Super Cally go Balistic

It's been over 6 months since I blogged. A lot has happened in that time. We moved house and, most importantly, my wonderful wife Dot gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Daria Martha.
So, this is my first blog as a Dad......

I made a comment to my wife last week. Something along the lines of. 'I wonder how long it will take The Sun to print a picture of Michael Caine, in full redcoat regalia, on the front page. With the World Cup being in South Africa I am sure they are already digging into the Boer War archives for some good headlines'.


This got me thinking. Could I plot England's course to World Cup glory (of course they are going to win it) through the eyes of a tabloid headline writer?? Well, here goes:


The first group game, against the USA, posed the least problem for a budding headline writer. After a fairly comfortable 2-1 victory I would lead with 'Yankee Doddle !!'.


In the second group match, a very easy 3-0 win against Algeria in Cape Town, which guaranteed a place in the last 16, I would go with 'Cape of Great Hope''.


In game 3, an already qualified England take things relatively easy against Slovenia but still come out on the plus side of a 2-1 scoreline. Peter Crouch bundles in the winner 3 minutes in to injury time. The headline reads 'Ljubly Jubbly'.


So, England qualify top of their group. A 100% record and 7 goals scored in 3 matches. It's looking good.


In the last 16 England a drawn against Group D runners-up, Ghana. After a slow start, England get into their stride and end up winning the game 3-1, inspired by a Wayne Rooney hat-trick. A beaming picture of the England number 9, ball in hand, is accompanied by the headline 'Rooney's Ghana get ya!!'


After a close encounter with South Korea, France go through to meet England in the Quarter-Finals. A dull, hard-slogging, midfield battle finally ends with England scraping a 2-1 win. With the scoreline in mind, perhaps a picture based headline of an Agincourt longbow archer presenting his two fingers to the reader with text to the side '-1 to England'.


However, excitement is building. England are through to the semi-final, back in Cape Town, where they meet 5 times champions, Brazil. Although still a very potent force, Brazil are not the one-touch, passing, attacking side of yesteryear. Instead they rely more heavily on a tight defence. A hard match finishes 1-1 after extra time and we are down to a finger-biting penalty shoot-out. England never win penalty shoot-outs!!.


It goes to the wire. No-one misses until the 11th kick. Up steps Julio Cesar, the Brazilian keeper. He hammers his shot towards the bottom left-hand corner. Joe Hart flies across his goal and gets a hand to the ball, diverting it around the post. Advantage England. The roles are reversed. Hart steps up and drills his spot-kick high into the top right corner. England have done it. A back page filled with shots of England players who have missed in penalty shoot-outs, Waddle, Pearce, Batty, Southgate, etc etc. Then under them a jubilant Joe Hart and the words 'At Last!!!'.


As luck would have it, following another penalty shootout in the other semi-final, England will meet arch-enemies Germany in the final.


What a match!. Against the expectations of all pundits, both teams go for it from the first whistle. England take an early lead through Rooney only to be pegged back just before the interval when a Philip Lahm drive takes a deflection off Ferdinand and loops over Hart.
Into the second half and the action is relentless. Time and time again chances are made by both teams. Only some superb defending and excellent goalkeeping keeps the scores level. We head into extra-time.....


With 4 minutes to go, substitute Adam Johnson weaves his way into the German penalty area and is tripped by Mertesacker. It's a penalty!! Lampard steps up and calmly places his kick into the left-hand corner of the net. 2-1 England.
Germany throw everything at the thin red line for the last 4 minutes, but England hold on to win the World Cup.


The headline 'Three Lions, Two World Cups, One England!'

except in the London edition, where a 15 year-old picture of Lampard in a Hammers kit would be featured with the headline 'West Ham win the World Cup.....again'

Apologies for some of ther lame attempts at humour here. Why not comment on the blog and send in your own headlines?

Whatever the outcome. It's the World Cup and I can't wait for it to start!!!!!

If Disney did football…..

I must be getting less Victor Meldrew in my old age. This is the first time that I have felt the need to blog for some time. Or maybe I am more VM and I just can’t be bothered….Anyway, here goes:

Last night we (my wife and myself) attended the reserve team (Carling Cup) match between Arsenal and West Brom at the Emirates Stadium. The first thing that I
would like to point out is that the stadium itself is a fantastic example of what a modern stadium should be like. If only the FA had commissioned the same builders as Arsenal, we wouldn't have had to shell out a billion for Wembley and we would have comfy seats to watch England games in. Oh well, you live and learn (or maybe not in the case of the FA).

