The Premier League is arguably the greatest the league in the world of football, attracting the world’s biggest footballing names, usually producing four teams in the latter stages of the Champions League and showcasing some of the best free flowing attacking football. Like all beautiful things, there is usually a flip side, and this Premier League season, in amongst unbeaten runs and unbelievable ‘tekkers’ there has been sending off’s, dodgy decisions and the odd unnoticed elbow.
Weak FA- This season more than most, has been surrounded in off the ball incidents, goals that should have been and goals that shouldn’t have been, but the main disappointment for me, a lover of the beautiful game, has been the FA’s inconsistency and lack of punishment in dealing with incidents. Wayne Rooney’s WWE style elbow on James McCarthy, whether or not Mark Clattenberg saw the incident or reported the incident, is all irrelevant; an obvious and callous attack on a fellow professional should’ve been punished. Also this season has seen the emergence of Twitter being used by footballers, it is a fantastic way for fans to feel closer to their ‘heroes’. However this season has seen a footballers, regularly being reprimanded for things they have said on Twitter. Ryan Babel, Danny Gabbidon and Carlton Cole are just some of the players who have been fined and warned by the FA this season but there have also been cases this season where the FA haven’t punished footballers for outspoken comments on the website. Jack Wilshere avoided being reprimanded for these comments “Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop, its killing the game.” How will the FA’s respect for referees campaign ever be a success if such things go unpunished?
The standard has dropped- The Premier League is always classed as the greatest league on earth and don;t get me wrong, that is still the case after this season. However many are praising the improvement of the teams outside the top four for taking more points off the ‘big boys’. Being the cynic I am, I just can’t help but think this is because the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea have just dropped in standard. After making a blistering start to the season, Chelsea struggled to eventually claim second, Arsenal failed to hold on to a 4-0 lead at Newcastle, Manchester United drew 11 games and Liverpool still didn’t reclaim their Champions League status. Not exactly attributes of football’s elite.
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The Title race didn’t go to the last day- It seemed at one point that neither Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea wanted to the win the Premiership. All the teams dropped points in the title run in and it looked all set up for a final day rollercoaster. Sadly for us fans of the beautiful game, Arsenal collapsed, Chelsea left it too late and Manchester United did what they do best and claimed their nineteenth league title in the penultimate fixture.
Premiership fixtures on day of FA Cup – This season has well and truly killed off the FA Cup, the cup that represents the spirit of football, where everyone loves the underdog. Last Saturday the Premier League held their fixtures at 12:30pm with the FA Cup kicking off later that afternoon. The FA Cup used to be a special occasion, a sole fixture, that rolled every footballing emotion into one 90 minutes. With fans travelling back from their lunch time kick off’s, the FA Cup was lost in delayed trains and post match pints.
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Let me know what disappointed you this season at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Daniel-T-Blazer/185495024836102
Manchester United’s title winning squad was greeted by thousands of fans during a parade through the city on Monday.Rain greeted the open-top bus as United showed off their record-breaking 19th English Premier League title, albeit after a 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday.
Striker Dimitar Berbatov was part of the parade despite not being included in the squad for the final at Wembley.
Veterans Paul Scholes, who has been offered a one-year contract extension but has not yet accepted, and Michael Owen, whose contract has expired, were also part of the trip from the city centre to Old Trafford.
Forward Wayne Rooney said it was important the players forgot about Saturday’s defeat and turned their attentions to next season.
“Winning the league is a massive achievement. We have to forget about what happened on Saturday and move on,” he told MUTV.
“The idea now is to win the 20th (league title). We will be fighting hard to make sure we are there again next season.”
Defender John O’Shea, who like Berbatov was not selected in the squad against Barcelona, said the parade would help the players move on from the loss.
“With the weather, we wondered if anyone would turn out,” he said.
“We never should have doubted it. It makes you realise how important this club is to people and will help the players get over what happened on Saturday.”
Kashiwa Reysol maintained their slender lead at the head of the J.League after coming from behind to beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-1.Hisato Sato put Sanfrecce ahead after just seven minutes at the Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium on Wednesday, but Brazilian attacker Leandro Domingues had the hosts back on level terms three minutes later.
Kashiwa took the lead eight minutes after half-time thanks to a goal from Hideaki Kitajima, before Masato Kudo iced the game with a third in injury time.
The win keeps Kashiwa one point ahead of Yokohama F.Marinos atop the J.League standings, while Sanfrecce slip to eighth.
Yokohama kept the pressure on the league leaders with a 2-1 victory against relegation-threatened Montedio Yamagata.
