Newcastle Striking Options

Newcastle United beat Crystal with a last minute header from Pappiss Cisse, which was his first goal in open play in eleven months.  He had several spurned oppurtunities but only found the net in 93rd minute.  The worrying sign for a striker is not getting any chances, it usually means the striker is hiding from play.  Cisse on the other hand is getting chances, he is putting himself about, he isn't scoring but offside and miss after offside and miss shows that he is dertermined to score he isn't hiding.

For this reason I would start Cisse ahead of Remy, on the basis that Remy is on loan and has made it quite clear that he would like to move somewhere else at the end of the season, to possibly play in the champions league.  Pappiss Cisse however is owned by Newcastle and based on current form will not be leaving Newcastle quickly. Newcastle need to be thinking of next season and have nothing else to play for this season, lowest we can realistically finish is ninth.  

The Newcastle of this season are playing far better as a team than the Newcastle of last season, so this could yeald more goals for Cisse.  It could be looked upon as though he is playing for his future, whether that will be at Newcastle or another club. For me, this is why we should start Cisse more in our last eight games of the season if we can get him scoring again, as we could fetch a good price for him in the summer; or if he wants to stay, we will have aleviated our striking problems for next season.  

~John Robert Lavery 

The £100 Million Audition

David Moyes, should he be sacked or not? It is a bone of contention for many, but our own Stephen Wrigglesworth offers his two cents on this very question.

I've read more than a sane man should on the Moyes in/out debate, personally I find the current predicament highly amusing but if I think about it from an objective standpoint I really can't see how keeping Moyes any longer can pan out for the best.

I could think of five logical steps to go through before deciding on Moyes, at the top you have results/points total? failing on that front you can fall back to performances? if the performances aren't there then I would look to see any resemblance of a plan/vision he is working towards to improve said performances? dipping even further if there is not currently any visible plan then he does at least have the players working for him? Finally if none of the above can be said then does he strike you as having the attitude or confidence to begin achieving even the lowest necessary standard?

Personally I'd love to see him stay and see just how far the demise can go, objectively however I'm not sure how any club in the world could find the confidence to back Moyes with anything in the region of £100m, especially any club who has to witness week in week out the difference Moyes has made with £65m.

Admittedly it would be a disservice to Moyes to make the following comparison however I can't help but think of a certain Mark Hughes when he was given keys to the bank at both Manchester City and QPR, mindlessly spunking money all over Europe without the faintest hint of a tactical vision.

~Stephen Wrigglesworth

Whoscored XI

After looking at the England squad that was announced today, feeling slightly empty about it, then listening to people talk/moan about it. In my head this would sound like an old man shouting at people to get off his garden: "blood the kids!!", "I've stopped following England", "Look at the Spanish model!!" (to sum up all I heard). Drove me to go onto whoscored.com and painstakingly go through their best rated English players and compile an England team based solely on this rating system, I have tried to balance the team as best I can and I am aware that Walcott, Jagielka and Jones are injured and believe it or not would all make it into this team. Also I have picked 30 players cause that's what Hodgson did.

Anyway, there are a few strange additions but the bulk of the squad still remains the same. Possibly the best piece of news I could draw from this is that Tom Cleverly doesn't make it into the team, or would be anywhere near it for that matter.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart - 6.67
John Ruddy - 6.67
Frazor Forster - 6.39
Ben Foster - 6.47

Defenders

Curtis Davis - 7.41
Garry Cahill - 7.39
James Tomkins - 7.27
Michael Dawson - 7.16
Mike Wiliamson - 7.09
Chris Smalling - 7.08
Joel Ward - 7.27
Glenn Johnson - 7.14
Leighton Baines - 7.2
Kieron Gibbs - 7.07

Midfielders

Stephen Gerrard - 7.71
Gareth Barry - 7.31
Raheem Sterling - 7.31
Adam Lallana - 7.29
Jordan Henderson - 7.25
Ryan Noble - 7.25
Tom Huddlestone - 7.16
Frank Lampard - 7.16
Andros Townsend - 7.13
Ross Barkley - 6.99

Forwards

Daniel Sturridge - 7.67
Wayne Rooney - 7.59
Peter Crouch - 7.26
Nathan Dyer - 7
Danny Welbeck - 6.94
Jay Rodriguez - 6.94

Also look forward to The Centre Circles very own England 23 when the squad is announced closer to the time, we know who should be there.

~John Robert Lavery

Evolution not Revolution

The amount of change this year amongst the top teams in England has overshadowed everything else in football news. Alex Ferguson retired, appointing David Moyes as his successor – which sent the first of the ripples that were to later move through the premier league in the form of Everton replacing their man of ten years with Roberto Martinez and the return of Chelsea’s Special One.

There were various transfer sagas that blocked any other news from being seen; Gareth Bale’s longest ever journey to Real Madrid nearly killed The Centre Circle, Manchester United’s obscene approach for Cesc Fabregas and Chelsea’s pursuit of Wayne Rooney all added to the column inches. There wasn’t much space for Stoke, but after seven years they parted company with Tony Pulis and they rather swiftly appointed Mark Hughes as his successor.

The Potters were crying out for a change in philosophy. No longer was it enough at Stoke to grind your way to a lower mid table finish with a direct style that had to be seen to be believed. There were many (including The Centre Circle) who were very critical of Mark Hughes at QPR, and we stand by our opinions. He also failed at Manchester City, miserably if you ask many City fans. Sixth place after you spend £250 million is woefully short of acceptable and his sacking came as little surprise.

The problem was not that Mark Hughes was necessarily a bad manager; he just wasn’t the right manager for QPR or Manchester City and their style of play. It is easy to define his career by these failings and to forget everything else, but there have been times when he has used his management style to considerable success. A notable example would be his time at Fulham. He didn’t have a lot of money but what he did have he spent wisely and was able to get Fulham a team who played a very defensive style of football to eighth. He was also was very successful during his fledgling years at Blackburn, getting the best out of a very physical side. Over four seasons he finished fifteenth, sixth, tenth and seventh, something any Blackburn fan would bite your hand off for nowadays.

Hughes is very good at working with teams who are hard to break down and very physical, turning them in the process into top half teams. Stoke have one of those teams - tough tackling and hard to break down. It would be difficult for Stoke to have appointed someone in the mould of Martinez, Rodgers or many of the talented managers in Spain or Italy because quite simply Stoke just don’t have the players that can adapt to that style of play. Mark Hughes though offers a gradual transition to a less direct style of play, something a little easier on the eye but without drastic change, he works well with physical teams and can somehow get the best out of them.