The Emirates Stadium, however, does suffer from one issue that befalls Wembley too. It is inaccessible to anyone who doesn't live within walking distance. According to my GPS, it is 27 miles door to door from our house to the stadium. Now, I know a couple of Kenyans who can run this distance in a little over 2 hours. It took us an hour and a half to drive there. Arsenal FC would have been better served to have built their new ground outside the M25 to allow supporters to get there and back more easily. And, before any Gooners shout about keeping their precious club in the Highbury area, remember you have already moved from Woolwich, another few miles wouldn't have hurt.

Once we arrived at the stadium we were greeted by the sight of hundreds of 'Arsenal fans' all gathering together to have their pictures taken next to Arsenal or Emirates signs. Have they not been before?? This was reminiscent of the sort of thing you see outside Old Trafford and around Stamford Bridge.

To compound the surreal feel to the occasion, Arsenal have a strange habit of announcing only the first name of each player, expecting the crowd to shout out the surname. Hmmmm…..more cheese anyone. I expected DJ Otzi to start blaring out at any second. What makes it worse is that, as Arsenal were playing a mixture of reserves and kids, no-one knew their names and most couldn’t pronounce them anyway.

All in all the feeling was that we had strayed into Football World in the Epcot Centre at Disney World (it’s between Morocco and Canada). A sort of sanitised and Americanised version of what football should be like. All neatly packaged and stamped with an Arsenal badge. At any minute I was expecting a rendition of ‘Let’s Go Arsenal, Let’s Go ’ a chant often heard at American soccer games (substitute Red Bull for Arsenal and you get the drift).

On to the game. Arsenal have a reputation for finding and bringing through extremely good young players and I can confirm that the latest crop are no different. The way they knock the ball around, for a bunch of teenagers, is a credit to their coaching system. However, (and there is always an however or it wouldn’t be worth writing a blog) there is on aspect of their coaching system that needs to be changed, in my opinion. I won’t use the C word, but it rhymes with heating and seating.

In the aftermath of Eduardo-gate, you would think that the combined talents of Arsenal coaching staff would have gathered the players together and had a word. Although, as we know, Eduardo got away with it, so I guess it is the fault of the football authorities as much as the coaching staff.

Regardless of their undoubted talent, the Arsenal kids throw themselves about like rag dolls on occasion. One in particular, Sanchez Watt, an obviously gifted player, went down like a sack of spuds every time he was close to an Albion defender. Halfway through the first half I sneezed (from Row 6) and over he went. Now, either he needs to bulk up a little or he needs to be told to pack it in. In fact, the only time I saw him stay on his feet was when he tucked away the opening goal.

This brings me to the sending off. I hasten to add that I, in no way, defend the actions of Jerome Thomas. He is a seasoned professional who should not allow himself to be provoked by a teenager. However, Wilshere rolled around as though he had been shot rather than gently pushed away. In one of the papers this morning there is a picture of the ref holding the red card and in the background you can see Wilshere checking to see if the red card has been handed out so that he knew when it was safe to get up.

Needless to say the incident was not seen by Arsene Wenger. I presume that he falls asleep at the start of most matches and is only woken up at half time and full time. This would explain how he always fails to see any major incidents.

Why do any of these things? These players are obviously good enough to take on most sides on a level playing field and win on the majority of occasions. They don’t need to bend the rules, feign injuries or get the opposition reduced to 10-men. Just play your football as you have been taught to, in the right way, and beat teams fairly and squarely.


At this point of the blog I would actually like to add something positive!! To the Arsenal stewards a very big hearty slap on the back and well done. To the baboon in an Arsenal shirt who spent the entire match trying to provoke Albion fans, you are a complete muppet. It was good to see the stewards spot what was happening and eject the trouble maker. Oh well mate, first and last game eh??

Finally, a message to Mr Peace. Jeremy, make our dreams come true. If we manage to get promoted at the end of this season, take the trophy, take the prize money and then slowly stick 2 fingers up at the Premier League and tell them we will stay right where we are, in the real world.

I know this will never happen, but just imagine how good it would feel if we did it……

Bye Bye Tony. Hello Derek/Darren/Roberto/Alan???

Long time, no blog. Either I haven't found anything to make my blood boil or I have been to busy....you decide (a little reference to BB there...).