Kazuma Watanabe scored in the first minute to give Yokohama the perfect start in front of their home fans, and although Kohei Miyazaki grabbed an equaliser for Montedio shortly after the interval, Kim-Kun Hoan found an injury-time winner to grab all three points for the hosts.
Elsewhere, Gamba Osaka moved to third on the table following their 3-2 win over Vissel Kobe, with Takahiro Futagawa, Takashi Usami and Keun-Ho Lee all getting on the scoresheet for the winners.
Australian Josh Kennedy and Montenegrin Igor Burzanovic both scored as Nagoya Grampus came from a goal down to beat Kashima Antlers 2-1, while Kawasaki Frontale slipped to fifth after going down 2-0 to the Urawa Reds.
Bottom side Avispa Fukuoka grabbed just their second win of the season after a 1-0 triumph over Omiya Ardija, while Vegalta Sendai and Shimizu S-Pulse played out a scoreless draw.
Jubilo Iwata twice came from a goal down to score a 3-2 win away to Cerezo Osaka – Hiroki Yamada scoring the winner on 80 minutes.
Corinthians denied that they have reached an agreement with English Premier League club Manchester City over the transfer of Carlos Tevez.The deal for the forward, reportedly worth around 40 million euros, appeared to have been finalised, but a counter-proposal from City is believed to have stalled the transfer.
Corinthians director of football Edu Gaspar had told reporters that he expected the transfer to be sealed by Monday, leaving Tevez free to join the Sao Paulo giants following Argentina’s Copa America elimination on Sunday.
The reports were given further weight still by manager Roberto Mancini, who said an agreement had been reached with Corinthians.
The Brazilian club’s board, however, released a statement on Monday affirming that negotiations were still ongoing, and that a demand from City for an improved offer had delayed confirmation.
“In light of the news published during the early morning reporting an agreement between Corinthians and Carlos Tevez, president Andres Sanchez would like to state publicly that Manchester City have not accepted the Corinthians proposal for the athlete,” the statement read.
“In fact, the club sent Corinthians a counter-proposal this morning, that due to the difference in time-zones only just came to directors’ attention. In this new proposal, the English club have asked for changes in the form of payment as well as in the total value of the transaction.”
“For now, nothing concrete exists with Tevez and that the counter-offer will be analysed by him and by the club.”
Corinthians are keen to seal the return of the Argentine in order to strengthen their assault on the Brazilian Serie A title.
The club are currently top of the standings in Brazil’s top-flight after 10 rounds, and are unbeaten with eight wins.
Will he stay or will he go has been the theme this summer at Arsenal as the future of Cesc Fabregas remains uncertain. Barcelona are clearly sticking by their plans to drag the deal out to the last knockings of the transfer window, much to the frustration of Arsene Wenger.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Gunners blogs that include fans booing has nothing to do with pre-season; Wenger’s plans show a lack of priorities, while it is time to give up on Fabregas.
We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week.
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Caption Competition: An Arsenal Collector’s Item
Arsenal fans aren’t booing simply down to one pre-season result
Wenger paying the price for towing the financial line
Does Arsene’s transfer plans show a lack of priorities?
2 players for the price of one
Is missing out a genuine concern for Arsenal fans?
Is it time for Arsenal to give up on him?
Doomed whatever we do Arsenal?
Arsenal set to sign Real youth star
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Best of WEB
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Fickle Fans and Mistakes made by Arsenal…… -Highbury House
Should Arsenal play Fabregas in their Champions League play-off to spite Barcelona? – Gunnersphere
Arsenal concede 2 leads, lose own silverware and booed off by the home fans. Good times! – Le Grove
The beginning of a beautiful anti-climax? – Online Gooner
One Of Us Speaks: Brothers in Arms – A Cultured Left Foot
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Arsenal legend believes Barton is a possibility for Wenger…but only if he can control him – Gunnersphere
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Click on Miss Suric below to see her in all here glory
Won the League 1 title in style under the excellent management and stylish football of Gus Poyet. A move into the fantastic new Amex Community Stadium has ended 12 years of exile at the ramshackle Withdean Stadium.
2010/2011 Final Finish:
1st in League 1
Who’s New:
Craig Mackail-Smith (Peterborough Utd), Will Buckley (Watford), Will Hoskins (Bristol Rovers), Kazenga Lua-Lua (Newcastle Utd, loan), Roland Bergkamp (Excelsior), Romain Vincelot (Dagenham & Redbridge)
Who’s Out:
Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace), Elliott Bennett (Norwich City), Jim McNulty (Barnsley), Chris Holroyd (Rotherham), James Tunnicliffe (Wycombe Wanderers), Fran Sandaza (St. Johnstone)
Who to Watch:
Craig Mackail-Smith – Brighton’s record signing and last season’s top scorer in League 1. The signing was a real coup for Poyet, who was able to pinch his man from under the noses of Leicester and West Ham. If the former Peterborough man can continue his form into the Championship, Brighton could have a shot at the playoffs.
