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.

 

Season's awards

We all know that this is point of the season where all the awards are being handed out to teams for promotion and what not and with the PFA awards around the corner I want to pick out my players of the season from four leagues and the conference, for which never enough coverage is given, and centre around who has had the most impact in there teams success.

Conference: With Aldershot waltzing to the title after picking up over 100 points it's very easy to concentrate on them. the difficult thing is picking out a single player who has made a difference because it's been a complete team effort. However the goals of John Grant have been priceless and whenever I've seen him this season he's looked a real threat. The midfield duo of Ben Harding and Scott Davies should not be forgotten either. Davies we should all remember scored that cracking goal at Torquay to virtually guarantee automatic promotion. There promotion rivals should not be forgotten either, the Gulls have put together some stunning performances this season. And they should be thankful to Midfielders Chris Hargreaves and Chris Zebroski. Top scorer Tim Sills also deserves some gratitude after some crucial goals this term.  Elsewhere Stewart Fleetwood endured an amazing season after scoring 22 goals before Christmas, and even though the goals have dried up a little since he has still had a magnificent season for a team who have struggled throughout.

League 2: Yet again concentration will centre around those promoted and even with a game to go in the division it's not hard to pick out the stand out players. Keith Andrews, MK Dons captain has been nothing short of spectacular and is certain to be picking up individual honors from both club and from his peers. It's very nice to see the man who doesn't always make the headlines for scoring in every game get an accolade, and it's a true detriment to how the Dons' season has gone. It's hard to look past Andrews for player of the year, but if you were it would be at Aaron Mclean. The Peterbough man has been simply sensational for Darren Ferguson's men  and has shot fear into the eyes of all teams in league 2. He is sure to pose a threat next year, in a season I expect the Posh to do very well. The final promotion place has gone to Hereford. A Conference side just 3 seasons ago, graham Turner has built a side based on hard word and strong attacking football. His team is basically made up of loan signings, which i believe is just as valid as signing players, you still have to choose them wisely and if you succeed and they do well then they are most likely to stay with you for the new season. This hopefully for the bulls will apply to frontman Theo Robinson who has helped shoot his side into League 1. 

League 1: Swansea's terrific season has overshadowed all the goings on in league 1 and they deservedly head the player of the season list. Jason Scotland has powered through defenses next year, and I'm sure many defenses won't want to be up against him next season in the championship. Preceding them there are a number of teams including Doncaster Rovers. Top scorers Paul Heffanen and James Hayter deserve a lot of credit for firing Doncaster to the brink of automatic promotion. The other big story of the season in league 1 has been the progress of Leeds United. Still waiting to see whether their 15-point deduction at the start of the season will be overturned leeds could still pinch an automatic promotion place ahead of Doncaster. What seems more likely is a route through the playoffs where striker Jemaine Beckford and loan signing Dougie Freedman will be most vital.

Championship: In a league where it's seems know one wants to go up or down it's hard to pick out any real massive players. So I've found it easier to go to the top scorers harts instead where you'll see Sylvan Ebanks-Blake heading the list followed by Kevin Phillips. These two have been on fire this season and will go on to battle it out for the Championship's golden boot. Elsewhere I've been particularly impressed with Hull City's Frasier Campbell and Stoke City's Liam Lawrence both whom have racked up the goal for there respective sides this season. One player who does so little but can't be ignored is Stern John who has done all he can, in some cases to keep Southampton from relegation. Jonathan Walters of Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace's Clinton Morrisson have been scoring well as both teams storm forward to a playoff place. as is write no-team has confirmed there promotion to the Premiership but West Brom and Stoke look the most likely to make it there.

Premiership: I must admit a fault, a week or so ago I said the season was over nothig more could surprise me in this league that drifts along without any excitement but still manages to make the back pages. All of a sudden we have the closest title race ever seen, and the best thing is no-one knows what's going to happen. The main players this season have based around the title challengers. Crisitano Ronaldo of Manchester United, Emmanual Adebayor of Arsenal and Fernando Torres of Liverpool. Chelsea haven't really had a stand out player whenever I've seen them however the recent form of Micheal Essien has been a joy to watch. To be fair after that there isn't much to report. The resurgence to form of Micheal Owen and the potent finishing of Tim Cahill is worth noting but it's been more of season of team play more than individualistic skill. In terms of the final weeks of the season, Manchester United fans won't like hearing that they may have bottled it when it looked for all the world like they would take the title. Chelsea's game at St James's park will be the title decider for me.

