Posts Tagged ‘FA Cup’

1FITG mid-season review: Luton

Posted: February 13, 2013 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , ,
8

Yesterday we gave you some thoughts on Liverpool’s season so far. Today @miller179 gives his thoughts on a team that’s actually still in the FA Cup – Luton Town.

1. So what are your thoughts on Luton’s season so far?

Apart from the cup run, it’s been disappointing if I’m honest. Poor performances and losing leads has been the theme of our season so far. The fans deserve more. This is our 4th season at this level and the players still seem unsure of what this league is about - and how to consistently win games. In recent weeks, manager Paul Buckle seems to have adopted a harsher, more aggressive, attitude – highlighting individual errors in the press. Do I agree with that? I’m not too sure, but if it leads to an upturn in our performances then I’m all for it. The apologists will point to the fact that we have 3 games in hand. That means nothing without winning them. With 2 games a week now until the end of the season, we’re going to have to be at our very best to win the league - which looks unlikely for now. On the positive side, we seem to have the formation right. Buckle finally seems set on a 4-4-2, which I think is the right decision for the players that we have, and for the balance of the team. In any other year with our current points total we would be completely out of it, but we’re not, no one is running away with it, and we still have a chance - which is incredible really considering our form and some of our results this season.

2. How are you feeling about your chances in the FA cup this season - is it a cup Luton want to progress in, and will Buckle prioritise the league?

Every Luton fan and Paul Buckle knows the priority is the league. I would give up that result against Norwich for an extra 6 points in the league within a heartbeat. But if we progress that’s great for us financially, and raises the profile of the club. If you had of asked me before the Norwich game would we win, I would have said categorically no. I thought Norwich would be too strong, but this is the FA Cup, anything can happen. We’ve got a good chance especially as we’re at home, and I’m sure Millwall will come out and go for it, which in turn is better for us. It suits us if the game is open.

3. Has Buckle improved Luton’s style of play? Do you feel you can gain promotion under his management, and survive in league two?

Paul Buckle’s decision to ditch 4-3-3 might just add the solidity Luton need

The style of play is improving. In all fairness we’ve never played long-ball/hoof football, but playing 4-3-3 in my opinion made us too easy to open up. We’ve now settled on a 4-4-2, which hopefully means we’re more solid. We’re still massively susceptible to set pieces - the amount of goals we concede from set pieces is shambolic. I still wince when the opposing team has a free kick or corner because you just know there is a high likelihood of them scoring. I think we can gain promotion under Buckle, but its going to be through the playoffs. If we did do it this year we would definitely have a good chance of one of those playoff spots in League 2.

4. The football league vultures will be circling if Luton don’t achieve promotion this season. Which player are you most afraid of losing in the summer?

Andre Gray is the player that stands out. He’s still young, but he’s getting better every game he plays. There’s so much potential, he could play L1 quite easily in my opinion. He’s just signed an extension to his contract which should make it harder for anyone to sign him, but realistically if we don’t go up and a Championship/L1 club comes in with the right money, I’m sure he could be on his way.

5. Predicted finish in the conference this season?

Well, promotion is the one and only thing I care about. I couldn’t care less how we do it. We won’t win it, but I predict us to finish 3rd, win in the play offs, and then finally win the final. Luton never seem do it the easy way, there’s always drama, but I really do feel as long if we can get in those play off places we can definitely beat anyone over 2 legs. And then you hope to god we wouldn’t be cursed of possibly being the only team to lose a playoff final in 3 consecutive seasons.

The Abramovich Situation

Posted: November 22, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
2
English: Roman Abramovich

Abramovich might look patient, but behind those eyes lies a man ready to fire you at the drop of a hat…

The sudden, unexpected sacking of Roberto Di Matteo yesterday, and his instant replacement with Rafa Benitez as interim manager, is yet another episode in high budget soap opera taking place in West London. Or as AVB aptly commented, ‘just another day at the office’ for Chelsea. But it raises questions about just how Roman Abramovich continues to go about his running of the club – and whether the short-termism he’s displayed over the course of his tenure is really in Chelsea’s best interests.

Until 2003 Chelsea were a plucky, medium size club. We brought in exciting foreign talent and played ‘sexy football’. We were popular. Our increasingly less stuttering Italian manager and league form made us popular. We were humble, we didn’t even have a training ground, sharing fields and a clubhouse with a university campus near Hatton Cross, three stops from Heathrow on the Piccadilly line. We played in Europe with moderate success. Much like the Kings Road in the 60’s, we were cool.

