'sown silk purses from sow's ears' at Goodison Park. And while this might be a bit harsh on some talented players- Cahil, Yakubu, and Arteta being some- the overall analysis is accurate. Moyes has proved a canny manager, one of the best, and Everton have kicked above their weight. But for how much longer?
Despite relative success when compared to other premiership teams the closed season has seen a grand total of NO SIGNINGS on the transfer market. Everton are without new faces. Meanwhile Everton warhorses, like Carlsely and Johnson, have moved onto to pastures new. So a threadbare squad, that struggled to deliver when key personnel were missing last year, is now even thinner. Oh dear.
Just what else Moyes can achieve, when the squads around him are strengthening, is open to debate. Take this weekend's result against Blackburn- Everton eventually succumbed to 3-2. It was a good game by all reports. But this is just the sort of game Everton would have won last season, and failing that they would certainly have salvaged a point. Under Moyes' tenure Everton have made a habit of winning tight games, and if a few of these start running against them we could see the Toffees providing backbone to the other half of the table this season.
So new faces at Goodison would inject life and vigour into the squad, create a bit more competition for first team places. And as a unit Everton lack nothing but creativity in the middle of the park. New signings could brings this too. Without fresh faces I fear we could see this ship on the Mersey begin to sink.
What is more, having achieved what he has, if I were David Moyes, and there was not even one new signing by the close of the transfer window- I'd quit. How can any ambitious manager move a club forward without any transfer kitty?
Showing posts with label Premiership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Premiership. Show all posts
Monday, 18 August 2008
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
How to describe the last week of the premiership:
The premiership is going all the way to the wire.
Both teams are scrapping all the way.
Neither team is able to land the knock out blow.
Scrambling towards the finish post.
Dragging themselves over the line.
Preparing themselves for one last push.
Last ditch effort.
Salvage pride.
Chase down glory.
Come out on top of the dogfight.
Prove to their supporters that Europe is a genuine possibility next season.
Give their all.
Ensure european football next season.
Secure the elusive 'X' spot.
Reach safety on the final day of the season.
Last gasp
Houdini act
In order to avoid Championship football next season.
Despite midtable security.
All to play for.
Goes fucking on and on.
Both teams are scrapping all the way.
Neither team is able to land the knock out blow.
Scrambling towards the finish post.
Dragging themselves over the line.
Preparing themselves for one last push.
Last ditch effort.
Salvage pride.
Chase down glory.
Come out on top of the dogfight.
Prove to their supporters that Europe is a genuine possibility next season.
Give their all.
Ensure european football next season.
Secure the elusive 'X' spot.
Reach safety on the final day of the season.
Last gasp
Houdini act
In order to avoid Championship football next season.
Despite midtable security.
All to play for.
Goes fucking on and on.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
The final throes of another season:
The footballing year shifts up a gear now, and for some, like Man Utd, every game is significant, and has preorgasmic intensity. For others, out of the hunt for Europe cups, and titles, the season's efforts have again proved to be squandered on nothing but fantasy. There is no victory at the end of the sweat. That is sport for you. Many live in hope of ardent and elusive glory, and the sacrifice that makes the dream worthwhile. The rest of us get our rocks off watching. Not that footballing stars sacrifice that much these days. Not for them the fruits of Sparta or self righteous Stoic pleasures, as in days gone by. No, in fact footballers exist in a decadence vacuum of classical proportions, or so the media would have us believe. Footballers are portrayed as living in a world powered and made real by hype, flash bulb, gasoline, high fashion, orgiastic, dice rolling, high jinx. Which makes our oggling into the football shaped fishbowl that much more pleasing, and our submersion in the games that much more vicarious. In the words of Depeche Mode we "just can't get enough." In the words of Murdoch's brainfreezing, bile inducing, cock twitching, tabloid minion The Sun, edited by the impish and despicable Rebekah Wade- "We Love It." We should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves for taking even the slightest interest in any of it. Hey-ho.
