All posts by h79snht.top

Tottenham Hotspur is a well-run football club. The solidity of their finances is a source of pride for the supporters. They hold a position at the business end of the Premiership and have done so without racking up mountains of debt. However, they may have reached a fork in the road. In order to continue progressing, or even to keep up with the clubs around them, they may be forced to seriously loosen their rigid wage structure.

The question of whether Spurs should discard their current successful system is a balancing act between footballing ambition and financial risk.

Abandoning the wage structure would allow Spurs to compete with the top clubs for the best players. There are suggestions that they have already considered this. The club’s top earners Modric, Bale and King are on around £70,000 a week, however no serious attempts could have been made to sign Sergio Aguero in January without leaping towards the £100,000 per week marker. £70,000 won’t bag you a star in their prime nowadays. When Spurs become linked with a world-class player, the first question raised is will the club be able to meet his wage demands.

The wage structure is also becoming restrictive in the retention of the best players. £70,000 a week will keep your players happy for a while if you get them young but it won’t keep them forever.

If Tottenham loosen the structure, they’ll be able to attract a higher calibre of player capable of bringing them more seriously into the crush at the top of the table. They can satisfy the ambitions of the club’s best players and their seemingly insatiable appetite for more money. There is a genuine risk that without this increased spending, the team may stagnate or even go backwards as players are lured away. It would be a great shame if the 2011 Champions League run is the pinnacle of this Tottenham side’s achievements.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’right’]

The cons of abandoning Levy’s safe and working business model can be seen throughout English football. Spurs would be faced with a rapidly escalating wage bill. The arrival of a couple of £100,000 a week stars would undoubtedly have a knock on effect on the wages of others at the club whether through highest earning clauses or renegotiated contracts. Nobody wants to see a situation like that at Newcastle 2 years ago, a squad bulging with £50,000 plus a week earners, with no love for the club, heading for relegation.

Without the guarantee of Champions league football, it is a huge and reckless gamble to drastically up the club’s spending. The top English clubs are in eye-watering amounts of debt and Spurs have done fantastically well thus far to compete without being sucked in. The club is safe and could even maybe spend a little more without pushing itself into a position of boom or bust. Daniel Levy has run Spurs incredibly carefully up until now, it would be foolish of him to risk everything for short term success.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

So what should Tottenham do? Is this the most competitive they can be without plunging into an abyss of debt? I believe that Spurs should continue to keep it tight, keep buying young players if they have too, but keep getting the best they can afford. Spurs can get stars without breaking the bank, it just takes a lot longer. Levy runs a tight ship and I still believe he can take it forward without sinking it.

It’s a great shame that £70,000 a week can’t get you the players you need but it’s good to see Tottenham attempting to climb the right way.

[ad_pod id=’footballfancast_article_mpu’ align=’none’]

Sir Alex Ferguson has once again proved that you should never doubt him or his team, Manchester United. After beating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge it looks like Man United will be the sole Premier League survivor in the Champions League and with a potential semi-final against Bundesliga outfit Schalke, you wouldn’t bet against Fergie’s men making the final either. Added to that United are seven points ahead of closest challengers Arsenal in the Premier League table and have an FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City to look forward to, but that isn’t all Fergie can win this year.

For all the talk of this being the weakest Manchester United team in years and that the Red Devils have hardly played well all season, just as always, things seem to be going pretty well at Old Trafford. The treble is a real possibility and is likely to be decided by two matches against City and Barcelona or Real Madrid, and once again they’ve proved they have the staying power and can pull a result out of the bag when it really matters. But then we never really doubted that, did we?

[bet_365 type=’generic’ size=’468′ af_code=’365_061609′]

Everything seems to be coming together at the right time. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand played together at the heart of United’s defence for the first time in a while on Wednesday, while Wayne Rooney appears to be firing on all cylinders again. Add to that Nani’s form, Antonio Valencia’s return to fitness and the incredible veteran that is Ryan Giggs and Manchester United’s starting eleven is looking pretty strong. While Fergie’s team is showing their form at the right time, the Scotsman will hope the same goes for his horse.

