Out of second chances

England are out of the World Cup.  A sentence not unfamiliar to many sports fans in this country.  In this case it's the Rugby League World Cup which has seen the latest English underperformance.

Minutes after the final hooter, I think is a good time to reflect on a thoroughly disappointing tournament.  Reaching the World Cup semi-final sounds like an achievement on paper, but in reality this disguises the fact that England only actually won one game out of four in the tournament.

Having scraped past Papua New Guinea, been humiliated by the Australians and surrendered to New Zealand last week, there was a degree of hope for redemption in this semi-final.

This was erased comprehensively by New Zealand this morning, by 32-22, again serving to disguise the fact that England were a distant second best.  The Kiwis should have been 20 or more points to the good if it wasn't for a couple of lapses in concentration and a gift of points.  Danny McGuire's two opportunist tries were off the back of the Kiwis dropping off in defence, and Martin Gleeson's late score was off an individual error.  Truth is, we were not good enough.

So what has made us look so poor?  In Superleague's comfort zone, and the last 4 or 5 World Club Challenges we've looked like world beaters.

England were technically inferior throughout the tournament, and failed to accomplish many of the fundamental points of the game.  Handling errors, uncompleted sets of tackles, dozens of unforced errors, poorly judged and directed kicking and a high penalty count contributed massively.  The two teams who have dominated Superleague for the last 5 years provided all the half backs and mainline kickers, but none of the could manage to turn the opposition around on enough occasions.

There have been questions around the choice of referees for this world cup, complaints from the pundits have been around the way in which the antipodean referees allow the teams to slow the speed of the play the ball.  England have given away so many soft penalties in this world cup, including interference at the play the ball, yet the opposition seem to have been given far more time as they lie on and don't look to be interfering.  Smart play?

The fact is that these are all symptoms, rather than the root of the problems.

I previously questioned whether the players who had recently battled through the Grand Final would be in shape and form to compete in this tournament.  It does appear that a few of the St Helens members of the squad had their confidence destroyed by their defeat by Leeds in the Grand Final, and retreated into their shells.  Leon Pryce barely managed a break in the games he played, despite Sky Sports Phil Clarke's continued vocal support. Paul Wellens, said by many to be the best full back in the world, looked barely a shadow of the Superleague lynchpin.  The worst offender however, would have to be Superleague's top try scorer, Ade Gardner.  A seasoned GB international, Gardner has made error after error in defence, and had no confidence going forward.

We can't blame the St Helens players alone, it is a team effort and that team is picked by the coach.  Much as it pains me to say, the former Leeds coach Tony Smith will now be under intense media pressure.  His selections in the week of the Semi Final have been strange to say the least.  He picked a 19 man squad for the game, left out Gardner and Danny McGuire, weirdly after Gardner's comments that he was looking forward to playing.  Then Smith announced a 17 man matchday squad which gave both Gardner and McGuire a start (the latter fully justified on Pryce's lack of form).  There was no place in the 17 for Lee Smith, the winger who grabbed a hat-trick in the first game, and has not played since.  Inexplicable decisions.

There must be some examination of the way in which Superleague works, both in terms of players, and interpretation of the rules.  The comparison with the NRL is strong in terms of the best club sides, but the strength of the competition as a whole is far removed.  For example, how many players from the worst teams in each competition made the 3 strongest squads?  Isaac Luke, the new star of Kiwi rugby, plays for possibly the worst team in the NRL for the last 5 years.  Contrast that with the European game.  Similarly the style of play is different, and the NRL's running game from dummy half has been massively evident in the NZ and Australian sides, which our second markers have struggled to cope with.

We're never likely to win the World Cup if we cannot combat the dynamism of the opposition dummy halves and half backs.  We also need to ensure our game has the same strength in depth as the NRL, which would mean trying to cut down on the number of foreign imports.  The NRL has very few imports from the UK, and therefore breeds Australian and New Zealand qualified talent.  The RFL need to redress this balance.

On a final positive note, our player of the tournament has to be the maverick Martin Gleeson, who gave his all and strained to break the line every time he had the ball. Interestingly Gleeson is due to move to the NRL in 2010.  Closely followed by Rob Burrow who constantly punches above his weight.  Outside these two, it's difficult to pick anyone who looked like they could break the line.  Jamie Peacock, James Graham and Adrian Morley battled on as always, and made the hard yards, only for the players outside them to drop the ball, go too soon or pass forward.

Anyway, it's roll on Martin Johnson's England, hopefully we can redeem ourselves against the Wallabies at Twickenham this afternoon!

Speedway for the layman + Aces to Crumple?

Here's a long overdue first on my United City blog, a post about one of the most exciting but most under-rated spectator sports in the UK, namely Speedway. As a sport I've fairly recently got into (thanks to Sky Sports it must be said), I think it's about time I write something to illustrate what I find so interesting about it.

