Reasons to be Cheerful. Reasons to Despair

There’s a lot going in the football world this week: perhaps a sign of the times that much of it is taking place in courts (and we’re not talking about an ailing furniture store). So RTG thought today we would provide some highlights for you to mull over.

One highlight, by the way, is we’ve just had our email read out on Sky Sports News in response to a poll that they ran saying that 80% of respondents thought that Beckham totally deserved to be included in Capello’s first England squad. We’re not going to bang on about it again, but it looks likely that Capello has put England’s interests first and not those of a media celebrity. Well done Fabio. Long may it continue. A place in the international team should be a cherished highlight of a player’s career, not a photo op for Vogue or OK magazine. Let Beckham fight for his 100th cap by playing at the right quality level and playing consistently well.

A ruling made yesterday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland throws the transfer system into yet more contention and confusion. The ruling provides for a formula that allows players to breach their contracts after a certain period and pay his club compensation based on the value of his remaining wages within that contract. The case arose from the transfer of Andy Webster from Hearts to Wigan where he unilaterally decided the move. Whilst details are sketchy at this point, most commentators have interpreted this as first, more power to the players and second, a drastic reduction in transfer fees. For example, it is believed that under the new formula, Fabregas or Ronaldo (arguably the two best young players in the world currently) could be transferred for as little as £12 million without the consent of their clubs under their present contracts. As a side issue, CAS also criticised FIFA for its handling of the case - no surprises there. Expect many more lawyers to earn a lot more money following this ruling.

Speaking of FIFA, in yet another court case in Switzerland, it is expected that the mystery individual who paid £1.2M to FIFA’s TV rights broker, ISL, will be revealed today. FIFA initiated proceedings claiming that it had not received its £29.6M share of the rights sale from ISL. But, investigating magistrate, Thomas Hildebrand, suspects that the original deal was oiled by backhanders (again surprise surprise), and that only revealing the identity of the mystery donator will prevent long-term prison sentences for those involved. Watch this space.

In an interesting development this morning, during a post-match interview with Steve Coppell, the Big Four have suddenly become the Elite Three! Which we can only imagine is bad news for Liverpool after losing 1-0 to West Ham last night. On a more positive note for Liverpool, there is talk of a £500 Million supporters bid for the club based on the Barcelona model. Needless to say, RTG thoroughly endorses their efforts and hope that it proves both a resounding success and a blueprint for the future of other clubs.

RTG is priding itself on its first exclusive. We have the first photograph of Keegan meeting with Dennis Wise. Scroll down for this ‘exclusive’.

Fabio Capello. Now This is a Test.

OK, so RTG is on its Beckham bashing soap box, again, but the issues surrounding Beckham epitomise exactly what RTG is railing against in modern football.

For the record, let us just reiterate. He was a great footballer with the sweetest right foot of several generations. He contributed immensely to Manchester United’s success and he was a stalwart of arguably the greatest midfield quartets ever. He also does usually give everything in an England shirt. That was then. Now is a different matter. Rightly or wrongly he chose a path to further his ‘career’ in a league that is barely English League 1 standard. We say career in his truest sense of the word – that of a media celebrity.

Sir Alex Ferguson has joined the chorus of bleating sheep saying that Beckham deserves his 100th cap irrespective of what England needs. Last week Beckham went to Sierra Leone; this week he’s in Brazil. Interspersed between these wonderful photo ops are pictures of him on a foggy Arsenal training pitch enjoying the banter and wet-towel slapping frolics of the Arsenal squad (Bendtner and Adebayor excepted). So imagine RTG’s surprise when waking up this morning to reports that Fabio Capello is having serious reservations about including Beckham in the squad. Is it just us or are other genuine supporters angry about how trivialised playing for your country has become?

Here is a man who has not played at a world class standard for nearly a year and who has not played a competitive match since his substitute’s appearance versus Croatia. Note also he only played a couple of handfuls of games for Real Madrid in his final season with them. Meanwhile we have an England team that has failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament and who need, at this time more than any, need to concentrate on getting the right players, tactics and systems in place. What do we get? Tiresome, and never ending, discussions on one person’s tribute to celebrityville.

Reports suggest that Capello wants to break with the tradition of naming a 23 man squad and pick an initial squad of 30 in order to see more players close-up at England training sessions. Which led RTG to thinking that ALL the English players in the Premier League (who are not too old, on crutches or serving at Her Majesty’s pleasure) should be included in the England preparation for EVERY game. This would cover all age groups. There are probably only 50-60 players across all ages that fall into this group. Gone would be the endless speculation about who is injured or who ‘deserves’ inclusion. What Capello and his staff would get to see is every English player’s motivation and commitment, up close. Plus, it starts the important process of building the concept of Team England. Of course, we assume that there will exist a suitable place (i.e. Burton) for this to take off.

Hopefully, Capello will see sense and treat this game against Switzerland as the beginning of a new era and not a salute to the last. After all, what is there really to salute?

