Time for the Washington Generals to win one! Spurs to grab the points at United?

Time to win......

This way sound a strange thing to say but my side Tottenham have played some great games against Manchester United but I am ready for us to play poorly and sneak a win. Entertainment, its all about entertainment when these two sides meet. Unfortunately its been too long since Spurs took the points.
A quick look  the results since 92' reveals a tale of woe for Spurs. Only three league wins in all that time plus one in the League Cup. Yes, we have become the equivalant of the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters. Play a great game, look skilled and threatening but ultimately find a way to lose more often than not when United look vulnerable and beatable.

Saw Spurs win........

I have actually seen Spurs win at Old Trafford....League Cup 1981 Micky Hazard 1-0 Spurs......got in ten minutes late at the Stretford End and missed the goal! Earlier that year I also saw us get a point  up there in a 0-0 game in a time I swear the United side....not long out of  Division2 ....was the worse I ever saw represent them.

Losing exciting games.....

While it is true we can't even knock over the poorer United teams we are equally adept at going down to their better teams, as well throwing away good leads in the process. Scores of 3-5 and 2-5 come to mind:) We have had a fair share of bad luck at Old Trafford. Who can forget the time when Mendes scored from 40 metres in 2005 but no goal was awarded despite the ball being two metres over the line?

Win tonight.........

No I am fed up with being the opponent who make United look good in wonderful open games of flowing football. I want to win and I want it to be tonight. AVB it is time to impress me with three points..........

FA Prem	03-Mar-12	36,034	H	L	1 - 3	Defoe
FA Prem	22-Aug-11	75,498	A	L	0 - 3
FA Prem	15-Jan-11	35,828	H	D	0 - 0
FA Prem	30-Oct-10	75,223	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	24-Apr-10	75,268	A	L	1 - 3	King
L.C. Cup 5	01-Dec-09	57,212	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	12-Sep-09	35,785	H	L	1 - 3	Defoe
FA Prem	25-Apr-09	75,458	A	L	2 - 5	Bent, Modric
L.C. Cup Final	01-Mar-09	88,217	W	D	0 - 0	(a.e.t) Spurs lost 1-4 on pens (O'Hara (saved), Corluka (scored), Bentley (missed)
F.A. Cup 4	24-Jan-09	75,014	A	L	1 - 2	Pavlyuchenko
FA Prem	13-Dec-08	35,862	H	D	0 - 0
FA Prem	02-Feb-08	36,075	H	D	1 - 1	Berbatov
F.A. Cup 4	27-Jan-08	75,369	A	L	1 - 3	Keane
FA Prem	26-Aug-07	75,696	A	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	04-Feb-07	36,146	H	L	0 - 4
FA Prem	09-Sep-06	75,453	A	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	17-Apr-06	36,141	H	L	1 - 2	Jenas
FA Prem	22-Oct-05	67,856	A	D	1 - 1	Jenas
FA Prem	03-Jan-05	67,962	A	D	0 - 0
FA Prem	25-Sep-04	36,103	H	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	20-Mar-04	67,634	A	L	0 - 3
FA Prem	20-Dec-03	35,910	H	L	1 - 2	Poyet
FA Prem	27-Apr-03	36,073	H	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	21-Sep-02	67,611	A	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	06-Mar-02	67,059	A	L	0 - 4
FA Prem	29-Sep-01	36,038	H	L	3 - 5	Richards, Ferdinand, Ziege
FA Prem	19-May-01	36,072	H	W	3 - 1	Korsten (2), Ferdinand
FA Prem	02-Dec-00	67,583	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	06-May-00	61,629	A	L	1 - 3	Armstrong
FA Prem	23-Oct-99	36,072	H	W	3 - 1	Iversen, Scholes o.g., Carr
FA Prem	16-May-99	55,189	A	L	1 - 2	Ferdinand
FA Prem	12-Dec-98	36,097	H	D	2 - 2	Campbell (2)
L.C. Cup 5	02-Dec-98	35,702	H	W	3 - 1	Armstrong (2), Ginola
FA Prem	10-Jan-98	55,281	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	10-Aug-97	26,359	H	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	12-Jan-97	33,026	H	L	1 - 2	Allen
F.A. Cup 3	05-Jan-97	52,495	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	29-Sep-96	54,943	A	L	0 - 2
FA Prem	24-Mar-96	50,508	A	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	01-Jan-96	32,852	H	W	4 - 1	Sheringham, Campbell, Armstrong (2)
FA Prem	15-Mar-95	43,802	A	D	0 - 0
FA Prem	27-Aug-94	24,502	H	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	15-Jan-94	31,343	H	L	0 - 1
FA Prem	16-Oct-93	44,655	A	L	1 - 2	Caskey
FA Prem	09-Jan-93	35,648	A	L	1 - 4	Barmby
FA Prem	19-Sep-92	33,296	H	D	1 - 1	Durie