To the uninitiated few this may at first seem like a strange 4 lap procession around a tiny and shabby looking track (often dog racing tracks!) on a motorbike that can't seem to go in a straight line. In reality the subtle skills of the riders, and their downright craziness in some cases, makes for some thrilling racing.

4 riders (2 from each team) line up on the starting line, the tapes go up and they jam their throttles open in a drag race to the first left hand corner. The leader through the first corner often wins so it's down to who keeps the bike on the deck and holds their nerve, whilst making a sliding turn and avoiding the barriers around the outside. With 3 points for a win, 2 for second and a single point for third, and 15 races in all, you can get some incredibly close matches, or absolute mismatches.

The way in which the British Elite league and the world championship work in parallel also makes for interesting sub plots throughout the season. The weekly rounds of the Elite league are usually weeknights, often Monday for Belle Vue, and then the world title rounds are Grand Prixes held across Europe at weekends - in the same way as Formula One.

A big issue for British Speedway is that we've not had a World Champion since Mark Loram in 2000. There are a few promising riders coming through, but the fact that not one Brit has qualified to automatically get a ride in the GP series next year doesn't bode well. There are a couple (Harris and Nicholls) who should get picked (much like the Ryder cup wildcards), but the situation needs to improve - it reflects badly on the UK as a Speedway competition.

This decline in British Speedway is highlighted in a recent piece of news affecting my local team. Manchester's Belle Vue Aces, the most famous name in the UK's Speedway competition. They've had some of the world's great riders in their side across the years, winning British titles and seeing their riders become World Champions.

The latest in the line of supremely talented riders to grace Belle Vue's stadium is the Australian Jason Crump. Twice world champion in his first spell with the Aces, Crump returned this year in time to prop up an ailing side which couldn't seem to put the same squad of riders out for 2 races on the bounce.

It's been announced that we won't be seeing Crump race in the UK Elite League next year, he feels he's racing too much (competing for teams in Poland and Sweden as well), and needs to cut down if he's to reclaim his World title. The fact that the UK ride is the one to jettison is a major blow for the Aces and British Speedway as a whole.

The Aces will have to build a stronger team now they don't have Crump to rely on for 12 points a meeting, and UK Speedway will have to work out how to claw back ground on the Scandinavian nations, (Denmark's Nicki Pedersen dominated the last 2 world championship GP series), and ensure that our stars have the opportunity to flourish on the world stage.

For what it's worth, from a personal perspective, I have no issue with Crump, he's a fantastic rider and seems a down to earth character, so will (hopefully) deservedly reclaim the title next year.

Cream floats to the top

It's still early in the autumn, but perhaps we've already seen one of the most important events of the season so far.

For the first time in a long time, Liverpool have started to do what Manchester United have managed for 15 years - to leave with something after a game they should lose.  Wigan today pushed Benitez's outfit probably as far as anyone they had faced thus far this season, and yet somehow the Reds left with the 3 points that everyone (myself included) had expected at start of play, despite twice trailing at home.

Is this the sign of a new mentally toughened Liverpool, and more importantly, realistic challengers for Big Phil's Chelsea to confront?  It does appear that the Blues have gone back to being the Mourinho style unstoppable juggernaut.  With Ronaldo out of the picture for a short time (thankfully) it does seem that United haven't quite clicked into gear yet, and the two title pretenders have taken a flying start.  Even if United win their game in hand following the inevitable crushing of WBA tonight (Rooney to bag a hatful anyone?), they'll still be trailing by 3 points at this early stage.

This should make for a fascinating autumn and winter, as the weather closes in and the pitches get heavy, we'll see if the likes of Deco and Bosingwa still look settled and whether Fergie's outfit do their usual winter charge.  I'm sure Scolari's approach won't change, he's far too canny a manager to start second guessing the conditions.  He's has taken Chelsea onwards without much of an overhaul, most managers would have given their right arm for the squad at Stamford Bridge, and he has quietly got on with things, taking the Blues to the top of the table with very little even making the news.  And Liverpool are finally (perhaps) living up to their star studded squad.  Another season of 3rd or 4th in the Premisership and Champions League qualification surely won't be tolerated by Anfield fans or board.

Anyway , it's all good news for the premiership - vive la difference!

The long road from Old Trafford to Townsville

As anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis will know, last Saturday saw my current favourite sporting event take place - The Superleague Grand Final at Old Trafford.

A terrific game in appalling conditions saw the Leeds Rhinos overturn the thrashing they'd received 2 weeks previously to record their first back-to-back championship in the Superleague era at the expense of a St Helens side who looked they'd played one game too many.

The significance of this game, and the reason for the title of this post, is that 15 of the 24 man England squad for the upcoming World Cup will be made up from players from these two sides. The remainder are a collection from Warrington, Hull, Wigan and one from Harlequins.