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• Talking of tiresome, never ending discussions, the Toon (nostalgia and return of the messiah) army now await with baited breath over the potential return of Alan Shearer in their so-called ‘dream ticket’. Amazing, that multi-million pound organisations can make decisions influenced more on the principles of the schoolyard than those of serious businesses.
• Derby County are the latest club to find themselves with new American owners. The new owners were quick to point out that their management style is more Randy Lerner of Aston Villa and less Gillett and Hicks of Liverpool. The group to take over is an organisation called General Sports and Entertainment. Hmmmmmm…….not hopeful.
• The African Nations Cup, currently being played out in Ghana, has been rocked by a series of bribe scandals. Sketchy reports and accusations have been made, but officials of CAF so far are attempting to bury the story in the hope that it will go away. Watch this space.
  
  Hats Off, Take a Bow (or Not)!
  
  Player of the Week: Alfie Potter of Havant and Waterlooville (but on loan from Peterborough). Not just because he has a name that is a throw back to cloth caps and jumpers for goal posts, but also because for a few minutes at least, neutrals dared to dream of the greatest cup upset of them all.
  
  Villain of the Week: Yossi Benayoun. OK a bit harsh on Yossi but he spoilt the dream of the greatest cup upset of them all.
  
  Heroes of the Week: Havant and Waterlooville who led for most of the first half. Excellent effort – even if their team was shored up with a smattering of loan professionals.
  
  Shock of the Week: this week’s shock is one of the literal kind – how we laughed at the look of shock on Michael Ball’s face when he realised that he was clearing a balloon rather than the ball which resulted in United’s first goal in their ‘shock’ win against City.
  
  Cliché of the Week: With a Potter playing in the magical FA Cup 4th round, all those media muppets couldn’t help themselves in trying to describe Havant and Waterlooville’s exploits in terms of being more ‘Harry Potter’ than ‘Alfie Potter’.

Media Familiarity Will Breed Supporters' Contempt

Much has been made of the ‘role’ that footballers are supposed to play in the modern world. Apparently, according to the media, our so-called stars are not only worthy of celebrity status, but also of being virtuous examples of how our youngsters should behave. Really?

All be it RTG is fairly long in the tooth, but our parents and teachers were the people who taught us how to behave. Back then footballers were revered only for their skill and behaviour on a football pitch: track back; ‘if in doubt, kick it out’; lose the ball, get it back again; refs don’t change their mind so don’t answer back. And so on. Never were we expected to emulate our on-pitch heroes by copying their off-field activities. In most cases we didn’t even know what they were. In those days people were simply not interested (a certain Mr George Best aside).

So what are we to make of David Beckham’s current antics in Sierra Leone? RTG’s burning question is if indeed Beckham is to gain his 100th cap, as the media seem so desperate for him to do, and given that he has not played a competitive match since his substitute’s appearance against Croatia, how can he afford to take four days out to act as Unicef goodwill ambassador in a visit to Sierra Leone – good cause though it may be? RTG has written many times about the farce that surrounds Beckham’s 100th cap and this serves to reinforce the fact that the whole issue of Beckham is turning into a media ‘circus’ and not about football at all.

On balance it is probably a good thing that celebrities are using their status to highlight worthy causes. But for every David Beckham, Geri Halliwell or Out-of-work Eastenders star that beats a path to a Third World Country, very little appears to have been achieved in relieving poverty and people’s suffering. But that’s another issue.

At least Beckham, to his credit, is not kidnapping small children to adopt them or roasting some poor wannabe WAG in a hotel room, but we are surely expecting far too much from our footballers who are generally very inexperienced in the ways of the world, not especially well educated and exhibit all the common trappings of people who have far too much money and time on their hands. Imagine, back in the 1960s, anyone bothering to ask Jimmy Greaves his opinion on world poverty. And therein lies RTG’s point. Nobody would have done because they knew there were better qualified people to ask (and not just because he usually couldn’t remember). Greaves’s skill was in scoring goals and that’s what the media and public were interested in as far as he was concerned.

There are, of course, too many examples of behaviour not worth copying: roasting stories, rape allegations, fights with bouncers, urinating on floors and in their pants; and blatant examples of racism. In addition, there are the likes of Rio Ferdinand launching his £300,000 football academy in Uganda to educate street kids in Kampala who said meeting the kids was ‘overwhelming and humbling’; while also launching an exclusive, luxury, gated housing development overlooking Kampala designed to exclude the very people he’s humbled by. John Barnes gave us his ‘responsible’ attitude to the environment and Green issues by choosing to boast to us how he didn’t understand recycling so he didn’t do it. This from a man who constantly craves ‘respeck’.

If the media keeps trying to hoist on us values and expectations of footballers’ off-field behaviour, this will serve only to drive a wedge further between players and supporters. And the more players try to court the media to bolster their off-field incomes, the more likely that this situation will get worse. Nobody is expecting to see a return to the cloth cap days when players travelled to the game on the same bus as supporters. But what footballers have to realise is that the more they cosy up to the media, the more likely it is that they will lose the respect of their ultimate paymasters, the supporters. Many supporters are already turned off by the cynical manipulation of the ‘badge kissers’. Players should remember one of the old adages, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’.

