Genius or Journeyman?

The riddle of the moment is this: what lasted 9 years, 151 games and has been through 4 different clubs? The answer is: Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten home record in league matches. An impressive record by any standard, especially if we consider what he has won in that time period: 6 league titles, 2 cups, one league cup, three supercups, one UEFA cup and two Champions League titles. A record that would make any manager proud of his career. But Jose’s career as a first team manager has lasted for only a little over ten years, leaving much room for improvement.

Let us return to the unbeaten home record, recently broken with a 1-0 loss at home to the hands of Sporting Gijon. There is one thing that stands out from that record almost as much as how impressive the numbers are, and that is the fact that he has managed 4 clubs in these last 9 years. In fact, he tallies 6 clubs in this a-little-over-ten-years career. This isn’t much of an issue if we look at modern football, where manager sackings are seen as a way to boost team spirit and where money and the eternal quest for silverware sees little importance given to values like club fidelity. But if we look at the IFFHS list of top managers of the previous decade, we see that only two men stand above Jose Mourinho: Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. And these two managers have stayed at their clubs for years, implemented their mentality and philosophy deep into the club’s roots and stood firm even when things got rough. So we need to ask ourselves one simple question: would Jose Mourinho be a better manager if he held on to the managerial chair for longer?

The above question obviously doesn’t have an easy answer. In Mourinho’s case, it seems like his manager life is haunted by Bela Guttman’s infamously fatal third season. And Bela Guttman is one of Mourinho’s notable influences in football, as are Malcolm Allison and Louis van Gaal, also often called “journeymen” themselves. Again, looking at the way the game is today, we would probably have to say that the examples of Wenger and Ferguson are the exception and that Mourinho follows the norm, although with a lot more success than usual. Some people, however, are quick to point out another thing – his personality.

Mourinho has been accused of being abrasive and of wearing down relationships with club officials and players. These accusations have come from the media, with whatever value you want to give them considering the often fuzzy sources and hearsay accounts, but also from players who have worked closely with him like Claude Makelele. Others will say that it is Jose himself who needs to find other challenges to focus his intense working schedule on.

Whatever reason we might want to point out for this issue, it does seem like with Jose Mourinho genius and success come hand in hand with a touch of madness. It seems like the things that make him great – his vision, his confidence, his ego, his motivating skills, his handling of the press and his insane work rate – are also the things that, in the end, see him burning bridges with players and clubs. And this will just make his story a lot more exciting to tell.

This guest post was written by Joao Fernandes from Coupon Croc. Joao is a huge Benfica fan and fellow countryman of Mourinho.  Benfica will be playing PSV Eindhoven on the 14th April in the Europa Cup quarter final.  If you are going to the game in Holland, Thomson Holidays are offering special supporter packages.

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Not an ex-player...probably.

The topic of conversation this morning on Radio 5 Live centred on referees, the fact that attacks on them at grass roots level has gone up by a quarter and what can be done about that and general disrespect shown to referees at all levels of the game. It’s an interesting and wide ranging topic that I’ll touch on now, but what really piqued my interest was Roberto Martinez stating that he wished more ex-players would become referees as they have a better understanding of the game, the players mentality and would do a better job because of it.

Frankly, I’m not so sure but more of that in a minute. The issue of respect towards referees has been a hot one for a long time now. It gets dragged to the back pages when the likes of Alex Ferguson and Arséne Wenger openly criticise a referee for his performance in ill-advised post match interviews but even when the papers aren’t foaming at the mouth about the subject it is always there.

Players, managers, fans and pundits all grumble on about this decision or that decision every week of the year. Who is to blame for this apparent lack of respect towards our flawed officials? I suspect there is blame to be found on every side, personally.

Players and managers would rather criticise the man in black for a dodgy decision than look at their own failings following a defeat. Fans would rather blame the whistle blower than their own heroes for the same defeat. Television – Sky and the BBC in particular – know that highlighting a refereeing mistake is going to get the viewers screaming and yelling at the TV so they highlight it as often as possible, from as many angles as possible with as much disdain as they can muster.