Overhauling a club’s philosophy is of course risky business, and there have been examples of successes and failures of clubs who have adopted this strategy. It is often just a case of rolling the dice and standing by your decisions as a chairman. Charlton dropped two divisions when they swapped the ever reliable Alan Curbishley for Ian Dowie. It was too much too soon for them and Dowie, who was successful at Crystal Palace, found it hard to leave his imprint on the team. On the other hand however, when Chelsea appointed Jose Mourinho they went on to win two league titles after finishing second under Claudio Ranieri. They took a risk, changing managers to try and push their team to its full potential and it paid off. It is dangerous ground for Stoke to tread on – one could argue that sometimes premier league mediocrity is better than playing league one, but there comes a time when just existing is just a detriment in itself. We recall last season where Wigan finally ran out of luck and were subsequently relegated to the championship.

Overall, Mark Hughes strikes us as a sensible appointment, if you ignore his last two clubs and consider Stoke’s style of play. What we have seen from him so far is promising, making modest alterations rather than completely overhauling the squad, which proves he has learnt from his horrendous mistakes at QPR. His best piece of business was the signing of a full-back in the form of Eric Pieters - something that Tony Pulis seemed allergic to during his time as Stoke boss. Mark Hughes’ appointment, coupled with the signings that have been made, demonstrates that Peter Coates has gone for evolution, rather than revolution, and we think given time it will prove to be a success.

~John Robert Lavery

Another Roll of the Dice...

The nuclear button at the Stadium of Light is becoming worn out. Now is the time where managers will be sacked not after an extended run of poor results, but at the slightest suggestion of one.

Five games into a new era, a new dawn, the beginning of a surge up the table for the Black Cats. Change was afoot at Sunderland, and things would be different this time. Or so we were all promised. Managers can’t be sacked five games into the new season can they? Ellis Short isn’t stupid. This isn’t a results based thing. The sacking of Paolo Di Canio had other reasons. The ones we didn’t see.

For argument's sake, let's indulge the idea that it was a results based thing. If this were true, Short needs his head tested. What kind of emotions were running through his brain if that were the case? After Fulham, it was annoyance, Southampton, frustration. Crystal Palace… anger... Arsenal and he’s on the brink then BAM!! West Brom. I’ve had enough Paolo, thanks for the effort but this clearly isn’t working.

Di Canio was sacked 36 days into the campaign. Not even a trigger happy Italian chairman would behave in that way. The fact is that he cannot be judged even remotely fairly on those first games. History will tell you he was a failure. He was not. He was a victim of player power. Dressing room unrest, call it what you will. He took on the squad and lost spectacularly. Di Canio came in to Sunderland professing a tough and uncompromising approach. To be fair he delivered on this. Pre-season was all about training, fitness and hard work. There is no question that he wore his heart on his sleeve, demanding full commitment from all. Every football person in the land could have predicted what kind of attitude and presence Paolo Di Canio would bring to the Stadium of Light. He was easier to read than a Fisher Price ‘My first book’. The buzzwords were fiery, passionate, outspoken. Unfortunately these three ingredients don’t make for a long-term appointment.

The second biggest flaw in his style was the ability to hand out withering assessments of his player’s shortfalls in public. He may as well have put the players in stocks and pelted them with rotten veg outside the Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland. Publicly criticising players serves no purpose. However, if his public statements were so forthright one can only imagine what he came out with behind the scenes. And this, the Centre Circle believes was his biggest mistake.

There was a brutal assessment of Saturdays match the day after at the training ground. It was borderline vitriolic, with no tangible benefit. Players and teams only benefit from a rocket up their backsides if that rocket isn’t something that would obliterate them. Be straight all you like, but don’t be too harsh. Think more sparkler than nuclear bomb for insertion. Certain senior players relayed this to Margaret Byrne, Chief Executive of the club and that, as they say was that for Paolo Di Canio. This squad was not going to allow itself to be bullied by men such as him.

Some may say players earning such money should just take such criticism. However there probably aren’t many bosses who could get away with speaking to their staff in the manner he did and not many staff in any walk of life who would take it. The dismissal of Di Canio has nothing to do with his ability, and everything to do with his attitude. He got top marks in his coaching badges, and carried a self-assurance held by few, if any.

You can be the cleverest person in the class, but it’s worth nothing if you don’t know how to correctly harness this ability. He wanted to change his players, however the hard fact is it is he who needed to change the most.

~Ian Bendelow

Evolution, A Dinosaur and Modern Football

On Sunday the 16th of June news broke that Joe Kinnear had been hired as Director of Football at Newcastle United. This news was broken not by the club, or an in the know journalist. No, in fact it was broken by the man himself. Presumably hours before he had even signed a contract. It took until Tuesday for the club to confirm it via a statement on the clubs’ website. As a fan I am used to the circus that is Newcastle United, it’s very rare we don’t dominate the back pages usually for some mess we have created, player orgy (common place now but remember, we did it here first), Joey Barton, Dennis wise and co, Kevin Keegan’s second coming then his resignation, the unfair dismissal of Chris Houghton, stadium naming rights, etc.

There is never a dull moment at Newcastle United, any success or sustained stability is evened out by clown like decision making and relegations. Even before I was born Newcastle was run like a fun fair and were known as a yo-yo club, with a revolving door of managers throughout the late 70s through to the early 90s.

The first time Joe Kinnear was brought in to replace the outgoing Kevin Keegan I was apprehensive, he was a manager whose last taste of success was a domestic double semi final with Wimbledon in 1997. He had then gone onto have a hand in the relegation of Luton town and Nottingham Forrest. Kinnear joined Newcastle and went onto win four of his 18 games in charge then left due to a recurrence of his heart problems. Our fears and apprehension of his appointment were perfectly founded and we were relegated that season. He now joins us for a second time, this time as Director of Football.

Is this a good role for him? He might not be up to the rigours of management anymore with its sports scientists, complicated tactics (which is almost a science in itself), superstar footballers, vast amounts of money.  A Director of Football is someone who knows the game and can use his experience and extensive list of contacts to find players, which without him might not have been possible.  Another role for a director of football is to allow an element of continuity for example Angelo Henrique at Porto.  This might suit Kinnear more than maybe having a full time hands on role as manager. In the car crash interview given to TalkSport, the only truth among many fabrications was that the players he mentioned did in fact play for Wimbledon at some point in their career and did in fact work with Kinnear. The lines do get blurred somewhat whether he signed them or not, how much he paid for them and how effective they were for his Wimbledon side. There was a litany of half-truths, inaccurate statements, and downright lies during the interview – and these have been picked apart by journalists with consummate ease.

At Wimbledon the three players where he may have got some value from were Marcus Gayle, Dean Holdsworth and Oyvind Leonhardsen. They were brought in collectively for little under a million and a half and were sold on for seven to eight million. On this alone it’s hardly merit to be put in charge of player recruitment at a club as big as Newcastle, his CV says he unearthed three very average players over seven years. If that was the case then Steve Bruce may as well have been given the job. Even Alan Pardew’s record eclipses this and he has done it in two seasons. These players were brought in from the lower divisions and as the Premier league gets bigger and bigger it is becoming harder and harder for lower league players to make the step up hence why scouts and “directors of football” are relying more and more on players from overseas.

