Posts Tagged ‘Spurs’

Leeds United And The Other 91 Basket Cases, Celebrated Too Early Special including Cardiff City, Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Spurs and Blackpool.

Aug 19th, 10 / Comments Off
 

This lad could battle and pass.

Sit down, shut up, sit down, shut up.

I’m going to start this “too early” special by highlighting something that isn’t. The Leeds United fans performance at the City Ground should get highlight of the season already, across the 4 divisions. Superb stuff from the travelling support whilst the country looked on via Sky. However, as is our want, we also seem to think we have found the formula to settle into the Championship from this game, something I question. Yes the resilience was impressive but there was also a clear lack of forward penetrative play. I struggle to remember us creating a chance that wasn’t a header from a dead-ball or cross, no passing into the box, no running on to flicks and lay-offs. For me we need to bring Howson and Kilkenny more into the attacking play and Watt and Sam need to spend a little more time in the box. As for central defence and particularly Collins, don’t even go there (stress free season, stress free season, repeat).

Meanwhile in South Wales our old mates at Cardiff City are prematurely anticipating the PL based on the loan signing of Craig Bellamy, arguably Manchester City’s player of last season (not definitely, Tevez might have something to say on that). Except what is this? The FL want assurances the signing is sustainable and Motherwell are suing the club over £175k owed over a year (that’s one month’s worth of Bellamy’s wages). Now I want to be fair here, clearing up after Ridsdale must be a right strain but if you’re going to brag about your Malaysian billionaire owners you should expect some grief if you can’t pay off the smaller debts. Anyway they still won’t go up, the idea of Chopra and Bellamy ever actually passing to each other is too weird even for this site.

Portsmouth will be lucky not to go down, it’s a disgrace they are not starting with minus points this season. Last week, as the CVA was bizarrely ratified in court, the pompay fans were talking about Chainrai investing to return to the PL, well that has been reigned in quick, it’s all now about selling when possible and him not even being Chairman. Loans from Stoke City, Kanu given an extended career, Nugent expected to provide the goals alone and any half decent asset joining West Ham United in their relegation destiny is the order of the day this season. When Sam “skid-marks” Sodje flies in for a trial the smell of L1 inevitability is over-powering. Shame for Cotterill in my humble opinion but you can’t fight kismet.

Meanwhile in Lancashire a new odyssey looks like unfolding at Blackburn Rovers. Ashan Ali Syed, a Indian billionaire, has a month exclusivity to complete a takeover and is already talking about £100m transfer pots (to be spent in January clearly in the same way Birmingham City were going to spend £100m last January…), trophy’s and a world wide support base. Ok given the cultural make-up of that old cotton town having an Asian owner seems a reasonable thing to me, except what’s that you say? He wants to sign David Beckham because “I saw him when he was at Manchester United and I liked him very much”! Oh dear, here we go again, money and common sense, not related to each other. With that kind of approach Blackburn may find themselves spending £300m and still having nothing but a Fulham style squad full of bubbling up expensively paid talent.

Of course with expensively paid talent comes expectation, like getting past your Swiss opponents in the qualifying section of the CL. Poor Spurs, once they went 3-0 down to Young Boys no amount of come-back will stop the comparisons with Everton and Newcastle United’s disastrous qualifying round exits from previous years. Redknapp talked about artificial pitches but the truth is that he, his players and the support assumed the Swiss side would roll over. Well I for one hope they park the bus in front of the goal at White Hart Lane and knock Levy off his perch with a 0-0 draw. It will certainly make it easier for him to sack Redknapp after his forthcoming date with the Old Bailey concludes.

Which finally brings us to Blackpool where to be fair a bit of premature celebrating is in order after that wonderful 4-0 win at Wigan (but I still maintain both Harewood’s goals were own goals). However, as always with this kind of thing, ying follows yang. The chairman resigns and again as is the way of things, despite putting the club in the top division for the first time in 40 years, the fans celebrate. Now I am given to understand there are a couple of good reasons to see Karl Oyston departing as a good thing (although as he is staying as CE and his dad still owns the most shares maybe reports of his demise are premature) but the idea this kills the cautious approach to players wages at Bloomfield Road is not one of them. If the Blackpool fans want to be in Hull City, Portsmouth’s and Burnley’s position, relegated anyway but with a double-trebled wage bill then as far as I’m concerned they are idiots. For me romance only touches you if you’re true to your football heart and bringing in a bunch of mercenaries is anything but romantic. Stick to the £10k a week, £500k a year is only an insult to the deluded.

Michael Green.

PS: apologies for the mistaken title, got mixed up…

The Other 91 Basket Cases

Leeds United And The Other 91 Basket Cases: Greed Special Including Spurs, Fulham, Ajax, England And the FA.