Always be open.... even to a personal paradigm shift

Ok this the first time I've had time to put pen to paper in a few weeks. My St Pius X College 1st XI have just played and won two cup finals in three days. The adrenalin has barely stopped pumping I'm still floating along. It's nice when you suggest a side might have 'it' early on and they come through and deliver. Some have already asked what it is about this side that makes them special and I answer in a roundabout way like this.
Our season effectively began on a Sunday on February 12th with a kickabout game with the local Northbridge Under 18 side. Many of my trialists were and still are involved in some way with that club but also play for the School 1st XI. Three quality players came into the squad who had not played previously...centre back Nick Moribito, midfielder Luke Capra and wide man Tom Higham.

In my 20 years in Australian schoolboy football I have from the beginning, set my sides up with a default 3 5 2 formation....only very rarely switching to a 4 4 2 or 4 5 1. The reason for this? I have invariably asked my best defender to play as a sweeper behind to centre backs. Thats' over 650 games with the same basic formation! So returning this year after 2 years with the younger sides what brought about the change? Very simple. My captain in 2012, Luke Sullivan, looked me in the eye and said 'I want to play four at the back.....we have the players to do it.....let's start with it and give it a go'. Believe it not or this was a great coaching shift for me......I was similar coaching basketball in the UK ....zone defence as always the basis.....I wouldn't go any other way.

As is the way with the 1st XI we set up plenty of trial / friendlies to get it right. We have had 5 players for those 4 defensive spots and I will admit it....the central defenders are the best pairing I have ever coached and that includes NSWCCC, NSWCIS, ISA and  MCS representative sides as well.
At this point we have played 37 games this season ....won 25 drawn 7 and lost 5. The football we play is based on a 4 5 1 system and it is founded on playing the ball out from the defence. Our centre backs play together at both school and rep level and the full backs are strong with pace to burn. Having such a solid heart enables us to rotate players through the midfield ....the 17 man squad is flexible.....we have hard working wide players and three forwards none of which are a traditional centre forward type. Some believe that 4 5 1 sounds defensive but our 105 goals in 37 games surely puts that one to bed. The main forward Joel Olivieri has got 27 to date.
As players who have played with my sides will attest, I am a firm believer in that you learn most in matches. We had seven Sunday matches and thirteen midweek games in spite of actually playing in a Saturday competition:)
An early season hit out usually comes through the 12 team St Andrew's Cup..... this was washed out in 2012:(
Instead we played in the Kings Seven Tournament going out in  the semi final without losing or conceding a goal! Trinity won that tournament and we would meet them later on.
We went down to Barker 2-3 and then by a the same score to a very strong SPX Old Boys side. These defeats led us to 4 games in April and May where we were scoring for fun in the last few trials....9-1; 8-0; 4-0 and 2-0.
The first ISA game v St Pat's on 5th May saw us lose our first and what turned out to be only Sydney competitive game by 2-3. Here we trailed....led 2-1 only to ship two goals late. As said earlier you probably learn most in defeat....we had lost concentration and paid the price. In the following weeks we saw off SCECG's 7-0, St Andrew's 4-0 and Chevalier 2-1 in a tight one. We then beat SCECG's
1-0 in the ISA before falling Broughton Park of Campbelltown 5-1 in the NSWCIS Cup. The weather had been awful but our Oxford Falls pitch lived up to it's reputation as being virtually the best in Sydney. So bad had been the rain that St Andrew's came to us again ....failing to play at a waterlogged Wentworth Park.....this 2-0 win set us up for a classic clash with Riverview in the NSWCIS 3rd Round at their place. In a game where we looked comfortable we ended up scrambling to a 3-3 draw with a wonder goal form Kastropil. In the penalty shoot out our boys were perfect to win 5-4...our illustrious neighbours stunned by their exit.