Look out as well for Dutch under-21 forward Roland Bergkamp, nephew of Arsenal legend Dennis.
Who’s going up:
West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Burnley
I’m going to go slightly against the grain in not tipping Leicester for promotion. In the battle of the former England managers, I think it will be Steve McLaren who wins out. No doubt you will be able to pillory me for this later. I would like to see Eddie Howe do well at Burnley after his frankly stunning achievements with Bournemouth, and their form late last season suggests they could be a threat.
Who’s going down:
Watford, Peterborough and Doncaster Rovers
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Watford are broke and have lost half their squad and their manager. Peterborough have got Prince Ferg back at the helm, but the loss of Mackail-Smith’s goals will be a big hurdle to overcome. Doncaster struggled last season, finishing 21st, and will quite probably struggle again.
Where will you finish:
A playoff push might be a bit too much, but the club is ambitious and will certainly be aiming high. Fans will be happy with comfortable mid-table. Some have suggested that Poyet’s brand of good football might be found out in the rough and tumble of the Championship, but I disagree. Swansea have reached the Premier League playing passing football, and League 1 is also a tough division.
Whilst they will score goals, Brighton’s one weakness will be at the back where they have a tendency to concede sloppy late goals. But their performances against Portsmouth and Watford in the FA Cup last season show that they can cut it at this level, and the quality of reinforcements that Gus Poyet has brought in will ensure an enjoyable season.
Blackburn boss Steve Kean has given Vedad Ibisevic 24-hours to decide whether he wants to move to Ewood Park Sky Sports understands.
The Hoffenheim striker is mulling over a move to Rovers after both clubs agreed a fee.
Personal terms are close to being agreed with the Bosnian although Kean still has concerns over his fitness over the last few years.
He told Sky Sports: “We’ve got permission to talk to him. We’re trying to get personal terms agreed and then accelerate it to a medical.
“He had a very good record until his first knee injury. Then since then he’s had another little injury.
“He’s not played as much recently. But before all that he’d had a very good goal scoring record.
If a deal for Ibisevic doesn’t go through then the Rovers boss will press ahead with a move for Ajax striker Mounir El Hamdaoui who is out of favour at the Amsterdam Arena.
“If it doesn’t get done today then we’ll probably move on to the other one.” Kean said.
“I had a good meeting with the other player and he’s a player that will move on if not to us then to another big club in Europe. It was a good meeting.
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He added: “It won’t be both though. We are looking at one of the two.
“We need someone with a track record of scoring goals. You look for someone with a goal every two games then you look at all the different markets for that.”
Either deal will signify progress for Kean who has struggled in the transfer market so far this summer.
Another week, and another example of football being under attack. Last week, social media sites were buzzing with the upcoming revelations on that night’s Dispatches programme. The programme looked at drug use amongst footballers, and all the talk was about it naming a top, top player who had been suspended for drug use and then sold on without the buying club being made aware of his murky past.
It’s all par for the course though, as we’ve been here before. Hard-hitting exposes that hit us with the force of a small sponge dropped onto a blancmange, leaving you to say “is that it?”
Sites such as Twitter promote the feeling of anti-climax – rumours spread, and the truth is never as exciting as the rumour, in the same way that journalists tweet of upcoming breaking news (AND IT’S BIG FOLKS!) and then you read that Inter Milan might, at some point in the future, make a bid for Gareth Bale, and you feel cheated. And they never bid anyway.
TV producers know the obvious, that football is big business, and investigating it and unearthing scandal could be a ratings winner. And like any multi-billion pound, global business, there will be plenty to investigate, as it will never be whiter-than-white. How could it be? But have these programmes really told you anything you didn’t know or at least suspect already?
If you watched the Dispatches programme, did it prompt much discussion? Are you still thinking about it? Can you remember a single footballer named in the programme? Dispatches knew they weren’t dealing with the biggest players, so had to embellish descriptions with “full international” and “tipped to be a premiership star”.
The fact is that of the 2000 or so footballers plying their trade in this country, the law of averages and the forces of human nature (especially when large amounts of money are at hand) will determine that some will misbehave. Some will crash cars, get up to mischief in nightclubs and some will obviously take drugs. I am betting some cricketers have taken cocaine too, and some rugby players. How about a programme exposing cocaine use amongst badminton players? Guess there’s not much of a call for that.