England's first World Cup game kicks off on 25th October, against Papua New Guinea in Townsville, home of the North Queensland Cowboys.  The RFL have arranged a warm up game against Wales on Friday night which coach Tony Smith agrees is a good sharpener for those members of the squad who've not played for a few weeks - actually only 9 players. 

The NRL Grand Final was also at the weekend, and the surprise winners, Manly, and finalists and former champions the Melbourne Storm, have only supplied 10 players to the Australian squad.   The first choice 17 will surely not include many of these players, as the Sea Eagles came from pretty much nowhere and the Aussie squad is fairly settled already.

Which raises the interesting question - will the best prepared team be the one who's had the most recent and arduous Grand Final, or the team that had the most players eliminated in the early rounds.  I'd suggest that a rest before the World Cup would be a good thing - but 6 or 7 weeks may be too much.  The battle hardened Englishmen have some gamebreakers, and some real in form players to rival the ageing Aussie stars, and a core of hungry new faces keen to prove their worth.

In that respect, I think England have never had a better chance to turn the Australians over on their own turf, and coupled with a weaker New Zealand, I might risk a few pence on Jamie Peacock's men to do something special.  Whatever happens, I can't wait.

Superleague highlights!

If you've read anything of my previous posts, you'll know that I'm a big Rugby League fan, although this does take a back seat to my love of football most of the time, this weekend has been one of the exceptions.

Friday night saw St Helens take on my team Leeds at Knowsley Road.  It was a straight shoot-out with the winners going through to the Grand Final at Old Trafford a week on Saturday.  It seemed like a fairly close match-up as well, with St Helens only pipping Leeds to the top of the league by a single point.

On the day however, the team in Red and White were awesome, they powered out of the blocks and kept their foot firmly on the accelerator til close to the end to rack up 38 points. Leeds missed opportunities early on and were punished, which is something they can't afford to do if they want to get any further this season.  A comprehensive performance against the reigning champions will have done no harm to Saints' confidence, and has also left Leeds with a potentially demoralising result to digest ahead of the qualifying semi final on Friday.  

In that game Leeds face a Wigan side with their tails up.  After a great win away against Les Catalans in Perpignan, Brian Noble's side must be filled with confidence.  They've had some great results at Headingley in recent years, but their best games against the Rhinos have all been at the JJB, so they'll have to battle against one more obstacle if they're to make an unlikely Grand Final appearance.

I'd fancy Leeds to be too strong at home and set up a repeat of last year's Grand Final. My money would be a narrow Rhinos win, something in the 10 point area, purely on the basis that Wigan had saved their best for the trip to France, and it must surely have taken it out of them. Whatever the result, and whoever gets to the final on October 4th, I'd recommend it as the best sporting day out in the country.

Walcott - the power and the pace.

By leaving out any mention of Theo Walcott's amazing hat-trick against Croatia in my last post, I felt I'd give a little more emphasis to events since then for this post.

What we're seen since that night of emergence is potentially a microcosm of Walcott's immediate future.  Time and space in a premiership game by virtue of Arsenal's superiority, as opposed to the clatterings he received in the Champions League against Kiev.  Defenders across Europe will have awoken to the headlines of England's new great hope, and decided to take action. 

There are two things that might happen here; one would be that Walcott gets kicked out of the game, or the other thing would be that he uses this to his advantage.  He needs to watch an experienced wide attacker at work - it's just a shame Thierry Henry isn't at the Emirates any more.  I offer one master class in wide play that I saw recently, namely City's Martin Petrov ripping West Ham to shreds.  His movement off the full back, who tried gamely to kick him up in the air was impressive, and a lesson to any young player.  

Walcott should develop into a much more fearsome attacker, and more central, than Petrov, purely on the basis of his finishing.  Hopefully my prediction of pre-season, that Walcott's emergence into the Arsenal first team will be cemented this season, comes true.  Since seeing Walcott for Southampton in the Championship a couple of years ago, I've really thought that if he stays fit he could be the next great talent to emerge.

It would be nice to see him playing and scoring in Wenger's side - if Nicholas Bendtner can play then Walcott should have no problems.  Let's do something we don't do too often in this country, back this talent and not expect too much too soon.

England's brave new world beaters

The dust has well and truly settled on the schizophrenic performances by England against Andorra and Croatia, and I'm still at a bit of a loss as to what, if anything we've learned.

Capello certainly puts out a team to keep hold of the ball.  That much is certain, and against Croatia, England did that far better than they have done for a number of years.  We also know that he has come to terms with the fact that good as Wayne Rooney is, he mustn't play up front on his own, and is much better in the slightly withdrawn "Number 10" as the continentals term it.  David James is not the answer to England's goalkeeping question, his decision making is still too unpredictable - plus by the time the next world cup comes around he'll be approx 40 - and we all remember Peter Shilton in 1990....