The referee, too, has to shoulder some blame for the criticism aimed at him (or her in this modern age of non-sexism in football). Not because, as paid professionals, they should do a better job (though they should, really), but because they never hold themselves responsible and do not seem to be accountable. It is a rare thing for a referee to hold his hands up after a game, admit he got it totally wrong and apologise to the team / player / manager he wronged.

They hide behind the FA, the Referees Association and their own private lives rather than face up to the fact that they made a mistake – but as fully paid up professionals, surely that is what they should be doing? And have you noticed that when a particularly brave ref does admit his folly and offer an apology it is almost always accepted with grace and the matter is forgotten? A lesson there, surely.

It sounds like I’m really down on referees and think they deserve all they get. I don’t, not at all. I think some of the abuse they get from fans on the terraces, some of the criticism they get from managers and players and some of the over-the-top coverage given to their errors by TV companies is completely out of order. Sometimes it can be justified when done fairly but what cannot be excused are physical assaults on referees – at ANY level of the game.

Referees are human and they will make mistakes. It’s part of the game. They should make less mistakes now they are paid for their services, but they’ll never be perfect. They have bad games, truly awful games even, but so do players and so do managers.

The FA will bang on about their Respect campaign and while the sentiment is sound, the execution is poor and ignores a rather fundamental part of respect – it has to be earned. Here referees can only help themselves.

But enough about that – it’s too big an issue to cover in one blog post. Back to Roberto Martinez and his wish for ex-players to become referees. In theory it sounds like a good idea. I can’t help feeling it needs thinking through a bit more though.

I’m not going to argue against the assumption that ex-footballers understand the game better than most, would understand certain situations better than most. I’m sure that’s true. I WILL argue against any claim that they will make less mistakes because of that knowledge.

How does having played the game help you judge whether a ball has crossed the line or not? How does having played the game help you decide who did what in an off the ball incident? How does having the played the game help you judge whether or not a player handled the ball through a crowd of players?

It doesn’t. There is simply no advantage to being a former footballer when it comes to making judgements of these kind. And what of temperament?

I keep picturing Roy Keane as a referee. Infamous as a player for getting in the faces of referees on a regular basis, how would he react if a player did the same to him? The current professional refs maintain a most impressive aura of calm under sometimes intense anger and provocation. Would Mr Keane do the same – or would we be watching on in horror as involved himself in a 23 man brawl? I fear the latter (and in the interests of fairness, for Keane read any hotheaded ex-player).

Professional footballers, both current and retired, are by their very nature competitive and proud men. They need to be to make it at the top of the game. That’s not the make up of a person required to control such people. I will concede that they will understand them better and that, as ex-players, they may command more respect from the 22 on the pitch. But even with that heightened sense of respect it would not and does not take much to push the more highly strung over the edge and into confrontation.

Roy Keane rules out a perfectly legitimate Wayne Rooney goal. An understandable error as he was unsighted by a body of players in his way. Would Rooney remain calmer with Keane than he would with, say, Mark Clattenburg at this injustice? No, of course not. Would Roy Keane, confronted with a ranting Rooney, behave as calmly as Mr Clattenburg? No, he would not and right there you have a recipe for disaster.

Ok, so the likes of Keane, Cantona, David Batty, Vinnie Jones and other hotheaded former pros just couldn’t take control with the measure of calm required. But what of the more cerebral characters that have and do play the game? I’m thinking of Glen Hoddle, Paul Scholes, Jamie Redknapp. Could they do it?

The problem of seeing the game better remains – they can’t. In handling situations with fired up players they would undoubtedly do better than your Keane’s and Jones’. But would these type of characters put themselves forward for the referee role, the role that runs the risk of being centre of attention for the wrong reasons? I highly doubt it, don’t you.

So on the one hand we have the sort of character that would relish the role being too aggressive, too competitive, too hotheaded, while on the other hand we have the perfect character for the job who is very unlikely ever to want it!

Players as referees, Roberto? I think not. Which leaves us right back at square one. Where I fear we’ll always be.

What do you think, have a I called this right or am I utterly wrong and players would make the ideal referee?

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Ceni scored his 100th (we’ll be generous) goal from a free kick, the latest in 56 he has scored that way, the others coming from penalties. No goals from open play? Pah!