On July 1st we set off to play in the Southern Skies week long tournament in Brisbane....this our seventh visit. Victories over Sydney Grammar, Clairvaux, Bethlehem and Kings were brought to a halt by defeat to John Paul College a Queensland academy with a nucleus of quality Korean players.
We had  made the semi final and in a great game went to penalties against a finely matched St Peter Claver eleven. In a heart breaking finale captain Luke Sullivan hit the woodwork with his kick and we went out 5-4 on penalties. After what was a great tour for SPX... Luke Sullivan was deservedly named in the 'All Stars' Team of the Tournament'. Striker Joel Olivieri scoring eleven goals in the week!
Returning to Sydney we had two games in 3 days..... the first after a long early morning drive down to Bowral for Chevalier. In a below par performance in tough conditions we escaped with a 1-1 draw.
Surprisingly after such a close call we then absolutely played out of our skin to beat Trinity College
3-0 in the NSWCIS Cup 4th Round. This was probably our most complete performance to date and earned us a semi-final spot to savour later in the month. Our two toughest ISA games followed in quick succession.....a 2-2 Draw at home to Oakhill and then what was a rare revenge 5-1 demolition of the 'Men in black from Stathfield".....we were now flying! Just two days after this on 6th August we faced St Joseph's College on the 'all weather surface' out at East Gardens.
Few who saw that match will ever forget it .....we led 2-0 with just 4 minutes to go and somehow let them back into it to push the game to sudden death extra time! In the second period Kastropil again stepped up in the clutch moment to score a wonder free kick...all over 3-2 we were in the Final!
In the ISA we also wrapped up a finals spot by winning 2-1 at Oakhill and faced Chevalier in a
1st v 4th play off at Oxford Falls. On the day we were too strong for the Bowral side and won 5-0 to go into the ISA Grand Final against Oakhill at their home field. This game was on the Saturday...our NSWCIS Final being switched to be just 3 days later on 28th August.

The Oakhill final saw us largely out fought for the first half Kastropil pulling us level at 1-1 from the penalty spot. Our boys were calm and convinced that Oakhill could not maintain the high tempo of the first half. This proved true as mistakes crept in...their discipline dropped and we got on top. A fine volley from Tom Higham came from our often used long throw routine:) We won the ISA Final pleasingly delivering on the promise of a long season with just one ISA defeat.

On Wednesday 28th August we set out to make some football history in the NSWCIS Final.
St Pius X College had played the final twice before but not won. A vocal college crowd had come out to East Gardens to cheer us on. As is often the way with finals, the game was tight, tense and inconclusive. The score was 0-0 at full time. Newington probably had the best chances but we had dominated most of the play. Sudden death extra time came and went and soon we were down to penalty kicks. Karma had certainly made a note of our captain Luke Sullivan's football movements because here once again he was entrusted with taking the last kick in the shoot-out just like Queensland!
Typical of the player he is ....Luke did not flinch....up he stepped and drilled it into the corner....all over....we were NSWCIS Champions. Things had come full circle....he had put the wrong right:) We are first ISA side to win it.
What does it say? Well first off you need to be part of a team to succeed. Fellow coaches Simon Yue and Marc Cinelli truly kicked every ball......two cup finals in three days were amazing but we all know that the margins were slim and these two games not our best....but then you need some fortune to win anything. We now face the best in the state in the NSW Challenge next week.

St Pius X College 1^st XI 2012

ISA Champions and NSWCIS Cup Winners

Back Row

Assistant coaches; Marc Cinelli; Simon Yue; Nick Moribito; Will Richardson; Lachlan Pollet Tommy Matic; Luke Sullivan (Captain); Peter Kastropil;

Jean-Claude DiManno; Adrian Prieto; Mitch Cook; Coach Steve Quilty

Front Row

Greg Bayer; Ben Haughton; Christian Barker; Joel Olivieri; Tom Higham;

Luke Capra; Daniel Guirenoni; Jayden Milat

 

 

Sorry or goodbye, always seem to me, to be the hardest words.....at Tottenham!

