so what made Bowyer different, other than his "previous"? Was this any more serious than say Arsenal players behaviour at the end of the either of the last two visits to Old Trafford. Given that professional footballers are supposedly role models to the youth of today, maybe this is a salutory warning to players coming after a season of police investigations into "Roasting" and the like. Whether they will change is another matter. Very few have shown any nous to learn from the mistakes of those who have trodden the same path before them so I don't have high hopes of any improvement in the near future.

Having already been fined in the region of £250,000 by his club and the FA, Bowyer may well have burst out laughing when the £600 fine was handed down today. Even adding on costs, it has come to less than £2,000 making the law well and truly an ass. I wonder if he had the front to ask if he could pay over a number of weeks?

The Italian Stallions

2006-07-05T18:03:00.000Z

Italy and Germany served up one of the games of the tournament in last night's World Cup Semi-Final in Dortmund. Two goals in the last two minutes of extra time did scant justice to the Germans performance which was solid if slightly unthreatening. Both teams created openings in the ninety minutes but Italy looked more likely to score, Jens Lehmann fully justified Klinsmanns decision to make him number one for the tournament by making a number of key saves. In the end Grosso's opener was down to poor marking as he initially ran into the area on an arc and past Lehmann to the right edge of the area from where he scored. The German full back tracked him until he got outside of the six yard box and promptly stopped following. A tough lesson to learn. The breakaway for Del Piero's second was pure class and everything that you have come to expect from Italian football, a classy backheel to set the Juve forward free and a fine curling finish. Over to France and Portugal to match the class, hopefully the French will wipe the floor with them and the Portuguese will implode as they did after the Euro 2000 Semi Final. Should the French win then Italy have that particular monkey to get off of their backs when they conceded a last minute equaliser and went onto lose to a David Trezeguet Golden Goal. If the French match the level of performance that they have shown against Spain and Brazil, then the Portuguese are in real trouble and the Italians would be by no means the clear favourites for the final that they ought otherwise to be.

One other point worth commenting on from last night's game was the absence of gamesmanship, both sets of players should be commended for their willingness to accept a decision and get on with the game, helped in no small part by probably the best refereeing performance of the tournament so far.

Chelsea report Real - Will FIFA ask Arsenal and Milan for their views as well?

2006-07-05T17:23:00.000Z

Having asked yesterday whether FIFA would bring Real Madrid to heel over their transfer dealings, it seems they will have little choice but to investigate following Chelsea's decision to write to the Governing Body complaining about the tapping up of Arjen Robben - the West London club showing a previously untapped sense of irony. Peter Kenyon complained that Robben was still in contract, he would not be sold and that no contact had been made between the two clubs. So Mijatovic and Abramovich talking about the deal does not constitute contact. I wonder if the words "Ashley" and "Cole" will jog Kenyon's memory, he will no doubt recall that his clubs shameful conduct in that matter cost them a few used notes in a suitcase and involved their manager tapping a player up. FIFA will be presumably be contacting Arsenal and AC Milan for their observations about the comments and actions of the supposedly biggest club in the world. We wait to see if FIFA have the balls to take on the Spaniards and whether they will impose transfer sanctions. Still, at least Calderon will be able to blame someone else for any ban, Pedrag Mijatovic is being set up nicely with all of the election promises being dumped on his shoulders. Whilst they are at it, perhaps a wee diversion into Lyon would be in order after it was claimed today that their President tapped up Gilberto Silva whilst visiting the Brazilian World Cup camp. Not that one expects anything to come of it. Although David Dein might do well to phone Lyon and tell them that he'll keep quiet if they take Pascal Cygan off the clubs books for a couple of million.

Todays Tunes

2006-07-05T06:07:00.000Z

Continuing the REM theme, these are the outtakes and demos for Out Of Time, with a highly original title of Slightly Out Of Time. Download it here.

Can't Get There From Here

2006-07-04T20:22:00.000Z

Football is a sport on which rumour and innuendo thrive, particularly in the close season. For the uninitiated it is what makes the months of June and July pass quickly when there is not an international tournament taking place. Speculation is passed around the pub or the office as if it is true, hopes are raised when your team is linked to a decent player, only to be dashed when you realise that the story was made up over the fifth pint in whichever bar happens to be the gathering place of the hacks in question.

Undoubtedly a number of those stories are plants; Player X wants to engineer a pay rise and needs to concoct some interest, the player may actually want a move and is putting out feelers for interest, a manager may want to offload a player and is testing the market or even an Agent may be down to their last Rolex and wants a payday. It's there, it's part of the game and we love it. In the days before the transfer windows became effective in England, the speculation started and never stopped, it did not respect the start or end of a season.

The various regulatory bodies all have rules about this type of behaviour and for years the rules have been flouted, sometimes quite brazenly. And yet there comes a point where questions have to be asked, ethics need to be enforced or else just do away with the rules of engagement. Make it open season on all players futures, any day of the week, any club officer can say what they want when they like. The Italians have been at it for years. Famously, Luca Moggi told Zlatan Ibrahimovich to create a fuss to engineer his move from Ajax. The Swede did by kicking lumps off of an Ajax teammate in an international fixture, to such an extent that the two fell out and the move duly went ahead.

The current trend seems to be from Spain. For years, Real Madrid and Barcelona have been masters of the outlandish statement, hoping to make it the truth. Each club have their favoured mouthpiece and their words are reported as the "Gospel Truth". It first came to international notice when Florentino Perez was running his election campaign, noting that he had the signature of Figo wrapped up. He had nothing of the sort but waved a cheque in Barcelona's direction with the sum of £30m on it and lo, he was a man of his word. Seeing the success of this, Laporta repeated the trick with Beckham in his election campaign. It was a done deal, Manchester United had agreed a fee with him, promising to deliver the player if Laporta won. He duly did. Except nobody had bothered to tell Beckham who promptly turned down the move. Still, Ronaldinho was not a bad second choice to have.

And so it goes. We go full circle to this year with Henry's supposed defection to Barcelona, Wenger going to Real as manager. All presented as fact, the average punter having an inkling of the truth in each story but ultimately, they proved to be just that. A story. Calderon, the newly elected Real President, has claimed for weeks that he has agreed deals with Kaka, Robben and Fabregas. He's delivered Capello as the manager so it is pretty fair to assume that he has been working behind the scenes, talking to the Players Representatives, promising them the earth and their clients a fair portion of the Universe as well. The media pick up on this and present it as the truth. Agents become involved and then promote the story at every given opportunity. The headlines from people such as myself and those of the Fourth Estate scream of "Imminent Moves" and extortionate fees being paid.

But at what point do these shenanigans become in breach of the rules. Kaka, Robben and Fabregas are all under reasonably long term contracts at their clubs. That the President of the Club should have tried to tap them up - Fabregas has all but admitted to talks with Real - as part of an election campaign is surely bringing the game into disrepute? Once the man takes office, it must be against the rules for him to pursue the deal having already tried to broker it. FIFA should step in now and bring him to heal otherwise yet again, Real ride roughshod over the laws that others try to obey, the Odious Ones From West London aside.

From an Arsenal perspective, Fabregas' Agent hit the nail on the head when he noted that The Gunners would not sell his client "for all the Gold in the World". However, it would not surprise me if the conversation quickly turned to Reyes who I think would leave given the opportunity and I am unconvinced that the chance to cash in would be turned down.

Todays Tunes continue the REM Week, these from a bootleg of Michael Stipes recordings outside of the Group entitled "Not Field Recordings". The tracklisting is as follows:

Arms Of Love / Guilty By Association / Your Ghost / Full Moon / To Sir With Love / Trout / Alive And Living Now / Kid Fears / Future 40's / Little April Showers / A Campfire Song / Boy (Go) / Clustering Train / Omaha / Hot Nights In Georgia / Treason / Meeting

Download it here

It's All Greek To Me

2006-07-03T23:02:00.000Z

FIFA has suspended the Greek FA and its international team from any participation in competitive football due to undue interference from the Greek Government. This ban will also affect all Greek clubs meaning that at present there are no representatives from the country who are eligible to play in next seasons UEFA Cup or Champions League. This means that there is one space in Group Phases of the latter and logically speaking, it should be the next highest placed of the seeds who is given priority for this. Now obviously I have a vested interest in recommending this course of action, given that the team in question would be Arsenal, but it is hard to see how UEFA can do this without screwing up the draw for the final Qualifying Round. Should they give Arsenal the leg-up into the Group Phases, one other team would need to be given a bye to make the math work. The only other alternative is to give two teams a bye from the Qualifying Round by means of a free draw, something that would appear to contradict previous behaviour which has all but proved all that they are interested in is money.

Coming so soon on the heels of the Italian scandal, this is just the sort of publicity football does not need. For many years, Greek football has been a hotbed of rumour, innuendo and outright allegations about corruption amongst officials. It can be of little surprise that state interference in the Game is coming into play. The issues surrounding the domestic game have been known for long enough for FIFA to have no excuse for a lack of action. The fundamental problem is that the Statutes allow the Organising Body a convenient shelter when they wish to do nothing about any issue, diverting blame onto local FA's for anything that is wrong.

If FIFA is so hellbent on independence, perhaps they would be good enough to inform us why the Italian FA, the Azurri and clubs are not suspended pending the legal investigations that are going on. Surely this is an example of the State interfering in football? Or could it simply be the case that the Greeks are a soft target, never likely to generate the money for football that the Italians do?

Todays Tunes are from REM, a concert held at the Rockpalast on 10th February 1985. The Set List is as follows:

Feeling Gravity's Pull / Harborcoat / Sitting Still / Maps and Legends / Fall On Me / Green Grow The Rushes / Driver 8 / Hyena / So. Central Rain / Have You Ever Seen The Rain / Can't Get There From Here / King Of The Road - 7 Chinese Brothers / Auctioneer / Old Man Kensey / Little America - Pretty Persuasion / Write A Letter / Toys In The Attic / See No Evil / Second Guessing / Ghostriders In The Sky / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / We Walk - Paint It Black

Download it here

He's A Winker (Misprint)

2006-07-02T08:36:00.000Z

England's World Cup Dreams are over for at least another four years ago. As in France 1998, they were ended by a petulant outburst of a temper nutured by Sir Alex Ferguson. This time though, the red card was thoroughly deserved, Rooney's stamp on an opponents knackers being a step up from Beckhams flick of the foot on Diego Simeone.

From the moment that happened, hopes sank. Lawrenson's hysterical high-pitched whine of "They'll play for Extra Time and Penalties" being spot on and the best and worst we could hope for. Despite being reduced to ten men, little fault could be found with the England performance from the sixty minutes onwards, save for the usual poor ball retention. Robinson in the England Goal redeemed himself for his early nervous performances by being on the whole calm and a dependable rock. All someone needs to do is give the lad some guidance on his distribution, train him so that his first reaction to claiming the ball is not to belt it as far as he can into the opponents half. Defensively, Che Neville returned and put in a decent performance, Terry and Ferdinand coped with everything that was thrown at them whilst Ashley Cole proved to be the best left back in the tournament with another consistent display. Aaron Lennon proved that Beckham's desire to gain 100 caps may not be quite so easy to achieve. Replacing the England Captain, it seemed for the first five minutes that no-one wanted to pass to him but when they did, he put fear into the Portuguese defence, beating three men before his colleagues spurned the chance. Gerrard worked hard but Man Of The Match was Owen Hargreaves, a suitable reposte to those who claimed he wasn't up to it, step forward Alan Hansen. Frank Lampard was the huge disappointment of the tournament for England and yesterday proved no exception, certainly not aiding his desire to play for Barcelona. Frankly, he cannot hit the arse of a cow with a banjo in an England shirt at the moment; hardly the form expected when topped the midfield scoring charts domestically. Joe Cole did OK yesterday and has been excellent in the games prior to England's exit. Up front, Crouch did well as a lone striker, raising the thought of what might have been had he been up front with Rooney playing off of him.

But the penalties themselves. Dear God, we were reliably informed that the players had been practising. How can they have been? Aside from Hargreaves, all of them were pathetic. Carragher was specifically brought on with Penalties in mind! The only plausible explanation is an incapability to deal with the mental pressure yet only twelve months ago Gerrard and Carragher were in the same position with Liverpool in Istanbul. Perhaps the affliction only hits when they wear the white or red of England.

And what of the media. Predictably, Eriksson has been chastised along the lines of "£20m over five years for what?" but leaving aside the manner of the performances, he was on course to put England into the semi - finals for the first time in sixteen years until the Red Mists descended. It is hard to make him the scapegoat for yesterday's defeat, having been let down badly by Rooney. The Scouse Git is being let off relatively lightly today by the Red Tops, compared with the vilification that Beckham got eight years ago. Indeed, Cristiano Ronaldo is coming in for greater criticism and may just have engineered his desired move to Real Madrid, with a number of papers printing photos of his knowing wink to the bench, "Got him!" being the inference.

All that aside, the exit from the Competition has one saving grace. Number One Son had been raving about Rooney for a few days, showing an unsavoury leaning toward the Glazer Disneybucks. Now, a flood of tears has put paid to that.

"Dad, why did he do that?"
"'Cos he's a twat"
"But England lost because of him. I thought they would win"
"Welcome to the world of supporting England. A lifetime of raised expectations and dashed hopes and shattered dreams"

It's Sunday so it's a full on day of transfer rumours. Apparently, Arsenal will sell Ashley Cole to the Russians of West London for £20m, exactly the sum that will be spent on bringing Michael Carrick across North London, a move favoured by the player as he will not have to move home. Sol Campbell's move to Portsmouth should be completed this week, at least that's what is says here, with Dirk Kuijt, Curtis Davies and Yaya Toure all moving to Ashburton Grove. And nothing on Pascal Cygan leaving which is a bit of a pisser. Meanwhile, Thierry Henry is knackering his tendons according to his surgeon and will miss the start of the season apparently. Didn't seem to affect him last night as he scored France's winner to send Fat Ronnie and Goofy home early.

Todays Tunes continue the REM theme. These are from 1982, Carnival of Sorts bootleg:

Gardening At Night

9 - 9

Shaking Through

Great Expectations

2006-07-01T09:00:00.000Z

It is time for the Golden Generation to fulfill the expectations of the nation. And I refer not to the Portuguese. This afternoons clash in Gelsenkirchen, home of Schalke 04, casts the the underachievers of England against the nearly men of Portugal.

The Portuguese have at least delivered partially. Two FIFA World Youth Championships were followed by the 2004 European Championships Final defeat by Greece. England on the other hand, have been talking the talk since Japan / Korea 2002 and never threatened to deliver. Today is the day when that must change. Eriksson is desperate to go out on a high, knowing that his reputation and bank balance would seriously enhanced by getting England to their first final in forty years. Small matter of winning today and then on Wednesday aside, this is his last chance. Also, I would hope that he wants to be able to shove a middle finger in the direction of media hacks who have harrassed him during his reign. However to do that, his charges must play considerably better than anything shown previously in this tournament as I doubt that the Iberians will allow them a moments peace on the pitch. Whilst Ronaldo would be the obvious target for the English, Rooney is equally combustible and with a considerably shorter fuse.

The managers could not be more opposite. Eriksson, passionless and passive on the bench, whilst Scholari is animated, exhorting his troops to greater heights, continually "at" the officials chivvying them, trying to influence their thinking in his favour. He has a remarkable record of eleven straight World Cup wins and the perfect opportunity to show the FA what a complete balls up of the recruitment process for the next England manager they made. I still cannot understand the haste in replacing the Swede, Barwick hell-bent on a quick solution which he can now regret at his leisure.

The first semi final is to be between Italy and Germany, a repeat of the 1982 Final but I would prefer a match that equalled the 1970 semi-final, Italy victorious 4 - 3 after extra time. The hosts won a tense match against Argentina, Jens Lehmann the hero with two saves in the penalty shootout. This could have been avoided if Ballack had planted his header into the net in the first half rather than a couple of yards wide of the post. However, the abiding memory will be of the bust-up at the end of the match with the Argentineans exploding with frustration. Cufre was sent off and several others punching and kicking their way into International Bans. Maxi Rodriguez is photographed attempting to bitch-slap Schweinsteiger from behind, something that would leave the South American requiring several weeks of hospital treatment if he had tried that on the streets of most towns, cities and villages around the world. Pekerman cocked up his substitutions by bringing off Riquelme and replacing him with a defensive midfielder rather than Messi, leaving the Argentine forward line stranded without a creative force in the middle of the pitch. An injury to Abondizierri meant he was replaced by Leo Franco of Atletico Madrid, his first task should have been to at least defend his goal against a freekick chipped into the six yard box, instead he nearly strained his neck watching Schweinsteiger's shot sail about twenty feet over the bar. In the end though, a typically well taken Klose header forced an additional thirty minutes and the shootout. Italy meanwhile cruised through against an uninspiringly dull Ukraine, who if England are negative, then I dread to think what Blatter thinks of them. Absolutely abysmal, conceding an early goal would normally bring a team out of it's shell whereas the Ukranians were intent of just keeping the score down. The match ended with two second half goals in a five minute spell just after the hour mark. Perhaps someone can explain why talented players make for dour managers; George Graham's Arsenal were the antithesis of his playing style whilst Blokhins Ukraine bear no resemblance to his career. Yes, I know that the players at their disposal may not be as talented as when the managers were themselves competing on the pitch but surely the desire to win must be coupled with winning in style - one of the reasons why Chelsea are not the much admired team they ought to be.

In describing Sepp Blatter, it has been said that he has 100 bad ideas every day. Personally, I like to think that if he had an original thought it would die of loneliness. His most recent utterances were to criticise England for being negative through playing only one forward. This despite the fact that no other midfield at the World Cup has scored more goals domestically. However, more worringly, every day proves more and more how little Blatter actually knows about the game despite being involved all his life and for the last thirty years at the highest level in the Ruling Body. It is testament to his political skills that he has managed to avoid being called to order over the various allegations made by his colleagues and journalists although his style would probably be more akin to Don Corleone, offers cannot be refused. At least his organisation got one thing right this week; Arsenal cleared by FIFA of any wrongdoing over the Beveren "non-affair". As of yet, Newsnight have not commented, perhaps for fear of being made to look even more stupid than they already are. Despite denials, it still reeks of a Spurs fan trying to get his team to Europe's top table, something the team were not able to achieve on the pitch.

Todays Tunes are from REM, In The Attic, a bootleg of alternative recordings from 1985 - 1989.

The tracklisting is:

Finest Worksong / Driver 8 / Gardening At Night / Swan Swan H / Disturbance At The Heron House / Maps And Legends / Tired Of Singing Trouble / Just A Touch / Toys In The Attic / All I Have To Do Is Dream / The One I Love / Crazy / Can't Get There From Here / Last Date / Time After Time (Medley)

Download here

Football Cliche No. 426: A Good Old Head Will Always Beat A Young 'Un

2006-06-28T09:42:00.000Z

The Second Round over, a few days rest before the Quarter Finals kick in, with kick-offs moved to an eminently better time for those of us that do not get out of the office until around four during the week. I was running seriously low on excuses to work from home without coming outright and saying that I just wanted to watch the football.

Last nights’ clash between France and Spain was an intriguing match. The Spaniards went into the game having overpowered the Ukraine and dominated the Tunisians, putting themselves into the frame for the competition with a real chance to shake off the tag of “Perennial Underachievers”. France on the other hand had been pretty awful for most of the Group phase, only coming to life when they had to beat Togo and even then, progress was still out of their hands to a large extent. Much was made of the youthfulness of Spain compared to the old heads of France and yet experience shone through. Spain were a real disappointment and should be disappointed in themselves. Why Aragones put Raul up front when his performances for club and country have been lacklustre for more than eighteen months is something only the coach will know. The midfield was packed with three very similar players in Xavi, Xavi Alonso and Fabregas. All are sound passers of the ball but they hold similar ground on the pitch, requiring the full backs to get forward to penetrate the flanks something that they could not do with enough regularity last night as both Malouda and Ribery have enough pace to exploit the gaps that would have been left. The way the Spanish team set themselves, it was obvious from the start that they were more obsessed with not conceding rather than scoring two or more to win the game. Whether this was out of respect for the opposition or out of fear, I am not sure. Certainly for a team that was undefeated in twenty four games, it was an unusual tactic. Surely such a run should have filled them with the confidence and belief they needed to win a competitive match against France for the first time.

As it turned out, France thoroughly deserved their win. They showed more sharpness in attack, created more chances than the Spaniards, fought hard in midfield and defended well. Henry was out of sorts, isolated by the slowness of the build-up play and the Spanish defence defending higher up the pitch than most other nations. The most significant contribution he made was being bodychecked by Puyol for the freekick that led to Vieira’s goal. His reaction to the foul was unnecessary, borne of frustration at his own performance and a need for revenge against the centre half. Neither is an excuse for his theatrics which have been preceded by a huge amount of diving and rolling around by other players on the pitch in previous matches and will no doubt being followed by more in the Quarter Finals and beyond.

It sets up the Quarter Final meeting with Brazil nicely, who cruised through their tie against Ghana. Perhaps the Africans will learn the lesson that conceding a goal in the fifth minute against Brazil makes a hard job extremely difficult. Rolly Polly Ronnie became the highest scorer in World Cup history but his fitness will need to increase for the coming match(es). Unless of course, the Brazilians intend to shoot the ball into his gut and hope that the ripple effect will propel the ball into the net? Roberto Carlos meanwhile displayed the required abilities to become a key player for Chelsea next season, i.e. gracelessness and a complete absence of charm. The arrogance he displayed in denigrating Ghana makes one hope that he gets his comeuppance in the next round. Perhaps an own goal that knocks his country out is what is needed to make him realise the privileged position he is in?

England face up to their nemesis (© every lazy journalist in England) in Gene Hackman when they meet Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday. It appears that England’s injury woes are finally starting to ease with the news that Gary Neville Neville is returning from his spell in the treatment room. With that in mind, I expect England to once again line – up in a 4-5-1 formation, despite the limitations that were exposed against Ecuador. The team will probably be:

Robinson; Neville, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole; Beckham, Lampard, Hargreaves, Gerrard, Cole; Rooney

The only question will be if Hargreaves replaces Carrick which I think will happen given that the one man United Nations played well in that position against Sweden. Carrick did nothing wrong against Ecuador but Eriksson seems to rate Hargreaves.

The key to winning will be making sure that the defence act as a unit and the midfield track back. If they do not then as the Dutch found out, Deco is not the most dangerous Portuguese midfielder. Ronaldo now expects to be fit but both Coles and Neville are familiar with his one trick which should be enough to keep the Madrid-bound Pony in check.

Todays Tunes come from Oasis, their gig at Earls Court in 1995 providing:

Acquiesce

Rock ‘n’ Roll Star

Lets Do The Zidane Again

2006-06-26T13:06:00.000Z

“God Only Knows” proclaimed the Beach Boys which in a slightly different context is exactly what most people feel about the England team. Nobody can quite work out how we’ve got this far playing so badly and stand a good chance of reaching the Semi Finals with Portugal seeming as though they will be missing one third of their team, Deco and Costinha definitely out, Ronaldo doubtful and if Luis Figo is not suspended then FIFA may as well shut up shop because they would be even more of a joke than we already think they are.

It is impossible to know if Eriksson is lucky or a complete Charlatan. The tactical nous that he was supposedly hired to bring to the England team has been conspicuous by its absence during his reign, save for the 5 – 1 thrashing in Munich. Certainly during the first half of the Ecuador match, he got away with it. If Ashley Cole had not proven his match fitness with a last ditch intervention, we would probably not be looking forward to Gelsenkirchen on Saturday. Beckham was anonymous for most of the time he was on the pitch, his contributions being the goal and a quick puke on the pitch. England were held together by Rooney’s determination, Carrick quiet diligence and Gerrard’s endeavour. For the second half, things improved but I still cannot believe Beckham’s free-kick hit the back of the net nor I suspect can Mora in the Ecuadorean goal. The defence looked nervous again and I believe that part of this is explained by Robinson’s inability to command his area. For someone who has been consistent for a number of seasons, the Yorkshireman has picked a plum time to display the jitters that cost David James his Number One spot. Let us pray that the Tottenham ‘keeper improves and quickly. In midfield, Lampard needs to be more judicious in his choices about when to shoot or pass. It speaks volumes for his performances that he is the top of the list of shots on goal and has yet to hit the back of the net. It is starting to reach Jensen-esque proportions. All this will be forgiven and forgotten if he scores the winner on Saturday.

Eriksson’s constant reminders of the Golden Generation of English footballers are proving to be shallow. All of the other Quarter Finalists are at a higher performance level than his charges and of those to still qualify, only Australia have shown less skill levels, having battered their way through the Group phase.

But it is not all doom and gloom. Germany seem to be the form team so far in terms of consistency. However, their opponents have on the whole rolled over and begged to be beaten. This will not be the case for the Argentina match. However, as Mexico proved, the Argentines are not the “Invincibles” that certainly the English media portrayed them to be. Mexico were unlucky to lose, Heinze should have walked for his cynical foul in the first half. Germany will have noted the Mexican tactics and will no doubt re-employ them to a degree. This will be a tough match to win for the hosts but I have a feeling that they may just do it, bringing to an end their abysmal run of results against the top nations.

The Dutch meanwhile are on their way home, contriving to lose a match that they should have won. Four players off, and another thirteen receiving a yellow, this one will rival the Battles of Berne in 1954 and Santiago in 1962 in the annals (or should that be anals?) of World Cup notoriety. If Graham Poll is on the first flight out of Germany this week, Ivanov will not be too far behind. Deco and Costinha deserved to go for their moronic choices, Boulahrouz was correctly booked twice whilst the second for van Bronckhorst was unlucky but given the referees performance, it was entirely expected. Van Persie has given Wenger food for thought. Without doubt he was the star player this tournament for the Dutch. His wide play was exemplary and although he may need some more maturity before he makes consistently the right choices, he is in my book, ahead of Reyes for the left wing spot at Highbury. Kuijt would struggle in the English game if he continues to throw himself with such gusto. Indeed, if he had put as much effort into putting the ball into the net, he would not be heading home so early. And Robben? Well, none of his antics were a shock, continuing on his dubious methods from last season.

Current Transfer targets have changed if the papers and various rumour sites are to be believed. Apparently Hatem Trabelsi has been offered a contract by the club. Whilst I am not convinced that he is needed, I can see where the story has come from. Lauren is supposedly not going to be fit for the start of the season and / or going to Sevilla. Gilbert is considered to need to go on loan to gain experience. This would leave Hoyte as cover for Eboue and whilst he did reasonably well at Sunderland, he may need another season to fully come into the first team. Yaya Toure is apparently happy at Olympiakos which is a surprise as last week he had not been paid for six months and was angling for a move back to the Ukraine. However he still wants a transfer to Arsenal. Appiah is another midfielder that is heavily linked with the club – all of a sudden we have money to spend and everyman and their whippet are going to be gracing the turf at Ashburton Grove.

The one that surprised me to some degree is the media story that Arsenal have already contacted Juventus about Buffon. Now I don’t believe that the club have approached them for one minute but it is the kind of signing we need – Lehmann has played well in the World Cup and for last season but age is against him. A good quality youngster for one season as a reserve or someone to replace him now is required. I suspect that he will retire at the end of 2007 / 08 if he is still Germany’s Number One or maybe at the end of the new season if he is not. However, top priority is a central defender. The club cannot hope to muddle their way through next season, relying solely on Djourou, Senderos and Toure to fill the centre of defence. As 2005 / 06 proved, cover needs to run deep in the squad. I still think that Wenger will bring in another three or four players, Curtis Davies is consistently linked with a move to Arsenal but I have not been totally convinced by him. More likely, I think the transfer market will quieten down until the punishments for The Italian Job are meted out. Then there could well be a mad scramble for the players. If the punishments are handed down as expected on July 9th, teams have 21 days to sign and process the paperwork before the International Transfer Window closes on July 31st.

Todays Tunes are a trio of Cover Versions, courtesy of Wellerworld.

Billy Bragg - That's Entertainment

Graham Coxon - Billy Hunt

Eliza McCarthy - Wildwood

Little Footsteps

2006-06-24T11:05:00.000Z

Round One is done and dusted, completed with victories by France and Switzerland last night to ensure their qualification to meet Spain and Ukraine in Round Two respectively. The French were more clinical and purposeful than they had been in their previous two matches, despite (or because of) the absence of Zinedine Zidane. Thierry Henry seemed more comfortable with a strike partner although I am unconvinced by Trezeguet this season and quite why Arsenal and Manchester United were so interested in Franck Riberry is not apparent from his displays thus far where he has shown that he could not hit a cows arse with a banjo.

Time to review the original predictions and see how hopelessly wrong they were. My forecasts for the winners and runners-up turned out to be fairly accurate with some notable exceptions - Ecuador threw most people as did Ghana. Australia crept through ahead of the Croats but otherwise pretty much spot on.

So as Round Two starts today, I would expect Germany, Argentina, England, Holland, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy and Spain to progress. Of those matches, the only ones where I can see alternative outcomes are Switzerland v Ukraine, Portugal v Holland or Spain v France. Should any of the others go against my original list, it will be a surprise. Or if Ghana or Australia progress, a major shock.

Without doubt, Argentina were the most impressive team in qualifying but it will be interesting to see how they are defensively as surely they will be tested more from here on in than they were in qualifying. Spain and Germany provided the pleasant surprises of the Group Phase, the hosts showing a marked improvement in form although against limited opposition. Spain showed that they have an excellent blend of youth and experience available to them and in the attacking third should give the French plenty to think about but it is midfield where the battle will be one, Xavi, Xavi Alonso and Iniesta supported by either Reyes or Luis Garcia will be too much for Vieira, Zidane, Malouda and Riberry / Wiltord. Puyol will need to improve on his performance against Tunisia or Henry may well exact his own personal revenge for Paris.

England are reportedly playing 4-5-1 against Ecuador, with Owen Hargreaves at right back, Carragher set to replace Ferdinand if he is not fully fit and Michael Carrick in central midfield. Rooney is supposedly going to play the lone striker role. If this is true I would be very surprised as Rooney always strikes me as being more effective playing off of another striker. Although England only have Crouch as an "experienced" striker to replace the injured Owen, it makes little sense to leave him out as he played reasonably well against Sweden. The only possible reason for this formation is Erikssons belief that in a 4-4-2 formation, the team is not good enough to defend a lead, the additional midfielder allows Gerrard and Lampard to play the same roles for their country that they do so effectively for their clubs.

Graham Poll is coming in for deserved criticism for his performance in officiating at the Australia v Croatia match on Thursday, widely quoted as being ready to pack his bags for the first flight out of Germany today. Having missed two penalties and allowed a goal where Harry Kewell was seemingly offside would probably have been enough to warrant his flight tickets but to book a player three times is unquestionably daft. What puzzles me is why the two Assistants and Fourth Official failed to tell him of his error. Surely that is part of their remit? Perhaps they did and he chose to ignore it although it seems unlikely to be the case. What is noticeable is how the English media have picked up on this, to the extent that The Sun even asked his wife for a quote on her husband's performance - she declined to comment, understandably. Since when has the performance of an English Referee warranted this type of media coverage? I cannot ever recall a Referees performance on the pitch making the front page of a paper before. Increasingly in the last twelve months, former referees are becoming media rent-a-quotes in particular Clive "The Book" Thomas - incidentally, he was one of the first referees to publish an autobiography about his career - and Jeff Winter, who laid the boot into Poll quite savagely this morning, to the extent that it was patently obvious that he has little or no time for the newly crowned, "Thing From Tring". What is amazing is that neither Thomas or Winter covered themselves in glory during their careers, although Thomas was widely respected until 1978 when he idiosyncratically allowed Brazil to take a corner and then promptly blew for full-time, nanoseconds before the ball hit the back of the Swedish net. The teams left the pitch in a state of confusion. If he had done that in this World Cup, FIFA would have sent him back before the end of the Group Phase. It is an interesting phenomena that is starting to build. Criticism from former players in nothing new but who in the hell is interested in what a former Referee thinks? Another example of the media hypocrisy that surrounds football - build the Referee up so that he believes the hype and then kneecap him with criticism. Perhaps it is time to go back to basics and ignore the official, unless they are truly incompetent.

Todays Tunes are from John Mellencamp, a bootleg entitled Hurts So Good from 1988. Thanks to Joe at Human Wheels for these.

Check It Out

Small Town

Pink Houses

Running Down A Dream

2006-06-23T13:50:00.000Z

England’s “Dream Team” is taking shape for the post – Eriksson era, with rumours abounding that Alan Shearer and Terry Venables will be joining "The Management once the World Cup is over, for England at least. These to me seem good choices to compliment those staying on, as presumably Sammy Lee and Ray Clemence will retain their posts. At least it will sort out the staff party pantomime for 2006 with the roles for Mary Poppins, Fagin, Humpty Dumpty and Pinocchio all filled. Barwick will no doubt be called upon to play Widow Twanky whilst for the moment, McClaren can fill the role of Aladdin should England win in Germany.