“It was beautiful. As a goalkeeper you don’t enter the match thinking about scoring a goal, but it happened just as I wanted: with a free kick, deciding an important match. For me, it doesn’t matter that it was against Corinthians, but for the fans it must have been important.”

I must admit, if Edwin van der Sar scored against Manchester City from a free kick I’d probably be going mental for several days. And we all know how crazy about their football – and their derbies in particular – the Brazilians are! Special goal, special moment, special man.

Oh, you want to see it? Here it is:

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Arsenal managerial legend Arsene Wenger

It’s not been a good last couple of weeks for Arsenal. Out of the Champions League at the hands of European ‘bogey’ team Barcelona, out of the FA Cup at the hands of old rivals Manchester United, defeat in the final of the Carling Cup to upstarts Birmingham City and patchy Premier League results with draws against Newcastle and Sunderland. Not to mention an injury list that has contained, at various points of the season, Fabregas, Vermaelen, van Persie, three goalkeepers and now Djourou.

Manager Arséne Wenger must wonder what he has to do to win a trophy these days, because it’s not just this season where things have gone wrong. No, it’s been six long years since the North Londoners picked up any silverware and that, for a club managed by one of the best, is something of a disaster.

Yet Wenger remains in charge and it appears as if he’ll stay that way until he decides to give it up. The Frenchman does have a job for life at Arsenal, of that there can be no doubt. The real question is whether or not he deserves it. Six years without a trophy suggests it might be time for a change, but Wenger made Arsenal great and if Sir Alex Ferguson’s 20-odd years at Old Trafford has taught football anything it’s that you don’t dispense with the men who make you great.

Except Ferguson has never gone six years without winning something…

The success Arsenal enjoyed under Wenger was achieved through a combination of power, skill and a natural goalscorer. Today’s less successful Arsenal lacks both power and, unless van Persie is fit and well, a natural goalscorer. The skill level has been raised to levels unmatched in the Premier League. They are, without doubt, a joy to watch when on song. But they lack what it takes to win the League.

The fact that they have been dubbed “Barcelona Lite” is both praise and damnation in my opinion. They can play like the Catalans in periods of games, for sure, and who wouldn’t want that comparison? But they lack the confidence and winning mentality of the Spanish giants, they just don’t believe that their football, their talent is enough to win anything. And, of course, they’re not quite as good anyway – hence the ‘Lite’.

Wenger, then, has to accept that he needs to make changes. As much as his reputation and even position at Arsenal is secure, he is now in danger of appearing stubborn at best and blind to his own team’s problems at worst. Nobody is questioning Wenger’s talents as a manager but you do feel he needs to take a step back and see that the direction he is taking Arsenal is not going to be a successful one.

He has persisted with the beautiful football on its own for long enough. His transfer policy in the summer must focus on steel not silk and on goals not glamour. Arsenal’s squad is lightweight but the first eleven is only a player or two from making a genuine challenge on domestic and European fronts. Surely if Wenger expects to have that “job for life” at the Emirates he has to acknowledge these facts and act upon them?

If he doesn’t then it is possible that he will be removed from the managers position. This would no doubt cause uproar amongst the Arsenal faithful but even they will begin to tire of season after season of promise but no delivery. Without a holding, grafting midfielder of high quality and a striker with an unerring eye for goal (rather than the corner flag, Mr Bendtner) that is pretty much all I think they can look forward to.

They needn’t worry though. Wenger will be offered a role upstairs involving scouting and youth development more than likely. Job for life, remember, and one he would, I have no doubt, excel at.

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Pointless post match interviews?

In the past week or so Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged by the Football Association for comments he made regarding referee Martin Atkinson following his club’s 2-1 defeat to the reigning champions and refused to speak to any media rights holders after the 3-1 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield. He didn’t speak to Sky Sports, TalkRadio and even the club’s own channel, MUTV.

Ferguson, of course, is not the only manager to fall foul of the FA when speaking openly and honestly (and very much in the heat of the moment, it has to be said) in a post match interview. It’s just when he does it, it is highlighted that much more. This, of course, is his own fault. The Scot’s relationship with the media has always been a rocky one. Many print journalists have been banned from Old Trafford press conferences over the years, he still refuses to talk to the BBC at all and woe betide any interviewer who asks a slightly difficult question or casts doubts over Ferguson’s decision making or squad members.