So there you have it the best players to have graced each league this season, the best of the lot? Well that's for you to make your mind up on, I've just helped you a little. 

Chance would be a fine thing

It's amazing how fickle football fans can be. This time last season West Ham United were fighting for there lives in the Premiership. It took a last day win against Manchester United, to confirm there safety, in a mission that looked almost impossible at Christmas, even by Steve McQueen's standard's it was a great escape.

Twelve months on and the home faithful have all but forgotten Alan Curbishley's miraculous effort to keep them up. So much so that they are calling for the head of the former Charlton man.

The Hammers comfortable position of tenth in the league flatters them more than anything else, and if anything are truly over-achieving under Curbishley. The second half of the season is just a crash back down to earth, but unfortunately for Hammers fans it's a huge bump.

Three successive 4-0 defeats can't have helped the situation, that's when the first calls for the managers head came. And yes there form hasn't greatly improved a few wins here and there including one against a dreadful Derby side. In fact the reception the fans gave the players when they went back in-front was more of a sign not that they had gone in-front, but they had pulled away from a possible embarrassing result, a true reflecting of how Derby are seen in this league, an embarrassment.

Curbishley should be safe in the summer due to the backing he has from the back-room staff, but it's not the same story for others.

Manchester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson looks most likely to be in the firing line. Owner Thaskin Shinawatra he hinted that the former England manager will not be kept on for next season due to the teams faltering second half of the season, A claim that is shocking to say the least. After bringing in so many unknown players in the summer and having them gel so quickly is quite an achievement, not even Claudio Ranieri has a good a success in his opening spell after Abramovich's spending spree.

The second challenge was to keep the good form up, something that since Christmas has been a difficult thing to keep going. Since City's defeat at Sheffield United in the FA Cup they've never been the same.

But even so this is no reason for the manager to have his position under threat he has done a superb job, and yes they have over achieved in the early part of the season, but still a top ten finish is brilliant considering where the club were this time last season, unable to score at home and facing a grim season in mid-table. I think it would be a travesty if Eriksson lost his job and would top all the amazing sacking we have seen over the last few months, maybe even more ridiculous than Sam Allardyce's sacking by Newcastle earlier in the season

And finally from one man who has the fans on his back and another man who has the back room staff on his back, there is only one man who can top them all at the moment, Avram Grant/

Not only does he have the fans on his back because of the poor quality of football and his failure to win big games e.g Barnsley, Liverpool, Tottenham etc. He also has his owner Roman Abromovich on his back about the same issue, and some would say for the same reason he sacked Jose Mourinho. Surely the Russian won't keep on man who is doing the same as the man he replaced in the first place? To add to that he has the one thing that Mourinho had in abundance, and that was the media's backing.

Whatever Grant does, he cant seem to sell himself to the nations media and it seems that he can't do anything to change there the mind set that he's a boring git. However at the end of the day at a high profile cub like Chelsea the nations media won't get the manager sacked, results will. And to be fair they haven't been bad either. A few defeats when it's mattered, only the victory over Arsenal last month can be described as a massive win in a equally massive game.

If you look at the stats a team in the Semi-final of the champions league, and second in the league 3 points behind the leaders with a possibility of winning a double in his first season in charge and he's meant to be under pressure? It's ludicrous to me. Sounds like whatever Chelsea do there owner will never be happy, it's Real Madrid syndrome. And like there learning, there's no such thing as a quick fix.

I wouldn't be surprised one little bit that if Grant wins both Premiership and Champions league he will still get sacked. His position is untenable, and however much his team succeed on the pitch, it's how the team plays that matters, well at least to one man it is. Why do a team riding so high need another manager to push them forward, if we kept faith in the men in charge we might actually get somewhere.

