I’ve not written a blog in a while but Gary Neville’s comments on Sky Sports this week have riled me so much I’ve actually been enticed to put pen on paper (so to speak...).
On the subject of Ashley Young’s second theatrical dive to win a penalty for Manchester United in as many games, the former ‘United’ defender seemed to deem the act of diving as fair play.
After showing several examples of players, including Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard throwing themselves to ground in order to con the referee, he said, “I don’t think these players are cheats.”
Now they may not be serial cheats in the manner of Suarez, Drogba, Ronaldo and the like, but in the examples shown by Neville, they were undoubtedly involved in the act of cheating. There’s no two ways about it. If you fabricate or enhance the extent to which an opposition player has made contact with you, you are cheating, end of story.
And it’s attitudes like Neville’s which are ruining the game. The acceptance and even encouragement of cheating should be refuted not revered. Yes, it is part of the game. No, this does not make it ok, it does not mean the authorities should accept it and it does not mean self-respecting players or coaches should encourage it.
Of course, the situation is not helped by referees, whose actions seem to make players feel they have to exaggerate contact to be awarded the decision which they should have got anyway. And it’s helped even less by the likes of the FA, UEFA and FIFA who have taken little or no action against diving or ‘simulation’ as the footballing version of the PC brigade will describe it.
When then Arsenal player Eduardo dived in a 2009 Champions League qualifier against Celtic, Arsenal appealed against the two-match suspension he received – and won. From some angles, it looked like a clear-cut dive, from others a stone-wall penalty. But UEFA backing down opened the door for more and more players to realise they could get away with it, on the basis that at the speed top-level football is played at, it’s very difficult to ‘prove’ what everyone knows was cheating.
If the authorities took a firm stance and started banning players, whether through straight red cards during games or as retrospective suspensions, it would cut so much vile cheating out of the game. Even if it took a few players being harshly banned, more would try their utmost to stay on their feet and coaches would stop training players in the ‘art of diving’.
But His Royal Highness Neville had something to say on that too. Apparently, if you start banning players for three games there would be “total anarchy in football”. Sorry Gary, I fail to see the problem with that. If it cleanses the game and cuts down on cheating, surely a few managers throwing their toys out of the pram wouldn’t be a bad compromise?
Call my cynical, but I can’t help but think if it had been a Liverpool player diving to win a last-minute, match-winning penalty against Manchester United, he may have a slightly different outlook.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Betfair: Can the return of Tevez boost City's title chase?
Carlos Tevez has finally got down off his high-horse and apologised to Roberto Mancini for refusing to warm-up against Bayern Munich earlier in the season.
Now, in my humble opinion, he should've been booted out of the club on the spot - it's hardly like Manchester City need the transfer money. But now he's back in the picture, can Mancini make the most of the situation and use it to City's title-challenging advantage?
Read more on my Betfair column.
Now, in my humble opinion, he should've been booted out of the club on the spot - it's hardly like Manchester City need the transfer money. But now he's back in the picture, can Mancini make the most of the situation and use it to City's title-challenging advantage?
Read more on my Betfair column.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Latest Betfair Column - John's doing a Ruddy good job.
Premier League Betting: John's doing a Ruddy good job
Here's a link to my latest column on Betfair. Can Norwich City 'keeper John Ruddy stake a late claim for a place in England's Euro 2012 squad?
Here's a link to my latest column on Betfair. Can Norwich City 'keeper John Ruddy stake a late claim for a place in England's Euro 2012 squad?
Monday, 13 February 2012
Will Drogba's return mean Torres is back to the bench?
Hi all. Here's my latest Betfair column. Keep checking Betfair every Wednesday for more of the latest news, views and odds from the world of football. It's not all Chelsea, I promise!
Will Drogba's return mean Torres is back to the bench?
Will Drogba's return mean Torres is back to the bench?
Can AVB survive the Stamford Bridge storm?
I’ve been pondering this article or at least one of a similar ilk for some time now, but have always managed to hold off, not wanting to jump on the ‘Andre Villas-Boas is a useless twonk’ bandwagon. But like the hoards of Chelsea fans at Goodison Park on Saturday who burst into a rousing chorus of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’, my patience has been worn a bit too thin. It’s time to get it out of my system - *vaguely constructive rant warning*.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one for calling for managers’ heads every five minutes and demanding a plethora of shiny new trophies season after season. I am of the opinion that certain managers need to be given time...where would Manchester United be now had they not stuck out the difficult teething period when Alex Ferguson took the reins?