That aside though, you do begin to wonder if it’s all worth it.

Ferguson, or indeed any manager, is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t and it raises the question of the worth of these post match interviews by managers. If a manager isn’t free to express his true feelings during these interviews because of the threat of a fine or suspension, what’s the point in interviewing him in the first place? Where’s the value to the watching audience if what is said is censored so much it no longer has any relevance?

I’m not saying managers should be free to rip into referees as they see fit, that would be unfair. But surely when they make mistakes that cost teams managers should be free to point it out and say how they feel about it? Using Ferguson as an example, what he said about Atkinson’s performance after the Chelsea game wasn’t a personal attack, it was an honest opinion on how well he thought the ref had handled the game – not well, basically.

An assessment like that is fair enough. When a manager gets personal or casts suspicion over a referee’s impartiality, that’s where the line is crossed for me. At the moment though, the FA does not want anyone to criticise a referee for anything, not even in a cold and analytical manner. Well, why not? Refs are now paid professionals and so should be as open to criticism as much as the players and managers themselves are.

No manager I know of has ever been hit with a fine for criticising a tackle by a player, so why should he for criticising the performance of a referee? I’m not naive enough to think that the FA will ever backtrack on their current rules, however, so I return to the worth of the post match interview and frankly, I don’t see any.

I don’t want to listen to a manager or player trot out the same old lines after a match every week and that, bar the odd outburst from our top flight managers, is exactly what is happening. The exception that proves the rule, of course, is Ian Holloway at Blackpool, who can give an entertaining (if occasionally unfathomable) interview following a 1-0 win or a 6-0 defeat.

The likes of Ferguson, Wenger and Ancelotti can’t do this though, so they either trot out some clichés or get in trouble for speaking their minds. Sod that, I’ve already changed channel.

What do you think? Is the post match interview utterly pointless if the interviewee can’t at least be honest about how he feels or do you still enjoy them, even as censored as they have become?

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The Dream

Ever since the formation of FC United of Manchester by disgruntled Manchester United fans back in 2005 it has had a burning desire to have a ground to call its own.

While Bury’s Gigg Lane has been home for the last five seasons and a happy one at that, FCUM as they are affectionately (and slightly tongue in cheek – say it fast) known, has looked long and hard for a home. That dream appeared to be very close to reality in the form of Ten Acres Lane, a proposed new ground and sports facility in Newton Heath, the original home of Manchester United.

In conjunction with Manchester City Council it appeared as though the facility would be built and FCUM would at last have a home of their own. However, in light of the spending cuts introduced by the current Government, the council have had to review the plans. Here’s their statement:

Manchester City Council has announced that the proposal to develop a football ground with community sports provision at Ten Acres Lane in partnership with FC United will be under review.

As a result of the challenging local government settlement, the Council has to ensure that any available resources are optimised and deliver the very best for Manchester. The Council has therefore had to revisit its spending plans and examine other opportunities for securing a football facility within the city.

This will come as a huge blow to the club, currently lying sixth in the Unibond Premier League after beginning life in the North West Counties Division 2, but the board remain optimistic regardless and committed to starting the 2012-13 season in their own ground. A statement reads:

We are sure that the news that Ten Acres Lane is no longer a viable option will come as a considerable shock to our supporters as it did to the Board when we learnt of this development in the last few days.

However supporters should also note that the statement provides us with a number of commitments on behalf of Manchester City Council. It is these and other assurances that the Board have been working hard to secure in the last few days. It is our belief that as a result of negotiations some of those commitments are stronger than were even in place for Ten Acres Lane.

The emotional attachment we all felt to Ten Acres should not be underestimated. The Council appreciate that their decision means that the terms of the Community Share Scheme will need to be amended and a revised offer document issued. The club will send a separate communication next week to those members who have applied for Community Shares. We are satisfied that the Council have given the appropriate financial guarantees to ensure that the terms of the revised scheme will be at least equivalent to if not superior to those in the previous offer on Ten Acres Lane and that the proposed new site has the potential to deliver everything and more.