So, ToMo has finally left and headed North. I can't say it is a huge surprise. Over the past couple of weeks it has become more and more obvious that he wanted to go. It's a shame, but that's football.
I have read varying takes on the whole affair, from fans spouting utter bile through to good wishes for Tony and his team.
At the end of the day, it's a game of two halves. One day you are over the moon, the next, sick as a parrot. Mowbray did a good job at the Hawthorns. He introduced a brand of football that got the whole country talking about our 'little' club. OK, it was a slightly flawed plan. Playing an entire season without a striker and only half a defence is never going to be productive, but it looked good at times. Remember, we even had one of England's best defenders (Jamie Carragher) fighting with his own players towards the end of the season.

What do I think of it all? (as if anyone cares).
Well, Celtic have got themselves a manager who is passionate about how the game is played. There will be no neck strain at Parkhead this season. Personally, I think it could be a great season for them (within the confines of their own little world). The SPL is not full of world-class strikers who are going to punish every mistake at the back, so having a slightly leaky defence is not going to be a massive problem. Celtic also, probably, have enough fire power to out score the likes of Falkirk and St Johnstone.
Once again their season will hang on 4 matches against Rangers.

This is where I think Mr Mowbray has made a mistake. I'm sure (if anyone ever read this blog) I would get thousands of Hoops jumping down my neck, but I think this is a step backwards for him.
Yes, they have a guaranteed 60,000 at every home game. Yes, they are in the Chumps League (qualifiers). However, the SPL top 2 will be Cetic & Rangers (not necessarily in that order). The bottom 4 will be Falkirk, St Mirren, Hamilton and St Johnstone (again not necessarily in order). The other 6 will scrap it out for a couple of UEFA cup places. It makes the EPL look competitive.
Celtic already have a pretty-much guaranteed second place in the league, but that is failure for them, because if they finish second their great rivals will win it. I don't see where the excitement or challenge is coming from. Champions League maybe?? Will they really get any further than the group stages (even if the qualify)? No, of course not.

I think that the majority of West Brom supporters would have wanted Mowbray to stay at the Hawthorns. However, I also think that the feeling for him has changed dramatically in the last week or so. This is not due, particularly, to him leaving but is down to the hypocrisy that he has shown. It is only a couple of weeks since he gave a rousing speech about how the players needed to show loyalty to the club. How they, as a team, got the club relegated and how they should stick together and get them promoted again.
Loyalty eh??? Obviously, this only applies to the players then Tony??


This is not sour grapes. I honestly wish Tony and his team the best of luck, which is more than can be said of a friend of mine who, ever since I have known him, has had a total hatred of all things green & white hooped. As a long-standing West Brom season ticket holder, I can't imagine this episode has done anything to change his views...........

My choice for the new boss would be Derek McInnes. Second choice Darren Ferguson.
Certainly not Paul Ince.


Finally, on a lighter note. I heard this morning that Carlo Ancelotti was heading to Amsterdam to learn English. A spokesman from Chelsea couldn’t understand why he needed to go abroad for his tutorage "We ‘ave no ide wot ‘e is finkin’. He mast be ‘avin’ a girarf".
Maybe Shteve McLaren will enlighten him?

Albion 'til I die?

I don't know if I did something bad in a previous life, but I can only assume that I must have done. For close to 40 years now I have had the dubious pleasure of supporting West Bromwich Albion. The first time my dad took me to the Hawthorns, Albion lost 1-0 and were relegated to the old Second Division. That should have been warning enough, but I ignored the signs and that was that. I'm now blue & white for life, like it or lump it.
If, on that fateful day in the early 70's, my Dad had taken me to Old Trafford or Anfield or, heaven forbid, Vile Park, maybe I would have enjoyed far more of the last few thousand Saturdays.

Now, I didn't go to the match yesterday. In fact, I haven't been since the disgraceful cock-up at home to Newcastle. I still love the Albion, and I always will, but I can't put myself through watching them get relegated without a fight. The pain of defeat seems to fall more heavily on the shoulders of the supporters than the team or management these days.

Phew! I'm glad to get that off my chest. This blogging lark is quite theraputic.

On a different note. Good luck to both Scunthorpe United and Luton Town today at Wembley. Enjoy your day out at Wembley.

I think that the whole footballing world should be thinking of the Luton fans today. Facing almost certain relegation out of the league through no fault of the team, but through total mis-management of the club.
I have no particular fondness for Luton Town, but I do have some sympathy for their support. Watching your team be torn to bits by incompetence and greed must be very hard to take.

I hope that your team 'gives you sunshine' today.

Where's Robin Hood when you need him?

So, all four English clubs made it to the 'Champions' League quarter-finals. Whoopy-Do! The pundits have been vindicated, they can continue to go on & on & on about 'the best league in the world'. Alan Green can relax because he doesn't need to research any 'smaller' clubs. Phew!