Fallout from the Italian “Match Fixing” scandal continues unabated with Patrick Vieira being linked to a move to the Glazerbucks Disneydome or a return to North London. Vieira has been non-committal over his future when questioned about the investigations in Italy. The bigger issue is the impact on transfer fees that must surely be forced downwards if the four clubs charged have to hold fire sales to release players. This will impact on other transfers that are mooted for this season such as Fernando Torres move to just about every major club in Europe which was expected to be in excess of £20m, could be driven downwards or put on ice. A surplus of top quality players being available will cause prices to fall, to the detriment of lower league clubs who tend to overvalue their “stars” anyway. After all, using Buffon as an example, why pay out for English ‘keeper who has a lot of potential for say £3m when you may be able to pick up the finished article for £10m? The £31m paid by Chelsea for Shevchenko is beginning to look even more extravagant knowing that they could have paid up to 30% less had they waited for the outcome of the trial. One wonders how much the investigation contributed to the Ukrainian’s decision to move, knowing that he would be missing out on Champions League football for at least one season, probably two if Milan were to be demoted.

Unsurprisingly, The FA has ruled that Arsenal has no case to answer for their “relationship” with Beveren. The announcement on the FA website is as follows:

"Following a report on BBC Newsnight regarding the relationship between Arsenal FC and Belgian club Beveren, The FA was asked by FIFA to conduct an investigation.

The FA has since conducted inquiries with the assistance of The FA Premier League. As a result of those inquiries, we can confirm that we have not identified any evidence to suggest that Arsenal have breached any rules of The FA or The FA Premier League in relation to their dealings with Beveren and specifically any breaches of the FA and FAPL rules concerning dual interests or associations between clubs.

In order to protect the integrity of matches and competitions, these rules prohibit clubs in the same competition from being owned, influenced or controlled by the same person or entity.

In this case, the relevant competitions are The FA Cup and The FA Premier League. The rules also prevent a Premier League club from owning or controlling another Premier League or Football League club.

The FA has provided all the material obtained during its inquiry to FIFA for its consideration.”

Newsnight meanwhile have issued a statement,

"The FA has established that Beveren is a Belgian football club and therefore does not compete against Arsenal in the Premiership or the FA Cup. This is not what Sepp Blatter asked for"

as is quoted on the BBC Sport site. The Newsnight quote shows again that they have missed the point. FIFA asked the FA to investigate yet the only remit that the FA have under FIFA regulations is to investigate any breach of FA or FAPL rules. So rather than accepting that the FA have done their job, they are readying themselves to accuse football of a whitewash. The statement further shows how little the Newsnight team know about football. If they were true followers of the game, they would know that what FIFA say publicly and do privately are two very different things.

Interestingly, the BBC do not give this turn of events as much coverage as they did with their original story something I find deeply surprising. However, very kindly BBC Sport give you a link to follow to see the full text of their response which at 17:45 BST is taking you to Page 404 error. Honestly, you could not make it up. This genuinely is what happens when you follow the link to the Newsnight response from the BBC Sport site, and happened every time I tried it from about 17:10 BST until 18:00 BST when this blog was posted.

Spain changed all eleven of their starting line-up for today’s match against Saudi Arabia and it showed. They started brightly enough but the match definitely had the feel of an end of season friendly for their part. Reyes and Fabregas were both substituted although the former supplied the cross from which Juanito thumped home a header. The Ukraine joined them in the next round with a Shevchenko penalty separating them from Tunisia in what was apparently an equally uninspiring match.

Colchester United have successfully sought an injunction to prevent Phil Parkinson joining Hull City although according to the latter they have attempted to discuss compensation with the U's. Despite having an employee who has resigned, the Colchester Board have refused to accept this turn of events and steadfastly hold him to his contract of employment. This is all well and good except that more and more, the EU or the ECJ are becoming involved in all aspects of Sport and the day is not too far away when a manager will successfully sue for normal working conditions to apply to their contracts and be able to walk away within a suitable notice period, the managerial equivalent of a Bosman, if you like.

Todays Tunes are from Tom Petty, Live at the Bonnaroo Festival this month:

Gloria

Don't Come Around Here No More

Saving Grace

Thanks to Pete at Ickmusic, where the whole of the concert is available for downloading.

Colour Me Impressed

2006-06-22T21:36:00.000Z

Within hours of the Azurri qualifying for the Second Phase of the World Cup with a comfortable 2 - 0 victory over the Czech Republic, that condemned the vanquished to an unexpectedly early exit, the Italian FA have announced charges against thirty subjects - twenty six people and four clubs - in response to investigations into irregularities over the appointment of match officials and match fixing. The four clubs involved, Juventus, AC Milan, SS Lazio and Fiorentina, face a range of punishments including fines, points deductions and relegations. Three of the four had qualified for next seasons Champions League whilst Lazio were in the UEFA Cup. The biggest target appears to be Juventus, winners of the Scudetto, and Milan, perennial challengers for the Champions League. Should they be found guilty at their trials next week, the Italian media is speculating that Juve will find themselves playing Serie C1 football next year, Milan in Serie B whilst Fiorentina and Lazio would receive fines and points deductions, adversely impacting their finishing positions in the 2005 / 06 season to ensure that they miss out on European football in the coming season. None of the twenty six people charged are players yet over half of the Italian World Cup squad would be impacted, more still from the squads of other participating nations. It remains to be seen if this has any effect on players such as Dida, Imbrahimovich and Kaka. Whilst they may not feel the consequences now, should any guilty verdicts be returned, it would seem that a large number of top quality players will come onto the market, perhaps instigating a shift of power in the European Club competitions even further away from the Italians, more towards the Spanish and English clubs. Make no mistake, Chelsea will not be the only club who suddenly find themselves with deep pockets if Buffon, Kaka et al came onto the market.

Another interesting aspect arises from UEFA's point of view. Should Juve, Milan and Fiorentina be dismissed from the Champions League, do they automatically "promote" replacement teams from within Serie A? If that is the case, Christmas has come early for the "victims". Internazionale would be bumped up from Qualifying Rounds into the Group Phases where the would be joined by Roma, who would move from the UEFA Cup. Chievo and Palermo would make up the Italian quartet in the Competition. UEFA Cup places would then go to Livorno, Parma and Empoli. However, given their idiosyncratic manner, it is possible that UEFA may decide not to increase the Italian quota back to its level of four but decide to leave Internazionale as the sole representatives, in which case, Arsenal, Liverpool and Valencia (the three highest ranked seeds - let's face it, UEFA will want to ensure their main moneyspinners are in the Groups if they lose the Italian contribution so there would not be a free draw for the the vacant slots) would all suddenly be believing Santa Claus does exist and is a fat, balding Swiss man called Sepp. Next week will no doubt muddy the waters further with appeals being lodged against verdicts and / or punishments but the start of the football season could be in disarray before it has even begun.

Talking of which, the fixtures for 2006 / 07 have been announced, subject to Sky's intervention in two weeks time. Arsenal kick-off at the moment with their qualifying round match in the Champions League being the bread in the Premiership sandwich, a home fixture against Aston Villa being the filling. Rumours abounded that the club had requested an opening day home fixture, no doubt the Portugeezer will be filling our pages tomorrow about how the list has been rigged once more to suit Arsenal. It is not a bad set of fixtures for the club, which when considering Chelsea's run-in, gives them a reasonable chance of catching them with a home victory in the penultimate game of the season. That assumes two things of course; (a) that we actually are in touch with them at the start of April 2007 and, (b) we win on May 5th when they visit Ashburton Grove in the last home game of the season.

On the subject of the whinges by the Setubal Smirk, Arsenal may well feel that his complaints have unduly influenced the fixture lists around the Champions League matchdays. Should they qualify, Arsenal play at home before each game but away in the next fixture. Manchester United and Chelsea are both at home after each fixture. Hmmm, conspiracy theories will no doubt abound. Curiously enough, my paranoia went into overdrive when you notice that Manchester United entertain Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City in fixtures directly after Champions League Matchdays....although I hasten to add that Arsenal actually stay within a thirty mile radius of London on four of the six fixtures following the Matchdays, visits to Charlton, West Ham, The Kremlin and Reading all feature. The other is a trip to the happy hunting ground of The Reebok.

The World Cup continues apace with Italy, Ghana, Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Holland, Portugal and Mexico all joining the Golden Girls in the next phase since I last posted. Since England play Ecuador, it is a fairly reasonable assumption that they will get through to the Quarter Finals where they will need to be on their toes to defeat either Portugal or Holland. Whilst I am not overly impressed by the Portuguese, they will pose the Dutch considerable problems. England on the other hand have to snap out of their sonabulism in the second half of their matches. It is as if Eriksson is dropping sleeping pills into their half time Lucozade. Either that or simply boring them to tears. What does raise concern though is that McClaren is in the dressing room as well and is failing to inspire the troops which bodes ill for his reign in charge. That neither of them is capable of stopping the repeat of these perfomances in important matches speaks volumes. Unless they find a cure for the comedy defending, England's stay in Germany will be over in the next seven days. Not that they will be alone as it would appear that following tonight's match between Croatia and Australia, Graham Poll will be on a play home soon having cautioned Simunic three times before sending him off. FIFA tend not to look too kindly on that sort of thing as well as, in my opinion, he had a fairly crap game, missing two penalties although in fairness, he did well to spot the Croatians offence that led to the Sheilaroos first equaliser.

One interesting comment I read is that Michael Owen is looking forward to seeing Sven on the 9th of July. So at least we know at whose house the England Team are having their World Cup Final Barbie then.

Todays Tunes are from a BBC Session by Supergrass.

Pumping Up Your Stereo

Mansize Rooster

Caught By The Fuzz

All This and Swill Too

2006-06-20T03:57:00.000Z

England's final Group match against Sweden takes place tonight, a point guaranteeing both teams qualification to play Germany or Ecuador who meet this afternoon. After the matches against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, the nation expects better performances. Lars Lagerback, the Swedish coach, has however poo-poohed the notion that it will be an open, attacking match by commenting, "We will try to stick to our way of playing, defend as much as we can". Great. Ninety minutes of England's aimless passing with the Swedes strung across the pitch in their own half. Exactly what we needed to hear. Although in fairness, his job is to get his country out of the Group, into the knockout phase where who knows what will happen.

It is well - documented that England have not beaten the Swedes since 1968, the eleven games since then have contained four Swedish victories although only one of those games was competitive. Of those matches, England have failed to find the net in six of them and only scored more than one goal on one occasion, Elland Road in 1995 during a 3 - 3 draw in the build up to Euro 96, rescuing a two - goal deficit.

England will hopefully be improved by the return of Rooney, which may kickstart the teams campaign in terms of passing, and also Owen's World Cup as he cannot complain about the long-ball game with Crouch absent. Or hopefully he won't be able to anyway. Gerrard is likely to be missing due to a yellow card; those received in Group Phase are rescinded for the start of the knockout stages. It is interesting that he is considered more important to the team, and publicly acknowledged as such by Eriksson, than Fat Frank is. Lampard has been the most consistent club player in midfield positions over the past three years yet still does not have the impact for England in terms of inspiring play. Nor is he perceived as being a matchwinner in the way that Gerrard is.

Assuming a draw as the likely outcome, England should face Ecuador who I expect to lose quite badly to Germany.

Yesterdays's matches confirmed that Group G is going to the wire with the Swiss putting pressure on the French. A three goal victory is now their minimum requirement to qualify and that assumes that the other match ends in a no scoring draw. If it finishes 2 - 2 or higher the French could be in deep doo - doo given the vagaries of the Head to Head criterian being used ahead of simple Goal Difference as the primary driver for Qualifying. Spain in the end won comfortably against Tunisia having spent an hour chasing an equaliser. Rumours abound that they are to rest their first XI in the final match which for some reason people think will upset FIFA. Why? They have already won the Group by virtue of beating Ukraine 4 - 0 so cannot be topped. Let them do it if they want to. Surely that is the point of a Squad system otherwise FIFA should lay down a regulation that states "Your first XI must be named before the tournament begins and can only be changed for suspension or injury. Any injuries will be adjudicated by the FIFA Medical Team and they decide if the player is fit for a match or not".

Arsenal are being heavily linked with numerous players. Javier Saviola is the latest but Barca apparently do not want to sell to Arsenal, Dirk Kuijt may be on his way to Ashburton Grove, Anfield, St James Park or staying put at Fejenoord depending on which line of the articles you read whilst Amo Diana is on his way here if he doesn't go to another Italian club. Michael Carrick is going to move a couple of miles across North London but this could be via The Disneydome if the Tiny Tots decide to sell for around £20m. But all of this is irrelevant as Le Boss is off to Real Madrid as one of the prospective Presidential candidates said he is and they never lie, do they?

Todays Tunes are from Swill and the Swaggerband, erstwhile lead singer of The Men They Couldn't Hang, Odgers and Simmonds and Liberty Cage. Check out the various myspace pages for TMTCH, Liberty Cage and Swill & The Swaggerband, not to mention TMTCH's website. Also, check out his new album Elvis Lives Here, available on Irregular Records. These are from his gig at Stripes in Brentford on 26th May 2006.

Marjory and Johnny

Pieces Of Paradise

Ready To Blow

There's A Warning Sign On The Road Ahead

2006-06-18T20:45:00.000Z

What had been a fairly predictable tournament in terms of results burst into life this weekend. Saturday's comfortable win by Ghana over the Czech's was completely unexpected, given the drubbing that the Eastern Europeans gave to the USA. And a completely deserved win it was to. Appiah is unsung by the English media, driving the midfield forwards, Essien though is showing why Chelsea paid a considerable lump of change for his services. He has competed for every ball and surprisingly, not launched into his trademark two-footed lunge. That the Ghanains took the lead after a minute will have helped to calm nerves no doubt but the composure they showed on the whole was reminiscent of the Cameroon in 1994 and a pleasant antidote to the panic-stricken play of Angola et al in this tournament. Even before Ujfalusi was rightly dismissed, the Czech's had been unable to get back into the game, Pavel Nedved was unable to read the game, and continually caught offside leading to the thoughts that perhaps this first appearance in the World Cup for him was a tournament too far. Having seen the Iranians make the Portuguese work damned hard for their place, that was surely the upsets done for the day.

But no, the Italians reverted to type. Scoring early, Gilardino scoring a well taken header and the Italians proceeded to sit back. In years gone by, this would have been game over but yesterday saw some uncharacteristically nervous defending saw Zaccardo slice the ball into his own net and De Rossi lost his cool and Brian McBride nearly lost conciousness when the formers elbow connected with the latters head. Pope and Mastroeni deservedly saw red, the latters lunge an appalling tackle but still the Italians could not break down the US. This result left the Group wide open. The winners of the final games will qualify. A draw would be enough for the Italians irrespective of the other result but the USA could sneak through if the Czech's are defeated.

Brazil improved on their performance against Croatia but still could have conceded if Harry Kewell had kept his head down and Dida not made one acrobatic save to prevent an Australian equaliser at 1 - 0. But like most winners of the World Cup, starting quickly is not a pre-requisite. The Australians will still qualify if they avoid defeat against Croatia whilst the Croats qualify if they win. Unless of course, Japan win which makes the race for second sort of open.

And what of the French? In deep crap basically. They have to win against Togo, assuming of course the Africans turn up. If, as expected the Swiss win tomorrow they join the Koreans on four points, facing each other on the final day. A draw in that game would leave the convulted path to the Second Round wide open, head to head results would all be draws, goals scored, goal difference similar unless someone wins comfortably. How is it that the French are in this position though? Having been totally in control for 80 minutes, they contrived to throw it away, spurning chances, hitting the woodwork, conceding a soft goal and almost losing it in the final minutes. They face Togo without Zidane and anything less than a win could mean that this match was his last in a World Cup.

Lone Justice

2006-06-16T20:00:00.000Z

As has been the case with this World Cup, a day of mediocre football is followed by matches that prove that it is impossible to be interested in only your club side, matches that make you marvel at the abilities of individuals and team units.

Hot on the heels of the turgid Swedish victory over Paraguay, came Argentina's demolition of Serbia & Montenegro. I doubt that any performance by a team unit will be better during this tournament. The first goal set the bar for teamwork, slick passing finished by Maxi Rodriguez. The fourth by Cambiasso raised it even higher, probably bettering the effort by Fernando Torres earlier in the week. Without doubt, the Argentinean performance was excellent but it is difficult to fathom the depths to which the Serbs had plummeted, they had plenty of possession but never really threatened. Argentina posted a warning to the rest of the competition but the Dutch subsequently showed that they are up to the challenge overcoming a strong Ivory Coast challenge in the second of the matches in the previously called "Group of Death". Robin van Persie followed Freddie and Tomas Rosicky into the scoring books, bagging a corking freekick, before Shergar added a second. van Persie reminded us of his versatility by being provider for the second and clearing a header off of the Dutch line towards the end of the match. The Ivorians will no doubt look back and wish that they had been more adventurous as once they pegged one back, they had the opportunity to grab an equaliser.

If Group C was the "Group of Death", there is no doubt that Group B is the "Group of Dearth". England's Golden Generation played more like the Golden Girls, making hard work of the Trinidadian challenge, lucky to be level at half time following John Terry's goalline clearance, England resorted to the long ball, finally winning with Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrards' late goals. There are two schools of thought about England, (1) the first decent team they meet will tear them apart or (2) who gives a toss how we play let's just win the damn thing. I fall into the latter but would prefer them to play with more "nous". I am more concerned by the lack of form shown by Owen, I wish he would be as well; being happy to sit on the bench is not a public commitment to putting things right on the pitch. However, is the reason that Owen is playing poorly due to the partnership with Crouch and / or the absence of Rooney. If it is the former, the latters return will solve it. If it is the latter then God Help Us All as there is little doubt that an Argentinean, German or Ecuadorian tackle is going to test just how well his foot has healed in either Round 2 or the Quarter Finals.

One thing that is apparent in this tournament is that thus far the smaller teams are not rolling over as they used to in World Cups past. There is unlikely to be a repeat of Hungary's ten goal annihilation of El Salvador in 1982, as I write Angola are making the Mexicans work exceptionally hard to even score. I know that the Mexicans notional placement of fourth best in the World makes a mockery of the FIFA Rankings system and is no doubt indicative of (a) riding of luck and (b) solid defensive tactics but the inability of the top teams to put opponents away is shameful.

Another thing that is apparent about this tournament though. The standard of refereeing is generally poor, no matter which Continent the officials come from. The fluidity of games is frequently ruined by the shrill blast of the Acme Thunderer for seemingly innocuous offences. And no, this is not a diatribe about the Referees coming from Asia or South America, the Italian who refereed the Argentina / Serbia rout was no better.

Little doubt that nerves hits these officials, after all players complain of nerves and the Referees are no different as it is the big stage for them also. But the flourishes with which cards are brandished or whistles blown at times make you wonder if they have lost sight of the fact that they are managers / facilitators not the stars of the show. FIFA edicts do not help but there is a feeling that I cannot shake that physical contact is being eradicated, the slightest shoulder contact is being penalised and I have lost count of the number of seemingly fair sliding tackles that have been punished by a yellow card and freekick. I hope this is not a foretaste of what is to come in the new season as there will be eight a side games in a large number of league matches in the 2006/07 campaign.

Today's Tunes come from Lone Justice, taken from their self titled debut album from about 1985, I think.

Ways To Be Wicked

Pass It On

Jam Today

2006-06-14T20:01:00.000Z

Germany 2006 has seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly over the last forty-eight hours. The Good were definitely Spain. Even before the Ukrainians were reduced to ten men, the men from the Iberian peninsular were rampant and away from their opponents. The third, a contentious penalty that should not have been given - the initial tug of Torres shirt was outside the area, the Atletico forward slipped when turning in the area - should not detract from the fourth, a fabulous strike from Torres, fully justifying the hype, following Puyol's pirouette and deft flick on. For once, they have been placed in a straightforward Group, and for once they have come flying out of the blocks with a 4 - 0 victory. If they can do this to their nearest rivals in their Group then Tunisia and Saudi Arabia must be fearful of being on the end of a complete hiding. From an Arsenal perspective, neither Reyes or Fabregas started, the latter getting on for the last ten minutes or so, but it is hard to criticise Aragones selection with this win.

For which we should all be thankful because the French were just complete shite. I am not sure what is wrong with them as technically they are the equal of most teams in the world but they just cannot click at the top level. Following on from their disastrous 2002 campaign, one would have thought that they would have been itching to get off to a flying start. Instead it was more va-va-kaput-splutter-cough than anything else. One thing that puzzles me is Henry's inability to transfer his Arsenal form to internationals, possibly due to defenders being better than those he faces on a weekly basis or maybe due to the speed with which Arsenal play being more suited to his game?

Somewhere in between these two were Brazil, who put in an England type performance - OK in the first half, nonexistent in the second, holding on for a win in the end. The difference between England and Brazil's performance was that Croatia deserved a point and had the chances to have taken it. And it is games like these that I find myself admiring the little flicks and dribbles by Ronaldinho but at that the same time whether all of the showboating is actually productive, raising the issue of whilst there is little doubt that he is the most skilful player but is he the best player in the world in terms of his team? What does he contribute on days like these, other than to make a dull game look prettier? One thing is for certain, he contributed more than Ronaldo who lumbered around the pitch for the best part of an hour or so without actually doing anything other than one shot on the hour mark from twenty yards out. He looked as out of sorts on Tuesday as he did in the final in 1998, back then though he had an excuse of illness beforehand. Now, he looks too big for his game - not necessarily fat as he is labelled - just too bulky. Whether this is a wake-up call remains to be seen but Adriano supported by Kaka, Robinho and Ronaldinho caused more problems for the Croat defence than anything that had gone before.

The hosts meanwhile, laboured to a 1 - 0 victory that marked their passing into Round Two and the Poles probable exit from this competition. The English ought to join them tonight with a victory over Trinidad and Tobago but I'm sure that the Swede's thought they would win on Saturday. Looking at the first round of matches, there is little if anything in their opponents that England should be worried about. The trouble is that England gave their opponents little or nothing to be worried about either.

Todays tunes are more from The Jam, this time from the 100 Club in London, 1977. Both are cover versions, Heatwave and In The Midnight Hour.

All Kangaroos Tied Down, Sah!

2006-06-12T15:56:00.000Z

Sunday's matches at the World Cup brought the expected wins for Portugal, Holland and Mexico, the only surprise being that the Portuguese did not thump the Angolans instead being restricted to a 1 - 0 victory. Of the three teams, Holland put in the most solid performance looking threatening going forward and for the first half at least, comfortable in defence. Serbia proceeded to show in the second half why they topped their qualification group and will probably feel disappointed to have not taken a point out of the match. Robin van Persie played well on the right for the Dutch, setting up Robben's goal. It gives Wenger another variation to use if he feels that the team is not performing next season, this World Cup is proving to be a useful testing ground for his team selections next year, with Walcott likely to play against Sweden if England have already qualified. Of one thing there can be no doubt though is the return of Freddie Ljungberg's fighting spirit, unfortunately for the Swedes it was shown in dressing room fight with Olof Mellberg, bringing back memories of their previous row when Freddie took exception to one of Mellberg's tackles in training before, I think, the last World Cup although it could have been Euro 2004.

In today's games, Australia came back from the proverbial dead to score three times in the last eight minutes to beat Japan 3 - 1, the Walking Ego complaining about his charges being labelled a rough team. Tomas Rosicky became the first Arsenal player to score at this World Cup, hitting the target with a 25 yard screamer, his second a deft chip over the diving keeper, and a crossbar denying him as good a hattrick as the World Cup would have ever seen, as the Czech Republic beat the 5th ranked nation in the World 3 - 0. So Carl, yah boo sucks, I told you FIFA Rankings were complete bollocks and Budweiser is still a crap beer. Italy meanwhile laboured to a 2 - 0 victory over Ghana, playing well but giving the Africans enough of the ball to make it harder evening that it should probably have been.

Spain appear to have announced their line-up to the press by holding a training session where the first XI were trained by Aragones and the subs went through their drills elsewhere. It appears that neither Reyes nor Fabregas will start the game but the biggest "shock" seems to be the omission of Raul, whose national status was something akin to the Queen Mother's when she was alive. The team appears to be:

Casillas; Ramos, Puyol, Ibanez, Pernia; Xavi, Xavi Alonso, Senna; Villa, Torres, Garcia

Pernia's rise is the stuff of fairytales having been only eligible for the Spaniards for less than a month, omitted from the initial squad and brought in to replace Del Horno.

Elsewhere, depending on which paper you read of course, Pascal Cygan is on his way to St. Etienne for a million quid, Arsenal will no doubt be biting the French clubs hands off if this is true. What is more unbelievable is that Blackburn are rumoured to be interested in buying him - I know that Cygan has not had much chance to play during the last twelve months but even Mark Hughes must surely know how bloody awful Cygan is? Other potential signings, Eider Gudjohnsen is available for a measly £10m which would be a good investment although Barcelona seem to be favourites for him and just about every other decent player on the market whilst a deal is close at hand for Dutch youngster Vincent van den Berg who has met with Wenger and Bergkamp about a move to Ashburton Grove.

Todays Tunes give me the loosest possible reason to put up some more live tracks by The Jam, not that I need any excuses to do so. So to mark the re-issue of All Mod Cons, which everybody should own, here are three of albums songs:

To Be Someone - Manchester Apollo 1979

It's Too Bad - Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco 1980

Mr Clean - Pink Pop Festival 1980

World Cup Diary

2006-06-11T06:55:00.000Z

Germany 2006 is now up and running, the first five games done and dusted with three of the pre-tournament favourites over their first hurdle. The Germans kicked off with 4 - 2 win over Costa Rica, a game they were expected to cruise through only giving them mild discomfort. The one thing that struck me about their performance was that they may not have trouble scoring goals but it looks like they may have problems claiming clean sheets. This may not be too much of an issue in the Group, especially as victory over Poland will send them through to the next round, but once the knockout phase starts, the level of opposition will improve and stretch them more than the Costa Ricans. And what of the other two teams in the Group. Ecuador may have beaten Poland 2 - 0 but after the second half, I am not sure that the Poles understand how they lost. Key moment was their incorrectly disallowed goal but to have hit the bar and post as well showed that they had the right idea. It highlights the paucity of their efforts in the First Half when they could not even muster a shot even vaguely on goal. The Group will either be blown wide open or sealed on Wednesday. Should either of Poland or Costa Rica win then qualification will go down to the wire although the hosts four goal haul in the opening game ought to be enough to see them through in the event of points being tied, especially if the teams win, lose and draw their matches; the head-to-head fixtures method for resolving tied teams would be redundant so Goals Scored is the third method which puts the Germans in pole position to qualify.

Group B started with England beating Paraguay with a third minute own goal. Indeed, the England team followed Sven's gameplan to the letter: (1) Score early goal, check, (2) Do not concede before half-time, check, (3) Defend too deep in the second - half, giving the opposition ample possession to try and snatch the points, check. The tactics were exactly the same as the ones that have failed so badly in 2002 and 2004 showing that whilst this squad could potentially win the World Cup, the manager has the infinite capacity to balls it up. Even more of a concern is that Steve McClaren is there and was unable to prevent the degeneration of the performance. Things that came out of the match that need working on are firstly, sorting out whatever problem Michael Owen has because he played like a man who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. This is urgent because whatever else is said, Peter Crouch is not a forward who can play up front on his own. The continual long ball to him works if he has support but not when the midfield is some forty yards back down the pitch. That said, the midfield played reasonably well yesterday, perhaps some work needed on ball retention but their passing was good, generally hitting the intended target. Much was made beforehand of the eccentricity of the Mexican referee in the English Media but initially he seemed to be spot on with his decisions, Gerrard did his usual diving into a tackle, studs showing and both feet off the ground. He did not heed the warnings from before the tournament so he got booked. Thereafter, the Referees performance lived up to the hype with bizarre interventions that resulted in Paraguay getting every decision for the first twenty minutes of the second half, or so it seemed.

So three points were sealed and given the result in the other match, an England win on Thursday will send them through to the next round. Which is more than can be said of Sweden. Unbelievably, they were held to a goalless draw by a Trinidad & Tobago team reduced to ten men with less than a minute of the second half gone after, shall we be generous and call the two tackles, "over-enthusiastic". Add into the mix a thumping shot that rattled the bar and the Swedes may be relieved to have a point which counteracts the fact that Shaka Hislop played out of his skin to keep T&T in the match.

The final match so far was in the Group of Death. Argentina were cruising to a comfortable victory over the Ivory Coast before a late Drogba goal made it an uncomfortable last ten minutes. Of the three "Big Guns", the Argentinians were the most impressive, straight into their slick passing, unlucky not to be one up when Ayala's header clearly crossed the line. Crespo showed the form that Chelsea could not capture from him, still one of the best forwards in the world despite the best efforts of Mourinho to prove otherwise.

Reports today of a proposed revamp to the World Cup and European Championships. Plans to be presented will include the moving of both competitions to bi-annual events, qualification not through competitive matches but based on FIFA's World Rankings. Hot on the heels of the FIFA mandate to move to eighteen team top flights, it became clear that Uncle Sepp was planning to move Internationals to the forefront of football. Until you read that the proposals are from a study commissioned by the G-14 clubs, directly at odds with the posturing of the Premiership Spokesman who poo-pooed the FIFA idea of reducing the size of Division. What is in it for the clubs, you ask? Well, expansion of the Champions League for starters. Apparently, increasing this to 48 teams from the current 32 will bring in a mindboggling £300m of additional revenues. This would help offset the loss of money from domestic games as you can bet your arse on the fact that the additional twelve teams will be coming from England, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and the like rather than from the Faroe Islands. Note that the clubs also want to do away with the Qualifying Tournaments, something that neither FIFA or UEFA will go for unless those matches are replaced by International Friendlies. So instead of reducing the number of fixtures, the clubs are proposing to increase them. Or are they actually admitting that reducing the size of the domestic Leagues might not be such a poor idea after all?

Todays Tunes are one remix and one mashup, courtesy of fuTuRo, website here, where there are more to pick from.

What's Going On - fuTuRo Re-Fresh

Long Groovin Summer (The Style Council v The Young Rascals)

The Final Countdown

2006-06-09T06:21:00.000Z

Todays the day then. The biggest moneyspinner in football history starts and it would be good if the World Cup kicked off with a shock win for Costa Rica just to throw the predictions into disarray and make everyone sit up and take notice. Somehow I cannot see that happening but you can live in hope. Having put my neck on the block with Group predictions, here is how I see the rest of the tournament panning out:

2nd Round winners

England
Germany
Argentina
France
Italy
Brazil
Spain
Holland

Quarter Final winners

England
Brazil
Argentina
Italy

Semi Final winners

England
Argentina

Final

England 2 - 1 Argentina

FIFA have announced that their Conference has mandated a cut in the number of top flight clubs in each country, setting the level at eighteen teams. This means that Spain, France, Italy and England have to lose two teams. Not that this is for the good of the game; no it is to free up four more dates for the International Calendar. Understandably the Premier League are not happy. Spokesman Dan Johnson said, "The only people who are going to tell us how to run the Premier League are the league's 20 member clubs' chairmen. They are the only ones who can change the composition of the league and they are just not going to go for this - no way."

What is mystifying is that he actually believes this to be true. Message for Mr Johnson and his "crew". If FIFA dictate that there is to be a cut, then the Premier League loses two teams. You may not like the rationale, and I don't on this occasion, but it will happen. Unless of course, the Premier League are going to pick the mother of all fights with FIFA. Should this happen, then expect all manner of punishments to be threatened by the ruling body. But this proposal troubles me. FIFA serve the game as a whole and are expected to ensure it flourishes at all levels. Replacing four league matches with four internationals does not achieve this. Indeed, I would question whether there is an appetite from supporters for watching four more international matches, particularly if these were friendlies. It is hard to see what else they will be as the World Cup in European terms is already crowded unless of course, young Mr Blatter is planning to dump two European places from the next tournament and hand them off to Asia / South America or Africa. Then the structure of the European Qualifying tournament would have to change with either larger groups or a smaller number of Play-Off places.

If UEFA chime in on the side of FIFA, then expect to hear about expansion of the Champions League. It is little wonder that the clubs do not want less League Games. The key bartering point is going to be payments to players whilst on International duty. If four more dates are added at International level, then FIFA may well find itself railroaded into agreeing a sum per international, possibly at 75% of the players salary. Can the Ivory Coast afford the cash for all of their European based internationals wages? What happens if an FA fails to pay the clubs? Will they stop their players representing their countries until bills are settled? This is a row waiting to happen.

Football Rumours are always good fun especially the ones that sound like they will improve Arsenal's defence. So St Etienne's interest in Pascal Cygan is good news...