So convinced are Man U of their current footballing virulence that they were actually sure, almost certain, that they could travel down to Stamford Bridge, last weekend and pretty much seal the deal on this year's premiership title. Possible granted, but I can certainly imagine there are easier games against, say Wigan, or Derby, where one would hope to clinch the league. As far as league clinching venues go Stamford Bridge is pretty low down the list really. I am not too surprised Man U lost. And that it was such a close game. Equally, I would not have been surprised had they won. Footabll's like that. I am surprised though about the manner of their defeat. The pram upsetting petulance of it all. Ferguson's riling against officialdom, like he does every time Utd lose. Rio Ferdinand attacking inanimate objects and female stewards, and senior Manchester Utd players embroiled in post match fisticuffs. Pathetic really. And maybe not the best way to prepare for a crucial CHAMPIONS LEAGUE encounter against Barcelona. A game, which were Utd to lose, would mean they only have a chance of 'winning one title this season'. As if that was so bad. Modern day footballing success of course is measured in doubles and trebles, such are the expectations of the Big 4. Winning, or mostly winning, is simply not good enough.
Avram Grant can be be disappointed however that despite his side winning, and now having every chance of a premiership title that was written off a few weeks back, no-one has really said anything about his job being any safer, concentrating instead on Man U's post match shenanigans.
So convinced are Man U of their current footballing virulence that they were actually sure, almost certain, that they could travel down to Stamford Bridge, last weekend and pretty much seal the deal on this year's premiership title. Possible granted, but I can certainly imagine there are easier games against, say Wigan, or Derby, where one would hope to clinch the league. As far as league clinching venues go Stamford Bridge is pretty low down the list really. I am not too surprised Man U lost. And that it was such a close game. Equally, I would not have been surprised had they won. Footabll's like that. I am surprised though about the manner of their defeat. The pram upsetting petulance of it all. Ferguson's riling against officialdom, like he does every time Utd lose. Rio Ferdinand attacking inanimate objects and female stewards, and senior Manchester Utd players embroiled in post match fisticuffs. Pathetic really. And maybe not the best way to prepare for a crucial CHAMPIONS LEAGUE encounter against Barcelona. A game, which were Utd to lose, would mean they only have a chance of 'winning one title this season'. As if that was so bad. Modern day footballing success of course is measured in doubles and trebles, such are the expectations of the Big 4. Winning, or mostly winning, is simply not good enough.
Avram Grant can be be disappointed however that despite his side winning, and now having every chance of a premiership title that was written off a few weeks back, no-one has really said anything about his job being any safer, concentrating instead on Man U's post match shenanigans.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Avram Grant gave a very terse press conference
last night after his team's 1-0 win over Everton. "Do you have a message for the fans Avram?"
"No message" And everyone waited for him to carry on speaking. But he didn't. There was an awkward silence filled only by the murmuring of journalists and the occasional camera flash.
What he was thinking of course was 'why yes, I have a message. You are a bunch of insufferable cunts with overly demanding expectations. Not all of, but some of you. With your Uncle Avram this, and your Uncle Avram that, and the team are just not playing well enough opinions you overheard or read somewhere. Most of you have never even been to Stamford Bridge. You cunts.'
But he didn't say that. Diplomatically. Wish he had. He may well also think, not without entitlement, that could the fans and the board support him at least until it becomes obvious they will not win a title this year. Chelsea should win a title every year with their resources, but n fairness to Grant they are in the hunt for two, and have made a pretty damn good fist of it in the others.
Abramovic of course is apparently disappointed with Grant, as he was with Mourinho, because the team are just not 'entertaining enough'. May I suggest he abandons football then, which is made exciting only by virtue of the long boring bits in between, which then seem intriguing rather than entertaining, and invest instead in some kind of Circus. Cirque De Soleil perhaps. They are always entertaining. Or get himself to Stringfellows or other greased up pole dancing club. That would surely be entertaining for him.
The flipside of Chelsea's pathetic wealth induced whinging would be Everton. Who are happy now just to be hunting down a UEFA Cup spot having built a team with the fraction of the resources. They regularly fail to 'entertain' but the fans don't let it bother them. This is what fans, and people like me, supporters, do. They support their team. They cheer them on. They want the best of them. And this is tempered by a weird mixture of optimism and realism. And this is it, Chelsea fans (the new Chelsea fans) are not optimistic or realistic. They have had, and have, the best roubles can buy them, and it just ain't good enough. Fuck 'em.