Sir Alex’s horse What a Friend runs in the Grand National on Saturday and at 11/1 it’s one of the favourites. bet365 are going 150/1 about Sir Alex Ferguson landing the treble this season on the football front and winning the 2011 Grand National with What A Friend! bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth says “Fergie has been the scourge of bookmakers for years by winning countless trophies and a Grand National victory would make it squeaky bum time for us after offering 150/1.”

So can Fergie do the impossible and win the quadruple? At 150/1 it’s well worth a punt!

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[ad_pod id=’horse-3′ align=’left’]

Can Fergie complete a double this weekend? His horse What a Friend is 11/1 to win the Grand National. Make sure you don’t miss out on the biggest betting event of the year!

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish says his team is lucky to be going into the Europa League second leg against Sporting Braga only a goal down.A first-half penalty from midfielder Alan gave the Portuguese side an important home win and inflicted Dalglish’s first loss as the English Premier League club’s manager in Europe.Dalglish believes Liverpool are fortunate to be heading into the return leg only 1-0 down.”It was a very poor first-half performance from ourselves,” he told Sky Sports.”We picked it up a little bit in the second half and looked a bit more threatening, especially after Andy (Carroll) came on, and I think we were probably denied a stone-wall penalty ourselves.””To play the way we did in the first half and come away only one goal behind means we were very fortunate.”In his second substitute appearance for the club, Carroll provided the Reds with some much-needed life when he was introduced in the 57th minute.Dalglish was pleased with the striker’s performance and said helping him regain match fitness in his return from injury was a key.”He worried them. We played better once he came on. He’s a good option for us,” Dalglish said.”We’ve got to give him as many minutes as we can to make sure we’re making a contribution to getting him fit.”

England’s youth development has long been seen as lagging behind the rest of the top European countries. It seems as if every nation goes through a rut with their youth set-ups at some point, so what exactly can we learn from those successful nations, who have managed to turn their failing youth set-ups around?

There are many improvements that could be made to the English youth set-up by implementing some of the positive aspects employed by other nations. Other European country’s have coordinated national coaching systems which put them miles ahead of the UK. Nations like Spain and France have over ten times of the amount of qualified coaches with the UEFA pro-license than the UK has, which is obviously going to have an impact on youth development on a wide scale.

In Europe young players are given a fair shot, and clubs seem to get the transition right between the youth and senior team. European players tend to make their first team debut around age 21-22, but in England young players are often not given the chance, or they are judged upon Carling Cup and substitute appearances. Young players are given no time to mature, as instant results are demanded from fans and the media, and this lack of patience seems to be inherent in our footballing philosophy in this country. We need to get the important transition between the ages of 18-21 right, or we risk losing huge amounts of talent in the system.

In other countries many smaller and lower league teams have proper world class academies. In the UK very few, outside of the likes of Leeds, Watford and Southampton from the lower tiers could claim to be genuinely world class. There is significantly less money thrown at the grass-roots in the UK, and that obviously is going to have a negative effect, compared to nations who are spending much larger amounts developing youth prospects.

If we look at other countries like Germany and Spain, they also tend to have more of a collective mentality. Clubs, instead of focusing on themselves, focus together on a common goal, to invest in the future of the national team. In Holland, clubs all train the same way focusing on technique and tactics, in a country wide method of education. Young players also have much more contact time than their English counterparts. They also have exceptional facilities and clubs are the beacons of their local community. In Holland there is also much more emphasis on fun in the game, something which seems to have been lost somewhere along the way in the English game, where winning takes preference.

All nations go through a rut at some point, but it is important to make changes to enable youth development to progress. About a decade ago Germany looked into how they could improve the game in their country. They put in place a strong structure between governing bodies-something distinctly lacking from the British game-and made significant changes to the game. There was a huge investment in German football, as well as improvements in stadia and facilities. It became a requirement for all Bundesliga, and Bundesliga 2 clubs to have youth academies which met certain strict criteria. The youth game in Germany now focuses on small sided games, prioritizing touch and technique and individual skills-just about the antithesis of the way the game is taught in the UK. In the UK players have been trained in a way that favours the physical, with power, size and strength dominating the English youth set-up, whilst technical play is simply neglected. Germany now have a thriving domestic league, with the core of its players coming from the German youth system, the changes and serious financial investment in the youth game, have clearly had a positive effect.