All is well on Planet Football.......or is it?

Whilst Stevie G was reclaiming his title of King of the Kop, the players, staff, and more to the point, supporters of Weymouth FC were facing up to their club vanishing for good. I won't go into the whole Weymouth story, but after their last survival bid was scuppered by a potential buyer suffering a stroke on his way to buy the club, they are on the brink of being wound up. The club is 'heavily in debt' and has not been able to pay or insure it's first-team (consequently, they have fielded the youth team for the last 4 matches).

Now you may think that it is their own fault. Bad management etc etc. You may be right. However, the key point here is 'heavily in debt'. According to reports, the club owes £500,000.00. Not billions or even millions, but a measly £500K. Put this into context with the wages commanded by the likes of Terry, Lampard, Rooney, Ronaldo and Drogba, and many more. If the afore-mentioned players gave up 1 weeks wages each, just 1 week, they could clear the entire debt of Weymouth FC.

Now, it may just be me, but I think that is plain wrong. Why can't we spread the money around the game more evenly?

I hope that Weymouth find a last minute buyer, but I doubt that they will be the last 'small' club to go this way in the next year or so.

Think on. The next club to head down the Weymouth path may be yours......

Penalties or 6 replays? That is the question

I've been trying to write this blog for a while but just couldn't seem to make it sound the way I wanted. I hope it works this time.

A week or so ago I was contemplating what it was that had made me fall out of love with football. Since I was old enough to walk, I have been a fanatic, but recently my love of the game has dwindled. A season ticket holder for many a year, I haven't renewed now for the last 2 seasons.This is despite my team being promoted to the Premier League (actually, that is one of the reasons that I didn't renew).

So, what are the reasons?

Well, the money in the game now is certainly spoiling it in my view. The overpaid, pampered players. The cost of tickets. The constant cheating and blatant bias towards the big clubs. These are certainly all factors. However, it occurred to me the other day that the thing I miss most about football is the mystery and the excitement that the game had many years ago. It's the basic things that I really miss. Muddy pitches, snow covered pitches, cup replays on a foggy evening, kits without advertising slogans plastered all over them.

Is this just nostalgia or has the game changed for the worse?

Well, consider this. Almost every time any of the TV channels screen an FA Cup match they open their credits with Ronnie Radford's 25 yard screamer for Hereford against Newcastle in 1972 (much to disgust of my Newcatsle supporting Dad, I might add). A great goal that was the climax of a typical 1970's cup match. David v Goliath. Well, next time you see that clip, check out the pitch. That match would not be played today because the poor little Premier League stars might hurt themselves. They would wait until conditions were perfect or, even worse, play the game at St James's Park.

I can also remember games in the 70's played on snowbound pitches where the snow had been scraped away from the pitch markings. Players struggling to control the orange ball, which always seemed to bounce differently to the standard white one. Fantatstic, atmospheric images.
Everything is so sanitised and controlled these days. The money men ensure that the same clubs qualify for Europe each year. The so called Champions League (is that a joke name, by the way?), once down to the quarter-final stage, will always feature a select few. Gone are the days of exotic clubs making a one-off, or rare appearance. Where are the likes of Sachsenring Zwickau, Stal Mielec or Slovan Bratislava (yeah, I know, they aren't that exotic)?

I vividly remember being on holiday in Wales (because that's where you went in the 70's) and tracking down newsagents in an effort to get postcards of FC Magdeburg and Gornik Zabrze to complete my Panini UEFA collection. These days the collection would feature, Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea etc etc. Boring.

I have been lucky enough, through my job and personally, to travel around quite a lot. Instead of collecting beermats, or train tickets I tend to collect football teams. However, I don't go for the mainstream teams. For instance, my Madrid team is not Real or Atletico, it's Rayo Vallecano. In Lisbon, I didn't choose Benfica or Sporting, I went for Belenenses. In Poland, it wasn't Wisla or Legia, it was Unia Tarnow. In Scotland I follow Albion Rovers.

I constantly find myself disregarding the mainstream teams and seeking out the more obscure side of the game. The 'real' football. Where players and supporters are there because they love the game and love the club.

Maybe it is just nostalgia. All I know is that I miss the way football used to be.

For the early birds amongst us

Whilst browsing some of the blogs on iBostin (www.iBostin.com) I came across this fantastic project. It's called the 4am Project and was dreamed up by a Brummie lass called Karen Strunks. Personally, I think it is a wonderful idea and I will be setting my alarm for 4am on April 4. I urge you all to do the same (or at least have a look at the website, http://4amproject.org/).