Reclaim the Game – The Week’s Events

• The clamour by Liverpool supporters for the removal of the American duo, Hicks and Gillett, from ownership of the club grows daily as the realisation that securing the required new loans against the club’s assets is not a good idea after all. But as Manchester United supporters discovered, when congratulating themselves over the blocked Sky takeover, they went from the proverbial ‘frying pan into the fire’ with the arrival of the Glazers. What do Liverpool supporters know of the potential buyers Dubai International Capital (DIC)? Probably the same as they did of Hicks and Gillett. Bugger all. Be careful what you wish for.
• Justin Gregory, the Havant and Waterloo player, who will sadly miss this weekend’s FA Cup tie at Anfield through suspension, appears to be the only person with a realistic view of his predicament. The sensationalists at Talkshite Radio accused the FA of being ‘jobsworths’ by not allowing the rearranged mid-week fixture to count as his suspension game. A shame though it is for Gregory, teams can’t tinker with the fixture list to enable suspended players not to miss vital games. Otherwise, why have a disciplinary system at all? Worse still, why have a system operated not on rules, and equal treatment irrespective of status, but on sentiment? This is one issue RTG actually backs the FA on.
• Manchester United CEO, David Gill’s, house was daubed with anti-Glazer graffiti. Whilst RTG has every sympathy with the plight and aims of Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), we would like to remind those taking this action that the tactic did not work with John Magnier and JP McManus, the Irish major shareholders in the club pre-Glazer. In fact, it made them more willing to sell up to the Glazers when the bid came in. Not that RTG is at all suggesting that this was sanctioned by those that run MUST but you get the point.

Premier League’s Predictable Procession Marches On

On October 22nd last year RTG reviewed the opening phase of the current season, with it a quarter complete. At that time, our basic conclusion was that very little appeared to have changed: the big four were still the big four and occupying the top places, despite pre-season optimism to the contrary; the level of genuine competition was becoming as humdrum as ever; England were struggling to qualify for Euro 2008 despite the usual mindless optimism from the media; most clubs outside of the big four were struggling to fill their grounds.

Now that just over half the season is complete, has anything changed since then?

Well, the government and financial press seem to be talking us into a recession and this appears to be reflected in even more empty seats in some grounds and making the current transfer window seem even more about speculation than actual deals being completed.

Subject to Liverpool beating Aston Villa tonight, at Anfield, the big four will once again occupy the top four places in the Premier League. In fact, it seems likely that any deviation from this by the end of the season, should Everton, City or maybe Villa make it in to the Champions League, will be purely down to Liverpool’s owners mismanagement of their affairs than anything else.

The rest of the Premier League has predictably polarised with perennial strugglers, Fulham, plus the newly promoted teams, fighting out the relegation issues. In summary, there does not appear to be much for the objective football supporter to relish in competitive terms. There will be no new name on the Premiership trophy. Or, for that matter, any of the other trophies up for grabs. In fact, the only “surprise” is that Arsenal’s name may appear on the Premier League trophy for the first time in four years. Big deal! Little wonder that people seem reluctant to part with £30-£90 of their hard-earned cash each week to watch the Premier League’s predictable procession.

Revenues from the new TV deal seemed to have very little competitive impact despite this being hailed, amidst a frenzy of summer transfer activity, as potentially the most open Premier League season ever. In fact, more money actually led to more panic, with more managers being sacked….sorry leaving by ‘mutual consent’ in the first half of the season than throughout the whole of last season. Most commentators have suggested that this is as it should be and only reflects common practices in the business world. RTG would suggest that failing business leaders who walk away with multi-million pound pay-offs is not a practice that we would like to replicate in the football world. After all, it is our money that is being leaked away through incompetent management and poor recruitment.

So are there any grounds for optimism or is it all doom and gloom? Well, at least FIFA and UEFA have begun to address one of RTG’s pet issues – the club v country debate. RTG will return to that in our next posting barring any major developments elsewhere. The English FA’s Burton project, which is currently in moth balls, is being debated again, at least, and we have a new England manager who does not appear to be afraid of the media – though his first squad selection should give us an indication as to whether he has the balls to end the ridiculous David Beckham 100th cap debate. RTG’s advice to Fabio, should he wish to listen, is give him a picture of a Spitfire or his gold watch and send him on his way with a handshake. England has bigger mountains to climb.

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• Amidst the acres of press coverage given to the ‘Messiah’s return’ this week, Kevin Keegan put paid to any idea that he does not have his finger on the pulse of the modern game by stating that the big four are ruining the FA Cup by fielding weakened teams. Errrr…..Kevin….even League 2 Peterborough fielded a weakened team in the FA Cup this year! Get with the programme Kevin…sorry matchday magazine!
• Sir Alex Ferguson denies making obscene gestures at the Reading fans citing relief at scoring the second goal as the reason for his slightly bizarre hand/arm actions. The truth is likely to be that the grey haired season ticketholder who sits behind the bench at the Mad Stad does look a little like Arsene Wenger.
• RTG wonders how, as Manchester United fly off this week for a million pound “earner” to Saudi Arabia, travel visas will be obtained for the Glazer family – their failing to qualify on account of their Jewish faith. Or is it just another case of money over-riding everything, including racism and propping up inequitable regimes.