Finally we've learned, as I think I may have mentioned a few times now, that John Terry has been living on his reputation for far too long.  After being turned by the scoring machine that is Milan Baros against the Czechs, Terry was again made to look a lumbering oaf against Croatia. His appalling dying swan act after Modric beat him to the ball for the Croat goal (and Terry pulled out of the challenge) looked like the last act of a man who sees the game is passing him by.  He should consider how to get back to the form which made him one of Europe's most admired centre halves, rather than the man who now puts a glint in the eye of the striker who finds themselves playing against him.  I'm sure Scolari will have some ideas, but Terry should start watching those videos of the Mourinho side of 3 years ago for an idea of who he was.

Which leads us to the conundrum who should lead England.  Frank Lampard gave one of his better performances for England recently, but surely isn't enough to keep Gerrard out.  Barry seems to be a fixture, as well as Stevie G's new best friend, so it seems he's in.  Rio Ferdinand is a certainty, so I'd say it should be between the Liverpool and United players.  Gerrard's inspirational displays for Liverpool should tip the scales in his favour - I've never seen a centre half run the game like Gerrard can.

Until the next England display kills all optimism, I for one might fancy watching England again - having turned away from the second half of the Andorra debacle, I was impressed by an away performance against a side with a fairly fearsome reputation.  

Either we're now back into the group of favourites for the world cup, or it's another false dawn. You never know with England.  Despite us including 8 players from the "best 2 teams in Europe" last season, we cannot seem to find that consistency.

Come on Fabio, keep the English end up for more than just 1 game.

Chuckle Chuckle Barry

I'm often told that you should take 5 minutes before you write.  Usually this seems a great bit of advice, particularly to a blogger without an editor.

Sometimes however, something happens that changes your rules.  Tonight I heard a football pundit discussing the saga of Gareth Barry's potential transfer to Liverpool(again).  I felt I had to say something....so I blogged instead.

The general debate started with Liverpool's midfield.  Which was a position of fun; and interesting, particularly if you read the last blog on this site.

Apparently, Liverpool's world class  holding midfielder Javier Mascherano, £17m ish, will dedicate his (potential) olympic gold medal to Rafa Benitez.  In the meantime, said manager is/was trying to sell the European Championship winning playmaker Xabi Alonso to Juventus for £17m ish.  Which will, apparently, fund the purchase of, yep, you've guessed it, England's second choice holding midfielder, Gareth Barry, for £more than he's worth.00p.

Hands up anyone who thinks Barry (good player as he is) is a better player than Alonso!  And more to the point, less likely to give the ball away. Mascherano is a superb player in that position, so the question is...who wants Barry? Benitez or Gerrard?  Interesting.

Owen Hargreaves cost about £17m, and has played when fit, but at least Ferguson has him in mind. Michael Carrick, who I must admit I've unjustly criticised since he went to United, plays a more important role but a a similar cost.  What price Gerrard; as Fergie once said, he'd be the player he'd like to sign, but he knew he'd never go to United.

I am, however, slightly confused by the way in which value is judged,; how can we suggest that the members of England's New Glorious One Man Football Team are worth anything unless they can play together?  

I'm sure these are lessons I learned in school.

A losing draw with Bouncing Czechs

As an England fan, as well as a committed (or perhaps should be) Derby County fan, it was with a mixture of interest and trepidation I planned my evening's viewing tonight.  England vs Czech Republic at Wembley was an interesting friendly ahead of the Andorra world cup qualifier, and more relevantly, the formidable Croatians in Zagreb in 3 weeks.

Which England would turn up? The promised brave new world of Capello, or the lambs to the slaughter that capitulated so meekly to Croatia at home.

The answer, it appears, should have been obvious from the team selection.  With once again the old "stalwarts" of Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard picked across the midfield, with Barry anchoring and Wayne Rooney becalmed somewhere in the outside left position, England lacked direction and the ability to open up defences.  Even worse they were so immobile that the Czechs could move through them with short interpassing.

The first 5 minutes seemed positive, England kept the ball reasonably well, and created a couple of nice moves.  Then the demons returned, the players tried to play a killer pass and the Czechs got on the ball with confidence.

A team with the ability to increase the pace of the game at will and counter-attack after the opposition over-commit is great to watch.  It's a shame that tonight that team wasn't England.

With the exception of Gerrard, who seems to have taken the Beckham mantle of one-man team and inspirational leader, the midfield were ineffective.  No-one ever managed to get into a useful support position for Rooney, not even that little fella who was on the team sheet to play up with him.  Anyone any idea where Jermain Defoe went?

Anyway, one of Steve MacLaren, and his Guru Sven's, major failings was the inability to make a tactical change to alter the course of the game.  Sadly, even in a friendly such as this, Capello couldn't pull the rabbit out of the hat.   His changes at least changed the shape of the team, but also raised questions as to why several of the players didn't start.

