Pre-Season Leaving Fans and Players In The Cold

We’re at that stage of the season again where players are on their way back from their holidays and pre-season fixtures attempt to hog the focus on our back pages, as well as empty the pockets of football fans ahead of the new season.

For the players and teams involved it’s a chance to dust off the cobwebs, and for some of the new signings to bed into their new sides.

It does give the chance for some unattached players to go on trial at clubs before the option is taken on them; it’s certainly lower risk than doing it during the regular season.

Journeyman striker Drewe Broughton did such a thing last summer, playing on trial for both Luton Town and Gillingham before moving to Rotherham United for the remainder of the season.

I’ve always had a varied opinion of pre-season fixtures, they’re useful for the players to an extent but with some results producing ridiculous score lines are any side benefiting from the experience?

There have already been a few examples this summer, and I firstly draw your attention to a fixture in Spain between Villarreal and Navata.

The game finished 27-0 to the La Liga side, who were left manager-less earlier this summer by Manuel Pellegrini who moved to Real Madrid.

They were led by new coach Ernesto Valverde who fielded a different eleven in each half, with Jonathan Pereira scoring seven goals in just one of those half’s.

Now apart from Villarreal blowing off some steam after what I’m sure has been a difficult summer, has either side actually benefited from this battering?

The new coach wouldn’t have had a realistic look at his squad due to the ease of the fixture, and believe me after you’ve watched it you’ll realise; walkover doesn’t even come close to describing the game, it’s a joke.

The game is simply not what football is about, and if pre-season friendlies induce this sort of game then I personally don’t want to know.

So who’s really won after that game? Frankly no-one.

The fans get to see a big team visit their local side, but did they really want to see the mauling their side received? And what does this do for the confidence of that beaten side? Nothing I’d expect.

The next sort of friendly I’ll point you in the direction of a game on Manchester United’s tour of Asia, and their final game against Hangzhou Greentown, which finished 8-2 to United.

I must admit whenever the likes of Liverpool and United organise these sorts of fixtures in Asia I always worry about what the team is getting out of the game, due to the one sided nature of the game and the inferior opposition.

Yes the money involved is clearly an added bonus and training in different conditions is a good way of putting the players through their paces, and I’m all in favour of that.

Maybe there should be two stages of pre-season for sides like this, two weeks of intense physical work abroad, then some matches against British sides who are more hard nosed and lets face it a greater opposition.

What would Sir Alex Ferguson have learnt about his side after their recent departures and how the new signings are fitting in the side? I think even I could look at home in a United side on a tour such as this

It would also give the fans an opportunity to see the side outside of the regular season.

For fans of United for example, it’s almost impossible to see the side outside of Old Trafford, which let’s be honest most fans don’t live anywhere near.

I’m sure fans of Chelsea or Liverpool etc feel the same as even more British sides go abroad for their pre-season tours.

It’s a situation when I envy the teams lower down the football pyramid, who stay in this country and play games with more of an edge than those Premiership sides encounter.

United did attempt this last season when they visited Peterborough United a week before the start of the season, with the two producing a thoroughly competitive match with Premiership Champions putting out their big guns against the Darren Ferguson’s side.

Peterborough themselves were starting the season later that week, and the fixture must have been perfect preparation for the new season, one that ended with promotion to the Championship.

Of course the added extra of the game being a meeting between father and son helped capture the imagination of the supporters and an entertaining evening was enjoyed by all.

However by and large it seems like the attraction of money from Asia and beyond is too much for some clubs to turn down.

It’s the type of friendly that I went to at London Road that we want to see in pre-season, along with the likes of Burton Albion hosting Derby County after Nigel Clough’s move to Pride Park from the Pirelli Stadium.

It’s was a competitive match that both sets of supporters could enjoy with the added edge of Clough’s return, and despite Derby’s victory Burton fans would have enjoyed the acquaintance with their former manager.

When trawling through the pre-season fixture list I came across a game that will certainly capture the imagination of both sets of fans, a match between two former Premiership sides Newcastle United and Leeds United.

Despite the match strangely taking place at St James’ Park tickets are priced at £10 for adults, perfectly reasonable for a game that is sure to be worth watching, given the two sides recent slide.