Hats Off, Take A Bow (or not)!

Player of the Week - Benjani Mwaruwari, as much for his season’s performances as for his hat trick against struggling Derby County.

Villains of the Week – chiefly the journalist panel on Sky’s Sunday Supplement, but also the bandwagon jumpers who feel that David Beckham’s 100th cap is more important than re building a new England team. And no! He doesn’t deserve it.

Hero of the Week – Neil Warnock. When he took over at Crystal Palace, they were second from bottom. Having beaten second placed Bristol City at the weekend, they are now handily placed in 5th.

Shock of the Week – Havant and Waterlooville’s FA Cup 3rd round victory over the best team in League 1, Swansea City. Oh the romance of the FA…..

Cliché of the Week – “Return of the Messiah”. No he’s not, he’s a very naughty boy!

Toon Supporters Luv It! But why?

It seems the only person in Tyneside who is not jumping for joy at the appointment of Kevin Keegan as the Newcastle manager is Michael Owen. Or at least, if his autobiography is to be believed, he claims that some of Keegan’s management decisions when in charge of England at Euro 2000 left him “scarred”. The rest of Newcastle appears jubilant at Keegan’s return.

We humble folk at RTG are merely supporters and can’t really comment with much authority on what it is like to run a football club. But Keegan’s appointment surely defies belief. OK, backed by Sir John Hall’s cheque book, he resided over a Newcastle team that were highly entertaining to watch. He took them from Second Division strugglers to Premier League contenders at a time when, to miss out on a place in the newly formed and lucrative, Premier League, would have been costly indeed. Conversely, however, he never actually managed to win anything, and showed how coping with pressure was not his strong point when it all came to a head in his famous “I’d luv it” interview on Sky TV.

His England team at Euro 2000 were possibly one of the worst RTG has ever witnessed. Despite a popular 1-0 win over Germany in Charleroi, brought about largely as a result of a very poor German effort and some dogged Keown defending, England were clueless losing 3-2 to Romania when they went out of the tournament at the group stage. The signs were there prior to Euro 2000 in the play-offs against Scotland, when a Scots team ranked way below England passed them off the park to win 1-0 in the last Wembley meeting of the two old enemies. Add to that the fact that Keegan has walked out of three jobs - Newcastle, England and Manchester City - for seemingly no more than struggling to cope with the pressure, and you wonder exactly what The Toon are playing at.

But football is an emotional business. The most optimistic person in the world can be the most pessimistic football supporter. The most logical person on the planet can make the most ludicrous decisions where football is concerned. The greatest businessman can become a complete idiot in a football club boardroom. As stated in our previous post, surely the job of a football Chairman today should be to try as best as possible to marry the very uneasy bedfellows of business and football. Purists might say that RTG should applaud Mike Ashley for being an owner that has listened to supporters and given them exactly what they want. After all, isn’t that what this blog is partly trying to achieve?

Maybe, but making decisions purely on emotion has cost so many in the past that surely Ashley should have taken some time to remove his Magpie shirt for a few seconds and learn from past mistakes. Keegan himself was effectively appointed England manager in 1999 by an over-emotive tabloid press claiming he was ‘the peoples’ choice’. Why did we end up with Steve McClaren? Because ‘Little England’, led also by the tabloid press demanded that the only person fit enough to manage the England team was an Englishman. The simple fact that there was not an Englishman available who was capable of doing the job was rendered irrelevant. Ossie Ardiles and Glen Hoddle both failed at Spurs and there were once calls for Alex Ferguson’s head at Manchester United. Leeds fans, not only didn’t want Dennis Wise as manager, simply because of the Chelsea connection, but many still want to see him out even after the miracles he’s performed with them this season. We could go on and on.

The icing on the cake for Toon supporters now would be for Keegan to come out and announce Alan Shearer as his number two. All Magpies fans feel this is now the final part of the jigsaw. Yet, past history, and some comments made in recent interviews, seem to suggest that neither particularly likes the other nor has any desire to work with them. But the blind faith of the football supporter simply assumes that the two get on famously, would make a superb management team and desperately want to join up for the good of all that is black and white striped.

The over-exposure and virtual blanket coverage of football, these days, simply makes this situation worse rather than better. Football is a big business now and it is unlikely that we’ll ever turn the clock back in that respect. It may sound a little cold and calculating of RTG but these decisions are too important in today’s game to be made on purely emotional grounds. The stakes are far too high. Having said that, at least Newcastle should be more fun to watch now than they were under Big Sam. And that can only be good for the game.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• Congratulations to Havant and Waterloo who have given countless pundits the chance to use the old favourite, "the magic of the FA Cup" by making it through to a lucrative glamour tie at Anfield in the fourth round. As the likelihood of any shock results seemed to be disappearing from view and TV presenters were having to think of other ways of bigging up the old trophy, good old Havant came to the rescue.
• RTG does not agree with everything that comes from the 'blue sky' think box of Michel Platini but he does seem to be the first head of any football governing body to actually want to address issues in the game. The jury is out here on his latest proposal. UEFA have agreed to trial the use of two more assistant referees positioned behind the line at the point where the 18 yard box joins it. This is to help with goaline decisions as well as other penalty box problems. RTG is of the feeling this is slightly overkill for what is a rare occurrence in most games but hey....if you don't try things, you never find out.
• Could Fabio Capello be the shortest serving England manager ever? The FA assure us they were well aware of forthcoming investigations into Capello's tax affairs and that they are not worried (now that makes us worried). However, sources claim that Capello could be another high-profile victim of Romano Prodi's clean-up intiative and could soon be breaking rocks with fellow countrymen Alberto Tomba and Sofia Loren. Oh well. At least Sam Allardyce is free to take the reins should that happen.....oh dear!