Having supported Spurs since the 1961/62 season I can say that I do tend to pick up some of the trends pertaining to my side and our supporters. One, which particularly annoys me, concerns our inability nowadays to say goodbye to our better plays, when they choose to move on. Underlying this unhealthy trend is a belief that we are a top team and it is unlikely that players can go anywhere better than Tottenham! 

The result of this failure to allow 'exit strategies' is twofold. First, we have had more than our fair share of acrimony regarding transfers. Second, we are increasingly doing away with our on history with regard to our best players.

You may say it all comes down to loyalty and the contractual committments players make. That may be partly true but I am sick and tired of what the players did for us on the field over decent periods of time being 'written off' if they leave under a cloud. It is a weakness. In the USA you are remembered for what you have done...regardless of where you did it or whether you later played for someone else.
Sol Campbell was a great player for us....he literally carried a very ordinary Spurs side on his back for a decade..........he betrayed us I understand that. But Robbie Keane to Liverpool...Dimitar Berbatov to United ....Teddy Sheringham to United....Michael Carrick to United....Luka Modric to where ever are they all now written out of our club corporate memory. I hate that!
We will end up with no player history if this continues. We must just need to learn to
Just kiss and say Goodbye....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj96QFzOL5Y
or
Sorry seems to the hardest word......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3nScN89Klo

Right place at the right time.....

There must be a word for it.......the phenomenon of being in the right place at the right time. Of course some people will just say that there is a phrase that may sum it up....'time serving' but they may just be the unlucklier ones who had to wait around quite a while. Prince Charles may be someone who falls into this category:)
No, what I am talking about are instances where unplanned events have a possibly life changing effect on what we do. One small example to illustrate would be that of a very bright legally qualified mate of mine....Noel Ross. I was teaching at TAFE part time, some years ago, when Noel came in to cover for me while I went away on holiday. There we stood after I had shown him the college when we overheard two lecturers conversing about Law a few yards from us. Noel overheard them say that they were short of a lecturer for a particular legal course.....bold as brass....up he walks and introduces himself to the two of them. In five minutes he had secured himself the job and taught there for the next year! Right place at the right time!
Another instance for me was when I worked on the Stock Market in London for County Nat West in the late 1980's. We had a bloke called Erol whose job it was to fix a lot of the dealing room computer problems....screens and systems crashing. He was an I.T. man and had no connection with the dealing room other than to be the person we often shouted at as things went wrong. Erol spent more and more time standing behind our Equity Makers.....eventually we included him in on the coffee run....he started to socialise with the team and in busy times a telephone would be thrust into his hand when an additional voice was needed to phone through a deal. Eventually Erol started to sit down with us and would regularly trade for the team. Times were busy...the markets were rising and Erol was eventually given a job he had inadvertantly fallen into! Right place at the right time!
Another example of this I saw was when one of my friends from primary school took over my teaching job when I left for Australia. Let me explain. I was working at Warwick Boys School in Walthamstow teaching History and PE. My old mate Steve Tuvey ...a carpenter and a football / squash coach had been coming in a few afternoons a week at the school to coach sport. He wasn't a teacher. Anyway the Headmaster was panicking when I said I leaving...he had no replacement. Feeling a bit guilty I said 'why don't you employ Steve a bit more than you are doing now....until you get someone?'
To cut a long story short he did. Steve ....who the kids thought was my brother......took over my work life at Warwick. He told them that he few formal qualifications but they said that the most important thing was that the kids thought he was a teacher. He dressed in a track suit...was good at sport and could control the kids. That was in 1992. In 1998 we went back to London for a holiday and while there visited Warwick School. Steve was still teaching there! In the time he has been there he ran Design Technolgy/ Woodwork .....PE....and was Head of Year 9 and 10. He  was also responsible for organising the outward bounds trips the kids went away on. He stayed there 15 years altogether but has now moved on to a small private school. In all that time he was just required to to be working towards qualifying. He ended up one of the best teachers I have ever known. Right place at the right time!
This topic of being in the rightplace at the right time comes up a lot nowdays. Some industries...TV...Radio...the Media  often run like this. My dad took a temporary job as a scenary shifter at Redifusion in the late sixties and progressed through LWT over 30 years to be producer. How many people would have random stories like this? Of course formal qualifications are important  but often it is a case of being in the 'Right place at the right time'......and willing to take the opportunity when you see it.