In some European nations there is also a tendency for youth academies to play in the lower leagues. In Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid’s youth academies, or B teams, are filled with youngsters who play against senior teams at a much higher level than reserve team football. It is a highly competitive method of development, and is a great way for young footballers to gain experience, as well as improve their level and understanding of the game. When they are ready they then progress to the first team, and it is not such a big jump for a young player. They play against tough, experienced opponents in front of big crowds, and deal with media pressure on a regular basis, this helps them to adjust better to the game at the highest level. English players play fewer competitive games, in front of sparse crowds, and rarely get the chance to impress, especially at the big clubs. A system like the Spanish one is unlikely to be given the go-ahead by the FA, and it does pose problems with regard to wiping out the identity of lower league football in this country. However, it would certainly improve standards of young footballers, and make the transition to senior football easier for them. Spanish football was in a rut before its recent glorious period, and it has taken them 20 years for the changes they made to their youth system to pay off. By making changes they have ensured that youngsters have adopted a style of play to suit their level of skill and technique, and this fits in with the nations footballing philosophy as a whole.

In other successful European nations players tend to play on smaller pitches at younger ages, which seems to be very beneficial. In the UK children move to full size pitches far too early, which puts the emphasis on an athletic based game, favouring the physically gifted over the technically gifted smaller players. Under 11’s playing 11 a side on a full size pitch, with full size goals is frankly ridiculous, the players get little time on the ball, and it is often discouraging for a lot of youngsters. In Spain, Italy and France, they don’t move to full size pitches until around the age of 14, and by learning the game on a smaller scale players acquire the skills which have put them at the forefront of world football.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

It is the whole structure and philosophy that needs to be overhauled if we are to improve youth standards in this country. We need to change our whole attitude to football from the grass-roots up, with a system of education that improves on our technical deficiencies, teaching these skills at an early age. Our desperation for results and immediate investment-in mostly foreign players-has forced spending on youth development down the priority list and this needs to change if we are to see improvements in this country. It is difficult to say that what works in one country will work in another, but clearly there are some changes and positives that we can take from other countries, which would do nothing to further harm the state that English youth football is already in.

Do you think we should take on board some of the methods of other nations? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or following me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Take a look at the Arsenal team of 2011 and their record over the last 6 years. Not too bad for an average Premier League club – pretty good in fact, yet for a team who were dubbed the ‘unbeatables’ in their 2004-2005 campaign, failure to win a trophy in the last six seasons is quite simply not good enough.

Whilst Arsenal can point to a lack of funds in comparison with Chelsea, United and now Manchester City, along with a completely different ethos and transfer policy, the time for excuses about being in ‘transition’ have to stop. Wenger, at Arsenals AGM, called for more time, and passionately declared that despite the summer departures, the current team at Arsenal can fulfil their potential, if given the time to do so.

The problem however is that Wenger has been asking for more ‘time’ for several trophyless years now, and it must be asked if that question will soon become too familiar with fans who have ardently believed in Wenger and his team for so long, placing playing attractive football with flair above winning games 1 – 0 and a scrappy result. Obviously this has cost them multiple games in the past and although at times they are memorising to watch, the tag of a poor man’s Barcelona is not an unfair one.

Yes Arsenal can attack and play with style, but they have been lacking in grit and determination – a backbone to their team has been missing and although Fabregas cannot be called anything less than a brilliant player, a captain he is not. A major lack of leadership on the field has been something that has blighted Arsenal for several seasons now and whether Robin Van Persie is the man to fill this void remains to be seen.

Anyone with a footballing brain can make the statement that should Van Persie have been fit for the majority of his time at Arsenal things could have been very different for the Gunners. This season Van Persie has been their talisman and nothing short of world class, rescuing the team on numerous occasions and having a phenomenal goal to game ration of 2.38. However should Arsenal fail to make it into the top four and thus the Champions League this season, they may well have to add the Dutchman to their list of high profile departures.