Business Issues Blur the Fantasy of Football

There was a time, not that long ago in fact, when football coverage in the national press was limited to match reports (and even then covering only clubs in your region). Nowadays both Sunday and Monday’s papers contain their own supplements detailing every aspect of irrelevant trivia – David Beckham’s attendance and his great parenting (in remembering both his son’s gloves) at the Emirates Stadium being a particularly pointless one from this weekend’s offering.

Increasingly, the sports pages and financial columns are featuring stories concerning the fiscal side of football. Most of the stories around Liverpool FC this season have focused on the triumvirate of Gillette, Hicks and Benitez and their conflicts over money. Given the current world financial credit squeeze, rumours are circulating that Messrs Hicks and Gillette may have to sell out to a potential buyer on account of problems transferring their own debt liability on to the club itself. According to reports, both Gillette and Hicks, despite arriving as people who simply ‘love this franchise and soccer’, are reluctant to put up £20M each as part of the refinancing of their purchase. This is clearly having a detrimental effect on the team as well as disrupting any transfer plans that Rafa has made.

Liverpool supporters, so desperate to see their team at least challenge for the Premier League, welcomed Gillette and Hicks in as the answer to all their problems. Why? Because in modern football, loads of money has come to mean loads of success – as proven by Abramovich’s Chelsea. Indeed, at the start of their first full season, money was made available for Liverpool’s record transfer in acquiring the services of Fernando Torres. In addition there were promises and architects’ plans for a new 60,000 seater stadium in Stanley Park. Little wonder that Liverpool supporters were so optimistic at the start of the season. However, they are now starting to appreciate the potential pitfalls that a small but vociferous group of Manchester United supporters identified when the Glazers took over the club in 2005. This is a classic example of how sporting and corporate objectives are very different and, some would say, totally incompatible.

Furthermore, just because someone has red hot business skills, shown by their billionaire status, this does not automatically translate readily into success on the football field. Simon Jordan, Crystal Palace’s CEO, has admitted that he paid far too much for the club in his takeover and that his emotional attachment to the club had clouded his judgement. Where he and Palace have subsequently flourished has been because he, in particular, has learnt from some very painful and expensive lessons.

To see the current managerial merry-go-round, you would have to question the motives and competence of the boards of most Premier League clubs. Fulham gave their vacant managerial position, and a fairly sizeable transfer budget, to Lawrie Sanchez on the strength of him passing his trial period, which involved one victory against a Liverpool side preparing for the European Cup Final. He had never managed above League One level and was chosen on the basis of some good, but not outstanding, performances by Northern Ireland. Wigan Athletic appointed Chris Hutchins as manager following Paul Jewell’s successful reign but chosen departure last summer. Hello! Exactly the same scenario happened at Bradford City a few years previously with exactly the same result - Chris Hutchins in the job for a few weeks and then sacked. Why is Harry Redknapp at the top of just about every club’s wanted list when he’s never won a major honour and he’s managed to get three clubs relegated? Besides his obvious (but often forgotten) litigation problems, what stands out in his CV that makes him so in demand?

Today’s papers are dominated by talk of a ‘dream ticket’ of Keegan and Shearer taking over at Newcastle. Shearer, who has never managed any football club, and still has to complete some of his coaching badges, and Keegan, who walked away from football vowing never to return, are seen as football Messiahs to the Newcastle public. RTG does not know whether Shearer will turn out to be a good manager or not. We’re desperately trying to think of an example in the modern English game where a great player evolved into a great manager. It clearly doesn’t necessarily happen that way. If Mike Ashley, the new owner of Newcastle, chooses to go down this route, it will only serve to illustrate the point further. Reports suggest that Mr Ashley has chosen to ditch the ‘I’m one of the lads’ image in favour of a more rational approach. The most obvious gesture will be to ditch the replica kit in favour of a suit and tie proving that sound husbandry of a football club requires setting realistic long-term, football objectives and not reacting to short-term, emotive issues by throwing loads of money at a problem.

In November 1989, a friend of RTG was joined in a round of golf by the Manchester United board member, Bobby Charlton. At the time, and against a backdrop of a recent 5-1 thrashing by Manchester City, and a relegation berth, RTG’s friend asked when Alex Ferguson was going to get the much-rumoured bullet. Bobby Charlton stated categorically that United had the best man for the job and that he just needed the time to repair twenty years of neglect at the hands of a succession of short-termists. As an aside, United even had to play their first team, including the England captain, to prevent relegation from the reserve league. The history of Manchester United since then, speaks for itself!