But that’s not to say clubs and fans should blindly support managers either, just for the sake of ‘giving them time’, when things clearly aren’t right in the camp.
Villas-Boas’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in the summer came as a surprise to many Blues fans, with strong rumours linking former interim boss Guus Hiddink with the job. And being a close friend of owner Roman Abramovich, popular with the Stamford Bridge faithful and players alike, it seemed the obvious move.
But Abramovich instead pulled a move out of left-field, appointing FC Porto manager and former Chelsea employee, Villas-Boas.
Despite the surprising appointment, Chelsea fans by and large seemed excited by the prospect of a young, up-and-coming manager who could potentially take the hot-seat for years to come – our very own Sir Alex. But despite Chelsea players crowing over how great and 21st Century pre-season training was (presumably with a gun to their heads...) and being the first side to knock Manchester ‘webuyanyplayer.com’ City off their perch this season, things have started to turn sour.
Draw has followed defeat has followed draw has followed defeat at regular intervals, across all competitions. Chelsea scraped through the Champions League knock-out stages, somehow topping the group, but look increasingly likely to accomplish the unacceptable at Stamford Bridge and miss out on qualification for Europe’s biggest club tournament next season.
One can only be left to wonder how the Great Rebuild of 2012 will go when the Blues fail to attract top youngsters or experienced heads with no offer of Champions League football.
And it’s not as if AVB has the right ideas but just doesn’t have the personnel to carry them out. His team selections are a mystery, his substitutions are nothing short of baffling and his infatuation with Jose Bosingwa...simply mind-boggling.
Take this week’s debacle against Everton for example. His back four were Bosingwa, Luiz, Ivanovic and Cole. Last weekend against Manchester United (the capitulation to end all capitulations), Branislav Ivanovic was a contender for Chelsea’s Man of the Match...at right back...the position he’s mostly occupied since his arrival in January 2008. He was nothing short of outstanding, dodgy penalty aside. Gary Cahill, who was finally awarded his Chelsea debut, was also on the better side of solid and was even unlucky not to clinch an undeserved three points right at the death, with a stinging shot tipped over by De Gea.
So this week, naturally, it was all change. Cahill was back getting splinters and Ivanovic was back in the centre babysitting David Luiz, to varying degrees of success. There’s a complete lack of consistency to enable the defence to gel and there’s even less appreciation for playing the best players in their best positions. That means Ivanovic at right back and Jose Bosingwa on the next plane back to Portugal, Andre.
Villas-Boas also seems to lack any tactical nous. He makes substitutions for the sake of it and the team often loses its shape and balance as a result. Up until Christmas, Chelsea were the only team in the Premier League to have used all three substitutions in every game. That doesn’t exactly point to level-headed tactical genius.
The game against Fulham at the Bridge on Boxing Day was a classic example. AVB hooks Frank Lampard, fairly enough as Lamps was having a Weston (Super-Mare!), and replaces him with Florent Malouda. Now my feelings towards Mr Malouda are best saved for a future blog for fear of this one turning into War and Peace with very ripe language, but that aside, replacing a centre midfielder with a wide player meant the middle of the park lost all shape, with none of the players seeming to know who was meant to be where. This also happened against Manchester City, when for reasons only known to AVB, we found ourselves with both Mikel and Romeu on the pitch at the same time. Two holding midfielders, four defenders, complete chaos.
That’s not to say AVB has been all-bad. The signing of Juan Mata was inspired and he’s an incredibly exciting prospect for the future. That’s not to mention...no, actually, that’s the only good point I can muster.
It seems that after 25 league games, seven draws and six defeats, maybe it’s time Abramovich cuts his losses and admits he appointed the wrong man. And with his ever-increasing training ground visits, maybe it’s just a matter of time until Chelsea call a press conference.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one for calling for managers’ heads every five minutes and demanding a plethora of shiny new trophies season after season. I am of the opinion that certain managers need to be given time...where would Manchester United be now had they not stuck out the difficult teething period when Alex Ferguson took the reins?
But that’s not to say clubs and fans should blindly support managers either, just for the sake of ‘giving them time’, when things clearly aren’t right in the camp.