Another point Arsenal supporters will make when looking back at last season in particular is that if they had beaten Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, their season could have turned out vastly different. Again whilst a valid point, much like pointing to departures, injuries and suspensions, football cannot be a game of what if’s. Arsenal’s main issue is that they have not got a good enough defence and Song does not look to be a massively convincing holding midfielder.

It cannot be ignored that losing Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy was a huge blow, as is the fact Van Persie and Vermaelen struggle to stay fit for an entire season. Players such as Jenkinson who got mauled at Old Trafford do display some quality, but to throw them in at the deep end and expose them so harshly is not what Wenger would ideally like to do.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Arsenal clearly have quality within the ranks, not just in experienced players like Van Persie but also the young guns such as Ramsey and Wilshire. The supporters are right in sticking by both the manager and the club, with Wenger bringing through some serious talent during his lengthy tenure at the helm, and is right in saying that the team have masses of potential to fulfil.

Yet Arsenal sit third in the goals conceded chart with 18 goals shipped in from 9 games, and for a team that feels they belong in the top four, this is simply not good enough. Yes they have scored 15 goals in the same amount of games, but Arsenal’s problem has never been failure to attack. Wenger needs to stop with the excuses and finally instil some defensive stability into the team – otherwise a top four finish may well be beyond them and ‘in Arsene we trust’ may well not be the case anymore.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

We are at the business end of the Premier League season with only 10 games left to play until we find out who’s stayed up and who’s gone down. This season has been one of the closely competitive Premier League seasons since started in 1992, with no run away League leaders or doomed clubs at the bottom like we’ve seen over the last two decades. Currently, there are only TEN points that separate bottom-of-the-table, Wigan Athletic (27) with 7th placed Bolton Wanderers. Is the fight for Premier League survival wide open? Or are there really only a few contenders for the drop despite how close the gap is?

The Battle of the W’s

The current bottom four clubs who all begin with the letter ‘W’ are the main contenders for the relegation scrap with only 2 points separating 20th placed Wigan and 17th placed West Bromwich Albion (27 and 29 points respectively), whilst West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers lay in between on 28 points. However, only West Brom are in the bottom 5 of the Premier League form table with West Ham 8th and Wolves 12th, whilst Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers have the worst form over the last several League games. Will there be a new bottom three come the end of the season?

[ad_pod id=’fox-mpu’ align=’right’]

Theoretically teams in the top half of the table should be safe, like Bolton 7th (37 Pts), Sunderland 8th (37 Pts), Newcastle United 9th (36 Pts), these three teams would have to go on a dismal run of form over the next 10 games if they are to be dragged into the mire. However, from 10th place Stoke City (34 Pts) teams will be looking over their shoulders over the next few weeks if the bottom four teams continue to pick up points. If the likes of West Ham and Wolves achieve back-to-back wins in their next two fixtures, it will see them on 34 points which will squeeze the margin between clubs in mid-table and those in the relegation zone.

The Unlikely Lads

Although they are seen as ‘too good to go down’, Aston Villa and Everton will be hoping for a good end to the season which will see them finish in the top half of the table. Both teams are in the top 10 on the form table and their remaining fixtures should see them avoid any potential relegation battles, especially with both teams crashing out of the F.A. Cup in mid-week – there will be more concentration on improving league positions.

So in theory, that leaves 13th place Fulham (32 pts) and below the real relegation contenders for the remaining season with 14th placed Blackburn and 15th placed Blackpool on the same points, leaving Birmingham on 16th and on 30 points in front of the bottom four. With the majority of these teams facing each other over the remaining games, the table could look a lot different after the next five games.

Continue to the NEXT PAGE for my predictions…

Predictions

Unfortunately my crystal ball has been sent away for maintenance but I can’t help make a few suggestions on who will be playing Championship football next season and what teams will be celebrating their Premier League survival.