Then, that fateful day when, according to the stories, Abramovich flew over Stamford Bridge after being turned down by Spurs and decided to be our new owner.

What followed as Abromovich’s legacy was a multimillion pound deluge, recruiting some of the most exciting talent from around the globe (and ruining a few careers in the process, see Wright-Phillips, Kezman, Crespo, Shevchenko etc). The stream of players in and out of SW6 was matched only by the management staff. The first casualty was the aforementioned Italian, Claudio Ranieri. The much loved replacement to Gianluca Vialli, Ranieri’s season before Abramovich took the reins boasted a 2nd placed finish in the Premier League. This impressive position that would see him fired the following year.

Ranieri’s departure made way for the arrival of the world’s most sought after manager, Jose Mourinho. The swaggering portugeezer, the self proclaimed ‘Special One’ brought success to Chelsea in the form of back to back league titles plus success in both domestic cups. Unlucky exits from the Champions League were the only real black mark on Mourinho’s copy book. He was accused of playing negative football, his reliance on a stoic defence often created the victories desired by the owner. In the end, these victories weren’t enough. We didn’t play the brand of football seen at the Bernabeu or Camp Nou and this was enough for Jose and Roman to part ways.

Short spells in quick succession have followed as Abramovich’s pal Avram Grant, ‘Big’ Phil Scolari, Gus Hiddink, and the perma-arched eyebrowed Carlo Ancellotti all took the reins. Ancellotti won the double in 2010 with Chelsea scoring over 100 league goals and beating Man United in the FA cup final. While impressive to most fans, it still failed to meet Abramovich’s ever-raising bar.

With the short-termism undermining whoever was in the hot seat, player-power came to the fore. AVB was the first manager to attempt to stand up to it – standing on the balcony at the new training base to make sure the players arrived on time. It became a game for players to taunt their new young manager by hiding in their cars around the corner and screeching into the car park at the last minute. AVB snapped back selling Alex and Anelka as a way of exerting his authority. But it didn’t work and following a spate of bad results he lost his job. It’s interesting that, like his successor, AVB’s last 2 defeats were West Brom in the league and an Italian team in the Champions League.

So what went wrong for RDM?

This season started with a big loss, Didier Drogba. The Ivorian and the club deciding that his winning penalty in the Champions League final would be the last time he kicked a ball in a Chelsea strip. This left a 6 foot 2 hole in the Chelsea squad and despite heavy investment in small skilful players the squad still seems to be lacking something. Torres is not the player he was. Whether it’s the job he’s being asked to do or the weight of a £50 million price tag continuing to hang around his neck, we may never know, but he’s not got the class to lead a Premier League team right now – and potentially may never be.

Abramovich surely can’t ignore the fact that much of Chelsea’s disappointment this season has been outside of the manager’s control. What with the Terry court case and Ashley Cole’s loose tweeting, RDM has had more than most managers have had to deal with on top of his job. Despite being blamed for a lot of Chelsea’s problems over the last couple of years it’s actually the absence of the ‘Old Guard’ that’s hurt Chelsea in recent games. Before Lampard and Cole’s injuries and Terry’s ban, Chelsea sat top of the league having beaten Arsenal and Tottenham away along the way. Since the three have been absent we’ve drawn 2 and lost 2 in the league. Players that have had to take on extra responsibility as a result haven’t sufficiently filled that void – David Luiz is certainly talented, but he’s no leader to rely on in a crisis. RDM has added to these problems with his recruitment, as Chelsea have developed a squad full of creative yet irresponsible players. It’s great when it works. Against Juve, it really didn’t – Hazard up front, Azpilicueta right midfield and the Mata narrow on the left allowing the marauding Leichensteiner space didn’t exactly help.

Is Abramovich’s approach working?

Since 2003, the Roman Revolution has brought three Premier League titles, four FA cups, two League cups, two Community shields, and a Champions League title. Can any Chelsea fans argue with that? The height of our achievements in the decade before he arrived a one-nil Cup Winners Cup win in 1998. Sure, some beloved characters left SW6 with nothing more than a multimillion pound pay off. And sure Manchester United and Arsenal fans enjoy crowing about their long term managers. But would you trade all the silverware to see Ranieri sat in the home dugout at the bridge?