Todays Tunes come courtesy of Jennings at rbally, a marvellous mp3 blog. Below are two tracks from Matthew's Celebrity Pixies Covers. These were my favourites from his myspace page:

The Bee Gees - Wave Of Mutilation

Frank Sinatra - This Monkey's Gone To Heaven

World Cup Countdown (Part Eight)

2006-06-07T00:14:00.000Z

The final part of the preview of the Group stages sets its sights on Group H.

Favourites will be Spain which is nothing unusual for them. What would be out of character would be for them to actually live up to the expectations placed upon them. Their historical performances in qualifying are impressive, this time round it was different with the Spaniards having to come through the Play-Offs, something that was comfortably achieved with a 6 - 2 aggregate win over Slovenia. On the back of a 20 + game unbeaten run, there is little for the Spanish to fear in this Group. In goal, anyone of their three keepers could play without diminishing this aspect of the team, Casillas, Canizares and Reina are all dependable with Casillas probably edging out Reina for top slot. Defensively, I am unconvinced by Ramos as a centre half but as right back, he could be an improvement. Puyol and Ibanez would appear to be the choice of Centre Halves although Ramos could shift across. With Del Horno's injury, the highly thought of Pernia has the chance to prove himself. Midfield ought to be orchestrated by Fabregas, the pick of the Arsenal youngsters. For defensive cover, I would expect Xabi Alonso to get the nod over Senna despite the latters decent form this season. One way to accommodate both would be to move Fabregas to the right with Reyes on the left. Up front, Raul is still untouchable. Having scored his first goal in eight months against Egypt, he will be hoping to erase the memories of an indifferent couple of seasons. This leaves one place and it will be interesting to see who Aragones picks. Does he go for Torres, apparently now staying at Atletico, or the in-form David Villa, the highest scoring Spaniard in La Liga during 2005-06.

Ukraine are coached by the only MP who will not be relying on McDonald's to provide his accommodation or flights to Germany. Oleg Blokhin, former European Footballer of the Year, has a young squad to choose from, the starting XI will be even younger now that Shust is likely to start in goal. Shevchenko will carry the weight of a nation on his shoulders but Voronin is a dangerous partner / alternative. Much touted Tymoschuk may get the chance to show why all bar none of the top four in England are supposed to be interested in his services. It is the lack of experience that is likely to do for the Ukranians although second place should be comfortably achieved in this Group.

Tunisia are a consistent team, reasonably solid yet I do not expect much from them. Looking at the squad prior to the recent bout of warm-up matches, there is one glaring problem, the absence of goalscorers - of the eleven players who have scored for the national team, only six have more than one goal to their name. Compare this with Shevchenko, and it should be the first plane home for the Africans.

Saudi Arabia - oh dear, what positives can one say? 1994's Second Round appearance seems to be so long ago; 2002's 0 - 8 humilation at the hands of Germany by contrast is fresh. Of the two, the latter is more likely. Just thought of the positive - the only other team apart from Italy where the whole squad plays in their native land.

Predicted Results

Spain	2	-	1	Ukraine
Saudi Arabia	0	-	2	Tunisia
Ukraine	4	-	0	Saudi Arabia
Tunisia	1	-	3	Spain
Spain	6	-	0	Saudi Arabia
Tunisia	1	-	2	Ukraine

Predicted Table

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Spain	3	3	0	0	11	2	+ 9	9
Ukraine	3	2	1	0	7	3	+ 4	6
Tunisia	3	1	0	2	4	5	- 1	3
Saudi Arabia	3	0	0	3	1	6	- 5	0

Arsenal Players in Group

Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Jose Antonio Reyes (Spain)

Players that Arsenal should sign

None

Todays Tunes are from Big Country, three live tracks from Wembley in June 1987. Ironically enough that is the first venue I saw them, supporting The Jam in December 1982.

Where The Rose Is Sown

Just A Shadow

In A Big Country

Fields Of Fire

World Cup Countdown (Part Seven)

2006-06-06T06:52:00.000Z

Group G has one genuine world - class team with two average teams and one rank outsider.

Togo are making their debut in the World Cup Finals and it will not be a long stay, ending in the first phase. Unfortunately for them, they have landed one of the trickier Groups to negotiate. Add to that the internal ructions, seemingly led by Adebayour, that resulted in the replacement of their Coach less than three months before the start of the tournament. Topping the Qualifying Group that contained Senegal was no mean feat, Adebayour scoring ten goals en route to the Finals. That said, a truly horrid African Nations Cup tournament will have done nothing for their confidence, probably putting paid to a repetition of the strife over bonuses this time round. Anything in excess of "nil point" should be considered a good result.

South Korea made more than a decent fist of things on their home turf last time out and have been building solidly ever since. Having put paid to Southern Europe's challenge in 2002, the Koreans should be quietly confident of progressing out of the Group stage this time around, a close tussle with the Swiss could be the deciding game. Dick Advocaat is an experienced coach who has a proven record of getting teams to gel whilst the two Premiership players Park ji-Sung and Lee young-Pyo have gained useful experience with their clubs this season.

Switzerland remind me in many ways of Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland team from the 1980's in that they are well aware of the fact that they are not the most skilful team in the world but they work hard for each other and play to their strengths. Phillipe Senderos has reserved some of his best performances this season for his country and in Alexander Frei they have a decent forward, capable of troubling the best defences. Tranquillo Barnetta is a creative midfielder upon whose shoulders much will rest whilst Johann Vogel is a solid anchor in the middle of the park.

And so to Group favourites France. In Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Djibril Cisse and Louis Saha they can have one of the most potent strikeforces in the competition. Add to that a regular contribution from Sylvain Wiltord and the French should have no problems scoring goals. Indeed that is what was expected last time out but then the team imploded, failing to hit the back of the net once and on their way home in shame, posting the worst defence of the World Cup by the winners in history. So 2006 offers them a route for redemption. There is an unrivalled depth of experience in the French squad with many members of their successful 1998 and 2000 campaigns still intact yet this season has seen a dip in form from some of their key players. Since Christmas Vieira has looked a pale shadow of himself whilst Zidane has only recently returned to form, at the tail end of his career in football. Perhaps a weight has been lifted following his decision to call it quits. Other concerns must be about Boumsong's comedy defending at Newcastle and in goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, they are always liable to concede due to what can be politely described as a mishap. It will also be interesting to see the much touted Frank Ribery in action, to see if the hype is backed up by talent. Do not rule them out from getting to the last four but should they be awarded a penalty, I would advise all players to keep clear of Zidane lest he repeat his party trick from the England match during Euro 2004.

Predicted Results

South Korea	1	-	0	Togo
France	2	-	1	Switzerland
France	2	-	0	South Korea
Togo	0	-	2	Switzerland
Togo	1	-	3	France
Switzerland	1	-	1	South Korea

Predicted Table

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
France	3	3	0	0	7	2	+ 5	9
Switzerland	3	1	1	1	4	3	+ 1	4
South Korea	3	1	1	1	2	3	- 1	4
Togo	3	0	0	3	1	6	- 5	0

Arsenal Players in the Group

Thierry Henry (France)
Phillipe Senderos (Switzerland)
Johan Djourou (Switzerland)
Emmanuel Adebayour (Togo)

Todays Tunes are from The Undertones, two live tracks from Amsterdam in 1980.

Teenage Kicks

Here Comes The Summer

World Cup Countdown (Part Six)

2006-06-05T01:24:00.000Z

Group F is the one of the murkier to decide once you get past the favourites.

Brazil have an illustrious past, making them favourites for the winners podium in Berlin. Oh, and the fact that they are the best team in the world at present. A fluent playing style makes them a joy at times to watch unless you are supporting the team on the receiving end. They are really only suspect in goal, Dida is prone to the odd lapse in concentration but cannot be that bad as Milan would have dumped him a long time ago if that were the case. In defence, they are strong in the centre, Lucio is one of the best in that position in the world. Yet on the flanks, the ageing Cafu still propels himself forwards with much gusto but equally a fast winger is likely to catch him out. Cicinho is equally adept at going forward yet weak defensively, as Madrid know. On the left, Roberto Carlos is apparently Chelsea bound after this summer but he is no longer a shoo-in as best Left Back in the world. Midfield and Attack are where the Brazilians have real strength. Gilberto and Emerson are proven shields for the defence, in my opinion the Arsenal man has pushed ahead this season. On the flanks, Ze Roberto and Juninho Pernambucano wreak havoc with most full backs whilst Kaka and Ronaldinho are amply talented from open and dead ball plays. Up front Adriano and Ronaldo have misfired over the season for their clubs but the latter has always delivered (with the exception of the 1998 Final) irrespective of his club form. So they cannot be beaten then. Well, that is not true as defeats in Quito and Buenos Aires in the qualifiers proved. OK so Quito is at altitudes far higher than Berlin, Munich and Dortmund will ever be and Argentina is the local derby for them. But in both cases they were high pressure games which shows that Brazil are not the demi-gods the media would have us believe. Then again they did extract ample revenge on Argentina in the Confederations Cup with a 4 - 1 thumping. It is difficult to see beyond Brazil this time round as winners but then again they were favourites in 1982 and 1994 so it is possible that the psychological pressures may play on their minds too much. In a season when tournaments around the globe have been won by the favourites, it would be a pleasant change for an underdog to win.

Croatia are Europe's only challenge in this group and by no means certain to go through. Having finished third in 1998, they were abysmal in their first round exit. This time round though, they will expect to beat the Japanese and probably the Australians as well. They have the technique to do so with a group of players who are willing to fight for each other. Up front Prso and Baloban are capable finishers in a two man frontline. Simic and Tudor are reliable defenders but it is possible that they may struggle to get out of this Group. Much will depend on the outcome of their match with Australia.

Australia are in their first finals for thirty years, ironically as they have changed Federation to make themselves more of an easier route to regular qualification for the Finals. England reject Guus Hiddink has grafted them into a solid team with a five man midfield although this could be bereft of Harry Kewell's peachy bum (© Mrs Harry Kewell) through injury, no surprise to the Liverpool fans out there. Much will rely on Mark Viduka's finishing with Tim Cahill being a key to the midfield. Lucas Neill is red hot favourite for the first red card of the tournament or for the most cards / most fouls. They should run Croatia close for the second place spot in the Group and may be surprise qualifiers.

Having been joint hosts last time out and getting to the second round has given Japan belief that they can make themselves a bigger force in the World game. Add to that the Asian Championship and they will believe that they can achieve something in Germany. However, it appears that the Gods of the Draw were not kind to them and I believe that they can forget qualifying out of this Group. Both the Croats and the Australians will be able to outmuscle the Japanese whilst the former have far superior technique.

Predicted Results

Australia	2	-	1	Japan
Brazil	2	-	0	Croatia
Croatia	3	-	1	Japan
Australia	1	-	3	Brazil
Japan	0	-	2	Brazil
Croatia	2	-	2	Australia

Predicted Table

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Brazil	3	3	0	0	7	1	+ 6	9
Croatia	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
Australia	3	1	1	1	5	6	- 1	4
Japan	3	0	0	3	2	7	- 5	0

Arsena Players in Group

Gilberto Silva (Brazil)

Players that Arsenal should sign

Lucio (Brazil)
Kaka (Brazil)
Ronaldinho (Brazil)

Todays Tunes go all rawk and roll on ya. John Mellencamp, having dropped the "Cougar" bit of his name, from 4th of July 1992 at Deer Creek. Joe at Human Wheels has more of this and other gigs.

Rain On The Scarecrow

Paper In Fire

Ad Nauseum

2006-06-04T17:50:00.000Z

Dear Old Auntie Beeb is finally losing the plot, my correspondence with Meirion Jones being closed with a pathetic bout of name calling from the Producer person. Many things I have been called but a "Glory Hunter"?? Don't recall Arsenal threatening to win anything 25 years ago when I started going but still nil desperandum. Bloody hell, if the Don Howe days were all about Glory then God help us if the club ever really gets into trouble.

Now for a public information service announcement, courtesy of the BBC. Apparently, the Jupiler League is not called that. Sorry to all our Belgian readers and to their sponsors, Jupiler. You are Jupiter. Look I know it is inconvenient and means thousands of Euros being spent rebranding but the man from the Beeb said you are Jupiter so what can you do?

I'm not surprised by the inaccuracy but interestingly, Jones Bach has categorically stated that Arsenal have lied over the past five years about the loan and their relationship with Beveren. So Ashburton Grove will be hosting Conference Football then. Because the Man From The Beeb says it is the case and therefore, it has to be true. After all, they could not have got anything wrong in their report, could they? Not a chance, as they have seen the documents. Could not be bothered to photograph them properly so we have to take their word for it.

World Cup Countdown (Part Five)

2006-06-04T09:42:00.000Z

Group E contains many people's favourites and also the "favourite" dark horses for the Competition.

Italy are perennial achievers, with the odd exception such as 2002, who no matter how indifferently they play in the qualifiers and the opening phase, know how to kick into gear once the serious stuff begins. This time round though, Marcello Lippi has added more steel to the midfield and allowed the creative side of the team to work it's magic. The impact of the domestic allegations that beset Juventus and to a lesser extent some of their rivals in Serie A, has yet to be seen although I am sure that Buffon has spent time before other tournaments focussing on his game rather than on what an investigative Magistrate has to say. That said, the Italian keeper and his compatriots Nesta and Cannavaro form an impressive spine to the defence. The midfield is strengthened by the return to fitness of Totti and he has something to prove after his showing in the last World Cup, ineffective performances damaging his reputations with Andrea Pirlo providing useful back up in the attacking role. It is upfront however where the Italians have much strength in depth with the emergence of Luca Toni on the international scene and the so far impressive Alberto Gilardino, a creditable goal every other game at this level. Del Piero has again started to play well consistently which means a crucial supply route to the forward line is again in operation. One of only two nations to provide a squad based solely on players who are attached to clubs in their domestic league, they will again be a force to be reckoned with this time around.

The Czech Republic qualified via the Play-Offs which is being seen as an indication of a fall in standards. In truth, this was only due to the Dutch having a great campaign. It is a credit to their coachthat anyone can get Milan Baros to play consistently well, given his paucity of such performances for his clubs in England. Tomas Rosicky will be a key attacking player, keen no doubt to prove why Arsenal paid £8m for him. The stars of previous tournaments are still there although Nedved and Poborsky are no doubt playing their final acts on this stage. However, much will depend on whether Petr Cech can produce the same consistency for his country that he does for his club.

Ghana were less than impressive in the African Cup of Nations this year and will struggle to gain any points this summer. Michael Essien is a good punt for being sent off in the Group Phase and without him, Stephen Appiah will be a key player. No doubt they will be enthusiastic but that will be found wanting at this level.

The US of A made it to the Quarter Finals in 2002 but this time round, will be lucky to escape the Group although should the Czech's slip up, they will be the team to take advantage. They have three reasonable keepers in Keller, Hahnemann and Howard but defensively they always give opponents a chance as shown in the recent 4 - 1 drubbing by Germany. Surprisingly, there was no place for "wunderkid" Freddy Adu in their squad but Claudio Reyna was in good form for Manchester City towards the end of last season to nullify that loss. A creditable third, I think for this team.

Predicted Results

USA	1	-	2	Czech Republic
Italy	3	-	1	Ghana
Ghana	0	-	2	Czech Republic
Italy	2	-	0	USA
Czech Republic	1	-	2	Italy
USA	3	-	0	Ghana

Predicted Table

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Italy	3	3	0	0	7	2	+ 5	9
Czech Republic	3	2	0	1	5	2	+ 3	6
USA	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
Ghana	3	0	0	3	1	8	- 7	0

Arsenal Players in Group

Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic)

Players Arsenal should sign

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Alessandro Nesta (Italy)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
Luca Toni (Italy)
Alberto Gilardino (Italy)

Todays Tunes come from Simple Minds from 1983, two tracks from the Lyceum in London:

Up On The Catwalk

Waterfront

Another One Bites The Dust

2006-06-03T21:23:00.000Z

Barely have I turned on the PC and Newsnight are back on the case. Here's the latest from Meirion Jones and the subsequent response from myself.

From Meirion Jones:

"Egg on face? Ask David Dein. We stand by our allegations that Arsenal effectively took control of the trade in Ivorian players by paying £1 million to secretly take control of Beveren. Arsenal's response was to finally cough to the million after fve years of Arsenal, Wenger and Guillou denying Arsenal put money in and even saying it would have been illegal for them to do so. The rest of the statement was full of what are known as non-denial denials. For instance it said that Arsenal did not have shares in Beveren. Arsenal know as well as we do that Bevern does not have shares - it is the equivalent of a friendly society. That is why we didn't accuse them of having shares in Beveren. What we said - based on the evidence of the investigating magistrates, Beveren directors, chairman and documents including David Dein's contract was this. Arsenal put in a million pounds to take control of Beveren. Their "straw man" de Waele was given 50% control and Arsene's friend another 30% in return for the million. De Waele's operation would take 40% percent of the profit from Ivorian transfers. The Belgian police investigation only cleared Beveren of laundering money for the mafia. At least one Beveren Director is worried in case the whole deal was illegal under Belgian and British law and and that everyone concerned could be heading for jail. Whether they've broken FIFA's flimsy multi-club ownership rules could be the least of Arsenal's concerns if there is a proper investigation. If they are found to have made or received illegal payments the football authorities will react strongly - remember Swindon. The newspapers all covered the story and all printed Arsenal's response as well. They didn't have all the documentary evidence we do and they didn't sit down as I did with the investigating magistrate and the director. Arsenal have not contacted us to challenge a single fact in our film."

My response:

"Egg on face - absolutely. To have a presenter hysterically claiming Arsenal could be relegated, Arsenal could play Beveren in a meaningful competition, Arsenal could be expelled from the Champions League and Arsenal have breached rules is absolute proof of sensationalist journalism. Firstly, Arsenal have breached no Premiership rules. Therefore, they cannot be relegated. Secondly, UEFA state the club have not breached any rules so cannot be expelled from the Champions League. Thirdly, the FA have had to ask FIFA what rules have been broken - even you can surely see then that your journalist got it absolutely wrong, there is no charge for the club to answer to. Look at ENIC who own interests in at least four clubs, Tottenham amongst them, with 99% control of Venezia and interests in Greece and other European countries. Where was this in your report? It was not mentioned as it did not meet your criteria for sensationalism. For goodness sakes, Kirsty Young made David Mellor seem knowledgeable and well-informed!

David Dein? I doubt he cares two figs for your story, even less believes it to be a reason for his downfall. Most people think he has made more enemies through the media's perception of his role in the cock-up over appointing Sven Goran Eriksson's successor than anything you have broadcast.

Trade in Ivorian players? Where are the victims? Ivorians playing for Arsenal very possibly earn more in one week than they were in their homeland in year, definitely more than they did on a weekly basis at home. The only person with a grudge in this case is Roger Ouegnin who thinks he is out of pocket. And that is through his own inability to value his players properly. If Arsenal do owe him money for Toure then firstly, you should have checked that this is true and outside of the transfer documentation and then he needs to go to FIFA, not bleat about it. His distress comes more from not getting a bigger slice of the action.

Marc Gillou has nothing whatsoever to do with Arsenal so therefore cannot be drawn into the same category as Wenger or the club. What has he done wrong? He owns an Academy that had a business arrangement with a club he was a Director of? Tell me the breach of UEFA / FIFA Rules? There is none.

You state Arsenal took control of Beveren. If as you say, it is a friendly society nobody can take control. If there are no shares, no-one has controlling interest. If there are shares, then it is not a Friendly Society. You therefore defeat yourself with your own arguments. Even if one euro equals one share in the society, you have not proved that Arsenal controlled them. Where is your evidence that Gillou or de Waele reported directly to Arsenal or any of their employees and needed their authority to run the club. Produce that and you may get some acceptance of the subject matter. As of yet, all you have done is produced hearsay, opinion and innuedo. You sat with the magistrate. Where is his knowledge of FIFA Rules derived from? Indeed, why would a Magistrate investigating Money Laundering be reviewing FIFA rules which form no basis in the laws of Belgium or the UK?

I do remember Swindon. I was one of the poor sods, supporting my local team and I still do when I am in the town visiting family, who travelled to Wembley believing that winning meant promotion, despite the Football League knowing the misdemeanour before the match kicked off. It was completely different circumstances. One director from Swindon made under the table payments as salary inducements for players to sign for them, thereby gaining an advantage over their competitors. It did not relate to controlling another club. Given Arsenal signed Kolo Toure DIRECTLY from his club in the Ivory Coast, tell me where this relates to your story. You chose to highlight him as a fully fledged international who signed for Arsenal, thus drawing him into the same category as Eboue who signed from Beveren. I wonder if they induced either player? I doubt it. Think of their choices; play in the Premiership or either the Ivorian top division or the second flight of the Jupiler League. Given the wage differentials, there would be no need to induce players through illegal payments. Are you claiming Arsenal did this? If so, produce your evidence to the FA and Arsenal quite rightly would be relegated. If you cannot produce such evidence, then do not mention Swindon until you understand why they were relegated.

Sorry Meirion, your story was rubbish. It was based on hearsay - directors who fear jail? If so, why have they taken no legal advice from a lawyer who understands their concerns and why have the Belgian authorities not laid charges against the Directors, as long as four years ago before they closed the case. Your assertion of the Belgian Director is a complete red-herring. It is tosh - if he feared that, he would have taken legal advice not the advice of an ill-informed journalist and her production team.

It is little surprise that Arsenal have not contacted you because the BBC are the only ones who believe it is a story. Your answer shows why the story was broadcast. You have not taken the time to review the FIFA rules and are now trying to blame misconceptions on others. You claim that FIFA rules are flimsy. So what? They are the only rules that matter in this story. You cannot suddenly claim that those regulations which you claim have been broken are flimsy because the fallout of your story has not been as you believed it would. Your print colleagues do not carry the same conviction as you about guilt. Most of them understand or have read the FIFA rules, luxury of time I guess, and cannot find the rule breaking."

'Til tomorrow.

World Cup Countdown (Part Four)

2006-06-03T17:15:00.000Z

If Group C is the “Group of Death” then Group D ought to be a goalfest.

Portugal are clear favourites to finish top of the pile. Despite the fact that the “Golden Generation” failed to deliver in 2002 and Euro 2004, this side are surely not going to fail to reach the second round, taking in some valuable shooting practice in the matches against Angola and Iran. However, 2002 brought some lessons home to the Portuguese, finishing third behind the Koreans and the USA. This time, they will be prepared for the Iranians to hold out for a while and will not be so cock-sure when playing against them. Personally, I have always found the Portuguese to be overrated, the media blinded by the talent of Figo and exaggerating the skills of the forwards such as Nuno Gomez. To me, they are solid team, comfortably in the ten best of Europe and a reasonable expectation of being in the top sixteen in the World. Yet Euro 2004 aside, they have never delivered over a consistent period of time in much the same way that England fail consistently. This time round though, the squad seems thin on the ground in genuine World Class players. Vitor Baia is no longer on the International scene and his successors are decent enough but do not fill forwards with trepidation in the way that say, Buffon, can. Defensively, Ferreira is a good Right Back but Carvalho seems overrated based on his performances in the Premier League at least. In midfield, Ronaldo has youthful exuberance on his side but is that enough? Too often he is double-teamed by English defenders and is forced inside where his abilities are diminished. Simao Sabrosa is a highly rated Winger, by Rafa Benitez at least, giving width and the ability to score from distance but much will rest on Pauleta to score the goals they need. Having won through the Group stage, their likely opponents will be Argentina or Holland and I cannot see them having enough to get into the Quarter Finals.

Mexico are consistent qualifiers for the Finals and an average side. They are capable of performing well on their day but equally of being extremely brittle when physical battles kick in. This tournament looks to be no exception and like Portugal, I cannot see them going beyond the Second Round. I would expect them to make hay in the sunshine in the Group phase, capable of getting a point from the Portuguese and their forwards more than able to score a hatful against the whipping boys from Angola and Iran. Guillermo Franco gave Arsenal’s defence a tough time in El Madrigal but Jared Borgetti has not set the Premiership alight for Bolton this season. In defence, Rafael Marquez has been solid and has the ability to mark through positional and physical play, as Thierry Henry can vouch. In finding space for his son-in-law Rafael Garcia, Mexican coach Ricardo La Volpe may have taken the phrase “footballing family” one step too far as the player omitted was Cuauhtémoc Blanco, the country’s top scorer. Despite beating Brazil in the last Confederations Cup, they have an abysmal record against the top teams; European sides enjoy playing them only defeated in two of the last eight meetings. Nothing inspires me to believe they have the firepower to progress into the Quarter Finals yet the Confederations Cup – holders are widely fancied as a dark horse. I would not call the horse dark, merely invisible.

Iran come with no expectations beyond their own fans, probably buoyed by the recent 5 – 2 demolition of European giants, Bosnia. Indeed, it is more likely that the media will give column inches to the potential diplomatic row if President Ahmadinejad decides to try to attend their matches than the team itself. Despite their lack of history, coach Branko Ivankovic is still aiming for a second round place which will no doubt bring him a contract elsewhere with a first – class ticket out of Tehran.

Angola are the final combatants and undoubtedly Africa’s weakest representatives. They will be well motivated for their opener against Portugal but the matches between the two have common aspects; Angola get thrashed and their team falls apart, with red cards aplenty. This time, I doubt anything will change and it may be worth a punt at the bookies to see if Portugal can reach double figures in their match. Much can be read into their coach, Oliviera Goncalves comments, “These are the best players we have available in terms of quality and we’re going to prepare the best we can with them. We are going to try to create a cohesive, determined team that will fight to the end.” Given the exuberance of previous African teams in their first tournaments, the Portuguese and Mexicans can expect to have lumps kicked out them in an attempt to minimise the damage. Angola will no doubt try hard and deserve respect for qualifying but they are one of three teams I genuinely fear will get absolutely hammered in their three games. May their God be on their side.

Predicted Results

Mexico	4	-	1	Iran
Angola	0	-	6	Portugal
Mexico	5	-	0	Angola
Iran	0	-	4	Portugal
Portugal	2	-	2	Mexico
Iran	3	-	0	Angola

Predicted Table

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Portugal	3	2	1	0	12	2	+ 10	7
Mexico	3	2	1	0	11	3	+ 8	7
Iran	3	1	0	2	4	8	- 4	3
Angola	3	0	0	3	0	12	-12	0

Arsenal Players in the Group

None

Players that Arsenal should sign

None

Today's Tunes come from OO Soul, an octet based in California launching the grooviest tunes this side of Christendom. Their myspace page is here and website is here.

Operation Get Down

Dublao

Cosmic Voodoo

Like Water Into Sand

2006-06-02T18:07:00.000Z

Yesterday's story on Newsnight has been followed up in today's papers but not with as much gusto as it would if there was any substance. Most of the reports that I have seen do not give the allegations much creedence, an acceptance that no rules have been broken although there seems to be some consensus that this is maybe not in accordance with the spirit of the regulations. Meanwhile the FA have asked FIFA to clarify what exactly Arsenal are supposed to have done and which rules they want investigating as there appears to be no breach of FA rules. So Newsnight have egg on their face already.

Part of the backlash may have been to prevent David Dein's continued presence on the Premier League Board, this has succeeded with his place taken by David Gill of the Disneyland Tomb Raiders. Dein however, was always likely to fall this time around mainly due to a number of chairmen being completely hacked off with his presence in the England Manager fiasco. Steve Gibson of Middlesbrough was a particularly vocal critic, if somewhat ill-informed in making his comments. Dein has been in this situation before, removed when the Premier League negotiations were revealed. He's bounced back and I would not be surprised if the same happened again in a couple of years .

At the end of yesterdays blog, I mentioned that I had raised a question with the Producers as to why they had introduced the racial element into their report. Meirion Jones has given permission for the response to be reproduced here:

"The point we were making about the colour of the crowd and the colour of the team was that Beveren had been a traditional side full of players from the town which is almost entirely white. Overnight they found themselves replaced by a team from thousands of miles away in
Africa. It was a shock for the fans initially who really were a little like banana-skin-throwing monkey-chanting British "fans" from the 1970s. I was at the game and I did not see a single white player on the pitch or a single black spectator. I am glad to say that after initial
problems the Blue and Yellow fanatics as they call themselves have now taken to their team and many of them have bought tickets for the World Cup to support the Elephants of Ivory Coast in their games against Argentina and Holland."

Back tomorrow with the next World Cup installment and some MP3's to boot.

Jack Hughes? Didn't He Play For Watford In The 1930's

2006-06-01T19:42:00.000Z

Arsenal Football Club tonight faces accusations that it has been secretly controlling the Belgian Club Beveren, having lent £1m to one of the individuals in the Consortium that owns the club and also loaned the club directly £200k. The claims are given prominence on the BBC Sport Website here, and on the Newsnight page here. In addition to this, the report alledges that Arsene Wenger has personally profited from transfer dealings, some of which involve Arsenal Football Club. Arsenal have issued an official statement, here, but nothing is on the official website as of 21:15 GMT.

The salient facts of the Report are:

Arsenal loaned £1m interest - free to set up a company called Goal to purchase Beveren (photograph of Loan agreement here)
Arsenal subsequently loaned Beveren £200k to stabilise the clubs finances.
Arsene Wenger invested £30k in Jean-Marc Gillou's Academy in the Ivory Coast, potentially earning £100k as a Return On Investment (photograph of official document here).
AS Monaco funded the Academy whilst Wenger was manager.

Arsenal have indeed loaned a company called Goal £1m if the documents are correct. Unfortunately, the photography is (deliberately?) poor so that it is difficult to read whether the Loan Agreement backs up Newsnight's assertions. Arsenal have admitted the £1m loan but stated that it was not directly to Beveren but to the Consortium with a view to stablising the Belgians finances. Let us be clear on one thing. Arsenal Football Club has a vested interest in Beveren being a stable club otherwise the technical agreement between the clubs goes out of the window. Another aspect that needs to be taken on board. It is not unusual for a businesses to loan money to one another, especially if bank lending is not forthcoming nor can the Directors provide further support.

An unnamed Beveren director states that the £1m gave Raoul de Waele, apparently a business associate of David Dein and a founding Director of Goal, 50% control whilst Gillou gained 30%. Now I do not dispute this. I am however suspicious of people who will only hide behind a mask and not stand by their own name to make allegations or support suppositions. Perhaps this director could come forward and identify himself. It is only then that the reason for his disgruntlement can be ascertained. Maybe he wants control of Beveren himself and sees this as an opportunity to further his cause. Maybe he has no other reason than wanting the best for the club but this will never be known whilst his identity is secret.

A Belgian magistrate has stated the "de Waele is Arsenal's straw man" on the Beveren Board and that this is how the Londoners control the Belgians. There is no direct evidence of this provided to substantiate the claim. The Beveren Chairman is less reticent, stating to Police that Arsenal are the main shareholders in Goal, and that de Waele is Dein's Trustee. If this is the case, then the investment should have been openly reported in Arsenal's Financial Statements. To the best of my knowledge, it is not. Therefore, either this assertion is wrong or every Arsenal Director and the Auditors lay themselves open to prosecution by the DTi. Serious penalties would ensue ranging from fines to custodial sentences to prevention from being Company Directors. These impact on a range of businesses outside of football, raising serious questions about the individuals should this turn out to be the case. Even worse, their fitness to be Directors would be seriously questioned more through the stupidity of their actions than anything else. Could they be so daft as to do this? Well, anything is possibly no matter how unlikely it seems but given the high profile football has, I would be astounded if these claims turned out to be true.

The "boss" of ASEC, one of the major Ivorian clubs and an investor in the Academy whilst Monaco did so, Roger Ouegnin told us "They are not investors they are usurers." Now I know not what nationality Ouegnin is but I assume he is an Ivorian. According to the Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary defines Usurer as "One that lends money at an exorbitant rate". Perhaps a better word would be "Investor" Mr Ouegnin. Anyone who puts up Capital is an investor not a loan shark. Even more, Mr. Ouegnin stands open to accusations of gross hypocrisy. After all, did his football club AESC benefit financially from the arrangement? It is his own naivety that shames him if he did not include a sell-0n clause. Even worse, Mr Ouegnin is accusing himself and his organisation. If his investors were Loan Sharks then what does that make Mr Ouegnin? Meanwhile, Wenger does himself no favours by claiming that he donated his £30k rather than invested it. Perhaps he did and I am doing him a disservice but I am a cycnical sod who remembers George Graham's "business" dealings rather too well. But before I condemn Wenger, there needs to be some clarification. Does he retain any interest in the Academy? If not, when did it cease? Was he involved when he took over at Arsenal and to what degree is he involved in the transfers. It is my understanding that he recommends targets but that the Board actions them, agreeing fees and contracts. In all honesty, would the club complain about the Ivorians he has signed? Toure - no complaints, Eboue - no complaints...there is a pattern here!