There is a place for a director of football at Newcastle and within the English game.  The problem is Kinnear is a ridiculous appointment.  If you look at clubs like Reading and West Brom which have had Directors of Football, they show that it can be successful if the right appointment is made.  Liverpool shows what can happen if the wrong appointment is made.  When I look at teams like Sunderland and Tottenham appointing proven directors of football with a good record in this role, it makes me wander who's decision making was behind Kinnears appointment.

Kinnear is a throwback to the by gone days of football. He has failed at every club he has been at since Wimbledon because unlike Alex Ferguson and Bobby Robson he couldn't evolve with the game, had a total inability to adapt and therefore couldn’t – and can’t - understand the modern game. The game left him behind like it has done so many others who refuse to embrace modern football. His media appearances so far have shown exactly what he is - someone who is out of touch and out of date and above all supremely arrogant. Mispronouncing players names, making things up, saying he is more intelligent than the Newcastle fans that doubt him. That statement in itself shows a severe lack of intelligence on his part.

He has come into Newcastle, upset the fans, the current management structure, and upset the players in particular Cabaye, Ben Arfa and Sammy Ameobi. I can see this ending badly and his comments he made in June 2012 hardly reassure Alan Pardew and Graham Carr "I would consider something like a director of football post. But I would do that for just one reason and that is to get myself back into full-time management. If I was a director of football and the manager was struggling and got the old tin-tack, I would tell them that I'd take over."

~John Robert Lavery

Life at the Top Table

It’s a rare thing for all three promoted teams to go straight back down the season after coming up from the second tier. It’s only happened once previously in the Premier League – back in 1997/98. Therefore it’s likely one of Cardiff, Hull or Crystal Palace will survive. But who has the best chance? Ian Bendelow gets out his crystal ball…

Teams who come up from the Championship can find themselves woefully ill equipped to cope with the rigours of Premier League football. Just ask Sunderland fans in their ill-fated 2005/2006 season, in which they ‘amassed’ a grand total of 15 points. Determined not to be out-done, Derby County smashed this record two seasons later by posting an impressive 11-point total.

For both it was their first season in the league. Billy Davies, who was manager of Derby when they went up remarked that they were way ahead of schedule in their top-flight ambitions, didn’t expect to get promoted and would just give it their best shot. Mick McCarthy at Sunderland must have looked at the six-figure budget he was handed by Bob Murray and have thought“oh dear”. And then he got on the phone to Alan Stubbs.

It’s not always the case that teams struggle. Newcastle, on their first foray into the Premier League under the stewardship of Kevin Keegan formed the nucleus of a team that would propel the club from a yo-yo club to European contenders. In their first season up, the swashbuckling Magpies with stars such as Ruel Fox, Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley finished third with 77 points. Nottingham Forest repeated the trick a couple of seasons later under the guidance of Frank Clark, and the steely leadership of Stuart Pearce.

There are of course requirements for a team to be successful.

First and foremost it’s the thing that makes all clubs to differing extents tick. Money. In the case of teams coming up though, it is all about spending that money wisely. Few will go out and spend tens of millions of pounds on players, in an attempt to buy their way to survival. Many will not spend at all (see Reading last year), and just be happy to be richer for the experience.

Cardiff are currently best equipped to survive. A strong squad, with players who had the knowledge they were the best in the division last year means they can be confident of giving it a good go. They will need to make improvements of course, but arguably this could be largely aesthetic ones. Adel Taraabt perhaps. Palace, on the other hand look like they might spend a bit – but perhaps their wisest move would be to bring back Zaha on loan. The man quite simply made Palace’s team, he didn’t just add to it.

Hull have to spend big time. From top to bottom their squad has players who can keep it tight and nick a goal in the Championship, but when required to grasp the nettle in the Premier League will find themselves completely out of their depth. If Bruce feels that players like Adam Boyd and Ahmed Elmohamady are the answer, then he is sadly mistaken.

Of course the quality of their managers has a bearing too. The brooding, considered approach of Malky Mackay, the safety-first approach of Steve Bruce or the ADHD bonkers child-in-a-box style of Ian Holloway all have their merits. If you had to choose one of these three to keep you up, The Centre Circle would wager that Steve Bruce would have the best chance on paper. He has experience of working on a small budget with an average team, and has succeeded (ironically when given money at Sunderland he failed). Mackay is too inexperienced for some and Holloway too mad to be considered the best equipped. Although this doesn't mean he is in charge of the team most likely to survive.
However the one factor which stands above all others for newcomers to the league is the importance of having a good striker. A talisman, a focal point, someone who can drive a team forward. There are exceptions to this, but a good striker is usually the difference between staying up or doing down. Newcastle had Andy Cole first time around then in more recent times Andy Carroll helped them establish safety for a second time in the Premier league. Southampton relied on Ricky Lambert, and Norwich had Grant Holt. Sunderland announced their arrival in the Premier League with a bang with Kevin Phillips scoring 30 goals in his maiden season.

There are of course other factors. Luck, team spirit and staying injury free can help. These can all be offset by having a good squad depth, and knowing when to rotate your squad to the full effect.
All promoted teams, with a few exceptions can arguably produce a run of form through part of a season. Sustaining this throughout a campaign is difficult, but necessary to be able to stay up. Blackpool and Hull were superb in the first half of their maiden top flight seasons, before falling woefully away after the turn of the year. Blackpool of course went down on the final day, with Hull surviving by the skin of their teeth.

It looks to The Centre Circle like it will be Palace and Hull for the drop at the minute. For the former, it’s not because of the signings they will make, but who they have lost this summer. Hollaway’s cavalier, live or die attitude that served him well at Blackpool will see them go down fighting. The announcement of plans to revamp Selhurst Park suggests they won’t have much to spend and Palace are looking at a long term vision for the club not just overnight success. For Hull, who played a turgid, dull brand of football all season under Bruce in the Championship, reek of a disaster waiting to happen. The owner has promised money and it will all depend on how Bruce spends it. Will he use his eye for talent like he did at Wigan or assemble a disaster of a squad like he did at Sunderland.

~Ian Bendelow

The Super League or Selling their soul?

Football is 100% unashamedly a business. It’s all about money, making money, and subsequent success. Some are getting to the point now where they can be no bigger in their home countries. Meanwhile, across the world there is an increasing interest in football, particularly in the middle and far East. So what’s the answer for clubs who are stuck in their domestic-goldfish bowl? To think even bigger. John Lavery investigates…

In the news recently there was a story running about the Qatar royal family starting up a Super League where they will pay the best teams in the world £175 Million just for participating. This is more than three times what any premier league club will be given even after the £3bn TV deal that’s coming into effect next season. It sounded too good to be true, and like most things of this nature it turned out to be a hoax. Hoax or not, it isn’t the first time something like this has been suggested. 