Jul 27th, 10 / Comments Off

Your reading a pre 2010-11 archived article

 

Today Paul Hatt looks at greed.

The sad fact of the matter is that we live in a society of greed. If you want something you can usually get it if you are prepared to pay the price. If the demand is there, then those in charge know they can keep pushing that price upwards. It is an unpleasant reality. The recent case of Leeds United charging £4.99 for pre-season games on LUTV (http://clarkeonenil.co.uk/front-page/teenage-kicks-in-taken-for-an-idiot) is a case in point. The galling thing is that Bates (like other Chairman) knows that fans will pay, because they love their club and they want to watch them no matter the cost.

But greed is widespread and is just accepted as part of football today. Take for instance replica shirts. Most clubs now have three shirts available for sale to fans. Tottenham Hotspur for 2010/11 have four new designs which cover home, away, third and European fixtures. This number could be increased even further if Spurs get separate sponsors for the various Cup competitions. It is complete and utter madness. Clubs ultimately don’t care, because they know fans will cough up and continue to buy them. Where is the Premier League and the Football League in all this? Why is there no legislation that says that teams only need two kits? Football has managed to survive all these years without the myriad of colours and designs that we are treated to now. Perhaps our “friends” at Sky are complicit in the kit debate as well?

Membership schemes are another recent area where clubs have cashed in on fans loyalty. Cosy old Fulham who under “cuddly Uncle” Roy Hodgson became everyone’s second favourite team when they reached the Europa League Final have taken the enlightened step of increasing their Membership scheme fees for adults from £20 to £30 (a year). A scheme which in essence gives you the privilege of buying match tickets after Season Ticket Holders, but ahead of the General public and in truth very little else.

I even wonder if the farce involving Ajax, Martin Jol and Fulham was little more than a grand game of avarice for the Dutchman? Did Jol have any real intention of leaving Ajax? Was the Fulham interest a lever to ensure that key players didn’t leave; a ploy to get the Board to provide investment for the purchase of new players? Improved contract Martin? Thanks very much Mr Chairman.

The madness of money was also seen recently with The FA and their sponsorship deal with Nationwide which is not to be extended. A year ago, Nationwide had tabled a £20m offer to extend the partnership for another four years, but this was turned down by The FA. Mistakenly The FA believed England would make more of an impact in the World Cup and held out in the hope of attracting a more lucrative offer. Pure greed ruled their thinking and an 11 year partnership has now been tossed away. Loving the loyalty and logic shown by the suits from Wembley Stadium.

To matters on the pitch and to end on a positive note; an England representative team showing considerably more fighting spirit is the England U19’s who are currently taking part in the European Championships in France. After a win against Austria and a controversial loss to the Netherlands, an equalising goal in the 93rd minute against hosts France ensured progression from the Group Stages. Later today, the team coached by Leeds old boy Noel Blake play their Semi Final against Spain. Lets hope that the U19’s may be able to progress and add to the success of the England U17’s who beat Spain to take that European age-group title back in May this year. I hope Noels’ parting words before the team goes out go something along the lines of, “…get out onto that pitch and enjoy yourselves. Football is a game and achieving success as a team is what we strive for. The simple exhilarating joy comes from winning, not the financial gain that may come in the future. Money isn’t everything…”

Paul Hatt.

The Other 91 Basket Cases

Sniffer’s Sunday Shorts 14/03/10: Leeds United, Hull City, Sunderland, Spurs, Doncaster Rovers, Leicester City, Southampton, Brentford, Darlington, Stevenage Borough.

Mar 14th, 10 / Comments Off

 

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Sniffer Nose, a punchier version of your favourite occasional column.

Keeping it tense.

A shoddy slapstick performance with no attacking intent is what Leeds United produced at Southampton, rather reminiscent of our tactics away to Leicester City and Millwall (play-offs) last season. Almost as if to continue to build up evidence that Grayson’s cautious side takes over for any game away from home tagged “big” or “vital” and transfers itself to the players. Luckily our now “massive” game with Millwall in 8 days is at Elland Road, where we can expect that other Leeds United ankle-chain to appear no doubt: expectation with stage fright!

Discounting the future.

When Phil Brown suggests he has had a rough week he probably doesn’t know the half of it. He might think an injury time winner for Arsenal was bad, that the press coverage over the Bullard/Barmby spat a bit much and that when senior players like Boateng act so idiotically what hope is there for the rest of the season. Well none to be blunt, the nightmare of relegation is real and the accompanying financial meltdown so flagged by the auditors and Pearson so inevitable. No the worst news of the week was something else, the decision to sell half the season tickets for next season to a ticket agency, there is nothing like advertising your impending insolvency like taking money early!