FIFA is quite rightly investigating the affair. Penalties for wrongdoing range from fines to expulsions from competitions. The Newsnight report incorrectly states that FIFA could expel Arsenal from the Champions League. They cannot. The organising body is UEFA who if asked by FIFA to pursue disciplinary action against the club could expel them from the competition. If there is any wrongdoing, my guess is that a fine would be levied but far from crowing about this, every other club would be forced to review their reciprocal arrangements with "nursery" clubs. Any punishment could have a detrimental effect on these types of arrangements, a worringly potential outcome for smaller clubs and African football in general.

Based on the report on the website, it is apparent that most, if not all, the accusations come from business partners falling out. Perhaps the most salient comment is that none of the investors in the Academy have received any monies as they are all subject to Legal actions in France and Belgium. The motivation for the accusations is made absolutely crystal clear in the final two paragraphs on the Newsnight site:

"back in Abidjan there is unhappiness that little of the money generated by football has made it back to the Ivory Coast. Roger Ouegnin at ASECS is still waiting for the £1m that he say Beveren owe them.

He and Guillou are counterclaiming against each other. Ouegnin also claims Arsenal have not paid him £500,000 which he says they owe for Kolo Toure even though he says it is just a "drop in the ocean" for them when Toure is worth £10 million plus. "

Hell hath no fury like a business deal that goes tits up.

Rather worringly, Newsnight is open to accusations of slack journalism. There slant on the Report is one of Arsenal doing wrong whilst accepting fully the accusations of bitter individuals. There is little balance to the journalistic endeavours, perhaps even a sensationalist attitude prevailed. This is highlighted by the outright question of whether Arsenal took a cut from transfer deals involving the Ivorians yet they do not provide any evidence to substantiate this question, more leave it hanging in the air, the rationale appears to be that if they throw enough mud maybe some of it will stick.

One final point. The report on the website states, "At the same time the team threw out most of its Belgian players and replaced them with unknowns from an academy in Ivory Coast, West Africa.", further augmented by, "Newsnight watched an all-white crowd cheer on an all-black Beveren". I have requested an explanation of the latter comment from Newsnight's editors. The implication is that their are racial motivations involved in this deal. I wait with baited breath to see if they reply.

World Cup Countdown (Part Three)

2006-05-31T05:48:00.000Z

Group of Death sprang up during Mexico 86, describing the matches involving Uruguay, Scotland, Denmark and Germany. Since then every World Cup has had one and this time round it is Group C.

Argentina are one of the favourites for the tournament. Possessing an impressive squad, probably the best named coach in the competition is true to his roots, preferring 3 - 4 - 3 as a formation. Attacking certainly but leaving the defence susceptible to the counter - attack as England proved in their 3 - 2 friendly win last November. Like the French, this team have something to show the world following their first round exit in 2002. Pekerman is in the position of having relatively few injury worries, Gabriel Heinze is expected to be fit for the tournament although Barcelona's wunderkid Lionel Messi is unlikely to feature in the early matches. Whilst it may be a loss, there are plenty of replacements available.

The midfield is based around Juan Roman Riquelme who was shackled effectively by the Gilberto Silva in the Champions League Semi-Final, a tactic that is likely to be repeated in Germany. This may stifle the creativity but in Messi and Pablo Aimar, the Argentines will be able to use alternative outlets. Defensively, Argentina have issues in that several players are either past their best or inconsistent. By picking Sorin, opponents will have an opportunity to get at the flanks - Sorin was outpaced by the Arsenal counter - attacks for his club side whilst Coloccini has been inconsistent for Deportivo. As England showed, the defence is prone to lapses in concentration and this could be their undoing. And remember, shortly before being hammered 4 - 1 by Brazil in the Confederations Cup, the Argentinians had beaten the World Champions 3 - 1 in the Qualifiers highlighting their attacking potency and defensive frailities.

Holland are entering the World Cup for the first time in many years without having major ructions in the squad. Indeed, for a nation that can start a fight in an empty room this is a great achievement. The team qualified for the Finals with ease, beating their bbogeymen from the Czech Republic both home and away. The squad is not purely focussed on PSV and Ajax, credit is due to Marco van Basten for choosing his players rather than those clamoured for by the media, intent on creating a team rather than eleven talented individuals. Edwin van der Sar is arguably the most consistent keeper going to the finals whilst the defence is solid. The midfield has talent in abundance with pace on the flanks from Robben and van der Vaart (if fit) whilst in attack van Nistelrooy is in the shop window pending a move from Old Trafford later this summer. Robin van Persie will no doubt feature, van Basten having been very impressed by the Arsenal man in training and this is also his opportunity to show Arsene Wenger that he deserves to fill the second striking spot in the new season.

Serbia and Montenegro are probably playing their last World Cup following Montenegro's vote for Independence. In qualifying, they topped a tricky Group forcing Spain into the Play-Off's, conceding just one goal along the way. It is however, hard to see how they will progress from this group with the Ivory Coast capable of beating them although in the case of these four nations, they are all eminently capable of beating each other or drawing a couple of games. Nikola Zigic was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in the January window and is one of the few players on show who will be able to look Peter Crouch in the eye whilst Dejan Stankovic is likely to find it tough going with man-markers, although his experience with Internazionale may prove invaluable in this respect.

Ivory Coast are probably the strongest of Africa's qualifiers this time around which is just as well in this Group. Mainly a French based squad, Drogba and Kolo toure are well known to English fans. Indeed, Toure is one of most in-form central defenders at the tournament whilst Drogba has done reasonably well at Chelsea despite his amateur dramatics. They seem to be well versed in the physical aspects of the game and in Emmanuel Eboue, they have a full back who is well capable of forging forward to support the midfield and attack.

Predicted Results:

Argentina	2	-	0	Ivory Coast
Holland	2	-	1	Serbia
Serbia	1	-	1	Argentina
Ivory Coast	2	-	2	Holland
Argentina	0	-	1	Holland
Ivory Coast	1	-	1	Serbia

Predicted Table:

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Holland	3	2	1	0	5	3	+ 2	7
Argentina	3	1	1	1	3	2	+ 1	4
Serbia	3	0	2	1	3	4	- 1	2
Ivory Coast	3	0	2	1	3	5	- 2	2

Arsenal Players in the Group

Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast)
Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast)
Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

Players Arsenal should sign

Wesley Sneijder (Holland)
Dirk Kuyt (Holland)
Carlos Tevez (Argentina)
Gabriel Milito (Argentina)
Didier Zakora (Ivory Coast)

Today's Tunes come from Paul Weller, the entire set from Boston 2005 can be found here and part two is here

World Cup Countdown (Part Two)

2006-05-30T09:17:00.000Z

Group B is one where it is hard to see past two European Qualifiers but of the surprises, perhaps Paraguay are best placed to take advantage of any slip-ups.

England once more enters a tournament with high expectations from the media and supporters. For more than five years, we have been told that this is the Golden Generation of English Football, the best set of players we have had in decades, perhaps since 1970, and that they are in the footballing peak. Even the manager has lost his normally cautious persona, informing us that England will win the World Cup. Not can, will. And this is with Peter Crouch in the squad. And without Wayne Rooney for the Group stages at least. Short of The Queen or Tony Blair corking it, there is nothing more that I can add to his injury situation that you do not already know such is the volume of column inches devoted to England’s best loved toe.

And what of the rest of the squad? Aside from Theo Walcott, there were no real surprises in the 23 chosen by Sven Goran Eriksson. It was more a case of whether the normally cautious Swede would have the guts to pick the players on form rather than the tried and trusted usual suspects. Even though Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing were included, the starting XI pretty much picks itself, aside from Rooney’s injury. To such an extent that the XI who kick-off against Hungary and Jamaica are going to the be the ones who start the tournament:

Robinson; Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Joe Cole; Owen, Crouch

The formation is a straight 4-4-2 but if Rooney were fit, Crouch would drop out for a 4-4-1-1. In his absence though, it appears to me that Eriksson has missed a trick. The midfield is unbalanced, bereft of a purely defensive player showing that the lessons of two years ago have not been learned when England sacrificed Gerrard’s attacking abilities for his defensive qualities and defended too deep against France and Portugal, succumbing to defeat in both games. Personally, I would sacrifice Crouch and push Gerrard forward. In the league and particularly the FA Cup Final, he showed what potency he has in attack and how he can galvanise the team into action, redemptive and proactive.

Sweden is perhaps the best-known team to the Premiership. They are also England’s Bête Noir. Having failed to beat the Swedes since 1968, there seems to be little prospect of that being repeated this time round either. Four years ago, England were far superior in the opening forty five minutes but failed to capitalise on that dominance, being pegged back to 1-1 by the final whistle and grateful to hold on. At Euro 2004, the abiding Swedish memory has to be Zlatan Ibrahimovich’s glorious back-heeled goal against Italy. Ibrahimovich has however, had a mixed season for Juventus, apparently ready to be sacrificed by the Turin outfit for his inconsistency. Defensively, the Swedes are always solid, but at the last World Cup they were undone by their attacking frailty being dumped out by Senegal in the Second Round. But that is history and yet again they are England’s biggest threat in the Group Stages. In qualification, they had one of the more impressive records but were beaten home and away by Croatia, indicating that they may be not quite so much of a force as they were previously. Their biggest injury concern is over Freddie Ljungberg who is advised to sit out the Group Stages due to a foot injury which is good news for England as the Arsenal player was showing signs of coming back into form, for his club at least. There is little doubt that he is a threat, a useful threat with 12 goals in 56 internationals. England will be wary of Henrik Larsson after his performance as a substitute in the Champions League Final, earning him the Man Of The Match award. Whether he can influence enough play at this World Cup will be interesting to see. He is in the twilight of his career and will be a huge player for the Swede’s to replace.

Paraguay are the Group’s awkward opponents, proven by their Silver Medal at the last Olympics. Despite qualifying for the Second Round at the last two World Cups, there is no reason to believe that they will progress that far in Germany unless England or Sweden implode spectacularly. It is likely that Roque Santa Cruz will miss the England game, depriving them of one goalscoring threat whilst his partner Nelson Haedo Valdez could earn himself a big move from Werder Bremen if he plays well. Despite this, they have a reputation for shipping goals alarmingly; note their recent meetings with England and Peru whilst Brazil and Ecuador enjoyed shooting practice against them in qualification. However, Argentina failed to beat them, losing and drawing their matches in the campaign so they should not be taken too lightly yet provide England and Sweden with a comfortable win provided those two nations apply themselves appropriately.

Trinidad and Tobago are the whipping boys. Sorry there is no other category to put them into. To be brutal about their chances, if they concede less than ten goals, it should be considered a result. Realistically, they are looking at shipping between nine and fifteen goals. One cannot overlook the fact that their squad whilst managed by a respected coach is limited to players in the Championship or below. Yet they provide the “romance” of the tournament, exceeding expectations by qualifying but fearful of humiliation. Their big game is England but despite being well organised, they should succumb to a five goal defeat. If they do not, England will be brutalised by the media. And supporters, akin to their reception after failing to beat the Irish at Italia 90.

Predicted Results:

England	3	-	0	Paraguay
Trinidad	0	-	4	Sweden
Paraguay	1	-	2	Sweden
Trinidad	0	-	5	England
England	1	-	1	Sweden
Paraguay	3	-	0	Trinidad

Predicted Table:

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
England	3	2	1	0	9	1	+ 8	7
Sweden	3	2	1	0	7	2	+ 5	7
Paraguay	3	1	0	2	4	5	- 1	3
Trinidad	3	0	0	3	0	12	- 9	0

Arsenal Players in the Group

Ashley Cole (England)
Sol Campbell England)
Theo Walcott (England)
Freddie Ljungberg (Sweden)

Players that Arsenal should sign

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Nelson Haedo Valdez (Paraguay)

Today's Tunes are from the evergreen and hugely talented, Mr. Terry Edwards. A founding member of The Higsons and Butterfield 8 (with Mark Bedford from Madness), and a list of guest appearances on recordings that reads like a Who's Who of the Indie music scene for the last twenty years, these are two of his own compositions:

Boots Off

Detroit

World Cup Countdown (Part One)

2006-05-29T09:32:00.000Z

This week sees the start of my World Cup Countdown, starting with Group A:

On the face of it this Group ought to be decided when the two European countries meet in Dortmund on June 14^th. But that would be to overlook and underestimate the two other nations, something that historically is perilous.

The opening fixture in recent tournaments has been something of a banana skin. In 1990 Argentina succumbed 1 – 0 to Cameroon, 1994 saw Germany barely squeeze past Bolivia by the same scoreline, Brazil beat Scotland 2 – 1 four years later whilst France set the tone for their whole tournament by losing to Senegal in 2002. This time round, the hosts take on Costa Rica, a far more difficult fixture on paper than any of their predecessors encountered.

Germany have not been at their best over the past four years. It is now a well documented fact that since they won 1 – 0 in the final match at Wembley they have lost every encounter with one of the top – ranked nations yet have found the lesser nations somewhat easier, as their 4 – 1 win over the USA and this weekends 7 – 0 win over Luxembourg show. Their last poor performance was in Florence when the Azurri were three goals to the good inside the opening quarter of an hour, something that laid Klinsmann open to a fair amount of media criticism. That said, this is the World Cup and the Germans have an enviable record. They last failed to reach the Quarter Finals nearly seventy years ago in 1938. Since then, they have won the tournament three times and lost in the final three times. The parallels between four years ago and this summer are uncanny, with the Nationalmeinschaft being ridiculed in their own land as the poorest team since records were started and yet they should cruise through this Group. The English media will no doubt focus on the team captain, Michael Ballack, following his move to Chelsea and on Arsenal keeper, Jens Lehmann. Yet is up front that perhaps the focus should be on the forward line where they seem to have most problems. Much will rest on the shoulders of Miroslav Klose, scorer of 25 goals domestically this season. It is likely that he will complete the strikeforce with Lukas Podolski, another Polish born member of the squad, but it is Ballack who they will rely on for their inspiration.

Poland have a less glorious past to live up to. The third places of 1974 and 1982 seem distant memories and the current squad are unlikely to threaten to emulate their predecessors. They should however improve on the shambles of four years ago that saw them thrashed by Portugal and lose to South Korea meaning they returned home at the end of the Group stages with only a meaningless win over the USA under their belts. Familiar to England from the Qualifiers, they seemed on track to win the Group after the Northern Ireland debacle only to fail by losing at Old Trafford. Recent friendlies are hardly inspiring, including defeats to the USA and Lithuania. Much of the goalscoring pressure will rest on the shoulders of Maciej Zurawski of Celtic and Miroslaw Szymkowiak of Trabzonspor. Their aim should be for second place where they will qualify for Round Two and their probable exit at the hands of England or Sweden.

Costa Rica have played and lost to Germany and Poland on each occasion the teams have met, indicative of the previous strengths of the two rather than the Costa Ricans weakness. The Central Americans were eliminated four years ago on Goal Difference, largely due to a 5 – 2 defeat to Brazil but coupled with a failure to score a hatful against China. These could be their failings ago, a susceptibility to concede regularly without scoring in the same quantities at the other end. Only one of their players turns out regularly in Europe these days although Paulo Wanchope had a decent career in England before leaving for a year in Malaga. He is still their main goal threat although Walter Centeno did score for AEK Athens at the Bernabeu and is considered their creative hub.

That Ecuador qualified is a source of amazement considering they picked up so few points on their travels. At the altitude of Quito they were virtually unbeatable but their away form is perhaps the best indicator of their expectations this summer. However, one should never underestimate a nation whose national dish is a soup made from Bulls testicles. Their main goalscorer is known to Southampton fans and hardly worshipped at St Mary’s but Agustin Delgado has a decent record of 29 goals from 67 internationals. Four years ago, they beat Croatia but lost to Mexico and Italy whilst this time round, they must realistically be looking at the Group and be thinking that they can beat Costa Rica and nick a draw against the Poles. However, this may be a tall order as they lost 3 – 0 in Poland last year.

Predicted Results:

Germany	3	-	1	Costa Rica
Ecuador	0	-	2	Poland
Germany	2	-	1	Poland
Costa Rica	1	-	1	Ecuador
Poland	2	-	0	Costa Rica
Ecuador	0	-	3	Germany

Predicted Table:

	Pl.	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts.
Germany	3	3	0	0	8	2	+ 6	9
Poland	3	2	0	1	5	2	+ 3	6
Costa Rica	3	0	1	2	2	6	- 4	1
Ecuador	3	0	1	2	1	6	- 5	1

Arsenal Players in the Group:

Jens Lehmann (Germany)

Players that Arsenal should sign:

None

Today's Tunes are from a Chicago band called Leave. The quartet have been around for five years, these tracks are heavily influenced by The Byrds but take on a more powerful sound aligning them to the Paisley Underground of the early to mid - 1980's, reminiscent of early REM and The Long Ryders. Taken from their 2005 album I'd Rather Not Say, this is the title track I'd Rather Not Say and Sleep All Day. There are more tracks at their website, here, and there is a Myspace Group, here. Enjoy.

Shopping

2006-05-28T09:25:00.000Z

The World's Biggest "Bring and Buy" Sale begins in eleven days although it looks like the dealers have got their early to snaffle the best bargains. Starting with Tomas Rosicky's move to Arsenal, Chelsea appear now to be following suit with the arrivals at Stamford Bridge this week of Salomon Kalou from Fejenoord and Andrij Shevchenko from AC Milan. Not that the latter can necessarily be called a bargain at £35m, roughly €50m. It is a move that has been much touted in the last three seasons with Shevchenko's wife being close to Roman Abramovich's partner. That Chelsea are signing one big name, the Ukrainian's shirt will cost £40 in the shops with another £10 in letters for his name, and this seems to indicate that Hernan Crespo is on his way to pastures new despite his absurd claim that Chelsea have offered him a contract extension. It appears that he will not be going in the opposite direction as Milan are in pole position to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy once the World Cup is over.

By signing Shevchenko it would appear that Mourinho is signalling a change in tactics to having two out and out strikers on the pitch but this raises questions about how his midfield will be structured, or otherwise he expects Didier Drogba to leave England, potentially to Real Madrid or Barcelona. The latter would seem to be an odd choice whilst the former cannot realistically do anything until they appoint a new President and Head Coach, probably early in July.

What these transfers do show is that Chelsea will not be entering the race for Fernando Torres after the World Cup. That appears to be between Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle and Barcelona. Personally, I would love to see him at Highbury in tandem with Henry as he has the pace and touch to compliment the TH14, rather more guile than Adebayour. That said, the reports from the Dutch Training Camp are that van Persie is playing better than ever, so I would not be surprised if Wenger does not attempt to sign another forward. He will however be on the lookout for a new centre-half as Sol Campbell has been told that his face does not fit any longer, which with Cygan hopefully on the move as well, means a shortage of central defenders at the club. True to form though, Wenger is linked with Franck Riberry, a winger, and Morocco's answer to Theo Walcott, Adil Chihi - no, I'd never heard of him either but he is to make his international debut before he plays for his club side, 1FC Koln. And apparently, he is not a defender. Back to the days of you score four, we score five to win games then.

On the subject of two Spanish clubs, according to reports Cristiano Ronaldo has informed Manchester United of his intention to leave the club should either side show an interest in him. This is presumably just paper talk as I cannot imagine for one minute that Darth Ferguson will allow him to walk out "just like that", as the Late Tommy Cooper would have said. However, this kind of speculation does show that the Old Trafford Disneybucks are not a happy crew with even the Club Doctor getting the boot. The Phantom Menace would perhaps be a better nickname for the US based club given their failure to win the Premiership for four seasons.

Joan Laporta's outburst regarding English Clubs stealing Barca's best young players is as disingenuous as it is laughable. Still smarting over the loss of Gerald Pique to United and Cesc Fabregas to Arsenal, Laporta now faces a dogfight to keep hold of Fran Merida with Arsenal poised to swoop. That Merida has the same agent as the one who brokered the deal to take Fabregas to North London is no coincidence but it should be noted that this scenario is of the Catalan clubs own making, incompetence amongst the heirarchy seems rife as they failed to get the requisite number of signatures on the amateur contract signed by Merida. Laporta understandably is upset and wants the Footballing Authorities to stop the deal, overlooking the fact that they cannot under European Union Laws. Another aspect that highlights the hypocrisy of the Catalans is the multinational nature of their own Youth Squad. But then when has a fact ever got in the way of a good quote.

Laporta is still smarting from Fabregas' departure, urban myth has it that he walked into his office on the day after winning the Presidential elections to find a folder on his desk with Fabregas's details and a note saying, "Sorry, you will have to explain how this one got away". This time though, Merida is on his watch and is his own fault.

Terry Venables rehabilitation in the eyes of The Powers That Be at the FA seems to be complete when he will be appointed as Steve McClaren's Number Two later this year. I have no problem with this in footballing terms as he has enough experience to bring wider tactical knowledge to the England setup and this can only be a marked improvement on the lack of nous shown in the last two or three tournaments by the current incumbent and his predecessor. Where this will become a right royal pain in the arse is in the back pages of the media, as his detractors and supporters go toe-to-toe to slug out for supremacy. Already this week, Martin Samuel in The Times has put forward Venables' version of events regarding his departure after Euro 96. I do not dispute what may or may not have happened but I am heartily sick and tired of the so-called reporting that goes on around the team that has nothing to do with the events on the pitch. Just this morning we have more so called revelations that Sven's partner has been working in cohorts with the paparazzi to sell photos of them. Well, tell us something that we don't know already know - it's how half of the photos that appear in the Press are obtained.

Todays Tunes come from The Casbah Club. The band have a fine musical pedigree, comprising Simon Townsend, Bruce Foxton, Bruce Watson and Mark Brzezicki and are supporting The Who this summer, amongst other gigs they have lined up. Their album is coming out in June called Venustraphobia. You can find out more about the band at their website here or their myspace page here.

Vibrate

Any Way She Moves

Christ, He's Off On One Again

2006-05-27T07:17:00.000Z

This week has seen the publication of the self-proclaimed Independent European Sport Review 2006, a European Commission Report funded by UEFA. Even before it is read, the point has been missed. This is not generic to sport, it is directed at Professional Football. Not amateur football, the professional game. Even then, the specifics are aimed at the major clubs in Europe not those in the Championship or below or their equivalents. Indeed, the primary driver is that according to the Report, is that Sport accounts for 1% of the entire GDP of the EU. Of that, professional football will deliver at least 75% if not more. Accordingly, it is a large sum over which the meddling fingers of Brussels and Strasbourg have little direct influence and they are desperate to do so. Having tried to lay waste to the Premiership Clubs cartel in selling their TV and media rights, the EU are trying to become involved in other ways. This report is nothing less than a shot across the bows of UEFA, and FIFA for that matter , even if that was the outcome that they were trying to avoid.

Do not get me wrong, in principle I believe the EU to be a good idea. In practice however, it has proven to be nothing more than a institution whose decisions are based upon self-serving interests, be they the French protecting their incomes via the CAP or Britains Rebate. In this light, this humble blogger is incredulous that they believe that the EU can protect or improve the administration and operation of football.

However, to purely describe this Report as EU meddling does it a disservice. It is more pertinent to look at the posturing and litgious nature of the relationship between the authorities, e.g. UEFA and FIFA, on the one hand and the G-14 clubs on the other. It is apparent that both sides are as much to blame as the other. That UEFA fails to recognise the G-14 is well documented, claiming that the Professional Clubs Forum is the appropriate place for such discussions to take place. That the G-14 exists as an organisaton is the ultimate proof that the PCF has failed in its fundamental raison d'etre. Instead, we as football fans, watch from the sidelines as the two and FIFA fight for the soul of the game in the courtrooms, not directly against each other but with one hiding behind a club that could never dream of being a member of such an "illustrious" group.

In the body of the Report, it is hard to escape the feeling that the authors believe that Sport sees itself as being either above the Law or not subject to the Laws that govern the rest of Society. I do not believe this to be the case. Is it therefore necessary to have a section on Money Laundering. Indeed the latter is reported as being a specific problem with "International Networks" managing this business. Forgive me if I do not share their concern. Unless the Authors or UEFA / FIFA provide specific evidence of this problem then this is a non- issue that is being used as a front for their desire to enforce nationality rules. In themselves, rules forcing teams to contain a minimum number of citizens of that country are good for international teams and the game within that country. For the authorities to present a case without evidence of human trafficking, is nothing short of despicable. Does the EU seriously contend that scores of children are brought to Europe from the Rest of the World in the back of flat-bed trucks, forced to go training for pitiful wages and then forced down into Soho or the Rieperbahn to work at nights? If they do, the proposers of such theories are fools and liars. In any case, to compare the plight of footballers to the misery suffered by those victims of truly grotesque human suffering, kidnapped from their families whilst being held hostage is bizarre and destroys the credibility of this Report.

The main recommendations of this report are alas at the rear of a one hundred and sixty page document, full of legalise and political double-speak. I was not sure which sent me to sleep first, this document or the glass of brandy that accompanied it - Terry's Brandy de Jerez 1900 Solera Reserva, if you're interested. The main recommendation, i.e. the first and therefore most prominent, is that the EU taking into account all of their pontification and navel gazing formulate a set of rules, specifically for Sport. Yet, earlier the authors have espoused that Sport and Politics should be kept separate, exactly the opposite of what is being proposed. In an ordered Society, Sport is surely subject to the same rules as you or I at a place of work or at leisure? Are they saying that they believe Sport to be outside of those rules. Certainly some tackles should have been subject to criminal actions in the past but then you get into the realms of intent. Roy Keane, for example, admitted he intended to hurt Alf Inge Haarland when he almost broke him in half. Despite the evidence of Keane's boasting, as of yet no criminal proceedings have been started indication as if any were needed that footballers are not subject to the Law once they cross the line at the start of a match.

The key recommendations that they recommend for the EU and UEFA are:

1. An effective Club Licensing system
2. Central Marketing of Commercial Rights
3. A European system of player transfer regulations
4. A European Players' Agents Directive controlling their activities
5. An effective system of encouraging local education of players, obliging clubs to have a minimum number of home grown players in their squads
6. Legal protection for the pyramid structure of sport
7. Protection for intellectual property rights for fixture lists

The first indications that this is a whitewash are that all of the above exist anyway, under either EU legislation or UEFA / FIFA regulations. What is proved is that UEFA is not able to enforce these regulations or rules.

Where the Report steps onto new ground is the introduction of a salary cap at club level, followed by a levy on those clubs who break it. My initial reaction was that this is unenforceable under European Law so therefore the lawmakers will allow it. However, this is likely to be successfully challenged in the European Courts as it inhibits free competition and isolates Football from the rest of Society by setting limits on the earnings and rewards that a Company can pay to its employees. Should it succeed, the levy is pointless unless it is especially punitive. If for example, the cap is set at 80% of Revenue and Chelsea (and I use them only as an example) exceed that with their salary bill being 85%, then the Levy need not exist. Put them out of the Competitions that they are entered in. Immediately, the club will be relegated and out of Europe the following season. Perfect punishment. Most of their stellar players will leave or request a move, no doubt appreciative that their International game will suffer in playing in a lower league. Indeed, better still, demote the clubs to the lowest level of the Professional Pyramid. If that does not bring them to heel, nothing will. There are too many unanswered questions by this Report on this matter. Nowhere is there a proposal for the Levy. Nowhere is there a proposal for wealth redistribution which is the aim of the Levy. In fact, like most of the Report it is a mish mash of vagaries and fine ideals that will never be enacted, along with crass stupidity.

One overriding thought prevails when reading this Report. Most of the recommendations and points made are covered under existing Laws and Football Regulations. Which then brings into question the suitability of UEFA and FIFA as the games governing bodies. But that's a whole different ball game. And one missed at this juncture.

"An unbelievable climax to the League season" was how the late Brian Moore described the final game of the 1989 season at Anfield. Yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of Arsenal's 2 - 0 win to snatch the League Title from under Liverpool's noses, having done their very best to throw it away in the lead up to the match. I recall The Sun proclaiming that it had broken the news of Liverpool's 5 - 1 win over West Ham the preceding Tuesday, his reaction was "Oh My Gawd!" according to the journalists. I would have thought it would have been slightly stronger than that.

The day still seems fresh in my mind, meeting with Larry & Neil in The Hare & Hounds in Broad Street in Guildford at noon, couple of beers before setting off at mid-day in Larry's works van, I lost the toss and was in back without a seat on the way up. Despite leaving Park Barn at 1pm we still managed to miss the first fifteen minutes of the game due to the heavy traffic on the journey up, listening to the match on the radio whilst trying to park up. Getting the wrong end of the stick, thinking that Steve Bould had cleared off the line instead of what really happened with his header being cleared off the line by Steve Nicol. The match rushed by until Alan Smith's opener, still being none the wiser today as to why the referee and linesman spent the next sixty seconds discussing the goal - surely it was resolved with "Did you flag for a foul?", "No", "Goal it is then". Two second conversation, tops. From then on, the game passed slowly - thinking we'd blown it when Thomas shot straight at Grobelaar from inside the area but it didn't matter in the end. The ball hit the back of net twenty minutes later and I ended up fifteen rows further down the visitors terracing than I started, and climbed back to our original spot just in time for the final whistle. The party did not feel that it was ever going to end. When I eventually got back home, I found that my Nan (God Bless Her) had bought every newspaper from the Saturday morning so that I could make a scrapbook (and I was 23 at the time!), something that I still have to this day, complete with match ticket and programme. Heady days.

Today's Tunes are posted here as a compliment to another blog, Ickmusic, where Pete has posted the full Style Council concert from Milan in 1984. These are from TV performances in that year, thanks to Carlos for this boot:

Long Hot Summer

My Ever Changing Moods

Hanging On To A Memory

Angels and Devils

2006-05-26T08:34:00.000Z

John Obi-Mikel's future has, depending upon which media outlet you believe, either been resolved or is still up in the air. Back in February, I noted that the likely outcome would be United owning the players registration but that Chelsea would then "buy" him and get off scot-free for their shenanigans. It looks as if this is going to be the case with the fee set at £12m (approx. $20m), of which United get £10m and Lyn Oslo £2m. Given the players subsequent comments about the Mancunians, this is the best outcome for Fergie despite his wish to sign the player. Going to Chelsea is proving to be akin to be put on death row - ask Shaun Wright-Phillips. Obi Mikel will need to show exceptional talent to break into the first team in his chosen position, languishing behind Fat Frank and The Red Baron on the playing front. Add to that mix Cole, Robben, Duff, Makalele, Wright - Phillips, Diarra and Geremi and it becomes apparent that Chelsea are not buying to strengthen their squad, more to prevent their rivals from signing decent players. It is heartwarming to hear that Rosicky has joined Walcott and Diaby amongst others who have decided that first team football is more important than money and rejected the Blue Menaces advances.

Fernando Morientes was a few years ago riding the crest of a wave, part of a dream forward line with Raul in Madrid. Whilst his cohort has been protected at the club due to his previous exploits and being a media darling, Morientes found himself being pushed further out of the picture until a loan spell at Monaco resurrected his career. Seemingly on an upward trajectory, he joined Liverpool with the promise to deliver the goods and become one of the best forwards to grace the Premiership. That did not happen and he is now back in La Liga, at Valencia. The question must be asked as to why both he and Cisse have failed to make an impact. In theory, these two make a good partnership in that both are capable of scoring and creating goals but neither has proved themselves able to do so. The pair were highly rated before joining Liverpool and Benitez has failed to get the best from them. In Cisse's case, he did not sign the player but thought highly enough of the Frenchman to try to hijack his move to Anfield. The answer must be the style of play - a problem that will not be immediately resolved by signing Mark Gonzalez although he has to be an improvement on "Peachy Bum" Kewell. By not signing Owen when he returned from Madrid, Liverpool now will have to pay more for a less proven goalscorer to resolve that particular problem. It is inconceivable that Owen has an escape clause valuing him at only £12m but if he has, I would have thought that Rick Parry would be on the phone to Freddie Shepherd to fill his pockets full of paper stuff. That is of course, provided David Dein has not got to him first. Arsenal need another goalscorer in the team to alleviate their over-reliance on Henry to get them out of trouble. Owen would compliment Thierry well, his basic game would fit well into the Arsenal team, so there is no obvious reason other than Newcastle's unwillingness to sell for clubs not to tempt the Geordies with a huge wad of cash. Of the top four, Benitez and Darth Fergie will be vying for the title of busiest manager over the summer.

Theo Walcott made his England debut last night in the B International defeat to Belarus. For the watching England manager, the only real positives to come from this match were that Michael Owen came through unscathed against some pretty, ahem, basic defending. Michael Carrick and Aaron Lennon stood out for England but otherwise it was a pretty low key affair. Walcott did OK, showing glimpses of why Wenger paid up to £12m for him. The main talking point however was the injury to Robert Green after being on the pitch for five or so minutes, ruling out his involvement in Germany. His replacement in Germany will be Liverpool's Scott Carson who played for Sheffield Wednesday on loan this season. Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney will not be playing in England's Group Matches and is unlikely to be fully fit for a potential second round tie against Poland or the host nation. In an ideal world, Eriksson would play 4 - 5 - 1, with a midfield of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole and Carrick with Owen the lone striker. This formation would probably be the one to face Sweden with Carrick making way for Crouch against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago.