In the past we’ve had the UEFA peddled European Super League where the powers that be proposed to turn the Champions League into some sort of weird, bastard love child of its predecessor. It would be run like a travelling circus, with a group of games in a certain country. There are persistent rumours from Saudi Royal Family, Dubai business man or Russian Oligarchs who are looking to plough millions of pounds worth of the local currency into a league to put their country on the world football stage. The list goes on, this idea isn’t new and amongst all the hoax and media scaremongering there must be an element of truth embedded in this somewhere.

The idea itself appears on every level to be mental. But what if the idea was put forward as a serious proposition? How many clubs would actually go for it if offered the opportunity? Money being a huge carrot-on-a-stick for the top clubs across the world, it’s likely that many wouldn’t be averse to the idea. Their first response would probably be to say something along the lines of “Go on… I’m listening.”

Even footballs biggest teams in the form of Rangers and AC Milan are not immune to the crippling effects of mishandling finances, as the events of the past couple of years have shown. £175 million would look like a very attractive proposition for a team in financial difficulties. Manchester United and Liverpool have massive amounts of debt and world wide support so what would be different for them if they saw leaving these shores to make more money. You just need to look at the clubs in Spain on the brink of administration to see they would be interested - Deportivo, Valencia, Real Betis to name a few teeter on the verge of administration or bankruptcy, but the list goes on.

The more people start seeing football as a business the more people will want to generate more money out of it and the less sustainable football will be if they don’t try and expand its market to the countries with vast sums of wealth. You could also imagine the clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain who are Middle East owned would want to participate because of the owners’ ties with the area. They would see it as an opportunity to bring the game “back home.”

The trouble with leaving your native league is you lose all roots and history you have created. For example would it still be ok to say that Manchester United have won nineteen titles and Liverpool have won eighteen titles when they are playing in a totally different league? Cross-border leagues could be the future for European competition if done correctly. Putting all the best teams in the world together in one super league will cause all history to be thrown out the window and turn all the great clubs into Team A, Team B etc. So surely if they wanted to watch the best teams in the world play in their back garden then why don’t they just make a new league? This would enable teams to buy the best players in the world because as we have found with Manchester City and PSG, most players can be lured anywhere for vast amounts of cash.

What teams would be targeted to participate in the Super league? Would it be just the teams at the top of their league or would it be teams with a lot of history? For example right now Inter Milan are in sixth position so would they be picked over Fiorentina who are in fourth? If you look at the English League assuming Manchester United are picked would the other participants be Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea. Would they be picked ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool even though traditionally Arsenal and Liverpool are the more successful clubs? Then there’s Rangers and Celtic - two massive clubs who have world wide support and a global profile but Celtic sit top of the SPL and Rangers are currently top of division three. Essentially it boils down to whether you want the team, or the brand.

This idea of a super league is massively flawed and would never work, the conditions for entry are blurred, a team would lose all of their identity if they entered and would just be called team A or B. The rewards are there in the form of vast amounts of wealth but you would incur a deep cultural and historical loss that not even £175 million can purchase. You would have to think that after the initial season of the Super league people would just return to their native leagues anyway to watch the clubs they support, or you would like to think so or would these people when viewing figures got low would they then buy fans. What about fan power? Would they have a real say? Could we eventually be in a position where money has 100% of the say all the time in football, where managers, players and fans are irrelevant? Or do we already have this. You don’t have to cast your minds that far back to find situations where fans were ignored. The renaming of St James park is a very recent episode in this particular drama. So all be it this story was a hoax but I don’t think we will see the last of it. You just have to look at the IPL in cricket to see what effect that has had on the domestic game. Money talks and the business model of football will surely be listening to everything it has to say.

~John Robert Lavery

Politics, Money, Football

What makes a good football manager? Martin O’Neill’s appointment seemed to tick all the boxes at Sunderland. He had been successful at Villa, Leicester and Celtic, with a clearly defined style of play and a management style that suited the majority of players. People throughout the game respected him, he was the fans’choice, and of course he supports the Black Cats.

Things went wrong. Vast amounts of money were spent on players, some of whom haven’t delivered. The tactics smacked of someone who was set in his ways, unwilling to adapt to the changing flow of the game (for a familiar tale, see Bruce, S. 2008-2011).

But why did it go wrong? It speaks volumes about the man that he still had the support of most Sunderland fans, and it was perceived in the media that his sacking was harsh. This isn’t a view that would have been bestowed upon many football managers. However the harsh truth is that O’Neill, judging by previous precedent deserved to get the sack.

Because the only thing that makes a good manager is results. This season, for Sunderland they haven’t been anywhere near good enough. There was always the feeling of being one or two results away from disaster, and it has come to pass.

There probably couldn't have been any more polarising appointment than that of Paolo Di Canio. Firstly, he’s a manager with little experience – 18 months or so at Swindon in League One and Two is all he has to refer to. His time there was a success, but he was given a large amount of money to spend, a la Keane in 2006-2007. He’s volatile, speaks his mind and incredibly, overtly passionate. The final point is certainly something that could work for or against him.

Some will (and have) said that they can no longer back a club that employs a man who has made comments about fascism in the past. Whatever he says about it being misquoted you cannot misquote the picture that earned him a fine and a ban following a Lazio match.

However some will say that it's the club that matters, and the fans who define who we are. As after all they are the ones that will be around long after staff, owners and managers have occupied various positions within the club.
If Paolo Di Canio was a BNP supporter, would Sunderland fans who have backed the new manager feel the same? Would they be outraged, disgusted and refuse to return in the future? And if Alan Shearer or Lee Clark was appointed, would they think similar? So what's the difference here? It's the weird, illogical moral compass that many football fans will live by. I can't explain it, there is no way of squaring off the circle that many Sunderland fans are no doubt battling with. Personally, I've just chosen to accept it and concentrate on the football and let others discuss the issue further.

Margaret Byrne's comments saying that to say he was a fascist was insulting are ridiculous. That's just complete blindness on the part of the club and it makes her, and Sunderland, look pretty stupid. It’s debateable whether anyone actually looked up his political persuasions before appointing him. If he was a teacher, a lawyer, a police officer, he would never have got the job. Not so in football, because all that matters is the business, the profitability and the money – and Ellis Short clearly believes that Di Canio is the best person to bring success to the club. One thing’s for sure – it’s a massive gamble.

~Ian Bendelow

We need to talk about Sunderland

Whenever I watch, read about or listen to football these days I always end up annoyed, frustrated and alienated. This is to do with a number of factors. Firstly, being a Sunderland fan things aren't going too well on the pitch for my team at the moment. Not only do we look unable to win a game, or even score a goal, we don't seem to be able to create chances. Football is a frustrating, and extremely expensive game at the best of times. But when you are forking out a hell of a lot to watch something which provides you with no excitement, no joy, no pleasure and only frustration, you do sometimes feel that somebody up there is taking the mick.