So what does Roman want? He wants attractive football that wins titles. He’s spent a lot of money  on this club. How can anyone deny him anything? If he creates an English football dynasty (as he aims to do0, who will remember the people he cast off on the way? On top of recent successes Chelsea have posted profit for the first time in the last fiscal year. A measly £1.4m but good to know the club is moving in the right direction. Why should Roman change his successful management style?

Rafa Benitez wasn’t a popular figure amongst Chelsea fans when he was Liverpool manager and the brand of football he plays is unlikely to please the boss but if he sures up our defence and gets Torres firing, good luck to him. But as history proves, interim manager or not, any silver gained between now and the summer is no guarantee of security under the Abramovich regime.

Written by Dan Northcote-Smith and Nick Moss (@dnsandnick)

FA Cup Pop

Posted: February 14, 2012 by onefootinthegame in England, FA Cup
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

This weekend heralds the 4th round of the Budweiser sponsored FA cup. Dreams of Wembley are harboured by fans, whose clubs are still hanging on in the competition. The media like to talk about the romance of the FA cup. In its 141 year history, there have been many memorable moments. Ronnie Radford’s winning goal for non-league Hereford United against the mighty Newcastle. Trevor Brooking’s cup final header against Arsenal. Ricky Villa’s dramatic solo goal against Man City. All glorious moments etched in FA cup folklore. However, I remember something far more memorable than all of that. Something that really represents FA cup tradition. The FA cup final song!

There are probably a few spotty pubescent teenagers reading this, who don’t know what the hell I’m on about. Well that’s nothing new. I’m not cool anymore. Well truth be told, I was never cool. Hence the years of self-loathing. Anyway, I digress. The really tragic thing is, this generation has lost out. Forget about the rise in student fees or broken Britain. They are a host of people out there, who never got the chance to see tone deaf, multimillion pound footballers, make absolute prats of themselves. Well in ways other than family-related sex scandals, and controversial (non) pre-match handshakes of course.

For those who may not know. There was a time (way back when) that football clubs who competed in the FA cup final, would celebrate the occasion. The two competing clubs did this, by releasing their own individual songs. Yes, an actual living, breathing song that would go into the charts. There was even a real a chance this dichotomy of audio tripe, could reach the dizzy heights of number one. How ridiculous is that? Imagine footballers today, having the opportunity to topple modern artists like Rihanna and Ed Sheeran. In fairness, a lot of the FA cup final songs were better than Ed Sheeran, but that’s beside the point.

So picture the scenario. A group of professional footballers in a recording studio, warbling into a microphone.  Some of them genuinely believed they could actually sing. Oh and the songs. Let me tell you about the songs. The lyrics were just a mess of random football clichés, with terrace chants thrown in. They were terrible, truly terrible. However we as football fans absolutely adored them! It was something about the silly, cheesy, naff nature of it all, that was well, very, how do you say……English. Plus all the proceeds from the songs sales, would go to a local charity or something wholesome like that (I think!).

Sadly, professional football in this country is a very corporate and commercial world now. Something seemed to happen at the turn of the millennium, and the tradition of releasing a FA cup football song was forgotten. It just doesn’t happen anymore. The media complains there are no sporting personalities. Well the FA cup final song made even the most gormless of morons (I’m talking to you Wayne Rooney), look like real entertainers. Don’t just take my word for it. Have a look at the attached videos of past FA cup final songs. I dare you to watch them and not sing ‘the Anfield rap’ or ‘Arsenal hot stuff’ afterwards.

I was even contemplating the return of International football songs. You know, the ones a nation would record and release before a major tournament. Now this is really exciting stuff. We could have a football version of Eurovision. Where players from each nation would sing and rival countries would do the voting. Oh think of the politics, the backstabbing, and the bribery. FIFA and UEFA would bloody love it! Instead of thinking about formations and zonal marking, the England manager would be wondering if Darren Bent and Joe Hart could finish off their perfect falsettos. Absolute genius folks! I reckon I’m onto something here. Someone get me Simon Cowell’s number, quick.

So, who’s with me here? Let’s see the return of the FA cup final song. With your help this dream can be achieved. We can do it together people. I could even start a petition. Let the future of today revel in football music awfulness. Thank you!  I’m off to listen to my Baddiel and Skinner ‘Euro 96’ Three Lions cassette.

Related articles

What to do with a problem like Alejandro Faurlín?