Today's Tunes are from Echo and the Bunnymen, taken from the Avalanche Tour EP, Silver and It's All Over Now (Baby Blue)

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

2006-05-25T15:29:00.000Z

Alas poor Bobby, I knew him well as William Shakespeare may well have written if he were alive today. Contrary to popular rumour, Robert Pires was not offered a two-year deal as part of Thierry Henry’s contract renewal negotiations and it is confirmed that from next year, one of Arsenal’s French contingent will be playing in La Liga. Villarreal will be the next port of call for Pires, fresh from helping sink The Yellow Submarine in this season’s Champions League Semi-Finals.

Sadly for Pires, his last appearance for Arsenal was an eighteen minute cameo in Paris, whereupon he cast a forlorn figure on the bench for the remaining seventy two minutes of the defeat to Barca. Having been prominent in the run to the final, turning in arguably his best performance for the club at Highbury in the Quarter Final against Juventus, it was a sad end to his Arsenal career.

Having signed for the club in 2000, Pires at first struggled to adapt to the English game but when he did, the winger set the Premiership on fire, topping the assists lists regularly over the next three or four years; 2001/02 being his peak at the club, acknowledged by his team-mates as he hobbled to collect his Winners Medal, with a “We Are Not Worthy” bowing scene. The injury suffered against Newcastle in the FA Cup Replay at Highbury was so serious that you wondered if he could fully recover. He did and returned seemingly fitter and quicker than before. In acknowledgement of his achievements that season, he was voted the FWA Player of the Year. Not bad for a man whose season ended in March.

He chipped in with 84 goals in his 284 appearances for the club – not a bad return for a winger, a goal every three or so games. Popular with the players and fans alike, he took as much delight in creating as he did in scoring. In particular, Tottenham were on the receiving end of his finishing touches, a record of eight goals in twelve derbies was always going to make him popular, particularly the winner in the FA Cup Semi Final at Old Trafford and the 5 – 4 win at White Hart Lane in 2004 / 05.

Pires will be remembered as one of the most skilful players to grace the Highbury turf, deceptively fast despite having an idiosyncratic running style due to being pigeon-toed, with immaculate ball control. He scored many important goals for the club, including the winner against Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final at Cardiff.

A sometime DJ with his own French Language radio show, Pires influence on the pitch could still be felt over the last season and a half despite his diminished playing time. This season though he has been used more as a bit part player domestically, replaced by the next generation as Wenger shuffled his midfield to accommodate Hleb and Fabregas. The final nail in the coffin would have been this week’s signing of Tomas Rosicky who, although not a direct replacement, will necessitate shuffling the side again.

His honours list is impressive. Already a World Cup Winner in 1998, after joining Arsenal he added the European Championships in 2000 and Confederations Cup in 2001 & 2003 for his country. In the meantime, his club honours included two Premiership medals, three FA Cup Winners medals, unfortunately not topped off in Europe in May.

I wish him well in the sunshine for the next few seasons at Villarreal.

Self Destruction Blues

2006-05-22T14:33:00.000Z

The fall - out from the Champions League and Theirry Henry's decision to remain at Arsenal continues. Over the weekend, Patrick Barclay and Hugh McIlvanney both chastised the Frenchman and Le Boss for their reactions immediately after the final whistle in Paris. Accusing the pair of being sore losers, both lamented the reaction and the absence of the "Corinthian Spirit", contrasting the reaction of the 1952 FA Cup Final losing side with the current version. Now forgive if I start off on one but there are several differences between fifty years ago and today. Firstly, if you put a microphone in front of a player roughly one minute after the final whistle, it takes a particularly calculating character to give a balanced opinion of ninety minutes play where one player has been sent off and one of your opponents goal was borderline offside, only settled with the use of TV replays. The more the media demands, the more their hypocrisy stinks when the criticise players and managers for giving honest opinions. The second observation I make is that I do not want gracious losers. To politely reply that your opponents played well and deserved to win on every occasion defeats the object of asking for an opinion. And that is what football is, a game of opinions. Some may be unpalatable to the few or even the majority but so long as they are honest, can one really complain.

Henry's decision to stay in London is drawing stinging criticism from the Catalan capital. The latest to question the wisdom is Johann Cruyff. The Dutchman ponders in direct language whether Henry will regret staying, pontificating that Henry should have taken longer over his decision. The general belief is that Henry has more chance of winning the Champions League with Barcelona than Arsenal. History does not substantiate this claim. Barca have only won this trophy twice, so a record of once every fourteen years indicates that Henry will be long retired by the time they win it again. At least Cruyff has some standing in the game to allow you to listen and think about what he says. Which is more than can be said of Belletti who at various points has berated Henry accusing him of being afraid of making the move, not even being in the top ten players in the world and generally offensive. Whilst this makes good copy and allows the club to try and gain face now that their arrogant lies of Henry's arrival have been exposed. Let us not forget that Belletti has fluked a Champions League winner so he deserves to speak his mind. That it shows him up for the footballing pigmy that he is, well, that's his problem. As for his own ego, that has now been suitably deflated from the fact that he is not good enough to get into Brazil's World Cup squad. And let us not forget, he was not considered to be of suitable ability to get into the starting XI of Barcelona.

More media revelations on the transfer front, Arsenal seem set to sign the whole of Crystal Palaces first team squad, the latest target is Gabo Kiraly. Before we get too excited about the Mighty Magyar gracing the Emirates, someone needs to make sure that the local Primark has a suitable stock of baggy, ill-fitting tracksuit bottoms in their shop. Meanwhile Fenerbache have denied that they will complete the signing of Sol Campbell this week. Hats off to Miles Palmer at the idiosyncratic Arsenal News Review for starting this one and getting the gullible fools of Canary Wharf to run with it.

One transfer that seems to be happening is Tomas Rosicky moving to The Emirates. According to reports, he has had a medical this week at Highbury and his representatives are close to agreeing a deal. In terms of the team, this would bolster the midfield substantially with experience. It would also enable Wenger to rest Fabregas and bring him on at slower pace, alleviating the risk of burnout.

Final squads for the World Cup have been submitted to FIFA and barring injuries, these are the players you will be seeing in Germany. In an interview, albeit brief, that was broadcast on Radio 5Live this evening. His observations about the England squad suffering from having too many foreign players in the Premiership will no doubt strike a chord with the many critics of Arsene Wenger. Whereas the naysayers appear to blame him for the problem, Cruyff observes that Spain suffers from the same influx. It is only in recent years that Spaniards have decided to move abroad in significant numbers, England being the current favoured destination influenced no doubt by the relative success of Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. Cruyff also compares the spending power of Chelsea with the advantages that Real Madrid and Barcelona have enjoyed in the Primera Liga. For those who do not believe it can happen here, I would observe that the Top Three of Primera Liga is pretty much sorted before the season starts, it is just a case of what order. Interlopers are relatively few and far between and thus far, the modern era of Spanish Football has not found a sustainable alternative - Deportivo are slowly climbing into the frame again after a few years away from the top. This is what Arsenal have to strive to avoid, disappearing into the multitude; something that Ashburton Grove will financially help the club to steer clear of but a haunting episode that can be glimpsed over the shoulder.

Todays Tunes feature erstwhile Peel favourites, Camera Obscura. This Scottish Quartet first came to my notice on Spanish TV, Conciertos de Radio 3, which those of you with Sky can find on Channel 802. A programme akin to the Old Grey Whistle Test, they feature 2 or 3 non-spanish bands a month.

These are from the bands Peel Session on 7th October 2003:

Greyhound Going Somewhere

The San Francisco Song

Thanks to the guys at The Perfumed Garden for posting this and other sessions up.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2006-05-21T06:51:00.000Z

The Sunday papers continue to be dominated by Thierry Henry's future at Arsenal. This time however, it is the "revelation" that Arsenal rejected two bids of £50m for his services both said to eminate from Spain. Given that the plural was used when talking about the bids, the suitors were Real Madrid and Barcelona. Ordinarily, you would dismiss this as paper talk based on a little bit of fact but given the widely quoted source is David Dein, the veracity of the claims should not be doubted.

To have been a fly on the wall in the Clubs Boardroom when they received those bids would have been interesting as there would have been serious discussions about whether or not to accept one or both, not just from the financial perspective but from a playing one also. The money would have created a world transfer record, being some $95m. This is a seriously huge sum for the club to reject, given that it represents 1/8th of the cost of the new stadium. I suspect that if it had been received two years ago when the Board were struggling to get the funding together for Ashburton Grove, then reality would have checked the accept the bid box. To counteract this though is the knowledge that the monies received would have potentially been lost on matchday revenues at the new ground unless Arsene Wenger could have signed someone of equal stature to replace Henry, using a large chunk of the £50m to replace his mercurial striker. On the playing front, the teams over-realiance on him to score would have created a massive hole to fill, if indeed it could be filled. At this moment in time, there are probably only two forwards that could guarantee the sort of goals to game ratio that Henry produces; Eto'o and Shevchenko. To be honest, the former is the only one that I could see ever playing at Arsenal. Shevchenko seems to be too settled in Milan, although the lure of Stamford Bridge is proving strong this time around with a decision on his future due by the end of this week. Should he become available, will Arsene ask the Board to put together the funding for a bid? With £35m being the widely quoted fee, I suspect that the answer to that would be a "No" as it represents all of the money expected to be available to Wenger in the summer and he has never been one to blow it all in one go. From a playing perspective, the absence of Henry on a permanent basis would have meant an overhaul of the playing style as the team is set up to utilise his pace, something that is unrivalled in a forward in football currently. It would have necessitated playing two forwards in a traditional 4-4-2 which is the formation Wenger prefers. The departure of Henry this summer would have simply been too big a hole for the team to currently fill. It is a credit to the Board that they have rejected these offers in a game dominated by money.

Other transfer news - gossip might be a better description - in the papers this weekend has centered on three players. Firstly it seems that Henry has asked the Board to retain Pires' services and so he has been offered a two - year deal. At least that is what the press believe. Whether he will accept is another matter, particularly having been sacrificed on Wednesday night in what should have been the pinnacle of his career. Chelsea are still rumoured to be interested in Ashley Cole which makes little sense given their supposed wish to offload Asier Del Horno for £3m plus Roberto Carlos to Real Madrid. It would be no surprise to see Del Horno in the Bernabeu next year as there is a feeling in Spain that when he was at Bilbao he reserved his best performances for Madrid in the hope of getting a move there. However, the media here have "informed" us that Cole has been offered an £80k per week contract to keep him at the club. At the same time, they claim Chelsea will offer £16m plus Shaun Wright - Phillips to tempt the Board into allowing the move to take place. This would be an interesting one when considered with Pires. Should SWP join Arsenal, he would fill the right hand side slot in midfield, leaving Hleb to either move to the left or infield to his preferred central midfield role. This then gives the left to Reyes or Ljungberg. To accommodate this, Reyes would have to move to the supporting striker role, squaring up to Adebayour, van Persie and Walcott. Should the latter have a blinding World Cup, the clamour for his inclusion in the starting lineup may be at the expense of Reyes and Adebayour although I am not sure that Wenger would bow to the Press in the way other managers do, or appear to at the very least. At the same time, Wright-Phillips is going to be at his lowest ebb having been omitted from Eriksson's World Cup squad, quite rightly in my opinion as his form this season has not been particularly good. Wenger would be a good manager for him to have in terms of rebuilding that confidence but whether Le Boss believes that he is an Arsenal player is another matter.

The final piece of gossip this morning surrounds Andy Johnson of Crystal Palace. According to reports, Arsenal are preparing a bid of around £7m for his services. I can see some logic in this "story" as he has shown he can score at the top level but my question is whether he can fit in at Arsenal. Mainly this centres on his mobility as I do not recall him being particularly quick and given that this is what Arsenal's game is based on, it would be an odd fit. Personally, I would rather Wenger added £13m to the £7m and landed Fernando Torres but we shall see.

Todays Tunes returns with a laidback groove for this Sunday morning. The El Michels Affair are a solo project for Leon Michels, sax player with The Dap-Kings and organist with The Mighty Imperials. This one, C.R.E.A.M., is on Daptone records. Next up is Ms Nicole Willis, a commercially underrated vocalist. This is a haunting melody, Siesta, from her album Soul Makeover. You can find more from her website here.

Won't You Stay Just A Little Bit Longer

2006-05-19T16:49:00.000Z

In the aftermath of the Champions League defeat, the biggest problem facing The Arsenal was retaining the services. Despite the pessimism shown by most, including your truly, Henry has committed his future to the club until 2010 at the very least. By that time, Henry will be 32 and probably still quicker than 90% of all Premiership defenders. I would not be surprised if he is then offered a two year deal, in spite of the clubs policy of one year renewable deals only once a player hits thirty. It is some consolation to the club and its supporters after the disappointment of Wednesday night. Perhaps Thierry had taken note of Pele's comments on the matter - he reminded us of a bygone era of loyalty by pointing out he had spent the majority of his career at Santos. His observation that Henry had no reason to leave the club where he is barely one step down from God and revered wherever he goes. The alternative is to go to Barcelona where Ronaldinho is King and the adoration will be reduced. At least that was one thing that went right this week and a nice birthday present for me to wake up to.

On the subject of long drawn out contract negotiations, The Laughing Cavalier has taken a step back from the Villarreal precipice. Robert Pires has distanced himself from the Yellow Submarines Presidents assertion that he would be paraded as a Villarreal player next week. The Frenchman has been quoted as saying he has three offers aside from Arsenal to consider. Given the stubborness of the Clubs stance, I will be amazed if he is a home player at the Emirates next season. It is believed that one of his offers is from Bolton although I just cannot see him as a Trotter; his style of play is too languid for Big Sam's All Action Men. A break in the sun (not on Page 3 though) may just do good and help erase his memories of Wednesday night.

UEFA have admitted that Hauge was given Wednesday's match in a fit of pique that he was not chosen for the officials list at the upcoming World Cup. So I was correct in my assertion that he did not get the appointmen on merit. Rather the 50th Anniversary Final was ruined by UEFA's Refereeing Committees' collective tantrum. And UEFA wonder why they are viewed as a bunch of self-serving incompetents?

What Difference Does It Make?

2006-05-17T22:00:00.000Z

Barcelona 2 - 1 Arsenal

0 - 1 Campbell (37)
1 - 1 Eto'o (76)
2 - 1 Belletti (81)

Gutted. Absolutely f****** gutted.

I cannot sum up the feelings more than that. To have been so near to Europe's top prize and to be denied in the last fifteen minutes, after an hour of probably the hardest work that the team had put in all season. The match as a contest appeared to end on eighteen minutes when Jens Lehmann became the first player to be sent off in a European Cup Final but this team continued to exceed expectations by regrouping, adjusting well to their circumstance, taking the lead, being the more threatening of the two teams, only to be undone at the end by fatigue and sheer volume of possession. It will remain an evening of what-if's and maybe's, what would haves, could haves and should haves. What if the referee had played the advantage and let Giuly's goal stand, what would have happened if The Gunners had fielded a full quota of eleven players for ninety minutes, could the referee have been more inept if he had tried and Thierry Henry should have scored after three minutes and sixty-ish minutes. What was proven this evening was that this Arsenal side, if they stay together, can perform to the highest level.

The passage of play that led to Lehmann's dismissal was the first real chance that Barcelona had carved, Lehmann's save from Giuly minutes earlier was the result of a shot from such a tight angle that it was a one in a thousand chance of hitting the back of the net. There are no arguments with the punishment meted out to the German; it was a blatantly professional foul, in isolation there is no doubt the referee was correct in that respect. Should he have played the advantage to allow Giuly to score? Absolutely. The ball entered the net less than five seconds after the foul so the Norwegian official blew too quickly. Could he have played the advantage, allowed the goal and then sent Lehmann off? Absolutely. Whatever he chose, the referee would have faced criticism. Had this been the only mistake he made then it would have been a media story for a day. As it is, the match and the occasion were too big for him, with both sides suffering at some point in the match although Arsenal appeared to suffer more - why Marques, Puyol, van Bommel and Oleguer remained on the pitch is a mystery, each guilty of at least four yellow card offences. Indeed, when Oleguer was eventually booked, the referee made it plain that there were three previous bad tackles. Perhaps UEFA switched the wrong official prior to kick-off. One of Sky's commentary team observed that the referee was so poor due to the standard of officiating in the Norwegian League and the substandard level of play. Possibly but there have been decent Scandanavian officials before and will be in the future no doubt. What is evident is that UEFA's Refereeing Committee needs to take a step back and re-assess how they appoint their officials. The match last night was an example of a man not being able to keep up with the play sufficiently. Perhaps it is time for them to appoint officials based on ability not on politics.

And what of the much vaunted Barcelona team. Personally, I thought they were poor on the whole. Ronaldinho's big stage left him struck down with nerves. Playing 11 v 10 should have given him the space to exploit and drive his teammates on. He failed to do that. In the end the difference was Henrik Larsson's introduction, effectively making their formation 4 - 2 - 4, with each having licence to roam. The Swede popped up on the left for the equaliser, his pass took out Eboue to leave Eto'o whilst the winner came from Larsson's pass on the right to Belletti that split the defence and midfield.

Once the dust has settled on this, Henry will announce his future, stating last night that he would now think about it. Post match comments accusing the Barcelona players of diving like women and being disparaging about Ronaldinho and Eto'o from the Arsenal Captain will make it interesting should he decide to go to the Camp Nou in the summer. I do not know what Eto'o said to him after the game but a look of dejection turned to fury on screen. Having been so close to winning the trophy, does he consider this to be unfinished business with the club? Or has the team come as far as it can in his eyes? Will he join Pires in La Liga next season? Not sure on that. I think he will leave but whether Barcelona will be his final destination is not as clear cut as it once was. Should Shevchenko leave for Stamford Bridge, a trip to Serie A is not out of the question as he may feel he has a point to prove to the Italians.

Any Day Now

2006-05-15T17:52:00.000Z

The biggest game of Arsenal's history, not just the season, takes place on Wednesday. There I knew there was a decent variant to that theme. Many pundits believe that this is the purists final and this could well be true but is dependent upon two factors. Firstly, which players will be beset by nerves; the more that suffer, the less of a spectacle. Secondly, which Arsenal will turn up? If it is the variety that played in both matches against Madrid and Juventus then it will be a good game. If it is the same as the second leg in Villarreal or Manchester United in last seasons FA Cup final then, dear viewer, you are well and truly stuffed if you expect a scintillating final. Personally, I believe in order to win, it is the former that needs to be in Paris but then I am much less concerned about the match, more the result. It is after all the premiere trophy in European football, a chance for the victors to be crowned "Champions Of Europe".

To suggest that Arsenal are the underdogs is being unkind to underdogs. I would go as far to put forward the view that they are less of a favourite to win than Liverpool were last season. That is not saying we are poorer than they were, more that Barcelona are perceived as being a far better team than Milan. But before you say that this is defeatist claptrap, I believe Arsenal can win. Note I said "can" not "will".

I will say that I have changed my mind from a few days ago about the composition of Arsenal's starting XI. In order to win, I would start with:

Lehmann; Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole; Hleb,Gilberto, Fabregas, Ljungberg; Pires; Henry

The main change I have made is Pires for Reyes as despite the Frenchman's inconsistency, he gives the team better balance than Reyes, despite the latters greater pace. This was apparent in the matches against Villarreal. The other switch is to move Hleb to the right and Freddie to the left. Hleb plays equally well whichever side but Ljungberg has played more on the left for Sweden and with a record of scoring twenty goals in the last thirty internationals. A somewhat better strike rate than he has managed for Arsenal this season, two goals in thirty six appearances is not a record to strike fear into opponents. Reyes would be a great substitute to throw into the fray, his pace would be particularly telling in the latter stages. Coming on against Sunderland, he proved that with two goals in the final twenty minutes. Yes, I know the Wearsiders were not strong opposition but tired players are tired players no matter what their qualities when at their peak.

From the reports that I have read, the expect Barcelona line-up will be:

Valdes; Oleguer, Puyol, Marquez, van Bronckhorst; Iniesta, Deco, van Bommel; Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho

There are three or four options on this line up. Firstly, Belletti may replace Oleguer on the right hand side of defence. The Brazilian is far quicker going forward, more of Cicinho than Cafu whilst neither is particularly strong defensively. This may be why Reyes gets picked ahead of Pires; he would certainly be able to take both of these on for pace and win. A more unlikely change is Silvinho for van Bronckhorst on the left. I suspect the Dutchman will get the nod as he seems stronger defensively.

In midfield, Xavi's return to fitness is a problem of the nice kind for Rijkaard. It is a straight choice between Xavi and Iniesta. The latter has played well in the formers absence and may be the deciding factor. Up front, Giuly could be swapped for Larsson although I suspect the latter will be a substitute rather than starting. Certainly the Swede would pose a greater threat in the area than Giuly but he does not have the same level of pace.

The key will be stopping the space behind the defence being exploited. There is no point in man marking Ronaldinho but that does not mean the supply of the ball to him should not be cut off. Also, they need to minimise the amount of time he spends cutting inside - this is where he is most dangerous. Deco presents a different problem. He will play deeper, pass well and be energetic in supporting the attacks. It is important that Fabregas and Gilberto are tight on him, a suspect temperament means that he can become frustrated if things do not work as he planned.

Defensively, they are not as strong as Italian teams. It is therefore important that Arsenal do not leave too much space between Henry and the midfield. If this happens, two things occur. Firstly there is no outlet for the defence and no momentum in attack which means little opportunity to score. Secondly, possession will be surrendered too cheaply and one thing that Barca are very good at is retaining the ball. See, this tactical lark is easy.

Anyway I'm off back to Championship Manager to win the Champions League for the fourth season running so here are Today's Tunes, from The Hideaway Club Classics compilation, opening with Little Willie John - Don't Play With Love. I profess to knowing little about the man, if you will pardon the pun. However, the tracks that I have heard show what an incredible voice he had. A good biography can be found at Shades Of Blue. Next up is the incomparable Ray Charles with The Train.

For Your Entertainment

2006-05-14T17:01:00.000Z

Rotherham United escaped relegation from League One by two points. Today it has been announced that they will start the new season on -10 points as they have entered a CVA with their creditors approval. I have every sympathy for their supporters who have tried hard all season to raise funds to keep the club afloat. I do however wonder about the timing of the announcement and the Directors need to explain fully as to why the decision was taken one week after the seasons end. The Football League should also look closely at the rules and see if they have been broken by the dubious timing of the action - will Hartlepool look at this and raise a protest? Surely the whole point of these rules, brought about by Leicester City's CVA in League One following their relegation from the Premiership, was to prevent clubs gaining an unfair advantage over their rivals by following this route. In any case, has the 2005 - 06 season officially finished? The Play-Offs are still in progress, the transfer window re-opens at the end of the season according to UEFA, so have the Merry Millers abused the rules?

Liverpool overcame West Ham after penalties today in a final that was a million times better for the viewing public. Jose Manuel Reina's reputation dropped during the match but he proved that his last two seasons in Spain where he saved eight or nine penalties, was no fluke. And well done to him, he showed his strength of character to come back from the three goals conceded - Jamie Carragher ought to sign up for Strictly Come Dancing with the fancy footwork he showed for the first whilst Paul Konchelsky probably could not repeat the outcome of his cross in the next one hundred times he tried it. Only the second goal was truly Reina's fault but he must have been thinking that God really did not like him this afternoon. That is until the penalties. Yes some of the West Ham spot kicks were not good but the keeper still has to save them. It seems a little harsh for West Ham to lose , especially if one considers that they would have been 3 - 1 to the good inside the first minute of the second half if Marlon Harewood had converted his chance, but you get the feeling that it may be your day when your captain strikes an equaliser such as Gerrards last gasp shot. I did not see the Man of the Match Award presentation, there's only so long you can hold your bladder, but if it went to anyone else then they were undeserving of it. For West Ham, Nigel Reo-Coker played well in midfield and if this is how he has been performing all season then he justifies Sven Goran Eriksson's faith by placing him as Standby midfielder for the World Cup.

Todays Tunes continue grooving. First on the cyber-turntable is a masterpiece of feelgood funk from New Orleans' Eddie and the Top Notes, Inc. With one of the best basslines ever recorded, Dap Walk has superb rhythms and is the perfect start to an evening. This is accompanied by the equally uplifting Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by The Casino Soul Orchestra. Get your feet tappin'....

More Time (To Explain)

2006-05-13T19:18:00.000Z

Investigations in Italy into match-fixing have engulfed forty one people, involving nineteen matches including some involving AC Milan and / or Lazio. Whilst this type of scandal is not unusual in Italian football - Milan were themselves relegated twenty or so years ago for "financial shenanigans" - it is seemingly becoming more common across Europe. In the last twelve months we have witnessed betting scandals in Belguim (taking in some matches in France), referees taking bribes in Germany, more financial wrongdoing in Marseilles, even the FA Premier Leagues' chairman is facing questions about his chairmanship at Sheffield Wednesday. Let us not forget that the Stevens Inquiry has yet to report on their investigations into English Football. And it is only just over a decade since George Graham was caught with his hands in a brown paper bag, still the only high profile case in this country to be successfully prosecuted.

In an era when money is the dominant force in football, it is perhaps unsurprising that these issues are coming to the fore. Whilst the media attention is drawn towards the major clubs, it is worth pondering on the fact that the Belgian problems have focussed not on their leading sides, RSC Anderlecht or Club Brugges, but those at the foot of the top flight and in lower leagues. Already suspensions have been handed down to several players and coaches. The problem has arisen through bribes coming from Asian Betting Syndicates, the same as those who bribed Robert Hoyzer, a German Referee now banned for life from involvement in football. English clubs have been in financial difficulties since the collapse of ITV Digital but there is no evidence so far that any impropriety has taken place. Perhaps those involved receive sufficient salaries or have more integrity than their continental counterparts. It cannot be through lack of opportunity as it seems that you can lay a bet in a shop or on the internet on two flies climbing a wall.

To this blogger though, I find it incredulous that senior officials at clubs can become involved in such schemes. Whilst the "win at all costs" culture has become more prevalent at the highest level since the grotesque revenues available through the Champions League upped the economix ante, surely there has to be a sporting ethic in play. In Juve's case, suspicions of bending the law to breaking point have been raised through the prosecution of club medical officials for utilising drugs to enhance performance, having a pharmacy at the club that is stocked better than many small hospitals. Looking at their performance in this season Champions League Quarter Final, it is hard to believe that they have been doping their players to improve their physical attributes rather that they had given them tranquilisers so docile were they in chasing a two goal deficit.

Perhaps it is now time for FIFA and UEFA to take an active role in the investigations into the clubs. Should those officials be found guilty of the charge then the club must be punished by relegation, not to the next division down but to the bottom of the professional football structure. This then sends a message to everyone in the game about the potential outcomes for individuals and their employers / colleagues. Unfortunately it is always the innocent parties who get hurt but both the club and supporters will have benefitted from the impropriety so they must suffer the consequences. Should Arsenal suffer such a punishment, I would be up in arms about the injustice of it all but this subsides and the real anger becomes focussed on the individuals involved. It is necessary that the game is clear of such financial infidelities and one high profile case may well be the catalyst. If not transgressors cannot say that there is one rule for the rich and another for the poor.

The FA Cup Final takes place not at Wembley as was expected this time last season but once again in Cardiff. With Arsenal's Emirates Stadium looking to be completed on time and on budget, it draws more ire towards those involved in the Wembley project. Taking stock of the media coverage, it is obvious that those involved could not organise an allnight drinking binge in a brewery. Yet thus far, no action is taken other than Party A suing Party B. English football deserved better than this debacle but it is also symptomatic of the bungling that besets anything that The FA touch, recent examples aside from Wembley range from hiring a new England Coach to the National Football Centre at Burton. Let us hope that Liverpool and West Ham serve better fare than last years combatants although given Arsenal won, it matters not one jot to this man. In a season that has so far served up one-sided finals, both the Carling and UEFA Cup would have been halted by a Boxing Referee, please let this be a contest to remember. Liverpool are favourites and ought to win, probably 2 - 0 but West Ham have enough going forward to trouble the Liverpool defence.

Todays Tunes are more 60's soul. First up are Carl Holmes and the Commanders with Crossin' Over. Having had a young Jimi Hendrix gig with the group might have brought them more retrospective fame but it is a shame that they are best known for being the house band in the toga party scenes in Animal House. This track is their last recorded release under this guise , being apparently rare to get hold and is a slice of upbeat Philly R&B. Next up is Jessie Gee Don't You Mess With My Money which is todays' contrived link, and one that this song deserves better of - starting off as a slow blues rap, this then becomes dirtier and more lowdown. Enjoy.

She Shot A Hole In My Soul

2006-05-12T09:38:00.000Z

Arsene Wenger has confirmed his squad for next week's Champions League Final against Barcelona, barring injury, will not include Theo Walcott and that Dennis Bergkamp has yet to play his final match for the club. The surprise inclusion of Walcott in England's final 23 for the World Cup means that he will be away in Portugal on a jolly, sorry Training Camp, for the finalists. Bergkamp meanwhile will be travelling to Paris for the final for a touch of benchwarming and maybe one last hurrah in the clubs colours, which incidentally will be the yellow away kit. Given the comments in the press made by the Arsenal manager, I would expect his starting line-up to be:

Lehmann; Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole; Ljungberg, Gilberto, Fabregas, Hleb; Reyes; Henry

with the subs bench being:

Almunia, Clichy, Flamini, Senderos, van Persie, Bergkamp and Pires.

The only change I can see may be Pires in place of Reyes but I think that given the Spaniard has started ahead of Pires for most of the season, it is unlikely. Meanwhile, Pires' oft-rumoured move to Villarreal seems to be moving closer each day as he is the subject of much speculation in the media. I am not surprised by this as he will probably be moving further down the pecking order next season should he decide to stay. Should Walcott make an impression at this summers World Cup, he increases his chances of playing in the Premiership next season which would then leave Pires fighting Reyes, Ljungberg and van Persie for the wide left midfield berth. Hleb, I think, has convinced Wenger of his worth with some diligent defensive work in Europe and also is starting to show the close ball control that Wenger admired in the first place.

On the subject of the World Cup, Wayne Rooney is supposedly on course to play in the England v Sweden game, the final match of the Group phase in Germany. This is better than expected news and eases some of the pressure on what England do once they get into the knockout phase, assuming of course that the captainless ship plots a safe course past Trinidad & Tobago and Paraguay. If results go to form, the result of the England v Sweden match decides who gets to follow the route to the final via Poland, Portugal and Brazil or Germany, Argentina and Italy. Neither is particularly easy but the expectation is growing as the tournament comes ever closer. Unfortunately for the England Camp, they have fed this belief that England can win. Not a country that needs any boost in its' thirst for glory, the English fans have been told that Germany 2006 represented the time when Englands' so called Golden Generation would be at their peak, although I am unconvinced that at the time they were labelling themselves as such that the players had a potential forward line of Crouch and Walcott in mind. Eriksson meanwhile, has been feeding the fishes by claiming that England, with a little luck, can reach the Final in Berlin. He, no doubt, has the hope that England go out on a high so that he gets offered the pick of coaching jobs as opposed to the return to Benfica which is being mooted following Ronald Koeman's departure to Eindhoven.

Further controvesy strikes at the heart of a major European club with the news that the whole of Juventus Board has resigned as a result of allegations of collusion with match officials and financial improprieties involving transfers. Following on from the suspicions that Florentino Perez may have jumped ship at Madrid more because of financial problems than failed Galacticos, it seems that the curse of Arsenal is striking at the heart of our vanquished European foes. Barcelona beware.

Todays Tunes continue the soulful theme:

Kool Blues - I'm Gonna Keep On Loving You

Kenny Roberts - Run Like The Devil

Wish You Were Here

2006-05-10T05:33:00.000Z

More rumblings about Sven Goran Eriksson's England squad. First up to okeh was Ian Wright who wondered rather egotistically if Shaun Wright-Phillips had been overlooked because of the criticism that he had dished out to the Swede, although he did make a fair point that SWP was omitted from the squad because he is not in Chelsea's first team whilst he included Theo Walcott is not in Arsenal's first team. Well, here's the rub, Ian. If he left out Walcott for SWP, there would have only been three strikers going to Germany. SWP has been left out because he received poor advice to sign for Chelsea. He had the English football world at his feet and should have stayed at Maine Road until after this World Cup. But no, head turned by the lure of filthy lucre, he was publicly advised to go to Stamford Bridge by none other than, er, yourself. This is the price that is paid when signing for a club like Chelsea where they have two players or more, who can play in any particular position. And in any case, SWP has hardly set the world alight when he has got into the First XI, has he? When thinking of who to put in the squad, I like most people, did not even give SWP a second thought. Come to think of it, he never got a first one either. It is rumoured that Liverpool are to offer £14m for him in the summer. Should that turn out to be true, he would well advised to take the contract and get himself back on track.