You have to wonder what is wrong with Sunderland at the moment. The situation is not dissimilar to that of last season during Steve Bruce's final days at the club. However, something is different in the fact that most of the club is behind O'Neill and there is a belief there that the remedy isn't going to be the removal of the manager, but a recovery from within. Players such as Johnson, and last season's revelation, James McLean will start to provide the kind of impetus and drive that can lift the team and produce better performances, and therefore results.

The team itself lacks a creative heart - someone to read the play in the middle of the park, pick out clever passes that can put an opposing defence under pressure. The fact is that Larsson, Cattermole, Gardner, Colback or Vaughan do not offer this kind of role, as it is not part of any of their games. In turn, the wide play needs to have more movement, more invention and intelligence. Too often there are players who receive the ball standing still and before they know it two or three players are covering them. It's probably the most one dimensional way of playing football. And while this allows for a team to be solid and maintain a shape - which perhaps is the one positive about Sunderland, that they are still fairly solid - it certainly does not make for good football.

I am confident that things can be turned around. Players must start showing their ability. There is talent in the squad there, without a doubt. But this doesn’t come easily. It’s a favourite thing to say by the pundit who can’t think, however it is true in this case – in the Premier League it is very difficult to score goals, and at the moment Sunderland are finding this to be the case.

~Ian Bendelow

Road to Brazil

So the summer has passed us by and the new season is underway. It was a productive time for the country, but pretty much standard fare for England fans. It’s that strange time where we contemplate the aftermath of another tournament filled with hype, excitement and ultimately a bland feeling of nothingness that only a quarter final exit can bring. Do worse and you’re angry, do better and you’re excited. This feeling feels just right.

Now autumn has arrived, and no sooner is the season underway than we have an International break. It’s a time when we a) ask ourselves where we’re at as a nation footballing-wise and b) look to see who might be ready to break into the first team and establish themselves as a regular fixture in the side. Lampard, Terry, Gerrard and the rest of the England old-timers emerge from their trenches, happy they’ve survived another assault on their international credentials, and the manager assures them of their future at the national team’s top table.

Qualification is something that a lot of England fans may admit that they never really have any worries about. However our fingers weren’t so much burned as chopped off in the 2008 qualifiers, and anyone who remembers 1994 might only have just decided to remove their heads from the oven.

On the face of it, England’s group looks fairly okay(ish). Poland and Ukraine will surely provide the sternest tests, particularly in the away fixtures. It’s worth remembering that Ukraine inflicted England’s only defeat in the last round of World Cup qualifiers back in 2009.

Ukraine however look somewhat of a spent force now. Without the legendary Shevchenko to lead their line, they’re looking for a new hero to invest their hopes in. Will it be 22 year old Roman Zuzlya, proud owner of two caps for his national side? Probably not, one might think. The biggest threat to England next week will most likely come from midfield. The long range ability of Kevin Spacey lookalike Anatoliy Tymoshchuk as well as the goal threat from Serhiy Nazarenko, could prove problematic.

Poland on the other hand have a star on the rise. Robert Lewandowski came to international attention in the lead up to the Euros, and although he didn’t have a great tournament, looked like he could be a real handful. Certainly, he could cause an ageing John Terry problems with his movement and positioning – something Terry is not exactly renowned for. Jakub Blaszczykowski is a constant threat too, and has been a crucial component in the Borussia Dortmund midfield for a few years now. Certainly not one to be taken lightly, and England will be looking to the likes of (should they play) Lampard and Carrick to shackle their threat going forward.

It will be interesting to see how Hodgson chooses to line up. Tom Cleveley is back in the England fold after time out injured, as is Carrick. However there’s also Adam Johnson, who will be looking for a new lease of life under Martin O’Neill at Sunderland. Whatever Hodgson’s decision, he should remember that this is an ideal opportunity now to shape the squad for the future.

This brings the discussion round to Steven Gerrard, who has started the season in less than glorious fashion. Clearly he doesn’t fit into Rodgers’ style of play at Liverpool, and has been sloppy in possession so far, giving the ball away for Arsenal’s first goal last weekend. Should Hodgson keep faith? And will he still be on form in two years time in Brazil? The answers are probably yes and no. It’s a key season for Gerrard in the England set up as he could possibly reinvent himself as a deeper lying, less energetic player. Once the legs begin to go you have to find ways of doing things standing still. Paul Scholes has done it and he’s someone who is back in demand, both at club and international level. Dwight Yorke was also moderately successful in transforming himself into a central midfielder.

England shouldn’t worry too much though because this type of evolution is a natural progression for any team. What they shouldn’t do is cling to a player because of what they might do, when increasingly they’re becoming less effective and a passenger. To use the Gerrard example again, he’s best employed when playing a starring role. To do this, however you need to be on the top of your game, and once you’re not it’s blindingly obvious. So maybe it is time to say goodbye to Stevie G and give others a chance?

Whatever Hodgson’s choice, he should tread carefully as the group has the potential to trip England up. Montenegro are probably the next nearest challengers, and they did well last time around by getting to the playoffs and within touching distance of the Euros.

However there must be a mention of San Marino. Back in 1992 when the qualifiers started for the ‘94 World Cup it would have been a brave man to say that the San Marinese would upset England’s apple cart in some way. However it happened – and while there’s very little chance of anything like that ever happening this time around, England should be warned!

~ Ian Bendelow

QPR and their Ambitious Young Manager

Stephane Mbia became Queens Park Rangers twelfth summer signing on deadline day. It is a time for change under Mark Hughes, who faces his first full season in charge at Loftus Road. Mark Hughes has also dispensed with the services of eleven players this summer, so it seemed he was a man with a plan, out with the old in with the new. Sparky is doing his upmost to re-affirm his statement he made when he left Fulham "As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences". These were surely the actions of a young ambitious manager. QPR’s campaign started off pretty miserably with an opening day thrashing at the hands of Swansea at home. They then went onto draw with Norwich away and lose to Manchester City away.

Signings such as Junior Hoilett will seem like a coup, but one shudders to think of his wages when he turned down a whole host of Premier League clubs to join QPR. Hoilett’s reasons were he wanted to work under Mark Hughes again, but given he spent most of his time on loan in Germany under Hughes’ tenure at Blackburn, makes this statement seem unlikely.

Julio Cesar could be considered another coup. Given he left Inter Milan because they would not match his wage demands, you can only imagine the money he receives each week. This has given Mark Hughes’ summer recruitment somewhat of a mercenary look. First and foremost they’re in it for the money.

QPR have registered their squad for the new season and some notable omissions Rob Hulse, DJ Campbell, Radek Černý and Luke Young, all over the age of thirty and were relatively unimpressive last season. However, out of a squad of twenty five QPR still have twelve players over the age of thirty and considering Mark Hughes brought in eight of these recruits, what is Hughes real vision for the club. Is it to push on this season with the investment from Tony Fernandes or is it just to do enough. You just need to look at the fiasco surrounding Robert Green. Mark Hughes had a decent keeper in Paddy Kenny, he then recruits Robert Green and sells Kenny to Leeds. Green then has a poor debut against Norwich so he buys Julio Cesar and then goes onto say that Green can leave in January if he wants. There doesn’t seem to be a plan for the club.