Posted: May 3, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Championship
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Alejandro FaurlínFollowing last night’s dramatic twist in the race for the final automatic promotion spot, eyes turn today to the FA hearing that could send shockwaves through the top 6. Despite being aware of the issue since March, the FA in its typically mind-boggling fashion has decided to wait until today to start proceedings on the matter of the alleged third-party ownership of QPR midfielder Alejandro Faurlín.

An FA ‘source’ indicated to The Sun last week that QPR could face a points deduction of up to 15 points. QPR fans had their promotion party on Easter Monday swept from them temporarily by an injury-time Norwich goal – could the FA seriously spoil the party now that they’ve claimed the Championship title?

QPR should be worried. In the event they are found guilty of third-party ownership, and all indications seem to be pointing that way, the possibility of a serious points deduction is a very real possibility.

Let’s look back at the Carlos Tevez case for a minute, which really brought the issue of third party ownership to light. When Tevez and team-mate Javier Mascherano were registered as players, West Ham failed to disclose that they had entered into an agreement with third-party companies. Tevez was owned by Media Sports Investments and Just Sports Inc, Mascherano by Global Soccer Agencies and Mystere Services Ltd – all four companies represented by Kia Joorabchian, who in essence held the contracts and transfer rights.

The first thing to point out is that the charges to QPR deal with more than the alleged third-party ownership of Faurlín, and their failure to declare this prior to his July 2009 signing. These include:

- allegedly using or seeking to pay an unauthorised agent in relation to the Faurlín’s registration
- allegedly submitting false information contained in documents to the FA in relation to Faurlín signing an extension to his playing contract in October 2010

If their initial response is any indication of what they will be arguing today, QPR will plead their innocence to these charges. This could be the first alarm bell for QPR fans. When the Premier League gave their verdict on the Tevez case, they made it clear that West Ham’s admission of guilt factored into the decision not to dock points and instead receive a £5.5m fine.

A separate consideration is that it isn’t the Premier League that is looking at the QPR case, but the FA. In the Tevez case, they were only brought to review the Premier League’s initial decision following an appeal by the then-relegated Sheffield United, and Fulham. There was significant criticism levelled at West Ham during that review, stating that they had been “deliberately deceitful”. The FA tribunal also stated the following:

“The tribunal had much sympathy for Sheffield United’s grievances. However, the tribunal had to apply the principles of judicial review and determine whether the decision [not to deduct points] was irrational or perverse. This is a very strict test and is very difficult to satisfy. It concluded that it was impossible for this tribunal to find that the decision was irrational or perverse.”

They accepted that it was a serious offence, but it is clear that he FA were not willing to overturn a Premier League decision that would have had serious implications on the make-up of their league. This time round though, it is the FA that gets first say. Had the FA decided the original Tevez case, perhaps a points deduction would have followed. They will also surely remember the claims by West Ham during the original hearing that the third-party agreement with Joorabchian had been torn up – found to be false during the subsequent hearings.

QPR fans might be reassured though by one of the key considerations the Premier League made in its initial verdict, against a points deduction:

-A points deduction so late in the season might have consigned the club to relegation
-The players and fans of West Ham are in no way to blame for the situation and therefore should not suffer

A significant points deduction so late in the season would strip QPR of the promotion they’ve already celebrated twice. There would be effectively little they could do on the pitch to retain that automatic spot, and would be lumped with the unpredictable playoffs. You can argue that the Premier League shouldn’t have taken the fans and players into account when looking at the Tevez case, but the reality is they did and there’s no reason he FA couldn’t do likewise.

You could also argue that pretty much everyone would accept that Tevez was probably the main reason West Ham stayed up, so was shown to have a significant impact, could the same be said of QPR re: Faurlín, a player which though steady has not had the impact on their season as someone like Adel Taarabt.

At a recent Culture, Media & Sport Committee hearing on football governance, the FA was slammed by both the Minister Hugh Robertson and William Gaillard, one of Michel Platini’s key advisers. They have, like the Premier League in 2007, left this decision till one of the last weeks of the season. They must this week decide this issue, knowing that legal challenges may result whatever they decide, be it from QPR themselves or other clubs in the top 6.

There certainly is less of a groundswell of opinion that QPR has wronged the League, in contrast to the strong criticism of West Ham, though on the face of it the crimes appear very similar. It’s a big week for QPR, but also for the FA. If another club gets a slap-on-the-wrist token punishment, then what is the point in having this rule on third-party ownership? The FA might try and make an example of QPR where the Premier League failed in the case of the Hammers.