Introduction

This is my first blog, so I'm a little new to this obviously so bare with me. I'll just start off with introducing myself. Im Nick, I'm 19 and currently at Southampton Solent University studying Sports Writing. My blog will mainly revolve around my passion for sport mainly football. For the purpose of this blog I will not reveal the team that i support, i feel that this will add to the impartiality of the reader, and that you will take a more open mind knowing that I don't support a particular team. All I will give away is that i support one of the current 92 league clubs and i follow each league with the same enthusiasm. I also like to follow the conference as well, as I find it one of the more competitive leagues in the country. In this blog I will display my feelings, emotions and thoughts about the current goings on in the football world.

As I write this blog, I join it as all four leagues in England are starting to take shape. We already no that Swansea will be playing Championship football next season as champions of League 1, with a number of teams threatening to join them next season. In league 2 MK Dons and Peterbrough have both been promoted this weekend, with again a number of teams forming a queue behind them to move into League 1.

Of the teams chasing the last automatic promotion place Stockport County look the most likely to take the final place after coming into a purple patch of form in recent weeks. However I believe that there form has come to early and that the current team in third place Hereford United will take the spoils. With it being in the bulls hands I cant help but think they'll do the job at some point before the end of season, but as they always say there's some way to go and anything can happen and League 2 has showed that more than ever this season.

In the championship, it's a case of which teams is willing enough to win the league and get promoted. However this weekend has sorted a few things out and it looks as though West Brom and Stoke City are the teams to take the automatic promotion places, both teams need just another win to confirm that, with West Brom looking like taking the title of finishing top of the table. Of the play-off contenders with so many teams missing out on the automatic promotion place because of lack of form, it is more likely to be a team finishing 5th or 6th that will take the spoils. Therefore I think that Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace will be the lucky team as they look very capable of beating any of the other contenders. It looks as though Watford and Bristol City have missed there chance and that another year in the championship beckons.

At the other end of the table Leicester City picked up a vital win as they look to edge there way out of the relegation zone, they have pulled more teams into the battle, one of which being Southampton who after looking safe a week or so ago now are looking dodgy and with difficult fixtures coming up they will look for other teams to do them a favor. The relegation battle in the championship looks as though it will go down to the final day, with it looking as though a former premiership side will be going down to League 1, following Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.

Finally the all to predictable Premiership. The league that is everything that the other leagues are not. Predictable. The same teams picking up the trophies, the same teams in the relegation battle the same teams in mid-table mediocrity. However at the top of the table at least the race for the title isn't done just yet and looks like going all the way to the middle of May.

With Manchester United's late equalizer at Ewood Park this evening they put themselves 3 points ahead of Chelsea with the big showdown at Stamford Bridge set to decide the destiny of the title. However it won't decide as much as everyone wants it to.  Even a defeat for United would still put them in pole position, ahead on goal difference and only needing to win there final two leagues games to take the title. Either way I can't look past United not taking the title, as much as Chelsea would hate to see it, United would have slip up again after the game at Stamford Bridge, something that in recent weeks has happened alot, but it happening again? I can't see it. With both sides fighting it out for the title, it could open a window for Liverpool to go all the way in Europe. With the reds being able to play weakened teams on the weekend and then putting strong teams out for the European games. I think they could jump over both teams and take there 6th European cup.

At the other end of the table, it looks as though Bolton are starting a revival, two wins on the trot have put the trotters out of the relgation zone for the first time in months. Gary Megson has really turned it around at the Reebok and he should be given plenty of praise for keeping a almost gone team still alive. They just have to keep winning and they should have another season in the Premiership. Fulham look doomed now one more loss for the london club will put them down. Birmingham are now the team in the most danger, and it shows that having the best players doesn't always give you the best side. They have to buck up there ideas or they will return to the premiership and destroy all the good work Steve Bruce did when he was in charge.

All the leagues will unfold in the coming weeks, with battle for promotion and relegation still alive in every league it realy is the season where no team wants to make a brake and either get out of trouble or survive.

Hopefully I've given you some sort of insight into my way of thinking, and maybe you have an incline into the team I support. Through the weeks I'll just update it and we'll see what comes come the end of the season. 

Comment all you like, if not to have a go at me but for my own benifit, it's nice to see what people think.