England should be looking at a team that can develop together rather than one that is stifled at birth by overbearing older relatives.  The Lampard experiment has surely run its course, David Beckham's great service to his country must come to an end, and David James should never keep goal for England whilst there is a selection of younger keepers who'll need the experience of playing in such games.  John Terry isn't half the player he was, reliant on Carvalho's steadiness to hold together a slightly fragile Chelsea back line, and Rooney urgently needs a strike partner, but more importantly a position to play in.

Gerrard is England captain in all but name, his displays for Liverpool continue to impress whilst Peter Crouch, a more than useful asset at International level, and goalscoring foil for Rooney, wasn't even in the squad.  I mean, Emile Heskey and Defoe are not really prolific - Crouch has more than both combined in Internationals.  Real decisions need to be made!

Below is my idea of what may have been an England team for tonight's game, Andorra (and possibly Croatia), playing 442 or 451.  Based on form, and not reputations.

Green (West Ham)

A Cole (Chelsea)

Ferdinand (Man Utd)

Woodgate (Spurs)

Brown (Man Utd)

Barry (A Villa)

J Cole (Chelsea)

Gerrard (L'pool)

A Young (A Villa)

Rooney (Man Utd)

Crouch (Portsmouth)

Hopefully the pace and confidence on the ball of this unit might mean we have a cutting edge, as well  as the ability of Peter Crouch to provide more than an outlet for long balls.  Perhaps that is what Capello sees him as - rather than having stereotypical "good touch for a big man" - which means he's loath to pick him.  And also we saw that the David Bentley fan club obviously doesn't yet contain Fabio - its primary member is still D Bentley.

It's time that Capello began to rebuild England, rather than shore up the badly cracked facade. At least playing the Czechs, then a hapless Andorra team might have given a few players the experience they need.

Disappointing the home support at Wembley is a trap that Capello must not fall into - England must win friendlies, or at least prove they've learned something from them.  What tonight proved was that we still know certain players still don't do it in an England shirt.  Time to give a chance to those that might. 

Failing to invest in success

Amateur sports are the bedrock of the Britain's success in the current olympics.  That's what the government will undoubtedly be saying following the success of our athletes.  New Labour will be crowing with delight as our olympians strike gold after gold with 2012 in London yet to come.

I'd like to get my retaliation in first and suggest that the Olympic situation is in spite of, rather than because of, the way the British government (both national and local) gets involved in sport.

The cycling team have been backed by UK Sport, funded by Lottery money, and organised by fantastic performance directors.  The rowers are the product of years of coaching in Universities across the country, to the point where private sponsorship is the norm.  Sailing is a massive leisure sport in certain areas, where Britain has traditionally competed if not been world beaters.  The evidence against any form of sudden massive improvement due to government policy is the fact that the majority of track athletes have barely made it into their semi finals (apologies to our new 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu).

Amateur sport in Britain is in a pretty unhealthy state.  Sports grounds are becoming scarcer, and more importantly more expensive every year.  Without wanting to get into the realms of Sky Sports populist investigation into the state of amateur football, it is a problem that is in evidence in many of the UK's favourite pastimes.

There is a fantastic set of facilities at Sportcity, where the cyclists are based, but there is little advertising that these are available to the general public.  The council surely has an obligation to the payers of council tax to ensure that their leisure needs are cared for, along with their desire to see every street in Manchester dug up once a year.

If you play football in any of the Manchester leagues, you'll know that every year you must find more and more money to pay for a pitch, whilst also paying the FA, referee, Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all.  The state of the council pitches is laughable, we regularly turn up to find they've not been mown, lines unpainted, pitches so poorly drained as to be unplayable or in some cases, the posts so sunken into the ground as to make them little more than 5 a side goals.

If the government really want us to believe they don't want us to win the title of the most obese nation on earth, then they need to make sure that the amateur sportsmen (of all sports) get the maximum opportunity to participate, and not be ruled out on the basis that they can't afford all the top gear or a multi-million pound stadium.  Lottery grants to improve local sports facilities would be a step in the right direction, and as important for our local communities as any campaign against knives.

Fortune telling 2008/9

It's a week to the start of the Premiership season, and finally the will he won't he saga of Cristiano Ronaldo's potential move to Real Madrid has ended.

The next question is whether or not United will have the firepower to retain their title. Their title rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have recruited to some extent, leaving United as the only one of the top 4 not to have significantly invested over the summer. Spurs have outspent all of their rivals combined, going for broke (literally) and blowing huge sums on the likes of David Bentley, Luka Modric, Gio Dos Santos and Heurelho Gomes. Significantly they haven't replaced Robbie Keane, and must surely have another option lined up for when Dimitar Berbatov makes his protracted (but inevitable) move to United. Question is, what will this mean for the top 4?

The experienced heads at United and Chelsea should, in theory, ensure that these two are the main protagonists in the title race, but what of the others?