(PLUG: Lee at La Liga Review inspired this article with his comment below- go check out his La Liga Review website and learn something about Spanish football if you ain't already)
"No message" And everyone waited for him to carry on speaking. But he didn't. There was an awkward silence filled only by the murmuring of journalists and the occasional camera flash.
What he was thinking of course was 'why yes, I have a message. You are a bunch of insufferable cunts with overly demanding expectations. Not all of, but some of you. With your Uncle Avram this, and your Uncle Avram that, and the team are just not playing well enough opinions you overheard or read somewhere. Most of you have never even been to Stamford Bridge. You cunts.'
But he didn't say that. Diplomatically. Wish he had. He may well also think, not without entitlement, that could the fans and the board support him at least until it becomes obvious they will not win a title this year. Chelsea should win a title every year with their resources, but n fairness to Grant they are in the hunt for two, and have made a pretty damn good fist of it in the others.
Abramovic of course is apparently disappointed with Grant, as he was with Mourinho, because the team are just not 'entertaining enough'. May I suggest he abandons football then, which is made exciting only by virtue of the long boring bits in between, which then seem intriguing rather than entertaining, and invest instead in some kind of Circus. Cirque De Soleil perhaps. They are always entertaining. Or get himself to Stringfellows or other greased up pole dancing club. That would surely be entertaining for him.
The flipside of Chelsea's pathetic wealth induced whinging would be Everton. Who are happy now just to be hunting down a UEFA Cup spot having built a team with the fraction of the resources. They regularly fail to 'entertain' but the fans don't let it bother them. This is what fans, and people like me, supporters, do. They support their team. They cheer them on. They want the best of them. And this is tempered by a weird mixture of optimism and realism. And this is it, Chelsea fans (the new Chelsea fans) are not optimistic or realistic. They have had, and have, the best roubles can buy them, and it just ain't good enough. Fuck 'em.
(PLUG: Lee at La Liga Review inspired this article with his comment below- go check out his La Liga Review website and learn something about Spanish football if you ain't already)
Friday, 21 March 2008
I don't like hyperbole. Honestly.
But as this weekend approaches it is make or break time for Avram Grant's Chelsea. There I said it, and I mean it too. A win and Chelsea are right back in the mix for the Premiership, lose and they will start to look, and feel, like Also Rans. Just looking through the names on Chelsea's team sheet, the depth of expensive talent in practically every position, you realise that failing to win a trophy should be unthinkable for that team. It may be difficult to juggle and manage the egos and big personalities but that, correct me if I am wrong, is what first class managers are expected to do. If Capello can be let go at Madrid having delivered them La Liga, and if Mourinho can be got rid of having brought Chelsea the most success ever, Grant should be fired with a tarnished reputation if Chelsea were to finish third and without one measly trophy, not even the tinware Carling Cup. With such an embarrassment of riches at his disposal it should not be that hard really. I reckon given a squad like that Alan Curbishely, Sam Allardyce, or David Moyes, could do it.
The rush of substitutions and negativity that foxed Chelsea against a rampant Spurs (and I truly rate Ramos and his coaching staff- especially Poyet) reminded me of another Chelsea coach. Not of Mourinho's guile and showmanship, but of Ranierri- the so called 'tinker man'. Difference being of course that Ranierri was a dead man walking at that stage in his career, and may have even be looking to be sacked so as to ensure a hefty severance package; but Grant, having been cherry picked by Abramovic, has the full support of the board. The pressure must be intense.
So it is crunch time at Stamford Bridge. The Kennsington twats and glory hunters expect. It is time for Chelsea to stand up and be counted and show us who they are.
My money is on Arsenal.
Does this constitute a proper footballing article? I have not written one for weeks.