Reclaim the Game – The Week’s Events

• Nice to see the Carling Cup semi finals producing some tasty stuff. You’d think the teams were actually taking it seriously!
• Kevin Blackwell chose to relinquish his post at Luton Town (unpaid of late) due to the club's ongoing financial problems and potential liquidation. How ironic that while Premier League clubs are announcing record revenues and profits and arguing over who gets the biggest share of the financial pie, the plight of lower league clubs is constantly being ignored.
  
  Hats off, Take a Bow! (or not)
  
  Player of the Week – Kieran Richardson. Recently returning from a four month lay-off, he was instrumental in Sunderland’s victory against Portsmouth. Scored a match winning brace.
  
  Hero of the Week – Harry Redknapp. OK, let’s not pretend Harry needs the money but that could apply to all of the Premier League fraternity these days. He chose to stay at Pompey saying that he wanted to build on what he has already achieved rather than take the easy money at Newcastle.
  
  Villains of the Week – Liverpool owners, Gillette and Hicks. You can hardly blame Rafa Benitez for the turmoil caused at Anfield by this corporate pair. Offering Rafa’s job to Jurgen Klinsman – well it is just not cricket!
  
  Shock of the Week – How did Sam Allardyce last that long in the first place?
  
  Cliché of the Week – “Dream ticket of Keegan and Shearer”

Game Badly Served by Media Muppets

Most match reports for the recent Chelsea – Newcastle match, correctly reported that Kalou’s controversial Chelsea winner two minutes from time, was offside and that the match officials had made a huge mistake in allowing the goal. In the context of yesterday’s sacking of the Newcastle manager, Sam Allardyce, the referee did Sam’s and Newcastle’s cause a great deal of harm. But did the loss of the point that Allardyce’s team richly deserved cause his downfall? Certainly not. At best, it might have postponed the inevitable, but when you have a new owner, who has not picked his most important employee, there is always going to be problems.

However, not all pundits agreed that the goal was offside. Some suggested, unsupported from video replays, that the ball had been played off a defender and therefore the attacker was played on-side. Nobody bothered to correct the pundit. Nobody bothered to point out that the rule about being played on-side if the ball comes off a defender, was abolished in the late 70’s. Nor is this the only example of poor understanding of the laws by our so called media experts. You’d think that as ex-players, as most are, that they would know the laws of the game. But no, there they are struggling with rules, most notable with the definition of “interfering with play” in the context of the offside rule.

Nor are these the most glaring of the ignorance of the laws. Andy Gray has recently taken to praising anyone who deliberately falls over an outstretched leg as “perfectly entitled to go over” in winning a penalty. He also describes holding and deliberate obstruction by attackers at a corner/free kick, in winning time and space for other attackers, as “very professional”. Well, it’s not. It’s cheating.

It is a disturbing trend to see more and more punditry not only accepting cheating as “professional”, but that it is being praised. Does it matter? No doubt, what happens today on a professional field happens tomorrow in schoolyards up and down the country. But as more and more “professional” situations are accepted, and play acting to get opponents carded seems to be gathering support, the game becomes more and more difficult to control. You only have to consider how the World Cup of 2006 went to see the problem. The opening group matches were as good as any in entertainment terms, but as the competition went further into the knock out stages the “professional” behaviour got worse, culminating in a final that saw some of the worst play acting, diving and moments of petulance ever witnessed.

So yes it does matter. The media have a responsibility to the game as each individual involved is only a temporary guardian of the game. It would help the game enormously, if, instead of pandering to their ex-colleagues who are still playing, media pundits understood the laws better and they were quicker to condemn the cheats.

Reclaim The Game – The Week’s Events

• Just over half way through the season, and an eighth manager has departed from the Premiership. Far more than at this time last year. However, it is probably true to say that maybe in some cases the board should be the ones who shoulder the responsibility. Sammy Lee was never going to work out at Bolton and the Fulham board should be heavily castigated for giving the job to a person who was deemed to have passed his “trial period” because of one single victory against a team who was preparing for a European cup final!
• RTG is beginning to think that the failure to land Jose Mourinho as England manager is a blessing in disguise. Even out of the country, and out of a job, Jose seems to be hardly off the back pages in being linked to a number of top club management jobs. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona, seem to have shied away and he has been linked to the Bayern Munich, Liverpool and AC Milan jobs. He is in danger of being seen as a disruptive influence on already beleaguered managers. Of course, it could just all be the work of his mischievous agent….
• Jermaine Defoe took all the prizes, last night, in the “Worst Barnet of the Year Award” with his Capello- notice-me-please tuft of fuzz on an otherwise bald pate, not unlike a baseball seam. See the hair style towards the bottom of this page link.