Liverpool's bumbling pursuit of Gareth Barry has only served to unsettle that player and cheese off another - the calming influence of Xabi Alonso won't be as great now he's been hawked round half of Europe in order to make room for Barry - surely not a better player? Robbie Keane looks a good signing but perhaps not the decisive match winner required to take the weight off Gerrard and Torres. 20 goals from Keane might make some difference but don't expect miracles. A settled (ish) back 4 is a benefit, but it's converting draws into victories that may make the difference. They'll be closer than last season, I feel 10 points max from the winners, and 3rd place. Rafa still hasn't the mastery of the premiership he enjoys in Europe.

Arsenal have made one or two interesting signings, (especially Samir Nasri) but I think their best new player may be an often overlooked existing one. It's about time Theo Walcott got a run in the team, and with Alex Hleb's defection to Barca, there may be a regular first team place for him. Certainly his pre-season form has suggested he has matured and doesn't panic when in the final third. Anyway, it'd be nice to see an English player in the most stylish team in the land! Arsenal could either destroy teams with their counter-attacking or suffer some hammerings if they concede early. Certainly they miss a top keeper and experienced back up in defence. 4th place for them - don't expect many draws!

Exciting though they appear to be, the signings at Spurs don't appear to be enough to drastically change their fotunes. I think a 4th place would be a major step forward, perhaps a bridge too far - it's just a matter of whether they have the patience to give the manager time to create a confident team. It's all well and good when they're battering hapless Roma 5-0 in a pre-season game, but when they're under the cosh at Old Trafford or being outmuscled at Stamford Bridge, what will the response be? Last season appeared to be over before it began for the men from the Lane, and must be considered a blip based on the players they have. Robinson may have gone, but Gomes certainly isn't the great keeper £9m would buy. Expect more from Spurs, but not too much yet.

Anyway, I think relegation might be more clear cut - much as it pains me, I expect Stoke City, Hull City and WBA to descend immediately back whence they came. The two flies in their parachute payment ointments may be Fulham and Wigan who seem to think volume of signings equates to points. I anticipate them struggling once again - even Andy Johnson and the irrepressible Jimmy Bullard can't make that much difference, surely. Of the 3 newly promoted teams, I think Stoke may have the best chance of upsetting a few people, a partisan Britannia Stadium crowd and a muscular approach may upset the likes of Arsenal's foreign legion.

Money for Auld Firm - The Euro Vase

It's still August, and before a ball has been kicked in the Domestic leagues in most of Europe, Glasgow Rangers are already out of European competition, courtesy of an away defeat to FC Kaunas of Lithuania last night.  Great news for those of us in Manchester who were party to their travelling "fans" antics last year.

The questions this raises are far more important than the trivial issues that have been voiced so far regarding the impact of Rangers missing out on the £12 million their rivals Celtic will get for just reaching the Champions League group stages.

What we should be asking ourselves is how a team finishing 2nd in their Domestic league (and last season reaching the UEFA cup final) can find themselves cast out of Europe by a team from a place where the national sport is basketball . 

And how on earth can this remotely value the UEFA cup and Scottish league when Aston Villa look likely to qualify for that competition with ease through the Intertoto Cup despite finishing only 6th in the English Premiership.  And Liverpool will no doubt qualify for the Champions League through one tie again, despite finishing only 4th.

A drastic overhaul of European competition is required, making sense of the handicapping system known as the co-efficient, used by UEFA to determine at what level each team (who aren't Champions of the country) join the competition.  

The old cup winners cup at least provided interest for those sides who had a knockout pedigree, and meant they wouldn't get drawn against a top 4 side who'd dropped out of the Champions League - as per Rangers last year.  The UEFA cup is a joke, with intelligible group stages requiring 1 win from 4 games to get through in some cases.  How this is meant to convince punters a meaningful competition is taking place is beyond me.

At any rate, The Champions League, in its current format, becomes more successful every year and the fat cats get ever fatter.  What we need to think of is how to encourage new competition in the closed shop of the top 4.  Look at what happened to Leeds after Champions League funding was missed out upon?  Who's to say that an Arsenal or Liverpool wouldn't find themselves in a similar spot if they had a difficult draw in qualifying.  British teams have always rated the home league championship as the main point of the season - but there is a worry that a top 4 slot is now the main prize and the riches of Europe have replaced the glory of lifting the Championship in May.  I'd love to see a return to those days of touch and go championships and less emphasis on ensuring qualification for continental competitions.

An unhelpful hand

The bad news this week is that the scheduled fight between Roy Jones Jr and our own Joe Calzaghe has been pushed back to November 8th, after Joe again damaged his hand in training. We're told it's a wrist injury, but with his history of hand trouble this can't be good news going into the rign with the ever-durable Jones. Again that lack of knockout power should be in evidence as against Hopkins. Plus Jones is only 3 years older so won't be sluggish as B-Hop. Hmmmm. Borefest or Calzaghe to get beaten up?