The rush of substitutions and negativity that foxed Chelsea against a rampant Spurs (and I truly rate Ramos and his coaching staff- especially Poyet) reminded me of another Chelsea coach. Not of Mourinho's guile and showmanship, but of Ranierri- the so called 'tinker man'. Difference being of course that Ranierri was a dead man walking at that stage in his career, and may have even be looking to be sacked so as to ensure a hefty severance package; but Grant, having been cherry picked by Abramovic, has the full support of the board. The pressure must be intense.
So it is crunch time at Stamford Bridge. The Kennsington twats and glory hunters expect. It is time for Chelsea to stand up and be counted and show us who they are.
My money is on Arsenal.
Does this constitute a proper footballing article? I have not written one for weeks.
Friday, 8 February 2008
the premiership have announced that they
want to play games abroad as of 2011. Ostensibly to build the premiership brand, and make yet more money hand over fist as glamour starved Malaysians or Philipinos hand over three months wages to watch Man U hammer already relegated Derby. Or for gullible Japanese stump up the cash for a meaningless mid-table encounter.
What I object to is not the blatant profiteering of it all. I am long accustomed to that. and the proposition of seeing Everton-Bolton in Tokyo, for example, is a somewhat beguiling (although somewhat exclusively priced for 'normal' fans). What I object to is the unfairness of it all. The beauty of a league system, and the reason for its dominance and longevity, is the symmetry of its system in an otherwise daft and unpredictable world. All teams play each other an equal number of times home and away therefore ergo sum one team's final position in the league is a rational explanation and indication of the team's ability. To start fucking with that and introducing 'one game at random to be played anywhere in the world with the top 5 seeded to stop them meeting each other' is to shift the odds seriously in the favour of the house. The symmetry is broken, the system is lopsided, the rational equality of the league has been upset in the name of profit. And hyperbole like that.
Clearly this game abroad idea is a very silly one, and clearly the fans are going to hate it, especially the ones who will have to pay up thousands in order to maintain their proud record of seeing every league game, but the premiership will do what it likes and we will get used to it and come around in time. Marketing and weariness will see to that. Football is like parliamentary politics in that respect. Last game of the year in Kiev it is then, with Newcastle supported by the Tartar toon Army.
Meanwhile- fancy watching Arsenal in Tirana? The whores are 'plentiful, cheap, and desperate' (Lonely Planet Albania 2004).
Arsenal Albania was formed in February 2005. Arsenal is a very popular team now in Albania and every day more people are joining our supporters club and becoming regular members. Arsenal fans are welcome to contact us for more details.
Contact Names: Bledar Leshica (Chairman)
Martin Morina (Secretary)
Redi Coha (Treasury)
E-mail: arsenal_albania@yahoo.comContact number: 00 355 692 667 618
What I object to is not the blatant profiteering of it all. I am long accustomed to that. and the proposition of seeing Everton-Bolton in Tokyo, for example, is a somewhat beguiling (although somewhat exclusively priced for 'normal' fans). What I object to is the unfairness of it all. The beauty of a league system, and the reason for its dominance and longevity, is the symmetry of its system in an otherwise daft and unpredictable world. All teams play each other an equal number of times home and away therefore ergo sum one team's final position in the league is a rational explanation and indication of the team's ability. To start fucking with that and introducing 'one game at random to be played anywhere in the world with the top 5 seeded to stop them meeting each other' is to shift the odds seriously in the favour of the house. The symmetry is broken, the system is lopsided, the rational equality of the league has been upset in the name of profit. And hyperbole like that.
Clearly this game abroad idea is a very silly one, and clearly the fans are going to hate it, especially the ones who will have to pay up thousands in order to maintain their proud record of seeing every league game, but the premiership will do what it likes and we will get used to it and come around in time. Marketing and weariness will see to that. Football is like parliamentary politics in that respect. Last game of the year in Kiev it is then, with Newcastle supported by the Tartar toon Army.
Meanwhile- fancy watching Arsenal in Tirana? The whores are 'plentiful, cheap, and desperate' (Lonely Planet Albania 2004).
Arsenal Albania was formed in February 2005. Arsenal is a very popular team now in Albania and every day more people are joining our supporters club and becoming regular members. Arsenal fans are welcome to contact us for more details.