Villas-Boas’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in the summer came as a surprise to many Blues fans, with strong rumours linking former interim boss Guus Hiddink with the job. And being a close friend of owner Roman Abramovich, popular with the Stamford Bridge faithful and players alike, it seemed the obvious move.
But Abramovich instead pulled a move out of left-field, appointing FC Porto manager and former Chelsea employee, Villas-Boas.
Despite the surprising appointment, Chelsea fans by and large seemed excited by the prospect of a young, up-and-coming manager who could potentially take the hot-seat for years to come – our very own Sir Alex. But despite Chelsea players crowing over how great and 21st Century pre-season training was (presumably with a gun to their heads...) and being the first side to knock Manchester ‘webuyanyplayer.com’ City off their perch this season, things have started to turn sour.
Draw has followed defeat has followed draw has followed defeat at regular intervals, across all competitions. Chelsea scraped through the Champions League knock-out stages, somehow topping the group, but look increasingly likely to accomplish the unacceptable at Stamford Bridge and miss out on qualification for Europe’s biggest club tournament next season.
One can only be left to wonder how the Great Rebuild of 2012 will go when the Blues fail to attract top youngsters or experienced heads with no offer of Champions League football.
And it’s not as if AVB has the right ideas but just doesn’t have the personnel to carry them out. His team selections are a mystery, his substitutions are nothing short of baffling and his infatuation with Jose Bosingwa...simply mind-boggling.
Take this week’s debacle against Everton for example. His back four were Bosingwa, Luiz, Ivanovic and Cole. Last weekend against Manchester United (the capitulation to end all capitulations), Branislav Ivanovic was a contender for Chelsea’s Man of the Match...at right back...the position he’s mostly occupied since his arrival in January 2008. He was nothing short of outstanding, dodgy penalty aside. Gary Cahill, who was finally awarded his Chelsea debut, was also on the better side of solid and was even unlucky not to clinch an undeserved three points right at the death, with a stinging shot tipped over by De Gea.
So this week, naturally, it was all change. Cahill was back getting splinters and Ivanovic was back in the centre babysitting David Luiz, to varying degrees of success. There’s a complete lack of consistency to enable the defence to gel and there’s even less appreciation for playing the best players in their best positions. That means Ivanovic at right back and Jose Bosingwa on the next plane back to Portugal, Andre.
Villas-Boas also seems to lack any tactical nous. He makes substitutions for the sake of it and the team often loses its shape and balance as a result. Up until Christmas, Chelsea were the only team in the Premier League to have used all three substitutions in every game. That doesn’t exactly point to level-headed tactical genius.
The game against Fulham at the Bridge on Boxing Day was a classic example. AVB hooks Frank Lampard, fairly enough as Lamps was having a Weston (Super-Mare!), and replaces him with Florent Malouda. Now my feelings towards Mr Malouda are best saved for a future blog for fear of this one turning into War and Peace with very ripe language, but that aside, replacing a centre midfielder with a wide player meant the middle of the park lost all shape, with none of the players seeming to know who was meant to be where. This also happened against Manchester City, when for reasons only known to AVB, we found ourselves with both Mikel and Romeu on the pitch at the same time. Two holding midfielders, four defenders, complete chaos.
That’s not to say AVB has been all-bad. The signing of Juan Mata was inspired and he’s an incredibly exciting prospect for the future. That’s not to mention...no, actually, that’s the only good point I can muster.
It seems that after 25 league games, seven draws and six defeats, maybe it’s time Abramovich cuts his losses and admits he appointed the wrong man. And with his ever-increasing training ground visits, maybe it’s just a matter of time until Chelsea call a press conference.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Sam Hutchinson - A Tale of Inspiration
Amidst the diving, players refusing to play and obscene levels of money, rarely does football - especially at the top level - offer heart-warming and uplifting stories. But the tale of one Chelsea youngster is a rare shining light shimmering in a game increasingly shrouded in darkness.
During Jose Mourinho’s reign at Stamford Bridge and several years after Roman Abramovich’s gargantuan investment in the plush new Cobham training facilities and academy set-up, small buds of young, English talent were just starting to blossom in the heart of Surrey.
All the talk now surrounds the potential of the likes of Josh McEachran and Ryan Bertrand, but at four years their senior and with a tale of persistence, determination and courage already under his belt, maybe the player Chelsea fans should really start buzzing about is Sam Hutchinson.