The only really interesting thing about this match-up is that Jones has suggested that they have 2 weigh-ins in order to fight for all Calzaghe's titles. The first weigh in is to be for Super Middleweight to get them under the limit for Calzaghe's 2 titles, then put on a couple of pounds quickly (water intake apparently) in order to then be also classed as light heavyweights and contest Calzaghe's "The Ring Magazine" light heavy title. Great gimmick in concept, and a surefire crowd puller, but with Jones having won a Heavyweight title in the not too distant past, this appears to be a dead end for Calzaghe's career.

Anyway, we've now got a September date with Amir Khan to look forward to - let's hope his new (Cuban) trainer makes him watch some real boxers in action and convinces him that if he actually got in the ring with a world champion at the moment, he'd be eating through a straw for weeks.

Ricky Hatton has what looks like (from last performance) a relatively straightforward tangle with the wierd Paulie Malignaggi in Vegas to look forward to - let's hope he turns up with the same stupid haircut! I think with Hatton's "miles on the clock" he needs to be looking at the final career defining fight - we've got Tszyu fight and Mayweather so far, one more great fight should see him call it quits. A fight with Manny Pacquiao would be brutal; going on his recent demolition job on David Diaz it may be a great test for Hatton but a great spectacle - and as Hatton has never ducked anyone it may be on the cards.

The important thing is that Ricky stays with Billy Graham, the trainer who's guided his career to far. For all Hatton's quality (and personality), he needs to keep his feet on the ground and ignore distractions such as Stand up tours, and Graham will surely keep him focussed.

The fight I really wanted to see looks like a no-goer at the moment, Carl Froch vs Jermain Taylor for the WBC super middleweight title vacated by Calzaghe. It's about time someone "grew a set" and fought Froch, who is the most dangerous fighter in his division, and as a consequence gets ignored by anyone with a title. Froch is relatively young in ring time, but 30 years old and needs to get a shot sooner rather than later. Kelly Pavlik has said he'll fight anyone, so that would be my ideal fight.

Let's get it on!

Seeing the future - reprised

Well D-Day has passed and the 14 Superleague teams for next season know who they are.

I'd like to say that I was pretty much on the money as far as my 14 choices were (it was fairly predictable) - though Castleford snuck in by the skin of their teeth with a Grade C licence, along with Celtic Crusaders and Salford City Reds. Congratulations to both, especially Salford chairman John Wilkinson who has spent over 20 years - and doubtless a Jamie Peacock sized chunk of his own money - to keep the Reds going in order to see them take their place at the top table with their ambitious new stadium at Barton.

I will say it's a real shame for the people in Widnes especially, with their Chairman Steve O'Conner saving them from administration and ensuring they survived in their great new ground. I think they were unlucky not to be replacing Castleford, expecially with their guarantees of financial solvency and their ground being of a far greater standard than both Cas and Wakefield (and Hull KR arguably).

There is a feeling of bitterness for teams like Leigh that the Celtic Crusaders admission was a fait d'accompli - and it may well be seen as inevitable that a new regional team would get in. the neutral should be pleased for the Crusaders though, with a healthy presence in Superleague, it should mean that Welsh Rugby League thrives anew - like the glory days when Welsh Union players defected wholesale in the 1970s and 1980s. If they could recapture that through the Crusaders development/academy schemes it can only mean good things for the game as a whole - plus a certain Welsh fan I know may be able to dance the caterpillar at another Wales victory over England before too long.

Anyway, whilst there is another 4 months to the Grand Final, the new teams have a great opportunity to recruit effectively, with the reassurance that they won't be relegated if their first season in the top flight doesn't go to plan. Congratulations to the RFL on negotiating a tricky process with the minimum of fuss - in 3 years time there should also be room for expansion of the league and further development into the regions. The National League are already prepared to admit Scottish, Irish or French teams for next season, which gives them a decent 3 year run to the next franchise awards. Forward planning the like of which you don't usually see in sport.

Seeing the future?

Tomorrow is the day that Rugby League fans across the country have been waiting for. It's the announcement of the 14 franchises awarded to the successful applicants from the 19 who vied to be in Superleague next year.

From the existing 12 members of Superleague, the only ones I can really see as having a struggle to get a licence would be Wakefield and Castleford. One of these 2 may fall - my money would be on Cas if anyone. That leaves either 2 or 3 new entrants. In terms of the development of the game, we should be hoping both Celtic Crusaders and Toulouse are granted entry, and then one from Halifax, Widnes and Salford. Sadly this appears to be a little too soon for Featherstone's efforts, although their development plans deserve to be considered for next time franchising is reviewed (2 years time I believe).