Unfortunately for Wigan Athletic, I think they are doomed to finish bottom of the pile come the 38th game this season. They have one of the toughest runs out of the other teams involved, in their next 5 fixtures they play three teams involved in the ‘top 4’ whilst the other two fixtures coming against Birmingham and Blackpool, two teams wanting to avoid being dragged into the relegation battle. It’s hard to see where the Latics will get the points to push them out of the relegation zone.

Joining Wigan in relegation will be harder to determine, but Wolves will have to fancy their chances of getting out of the bottom three with their remaining fixtures. Mick McCarthy’s men only play one team in the top 5 with the arrival of Tottenham this weekend, however it will depend whether they are able to turn around their dismal away record this season and pick up points on the road.

Despite the Hammers recording a 3-1 victory over Liverpool last Sunday, the East London club face a tough run-in of fixtures where they meet four teams out of the current top five. However, with three of their remaining league games against teams around them, the Hammers should manage to scrape out of the relegation zone although it’ll be tough. Their fate could depend on the results of teams around them.

Birmingham City have two games in hand over the bottom half of the table and with the confidence and momentum gained from winning the League Cup, I can see the Blues rising to mid-table for Premier League consolidation. Worryingly for Blackpool, their pre-season relegation doomed plight may come true with the Seasiders having to play four teams out of the top 5. But with the character and fight that Ian Holloway’s men has shown, you can’t rule them out for picking up 3 points like earlier in the season. Their games against Blackburn, Fulham and Wigan over the next month will be vital if they are to stay up.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Roy Hodgson was able to keep Fulham up in similar circumstances that West Brom are facing this season. The Baggies are without a win in their last SIX games but they have recorded 3 draws on the bounce, they face some tough fixtures against Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham – not to mention the visit of Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool. His old club Fulham should be safe from dropping down the table with the club only losing one game in their last six.

That leaves Blackburn Rovers dropping into the bottom three, with the club 2nd from bottom in the form table and an inexperienced manager in Steve Kean in charge; I dread Rovers will be slowly dragged into the relegation zone whilst the teams around them pick up points.

Relegation Predictions : Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion

If you disagree with my predictions then let me know on Twitter – @verbal_football

[bet_365 type=’odds’ size=’300′ af_code=’365_050711′]

Northern Ireland have appointed Michael O’Neill as their new manager, after he parted company with Shamrock Rovers.

The 42-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the home nation, and will take charge of the team from February 1st, replacing the outgoing Nigel Worthington.

O’Neill led Shamrock Rovers to consecutive domestic titles, and is honoured to be taking control of the national side.

“I am honoured to be chosen to manage my country. I am a proud Northern Irishman who was fortunate enough to win 33 senior caps and it was always an ambition to manage my country,” he told irishfa.com.

“To be entrusted with the role early in my managerial career is quite humbling but I am confident that we can make progress. Northern Ireland has a strong football tradition but one that needs to be refreshed with some more contemporary success.

“That is my primary objective – to restore a sense of belief and pride in what it means to represent Northern Ireland so that our players will want only to play for their country. That is how it should be.

“There is a huge amount of work to be done but with the right direction and the necessary passion good progress can be made. The board and the CEO have a clear plan for the future and have given me responsibility to set about the task of renewal within the context of a long-term plan.

“At the same time, in the interests of everyone involved, most particularly our supporters my job is to work with the players to sustain a competitive performance throughout the qualifying phase of the 2014 World Cup finals,” he concluded.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

O’Neill’s first game in charge will be against Norway in an international friendly at Windsor Park on February 29th.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

Goaldash is the NEW gaming phenomenon and gives you the chance to use your football knowledge, foresight and knowhow to win a jackpot of a million pounds every given week. Football and gambling has never been so much fun and at £1 a pop it is surely worth a punt.

To celebrate the launch of the game our next article looks at the top 10 footballers tantrums

Footballers are a strange breed of person. They appear more prone to irrational behaviour than most. Like a whole sub-species of under-developed children with a penchant for petulance; spats, fallings-out and strikes are now common place in the modern day game. Following on from the fall-out of Carlos Tevez’s apparent refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich in the last set of Champions League fixtures, here are my top 10 footballing tantrums.