It is hard to see where Mark Hughes is taking QPR being able to make a coherent starting eleven out of the players is a massive challenge, never mind making the team gel. This is a team that has gone through two overhauls, one in January and another in the summer. So where does it end, the older players will have to be replaced sooner rather than later so expect another overhaul in January and again in the summer. There appears to be little plan, reacting to an individual result causes a backlash of three or four new signings. If Hughes has little faith or patience in his players he should be wary that Fernandes may have a similar opinion of him.

The current state of QPR is a lot like Mark Hughes time at Manchester City. Hughes brought seventeen players to the club to the tune of £250 million. Individually the signings were very good - most of them great players with proven track records. However Hughes never struck me as he knew what to do with these great players, there didn’t seem to be a plan in place. The plan was just buy them first then decide how they can fit together later. Hughes will tell you he was unfairly treated by Manchester City after he was sacked in December of 2009. However given that Manchester City were lying in sixth place and the amount of money he had spent, to me you wander if he could have any complaints.

I think Hughes will struggle this season with the team he has assembled and I don’t think it will be long before his job is called into question, Hughes is currently 4/1 that he is the first manager to go. Tony Fernandes is on a steep learning curve at QPR and it will peak at a massive decision around January whether to stick with Hughes or bring in another man to take the club forward. Either way QPR are set for more transfers and come the summer they will probably be looking to sign another twelve players. The revolving door continues apace.

~John Lavery

We Need to Talk About Michael

What is the defining statement about Michael Owens’ career? Will he be most remembered for the goal-scoring exploits he exhibited for Liverpool FC and England? Or will it be the injury interrupted and bench warming periods he endured at Real Madrid, Newcastle United and Manchester United?

His time at Stoke could, and probably will, provide the answer to this question. It’s a move in many ways that makes sense. Stoke don’t have a player in the same mould as Owen. He could work well in a big-man little-man combination with Peter Crouch and of course, The Potteries is near to his Cheshire home.

I have to say I thought Owen was dropped rather prematurely from the England squad. At the time, he probably still had something to offer and but clearly didn’t fit in with Fabio Capello’s plans. For quite some time Owen believed with understandable justification that he could cut it for England, however the Italian didn’t see it this way and he was out.

Owen’s record throughout his career is impressive – he has scored goals wherever he has played. Although it’s interesting to note that he has never scored more than 20 in one season. The move to Stoke could make him the focal point of their forward line and he undoubtedly has the ability to provide a bit more of a threat than they currently offer, but can he stay fit? That’s the big question.

For starters, he has passed a medical, so any worries about those knees or hamstrings could be temporarily calmed – and we all know that Stoke’s medical staff are sticklers for detail, having stuck the brakes on Demba Ba’s move a couple of seasons back. If he does keep himself injury free, then the chance to score goals is there. Owen might not possess that electric pace that was once a hallmark of his game but he will no doubt have adapted his movement and position to compensate for that, to a certain extent.

Then there’s the question of whether Stoke and Owen are a good fit? Amazingly, since they were promoted to the Premier League, Stoke have never recorded more than 50% possession in a match. It’s an unbelievable stat, perhaps giving weight to the fact that Tony Pulis is in favour of a long ball, direct approach. This might not suit Owen that well, whereas someone like Peter Crouch is better able to slot into this style.

The only thing that Pulis could do is to adapt Stoke’s style of play to suit Owen, who has never been one to thrive when the ball is sailing over his head. It’s questionable whether the likes of Dean Whitehead could provide the incisive passing that Owen craves - Michael Kightly is is more likely to achieve this.

At 32, almost 33, and judging by what he’s said in the past, Stoke will probably be his last club. If he isn’t a success here then Owen is unlikely to get another top-flight contract and he has previously expressed his unwillingness to drop down to the lower leagues. If he is successful however, he’ll most likely get an extension and continue on to 34, or maybe even beyond that.

They do say you’re remembered for what you did last, so this is the final opportunity for Owen to prove he still has what it takes. For a man who last started his last Premier League game a year ago (against the Potters), this is a chance he cannot afford to miss, because it’s his final one.

~Ian Bendelow

Liverpool, Time for Patience and Perspective

Last year, Liverpool FC had one of the worst seasons in their history. It was not just the position they ended up in, but more that the average on-field performances in no way reflected the vast amount of money they spent. The year began as one of optimism but it turned very quickly into a season to forget. Their league cup victory provided only a fleeting moment of joy that wasn’t enough to mask the subsequent disappointment in their FA cup final defeat. Finishing below their Everton rivals only further affirmed the dismal end to a poor season. Trust in Daliglish has taken Liverpool back to the 90s - Hodgson laid the foundations, but Dalglish really cemented it.

Roll on season 2012/2013 and Liverpool decides to dispense with the services of Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli and appoint a young manager in the form of Brendan Rodgers. Taking a new view on transfers, those at the top begin looking for a specific type of player that would fit into a system similar to the one Brendan Rodgers adopted during his time at Swansea City.

Things have not started brilliantly however, losing Andy Carroll and missing out on Clint Dempsey can hardly be deemed a master stroke. Results have not gone the way Liverpool would have wanted either but I feel that may be more due to bad luck and timing, rather than the on-field performances. A 3-0 spanking at The Hawthorns was not the best way to kick off the season for Liverpool, but this could be forgiven, considering that West Bromich Albion remain unbeaten and there was two very soft penalties against Liverpool. A draw with Manchester City a loss to Arsenal, are hardly reasons to panic, in the grand scheme of things.

Liverpool on paper has the makings of a good squad. Starting at the back, Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool had the fourth best defence in the league and I think under Rodgers, that could be set to continue. Pepe Reina is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. Daniel Agger and Martin Škrtel built a great defensive partnership last season and that could remain, if they can adapt to Rodgers’ new system. Glen Johnson was one of England’s top performers at the Euros, proving all the doubters (myself included) wrong with a string of solid performances. Enrique started life well at Anfield but faded away (like most of the squad) towards the second half of the season, but Liverpool’s signings suggest they are going to keep faith in the back four that for the most part served them very well.

The midfield is where Liverpool were let down last season, as they relied too heavily on players such as Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing, and for the start of last season, Lucas Leiva, who seems to receive plenty of critical acclaim, but every time I watch him he never looks anywhere near the player they talk about in the media. The purchases of Nuri Şahin and Joe Allen will give Liverpool an extra dimension - Şahin in particular, who after an injury dogged time at Real Madrid, has the chance to reinforce his improving reputation, following his impressive season at Borussia Dortmund in their Bundesliga winning season of 2010/2011. Stephen Gerrard played fantastically in the Euros (he was probably England’s best player) and if he can adapt to Rodger’s new system and stay fit, he will always pose a threat.