Contact Names: Bledar Leshica (Chairman)
Martin Morina (Secretary)
Redi Coha (Treasury)
E-mail: arsenal_albania@yahoo.comContact number: 00 355 692 667 618
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Platini has spoken
not that anyone will pay any notice in the UK- as he's french i'n't he.
He has one good point though. That while there are over 95 French and over 95 Brazilian players registered to play in the Champions League there are only 45 English players. Therefore "at the highest level" England lack choice.
As I have said before I do not suggest limiting the number foreign players, and I don't think Platini is suggesting we challenge European law either, but what this points to is a lack of coaching at the "grassroots level" in the Premiership. Not enough talent coming through. It is a case of coaching-coaching-coaching. As I have also said before. That is, is you give a fuck about these things.
He has one good point though. That while there are over 95 French and over 95 Brazilian players registered to play in the Champions League there are only 45 English players. Therefore "at the highest level" England lack choice.
As I have said before I do not suggest limiting the number foreign players, and I don't think Platini is suggesting we challenge European law either, but what this points to is a lack of coaching at the "grassroots level" in the Premiership. Not enough talent coming through. It is a case of coaching-coaching-coaching. As I have also said before. That is, is you give a fuck about these things.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Flare Play/Flair Play league
See orignal article here http://footballisnotmygod.blogspot.com/2007/10/it-may-border-on-obvious.html For the uninitiated- WIN BY 3 CLEAR GOALS=5, 2 CLEAR GOALS=4 1 CLEAR GOAL =3, SCORE DRAW=2 NON SCORE DRAW=1.
In the realife premiershp this week- Chelsea fans must have had a pang for the Special One following a 1-1 with Everton who are still having a love affair with Cahill, Sven Goran Erikson concretes his defensive paranoia after being whooped by Chelsea, and Villa fluke it passed Birmingham proving that there is no substitute for bad luck. Unforutunately for Steve Bruce Birmingham are nowhere near the to good to go down catergory. Arguably Bolton are, and their veneer of respectablity under Gary Megson continues. Poor wretched Derby have problems at the back, problems at the front, and aren't too good at holding midfiled possession either. They continue to look a class below the rest ;-(. Spurs were unlucky not to win 8-0 aginst Wigan.
In my invented league it all looks like this...
Man U 39
Arsenal 37
Chelsea 31
Liverpool 31
Portsmouth 31
Man City 30
Blackburn 30
West Ham 27
Everton 25
Aston Villa 25
Newcastle 23
Tottenham 20
Fulham 17
Midlesbrough 14
Reading 13
Sunderland 13
Bolton 13
Wigan 12
Birmingham 10
Derby 8
In the realife premiershp this week- Chelsea fans must have had a pang for the Special One following a 1-1 with Everton who are still having a love affair with Cahill, Sven Goran Erikson concretes his defensive paranoia after being whooped by Chelsea, and Villa fluke it passed Birmingham proving that there is no substitute for bad luck. Unforutunately for Steve Bruce Birmingham are nowhere near the to good to go down catergory. Arguably Bolton are, and their veneer of respectablity under Gary Megson continues. Poor wretched Derby have problems at the back, problems at the front, and aren't too good at holding midfiled possession either. They continue to look a class below the rest ;-(. Spurs were unlucky not to win 8-0 aginst Wigan.
In my invented league it all looks like this...
Man U 39
Arsenal 37
Chelsea 31
Liverpool 31
Portsmouth 31
Man City 30
Blackburn 30
West Ham 27
Everton 25
Aston Villa 25
Newcastle 23
Tottenham 20
Fulham 17
Midlesbrough 14
Reading 13
Sunderland 13
Bolton 13
Wigan 12
Birmingham 10
Derby 8
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Last night
rather than tuck myself up, with the works of Robert Frost, to read about the Triple Godess, the blessed mooncrone, my girlfriend and I watched the National Television Awards instead. The only thing that got read was teletext, when I checked the Carling Cup scores. First, as this is a football blog, let me give you the lowdown in typical News In Brief Style.