Click on Temuri Ketsbaia below to unveil the top 10

[divider]

[divider]

Playing the Lottery has just got fun, especially as your odds are a damn sight greater.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Take up our exclusive offer with Goaldash below to be in with a chance – what have you got to lose?

I sometimes wonder if Manchester City fans suffer from bipolar disorder. It could be a condition that comes on after a few years of supporting a club that shoots itself in the foot at any given opportunity, or it could be something innate that means subconsciously we all tend to lean towards the Citizens. There isn’t really much room for a grey area: Championship challenge or relegation. Brilliant signing or total flop. “I love you” or “**** off”. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

After Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw at Birmingham, I would hazard a guess that The Samaritans were busier than usual, as City did what they do best and struggled against a hard working side at the wrong end of the league. To be fair to Birmingham, though, they played well and deserved their point. Even if the penalty for the equaliser was dodgier than a pub-bought DVD being played on the latest laptop bought on a second-hand market on the cheap. From a guy known locally as ‘Dodgy Terry’.

But, off the back of a game where City were twice leading and should have seen out the final whistle in a winning position yet didn’t, you would have thought that the club had been doomed to a season of mid-table mediocrity or, worse, confirmed as relegated. In no particular order, I heard or read comments from a large number of fans along the lines of: “Hart should be dropped!”, “That’s it, the season’s over!”, “Dzeko is no better than Jo!”, “Adebayor scored, why did we let him go?!”, “We need to get Mourinho in to save us!”, “Vieira should be taken out the back and shot!”…

Roll that forward to the evening of a routine home victory against West Brom and, with the help of a Manchester United defeat and an unlikely Arsenal draw, suddenly the title challenge is back on (conditional, of course, on City winning the upcoming Manchester derby, which they will naturally do now they’re world beaters again – they’re either awful or awesome, remember).

Though, in fairness to those blues, they do have a bit of a point – the defence that is supposed to be leakier than a Julian Assange whistle-blowing website was the only defence in the league that kept a clean sheet last Saturday. And, by virtue of the fact City have played one more game than Chelsea, it’s also the best defence in the league. Still.

I suppose it’s easy to jump to irrational conclusions on the back of a game that was within City’s control and they have let slip away. I’ll be honest, I was quite frustrated on Wednesday evening and I don’t think it would have been right not to be. But we still need to calm down before shouting our mouths off.

Joe Hart’s had a blip in form recently, but has shown his ability for most of the season and won City many points. The season isn’t over because there’s also the FA Cup and Europa League to play for (and were City ever really to be considered title challengers unless they’re still in with a shout in, say, April?). Dzeko is gradually getting better, Adebayor and Mancini clearly don’t see eye to eye, changing the manager now is a ridiculous suggestion and Vieira’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable at the end of the season, if not on the pitch.

Though I do think someone might have shot at Vieira and hit the wrong man on Wednesday evening, given what happened to Phillips in the box. Even strippers working on stag nights wouldn’t have gone down that easily. Vieira’s foul was, at best, obstruction, for which an indirect free kick should be given and not a penalty. Unless you believe Football Manager, but that’s wrong and it winds me up when it gives penalties against me for that.

Anyway… A penalty was given, a penalty was scored and a draw was the result. It felt like (and, in truth, was) two points dropped because City had twice led. But United and Tottenham only managed a draw at St Andrews and Chelsea lost there, too, so it’s clearly not an easy game in Birmingham. And the defeat at Molineux doesn’t look so bad now that United and Chelsea have lost there as well, though I suppose that makes it more of a missed opportunity.

But, despite that negative feeling leading up the West Brom fixture, City did the unlikely – they did what they were supposed to do. They won the game and played well. Instead of giving several fans in the stadium premature coronaries, a skill they’ve perfected down the years with stunts of sheer lunacy, usually in the last minute, as well. But there was none of that on Saturday.

Continue to the NEXT PAGE…

The problem is, with an increased level of performance and a big investment comes a higher level of expectancy. Fans, perhaps wrongly, go to matches against the teams towards the bottom of the table and expect an easy game and a big win; a sentiment summed up by Angry Lady, sitting behind me at Eastlands, who shouted towards a West Brom defender “get out of his way!” as Zabaleta tried to get a cross in. Teams won’t roll over and die, defences will try and stop attacks and Angry Lady will always be shouting that Tevez should “earn his wages” (that one came when he spooned a shot over the bar, despite already having a hat-trick).