The Famous FA Cup, Sponsored by e.on

Sunday afternoon, 6th January 2008 about 4pm: a teenager football supporter, known to RTG, bemoans the fact that the “traditional” live TV draw has been moved to Monday lunch times. Amongst much spluttering and guffawing, RTG had to give the dear lad a brief history lesson to explain the error in his concepts of history. After the initial hilarity remembering the 90’s, when the then FA secretary, Graham Kelly’s, hesitant presentation of the draw and his round by round sharper, shinier suits and bouffant hair styles, RTG had to explain that the “traditional” date and time of the draw had always been Monday lunch times. The FA had, not unreasonably some years previously, decided that with the advent of live cup ties being screened, they would perform the draw before the afternoon tea time live match. This did have the unfortunate and peculiar consequence of having some teams knowing who their next round opponents would be, before even kicking a ball in the current round. The FA though hoped that the larger audience for the draw would generate more interest in the competition. Unfortunately, it did nothing of the sort.

This weekend’s ties did indeed throw up a host of surprises, upsets and giant killing acts which had the media drooling in the “romance”, “spirit” and “tradition” of the FA Cup. Indeed, no media discussion, whatever the channel, appears to talk about the competition without resorting to the liberal use of these words. The reality is somewhat different. This week’s lead up to the third round had players and management at all levels of the game emphasising that league positions were their top priority. Indeed, Darren Ferguson, manager of League 2 side Peterborough United, neatly side stepped a discussion of a hypothetical “dream” tie against his dad (in the next round, no less), by stating that promotion was his top priority.

This was reflected in ‘A’ teams being selected for ties up and down the country. Many of the so-called surprises became a lot less so when team sheets were scrutinised. Neil Warnock, the Crystal Palace manager even premiered a 15 year old in their tie against Watford. This was also reflected in pretty poor attendances – Manchester United’s tie was around 20% down on their recent league visit to Villa Park. It would appear that no amount of talking up of the competition can arrest its slow decline in the minds of supporters, players and management. The FA, drawing on its tradition card, conjured up black and white images of muddied “giant killers”, crowding around a brick size transistor radio listening out for their next potential victims in the draw, as their answer to arresting the decline. It is going to take a lot more that that.

As RTG had to explain to the teenager, the FA Cup’s decline has been slow but unavoidable. Once, the FA Cup was the only live match that all supporters saw. Every aspect of the final was televised – coverage starting from early morning team breakfasts, through supporters’ trains and coaches, ending with the then obligatory post match glass of milk and interviews with the whole winning team. The kudos of winning the cup was probably greater in the eyes of the general public, than even being league champions. This continued even with the advent of European games in the 60’s, which gave some more live finals (if a British team was involved) – but they were still a rarity. It was only in the late 70’s - early 80’s, when Liverpool supporters, quite rightly, pointed out that European and English Championships were far more laudable achievements than any English cup competitions. The advent of live league games in the 80’s took away much of the live football mystique. Add in the voracious greed and buckets of money available for Premiership and European football in the 90’s and we have the chief reasons for the decline in the oldest football competition in the world. The media and the FA, as usual, woke up to these facts too late. They at first blamed the Big Four, and in particular Manchester United and Arsenal, for selecting below par teams and therefore devaluing the competitive side. Then they blamed sides going for Premiership promotion when they fielded under strength sides – Peter Reid’s Sunderland getting a good media going over, when drawn against Arsenal at Highbury, a few days before a vital Championship clash. Even now, you still see commentators claiming that it is all Manchester United’s fault, for taking part in a FIFA competition instead of playing in the competition which had already started in the untraditional month of December (early December at that!).

No, the sad truth is that the FA Cup’s decline has been a slow descent, over decades, for lots of logical reasons. It is only in the last few years that we in this country have arrived at the same conclusions as those of virtually every other national league in the world. That is, the cup competitions are at best a third priority for the top teams and second best for the rest. It is hard to see how this decline can be arrested, without messing up in other areas. Michel Platini’s suggestion of making a champions’ league slot available to cup winners would be a mess – as discussed before.

Reclaim the Game - The Weekend's

• Hard to know what to make of Joey Barton’s recent release from custody. It seems that Tony Adam’s Sporting Chance organization was quick to give assistance. RTG assumes that this is a step in the right direction for him. He has been given a sporting chance, which his now long serving lag sibling brother would probably jump at. This should be his last chance though.
• Jeff Stelling moment of the weekend, describing Havant and Waterlooville’s equalizer against Swansea: “…you would think that Swansea are getting it all their way, BUT THEY HAVEN'T….”.

Hats off Take a Bow (or not)!

Player of the week, Wayne Rooney - supersub who provided more class and positive play in 20 minutes, than the rest of the Villa and United players could muster in the previous 70 minutes. Swung the tie decisively in United's favour.

Heroes of the week: hard to pick up genuine upsets, but Coventry's demolition of Blackburn (away) and Oldham's humiliation of Everton (again away) are probably the picks of the round. RTG haven't mentioned the non leaguers' creditable draw against high riding League 1 Swansea City. No we Havent and Waterlooville (argh, argh).

Villains of the week: Cardiff City - but only because they ruined the only genuine minnows versus giants story by beating Chasetown, reputedly the lowest ever rated third round team entry.

Cliche of the week - the words romance, tradition, spirit alongside FA Cup, sponsored by e.on.

January Sales: Queue Up for the Big Four!