The programme followed familiar lines – lots of stern to-camera pieces from the presenter, lots of arty camera angles and concerned faces. The presenter sat in a converted loft surrounded by computer screens and stomped round various venues looking shocked and appalled. He started by discussing Kolo Toure’s drug ban and the length of his suspension – no new news or revelations here – the programme makers managed to find someone who thought the ban wasn’t severe enough – well I never, hold the front pages.
The programme’s main contention was that clubs and football authorities are complicit in keeping failed tests for recreational drugs out of the public eye, with 21 positive cocaine tests since 2003, most of which had not been disclosed to the public.
A cover up, or an FA policy not to report recreational drug use and that these drugs do not enhance performance and thus the players have some sort of right to privacy? The scandal is that players aren’t being named. This isn’t much of a scandal – it might be wrong, but it isn’t a scandal. Players not being suspended would be a scandal.
The alleged case of Garry O’Connor – described as “one of the brightest talents in Scottish football” – was given plenty of coverage (so bright was his talent that Barnsley subsequently released him). But how big a revelation was this anyway? The Daily Record reported O’Connor’s arrest on suspicion of possession on May 17 this year. He was in court as recently as September 5 over the charges, with the case deferred until the end of the month. So Dispatches’ shocking revelation was to repeat openly available news. If you didn’t already know about O’Connor’s antics, like most if us, it’s probably because you’re not really that bothered.
Another feature of the programme was asking members of the public their opinion – the ultimate in padding (and irrelevant). A TV programme is always in trouble when it has to ask members of the public for opinions – apart from the fact that if you asked enough people you could get someone to agree to anything, (that Paul Merson is a great pundit!), these vox pops add nothing to what the programme is trying to achieve. Leon Knight appeared to make unsubstantiated allegations that cocaine use was rife and that he had seen players at one of his former clubs snorting it. He could be telling the truth of course, but it’s hardly compelling television, as the evidence is not there. As a final act of desperation, we heard the claim by one expert that a player on coke could flip out and hurt somebody in a tackle (a leap of faith having been taken that players were snorting lines of cocaine during the pre-match team talk).
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This was just the latest in a long line of “football scandal” programmes of course. In September 2006 Panorama showed a documentary called “Undercover: Football’s Dirty Secrets”, which alleged payments in English football contrary to the rules of the Football Association, involving then Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce, and his agent son Craig, for taking “bungs” from agents for signing certain players. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is secretly filmed discussing the possibility of buying the Blackburn Rovers captain Andy Todd with agent Peter Harrison, which is against Football Association rules. And whilst it may be against the rules, it is hardly earth-shattering stuff. Either way, allegations of Redknapp and his transfer dealings were hardly new, or surprising. Rumours have been rife for many a year. And if you wanted full details of such allegations against Redknapp, you could already have read a whole chapter in Tom Bower’s book Broken Dreams. Chelsea director of youth football Frank Arnesen is secretly filmed making an illegal approach or “tapping up” Middlesbrough’s England youth star 15-year-old Nathan Porritt.
Tapping up eh? Wow, I can’t believe that happens, I’m going to have to sit down and regain my composure after that bombshell.
On 29 November 2010, three days before voting for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Panorama aired an in depth investigation into bribes by senior FIFA officials. But then we knew this already didn’t we? If news that FIFA was a bit bent surprised you, then you’re probably not aware that bears like to defecate in wooded areas or the religious persuasion of the Pope. The timing was predictable for getting the best ratings, but its main effect was probably to damage England’s chances of hosting the World Cup, if any chance existed in the first place.
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Donal MacIntyre, given his own series MacIntyre Undercover on BBC One in 1999, covered his exploits among a gang of football hooligans, the Chelsea Headhunters. To sound like a broken record, it told us little new, though was a superb piece of investigation by MacIntyre.
And in July this year Channel 4 showed a documentary about wealthy businessmen and consortium buying football clubs in England – a Dispatches programme once more. “How To Buy A Football Club” featured an undercover reporter claiming to represent a wealthy group of investors in a journey that took the reporter to the brink of buying a League One football club. It showed Bryan Robson as a front for the groups London Nominees and the Football Fund, two investment groups, and whilst he may not have come across that well, there was no evidence of dishonesty or fraud from him.
