Saturday, November 10, 2007
A good week in Europe
Obviously Liverpool and Manchester United got the plaudits with convincing home wins while a George Graham type Arsenal performance ensured passage to the next round.
But the real story of the week has to be Gary 'Oh my god he's not our manager is he?' Megson taking Bolton to Munchen and coming away with a wonderful result. But why be suprised? Back in 1993 Megson was on the bench when Norwich City became the first English team to beat the Germans on their own pitch.
But while European adventures maybe pleasing they do not hide the fact that to win over sceptics at Bolton, influenced by a series of copycat articles about jobs for the boys, Ginger Gaz knows that this weekend he needs to beat Middlesbough and get out of the bottom three.
Elsewhere there are a couple of cracking derbies. The Second City derby between Villa and Birmingham is nearly always a lot of fun to watch. Plenty of scything tackles, good old fashioned aggression. Maybe because many of their supporters are local but these games do seem to carry a bit of edge.
Sunderland will fancy their chances in the Tyne and Wear derby. Roy Keane recently expressed his frustration at attracting quality players to his team. His belief is that they are influenced by their wives or girlfriends who prefer the shopping of London and Manchester.
Not sure about this. Sunderland is as good as a suburb of Newcastle these days and the Barcodes seem to have little problem attracting people. Even Middlesbrough bring people in and what an eyesore that place is! (I write this as a guy who just spent 2 weeks in Hartlepool!!) His mentor Brian Clough never complained about this when he was managing Nottingham Forest and Derby. Perhaps if that is the attitude of the player then they are not worth having anyway.
Any old hows, with the Toon Army jumping on the Metro for the short journey down the road there should be a bumper crowd at the Stadium of Light and walrus Sam won't be looking forward to the encounter. Sunderland will be up for this and they realise that with away points likely to be at a premium this season it's games like this that can make, or break, their season.
Derby for once will be in the spotlight with a live game, for us in Indonesia, against West Ham. Them bloody Whammers are a frustrating bunch but with just 1 win in the last 6 Derby will be sensing a scalp at Pride Park. Certainly a few questions about the Rams will be answered today. Like who plays for them 'cos I don't have a scooby.
Mind you 1 goal in the last 6? 5 all season? It's no surprise that Derby would struggle this season but I do hope the board don't panic and give manager Billy Davies the old tin tack. It's hard enough to find young British managers as it is these days and if he was good enough to bring them up then he surely deserves some job security. No surprise he comes from Glasgow!
Sunday also sees some intriguing fixtures. Everton have been showing the right signs recently but can they continue the good form at Chelsea. Avram Grant has had a pretty easy run recently, a stubborn Everton could test his team. Hope so.
Blackburn go to Old Trafford on the back of a good run themselves with Mark Hughes picking up Manager of the Month for October. They have also won their last 3 away games by 2-1 which means Manchester United will probably win 4-0. 'Cos they always score 4 don't they? In 5 of their last 6 games they have anyway. Last time out, at Arsenal, they scored once.
God, I'm going all statto!
Portsmouth v Manchester City could also be a lot of fun. Or an absolute yawn fest. Not checking the stats!
Right, I'm off to get drunk...
But the real story of the week has to be Gary 'Oh my god he's not our manager is he?' Megson taking Bolton to Munchen and coming away with a wonderful result. But why be suprised? Back in 1993 Megson was on the bench when Norwich City became the first English team to beat the Germans on their own pitch.
But while European adventures maybe pleasing they do not hide the fact that to win over sceptics at Bolton, influenced by a series of copycat articles about jobs for the boys, Ginger Gaz knows that this weekend he needs to beat Middlesbough and get out of the bottom three.
Elsewhere there are a couple of cracking derbies. The Second City derby between Villa and Birmingham is nearly always a lot of fun to watch. Plenty of scything tackles, good old fashioned aggression. Maybe because many of their supporters are local but these games do seem to carry a bit of edge.
Sunderland will fancy their chances in the Tyne and Wear derby. Roy Keane recently expressed his frustration at attracting quality players to his team. His belief is that they are influenced by their wives or girlfriends who prefer the shopping of London and Manchester.
Not sure about this. Sunderland is as good as a suburb of Newcastle these days and the Barcodes seem to have little problem attracting people. Even Middlesbrough bring people in and what an eyesore that place is! (I write this as a guy who just spent 2 weeks in Hartlepool!!) His mentor Brian Clough never complained about this when he was managing Nottingham Forest and Derby. Perhaps if that is the attitude of the player then they are not worth having anyway.
Any old hows, with the Toon Army jumping on the Metro for the short journey down the road there should be a bumper crowd at the Stadium of Light and walrus Sam won't be looking forward to the encounter. Sunderland will be up for this and they realise that with away points likely to be at a premium this season it's games like this that can make, or break, their season.
Derby for once will be in the spotlight with a live game, for us in Indonesia, against West Ham. Them bloody Whammers are a frustrating bunch but with just 1 win in the last 6 Derby will be sensing a scalp at Pride Park. Certainly a few questions about the Rams will be answered today. Like who plays for them 'cos I don't have a scooby.
Mind you 1 goal in the last 6? 5 all season? It's no surprise that Derby would struggle this season but I do hope the board don't panic and give manager Billy Davies the old tin tack. It's hard enough to find young British managers as it is these days and if he was good enough to bring them up then he surely deserves some job security. No surprise he comes from Glasgow!
Sunday also sees some intriguing fixtures. Everton have been showing the right signs recently but can they continue the good form at Chelsea. Avram Grant has had a pretty easy run recently, a stubborn Everton could test his team. Hope so.
Blackburn go to Old Trafford on the back of a good run themselves with Mark Hughes picking up Manager of the Month for October. They have also won their last 3 away games by 2-1 which means Manchester United will probably win 4-0. 'Cos they always score 4 don't they? In 5 of their last 6 games they have anyway. Last time out, at Arsenal, they scored once.
God, I'm going all statto!
Portsmouth v Manchester City could also be a lot of fun. Or an absolute yawn fest. Not checking the stats!
Right, I'm off to get drunk...
# posted by Me @ 4:26 PM 