Up front is where Liverpool still lacks real goal scoring threat, but they do have a lot of potential. If Luis Suarez can change his ways and finish his Messi-esque runs with a goal instead of hitting the post or hoofing it straight at the keeper, he could be looking at the Golden Boot this season. Fabio Borini is a young player with a decent free kick ability and he has also played under Rodgers before. Sterling looks like he could be quite the player if nurtured correctly - he possesses skill and blistering pace which could worry a lot of defensive flanks in the Premier League.

Liverpool also have a lot of youth in their squad. The previously mentioned Raheem Sterling is only seventeen and Martin Kelly, Jon Flanagan, Jack Robinson and Jonjo Shelvey, who are all on the fringes of the first team, are not much older. These players will be given more of a chance to impress this season in the extra games from the Europa League. In addition, we could see potentially great performances this season from Joe Allen and Fabio Borini who are still only twenty-two and twenty-one years old respectively.

Overall, I do not think it is all doom and gloom at Anfield and I think this season will be a successful one. Perhaps they will not manage top-four or any silverware, but a strong fifth to sixth place finish will show that Liverpool have improved and under Rodgers they will continue to improve. All that is required is patience from the Liverpool fans and the board - they need to give Brenden Rodgers time and look the Club’s growth in years rather than months. On the face of it, he is a very talented manager and I have no doubt that if he is the Liverpool manager in ten years time, they will have a lot more silverware in the cabinet.

~John Lavery

We Need to Talk About Joey

There are three things that are guaranteed in life - Death, Taxes and a Joey Barton-fallout.

He is a man who has had more column inches and airtime dedicated to him than almost any other footballer over the last few years. It's not hard to see why, as various on and off the field incidents have created stories and headlines that attract huge interest. His ‘indiscretions’ have been well documented and there's no need to go through them again. If you add up the sum total of his suspensions (not to mention jail time), ranging from bearing his backside to Everton fans to a red card for a horror tackle against Liverpool when Newcastle United were battling relegation, you'll see that he has been banned for almost a whole season.

He's someone who has been on his final warning for a long time. He had his last chance at Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR, yet by signing for Marseille he has wiped the slate clean. It's a strange quirk of football clubs that previous indiscretions by footballers are quickly forgotten in the hope that they will be able to contribute something on the field. Lee Hughes, Marlon King and Luke McCormack are all perfect examples of this.

Barton is a man who has created somewhat of a unique personality about him. Promoting a thoughtful, provocative, intelligent character is somewhat offset by what radiates from his Twitter account. He will only be courteous, understanding and diplomatic when things are on his terms. It was all rosy when the on-off deal to Marseille was on, yet once things seemingly turned sour it was "I don't want to be disrespectful but..." He then proclaimed he was off to train with the "youths and other Taliban members."

Barton seems all too often to be talking as if acting on the advice of a counsellor, told to curb his rage, face his addictions and change his personality. We get the impression that he's an angry man trying to prevent himself from exploding. Using his Twitter account as a conduit for his thoughts, frustrations and views has been no doubt cathartic for him, and entertaining for his one and a half million followers, but what it doesn't do is show us the real Joey Barton in full. We get only glimpses of it, with the occasional #helmet #bellend comments directed to other Twitter users (who perhaps unfairly have targeted him hoping for a reaction), which show the real thoughts of the man.

If he cannot completely control this compartmentalised area of his life, he will surely be heading for a fall in France too, if his behaviour is anything like we have seen in the past. He's an unpredictable man, and we're never quite sure what we'll be getting from him. He appears on occasion charming and articulate - someone who is trying to promote a positive image of himself. The predictable truth is however, that things always have and always will go wrong.

Perhaps the public thought that Barton had finally turned the corner before QPR's final match of last season. How he managed to challenge this misinterpretation with a swift elbow, head-butt and slap, was breathtaking.  He will be remembered for these incidents far more than any footballing achievement, of which there are few. This Centre Circle will not be sorry to see the back of him.

~Ian Bendelow

We Need to Talk About Blackburn

Blackburn’s story over the last couple of seasons has been enough to test the patience of even the most hardened football fan. They were taken over by a bunch of chicken farmers from India, Sam Allardyce was sacked within weeks and Steve Kean took over. Most people are shocked that Kean has lasted this long, but to be fair, this is perhaps more of an indictment of trigger happy chairmen than it is of the blind faith that seems to have been invested in the stubborn-yet-durable Scotsman. The man is reminiscent of a child’s toy – no matter how much it seems to get battered it just won’t break.

Time after time, a very specific brand of propaganda has come out of Ewood Park. This time last year it was rumoured that the club would finish in the top half. Relegation was never contemplated, nor was it seemingly planned for. It did come to pass however, largely thanks to an inability to strengthen sufficiently in the transfer window - epitomised by the signing of the inept Anthony Modeste.

The spin machine is once again in full swing in Lancashire and although the feeling from most supporters towards the owners and managers hasn’t changed, at least the Club have made a solid start to the new campaign. Kean will have you know that promotion is well within the club’s grasp. He is still deluded however. This is a man who believed he could persuade Junior Hoilett to remain at the club saying they had made him an “amazing offer”.

The transfer window is drawing to a close and for most fans it is an exciting time, but yesterday, something happened that on the face of it would be welcomed, but should in actual fact start ringing some rather loud alarm bells.

Jordan Rhodes is without a doubt a good player. He is a player that is only proven in the third tier of English football however. Yet his transfer fee was a cool £8 million and his wages a reputed £45k a week or, in other terms, £2.25m a year. For a Premier League club this is a lot of money, but for a Championship team it is something that is unheard of.

This is where the problem lies. By spending this type of money on a player, another £3 million on Leon Best and another £4 million on Colin Kazim Richards, Venkys simply do not know how to run a football club. It’s worrying because there are many fans that would be able to point to their Club’s woes as a clear reason not to overspend. Blackburn may say that they have the money, but surely it would have been better invested in trying to stay in the league last season than trying now to get back into it?

Blackburn would do well to look at the example of Blackpool, a club who have barely spent the outlay on Jordan Rhodes in their entire history. Value for money signings, a cracking team spirit and a strong ethos, which have all contributed to breeding an attractive attacking style of play, are some of the things which Ian Holloway should take a great deal of credit. There’s no doubt that the players Blackpool bought in were done so to do a very specific job. Steve Kean on the other hand, appears to be of the ‘Steve Bruce mould’ - buy ‘em in first, worry about tactics later.

It would be completely unsurprising to learn that in a year’s time Venkys no longer own Blackburn and the club is in complete freefall. The reasons why couldn’t be speculated about unless The Centre Circle wants to be hit with a potentially bankrupting lawsuit. Spending big money on run-of-the-mill players is a high-risk outlay for a club that will inevitably have to tighten its belt following relegation.

We have statements from Shebby Singh about Morten Gamst Pedersen being a “pensioner” yet Blackburn then go and sign the thirty-six year old Nuno Gomes. It’s hardly planning for the future, and the comments hardly reflect those of a man who understands football or etiquette.