Harsh on the QPR fans certainly, but when it comes down to fundamental questions over whether a club has acted within the rules of the game, the fans shouldn’t come into the equation. QPR should, in light of the Tevez case, have known better. The FA, in light of the Premier League’s utter failure to impose a significant punishment for this issue 4 years ago, will want a sterner punishment this time to finally draw a line under the issue of third-party agreements. I predict we’ll see a points deduction that is significant enough to strip QPR of 1st place, but not enough to push them into the playoffs

Related Articles

A tragic end to the magic?

Posted: February 21, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Carling Cup, Championship, England, FA Cup, Non League football, Premier League
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3
Football League Cup trophy at the Old Trafford...

Image via Wikipedia

The FA Cup is unwell.

It seems to have picked up an illness that’s gradually weakening it year-on-year. It probably caught the illness when it failed to wash its handles after visiting the League Cup in hospital a few years ago. The symptoms are similar certainly – declines in attendance levels, a weakening of teams, reduced appeal etc. The doctors at the FA have been there before when the League Cup was first admitted. They gave teams involved at European level byes to later rounds to keep the bigger clubs interested, and reduced the number of games by eliminating two-leg ties in earlier rounds and eliminating replays in the hope of reinvigorating interest and halting the illness. The effects in that instance have been marginal at best. Which is why it is odd that the same therapy is being suggested as the magic cure to all of the FA Cup’s ills, with abolishing replays at the front of the line of suggestions to “improve” the tournament.

In the twenty years I’ve been a fan, many of my favourite moments have been in the FA Cup. Which is why it’s upsetting to see it in decline. This year has been no different. Home ties between lower league and Premiership teams have seen crowds nowhere near capacity. I saw Sheffield United vs Aston Villa in last month’s 3rd round, with the attendance falling below 17,000. 10 years ago that sort of game would have brought in a higher number. Both teams played their strongest teams, the game wasn’t on TV and ticket prices were substantially reduced – the stage should have been set for a much healthier crowd than what turned out. Other clubs have similarly reduced prices with little effect. The weekend saw a virtually full strength Man City take on Notts County in a half-empty Eastlands. Again, tickets had been largely reduced to try and encourage more people to go – the main effects being a likely loss of revenue for Notts County from the gate receipts.

The FA seem to think it’s simply a case of there being too many games, but really the reason why fans can no longer muster the same enthusiasm as they did in the past is that by and large the teams in the top 2 divisions on the whole aren’t that bothered. The Premiership consumes everyone’s attention. The teams fighting it out at the top or bottom feel they must rest their key players so that they can concentrate on more important matters – the need to finish in the top 4, or the fear of dropping out of the division, overrides the Cup. Man United overcame plucky Crawley by a small margin with their reserves, while over at Leyton Orient Arsenal’s reserves had to settle for a draw. The half-arsed approach to the competition by many of the top teams also cheapens the achievements of the teams they struggle against. I was delighted for Orient, particularly at a time when the Olympic Stadium award to West Ham threatens their future. But a draw against Arsenal reserves isn’t quite the same as a draw against Arsenal. It may be the case that the score would have been the same had Arsenal played the same XI that beat Barcelona – sadly we couldn’t find that out. The same could be said for the Man United game. Giant killing isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Deep down, the O’s fans will know this too. They will however be delighted at the prospect of the replay, and the crucial funds it will bring to the club.

Which brings me to the scrapping of replays idea. O’s chairman Barry Hearn made a passionate defence of replays this week. They are an important part of the FA Cup. For lower clubs, they can make a huge difference to both their prospects in and revenue from the competition. Scrapping them would be to the benefit of the big clubs, and the detriment of the small. Extra time rather than replays would likely favour the bigger teams due to the fitness levels their players tend to have. Smaller clubs would find away trips to the top teams altogether tougher. If the FA wants to reform the Cup, it needs to look at other more substantial changes, rather than tweaks that will worsen the competition.

A better option could be to simply space out the rounds and have the final in the first week of June. It is already a disgrace that this year’s final coincides with a weekend of Premiership matches – let’s return this to being the season-ending occasion it used to be.

Also, perhaps it is time to put the League Cup out of its misery and turn off its life-support…

Related Articles