This football world we live in..........

So there it is. Over. Season 2011-12 has run it's course and we have the winners........and losers. You will sense that I'm writing this from a slightly personal angle and I feel I'm standing in line with the second group but then it might just be my perception. This was truly a season like no other. An Arsenal friend of mine declared that the EPL last day was the second most exciting / dramatic ending we had seen.....he thought that the Liverpool v Arsenal game in 1989 topped it....I don't think so. Taken as a whole the last premiership day fixtures decided the title, relegation and in some respects the qualifiers for next season ECL.* An alignment of the stars never seen before and unlikely to be repeated any time soon.
Well what has been decided this year? We can start with that pyriah of football competitions the UEFA Cup....seemingly contested by only Iberian sides in the final stages it was taken out by Athletico Madrid beating Athletico Bilbao 3-0 in Bucharest, Romania.
The Carling Cup was taken out by Liverpool on penalties against a Cardiff side who just seem to be 'nearly men' also missing out on making  the Championship play-off final to West Ham. The red scousers also made the FA Cup final going down to Chelsea. In years past the supporters of many clubs would have considered that to be a reasonable season. Unfortunately for King Kenny his sides performance in the league was a relative disaster. Not only did they finish behind the blue scousers but their final position was eighth.....37 points behind both Manchesters! Hence the job ads and surveys asking supporters who they would like to see as the new coach. For what it is worth I'd like to see Martinez get the gig. He coaches without fear and empowers his sides to play open attacking football. The EPL needs a Liverpool club that plays good football. The only proviso I have is that Martinez must come to Spurs if Harry gets the boot in the next few days:)

What about the EPL? On a very basic level it is refreshing to see Citeh take out the title. They are a fine side, have come out of their shell and deserve have won the title. An alternative to the old Sky 4 you might say. Unfortunately, the new hierarchy / elite is made up even more of 'money clubs' dependent on billionairres money. Even if you don't believe that Citeh bought the title it is difficult not to conclude that the possible winners of the EPL are a very narrow bunch......United Citeh Chelsea. The new UEFA financial regulations requiring spending to in some way approximate to revenue, will not be seriously pursued.....not for a while anyway. The joy and drama of the last day events hide the reality that we have competitions within competitions in the top division.

Last nights ECL final between Bayern and Chelsea in many ways seems to me a triumph for anti-football. Chelsea have stumbled their way through the last few rounds accounting for probably the best club side we have seen in Barcelona. I would celebrate with the rest if they had played good footaball in their matches but imo they did not....even last night. True they were down on personell yesterday but then the cynical King Terry had only got what his dark behaviour had deserved.
You can see where I'm going here. My own prejudiced view of the world cannot allow me to give Chelsea credit for what they have achieved. Roman Abramovich must have almost been despairing that his $2.8 billion spent on the club would never deliver the ECL.

Mourinho  Ranieri Grant Scholari Hiddink Ancelotti Villas-Boas  Di Matteo has delivered the much sought after trophy.....and about time you might say.

Can't really finish this seasons final final blog without bemoaning the fate of my own side Tottenham. Oh what a season this might have been. Where can we start? I was one of the few Spurs fans who seem to have believed that moving to and demolishing the new Olympic stadium on Hackney Marshes was a good thing. We ran second in that one. Flying along mid-season ten points clear in third what could go wrong? Our manager the triffic Harry Redknapp got a result when cleared of .....whatever it was. That week was pretty pivotal because Fabio Capello resigned the same week and speculation on his replacement began.......Harry why do you have that glazed look in your eyes...... are you concentrating....Harry! Levy wouldn't let him go for less than 10 million compensation ...hence we ended up with the cheaper Woy at the England helm.  Ironically Levy will need to pay Harry to go 2 or 3 million:)

The decline was swift ...the unclosable gap just seemed to close. Wenger was resurrected and Arsenal came over the top of us. Even an FA Cup semi-final was of no help .....losing 5-1 to Chelsea in a shocker. Still we gave ourselves some chance of ECL qualification by winning three of our last four games but the away draw against a very ordinary Villa side killed us for third place and automatic qualification. Always quite tolerant of Harry I finally flipped my lid when he refused to bring on Defoe to try to win the game. Of course that was not the only key moment but it was the main one for me.