Meanwhile over in Farmers fields, the most succesful England manager since Don Revie was digging himself out of the vegetable patch to lambast Eriksson for allowing Arsene Wenger to pick the England team. Yep, the Swede was being done in by a Turnip. The internecine vegetable wars have kicked off, Graham Taylor stating that Wenger has persuaded Eriksson to pick Walcott and that the FA have allowed this, "having not given the job to Wenger, Wenger has now picked our team". What is apparent by this one phrase is Taylor's bitterness at being removed from the England job. Throughout the whole selection process, Taylor was a regular critic wasting no time in not so much kicking The FA whilst it was down, more stamping on its' head. Surely the old saying should be changed to "Hell hath no fury like an England manager scorned"?

Ruud van Nistelrooy appears to have argued his way out of Old Trafford this summer. Darth Fergie appears to have had enough of the Dutchman's frankness and open exchanges with team-mates and will now be moving to pastures new, looking for fresh grazing ground if the right stableboy can come up with around ten million sugarcubes. It is a case of how the mighty have fallen. So low that he was banned from appearing in Roy Keane's testimonial last night, instead joining a Dutch World Cup Training Camp. To this day, the striker is in the top three of the Leading Goalscorer charts for domestic football and not so long ago was considered to be worth more than £20m. Consider his plight, if one may call it that, alongside that of his bete noir, Thierry Henry. Both have one year left on their contract, both could leave but only one will be valued at something like his true worth, £25m, and even that is a bargain.

Sixteen hundred Liverpool fans are to miss out on the FA Cup Final following the theft of tickets from a Royal Mail Delivery Van in the city. The Millenium Stadium's policy of not allowing duplicates to be issued has ensured heartbreak for those fans, statistically there are bound to be youngsters in that number. It is not beond the wit of man to enable duplicates to be issued and allow them to be collected in person from the Stadium, upon proof of suitable photographic ID. As it is, their refusal to change their policy has caused considerable ill-feeling towards the game when a quick fix is available. Having enjoyed a number of cup finals, the fans who miss out have my sympathy. The Millenium Stadium authorities have stated that they will eject anyone from the stadium if they sit in those seats. Well, lets see if they do particularly if the individuals in question have bought tickets from a tout having had their tickets stolen initially.

Middlesbrough are on the verge of their first European honours tonight when they take on Sevilla in Eindhoven. After waltzing barefoot through their Group Stage, they have twice come back from a three goal deficit to reach the final. This time however, they face an in-form opponent who are consolidating themselves in the Top Six of the Primera Liga, replicating last seasons performance. This is their first European final and indeed it is more than forty years since their last major honour. For the Teesiders, this is likely to be one game too far this season and I would expect the Andaluz side to win by two goals, maybe 3 - 1 to give the travelling fans one goal to cheer about.

Pretty Persuasion

2006-05-09T19:34:00.000Z

Late this afternoon Tottenham Hotspur FC lodged an official appeal against the Premier League recognising the result of their match at West Ham United on Sunday. The full text can be found on their website. In the first instance, I would say that there is no surprise that they have lodged an appeal, indeed it could be said that to not appeal would be regarded as a dereliction of the directors duties to the club, shareholders and supporters. It must be galling to lose out on the last Champions League spot, particularly to their closest rivals, under normal circumstances let alone those where illness has taken hold of half of your first team squad. The Premier League Board will discuss the matter, I presume as a matter of some urgency.

The premise of the appeal is to obtain fairness for Tottenham Hotspur, giving the players due reward for their hard work and the chance to win their place at Europe's Top Table, the supporters to see the elite of Europe for at least twelve weeks. However, in obtaining fairness for themselves, the instantly gain an advantage over their fellow clubs. To replay the match allows them a second chance to gain their spoils but will also put West Ham United at a disadvantage. Firstly, they have an FA Cup Final this coming weekend so that rules out any match this week otherwise their players risk injury or being less rested than Liverpool. Logically therefore the match has to be replayed after the FA Cup Final. This is impracticable and maybe impossible on two counts. Firstly, whilst Sepp Blatter removed his foot from his mouth to support Tottenham's case, he stated that the match must take place on or before May 15th. This is why the second reason comes into existence. Either West Ham play the match on the 15th, meaning two games in three days or if it is played before the Cup Final, West Ham will be perfectly entitled to demand that the Cup Final be replayed due to extenuating circumstances should say, Nigel Reo-Coker, pick up an injury. So the match would need to be played probably on the 20th to give West Ham sufficient time to recover from the FA Cup Final physically. But what of their mental attitude? Should they be on the wrong end of a hiding, the players would not be at their peak when they play Tottenham again. Prior to Sunday's match, Alan Pardew stated that there were four places in the Cup Final up for grabs. Some of the players would know they were pretty sure of their place but what of the others. How many thought he was referring to themselves and significantly raised their performance? This is unquantifiable.

There is a precedent for extending the season - FIFA have given the RFEF push Spain's final Primera Liga games back to 20th May. So why not play the game then? Well, an extension of the point above is that you cannot recreate the pressure or tension of the final day of the League season. You cannot recreate the nerves felt by players acutely aware of their rivals progress and striving to raise their own game, increasing the tempo, making more mistakes as they try to rectify their own problems. Of course, you could always order Arsenal v Wigan to be replayed but that will never happen as (a) it is inherently unfair on Arsenal and (b) were it to be ordered, there is every chance that Arsenal would launch a legal challenge to the process which could also encompass the Premiership's initial order to replay West Ham v Tottenham.

And what of replaying the match. I do not know what Revenues West Ham gained on Sunday but should the appeal be favourable to Tottenham, the East London club would presumably have to refund all ticket and programme sales to Supporters or offer free seats to those who attended the original game, failure to do so would render them open to legal action from the supporters seeking reimbursement for Sunday's game that will never have taken place. Therefore, The Hammers will have additional costs with less revenue to cover them so this would necessitate the Premier League having to cover these or perhaps even Tottenham will do the honourable thing and pay the stewards, police, power bills?

As far as prize money is concerned, West Ham cannot lose out as they finished four points clear of their nearest rivals. Tottenham can only gain whilst Arsenal would have a strong case for arguing that they should receive the same as fourth place as this is where they have finished the season. And what of other financial losses that Arsenal will suffer, such as loss of Champions League revenues? Will Tottenham, The FA or The Premier League make good these? And what if Thierry Henry were to decide that no Champions League football means he will leave? How would this be rectified? In the latter scenario, it is impossible to do so.

Above all reasons, the appeal must fail as there can only be one beneficiary, Tottenham Hotspur. The outcome is too much of a minefield for the Premiership to consider giving them a positive response whilst the Tottenham Board would do well to accept the original decision in the same phlegmatic manner that their manager did.

Some final thoughts on the letter itself. Daniel Levy claims that he has the support of the majority of the Chairmen of The Premier League clubs. Of course he does - they neither lose nor gain so why not boost his ego by agreeing with him. But pose the question to them when they have something to lose and see how many supporters he has then. Slightly less than one in all probability. And they are well aware of the dangerous precendent that could be set and the potentially negative impact it could have on them in the future. So Mr Levy is perhaps being optimistic in his claim.

Mischeviously, Levy alludes to Arsenal stating that if this occurred on the morning of the Champions League final, UEFA would deal in a fairer manner than The Premier League dealt with Tottenham. This is highly unlikely as UEFA have more financially to lose than the FAPL. Where UEFA may be more flexible is getting the police and other authorities to delay kick - off by more than two hours. All of this is pure conjecture as published legal advice indicates that the Appeal is doomed to fail, principally through Tottenham participating in the match at West Ham.

One final postscript. Should the Appeal succeed and Tottenham win to deny Arsenal Champions League competition next season, it would be the single biggest motivational tool in Arsene Wengers' armoury a week tomorrow in Paris. At least this season has stopped the decline in the local rivalry, indeed the injustice felt by Tottenham may just have upped the ante ever so slightly.

Todays Tunes come from Paul Weller, two tracks from his concert in Stuttgart in April of this year. Thanks to Chippo for posting the gig.

Long Hot Summer

Sunflower

Young, Gifted, Uncapped

2006-05-08T18:32:00.000Z

Sven Goran Eriksson has named his England squad for the World Cup 2006. Whilst this is still provisional, the England coach has foregone the opportunity to name twenty seven opting instead to name those who will travel barring some misfortune striking. The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green

Defenders
Gary Neville
Rio Ferdinand
John Terry
Ashley Cole
Sol Campbell
Jamie Carragher
Wayne Bridge

Midfield
David Beckham
Michael Carrick
Frank Lampard
Steve Gerrard
Owen Hargreaves
Jermaine Jenas
Stewart Downing
Joe Cole
Aaron Lennon

Forwards
Wayne Rooney
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott

Standby List
Scott Carson
Luke Young
Nigel Reo-Coker
Jermaine Defoe
Andy Johnson

The announcement was not entirely unexpected. Well, in the selection of Goalkeepers and Defenders. Pretty much they are the ones Eriksson has picked all along, barring injury, and the only name that would probably be there if he was fit is Ledley King. In midfield all of the usual suspects are there but also the surprises start. The recall of Owen Hargreaves caused my eyebrow to raise - in a manner not dissimilar to Roger Moore - purely because he is not really talked about much. I suspect that had Kieron Dyer been fit, Hargreaves would not be going to Germany, or rather travelling across the country from his Bavarian home. Stewart Downing is not too surprising either given the lack of natural width that Eriksson's teams habitually show, particularly on the left-hand side. The addition of Aaron Lennon was a pleasant surprise as I did not expect him to really get called up, despite some good performances for Spurs. The number of midfielders selected was slightly unusual, nine is probably more than I would have chosen particularly as none them look to me to be able to double as a withdrawn attacker. Nine has reduced the number of forwards Eriksson can take, which ordinarily one would expect to mean the dropping of Darren Bent but he did not even make the nearly list. Rooney's inclusion keeps Eriksson's word that he would travel with the squad even if he were to prove fit only for the final - a mighty big presumption to make, given England's performance without him at Euro 2004, the startling lack of guile and passion shown against Brazil during the last World Cup . The final selection of the squad however is a complete "jaw dropper". Indeed, I had to re-read the squad names to ensure that my eyes were not deceiving me, yes it really was Theo Walcott.

In doing this, Eriksson has shattered one of the central criticisms of his style. Previously chastised for appearing to be too clinical and devoid of emotion, he has in his own words destroyed that notion, admitting that Walcott's selection could not be defined logically and it was based on a feeling in his stomach that he had - was he at the same hotel as Spurs this weekend? For Italia 90, Paul Gascoigne's inclusion was the "Joker In The Pack" whereas Rooney fulfilled the same role for Portugal 2004. In both cases, they were established first team players for their clubs. The inclusion of Walcott is a real shock given he is a regular on Arsenal's bench but yet to spend a minute on the pitch in Arsenal's first team. This weekend, Wenger has been pushing Walcott forward which at the time I dismissed as him deflecting attention from the forthcoming Wigan match. It now transpires that Wenger had more than a good idea of his inclusion, letting slip that Walcott had been watched when either Eriksson himself or Tord Grip were checking on Ashley Cole's recovery at London Colney, and that Grip had specifically watched the Arsenal youngster at England U-19 level.

As an England fan, I am concerned by the inclusion of Walcott. Not based on ability - he is as much an unknown quantity at the highest level to me or the next man, it is more the lack of experience and competitive match fitness this season. Since joining the club in January, he has made to date three reserve appearances, scoring twice. This is then added to the seventeen Southampton games he played in (five goals) and a couple of England caps at lower levels. In total, he has therefore played in no more than twenty five appearances, scoring around ten goals but none at the highest level of club football. However, he does have one advantage in that there will have been few scouts of opposing teams nor defenders who know much about him, never mind having heard of him. For Arsenal, this is great experience for the player and may propel him into the first XI quicker than anticipated. For the player this is beyond his wildest dreams. Indeed, according to his Agent the only thing Walcott was expecting today was to have passed his Driving Theory Test! Some day in his life no doubt and hopefully, the World Cup will be a success for him.

For English football, his inclusion is a damning indictment of the quality of forwards available for selection, or rather lack of it. Eriksson cannot be said to have not tried to find another scoring forward for the national team. In the Premiership, he has the choice of Jermaine Defoe - not a regular for his club, Darren Bent who can score freely for Charlton but looked out of his depth in his one appearance, Marcus Bent who would not figure immediately in my plans if I were in the Swedes stacked heels. After that, Marlon Harewood has done well for West Ham, as has Dean Ashton. After that, you start to struggle to name English forwards in the top flight. Teddy Sheringham has been mentioned as possibly going but that was wishful thinking on his supporters part, age being against the old man, James Beattie is the only other striker who springs to mind, less than a resounding success at Everton. Which then allows you to think of Championship players, perhaps Andy Johnson and maybe David Nugent of Preston.

At major tournaments, there are always players who do not make an appearance, defenders tend to be the ones who miss out more than most due to the consistency required by the ones fortunate enough to be selected. I would not expect Walcott to fall into this category given the current injury situation facing England's forwards. Rooney is unlikely to play any part in the Group phase, the second round being the best that he can realistically hope for as a starting point and the medical bulletins issued seem to make that optimistic. Therefore much rests on Michael Owen's woes and whether he is going to be fully recovered in time. Assuming that he is, the starting XI for the Groups will probably be:

Robinson; Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole; Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole; Owen, Crouch

At the first sign of this not working or injury to one of the forwards, Eriksson has two options, either staying with 4-4-2 or bringing on Downing / Lennon to free up Cole to the supporting striker role (perhaps Jenas to fulfill that role directly) or playing Walcott as a direct replacement for Crouch or Owen. Which is where the real risk is being taken. What are his options if Walcott is overcome by nerves or much worse, not up to the task? Limited is a real fear. If Owen fails to make the first game, there is a real chance that before he makes his first Arsenal start, Walcott will be required to make his first England appearance. Eriksson will have weighed this up this morning before finally choosing the youngster and Walcott must be showing extremely good promise to be considered able to fulfill this potential selection headache.

Everyone will be hoping that he passes the England test when it comes calling. But I wonder what the reaction of the media will be in the morning? Incredulity will be the first, second and no doubt third, swiftly followed by chastisement for taking so huge a risk, followed by a thinly veiled threat of much vitriol and bile should it all go wrong, although given that this is his final six weeks as England Coach I would imagine that Eriksson cares not one jot. Perhaps this is even his idea of having a laugh, a touch of revenge on the English nation for the treatment he has received at the hands of our print media. Whichever way you look at it, this is a brave selection by the Swede. Only time will tell if it is folly.

Today's Tunes come from The Kinks BBC Sessions which sprang to mind reading Ray Davies eulogy to the now departed Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London N5.

Waterloo Sunset

Tired Of Waiting For You

It's Your Thing

2006-05-06T14:35:00.000Z

Continuing the theme of Highbury memories, a couple more pieces for my benefit more than anything else. First up, what is the best goal I have seen at Highbury. There are a number of contenders that sprang immediately to mind - Henry's flick and volley over Barthez, running the length of the pitch to beat Spurs all on his own, Bergkamp against Bolton, Barnsley, United - well, virutally everyone, Limpar from forty yards against Liverpool, Wrighty turning Matt Jackson of Everton all over the place before lobbing Neville Southall, hell even John Jensen against QPR was worth the wait. But I think I'm going to delve back into the memory banks for one from 1984. A balmy summers afternoon was brightened no end by the display but the pick was 'Noddy' Talbot's second. The move built on the Arsenal right, with Noddy in the centre circle. Just as the ball was about to be crossed, Noddy started to move by the time it reached the penalty spot he was there with a flying header to put Arsenal well on the way to victory.

But one that has caused me the most thought is my all time Arsenal XI during my time of watching:

Goalkeeper is a tough one, Arsenal have had three world class keepers in my time: Pat Jennings, David Seaman and current incumbent, Jens Lehmann. Although Pat was not in his prime during his time at the club, he was still magnificent in the role. He could save with any part of his body, probably the first exponent of saving with his feet. And he seemed to have massive hands. Lehmann too is not a young man but this is not preventing him from putting in sterling performances week in week out. If he has a flaw, it is his temperament something that could not be said of Seaman or Jennings but Lehmann is perhaps the most athletic of the three. However, Seaman played the football of his career for more than a decade at the club. Who can forget the save against Sheffield United in the FA Cup Semi Final a couple of years ago?

Right Back to me is equally tough. Eboue could be the best right back the club ever had, better than Pat Rice, Lauren too has been a sterling servant for the club. But the choice for me comes down to two men, Lee Dixon or Viv Anderson. Both made the position their own at club and international level for England. Dixon, of course, was a member of the famous back four from 1988 through to Wenger's reign. He was a capable defender, deceptively fast and more than able at supporting the attack to provide width when needed. But on this occasion, Anderson just pips him. He was a superb tackler, with great postional sense. Like Sol Campbell, he was a strong player rarely outmuscled and more of a threat going forward, his height an advantage at corners.

Left Back is another between three players, Ashley Cole, Nigel Winterburn and Kenny Sansom. Winterburn was one of the most underrated players in football, it is a constant source of amazement that he was not a regular in the England squad. Wonderfully one-footed, immensely brave and hugely popular with the fans. For a while we had a travel club, run independantly of the club, Winterburn was to be the mascot! Not sure if he knew and he probably didn't care if he did but this guy was hugely admired for his effort and no-nonsense defending. Ashley Cole is an improving left back, defensively naive in the beginning, this aspect of his game has improved vastly in recent years. Add to this his willingness to get forward and he potentially could be the best left-back England has ever produced. But to get that honour, he will need to oust Kenny Sansom. Quite simply, he was the classiest left back ever to come from these shores. He was a natural leader, quick of mind and tackle with sound passing ability.

Centre Half was easy by comparison. Tony Adams was a complete no-brainer for one of the slots. He overcame considerable abuse in his younger days to such an extent that he is in the same class as Jack Charlton as far as England players go. His well-documented problems were overcome with dignity, something that could have broken lesser men particularly as they were largely self inflicted. Supporting him is not so straightforward, the contenders are Steve Bould, David O'Leary Martin Keown and Sol Campbell. O'Leary was the classiest of the contenders, as graceful a back four player as has ever graced the club. Bould was solid and dependable whilst up until this season Campbell has been one of the best defenders in the game. But it is Keown who gets my vote. Without doubt, he was the best man marker ever to play for the club. So good that both Wenger and Graham used him in that role.

Right Midfield is between two men, Freddie Ljungberg and David Rocastle. Ljungberg has proved himself a world class midfielder, scoring important goals and creating many more. But Rocastle, what a player. He could beat anyone on his day and scored many great goals - Anfield 1988, a vicious shot with minimal backlift - he was happiest when dribbling his way through the massed ranks of opponents defence. It is a pity that Wenger never got the chance to manage Rocky as I believe it is no understatement that he could have made him one of the best wingers the English game has ever produced.

Left Midfield is not so simple. George Graham had two of the best creators, Brian Marwood and Anders Limpar. Marwood was an extremely accurate crosser, Limpar a wizard - infuriatingly inconsistent but capable of dribbling his way out of incredibly tight situations. Wenger has not done too badly either - Marc Overmars and now Robert Pires. Overmars was pace personified, probably one of the few players who could have given Thierry Henry a run for his money. He was already a world class player when he joined the club and he proved that over the next two years. However, Pires gets the nod. At his peak, he was the most creative player seen at Highbury. Seemingly happier creating a goal than scoring, he was and still is, lethal when cutting inside to let fly from the edge of the area.

Central Midfield has been a difficult choice, more through the paucity of candidates. Paul Davis was a solid servant but not one of my favourites. Selley, Hillier and Jensen were bloody useless. Petit around for too short a time, greed taking over whilst Cesc is just beginning. Which leaves Brian Talbot, David Platt, Steve Williams, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto. The Brazilian is an underrated player, which seems strange to say about a World Cup winner. However, when he is not there, the team over the past three years has missed him. Talbot was an all action midfielder who was typical of his era and the much favoured type of England players. Platt was another whose stay at the club was too short to judge, at the end of his career. My choices though are Patrick Vieira and Steve Williams. Vieira was immense for the club, once he had resolved his disciplinary problems. A ballwinner who could distribute the ball, he ate up the ground once those long legs got moving and who should have scored more, given that he possessed a ferocious strike. Williams was the equal of Vieira, perhaps let down by his temperament. Unable to respond to authority or may be it was personal to Graham, he was shipped out sharpish after the 1987 Littlewoods Cup triumph. He could however spray the ball around the park with great accuracy and had great vision - how many other players could have scored the freekick at Doncaster in the League Cup from the near touchline?

Forwards are ten a penny during my time of watching the club - Mariner, Woodcock, Smith, Nicholas, Anelka, Henry, Wright and Bergkamp are the obvious contenders. I'll forget about Hayes, Groves and Quinn. Of these, Henry cannot be omitted and needs no further praise than that which he has already received. He is the best player in the world. No contest. But who should accompany him? Smith was dependable whilst Mariner and Woodcock were past their best at the club. Anelka didn't hang around long enough, a point he freely admits, whilst Nicholas was a darling of the North Bank but a completely inconsistent player. Which leaves Wright vs Bergkamp. A great goalscorer vs a scorer of great goals. One of the most clinical finishers vs one of the most skilful players of his generation. And it is the last choice that swings it for me. Bergkamp was and still is, the most skilful and visionary player ever to grace the Higbury pitch. I could fill several days worth of postings if I was to discuss the positive impact that the Dutchman has had on the club. Suffice to say, it's been a privilege to see him in action.

Manager is the easiest of the lot, Arsene Wenger. For the style, for keeping the club at the top, he is now on his third generation of players. He will be a hard act to follow.

So the lineup is:

Seaman

Anderson
Adams
Keown
Sansom

Rocastle
Vieira
Williams
Pires

Henry
Bergkamp

Hanging On To A Memory

2006-05-06T08:03:00.000Z

The major chapter in the history of Arsenal Football Club draws to a close tomorrow as the final match takes place with Wigan Athletic the visitors. Below are some of my Highbury memories, good and bad:

1979...first visit, Billy Tucker equalises for Swindon with five minutes to go in a League Cup Quarter Final...coach is pelted by bricks on the way home by West Ham fans...1984/5...start going on a regular basis...Brian Talbot curls freekicks home in successive matches against Newcastle and Liverpool...we knew where the ball was going and tried to warn Grobelaar but he didn't listen...Tony Adams makes his debut against Sunderland in a 3 - 2 win...Tottenham win on New Years Day, a smiling fan makes the wise decision to get off the tube when he realised that the good humour was not shared...Hereford lose 7 - 2 in a cup tie, a prelude to York...1985/6...Mariner scores against Sheffield Wednesday just as we reach the top of the steps on the Clock End, still didn't stop us leaving...30th November 1985, Arsenal 0 Birmingham City 0, the worst football match I have ever seen..redemption two weeks later as Liverpool succumb to a 2 - 0 defeat, Niall Quinn and Charlie do the damage...Villa rain on our parade winning in the League Cup...Graham Roberts dumps Charlie over an advertising hoarding in a coma-inducing New Years Day game...1986/7...the start of something good, opening day win over United...all the way to Wembley, only one trip out of London, Clive Allen scores but so begins a sequence of 2 - 1 wins over Tottenham...John Barnes and his Watford chums rob us in the cup Quarter Final...clubs centenary match is a let down, a great day not a good game, 1 - 0 over Southampton on December 27th...Freezing our nuts off when we could have watched a 0 - 0 boredraw with Coventry on TV...1987/88...Smudger takes a while to get going but Portsmouth get the brunt of frustration in a 6 - 0 win...League Cup Semi Final with Everton even more packed on the North Bank than the previous year, taking 25 minutes to move back into position after the opening goal...Brian McClair's penalty is still in orbit as United go out of the cup, the start of all the hatred as Winterburn takes the piss...shame Forest had not read the script in the next round...Boxing Day, 0 - 2 to Forest and a parking ticket to boot...1988/89...what a year...Winterburn's screamer to keep the dream alive at home to Wimbledon...Paul Davis throwing a better punch than Henry Cooper did twenty five years earlier...I still hate Dean Saunders sixteen years later for nearly screwing it up...Leroy Rosenior doing us a favour by winning a third round replay, although it didn't feel like it at the time...Liverpool to a third replay, proof that a 0 - 0 draw isn't always a bad game...moving to the West Lower, a second home for the next decade...looking on in disbelief as the blokes next to us waver about going to Anfield after Derby's win, loving Dean Saunders to this day(!)...convincing the same lads after the Crazy Gang deserve their draw that going to Anfield is a waste of time...buying their tickets at face value on the pretext that we were off to Glasgow for England v Scotland so were up in that general direction(!!), a prelude to what is still the greatest night out I've ever had...1989/90...a forewarning of things to come, as we fail to defend the title...pissing the Scousers off again by winning in the League Cup...bundle as Norwich come to town...Bumstead scoring for Chelsea, stupid name, stupid result...Millwall at Highbury, kicking off left right and centre...1990/91...an unbelievable year...sweet revenge over Chelsea, sticking four past them...taking Liverpool apart, 3 - 0 flattered them...Motty moment, "thats' a beautiful pass" heard by everyone around me before the fourth against Sheffield United, the nickname stuck for a couple of seasons...the last of the great cup marathons, this time against Leeds...Lee Tosspot Sharpe and that 6 - 2 defeat...Villa concede five as Platt goes in goal...guard of honour which must have stuck in Fergie's throat, another Smudger hattrick in a 3 - 1 win...Coventry roll over and die on the last day, 6 - 1 just completed the party atmosphere...1991/92...Europe, Europe, Here We Come...Thanks to Austria Vienna for making us think this is a piece of piss, matching Liverpool's 6 - 1 win the night before...Benfica taking the piss out of us in extra-time to prove it was not easy...another disappointing year, why the f*** did George Graham not improve the previous years squad?...seven past Sheffield Wednesday and I missed it due to my then girlfriend's cousins wedding...it didn't last...Merse's top notch finish against Palace...Super, Superswede Anders Limpar scores the goal of the season over birdwatching Mike Hooper...sticking five past Southampton, not much of a birthday present, eh Al?...1992/93...Cup doubles at the ready...opening day horror show against Norwich summing up the home form all season...losing 3 - 1 to Tottenham days before the FA Cup Final...Leeds again the third round of the cup, another draw...Wrighty's twenty five yard volley over the keeper against Forest...Palace taken apart in the second leg of the League Cup semi, queueing for bloody ages to get a pint that night in the Barn...1993/94...wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen...another opening day horror show, this time against Coventry...the domestic football was some of the worst ever seen...even Swindon got a point at Highbury...diabolical surrender to Bolton in The FA Cup...nearly as bad in the League Cup against Villa...did we care? Did we f***! PSG and Torino fall to "1 - 0 to the Arsenal" on European Nights...1994/95..."shooooooot!", "f***ing hell, he's scored"...Johnny Jensen finally breaks his duck against QPR...ran like a loon in celebration....about the only thing that made the 1 - 3 defeat palatable...the football got worse in the League, worse in the cup losing to Millwall...Georgie boy is naughty and gets sacked, disbelieving that he had been so dumb as to get caught...Coneman takes over...Sampdoria and it felt like heaven and hell in one match, not really believing the 3 - 2 would be enough...1995/96...walking in a Bergkamp wonderland, especially that goal against Bolton...or what of the first two against Southampton...Man United brought to their knees...knowing that dropping a two goal lead against Villa was bad news in the first leg of the League Cup Semi Final...1996/97...Le Boss introduced before a 3 - 2 defeat against Borussia Monchengladbach...thinking "who the hell is he? Cruyff would have been better"...the Tiny Tots put to the sword in a piss-easy 3 - 1 win...reality bites with a 1 - 2 defeat to United and Liverpool...1997/98...realising that this could be the start of something good...Bergkamp against Barnsley, you knew where the ball was going, so did the keeper but he couldn't stop it...Vieira volleys over Schmeichel...Platty leaps like a salmon to gain all three points...not to sure about this Anelka lad, he's good but might need some time in the reserves - shows how much I know about football...how the f*** did we lose that one as Liverpool leave town with all three points...the pits as Blackburn mug us 1 - 3...three months later, who knew they could do that, going to United needing a win to make it game on...persuading the bloke next to me that he really didn't want to go to Old Trafford on his own and that selling me his ticket for a £20 premium was sound business sense...God knows how he fell for that one...Stevie Bould chips through for Tony to lash into the net, the perfect way to seal the title...bloody awful at home in the cup but we still made it to Wembley...hugely disappointed that we did not put Chelsea away in the League Cup Semi Final First Leg...1998/99...United's all conquering team torn to shreds in a 3 - 0 win...Dave E falling into bog on a 125 after Boro and not waking up until Reading...no home European games having to troll out to Wembley again...believing the unbelievable may come true when Sir Les scores at Old Trafford...knowing it won't happen when the final whistle goes...Sheffield United in the FA Cup - why replay?...Is putting the reserves out to a full strength Chelsea such a good idea? 0 - 5 seems to say not...1999/2000...
never in the title race as United stroll home...an interminably dull cup tie with Leicester...Roy Keane at the double to seal the points...Wembley way called again without any joy...All back to Highbury for the UEFA Cup...if we thought it was one-sided against Nantes, Deportivo was a complete rout...Bergkamp against Lens set the tone for future European Semi Finals...2000/01...Cup joy turned sour in the last ten minutes as another mugging at the hands of the Scousers...Chelsea's woe continues as they are dumped out of the cup in the fifth round...Lazio come to town and are run ragged by Bergkamp and Ljungberg...two goal lead thrown away against Bayern...Valencia almost end the cup run in the first leg, Ray Parlour's superstrike gave hope...Pires provides a fitting finish to mark Rocky's sad passing...2001/02...after Leeds in the first home match, the only double we had in mind was the MacAllan in the pub afterwards...Carragher lobs a coin back into the crowd as Bergkamps superb header settles the tie...Pires goal in the replay against Newcastle...his injury at the end of the first half...flying to Spain on September 11th having persuaded my wife that Mallorca was only a short hop from her parents apartment...Mallorca cocking up the return thinking 3 - 1 would be OK for them to progress...Juve destroyed...Leverkusen annihilated, has Pires ever played better?...Blackburn prove the catalyst again...United collapse in a 3 - 1 win...Lauren's late, late penalty to deny the Tiny Tots...2002/03...Dortmund's reputation in tatters - how was it only 2 - 0?...best to forget the home matches against Roma, Ajax and Valencia...nicking a 3 - 2 win over Chelsea, more beer please...Henry against Tottenham...Southampton crumble to a 6 - 1 thrashing, two hattricks from either wing...2003/04...Inter appear to put European dreams at an end in the first game, what price 5 - 1 in the return...Ashley Cole keeps it alive with a late, late header...Celta offer no resistance...whilst Bridges burnt the faithful...Reyes announces his arrival with a corker...the kids running riot against Wolves...a season unbeaten and unbeatable...2004/05...that comeback against Middlesbrough to keep the run going...seventh heaven against Everton...Liverpool a poor second in a 3 - 1 win...back on track against Rosenborg...all over Bayern but unable to find the crucial second...Everton made to look second rate by the reserves...2005/06...arrivederci Patrick, Hola Cesc...Europe rules the roost...Real stubbornly rebuffed...Juve arrived as the big men, departed as boys...Villarreal tried to squirrel an away goal but a Toure de Force sinks them...Stevie Gerrards wonder pass for the second, Cesc's for the first...a passionless visit from Man U, all animosity gone...cheating Tiny Totts denied by Henry...Sol collapses against West Ham...Boro hit for seven, this is becoming a habit...Power Ranger has his photo taken with the entire first team squad on Members Day...a fond farewell to the past, hopes of a bright, new future.

My thanks to all those over the years who made the matches enjoyable. In particular to John for the sensible conversation and rare moments of sanity, Jo, Martin, Neil - always able to fit in a swift couple before the trains left, Chris, Graeme, Marcus and last but by no means least, Larry the Fire.

Today's Tunes are from Paul Weller, culled from a Top Of The Pops performance on Friday June 14th 1996.

The Changingman

Peacock Suit

Senior Citizens

2006-05-04T21:43:00.000Z

Manchester City 1 - 3 Arsenal

0 - 1 Ljungberg (30)
1 – 1 Sommeill (40)
1 – 2 Reyes (77)
1 – 3 Reyes (82)

A match that Arsenal had to win, ended with the required outcome. Their fate is still in the hands of Tottenham but now the pressure is really on. One point separates the two teams, Tottenham have to win to be sure of Champions League football next year. Lose and should Arsenal avoid defeat, the UEFA Cup beckons.