You have to ask why Rhodes would choose Blackburn, their despised owners, under-fire manager and poisonous match day atmosphere. In fact, the answer is pretty obvious. While Steve Kean may say Rhodes’ signing is an indication of the draw of the Club, this is not the case. Simply put, Blackburn were the only team mad enough to pay that amount for him and when you raise the stakes like this you fall a long, long way.

Blackburn should pray that they do get promoted straight away as there’s plenty of evidence that demonstrates what can happen to clubs who overspend their means. Income and gates will be down this year, so the Club cannot afford to get it wrong this time, because the effects will be a lot worse than relegation. Just ask Portsmouth fans.

~Ian Bendelow

Soft Tackles Glitches of the Real Game

OK.  I will try to prevent this from turning into a rant, but an issue I think needs to be addressed is that of players going down too easily.  It was a massive problem last season and judging by the performances of the first two weekends of this season, it seems set to continue.  All the examples from the past couple of weeks involve Phil Dowd – nothing against the man, he just happened to be the referee. 

West Bromich Albion vs Liverpool:

Liverpool concedes a penalty as a result of what appears to be a shove in the back on Shane Long by Daniel Agger.  On closer inspection, Agger makes minimal contact and the force would have hardly displaced a small child, never mind a grown man.  Soon after, Martin Skrtel makes a hash of a clearance and accidently trips our man-of-the-hour Shane Long in the process.  Again, there is minimum contact and if it was not in the penalty area, Long would probably not have bothered to bamboozle us with his expert diving skills.

Chelsea vs Newcastle United

The incident in question is another penalty. Torres charges into the box, leaping over Anita’s leg gaining the penalty for Chelsea.  Down at the other end, Cisse picks up the ball about thirty yards from the goal, runs past David Luiz, who makes the same action Anita did, but Cisse does not go down.  If Cisse had have been inside the penalty area he would have most definitely thrown himself to the floor.

These are just a few of the many examples of how the rules are being taken advantage of, playing into the hands of the players who break them.  In my opinion, one of the most annoying phrases used repeatedly to evade the issue by managers and pundits alike is “well… in the letter of the law…” This is essentially just an accepted excuse for cheating and I think fouls awarded for incidents like this should be stopped.  The rules are being manipulated and it is to the ruin of the game.  It reminds me of the glitches you experience in football video games.  I remember a particular glitch, in a popular football sim, that meant you could always score straight from a corner if you took it a certain way.  In another, you could run down the wing, take a shot from a thirty-degree angle and the keeper would just palm the ball into his own goal every time.

The point I’m trying to make is this:  Due to the unfair nature of the glitches, at the beginning of every match between my friends and I, there would be a gentlemen’s agreement put in place to stop the glitches from being exploited and ruining the game.  This applies to football in the sense that the penalties awarded as a result of diving, are comparable to the glitches in a video game.

My solution to the glitches is to stop referees from playing into the hands of the offenders. There should be much harder punishments for diving.  I would even go so far as to say, if a player dives,  instead of receiving a booking he should pick up a straight red card and an instant three-match ban.  It sounds extreme but it would be effective in rooting out the glitches once and for all.

Rant over…   

~John Lavery

Alex Villaplane

Alex Villaplane: French Hero, National Traitor

A journey through the life of a man that is so contrasting, it is almost impossible to imagine. A life made by talent and ended by greed.

Alex Villaplane was a national hero. He captained the French football team at the first ever World Cup in 1930. He described leading his nation out against Mexico in their first match as “the happiest day of my life”. Villaplane was rich, successful and had everything that most people could dream of. By 1944 he had murdered, blackmailed and tortured his way across France, and on 26^th December of that year he was executed for being a traitor and Nazi collaborator.

It is a story that takes Villaplane from the football pitch to Rue de Lauriston, the most notorious address in Paris. It was the headquarters of the French Gestapo, where hundreds of resistance fighters were tortured and murdered during the war.

Born in 1905 in Algeria, Villaplane came to France at the age of 16 to live with his uncles on the south coast. He was a talented footballer, and his ability was noticed from an early age. He signed for his local club, FC Sete, before moving to their city rivals Nimes in 1927.

In the days before professional contracts, clubs would put players on contracts to do menial jobs for which they were extremely well paid. This enabled Villaplane to be paid handsomely. On the pitch he excelled, but was always something of a mercenary, playing for whoever would pay him the most. To him loyalty was something completely irrelevant.

He captained France at the World Cup, and in all won 25 caps for his country. However this isn’t a football story, and his life will not be defined as the man who captained Les Bleus at their first ever World Cup. It was after professionalism became legal that things began to change, and his head had started to turn.

His club at the time won the French championship in a final playoff. It soon emerged that the match had been fixed and his club, Antibes were stripped of their title. The manager was sacked and banned however it was long believed that it was in fact Villaplane and two other teammates who had been the plotters.

Increasingly he cut a disinterested figure and on more than one occasion, his club at the time, Bordeaux fined him for missing training and being totally unfit. By 1933 he had been sacked and his career appeared to be over. He became involved in illegal gambling and was imprisoned for horse race fixing two years later.

It was the war that began to change things for Villaplane. By now he had a reputation for being a smuggler, a gambler and a crook. The invasion of France and the fall of Paris in 1940 helped to push him up the social order and he had one aim in mind – to get rich in any way possible. Villaplane would be on the payroll of Hitler and the Nazis.

Villaplane was operating alongside a group of men headed by Henri Lafont, a local criminal who had made a name for himself by capturing and torturing the leader of the Belgian resistance against Germany.

Lafont suggested that the Nazis make use of the swell of support for them in Arabic communities in France (which was achieved through an Arabic language newspaper that depicted Hitler as a great liberator). They created the Brigade Nord Africain and at its helm was Villaplane, given the title of SS Sub-Lieutenant. Their mission was to “cleanse” the Perigord region of France by any means necessary.

It was a perfect way to exploit the many hundreds of thousands of Jews and other minorities in France who were in a huge amount of danger. The unit fast gained a reputation for its cruelty, in one instance marching 11 resistance fighters to a roadside ditch and shot. Villaplane was said to have pulled the trigger.

In winter 1944 it became clear that the Nazis were losing the war, and Villaplane’s priorities started to change – to that of self-preservation. He would travel to towns and villages around France wearing his German uniform proclaiming that he could save anyone in danger, at great personal risk to himself. The price was 400,000 francs. Many would pay, if they could, before Villaplane would leave them at the mercy of his gang.

The war came to an end and the action against the collaborators commenced. Most were captured and immediately shot. However this was not the case for the heads such as Villaplane and Lafont. They were arrested and put on trial along with six others. They were found guilty and on Boxing Day 1944 they were taken to Fort de Montrouge just outside Paris, and executed by firing squad.

~ Ian Bendelow