So there we were last night. Cheering a German side playing in red. How sad. Our fourth place ECL qualification depending on Bayern downing Chelsea. Leading with three to go....leading on penalties....how could they not win:( Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that money (I backed Chelsea to win as a saver) has distorted the game I spend so much time on. Silverware has taken a back place to the elite ECL competition and the money it generates. Hence King Kenny has been shown the door despite performing well in the cups. Chelsea rightfully take their place in next years competition even though they only finished sixth in the league......it kinda seems logical to me. However, for Spurs to miss out seems harsh as after finishing fourth they expected to go in. Missing out will probably cost Spurs 30 million but much more really because Modric (who will move to United) and Bale (Barcelona) don't fancy appearing on Channel 5 on a Thursday evening. Needing a new stadium and just collecting 60 million selling the aforementioned duo might convince our owner Levy to jack it in. Hope springs eternal. Perhaps we can ground share at the Olympic stadium with that nice family club West Ham who have just returned to the EPL. Anyone know any benevolent Billionairres?

As I tell propective new Spurs fans:

" Welcome but be prepared for a lifetime of nearlyness punctuated by the occasional actuality". COYS!

Here we are .....it's the last EPL round and everything is still up for grabs!

EPL Planning and Marketing Departments take a bow! Here we are on the last day of the season and everything is still up for grabs. Really don't remember a season conclusion when literally so many outcomes were still to be decided.
I think this is a great strength of the EPL relative to other football competitions and codes.  There may still be a narrow range of sides likely to win the thing but almost every club is capable of causing an individual upset agaist the very best. Even more important than that sides are unlikely to roll over when there own safety is ensured and they play someone with something still to resolve. The cynics amongst us will point out that there is a small matter of £756756 per postion gained in the final league table but I think there is a higher integrity about the clubs than just that.
http://www.football-marketing.com/2011/05/24/premier-league-prize-and-tv-payments-for-2010-11/
Some football competions witness of phenomena called 'tanking' where the club gets favourable treatment if it finishes low down in terms of salary cap payments/allowances. We don't see this stuff rewarded in the EPL.

What then is still to be resolved? For a start at the bottom either Bolton or QPR still could go down.

17 QPR 37 -22 37....... 18 Bolton 37 -31 35

Unfortunately for QPR the single point that will probably ensure safety needs come to come from a game against Premiership favourites Manchester City!

Man City v QPR
Stoke v Bolton

Further up the table there is a three way fight for the ECL spots involing Arsenal, Spurs and Newcastle.
Even this fight is not as straight forward as things might seem on first glance.
As it sits at present
Arsenal 37 +24 67 Spurs 37 +23 66 Newcastle 37 +7 65

Effectively, the team that finishes third will gain automatic entry into the ECL competition proper next season while the fourth team may gain a place in the qualifying rounds. Unusually this qualification outcome is not certain because Chelsea will be given that final spot if they acually win said ECL against Bayern next week! Fair enough you say and I agree with you. Unfortunately, the fifth side (and Chelsea if they get beaten) will be exiled to the embarrassing Thursday evening drudgery of UEFA Cup Channel 4 TV coverage and discovering a way out of it, without having UEFA investigate your club for seeming match fixing.

On this last day a finely balanced series of matches are set
WBA v Arsenal
Spurs v Fulham
Everton v Newcastle

All three clubs can finish as low as fifth and as high as third.

Right at the top it is a question of will Man City hold their nerve. A win for them against QPR will give them the title regardless of what Man Utd do.....any slip up and the red side of Manchester can go past them and secure a record setting twentieth title.