For a game like this I don’t think many fans will complain about paying £10 for entry, but for some supporters having to pay the same or even more for matches that are set to be as one-sided as the one’s I’ve described isn’t fair.

Bristol City charged £12 for their recent game with Ajax, a game they lost 4-0 and left their fans I’m sure miserable and out of pocket, notwithstanding them seeing a top European side put on a show.

Clubs, especially in the higher echelons of the football league have overpriced supporters in the regular season for years, and in pre-season while prices are lowered they still seem a little high even when the attraction of a top side like Ajax isn’t on offer.

The example I’ll use is QPR, a club who have been attacked for their ticket prices on numerous occasions are charging £20 for there friendly against Southampton next weekend.

Now this is a ridiculous price for a pre-season friendly in my opinion, but when you look at the prices for the normal league season they are identical.

It’s a strange move by the club, who would certainly fill Loftus Road in the close season if they lowered their prices.

My opinion is that clubs should in-fact have most pre-season friendlies free to fans, or at least free to members.

It would get the fans through the turnstiles, create an atmosphere and give the players some motivation to perform for those who have turned up, given that the stadium would be filled to the brim.

If clubs are going to persevere with these inept friendlies with little meaning then they might as well let the fans attempt to enjoy them for free, or at least a minimal price.

With fans shelling out for new shirts etc this would be the perfect way to give back to those loyal supporters who can’t afford to always go to games in the regular season, and maybe it will tempt a new fan to return that same season.

It’s an idea that’s more of a pipe dream than anything else, as clubs are being increasingly stubborn with ticket prices.

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Pre-season is the time for fans to begin to get excited about their clubs fortunes in the coming season, maybe if clubs thought more about the treatment of their own fans, and the needs of their players they might get more out of them than just jet lag and astronomical score-lines that pale into insignificance.

Taylor Has the Personality to Win Over Sporting Hearts

Just three years ago Claire Connor, at the time the biggest name in women’s Cricket, retired from the sport after an ongoing ankle injury.

Connor had just led England to an Ashes victory in 2005, breaking a 42-year record without a win over Australia.

The allrounder brought cricket to the forefront of the minds of the nation, but were soon eclipsed later that summer by the men’s team, who regained their own version of the Ashes after a baron 18-year period.

Far too many women sports live in the shadow of their male counterparts, but Connor did her best to increase the popularity of the sport, while her media profile endeared herself to all cricket lovers.

When Connor retired there was a fear that women’s cricket would again be on the slide, but just like before her there’s a new girl on the block, and her talent alone is already taking the cricket world by storm

Her name; Claire Taylor and to date she is the only player in women’s cricket history to be named one of Wisden’s five cricketer’s of the year, and it doesn’t end their.

In 2006 after a difficult start in international cricket she eclipsed Sir Viv Richards’ record one-day score at Lords by scoring 156 and for the next three years preceding that score she was nominated for ICC women’s world player of the year.

Last year she became the joint highest century maker in women’s one-day cricket and in the same year she was ranked number 1 batsman in the world, a title she still holds today.

This year has been the crowning achievement for Taylor however as she was named player of the tournament at a victorious women’s world cup after top scoring in the tournament, averaging just under 65.

At the 20/20 world cup she was again influential in another England win, averaging 46 throughout the tournament.

And finally she was part of the same team that regained the Ashes on Monday, to complete a third major win of the year for this record-breaking women’s side.

Taylor has been intrinsic to the side’s constant improvement, and her quality with the bat in particular has seen the attentions surrounding her swell.

Her talent was fully on display in the semi-final of the 20/20 world cup as she hit a match winning 76 not out against Australia, a pressure filled innings on the biggest stage of them all.

After winning back the Ashes in 2006 Connor received an OBE for her achievements, while the rest of the side went unnoticed.

The male side however all received MBE’s after their Ashes victory, including Paul Collingwood who appeared in just a single test at The Oval.

Now there’s no doubt that the team wouldn’t have kicked up a fuss about the whole debacle, but many in the media and cricketing world saw it as an unwarranted snub to women’s cricket and women’s sport.

Taylor will be setting her sights however on another award however, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

It’s the time of the year where the contenders start to stake their claim, and even with the men’s side fighting for their own Ashes surely Taylor’s achievements can’t be eclipsed.