Laurel and Hardy.

Is what I think of when the image of Niall Quinn and Steve Bruce is thrust in our faces. This week Quinn managed to suggest that owners throwing £30m down the “re-capitalised” route was a sign of financial prudence and that after spending a similar amount on players (most of them fringe) didn’t mean manager Bruce should be sacked if Sunderland are relegated. I have started to come to the conclusion Mr Quinn is starting to lose the plot a bit and is about to join that list of non owning club chairman/CEO’s that are associated with idiocy (Bates, Storrie, Ridsdale, Pearson etc).

Recycle it.

So Spurs have an injury crises in the defence, King is struggling to make two games on the trot again and our old mate Jonathan “plank” Woodgate is presently in Australia for treatment. You don’t remember who Woodgate is? Well that is understandable, only 3 games this season, never once played more than half his clubs league games in the last decade, wanders from club to club winning the thicko of the year constantly (some achievement at his present and last club). All hail this “cultured” centre back whose career legacy will be the cultured way he kicked someone’s head in the street!

Becoming the next Barnsley.

The history of the PL is littered with clubs having one or two seasons in the top division, being respected for the style of play but ultimately relegated, the likes of Ipswich Town, Reading, Swindon Town, Bradford City and Barnsley to name but a few. Most of these clubs get in to the PL via the play-offs, sometimes having made a late dash from mid-table. It is with that in mind I note the small gap between that basket case presently occupying 6th in the CCC (about to enter Administration Cardiff City) and the small but perfectly formed club that is Doncaster Rovers. Go for it lads and if you make it, stick to your principles!

Bolting for cover.

Bad enough Leicester City fostered Gary Lineker on us, even worse that they were the original administration process abuses but to also be the part source of the new chairman of the Football League, well that’s just asking to be disliked. Greg Clarke had better be whiter than white when it comes to decisions involving his beloved foxes or the smelly stuff will hit the spinny thing. A particularly interesting decision to come will be what to do with Mandaric if he is found guilty of tax evasion, that should test the “fit and proper” rule beyond even the credibility limit exposed by Leeds United’s secret owners!

No such thing as a shoe in.

Even if you gave Southampton back the 10 points deducted season start they would still be short of stealing that last play-off place, a sluggish start not helping. Despite that reality their is a lot of meaningless talk about then “still trying” this season and that is accompanied by the chant of the “pre-season favourites” song for 2010-11. The thing is it never works out like that, as the fans of the club turned over yesterday at St Mary’s can testify. A run of games unbeaten now and Lambert’s 30 goals will be just history if Southampton don’t take L1 by the scruff of the neck next season, and given that Charlton, Millwall (and whisper it) potentially Leeds United might still be in the division, that is no gimme.

Hybrid Balance.

Sitting nicely in L1 mid-table sit Brentford, an achievement in itself for the West London club. Other than the association with Greg Dyke there is very little to dislike about that club, their young manager Scott has done a decent job on very little. What perhaps is not so widily recognised is the strange ownership arrangements at Griffin Park, basically half owned by “Bees United” (the fans) and half by a local businessman. That is called a “hybrid” in Supporters trust circles and is partly needed to support an ambitious project to develop a new ground (and a ton of housing) on a site close to the M4. Financial conditions globally have slowed that project down to a snail’s pace, let’s hope for Brentford’s sake the delay doesn’t bring tensions to this unique ownership model.

Quaking in their boots.

18 points behind, 13 games to go, Darlington might has well throw the towel in now. I’m sure if I searched long enough I would find a Darlo blog where someone has a knowledgeable understanding of what plan b for the Quakers is after they enter the conference but given how things have panned out since Staunton arrived I can’t see it. The impression is that a continuing dialogue of the deaf is underway with the club asking for the right to develop the area around its massive ground as it sees fit and a local council trying to protect that particular part of the town/countryside border. After this week’s events at Chester City and Farsley Celtic if I was the Darlington Supporters Trust I’d be planning for a similar future!

Inpending righting of an injustice.

Speaking of Farsley Celtic, the fans of that ex club still talk about the injustice that was “Spennygate” (basically by not expunging Spennymoor’s results when they couldn’t finish the season that cost Farsley automatic promotion to the conference and they went on to lose that season’s play-off). Another injustice was Stevenage Borough being denied promotion about 10 years ago on some iffy ground criteria. Thankfully no such issues exist this season and if they finish top they go up to the FL. That would mean that relegation and demotion issues might be decided off the field but promotion decided on, which is nice.

The Other 91 Basket Cases