Happy New Year to all football supporters.

By way of an introduction to 2008 we have a little January tale for you.

A couple of seasons ago a mid-table Premier League team (let’s call them Midtable City) sent their scouts out to Eastern Europe and uncovered a bit of a gem, Bac Netov. City needed a striker and Netov seemed to fit the bill and came at half the price of any of his English counterparts. He duly came over to England on a fairly lucrative deal and slotted in to the Premier League nicely. So nicely in fact that Midtable started to improve form and began to move up to the top half of the league; finishing the season in their highest ever position. Netov became a bit of a local hero.

The following season, initially, his form continued and Midtable consolidated their position in the top half of the league and began to even contemplate a UEFA Cup place. Netov, however, now well established in England, saw the promise of better things. His agent started to put out rumours that, if a big club came in for him, he would simply have to move to further his career and win trophies. Well, that’s how it was explained to the press at any rate. Suddenly his, and consequently Midtable's, performances declined along with their league position. Come December, with the rumour mill spinning out of control, Midtable supporters saw a sudden leap in his performance levels. Indeed he scored 80% of his season's total of goals in the run up to the transfer window.

Arsechester, one of the so-called Big Four, needed a striker. Chelpool, also one of the Big Four, needed a striker too despite spending hundreds of millions on their squad over the past couple of seasons. Midtable knew that Chelpool could afford a lot more than Arsechester so put a massive price tag on Netov in order to procure the highest possible price for him. Well, if he was going to leave anyway, they might as well get some decent cash for him. Arsechester, realising that they were out of the reckoning for Netov, started to look elsewhere and paid over the odds for Johnny Englander, a player who had recently become part of the England setup.

Netov moved to Chelpool for an astronomical fee – far more than he was actually worth but money was no object for Chelpool and they had their man. Arsechester paid over the odds for a different player. Consequently, Midtable, despite having uncovered a real find in Netov, were glad of the money and continued to plod on with no real prospect of improving their position. Arsechester and Chelpool never dropped out of a top four slot and consequently qualified for the lucrative Champions League spot yet again (for the eighth year running), ensuring a nice revenue earner for the following season - money that would allow them once again to ensure that the best players would be available for them and them only. Netov became an instant millionaire through his share of the transfer fee and merely a bit part player in a massive squad. Johnny Englander also became an instant millionaire, made some promising performances for Arsechester but never really made any impact on the international scene due to his irregular appearances and fairly comfortable lifestyle keeping the bench warm. Well, when we say the proverbial bench we actually mean a thermally heated Corbeau Carrera massage and orthopaedic seat.

Ok, the names are made up but you get the point. Whether a team spots a player and buys him, or even if they develop him themselves, the likelihood is that, if he wants to win anything and earn top brass, he will end up at one of the Big Four or in Europe. In effect, any club currently outside the Big Four is acting merely as a feeder club to them. And, when the Big Four sell good players, they invariably sell to Europe and leave their detritus for the remaining English clubs. The polarisation thus continues with little prospect of anyone outside of the Big Four breaking into the financial stratosphere of the Champions League. Little wonder that many of the grounds outside of the Big Four appeared a little sparsely attended on New years Day.

If we’re still not raising a certain degree of concern with you, for Netov read any of Berbatov (as seems likely), Saha, Tevez, Mascherano etc.. For Johnny Englander, read Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Carrick, Steve Sidwell, Scott Parker, Glenn Johnson….the list goes on.

If the English Premier League is ever to regain its true competitiveness, English clubs are going to have to find very wealthy owners or some restrictions have to be put in place Europe-wide. Fixed squad sizes is perhaps one option. Should Burton, or its equivalent, ever happen, perhaps the weakest teams, or the promoted teams, should have the first pick of the players coming through. RTG does not profess to have the answers but as usual, the issue of competitiveness is not being addressed at all. By anybody!

Hat's Off Take a Bow for 2007 (Or Not!)

Player of the year - Cristiano Ronaldo. Played a significant part in Manchester United's 2007 Premier League championship win and has continued to be a major player in their current bid to retain the title.

Young Player of the Year - Cesc Fabregas. This guy is still only 20 but seems to get better and better and is now an integral part of Arsenal's bid for glory this season.

Hero of the Year - Leicester City. After Leicester City player Clive Clarke collapsed at half time the Carling Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Leicester City had to be abandoned with Forest 1-0 up. When the match was replayed, Leicester allowed Forest keeper Paul Smith to run unopposed from the kick off to ensure Forest began the game 1-0 up. A fine gesture indeed.

Villain of the Year - Sepp Blatter. Continues to support corrupt officials and put corporate money ahead of genuine supporters in a bid to further his own causes rather than those of the game.

Shock of the Year - Chelsea failing to win the Premier League last season and losing Mourinho. Few could really have predicted that the Blues would not win a third Premier League championship on the trot. It took all the experience of Sir Alex and Manchester United and a bit of in-fighting to see Chelsea knocked off top slot.

Cliche of the Year - "Nothing wrong with that. Very professional." The creeping acceptance (mostly on Sky) of blatant cheating as an acceptable part of the professional game.