How a dream can end so quickly

On Monday I had the privilege of being at Plainmoor to see Torquay United take on Exeter City in the second leg of the play off semi final. Torquay, 2-1 up from the first leg took the lead just after the hour through Kevin Hill. Surely they couldn't throw away a 3-1 aggregate lead with just twenty minutes remaining? Wrong in a twenty minutes blitz Exeter scored 4 goals to knock out the southcoast rivals.

Watching the game unfold in the second half was just amazing, I've ever seen a team turn a game on it's head like that for a long time, especially after Exeter's poor performance for most of the game. But at the end of the day when it came to it they had the fire power to get themselves through.

Torquay will need to look at themselves hard in the mirror and work out where it all went wrong. not having Lee Phillips from the start certainly didn't help. I felt that Chris Zebroski's role up front didn't work and although he worked hard for the team he didn't look like frontman and he didn't hold the ball with any sort of authority. it was a bad call from both the manager and the player. Zebrokski should have been chosen on the left wing, where he is normally played in the first team. Another issue I have with the team was the substitution changes. Once Torquay took the lead through Hill, the fans, the team and more importantly the manager thought the tie was won. Paul Buckel has a lot to answer for here. he showed inexperience by making the changes he did and changed the dynamics of the team, when it didn't need to be tampered with. After all exeter had shown nothing up till this point.

While taking this into account I'm taking nothing away from Exeter. They were brilliant. A magnificent attacking performance, something you would find more in common with a team higher up the Football League ladder.Just a quick note about the Exeter away fans, they were magnificent some of the best I've seen since i've been watching football. Good luck to them in the final where they face Cambridge United at Wembley.

Lust for money? Or Lust for Success?

As Rocky Baptiste fired Havent and Waterlooville level in the last minute at the Liberty Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup back in January, what were the backroom staff at the club really thinking? ‘yes a chance to bring them back to our place so we can give them a good hiding’.

More likely it was ‘a chance to rake in some cash to keep the club afloat’.

And this brings up the question when did clubs become focused on financial gain, and stop considering the implications of actually going into the next round.

Gone have the days that clubs wanted a home draw against a small team so that they could have a chance of progressing.

Now they want to go to a big away ground like Stamford Bridge or Anfield to fuel their financial fire.

This is the real reason why you don’t see many upsets these days, the clubs believe they have already won there final, the draw itself.

Always the first question from the interviewee after a club gets through to the next round of the cup is, ‘who would you want in the next round?’

The same reply is always the same, ’one of the big teams!’

Why for once can the manager not say, ‘a small team at home, let’s go all the way!

To be honest this season has seen a change in the belief shown in some teams.

Havent, Barnsley, Coventry, Sheffield United just to name a few have knocked out sides from divisions above them, and bar Barnsley none of the teams made any sort of the head way in the competition.

To be fair Havet got as far as they could have wished. Even two goals against Liverpool was beyond there wildest dreams.

I don’t think clubs these days, and I’m mainly talking about teams in League 1 and 2 who get plenty of money from Television rights, who don’t need the added incentive of drawing a big team away, they should want to go as far as they can until the draw results go against them.

Teams think there biggest achievement is drawing a big team away, it isn’t ,the biggest achievement is beating them.

And until teams start to realise this it will be a long time till we see two teams from outside England’s top league contesting the FA Cup Final

underated XI

Before I start this week's post I want to offer my congratulations to both Chelsea and Manchester United for reaching the Champions League Final in May. In two very different games Manchester United were able to defend there way to final, as Chelsea outscored Liverpool in a thrilling game at the Stamford Bridge, very uncharacteristic of both sides. I also want to offer my condolences to Mansfield Town after they were relegated after Chester got a point at Stockport County on Tuesday.

 

Anyway onto my main post and after the Premiership team of the season brought up a lot of different opinions and also gave us a view on who really effected the season. For once I want to highlight the players who would never have made this team, because they don't reside in the top four, of which only two players were selected. So here's my Underrated Premiership team of the season.

 

GK-Joe Hart: The 21 year-old Manchester City goalkeeper has been a revelation for Sven Goran Eriksson's men and has been a rock in-front of the sticks. Hart's form has been so impressive he's now a regular for the England Under-21's and is bound to break into full side before the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Bar David James he's been the best English goalkeeper this season and he has a bright future ahead of him for both club and country.