The broker of deals was a Bangkok bar owner called Joe Sim, a man who claims connections across the football and had the number, and shared company of a certain Alex Ferguson. But once more, there was little substance behind the news. Ferguson distanced himself from Sim, and there was no proof of any wrongdoing on his part, except choosing the wrong friends. Again, a programme showing foreign businessmen trying to buy clubs and get round competition rules is no small deal, but hardly surprising, and most football fans have known about these strange consortiums in recent years. We’re still trying to work out who owned Notts County, who owns Leeds, and a whole host of other clubs with a rather eclectic board set-up.
The programmes are well-made (sometimes) and show good investigative practices – I don’t want to appear to be completely dismissing them as garbage – they are not, and I understand fully why they were made, and why they were hyped up. They add a little meat to the bones and reveal a few new stories we may be unaware of. The issues they dealt with are not to be dismissed or treated lightly. My point is, they didn’t really shock or surprise most of us. We know most of it already. We football fans might turn a blind eye if a Thai dictator with a winning smile takes over our club, or if a player has a mystery “virus” for 6 months, but we know the score. Football inevitably attracts bad people, and bad things happen on and off the pitch. Some of the worst practices have happened further down the football pyramid, where clubs have been virtually destroyed by bad practices and unscrupulous owners and operators. The producers of Dispatches might be better served investigating the truly great scandals of the game’s recent history – but there might not be as many viewers to be earned by doing that.
Manchester United are set to go head-to-head with AC Milan in the battle to secure the signature of Benfica midfielder Javi Garcia according to the Metro.
Despite having midfielders Anderson, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley and Darren Fletcher to choose from Sir Alex Ferguson is still hunting an enforcer to add some bite to the centre of the park.
Some quarters of Old Trafford still believe Ferguson has failed to replace to controlling influence of former captain Roy Keane who quit the club six years ago
Milan are also keen to add the 24-year-old to their squad with the likes of Mark Van Bommel and Genero Gattuso reaching the twilight of their careers and Matthieu Flamini still on the San Siro treatment table.
Garcia has seen his reputation rise considerably since moving to Portugal from Real Madrid for £6 million in 2009 and United are now ready to rival the Serie A side for the Spaniard.
Both clubs have made him their prime target when the transfer window re-opens in January which could result in a bidding war as they battle for his services.
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It’s thought that Benfica won’t stand in his way should either club come calling although they aren’t prepared to do business for anything less than £10 million.
Manchester City maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a close fought 3-2 win over QPR at Loftus Road to preserve their five point leave over rivals United at the top of the Premier League.
Roberto Mancini’s have walked over teams at times this season but were far from their best and were made to sweat in West London as Rangers produced a performance worthy of ending City’s undefeated streak. Neil Warnock’s side were superb as they brought the Manchester millionaires crashing back down to Earth with arguably their best home display of the season in a game where the odds were stacked firmly against them. Their cause wasn’t helped by the absence of mercurial midfielder Adel Taarabt and hard man Shaun Derry. On the flip side the visitors boasted a legion of international stars with the inform David Silva deployed in a devastating attacking trio alongside Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero. However they, along with the rest of the City side, struggled to contain the R’s as they came straight out of the traps from the first whistle.
Heidar Helguson threatened twice early on giving the City defence a few jitters before Jay Bothroyd opened the scoring just before the half hour rising highest to power home a header from Joey Barton’s superb free kick delivery. Instead of resting on their laurels the home side continued in the same vein with Jamie Mackie’s long range effort forcing Joe Hart into a save with Helguson’s headed follow up ruled out for offside. Bothroyd then came close to doubling his tally striking the post with a low effort and it proved costly as the visitors woke the away side up from their slumber to equalise two minutes before half time. Dzeko, earlier denied by a superb block from Anton Ferdinand, got the better of him taking James Milner’s pass in his stride before finishing past Paddy Kenny.
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They could have led at the break after Aguero struck the post from 25-yards but that late revival gave City the imputes in the second half and it wasn’t long before they took the lead through the majestic Silva on 52 minutes. The Spaniard controlled Dzeko’s pass brilliantly before hammering the ball past Kenny as the game started to swung in their direction. Despite that Ranger’s continued to endeavour forward and were rewarded for their persistence with an equaliser on 69 minutes with Bothroyd’s header from Armand Traore’s cross striking the back of Helguson to wrong foot Hart and send the Loftus Road crowd wild. Still it was only a matter of time before City scored a third and it duly came 14 minutes from time through their midweek hero. Yaya Toure had scored twice against Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday and was at it again to secure all three points for Mancini’s men rising highest to power Aleksander Kolarov’s cross in to make sure City go into the international break unbeaten and clear at the Premier League summit.