It doesn’t make sense to get agitated when City haven’t scored inside the first twenty minutes. I don’t like using clichés, but there are no easy games and no team is in this division by accident (I lied, I love using clichés). What counts is that City at least win the game, without a good performance, if necessary. Though a good display is always preferable.

On the other side of the fence, one win doesn’t make the season. True, results went in City’s favour last weekend and they were the only side in the top four to have won. And they are only five points off the top (which would become just two, should they win their next game). But they have played a game more – and I think we, as fans, ignored that there were games in hand to play when we were sitting top of the league and talking of the title. Optimism got the better of us.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

We should be optimistic, though, don’t get me wrong. City are better than last season. And, in my opinion, will finish higher than last season. But the idea that this would be a bad season for not winning the title or being out of the ‘title race’ in February is ludicrous and is perhaps symptomatic of the “I-Want-It-Now” McSociety we’re living in. I’m sure the title challenge will come in future, but fourth was a priority at the start of the season. And it’s not unreasonable to reassess to third (possibly even second) given the current standings.

Results could go City’s way and they could be within reach of the title with five or six games to play. But nobody should be too upset if that isn’t what happens. We shouldn’t be thinking of dropping ten players, changing the manager, or shooting Patrick Vieira if we don’t win the league. Maybe if we don’t finish in the top four.

We’re in a marathon, not a sprint (cliché alert). One result doesn’t define the season and the collective mood swings of the large proportions of the fans aren’t necessary. We’re not fighting relegation; we’re not sitting mid-table with nothing to play for; we’re still in two cup competitions as well… So let’s sit back, relax and enjoy the (good) ride, for once.

Anyway, it’s derby day on Saturday… Lithium on standby.

[divider]

Help to show that when it comes to fantasy footy, your club’s fans are simply the best! Picklive lets you compete against real people for real money… in real time! So go on, take part in the Denmark v England match for FREE

The first time I laid eyes on the story linking Liverpool with AC Milan’s Ronaldinho I’m sure I shared the same reaction as most reds fans in thinking, ‘great, more tabloid crap’. The story seems to be gaining momentum however, with more news outlets taking notice of it, and our own Brazilian rising star, Lucas Leiva chipping in his opinion of his international team mate in the hope that we sign him.

What’s more is that the more you read about this bizarre transfer rumour the more realistic it seems to become, especially when you consider that Ronaldinho is down the pecking order at AC and is available for free in the summer. The only stumbling block would seem to be his wage demands as he currently roughly earns a whopping £7.5 million a year and would need to take a huge pay cut if he were to sign for Liverpool.

Some may argue that he’s past it now but at 30 years of age I believe he still has enough time to recapture some of his old form and it would be an absolute dream to see a trio of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Ronaldinho leading our front line. For me, the former Barcelona star is one of the players that fits the term ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ and any opportunity to snap him up for a cut price should be seriously looked at. It may have been a good four or five years ago now but Ronaldinho at his best took technical football skill on the pitch to a whole new level with his unique playing style, and I was genuinely disappointed to see that he wasn’t able to keep it up for too long.

You may call it wishful thinking but the change of scenery and a chance to play in the new surroundings of the Premier League may just be the kick-start Ronaldinho needs for his career; along with that I can see Liverpool’s squad being lifted by the signing of such a huge footballing icon. Damien Comolli mentioned recently that strange things could happen in this transfer window, and I can see his point; besides, who would have guessed a few years ago that the likes of Robinho and Carlos Tevez would sign for Manchester City or that Joe Cole would leave the Champions to join one of their fiercest rivals for many years.

However much truth there is in this particular story remains to be seen, but going along with the scenario of it being genuine, would you be happy with the signing of the former World Player of the Year, Ronaldinho?

Written By Mark Wilson at the excellent Live4Liverpool website

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[divider]

[divider]