The 22-year-old defender hung up his boots just 16 months ago, believing his short-lived playing career to be over after a succession of knee problems. But Chelsea offered him a route back into the game with a coaching contract and it was through that he realised he may be able to keep the dream alive.
After noticing he could coach without knee pains, Hutchinson began the process of resurrecting his playing career bit by bit. He was training three days on, one day off and he’s now progressed to four days on, one day off and playing regular 90 minutes for Chelsea’s reserves, of whom captained before the injuries took their toll.
These are promising signs for player, club and fans. Hutchinson was starting to edge his way into first-team contention under Mourinho after making his debut in May 2007 and became a regular face on the Chelsea bench, with four very exciting appearances for the Blues. He’s a young, versatile defender, able to switch between full-back and centre-back with ease, with an eye for a foraging run forwards – a more controlled version of David Luiz and with more controlled hair too!
And while player and club are rightly approaching his rehabilitation as a ‘one step at a time’ process, there are certainly bright signs for the future. Although Hutchinson may not be the immediate solution to Chelsea’s defensive woes, in the long-term he certainly has the potential to be John Terry’s successor, not just at centre-back but with the captain’s armband too.
Having made his comeback for the reserves in July in a friendly against Crawley Town, Hutchinson has taken another step towards securing his future on the pitch, as this week he signed a new 18-month deal with the Blues.
But it’s going to be a long road for the youngster, requiring patience from himself and common sense from the Chelsea medical staff. Though having seen the attitude with which he’s already approached his return to football and the maturity with which he’s rebounded from set-back after set-back, Chelsea fans should have no concerns about Sam Hutchinson’s desire and attitude. And should he recover the promise he showed under Jose Mourinho, it could be a very exciting future for the young defender.
During Jose Mourinho’s reign at Stamford Bridge and several years after Roman Abramovich’s gargantuan investment in the plush new Cobham training facilities and academy set-up, small buds of young, English talent were just starting to blossom in the heart of Surrey.
All the talk now surrounds the potential of the likes of Josh McEachran and Ryan Bertrand, but at four years their senior and with a tale of persistence, determination and courage already under his belt, maybe the player Chelsea fans should really start buzzing about is Sam Hutchinson.
The 22-year-old defender hung up his boots just 16 months ago, believing his short-lived playing career to be over after a succession of knee problems. But Chelsea offered him a route back into the game with a coaching contract and it was through that he realised he may be able to keep the dream alive.
After noticing he could coach without knee pains, Hutchinson began the process of resurrecting his playing career bit by bit. He was training three days on, one day off and he’s now progressed to four days on, one day off and playing regular 90 minutes for Chelsea’s reserves, of whom captained before the injuries took their toll.
These are promising signs for player, club and fans. Hutchinson was starting to edge his way into first-team contention under Mourinho after making his debut in May 2007 and became a regular face on the Chelsea bench, with four very exciting appearances for the Blues. He’s a young, versatile defender, able to switch between full-back and centre-back with ease, with an eye for a foraging run forwards – a more controlled version of David Luiz and with more controlled hair too!
And while player and club are rightly approaching his rehabilitation as a ‘one step at a time’ process, there are certainly bright signs for the future. Although Hutchinson may not be the immediate solution to Chelsea’s defensive woes, in the long-term he certainly has the potential to be John Terry’s successor, not just at centre-back but with the captain’s armband too.
Having made his comeback for the reserves in July in a friendly against Crawley Town, Hutchinson has taken another step towards securing his future on the pitch, as this week he signed a new 18-month deal with the Blues.
But it’s going to be a long road for the youngster, requiring patience from himself and common sense from the Chelsea medical staff. Though having seen the attitude with which he’s already approached his return to football and the maturity with which he’s rebounded from set-back after set-back, Chelsea fans should have no concerns about Sam Hutchinson’s desire and attitude. And should he recover the promise he showed under Jose Mourinho, it could be a very exciting future for the young defender.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Low-scoring affair when Newcastle visit the Etihad Stadium : Premier League : UK & Ireland Football
Hi all. It's been a while! Here's my latest column for Betfair. Keep checking the betting.betfair.com site every Wednesday for more of my pearls of wisdom!!
Low-scoring affair when Newcastle visit the Etihad Stadium : Premier League : UK & Ireland Football
Low-scoring affair when Newcastle visit the Etihad Stadium : Premier League : UK & Ireland Football
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