Man City v QPR
Sunderland v Man Utd

As suggested earlier the EPL competition enjoys an integrity where no side will just drop off in a key game. Sure, the fans of the different clubs will dress up to celebrate the season end but all the teams will have their game faces on. Just look at the performance of Norwich last week against Arsenal in what was one of the matches of the season.
Midnight tonight is the time it goes on in Oz and all games will be on live tv.....there will be joy and tears.....bring it on!

Season review...the pointy end...enter Woy stage left

Here we go. Time to see the important things get settled. You might a few weeks back have thought it was all decided but!!!!!!!!! How happy (and relieved) will the EPL and television stations be that Manchester United have seemingly blinked? I wrote earlier in the year that I make a point of not celebrating too soon....it seems that some Reds fans may be feeling a bit embarrassed now for making and showing the 'we've won twenty banners'.

In the same way the relegaton battle is also going to the wire. Only Wolves are down.....any two of Bolton Blackburn QPR Wigan and Villa can still make the drop. Personally I'd like to see Martinez's Wigan stay up....they play good football through his 3 4 3 system in contrast to some pretty awful stuff dished up by the rest.
That sad reality that finishing in the top four seems to bring higher benefit that winning a Cup has given us a four way tussle for Champion League spots....Arsenal Tottenham Newcastle and Chelsea can all still make 3rd or 4th. The twist to it all might be that Chelsea actually win the ECL competition and edge out the others anyway!
Of course nothing is decided yet. May 5th approaches the big one will be decided. Which big one? I hear you ask.  The FA Cup Final....Liverpool v Chelsea....years ago this would have been the seasons crescendo...the high point....the game for which the whole world tuned in. Not any more :( It doesn't even get the day to itself in England anymore (we know the Scottish version takes place the same day...I went to their 1980 Old firm final). No, there will be EPL games taking place the same day and that competition runs on to the following week as well. Sad I feel.
Liverpool under happy Kenny have had a mixed bag of a season. They have already won a trophy....the League Cup and here they are back at Wembley again. Regardless of this success their fans will be deeply unsettled to know that not only miss out on Champions League places but they are struggling behind too many sides they regard as inferior...especially the blue side of Merseyside. Liverpool spending 100m on players has not been universally applauded.
'The club spent over £100m to bring nine new players to the club, although that figure is off set by at least £70m being recouped from the sales of Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Raul Meireles among others. Liverpool still struggle to break down sides that set their stall out to defend and admittedly perhaps wobble at the back far too often but that said overall the spending made by Messrs Dalglish and Comolli has on the whole been a success.' Caughtoffside
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2011/12/12/liverpools-2011-spending-analysed-players-rated-and-ranked/
Not sure that I agree with that final line but no traditionalist will deny that bringing home a few pieces of silverware from Wembley still gives the fans a buzz. Of course the red scousers will be glad that United seem to have gone off too early with their '20 EPL titles' rejoicing because they themselves are currently back on 18 League titles.
Chelsea....Liverpool opponents in the FA Cup prove a case in point with regard to that seemingly diminished competition. The FA Cup had been the premier knock out club competition around the world. It is this no longer. The European Champions League now holds that mantel and recognising this the blues will be playing their strongest side possible...ignoring suspensions....and allowing the more peripheral squad members go for FA Cup glory on Saturday.
Chelsea v Bayern Munich promises to be an open thrilling game. Robben facing his old side after so long should make it one with an edge. However, I can't help feeling tha fans around the world will feel they are missing something.....a bit like when you turn up to see a top Broadway Show and discover it is the understudy prforming the lead....yes Barcelona and Madrid will be missed.

Can't finish this end of season blog without commenting on Woy. Look I have always respected him in the sense that he was a trail blazing Englishman doing it in Europe before anyone else. He has coached several International sides previously Finland Switzerland and the UAE the three. My problem is that decades after Brian Clough the FA amateur brigade are still able to fly in the face of public sentiment and appoint someone other than Harry Redknapp. Now Harry is no Brain Clough but he would have been fine for at leats the Euro's...instead we have Woy. Roy Hodgson is just vanilla. Nough said.