Now I’m not here to predict how the rest of our British athletes will get on this year, but to not see Taylor in the final ten would be yet another deliberate snub to women’s cricket, I mean what else does she have to do?

Connor did extremely well to boost the appeal of women’s cricket while she was captain and now three years on support from the ECB is even more extensive, maybe now the coverage and recognition given to their biggest stars will finally be replicated.

Ferguson Forging United a Good Deal

So with Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo gone, the chasm left in Manchester United’s triple winning Premiership squad is a vast one to say the least.

With the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City pricing most clubs out of this current transfer market, United have gone about there business in a slightly reserved manner, while still attracting some of Europe’s biggest names.

Antonio Valencia, a player who has been much coveted by Sir Alex Ferguson has been acquired for an estimated £16 million and Gabriel Obertan has been purchased from Bordeaux for around £4 million.

The most high profile signing however was that of England striker Michael Owen, who joined the club on a free transfer after a four-year spell with Newcastle United.

Despite this triple signing, many United fans and football fanatics across the world would have been expecting United to invest some more of the £80 million from the sale of Ronaldo on new players to replace the Portuguese winger and his Argentine counterpart.

But according to Ferguson United’s spending spree may well be over, something that has raised eyebrows across the football world.

Filling the void left by Ronaldo and Tevez is a difficulty in itself, and it would have been unrealistic to expect Ferguson to replace them both and still kept the coherent classy team we saw last season.

But in terms of what Ferguson has brought in, it doesn’t seem to come close to what has gone before and with the constant improvement of Liverpool, United fans have a reason to be worried.

The Scotsman admitted himself that United had been priced out of the market for a number of players included Lyon’s Karim Benzema, a player who I personally feel wouldn’t have fitted into the United set-up anyway.

Maybe Ferguson didn’t want to spend money just for the sake of boosting the squad especially with the Old Trafford club’ crippling debt.

As a United fan I would appreciate a little bit more honesty from the owners, who put their backing behind Ferguson to spend almost all the money gathered from Ronaldo’s transfer, something I was against from day one.

Maybe keeping back some of the money and easing some of the debt, all be it only slightly, is the logical thing to do especially with prices rocketing in the transfer market, something that for years United have been guilty of doing.

The club are now paying the price for their escapades in previous years and result is the signing of three players that is unlikely to strike fear into their Premiership title challengers.

Valencia after a three-year spell at Wigan has moved to United after over a year of being tracked by United scouts and on the face of it looks like a direct positional replacement for Ronaldo, but in truth the Ecuadorian is far from the finished product that United fans would want to replace last season’s top scorer.

The Frenchman Obertan is ever further from a potential Premiership star, as a littered career in France meant his transfer was seen as something of a surprise in his home country and his appearances this season are expected to be limited to cup competitions.

And while these two talented midfielders may have been expected to join United, the signing of Owen is at the other end of the scale.

The former Liverpool striker had seen constant injury concerns and a lack of form engulf his attraction in world football, but Ferguson has taken the punt on the England striker.

His recent injury history is a huge concern to all United fan, and with no other players set to join the club along with Owen the workload the he might have to undertake might be a case of too much too soon.

With the sale of Frazier Campbell as well United are short on strikers, with Danny Welbeck set to play a greater role this season after breaking through to the first team last term.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten Owen’s underlying quality, and despite his injuries when fit he’s is a quality goal-scorer and with the like of Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick around him chances will be aplenty.

The move is obviously partly motivated by next summer, and the World Cup in South Africa which Owen will aim to be a part of, and he’s given himself a great chance after joining the Premiership champions.

The free transfer means the risk for United is very little, and given that, it’s a no lose situation but without another striker on board maybe United are a little short on the ground.

I’ve never been one to question the decisions of Ferguson given his impeccable record in the transfer market and I have faith that he’s called this correctly and that United won’t be staring down the face of a trophy-less season, and even worse a club on the brink of liquidation.

You only have to look up the M62 to Elland Road to see the results of what misguided transfer money and ongoing debt can do to a club, and United aren’t a far cry from their rivals from Yorkshire.

And at the end of the day isn’t that the most important thing.

Forget the constant success and league titles the club’s future is the big picture.

With savings and the relative cutbacks United have made in the transfer market this summer, our future can be secured for the foreseeable future.

Another Ferguson masterstroke? Not half!