For much of the first half, Arsenal failed to treat this other than a meaningless end of season fixture that is exactly the attitude that was not required. It required a stick of dynamite up their collective backsides, which is exactly what they appear to have received in the changing rooms during the interval. Do not get me wrong, during the opening forty-five minutes they did little wrong. It is just that they appeared to believe that by turning up, the three points would automatically return to Highbury. This was proven not to be the case. Television captured one moment of frustration with Wenger, hand on hips, seemingly unhappy with a challenge made by a Manchester City player. I suspect that he was more upset with the mental attributes of his charges that manifested itself at that particular moment.

Neither side had any rhythm for the first quarter of the game, tired passes, lazy flicks being the order of the day. This changed when suddenly the passes from the visitors started to find feet, Van Persie thumping the bar before realising he was offside. The opening goal came from a familiar sight yet somewhat surprising for this season. Henry picked up the ball midway in the City half, dribbled through two challenges, made one reverse pass that took out another two defenders and Ljungberg took the ball out of reach of the last man before shooting across David James into the far corner. All well and good, everything seemingly on track, for ten minutes anyway. A City corner on their right was played deep into the area, volleyed back in a scuffed fashion, squirming under Lehmann’s grasp before Sommeill drove the ball into the net. Politely called a “soft” goal by Andy Gray, Wenger would have been furious with his defence for their slow reactions. Two minutes later, an unmarked Sol Campbell flicked the ball wide from a corner when from my sofa with can of Stella in hand, it seemed easier to score. The move that summed up the first half came started and finished with Henry. Receiving the ball midway in the City half, Henry proceeded to beat four defenders, some twice, played the ball into Van Persie who instead of taking the seemingly simpler option to shot, reversed the pass to Henry in the penalty area with a clear strike at goal, and promptly put the ball six feet wide.

The second half started in fine fashion from Arsenal’s attacking point of view. Within thirty seconds of the restart, Henry played the ball through to Van Persie whose shot from the edge of the area brought a good save from James. Did I just type that? Calamity James made a good save. Heaven help us all, the world is about to end! Minutes later, Henry swept the ball to the left to Ljungberg who cut inside and from twenty yards hit the near post. Barely ten minutes later, a succession of City corners, which were blocked, resulted in Lehmann losing his cool, stepping on Vassell’s toes that understandably reacted to this provocation by shoving the German to the floor and getting booked.

On fifty-eight minutes, Fabregas emerged to replace Song with an instant impact. A turn and flicked pass ten yards outside of his own area resulted in Van Persie forcing another good save from James. The half then proceeded with a succession of chances and half chances that were spurned, Hleb bringing a good save from the former England Number One. On sixty-eight minutes, just as Reyes and Pires prepared to come on, Dunne forced a great save from Lehmann from a header, the German flying to his left to push the ball wide from another poorly defended City corner, before repeating the feat tipping Micah Richards header over the bar. Pires had an immediate impact, a fierce drive being well held by James. Reyna’s intemperate handball then gave Henry the chance to ensure England’s Number Two or Three got some more shot stopping practice, safely holding the well struck freekick. David James? Safely Held? Ye Gods, the sky is falling in.

Just when it seemed it was going to be one of those nights, hopes of a fourth place finish were raised. Reyes took a quick freekick to Henry whose short pass to Pires allowed the soon to depart Frenchman to split the City defence to allow Eboue to pull the ball back to Reyes whose side footed shot could only be diverted into the net by James. With twelve minutes to go, the nerves were sure to jangle. After all, this is not Europe. And so it proved. Twice in the three minutes after goal, Lehmann had to save smartly, more edgy defending by The Gunners.

This was merely a prelude to the icing on the cake. Another spell of City pressure seemed to be looming, when a breakaway resulted in Henry sprinting into the area. Once in the box, the defence forced him across the area until a short pass gave the ball to Reyes. Showing the finishing that prompted Wenger to make him potentially the clubs most expensive signing, Reyes curled the ball into the net past the despairing leap of a City defender and the unfortunate James. Unfortunate? Certainly, he made several good saves and could not be faulted on any of the goals. It is only good news for England if he continues this form, knowing that at least one of the substitutes is more than capable of doing his job if required.

On that subject, what of the World Cup hopefuls on show? Well, for sure, Vassell will not be going as any sort of replacement for Rooney. Campbell only had one moment of concern when Vassell outmuscled him for a header. Other than that several good recovery tackles show he is getting back to form and Ashley Cole came through the full ninety minutes without seeming to aggravate his injuries further. One last World Cup attendee was on show. Graham Poll, England’s only refereeing representative had a good game, dealing with most incidents with a calming word in players ear or a bollocking as required. Clear signals and kept up with the play well. Keep it up.

Today’s Tunes come from Calexico, whose new album, Garden Ruin, is on constantly at home since its’ purchase. A band that never seek to limit their boundaries, they are frequently pigeonholed into the “Americana” category which, whilst I can understand, seems to do a disservice to their repertoire. Stand out tracks for me on the new album are “Cruel”, “Letter to Bowie Knife” and "Lucky Dime". The bands website, Casa De Calexico, carries a fine selections of MP3’s to download. Commendably, the band publicise their support for the Live Music Archive, an American site that promotes the exchange of live music for fans. These two are part of that choice:

Ojitos Traidores

Close Behind - Vocal Mix

Give Youth A Chance

2006-05-03T13:02:00.000Z

Stephen Sidwell is interviewed in this month’s Four Four Two magazine, along with John Halls, Graham Stack and James Harper, ostensibly as a congratulatory piece on Reading’s promotion but also tying in the fact that all are products of Arsenal’s Youth Academy.

In the piece, tucked away towards the back of the magazine, Sidwell bemoans the fact that none of the 2001 Youth Cup winning side has progressed to the first team, observing that they were deemed to be the best of their generation so if they could not break into the first team, “what chance have other youngsters got?” A further comment that Aliadiere had left the club to obtain first team football is printed as if to substantiate the points made. This is however, slightly disingenuous, as the journalist and Sidwell both know. The Frenchman has been loaned out to gain first team football on a regular basis in part to gain experience for when (or if) he returns but also to aid his permanent recovery from a bad injury. Up to that point, he was on fringe of the starting XI, being a substitute on a regular basis.

Sidwell believes no doubt that he was good enough to play in the first team on a regular basis. It is commendable that he has this confidence in his abilities and he should be proud of achieving a professional football career. However, rather than blame the club for not making the grade at Highbury, he should be looking at the reasons why. The answer to this is quite simple. The central midfield since Wenger’s reign began has predominantly contained two future World Cup winners at any one time, up until this season when at the time of writing, there is only one. In the beginning it was Petit and Vieira, subsequently Gilberto and Vieira with now the Brazilian being the only one. That is some pedigree for a youngster to put themselves up against, particularly when you consider that they have contributed to the success of the club in the last decade and were all playing the football of their lives, something that has been proven by the moves that Petit and Vieira have made away from Arsenal. It cannot be seriously held that Wenger has a greater obligation to the club’s youth players rather than bringing success to the team.

There is a fair point about the lack of opportunities for younger players up until this season. The answer is the same for Stack, Halls and Harper. In the positions that they play, established internationals were already in the first team with more on the bench. This is a sad fact of life at the top clubs. Unless an individual is prodigiously talented, he is not going to take the place of a more experienced pro that currently plays in an International team. More pertinently, Sidwell should have questioned nationalities but this is lost when considering the global perspectives that clubs in the top flight now have. Indeed, it is a vicious circle that will not be solved until the coaching at young ages revolves more around technique, as continental Europeans do. Even though clubs have established Academies throughout the Professional Game in England, it is still going to take some time for a new crop of youngsters to come through and beat the odds to make it to the top of football. Sadly, more will fail than succeed.

A final observation on this is that economics makes it difficult for English players to get to the very top. Until recent seasons when Transfer fees became more sensible, lower division clubs were demanding too much money for players when “the big boys” came in. That necessitated looking overseas for new signings and it quickly became obvious that an established international could be purchased for less than a promising youngster. In addition to this, the appointments of Wenger, Mourinho and Benitez increased the likelihood of purchasing foreign players as they went with what they were familiar with. Of the initial signings that Wenger made, I believe that only Grimandi had never come into contact with Le Professeur before as a player. Henry, Vieira and Petit had all been under his wing at some point in the past. Mourinho and Benitez both had a similar policy in their first year at Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, bringing in Portuguese and Spanish players through preference. Clear cases of being comfortable with what you know. It is only Martin Jol who has reversed this policy by buying a number of English players at Tottenham, probably those who will form a large part of future England sides if they realise their potential.

Recent days have seen some comments from Wenger that the club are considering suing Dan Smith over the injury caused by his tackle on Abou Diaby during the Sunderland match on Monday. It is believed that the Frenchman will be out for up to nine months. I do not doubt that Smith was careless in his tackle and would fall foul of Employment Law or some such statute covering the Duty Of Care that we all have to our fellow man. However, there was a lot of insinuation that this was a tackle made by a thug of limited ability; several Arsenal players were quoted afterwards bemoaning the physical nature of Sunderland’s play. Personally, I find this reaction distasteful and am severely disappointed by the nature of the comments. Smith is the only person who knows what his intent was. From what I could see, he went into the challenge to win the ball, only for an opponent of swifter mind to move it beyond his reach. That the player is young - Smith is in only his third Premiership start – is a contributing factor. He has made an error but not one that should have been castigated in such a manner. The remainder of the Arsenal team know better than to criticise a physical approach. After all, they should be expecting teams to try to outmuscle them, as it is a well-documented way of beating them. The lack of grace shown demeans the club. For sure, be angry about the tackle. But legal action? An over the top comment.

Spare a thought for Diaby though. It was unlikely that he would have started the Champions League final, probably a substitute. This chance has now been denied him. Perhaps Stewart Houston could share a word of consolation with him having missed the 1977 FA Cup Final through a broken ankle. Houston never appeared in a winning Cup Final side, indeed only appearing in the 1976 side that lost to Southampton.

Today’s Tunes are courtesy of the Guys and Gals at Hammondbeat, the official Funk and Groove Merchants. Aside from hosting the grooviest tunes on Hammond365 Radio, the shop has a fine selection of tunes and there is a downloads section that contains a fair few unreleased MP3’s from the likes of Mike Painter, The Nick Rossi Set, The Diplomats of Solid Soul (two are featured below) and The Link Quartet.

Diplomats of Solid Soul - Holdin' The Money

Diplomats of Solid Soul - Bullfrog Boogaloo

He Kept On Talking

2006-05-02T10:06:00.000Z

Ashley Cole is the subject of more transfer speculation this morning, today's Independent claiming that Chelsea will be activating the oft - reported £16m Release Clause in his contract. I cannot quite fathom if (a) this is a rehash of old news or (b) this is some irrelevant speculation on the part of a lazy journo on a slow news day. More interestingly, Lauren is rumoured to be a target of Sevilla. Given that he is Andalus by birth (as opposed to nationality), there is a hint of truth. Certainly the rumoured £4m fee would be taken seriously by Arsenal given the emergence of Eboue and the return of Justin Hoyte from Sunderland. For a number of seasons both fullbacks were guaranteed their spot in the team due to a lack of adequate replacements, the reverse is now true. Whilst Gael Clichy is not as good as Cole, that seems a situation that will be rectified in the fullness of time. Flamini is a surefooted replacement for Clichy should that necessity arise. The summer could prove an opportune moment to consider moving both on - Wenger showed with Vieira that he does not tolerate too many summers of speculation surrounding players although Henry would be the exception to that rule - and a total of £20m could be well invested in new players, particularly in the forward line and centre of defence.

Wayne Rooney continues to occupy the minds of the media hacks and if we are to be believed, the nation as a whole. The Broken Metatarsal allowed them to rehash all of the articles from four years ago and just substitute Rooney for David Beckham. Eriksson is currently working for the first time in his England Career on a Plan B, with the ludicrous suggestion from Rafa Benitez that Liverpool's Peter Crouch could replace him. No, I'm not following that one either. Crouch should be Plan B if you need to lob a long ball forward and have Owen and Rooney running onto the knockdown. To my untrained eye, the obvious replacement is Joe Cole, creative enough and capable of scoring. Where England fall down is a lack of width. It will be interesting to see if Eriksson has the brass balls to take Aaron Lennon with the squad as a possible option for the left hand side should Cole be moved to a more central position. Whether this will work remains to be seen but he would be the unknown quantity for any defence to try to handle in much the same way that Rooney was in Euro 2004. Danny Murphy makes an interesting point that the boots may not be to blame for the recent spate of this injury, instead blaming the pitches. The Spurs midfielder believes that wear and tear on the feet leaves them open to potential damage as most pitches are firm which is conduicive to the standard of football in the Premiership these days. However, this does not appear to hold true for Rooney or indeed, Beckham. Both men suffered injuries as a result of poor challenges by opponents which came on the top of the foot. This has resulted in broken bones, most likely because of the slimness of the leather uppers on the top of the boot they were wearing. The time may be coming where manufacturers will have to thicken these or put in a more protective design. Given the penchant for retro shirts, what price retro boots combined with modern footwear technologies?

On the subject of England, Steve McLaren seems set to be named as the new England Coach. This is something I would not agree with nor do I think will work long term. Despite 'Boro's Eurpean run, it should be remembered that in the League they are what could be politely termed as infuriatingly inconsistent. Capable of hammering Chelsea and Manchester United but losing to woeful Sunderland and Aston Villa teams at home. The recent home matches have masked deficiencies, two down to Basle and three down to Steaua do not fill me with hope. One thing is for certain his teams are capable of recovering although Sevilla could be one step too far for them. I would still prefer Sam Allardyce for the role, with Stuart Pearce as assistant. It appears however, that the FA have a dream team of McLaren, with Peter Taylor as his number two and Pearce assisting. Ho hum.

Todays Tunes are from The Who, a concert from Oakland on 9th October 1976, the late John Entwhistles birthday.

I Can't Explain

Baba O'Reilly

Tired and Weary

2006-05-01T22:16:00.000Z

Sunderland 0 - 3 Arsenal

0 - 1 Collins o.g. (27)
0 - 2 Fabregas (40)
0 - 3 Henry (43)

Sunderland have the worst record at home this season in any of the professional divisions in England and Scotland. In fact you can add in the upper echelons of Non-League Football in England as well. Which, on paper, made them the perfect team for Arsenal to cock it up against; the memories of a defeat to an equally poor Stoke City side in the mid-1980's still burn deeply. As it happened, Sunderland were so poor that Arsenal never got into top gear, did not look like doing so nor did they need to.

Resisting the temptation for widespread tinkering for which he has become renowned this season, Wenger fielded the strongest side that he could given the injuries to Hleb, Gilberto, Senderos, Flamini and Reyes - although I'm not sure Reyes actually qualifies as injured, Wisdom Teeth removal not being a noted footballing knock. In came Clichy, Song, Diaby and Pires as the changes to the starting line up from last Tuesday.

The opening stages of the match reminded me why I hated going to places like Sunderland for Monday evening kick-offs. I still shudder at the memory of visiting Roker Park in 1991 for dreary goalless draw and getting back to Guildford at 3am following what seemed quite possibly to be the longest road journey ever. Well, that was until we went to Vienna by coach but that's another story.

Back to todays match. Once the opening lethargy was out of the way, more wayward passing seemingly worse than in Spain, it was obvious that Sunderland were not going to improve on their home record. Pires went close in the first ten minutes with a sidefooted shot the wrong side of the post. Possession was turned into goals after 27 minutes. Henry drifted a freekick from the left towards the near post, Diaby ducked under it and the unfortunate Collins powered the header into his own net. Apparently, he has yet to score for Sunderland. The second arrived five minutes before the break, Henry exchanging passes with Fabregas, playing the little Spaniard in for a neatly taken finish under pressure from a neanderthal defender. The third came from Henry a couple of minutes later. A freekick on the left again, this time Henry went for goal, and left Davies groping at air. A resigned tone took over in the stadium, more worried about how many Arsenal would score and whether this would completely shag up Niall Quinn's takeover of the club. As it was, aside from Kyle forcing a good save from Lehmann, Sunderland never threatened. Indeed, Lehmann threatened to lamp one of their forwards for dragging him down mid-flight, from a Sunderland freekick. The handbags that followed were summed up by Weedy Gary Breen threatening to hit Jens with his zimmer frame. Noticeably, the next Sunderland freekick left the Sourkraut to collect the ball completely unchallenged.

Ashley Cole's return happened after just over an hour, filling in on the left hand side of midfield. Whilst this is not what Eriksson would have planned, he saw more action there than if he had gone in as Left Back. I would not be surprised if he started on Thursday. Despite what Terry Butcher thinks, if I were choosing the England squad, Cole and Campbell would be there, the latter for cover, and so would Rooney for that matter. We wait to see if the Swede concurs with that view.

Manchester City next on Thursday who will provide a sterner test that Sunderland. A win vital to put the pressure on Spurs for Sunday's finale.

Upside Down

2006-04-30T07:36:00.000Z

With one week remaining of the domestic League season, yesterday saw a large number of the issues regarding Promotion and Relegation resolved. In the Premiership, the charmless revolution emanating from Stamford Bridge continued with the Title confirmed as staying in West London for another season as Manchester United capitulated to a three goal defeat, proving that all of the hot air coming from Fergie et al in recent weeks about not surrendering was just the final bellows of a over inflated ego. In keeping with the complete lack of class surrounding the club, Chelsea fans pelted their opponents with a variety of objects in the first half. Coming on the back of a £10k fine for failing to control their players at West Brom earlier this year, it ranks as crass stupidity by the fans to do so. Perhaps now the FA will finally take action against the club that brings them into line with the rest of football and shows them that their blatant disregard for the rules is no longer tolerated. A three week closure of the stadium and a points deduction for the start of next season would seem to be the only thing that would make the idiots listen. At the foot of the table, 'Appy 'Arry avoided the ignomy of relegating both South Coast clubs in successive seasons by continuing Portsmouth's improbable resurgence with a win at Wigan. This condemned both Birmingham and West Brom to Championship football next season, although whether the current bosses will be there to lead them is open to debate. European places are still up for grabs so I would expect Sky to show Arsenal and Tottenham's matches next weekend. Blackburn are in pole position for the last UEFA Cup place, two points clear of Newcastle with two games to play as opposed to the Toon's one. What this has done is prove that Souness really had lost the plot and put Roeder in a good position to take over as manager should he decide to apply for the job.

The Championship was decided weeks ago, Reading as worthy champions and perpetual bridesmaids Sheffield United promoted automatically with just the play-off positions to be decided; Preston, Watford, Leeds and Crystal Palace fighting for the one remaining promotion place. If I had to choose, my heart says it would be nice to see Preston win through for no other reason that it is another new face in the top flight, current form would suggest Watford should go up but I suspect Palace will have the nouse to win through. Relegated sides Crewe, Brighton and Millwall will be replaced by Southend, with probably Colchester going up automatically. In the play-off mix Brentford will be joined by Huddersfield. Thereafter, the two places will be filled by Barnsley, Swansea, Nottingham Forest or Doncaster. The Tykes are reasonably sure of being one of the teams but the remaining three all face away trips next week, Chesterfield, Bradford and Tranmere being the hosts. Picking the two to go omwards with their seasons, I have a feeling that Doncaster will miss out, having to win whilst the other two should be capable of picking up the necessary point.

The bottom of League One showed just what a rollercoaster game football can be. Walsall were relegated last week and will be joined by Swindon, supported by my father as regular readers will know. After an hour in yesterday's games though, it seemed that The Robins were on course for a miraculous escape, leading by one goal at Bristol City. A flurry of late activity allied to a Bristol City equaliser condemned them to their fate; the punishment highlighted the negatives of recent home defeats to Rotherham and MK Dons. The remaining relegation places will be filled by two of Blackpool, Rotherham, MK Dons and Hartlepool. In a twist of fate, the winner will really take it all at Millmoor next saturday as Rotherham host MK Dons, although avoiding defeat may be enough for The Merry Millers if Hartlepool fail to beat Port Vale. Blackpool are nervously glancing over their shoulders as defeat at home to Gillingham could condemn them if MK Dons or Hartlepool win.

League Two has one promotion place to be decided, Carlisle promoted last week, joined yesterday by Northampton. The Cumbrians seem to be in pole position for the Title though as they visit Stockport and The Cobblers travel to Grimsby. That is not clear cut though as no-one but the most optimistic of Seagulls would have expected Torquay to beat Carlisle yesterday and Grimsby are not the force they were six weeks ago. Leyton Orient will be in third place if Grimsby lose or they win at relegation threatened Oxford United. The play - off's are largely sorted, Wycombe and Cheltenham confirmed as joining the Mariners or O's with Lincoln likely to join them, needing to get a point to deny Peterborough a play-off spot. It is again the relegation area that is the real dogfight. Rushden go back to whence they came, confirmed as a Conference side yesterday. They will be joined by any one of the next SEVEN sides above them in the table. Currently, that position is occupied by Oxford. Which is where it gets interesting. Next weeks games see Oxford entertain Orient who are fighting for Promotion. Stockport one up the table entertain Carlisle who need the points in the fight for the title. Notts County in 21st host Bury in17th who could theoretically be relegated if everyone below them won and scored enough goals in the process. Barnet in 20th travel to already relegated Rushden whilst Torquay who put their fate in their own hands entertain Boston who are in mid-table obscurity. The one remaining team who could go down are Macclesfield, visiting Bristol Rovers. Of all of them, my tip would be Oxford as Orient have the added incentive of automatic promotion if they get a point.

There would also be a delicious irony if Oxford went down as one of the teams coming up is Accrington Stanley, a role reversal from 1962 when Oxford replaced Accrington in the League after the latter folded. The Play-Off places are filled by former League clubs Hereford and Halifax, accompanied by Morecambe and Grays. It is the last one of the lot who I have a sneaking suspicion will be promoted, despite their defeat yesterday at home to Morecambe, beating Hereford in the final. At the bottom, current relegated teams are Altrincham and Scarborough despite what the BBC website says. Altrincham have an appeal against an 18 point deduction for fielding an ineligible player pending, should they succeed their place will be taken by Tamworth. But this could change if as is believed, Canvey Island admit that they cannot fulfil their fixtures for financial reasons next season. Mention should go to Forest Green Rovers who yet again pulled off a houdini act to escape relegation, ending Stevenages' faint promotion hopes by winning their last match at The Lawn by 2 - 0.

Alan Curbishley has announced that he is to leave Charlton at the end of the season, fifteen years after taking joint charge with Steve Gritt. This will mean he is free to take over at Newcastle or England should they come calling. Hats off to him for his efforts in establishing Charlton in the top flight on an oft quoted, Limited Budget.

It seems that Premiership footballers no longer compare Cars or Salaries when they meet. The latest fad, once again made fashionable by Beckham, is the Broken Metatarsal. Wayne Rooney joins such luminaries as Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard in recent years but it makes me question why this particular injury seems to be occurring with such regularity these days when it was seemingly not so prevalent twenty years ago. Whilst it may be just a perception and back in the day it was quite common, if it was not then questions need to be answered about the current spate of causality. It is noticeable that the rise has coincided with a similar increase in popularity of bladed boots as opposed to the studded kind. Perhaps it is no more than a coincidence but it is well documented that a number of high profile managers dislike these boots. No doubt a study will disprove my theory, sponsored in due course by the boot manufacturers.

Finally, a salutory warning to Thierry Henry about the perils of leaving Arsenal. Rumours abound that Patrick Vieira is on his way out of Juve, having not lived up to expectations particularly since Christmas. It was widely reported that he left to have more chance of winning the Champions League, a fair point at the start of the season. How true it has proved about the grass not always being greener on the other side, as this seasons Quarter Final encounter proved. Best of luck to Patrick wherever he may go, what odds of him facing Henry in a La Liga match next year?

Todays Tunes come from Spanish Band, Cooper, a by-product from Los Flechazos split, formed by front man Alejandro Diez. These tracks are from the now deleted Promo CD single for 2003, Cierra Los Ojos (Close Your Eyes). These are a good representation of the timeless melodies woven by Diez throughout the existence of Los Flechazos and Cooper. Tune In, Turn On and Dream of summer.

No Matter What (Badfinger cover)

Cierra Los Ojos

Rascacielos

Heads Will Roll

2006-04-28T23:06:00.000Z

Just when Brian Barwick must have been thinking that there was light at the end of the tunnel and the bad publicity his organisation was receiving would soon begin to recede, 'Big' Phil Scholari decided to wreck four months work by turning the England job down in a very public manner indeed. Seemingly the last forty eight hours have given the Brazilian an insight into the workings of the English Media and he didn't like what he saw. Citing the press intrusion over his appointment, Scholari has declined the invitation to take over as Sven Goran Eriksson's successor. Whether this is the true reason or merely a smokescreen diverting attention away from the fact that he wanted more money, only time will tell. Some of the press written has been of a personal nature, and understandably he was not impressed, particularly the comparison of his relationship with his wife to that of Eriksson and Nancy Del'Olio.

The outcome is that Barwick and Co now have to reach for a second choice, probably Steve McLaren whose stock rose again on Thursday with Middlesbrough's incredible comeback to beat Steaua Bucharest, having at one point been three goals behind on aggregate. However, given that scriptwriters Croft and Perry seem to have been running the recruitment process as a prototype for a new comedy show, that cannot be taken for granted. What is probably certain is that we will not be seeing the new England manager announced on Thursday. To do so would lay the beleagured FA Chief open to more criticism, this time along the lines of a panic appointment.

For certain, there has been a lot of negative commentary regarding the choice of Scholari. Professional snipers such as Lineker made it clear that they were not happy with a World Cup Winner being appointed, with facile points such as "anyone could have won the World Cup with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo in the side". My observation is that if managing is so easy, why have these individuals not tried it. In the main, it is because they do not have the requisite skills to do so. It is an easy job to sit and write incredibly negative press - I know, I have done it - but much of the previous days media coverage is bordering on the xenophobic. One of the more salient observations was made by John Barnes who believed Scholari to be a good appointment but more importantly, a credible teacher to bring through the next England Coach probably ready for appointment in 2010. Perhaps the funniest has been from Graham Taylor, ex- England Manager who has slammed the FA as amateurs and acting as a disgruntled ex-employee should. Let us not forget this is the man who successfully guided England to the 1994 World Cup. Missed that one didn't you? Yep, me too.

What is certain is that the media will take their own plaudits for this farce but lay the blame squarely at the doors of the FA. The scribes will no doubt be congratulating themselves for putting the stick through the front wheel of the FA bicycle and causing the rider to go headfirst over the handlebars. It is after all not their jobs to have the best interests of English football at heart, despite their false protestations to the contrary. Indeed, it is in their best interests to wreck the structures and reputations of those involved as it is the only way in which they are able to write. Another example of this is Arsenal's qualification for the final of the Champions League. Instead of congratulating the club and having a positive spin on events, they were handing out brickbats for the performance and in some cases, having half of the squad leaving once the season is over. The journalists in question cannot wait for Barcelona to win so that their demolition of Wengers' team can continue, no doubt dreading Thierry Henry staying as it would make them all look like the incompetent naysayers that they are.

The standard of football journalism is in steady decline. There are very few worth reading, and none in the tabloids where original thought seems to be stifled and replaced by bile and petty jealousy. Not that football as an industry helps itself, with moronic behaviour being seen from the boardroom downwards. It is after all no longer a shock to pick up the papers and see that players are being caught on camera in compromising situations or sold down the river in a kiss and tell spectacular. What is surprising is that players do still get caught out, never seeming to learn from their predecessors.

Back to The FA though. Barwick and his cohorts on the recruitment panel are now in some serious trouble with this appointment. Not that being turned down by your chosen candidate for a role is by any means unusual - it happens in industry regularly - but it is the public withdrawal that hurts them. In particular, this has been a spectacular own goal for David Dein, Scholari's champion. Dein regularly gets negative publicity for his football politics. For Arsenal, he has proven a great director, appointing Wenger and getting the new stadium delivered but also he has got things wrong; the initial bond scheme for the North Bank Stand being part of a steep learning curve in relations with the fans. For England however, he draws stinging criticism from all quarters. The only visible target left at The FA for Erikssons detractors to aim at, he is reviled as the consumate football politician, decried for alledgedly wielding his influence to Arsenal's advantage - not proven, m'lud - he has everything that the hacks wish they could get, a successful business and football career, the ability to shape the game and money. Very few of the dogs could attain that, otherwise they would have done so.

He will no doubt have detractors within the machinations of Soho Square, relishing his discomfort over this appointment but this will be forgotten if England perform well at the World Cup. It is also his escape clause, which seems to have slipped below the radar of the media and footballing community. When England fail in 2008, 2010 or 2012, he will be able to point to todays events and quite rightly say, "What did you expect to happen when we did not get our first choice?". This is going to happen. And no-one can argue with it as it is based on an indefinable argument, namely what would have happened if Scholari had taken over. Not that the Fourth Estate will bear any of that in mind, the rampant egotism that ravages that once proud profession will see to that. It is a sad state of affairs when the journalists believe that they are more important than the subject they cover, robbing them of the obectivity they need to write effectively and shape change for the better. In football's case, this will never happen with the deterioration in the relationship between the pen and the pitch to continue scraping the bottom of new barrels indefinitely.

Todays Tunes come from Raw Artistic Soul, a collective heavily influenced by World Music backed onto some of the funkiest grooves this side of christendom. These are from 2005's album, What About Love.

What About Love

Corazon

Unbreak The Promise

2006-04-27T08:22:00.000Z

Barcelona it is then on May 17th. Hardly surprising from the result in the first leg although like Villarreal, Milan can feel aggrieved at losing, particularly as Shevchenko's goal looked perfectly OK to me. Of the two, Barca were the team that I most wanted to see in the final and not simply because they are currently playing some of the best football in Europe. More that I think they will give Arsenal more chances to score with Valdes not looking shall we say, comfortable in goal. Milan also have to erase the memories of Istanbul which would have made them doubly determined to avoid defeat. Whichever team got through, Arsenal were always going to be the Underdogs although I find the premature obituaries being written this week somewhat irksome.

One other thing that is going to start building to a crescendo are the "Henry to Barcelona" stories that have already started again in earnest this week. First of all, Samuel Eto'o believed that Henry should join and now former clubmate, Gio Van Bronckhorst has repeated that "plea". Nothing short of the Frenchman signing a new deal at Arsenal is going to stop these stories and I have to say that I do not believe he will stay in London. The gap between the Champions League final and his departure is less than two weeks. It is inconceivable that Henry has not already made his decision nor that he will decide in the aforementioned timescale. I do not believe that the club can show more ambition for him than this seasons European achievements. He knows that the club is rebuilding domestically and gaining more experience as the season goes on. There will be more money available to Wenger in the Summer for bringing in more players. That Henry has not definitively laid his answer out is entirely his choice, one that he is entitled to make freely in his own time and as he rightly states, he owes nothing to anyone. He may garner even more respect if he outright admitted he needs a new challenge, and believes it to be away from Arsenal.

What is believable is that he does not want to deflate the atmosphere at the club by stating that he will not be renewing his contract before Paris. Sad but true. But there is the best part of three weeks to go and some important domestic football to resolve before minds can turn that to particular match, starting with Sunderland on Monday. It is important to gain maximum points from that visit and the one to the City of Manchester stadium one week today, to put pressure on Tottenham in the final match at West Ham on May 7th.

The long running saga of Sven Goran Erikssons successor appears to be drawing to a close if newspaper reports this morning are to be believed. These suggest that 'Life Of' Brian Barwick and his Legal counterpart at The FA are in Lisbon ironing out a deal with Gene Hackman to take over running the England team. Of the names that were interviewed for the role, he has no peers in terms of footballing achievements. Successful at club level in South America, a World Cup Winner and a runner - up at the last European Championships. That is a CV that English born managers can only look at with envy. In fact, very few managers worldwide can do anything other than turn a deep shade of green. If Big Phil takes the role as seems likely, then few can argue on footballing grounds about his appointment. Where much of the teacup's storm arises is in the "patriotism" being bandied around by various pressmen and footballing people. Most notably, the LMA is adamant that the next England Coach should be English, not a surprising view as they are the trade association of managers.