...Everton last night scraped through to the last eight of the Carling Cup after a hard fought win over League 1 Luton. Despite making all the running the Toffees were unable to break a down a dogged and determined Luton defence until Tim Cahill, still returning from injury, converted Thomas Gravesen's extra time corner for a late winner. The win ensures Everton will play one of their Premiership rivals in the next round...
Enough of that. If you want more I suggest you head elsewhere. Now, the NTA awards!
The biggest shock of the night was Ant and Dec winning the the Best Presenter Award, despite the fact that they are clearly two people. Surely the award they should have won was the Best Presenters' Award. They obviously enjoy a a relationship of symbiotic dependency to such an extent that they are no longer seen as one person. Their consciousnesses merging into one sentiency, Burroughsesque, the one fading to insignificance without the other. Every time I see Ant and Dec I am unable to forget the image of Duncan from Byker Grove (played by one of them, Dec, I think) being brainwashed by a Tai Chi instructor. Maybe this layed the spiritual groundwork for his later soul convergence with Ant/PJ.
Trevor Mcdonald, hosting the affair, revealed a hitherto concealed lightness of touch. He deserted his sombre catastrophe announing sobriety for an all togehter more open and approachable style . He even gave the audience a cheeky wink at one point, when talking about the news at 10 being back in the New Year. This switch to panache light was a bit disconcerting. Like John Motson suddenly revealing a hidden talent as a childrens' entertainer.
Eastenders won best soap. Their new producer mumbled incoherently in the background to Dot while stumbling around like an overgrown toff. He looked thoroughly flumoxxed by the whole hoo-ha.
...
Back to the football however: teletext reported on Bolton's match by writing "Gary Megson enjoyed his first defeat as Bolton manager" Like he was some kind of maschocist who contrived to lose whenever he could. Looking at this record that would explain a lot.
There was no giant killing in the cup last night, although the Foxes and Luton both came close. But then, even if a smaller club does somehow manage to invert the form book, it is a case of winning the battle and not the war. There are always giants. Not just in football too, in all of life. Any Iraqi can tell you that.
...Everton last night scraped through to the last eight of the Carling Cup after a hard fought win over League 1 Luton. Despite making all the running the Toffees were unable to break a down a dogged and determined Luton defence until Tim Cahill, still returning from injury, converted Thomas Gravesen's extra time corner for a late winner. The win ensures Everton will play one of their Premiership rivals in the next round...
Enough of that. If you want more I suggest you head elsewhere. Now, the NTA awards!
The biggest shock of the night was Ant and Dec winning the the Best Presenter Award, despite the fact that they are clearly two people. Surely the award they should have won was the Best Presenters' Award. They obviously enjoy a a relationship of symbiotic dependency to such an extent that they are no longer seen as one person. Their consciousnesses merging into one sentiency, Burroughsesque, the one fading to insignificance without the other. Every time I see Ant and Dec I am unable to forget the image of Duncan from Byker Grove (played by one of them, Dec, I think) being brainwashed by a Tai Chi instructor. Maybe this layed the spiritual groundwork for his later soul convergence with Ant/PJ.
Trevor Mcdonald, hosting the affair, revealed a hitherto concealed lightness of touch. He deserted his sombre catastrophe announing sobriety for an all togehter more open and approachable style . He even gave the audience a cheeky wink at one point, when talking about the news at 10 being back in the New Year. This switch to panache light was a bit disconcerting. Like John Motson suddenly revealing a hidden talent as a childrens' entertainer.
Eastenders won best soap. Their new producer mumbled incoherently in the background to Dot while stumbling around like an overgrown toff. He looked thoroughly flumoxxed by the whole hoo-ha.
...
Back to the football however: teletext reported on Bolton's match by writing "Gary Megson enjoyed his first defeat as Bolton manager" Like he was some kind of maschocist who contrived to lose whenever he could. Looking at this record that would explain a lot.
There was no giant killing in the cup last night, although the Foxes and Luton both came close. But then, even if a smaller club does somehow manage to invert the form book, it is a case of winning the battle and not the war. There are always giants. Not just in football too, in all of life. Any Iraqi can tell you that.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)