 

RB- Tony Hibbert: Another English player in this eleven and one of the Premiership most consistent performers. The Everton right-back doesn't always go forward as often as most full-backs but he solid defensive play allows for extra attacking play down his side. Although he has to contest the position with Phil Neville he is the more reliable of the two in that positions. Will probably miss out on a international cap but his constancy will is hard to find elsewhere in the league, one of the most underrated of this eleven.

 

CB- Olof Melberg: The Swedish defender has been at the heart of the O'Neil revolution at Villa and he has set the foundations for what are usually a attacking based team. Melberg and Laursen have been awesome for the Villains this season and Melberg's experience has been the cornerstone of that success. Doesn't get in amongst the goals as much as Laursen but that shows more for how committed he his on his defensive commitments more than his attacking prowess.

 

CB- Christophe Samba: Apart from Santa Cruz upfront Rovers have been struggling for goals, and it’s just as well Samba and co have been keeping it tight or Blackburn could be a lot worse off. Samba is a great decoy for Ryan Nelson at the back and his huge physical presence can scare strikers to the bare bone. His superb strike against Spurs earlier this season was definitely a highlight for him, but he certainly takes more pleasure in his defensive work than scoring goals.

 

LB- David Weater: Wheater has had a brilliant season for Boro’ has his break into the England set-up is surely the highlight of his season. It’s detriment to his superb performances this season that Jonathan Woodgate was sold half way through the season because of the potential shown in Wheater. One of the best compliments he could have been shown. A sure shoe in for England in the next few years and is sure to make an impact at a bigger club in the near future.

 

RM-Sulley Muntari: One of the sparkling African contingents at the FA Cup Finalists, and maybe the most talented of the lot. His incredible left foot has haunted many teams this season, including Aston Villa who he scored two brilliant long range goals against earlier in the season. His form at the African nations cup was just as brilliant he winning goal in the opening game was simply brilliant. In addition his composure to score a winning penalty at Old Trafford is something to be pround of. Although his form dropped off a little after the African Cup of Nations he was still an intrinsic part of the team who have reached the FA Cup Final.

 

CM-Mathieu Flamini: The only player from one of the ‘big four’ I have included, and for one very good reason, Arsenal are full of stars and the only one who isn’t as flamboyant as the rest. As Fabregas, Adebayor and Van Persie weave the magic up the pitch, Flamini has been patrolling the midfield and has been a great decoy for Fabregas who for the first time this season has had the licence to roam forward and is probably the reason for the Spainard’s increased goal tally. A brilliant versatile player who has been overlooked by many this season, because of his own teams outrageous playing style.

 

CM- Lee Carsley: The second Everton player on the list and just as anonymous as Hibbert but just as influential. His midfield anchor role for Everton again allows others to get forward and get involved further up the pitch. Cahill and Arteta have a lot to owe Carsley for. Another brilliant passer of the ball.

 

LM- Martin Petrov: A talented left winger, Petrov arrived from Athletico Madrid in a £4.7m deal.e spacing Having already established himself as a first team regular thanks to his passing and vision, Petrov showed his finishing quality with three goals in a week in late September. As the season has progressed, his defensive frailties have been exposed at times, but he remains one of the first names on the City teamsheet. One of the few hits of Sven’s new signings, should be a regular next season as well whether Sven stays as manager or not.

 

CF- Kenwyne Jones: After being bought for 5 million pounds in the summer, there was a lot of pressure on Jones going into the new season. However Jones has proven all his critics wrong in attempting to keep his Sunderland side in the Premiership. His goals have been most vital, and his hold up play in particular has been most useful bringing other players into the game. At times this season he’s been un-defendable, his brute strength troubling defenses all over the country.

 

CF- James McFadden: After being frustrated at Everton he moved to Birmingham City in Janurary for 3.5 million pounds. He has contributed hugely to keep Birmingham in the Premiership, including two goals against Arsenal in March. His extravagant play and superb vision is a huge asset for the club, and it’s a mystery that with both him and Forssell upfront that Birmingham are still struggling at the foot of the table.