The question should be asked as to why there are no suitable candidates. And this is where The FA have let English football down badly. It should not have been left until Eriksson's appointment for succession planning to be put into place. This is something that clubs have carried out for years, not every single club but a number of them do. Unless an already experienced club manager had been appointed or Eriksson had been highly successful in his job, it was unlikely that his Number Two was going to gain sufficient experience during his tenure. The FA can point to the fact that Eriksson has contributed to this situation by terminating his contract early but this is somewhat disingenuous. It was painfully obvious at the time he extended his stay that Eriksson was unlikely to leave the role through footballing reasons. For some unknown reason, probably even the Swede could not provide the answer himself, Eriksson has been a walking PR disaster. His private life has been a tabloid editors dream, stumbling from one affair to another to fake sheik calamities. And yet, the majority of fans really do not care despite what the press would have us believe. I have yet to meet one person who believes that any of his dalliances have affected his performance as England coach. Based on results, Eriksson is one of the more successful England Coaches. His qualifying record is sound, the Quarter Finals of the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championships were the expected results. In both cases, it was disappointing not to progress further, certainly in the World Cup when facing ten men, England failed to capitalise. However, this does not detract from the fact that he was the most successful coach since Sir Bobby Robson. Venables may have taken England to the Euro 96 Semi Finals but that was the minimum that should have been achieved as they were the host team, playing all of their games at Wembley. Hoddle and Keegan were not unmitigated disasters as appointments, although Keegan came close, but the second round of France 98 and the Group Stages of Euro 2000 were not anything to write home about even if elimination was achieved in dubious circumstances. What should noted is that Keegan became unbalanced through the weight of expectation whilst Hoddle and Venables were more of a disaster than Eriksson, one being found to be dishonest in his business dealings and the other was just offensive and bigoted.

Which brings me to the second problem The FA faced, namely where are the experienced English Club Managers and what have they achieved? In this respect, there are factors in the domestic game that are beyond their control, the biggest of which is that clubs are free to appoint who they see as the most appropriate for the job of manager. The reality is that a prospective England Coach is going to come from a top flight club and one that has been successful to boot. If we go back to Sir Alf as a starting point, this is a pattern that held fast until Keegan's appointment. Prior to his time as England Manager, Ramsey had won back to back Championships with Ipswich, firstly the Second Division and then the First Division back in the days when they were exactly that, the top two flights of English Football. It was not surprising therefore when he was appointed shortly afterwards. When his successor was chosen, Don Revie was the man charged with translating his club achievements to the International arena something that he failed to do spectacularly, his methodology not finding a comfortable fit with the players nor the requirements of the job. It should be remembered that he was not an overnight success at Leeds, needing several years to blend his side together, a timescale simply not available to England managers then and now. Ron Greenwood was a vastly experienced coach on his appointment although not the candidate with the most honours - Brian Clough fulfilled that criteria but I doubt that he would get a look in at the job even if he were managing today, simply because of his personality. When Sir Bobby Robson joined the fray, it was on the back of the achievements of his Ipswich team, FA Cup Winners, UEFA Cup Winners and regular members of the top five in the First Division. Venables had achieved moderate success domestically but having managed Barcelona to the Spanish title and European Cup Final, he was top of his peer group. Even Hoddle had achieved something with Swindon and then Chelsea. Keegan however, was the first underachiever at club level to manage his country. No trophies adorned the Newcastle Cabinets during his tenure - not a unique circumstance at that club - and he had displayed an inability to cope with pressure during his charge to the runners-up spot, blowing up famously on Sky TV during the run-in. Which is where Eriksson came in. At club level, he had been a success in his native Sweden, Portugal and Italy. The only surprise was that he was appointed in the face of the media fury, Jeff Powell's diatribe against him being the one that sticks most in my mind. It was perhaps the first time the FA had gone against the wishes of the Fourth Estate and how they have suffered since. Indeed, Eriksson wryly commented that it was the first time in many years that he had not occupied the front or back pages whilst the FA searched for his replacement.

Since well before the inception of the Premiership, the number of Championship winning English managers has been less than the total of the digits on my hands. Working backwards, the last Englishman to manage a title winning side was Howard Wilkinson in 1992. Prior to that it was Howard Kendall, perhaps there is a theme running here. Of the winners of the League or Premiership title since 1980, I would suggest that the list of English managers is Brian Clough, Ron Saunders, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and the two Howards. Not impressive in terms of quantity.

And this highlights the biggest obstacle facing The FA, namely job stability. Uniquely amongst the upper echelons of European football, the successful English clubs do not have a high turnover of managers. In the last decade, neither Arsenal nor Manchester United have changed manager, which is a huge compliment to the present incumbents achievements. And yet compare this to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Internazionale, Valencia, Roma, Bayern Munich and Juventus. All have changed managers, some the day after winning the League, even European Cups at those clubs are no guarantee of job security. In English football, only Liverpool and Chelsea of the top five teams in that time have appointed in the last two seasons, whilst Martin Jol has brought Tottenham up onto the periphary of that list. Given the dominance of those four sides, it is therefore unsurprising that no English manager has won anything of note. Indeed, should West Ham provide a massive upset in this seasons FA Cup Final, Alan Pardew will be, I believe, the first English Manager to win the trophy since Joe Royle in 1995. And that is for the seconday club trophy in this country. A decade since an Englishman has achieved anything of note. It is therefore little wonder that whilst Middlesbrough have not set the domestic league alight this season that McLaren, on the verge of a UEFA Cup Final, is flavour of the month. It will be interesting to see who the Glazers appoint as Sir Alex's replacement when he retires and who Arsenal opt for when Wenger leaves. Given the support David Dein has shown for Eriksson and Scholari, an Englishman should not be regarded as even a shoe-in for the shortlist for the Arsenal job. And therefore, the question remains as to where the next successful English manager will come from. Certainly, it would seem not from a domestic club. Perhaps we could export managers and they can continue to grow in a new environment but there are precious few English managers who have plied their trade abroad - Venables, Robson and Houghton are the only ones who spring to mind. The top four could yet surprise us and appoint one of McLaren, Alardyce et al as their next boss but there is at present seemingly little inclination to do so.

Todays Tunes are a mix of the old and the even older. First up is The Damned covering Pretty Vacant from 1978, a shambolic cover worth perservering through the Captains' halfwitted doodle at the start of the track, to get a track that sums up the Punk Era quite nicely. Second up is The Who with Substitute from Madison Square Gardens in 1996.

The Damned - Pretty Vacant

The Who - Substitute

Lo Hicimos!!!

2006-04-25T22:40:00.000Z

Villarreal 0 - 0 Arsenal (Agg: 0 - 1)

It had been my hope to write todays review of the game eulogising over the flamboyant attacking play, pulverising the Spanish hosts into submission. Instead, the match panned out nothing like that. And do you know what? I could not give the backside of a rodent. Arsenal will be in Paris on May 17th 2006, contesting the 50th Champions Cup Final. I'm going to write that again as I can scarcely believe it. Arsenal will be in Paris on May 17th 2006, contesting the 50th Champions Cup Final. If I remember back to the first time I went regularly to Highbury, such an event seemed a millenium away. In those days, the League title was as steep a challenge as could be thought of. Hell, even winning the League Cup in 1987 was a big event. But this tops it all. This is what makes supporting your team worthwhile. Arsenal will be in Paris on May 17th 2006, contesting the 50th Champions Cup Final.

In truth the match itself will not be remembered with any fondness, the outcome being all that mattered. Which is just as well, as it was the second game in four days where we could have been dead and buried by half time. That it took virtually the whole ninety minutes for a clear chance to be created and almost taken is something that takes some getting used to. This is the first match in this campaign where Wengers' charges have surrendered possession and ground so readily in the first 70 minutes.

Of course, the real talking point of the match was the penalty. In a cosmic moment of justice, Jose Mari who was unfairly denied a penalty in the first leg, threw himself to the floor and must have thought all his birthdays had come at once when the Russian referee finally succumbed to the theatrics and pointed to the spot. Tension built, Riquelme struck it well, Lehmann having guessed right saved low to his left and gathered the rebound on the opposite side of the area. Had Riquelme converted the spot kick, then extra time would have been no more than the Valencians would have deserved. Franco had three chances to score with headers, although only one brought a save from Lehmann, Sorin should have scored with a shot from the left side of the area following a good lay-off from Senna, Riquelme hit two freekicks straight down Lehmann's throat and in order to keep the patronising tosh spouting from Clive Tyldesleys' trap, Forlan shot high and wide which description does little justice to the fact that Lehmann was already at his feet when he received the ball.

Arsenal's performance as a team was disjointed. Very little possession was retained for more than thirty seconds with everyone intent on giving their Spanish hosts as much ball practice as is humanly possible in the ninety minutes. Where there are positives to draw are that everyone chased and harried - would that they showed this commitment in the domestic games, Gilberto was once again outstanding in protecting the back four and deserves all the plaudits for being able to pass to a colleague rather than an opponent, and finally the returns of Campbell, very possibly earning his World Cup place with tonights performance, and Clichy who replaced Flamini early on and promptly ran 70 yards chasing a lost cause with so much enthusiasm.
Oh, one last positive: Arsenal will be in Paris on May 17th 2006, contesting the 50th Champions Cup Final.

The Revolution Is Being Televised

2006-04-24T22:04:00.000Z

In many ways tomorrow's match in El Madrigal is the perfect antidote to the weekends North London derby. This is not a visit to Craven Cottage for a routine three points; it is the chance to reach the final of The Champions League, the pinnacle of European Club football. For the more experienced players - Henry, Pires, Lehmann, Campbell, Ljungberg - this is the match they have been working towards for the best part of a decade, and failing unspectacularly before now. The question is really about how the inexperienced players will cope with the pressure that they are now under. If the First Leg started nervously, then that cannot happen in the Second. A 1 - 0 advantage is a good lead to protect in many respects, no prospect of having to breakdown an obstinate defence, facing exit from the competition on the away goals rule. That said, concede the first goal and a second can quite easily follow, especially if the atmosphere can be described as, to use an overworked word, "hostile".

Which is where the enforced change that "Raging Bull" Wenger must make could work to his advantage. The knee injury suffered by Senderos is more serious than first thought, by me at least, and has precluded his travelling with the squad. An unfortunate even in his career as he has matured well this season - like a young Tony Adams, he is prone to the odd howler but holds his own for the most part. There is little doubt though that in Sol Campbell there is a more than adequate deputy. It seems strange to call Sol that, perhaps recognition of the strides Senderos has taken? However, despite the well-documented events of the West Ham game, Campbell is still one of the best centre halves in European football at the moment. Still possessing pace to recover positions, he brings a wealth of experience attained at the top level - two World Cups and European Championships for England, Semi Finals for Arsenal and Tottenham - that should help to calm the defence if needed. The flipside of this though, is that Campbell is a prime example of a confidence footballer. When things go well, he is a rock, when he plays badly, he can be attrocious. The two are not dependant on the team's performance - on many occasions in his Arsenal career, the team has not performed well but he has been a rock and it is this Sol Campbell that the team needs tomorrow night.

A welcome addition to the squad is the return of Gael Clichy, returning after an extended injury lay-off. I would be surprised if Raging Bull made two changes to what has otherwise been a reliable defence in Europe but Clichy is a useful substitute to have, allowing Flamini to be deployed further forward should any injury arise to Hleb, Fabregas, Ljungberg or Gilberto.

For the game itself, I do not expect Villarreal to charge forward in search of the opening goal. As such, they will look to contain Arsenal, preventing the counter - attacks from occurring whereever possible. They are in no rush to score, certainly in the first half. For whilst an early goal is desireable from their point of view, it is worth remembering that just one goal could earn them an additional thirty minutes of play. Their problem is that conceding one goal will probably condemn them to the exit door. Do not be fooled by the first leg, for they are a better team than that suggested. It will be a tough encounter but one that previous performances in the Santiago Bernabeu, Amsterdam Arena and Stadio Delle Alpi show Arsenal are capable of winning through to the final. Whether they can rise to the occasion remains to be seen. One thing is certain. Seven Forty Five GMT tomorrow evening cannot come soon enough.

England's new coach is likely to be announced shortly, with the received wisdom being that it is a straight race between Steve McLaren and Don Coreleone. Given the twists and turns so far in the media's coverage, it would not be a surprise to see Big Sam be appointed despite the best efforts of the collective wit of the press pack. To my untrained eye, McLaren was dealt a savage blow on Sunday. Not because Middlesbrough lost to West Ham - although this should have damaged him in the press's eye as he is now only favourite due to his sides upturn in form - but more based on the fact that his club captain thinks he is too inexperienced. The individual in question should not be ignored; Gareth Southgate is an experienced footballer who has seen the highs and lows of the game and puts his points across eloquently. More importantly, if his senior playing deputy does not think he is ready for the job, then it is difficult to see how McLaren can be offered the role. Not that the FA have ever relied on logic in any decision-making process before now. However, The Don is also distancing himself publicly although this is possibly more of a PR exercise for the Portuguese public, so who is left. The only man who has consistently made it clear that he wants the job is Big Sam. Whilst you may think I am flogging a dead horse, at least he has made it clear he is keen to take the step into the breach. For all those who say McLaren has shown tact and diplomacy in his handling of the speculation, the same can be said of Allardyce. Personally, I care not one jot about the diplomacy. I want an England Coach who is prepared to put his heart on his sleeve and come out and say he wants the job. Put him and Stuart Pearce on the touchline and the motivational issue disappears. Pearce would be a good second in command to have and is sure to be an England Manager in the next decade, if his career continues on the same path it currently is.

Enough of this drivel for one day though - Todays Tunes bring back the spirit of the late 70's with a couple of demos by The Ruts:

Something That I Said

Babylon's Burning

Blackman's Pinch (AKA Give Youth A Chance)

Back's To The Wall

2006-04-23T09:05:00.000Z

Arsenal 1 - 1 Tottenham

0 - 1 Keane (68)
1 - 1 Henry (84)

The result has considerable implications for both teams; for Tottenham, their fate is in their own hands and there is a real chance that they could now finish higher than their more illustrious neighbours; for Arsenal, the pressure is now on to win the Champions League, if that is the European Competition that they wish to participate in next season - probably a step too far - and there is now a real increase in the probability that Henry will not renew his contract with the club, although I personally feel that this decision was taken months ago with the announcement being left until the end of the season so as not to be disruptive to the Arsenal season. I would be completely amazed if Arsenal have not already lined up a replacement - can you replace the seemingly irreplaceable? - who is strongly rumoured to be Fernando Torres.

Let us make no mistake about yesterdays game; there is one reason why Arsenal failed to win - team selection. And for that one man must step forward, a gallic stride if you will Monsieur Wenger. A habit that he has got into over recent years is one that I disagree with but one that I understand the reasons for, namely the resting of key players before a big European tie. Whilst he may believe, and this season has proved him right so far, that he wants his players fresh, especially those such as Henry and Fabregas, for a testing upcoming match, he undermines his argument by naming them on the bench. There is as much likelihood of them suffering an injury in forty minutes of the second half as there is starting the match and being substituted. Surely it would have been better to have an hour of Henry, Fabregas and Eboue and try to establish a two goal lead than to try to nick a one goal win in the last half an hour? As it was, Arsenal were only in the game when he allowed his "key three" onto the pitch due to Lehmann's performance and some woeful finishing from Tottenham. He conceded fourth place the minute he made five changes to the team that played Villarreal on Wednesday of last week. I can understand the absence of Hleb who looked knackered but Freddie would have suited yesterdays' match. This result mirrors the team two seasons ago. A Cup Semi Final against Manchester United was sacrificed for a European game the following week. Let us hope that the result is better this time round when having secured an away draw at Stamford Bridge, the Champions League disappeared over the horizon in the second half in the return leg.

All of this is somewhat lost in today's papers though. The spat between Arsene Wenger and Martin Jol - "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" seems to be a quick summary of what was said- is using all of the column inches. To be blunt, the "reserves" were not up to the job. They played like a team who have not played a match together which is exactly what they were.

The match itself was not a bad game. It was certainly not a blood and thunder derby and the consolation that Arsenal can take is that the draw still leaves a somewhat slimmer chance for fourth place than existed on Saturday morning. Taino had three clear chances and the impressive Aaron Lennon one before Michael Carrick left the defence on its' collective Arsenal but somehow failed to score in front of the North Bank. Keane's goal that sparked the amazing outburst by Wenger, was one that you complain about conceding but quite happily take the brickbats for scoring. Two Arsenal players, Gilberto and Eboue, clashed and were injured near the halfway line leaving Carrick free to put it in a decent cross that took out Djourou and Lehmann leaving a simple tap-in for an in-form Keane. Wenger promptly had words with Jol, whilst Psycho Pires and Loopy Lehmann decided to take on Davids. The myopia that Jol suffered from is obviously a problem induced by Highbury as Wenger has seen nothing since arriving at the club! None of which cut any ice and resulted in an increased tempo from Arsenal looking for an equaliser. This duly arrived from the most predictable source, Henry slotting home from Adebayour's knock down. In a frenetic final quarter, Davids managed to prove there is still fight in the old Bulldog yet by getting himself sent off for a petulant lunge after he had been denied what appeared to be a legitimate free-kick.

So where does this leave Arsenal. Well, as a start there are no fresh injuries for Villarreal on Tuesday. Henry has got himself all angry again, as he did before the first leg, and will be looking to exact punishment on the Costa del Azahar. For the League, trips to Sunderland and Manchester City coupled with the final match at Highbury, the visitors being Wigan, it is now a case of having to yield nine points. In the meantime, Tottenham entertain a Bolton side who have rediscovered their goal touch with yesterday thrashing of Charlton, 4 - 1 being flattering on The Valiants. Final match of the season for them is a visit to Upton Park which may still require a victory for the hosts to guarantee a UEFA Cup place, something that could turn into a battle royale between Blackburn, Newcastle and West Ham - Wigan are already there.

As for Wenger, the priority is now to qualify for the Champions League final, a task for which the team have put themselves into a decent position. Villarreal put out a similarly weakened sign yesterday and lost 0 - 2 to Real Sociedad, a result that effectively consigns them to the Intertoto Cup unless they win the Champions League. All of which lines up what will be the tensest ninety minutes of the campaign to date. And, of course, the biggest game of the season so far...

Todays Tunes come from The Chords, power modsters of 1979 - 1982's Mod Revival, and one of the better bands of the genre. These come from a Live gig at The Rainbow:

British Way Of Life

Maybe Tomorrow

The Braying Sheep Are At It Again

2006-04-21T15:52:00.000Z

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the complete codswallop that our elected representatives spout every time they open their mouths. It matters not one jot whether it is about the NHS, Tax, Immigration or Sport. Whatever they say is, as a rule, stunningly stupid. Now I am the first to admit that the previous sentences in this paragraph are sweeping generalisations - something that I am good at - and there are occasional exceptions to the rule. But on the whole, I'm right. And as this is my blog, I'm always right and shall be forever more. Even on the numerous occasions I am wrong.

Today's example of the rubbish that we have to contend with comes from Lord Triesman who yesterday was promoting The Foreign Office's efforts to make supporters lives easier at the upcoming Corporate Splurge that passes for a World Cup. Amongst the brainwaves that the faceless bureaucrats have come up with is that in order to promote friendship between the erstwhile hosts and their English Counterparts, England fans should "sing their hearts out for the lads" in German. I kid you not. The British Government is paying salaries for a numpty to come up with something as stupid as that. Unless of course, they have gone to the nearest lobotomy patient and asked them to do it. This is exactly the kind of moronic, thoughtless behaviour that we have to put up with. It beggars belief. Honestly, it does. I see no reason for them to waste taxpayers funds on this sort of useless project. It contributes nothing. A Dialysis machine could have been purchased for the cost of this PR blitz. Moreover, it is a prime example of how the current Government is intent on sticking it's head into the barrel, missing the major portion of the contents and picking up on the dregs at the bottom.

They have a website for this crass stupidity, that in the interests of research I have visited. There is the section for songs, that currently includes the sum total of one entry. Yep, one entry. And a famous England anthem it is; "You'll Never Walk Alone". I've heard that hundreds of times at England matches, nay, thousands of times at recent internationals. Complete tosh. They cannot even pick a song that anyone other than Liverpool sing. Not only that, they threaten to enlarge the section. Well, thanks Guys but don't bother. If you cannot even get it right first time out, stop now before you make complete arses of yourselves. In any case, there are a number of England fans who can already sing in German, albeit the two worded song, "Seig Heil" which will be coming to a German city near you in the Summer Tour.

Just to let us know that real football people have had an input on the site, they have included translations of some hilarious football quotes, where you can sit discussing the political and cultural environment that included such mirthmakers as Joan Gasparts 1997 quip, "The most educated person at Real Madrid is the woman who cleans the toilets." There won't be a dry eye in the Bierkeller when you roll the German translation of that one out. C'mere there's more. Such as the humourous news story about the German cheesemakers in Magdeburg who have made a Gouda with a black and white rind that has, to quote the website, "captured the imagination of football fans". You slay me, Greavsie.

There is even a helpful glossary section, covering translations of "off-side position", "nutmeg" and "dangerous play in front of goal". All of which can be heard on the commentaries but never in a ground. But the real crackers are "linesman" - aren't they Assistant Referees? - "The Ball Is Round", which according to the contextual notes is a"Quote by the former German national coach Sepp Herberger, meaning that this is the only certainty in the game of football and anything else can happen"...but the piece de resistance is the translation of "fisted / punched clearance" which I am not going to go into because some legal action has already started on part of that phrase.

You may accuse me of being a killjoy and not taking the site in good humour. Well, perhaps that is because there is no good humour on there, at least not in my eyes anyway. It is a typical attempt at being hip and cool by the Labour Government - style over substance. Except in this case, there is not an ounce of style. Which is about 100% more than any substance contained in the remainder of the entries over there.

Todays Tunes are from Ian Brown's 2005 Glastonbury appearance:

F.E.A.R.

I Wanna Be Adored

Secret Squirrel

2006-04-20T08:26:00.000Z

Arsenal 1 - 0 Villarreal

1 - 0 Toure (41)

Before the game I saw Arsene Wengers checklist for the night:

1. Win The Game
2. Keep Clean Sheet
3. No Bookings

So tick, tick and double tick against all of them. I would suggest that he would have been disappointed to only score one goal given the level of possession that his charges enjoyed but he will have been pleased with the overall performance against a well organised defensive unit. It would be churlish to complain about the perfectly good goal Henry had chalked off for offside when there was an absolutely cast-iron, blatant Villarreal penalty not given when Gilberto went through the back of Jose Mari. Indeed, I think those were the only poor decisions the referee gave all night and is something for UEFA to ponder on when they (a) decide the officials for the Return Leg next Tuesday and (b) when they dish out the reward of officiating at the Final in Paris. The official certainly had no truck with the excessive theatrics of Jose Mari which probably counted against him in the penalty decision.

Overall, there is little complaint about the performance. Understandbly nervous to begin with - how that early goal may have settled them - the defence, with Toure in particular seeming to suffer from first night nerves, settled into their routine and were rarely troubled by the Spaniards from open play. Indeed, this aspect probably pleased Wenger the most over the ninety minutes, with Villarreal being reduced to direct freekicks from Riquelme and one chance to Arruabarenna from a corner. In a further indication of what a topsy turvy Champions League Campaign this is, Arsenal threatened more danger in the first thirty minutes from corners - Senderos, Gilberto and Toure all missing presentable chances - than they have in the last two domestic seasons.

The absence of Reyes was marked last night, perhaps more noticeable than anyone would have expected. When the midfield had the ball in the centre, there was no escape route other than Henry. On several occasions, Hleb had the ball towards the right hand side of the pitch and Eboue storming outside him but he chose to go towards the left hand side rather than use the overlap. This occurred repeatedly in the first half to the extent that I found myself wondering if the Ivorian and his Belorussian counterparts had exchanged a few choice words before the match and Alexsandr was not passing to him. Ljungberg on the left meanwhile was not as effective as he used to be although when it came to getting runs into the area, he proved that he still has the knack of being in the right place at the right time, even if the ball is in the wrong place. A couple of times in each half, passes from Fabregas to Henry and Ljungberg were cut out just as it seemed there was going to be a clear chance to score.

The goal itself was probably the only time in the first half that the Villarreal defence went to sleep, even then it was a midfielder who did not do his job. A corner from Henry was dealt with but when the ball was slipped onto the left edge of the area, Hleb found himself unmarked as Senna had switched off, his cross turned in by Toure. Apparently that was his first ever goal at THOF.

It seems odd to be writing that after last night, there will not be another match played in an evening at the ground. It is fitting that after all the disappointments suffered in Europe's top club tournament that the last chance the team had to put that record right was the one that they took. It goes a long way to wiping out the failures against Ajax, Benfica, Valencia, Deportivo and Chelsea, setting the second leg up nicely. I am not convinced that the match will be that much different, Villarreal from what I have seen this season do not press on and on at opponents until necessity takes over. Should Arsenal score first and leave the Valencians needing three goals, it would be a Herculean effort for them to achieve. Were the hosts to open the scoring, then game on and a true test of progress. And look at that, I got all the way through without mentioning the Pitch Invading Squirrel. D'oh!

Still, just the small matter of the Tiny Tots on Saturday to contend with first.

Today's Tunes are from 1997's T In The Park, performed by Monaco:

What Do You Want From Me

Pretending To See What The Future Will Hold

2006-04-18T15:54:00.000Z

As promised in today's earlier post here is the outcome of Yogi's peering into Mystic Meg's Crystal Ball. Given it was slightly cloudy it only covered the Premiership but provides conclusive evidence that there is no point in worrying about the race for fourth place as Arsenal will finish there (or thereabouts if this proves to be the complete tosh it's shaping up to be).

Saturday's win at Everton by the Tiny Tots threw my initial thoughts into complete chaos as I had that one down as a home win, at best (or worst depending on your viewpoint) a point for the mob up at The Lane.

So currently, they sit four points clear of Arsenal, having played one game more. The fixtures for the remaining games and their possible outcomes are below:

22nd April 2006

Arsenal 2 - 0 Tottenham

The result of this game could be affected by the midweek exertions against Villarreal although it would seem to be the game in which Campbell and Cole will return to first XI action. The big impact though could be the absence of Ledley King in defence. Davenport and Dawson do not convince me that they would be able to prevent Henry scoring whilst the Arsenal defence is improving as a unit. It may be that Mido will play to exploit any weakness that there is in the air but I think that our forward line would be too strong. Which would leave the Tottenham in fourth with 61 points, just one point ahead of Arsenal on 60 but having played a game more.

30th April / 1st May 2006

Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton Wanderers
Sunderland 0 - 1 Arsenal

In much the same way that Sunderland have freefallen out of the division, Bolton had slid out of Champions League positions contention and it must be said, look unlikely to be included in the UEFA Cup next season if their form does not improve. A point yesterday against West Brom may have stopped the slide but can they raise their game to get anything from Tottenham. The answer, yes they could, but it looks unlikely. This weekend coming, they entertain Charlton which should help them to regain some confidence but form on their travels does not inspire confidence. Since gaining a point at THOF on Febuary 11th, they have played seven games in all competitions and lost six of them. If you look at the Premiership, you have to go back to December 17th to find the last away game they won, 4 - 0 at Everton. Since then, eleven away matches have come and gone with a massive five points won. Indeed during that time, the only away victory was at Watford in the third round of the FA Cup. Unless they make a spectacular improvement, there is little chance of them gaining anything. Sunderland are well, just awful, the high point of their season is the recent 0 - 0 draw with Manchester United. So no change just yet, Tottenham on 64 points with one game to play, Arsenal on 63 with two left.

4th May 2006

Manchester City 1 - 2 Arsenal

A tricky match on the face of it, a place where we normally do well and one where I think we will sneak a win with City having little but pride to play for. They too have been in wretched form recently, a rut from which they show no signs of escaping. Finally, Arsenal hit fourth, total of 66 points with one game to go, two clear of Tottenham in fifth on 64. Which set up the last matches meaning Arsenal only need to avoid defeat to qualify for the Champions League.

11th May 2006

Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan
West Ham 2 - 1 Tottenham

The final game of the season, Bergkamp scores the winner with a shot in the last minute from just outside the area to secure the Champions League qualification and a nice symmetry to his Highbury career having scored the goal that secured UEFA Cup football in his first seaso. Tottenhams' defeat at Chavsville renders the Arsenal result meaningless.

Tomorrow night sees the biggest game in Arsenal's season so far (Tick - never used that phrase before). Having lost the services of Sol Campbell, the usual suspects will line up in defence, the midfield bolstered by the return of Fabregas. Reyes is suspended so I would expect the line up to be:

Lehmann; Eboue, Toure, Senderos, Flamini; Ljungberg, Gilberto, Fabregas, Hleb; Pires; Henry

No place for Van Persie as I expect Wenger to keep the faith with the formation and personnel that disposed of Juve in the first leg of the last round. Despite their league position, Villarreal are more of a team than Real or Juve, probably the best that Arsenal have faced so far. Much has been made of the threat that Riquelme poses but more problematic will be the fact that they defend more as a unit. However, it appears that they are without a recognised Centre Half tomorrow which could prove problematic although Arruaburrena is solid at organising the defence from the full back position. The reserve goalkeeper, Sebastian Viera, is one that Wenger has shown a close interest in previously, the same as Senna the defensive midfielder. Both may consider the match as somewhere appropriate to show just why they were under scrutiny. The Valencians have shown that they are difficult to beat with a rejuvenated Forlan and Jose Mari up front capable of nicking an away goal.

If Arsenal can take a two goal lead forward to the second leg then that will be a great platform to build on but as before, it is important that a clean sheet is kept. And take nothing for granted; any team that gets this far deserves considerable respect.

Todays Tunes goes back to its' roots and gets all soulful. Thanks to the guys at ModRadioUK for these:

Checkerboard Squares - Double Cookin'

The Flamingoes - Boogaloo Party

Son Of Moses - Soul Symphony

Free, Free fallin'

2006-04-18T12:02:00.000Z

Wycombe Wanderers 0 - 3 Lincoln City

0 - 1 Forrester (61)
0 - 2 Green (73)
0 - 3 Forrester (81)

Now there may no doubt be some of you out there who are thinking "Why the hell are you writing about this game?". Well, dear reader, this game was a momentous day in my life. Not the game itself, fundamentally it was poor (although those of the Lincoln persuasion may beg to differ), but it was Power Ranger's first ever football match. And again, you would quick to ask "Why this game?". The answer sits quite comfortably with me; short arms, deep pockets and two free tickets.

We did have to do some quick thought re-alignment with the boy as he was asking if he could support Arsenal whilst we were there. In fairness he picked up pretty quickly that he would always support Arsenal but just occassionally there would be matches where he would support another team for the ninety minutes we were there. So off we took ourselves to The Causeway Stadium to watch a tussle between two play-off chasing sides, thinking it may be an even game with a few goals. In fact all I cared about is that it was not a pants goalless draw that put him off watching for life. As it was, a goalless draw is what Wycombe would have been grateful for. Although I don't know why I was worried as he missed the opening goal through being the toilet - being the ever caring Dad, I was stood watching the match about fifteen yards from the lavatory entrance. And before you think, you uncaring B******, (a) I'd checked out the loos beforehand and (b) those that know Wycombe can vouch that you can see all departures and arrivals in that area of the Family Stand. Anyway, I digress before Social Services come calling. The second goal he saw but wished he hadn't and the third he missed because he was looking at the Lincoln fans and asking, "Why aren't we with them. They are having a good time not like everyone here, they are so miserable". And there isn't an answer to that. Well, yes there is. Re-read the opening paragraph, last sentence.

It is difficult to find anything positive to say about Wycombe's performance. They have been in freefall for the last month and do not look as if they can stop the rot. A lot of effort was made but to little end product. In the end, I am struggling to remember a clear cut opening they created and Lincoln fully deserved their win. I have thought of a positive for Wycombe. They are not facing relegation. There, something good that they can take from the match.

And so, how did Power Ranger react to the match. We had a small checklist before the game; areas of concern about the match you could say. First off, how would he react to the crowd in an enclosed stadium - check this one off, attendance of 5,750 no problem. As I observed to Mrs Yogi, the attendance at Arsenal's Members Day that he came to was around 7,000 and he handled that no problem. Second on the list, could he sit still for ninety minutes? Well, those that know him will be aware that he has, as my nan used to say, "Ants in his pants" and is an "energetic" child. Tick the box here, no problem. Stand had good leg room so no complaints about that but one fear that I had was that if the match was bad, he would want to leave after twenty minutes. Well, the match was bad but he didn't ask to leave until others started streaming out with about fifteen minutes to go. We had one rocky point where he asked what the pyramids were on the surrounding hillside - power pylons - and why were there horses being ridden on the fields and hills above - their owners had more sense than to watch the football.

So after his mum picked us up, the dreaded questions.

"So son, did you like going to football with your dad?"

"Yep, it was great. Uncle Robert gave me a pound before the game and Dad let me buy an Ice Cream with it."

"But what about watching the football match?"

"Well, Dad it was boring."

"No it was not. It was awful. Truly bad. The worst game I have seen in many a year."

"Yeah. They were rubbish."

"So you want to come to football again?"

"Yeah. But next time Dad, make it Arsenal"

Today's tunes is not happening with this post. Why? Umm, I'm at work and forgotten to bring the MP3's in. Which for some is a relief but others need to come back later when I'll post them up with the latest hopeful thinking about how Arsenal are going to win the race for fourth spot and a preview of the Champions League Semi - Final against Villarreal in which I hasten to add, Arsenal are not the clear cut favourites that the English press would have us all believe.