We ask supporters to remain patient and resilient in the coming days and weeks. There will be those within and outside our ranks that will question the future of this project. We stress, the Board remain fully committed to delivering a new home for FC United for the start of the 2012-13 season and no amount of setbacks will distract us from that pursuit.

Remarkably upbeat, in fact, considering what’s happened. Why am I writing about this? Well, FC United is a club close to my heart in so much as I had at least a small part to play in its founding and though I have not followed them in person since the end of that first remarkable, promotion-winning season, I have always wished them well and continue to do so.

The possibility of Ten Acres Lane becoming a reality excited me and I would and will go to the first match they play in their home, ticket availability allowing. I won’t take a ticket from a more loyal supporter.

So yes, it’s a blow to the club and the fans but I hope they remain as positive as they appear to be doing going forward and pursue any avenue open to achieving their ultimate goal. I urge supporters of every other club, League and non-League to do the same, because whether you agree with the reasons behind the existence of FCUM or not, what they have achieved in a relatively short period of time is nothing short of phenomenal and should be applauded.

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Speaks Scottish, apparently...

There’s nothing like a good loser…and Gennaro Gattuso is nothing like a good loser! Following his AC Milan side’s 1-0 ‘shock’ defeat to Tottenham Hotspur he had an altercation with Spurs coach Joe Jordan in which he appeared to attempt to headbutt the Scot.

Gattuso had previously clashed with Jordan during the second half when a horrific challenge from former Arsenal midfielder Flamini on Vedran Corluka resulted in just a yellow card. You’d think Gattuso would know he’d picked on the wrong guy after his time in Scotland, but no, he steamed right in. Take a look at the post-match incident:

Gattuso has since apologised for his actions, of course, with the rather amusing line:

I was nervous. We were both speaking Scottish, something that I learned when I played in his home city of Glasgow, but I can’t tell you what we said. I didn’t want to argue with players and I did it with him, but I was wrong to do what I have done. I will have to await what they decide.

Spurs recorded this famous win in the San Siro with an 80th minute winner from Peter Crouch, by the way. It sets them up nicely for the home leg at White Hart Lane and will go down as one of Redknapp’s best ever victories as a manager.

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Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Which is fair enough – a promise was made to the International Olympics Committee that awarding the Olympics to London would leave a lasting athletics legacy, the heart of which would be the stadium. West Ham made all the right noises along those lines, while Spurs said they’d knock it down, build a football stadium on the site and redevelop the Crystal Palace athletics venue instead.

Actually, that’s NOT what Spurs said, but the media said it was, so that’s good enough. They would actually have retained about £420m of the stadium. Nevertheless, they WOULD have removed the running track and any possibility of athletics events taking place there.

Small wonder the ‘Appy ‘Ammers won the bid, really.

It is rather amusing then that it’ll be the Tottenham fans celebrating while the West Ham fans cry into their jellied eels. I haven’t heard one supporter of either club in favour of moving to the Olympic Stadium, citing many reasons for wanting to stay put. The main one though was that damned running track. It means you’re not close enough to the action, it ruins the atmosphere (incidentally, have you been to a Premier League game lately? There’s very little atmosphere left anywhere if we’re honest with ourselves), it separates you from your heroes, blah, blah, blah. All true, but not exactly forward thinking.

Spurs would have built this:

No, I have no idea what that red twirly thing is meant to be either

The larger capacity and other amenities that went with it would have helped them increase revenue and push on in their bid to become a real Premier League title contender. West Ham had the same idea, though there are a few cynics out there (yes, me) that question their ability to fill the Olympic Stadium on a weekly basis.

A recent poll in London suggested that 72% of people in the capital supported West Ham’s bid, while only 13% backed Spurs. Can’t help thinking the 72% were Spurs fans and the 13% Hammers fans!

Anyway, point is that the business heads at the two clubs (Brady and Levy) saw an opportunity and went for it, not giving one thought to the supporters. Silly move. West Ham will live to regret this “win”, I believe.

The world of British athletics can rejoice, though they are now going to have to prove that they can generate interest and income in big enough numbers to justify this decision by the OPLC. Again, I have my doubts.

I actually thought Tottenham’s bid was the better one for all concerned (fans aside). Restoring Crystal Palace to its former glory would have been nice and the chance for Spurs to kick on and challenge Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal would have been interesting.

Ah well. West Ham will get the keys after the closing ceremony in 2012 and we’ll find out shortly after if they have bitten off more than they can chew.

Any supporters of either club out there care to comment on your win / loss of the stadium? Good thing, bad thing? Why? Let me know in the comments.

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The only thing that doesn’t make sense, apart from the transfer fees, is Newcastle’s agreement to let Carroll leave. But what these moves mean for the summer transfer window is what is really interesting.

For Newcastle, a star striker is an absolute must. The fact they would already have had to strengthen other areas will now be overshadowed by the search for a new goalscorer. And that assume they now survive in the Premiership. Without Carroll, that is not a certainty. Their ability to attract the best is not what it was, the loss of their best player will not help that, and it’s going to be a difficult summer for them in the transfer market.

Liverpool, on the other hand, will be hoping they’ve resolved the loss of Torres with Carroll. Personally, I feel that’s unlikely but the addition of Luis Suarez is inspired. He had a fantastic World Cup for Uruguay and impressed me. If he can bring that form and talent to the Liverpool side they can look forward to a much brighter second half of the season and beyond. The Anfield side will be looking at other areas of their squad instead, notably the defence, I’m sure.

At Chelsea there will be significant changes I feel. Ancelotti will no doubt look to rebuild his side around new signing Torres and you can expect some significant departures as he does it. I also feel that Abramovich will insist on some sort of return following his £70m outlay on Luiz and the Spanish striker. So who will go?

Drogba, it seems, is past his best and at 32 could be deemed surplus to requirements unless he sparks off a stunning partnership with Torres this season. He would still command a decent fee too. Chelsea’s other striker, Nicolas Anelka is a year younger, which isn’t much and has had a less significant impact on the side in terms of goals. He still offers quality and pace, though, and Ancelotti will have to decide between the two as to which is best to partner Torres.

Or he could choose to jettison them both, raising some £10-£12m in the process and seek out a new, younger model. At the same time, he’ll be looking at his midfield and wondering what to do. Is the current set up of Lampard, Essien, Kalou and Mikel, supported by Malouda and Ramires, the right one? For me, it actually is but Ancelotti may see it differently (especially with the usually indestructible Lampard showing his age in terms of injuries) and a summer transfer wouldn’t be a summer transfer window without Abramovich splashing the cash!

In defence, Chelsea look to have plugged a huge gap with the signing of Luiz so the only possible change there would be at right back. Terry, Alex and Luiz will share the centre back roles, with Terry bowing out to age and letting Chelsea form a potentially superb Luiz/Alex axis, while Ashley Cole will remain first choice left back for the Londoners and England for at least a couple more years. Only Bosingwa, Ivanovic and especially Ferreira (how is he still there?!) need worry.

Could Drogba and / or Anelka end up at Newcastle then, as Chelsea look to forge a strike partnership of similar success with Torres? It’s possible that at least one could end up there.

Outside of these three you can fully expect Manchester United and Arsenal to be as frugal as ever. United NEED a goalkeeper now van der Sar has announced his retirement in May, while Wenger will be confident about his current squad, if not his chances of holding on to Fabregas for yet another season.

Sir Alex Ferguson will find that goalkeeper but his search for replacements for Giggs and Scholes will go on. And on. As the players are themselves. Wenger will need to look for a Fabregas replacement, just in case, and he must surely look to replace the inept (but oddly lucky) Bendtner too. Outside of that, the current top two in the Premier League will consider themselves healthy in player terms.

The only other side who will be looking for real quality to push on to real success is Tottenham. Redknapp stated he was only one or two players from winning the League. I don’t think he’s too wrong with that, but who and what those two players are is a debate for another article!

In the meantime, there’s a title race on that Manchester United look to be cruising through, unbeaten as they are this season while the other challengers slip up around them. But nothing is ever certain, especially in this league. Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle proved that on January 31st.

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