My Superleague line up for 2009 would be (and this is to be compared to the results announced at 10am tomorrow); www.skysports.com/rugbyleague

Leeds Rhinos
St Helens
Bradford Bulls
Wigan Warriors
Catalan Dragons
Warrington Wolves
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Harlequins
Hull FC
Hull KR
Huddersfield Giants
+
Celtic Crusaders
Toulouse
Salford City Reds

Apologies to my friends at Halifax, but despite a fine season coming back from all the problems that have beset the club, it may be a bridge too far for one of Rugby League's most historic clubs. I just hope that this doesn't mean the fine up and coming players the Blue Sox have developed can continue to come through whilst they wait to reclaim their rightful place in the top flight.

Football's Black Marketplace

After a week off in the sunshine - my pre-season break is now over - I've come back armed with a ranting topic.

I've been in Portugal, a country rich in football tradition and home to some of the world's great players (Eusebio, Futre, Figo, Rui Costa, Ronaldo etc). The Portuguese are mad for Ronaldo, with shirts, flags, banners etc covering stalls everywhere, almost like a 35 degree version of Warwick Road near Old Trafford. With one subtle difference. Replica shirts.

We should all remember the fairly recent court cases where Umbro, JJB, United and The FA all got their knuckles rapped for price rigging on replica kits. There are, however, very clear controls on what can be sold, how much and where. For example you won't find many cheap/knocked off replica shirts anywhere near Old Trafford, as there is an (unspoken?) uneasy truce between the clubs and vendors, where they produce t-shirts and scarves with club motifs, but no replica shirts. This means that if you want a United shirt, or England shirt, you need to go to an official retailer. The teams would be within their rights to get trading standards or the police to close down anyone violating this peace.

Portugal's version of this is that anyone with a wheelbarrow and a screen printing press in their garage can start knocking out dodgy shirts (to locals and tourists) whilst the police obviously have no interest and wander past without batting an eyelid.

I'd guess that the fact that Portugal turns a blind eye to the fakes industry probably means that the official shirt prices need to be lower than they are over here. Which begs the question, are we supporting the kit manufacturer's profits by paying over the odds in a non-competitive market.

The UK replica shirt market is one of the main features of "Rip off Britain" (The Sun says). £45 for a Home shirt is about average - even for a club like mine (Derby County) who aren't even in the Premiership. The prices are protected by law, rather than market forces, and the punter is the one who misses out rather than the two main kit manufacturers (Nike and Adidas) who control most of the top tier marketplace. The argument is that the quality needs to be controlled, but for a 17 year old on minimum wage (£3.40), a Home shirt of their choice is effectively 2 full days wages before any form of tax. Add to that the escalating cost of a matchday ticket, and you're into the realms of 4 days pay (almost a week) to see your team and wear their colours. Before you buy your food for the week!

Let me make clear that I'm not advocating the illegal production of football shirts; nasty print quality, logos that wash off and cheap shirts that shrink or discolour are not what we want, but a level of realism from the manufacturers should see the costs reduced in order to return this game to its roots. The working man's game. If he can't afford to support his team, what future do we have?

Franchising for the fans

July 22nd 2008. An important date in the history of sport in this country. But how so, you may ask?

The answer is that July 22nd is the date that the 14 Superleague franchises will be awarded. The 14 teams that will make up Superleague next season will no longer be decded by promotion and relegation, rather by the allocation of franchise status, and a piece of the TV rights pie that goes with it. Imagine the Premiership becoming a closed shop to the Championship teams, unless you were deemed worthy to join them. There are, however, some critical differences.

The selection process has been ongoing for best part of a year now since the 19 candidates put together their business plans and submitted themselves to scrutiny by the independent panel of adjudicators. 10 clear criteria are the basis of the judgement, items such as is your stadium fit for the top level, are you financially solvent, and is your average crowd over 10,000. More importantly, as Rugby League seeks to expand itself into untapped goldmines of France and South Wales, criteria such as homegrown players and any other team within 20 miles are also considered vital.

Why is this so important - surely Rugby League is a minority sport in the UK?

Superleague has, since the advent of summer rugby, been a leader in terms of marketing. The Premiership dominates our conciousness, but has to do very little to keep us engaged. The RFL, who run Superleague, have managed to turn a predominantly northern, flat cap and whippets game into a glitzy (sometimes) and marketable asset, whilst boosting the standard of play and attracting some of the world's top players. All in a sport with strict salary cap guidelines on spending no more than 80% of your income on salary, and surviving on average crowds of approx 10,000. There are no billionaire owners, and even if there were, they would be prevented from going out and buying the Shevchenkos of the world by the regulations and salary cap.

If you've ever been to a game of Rugby League, you'll know the atmosphere is second to none, it's family friendly, you can stand up on the terraces with a pint and there's no trouble. Ring any bells? I'd suggest this is where football was in the late 1970s and 80s. Superleague are trying to keep this as the main selling point, obviously alongside their fast and furious games. For this they deserve congratulations.

One of the main benefits of no relegation is that coaches are not under as much pressure, and can (and do) allow their young talent to break through, rather than relying on substandard journeymen from abroad. Leeds Rhinos, one of the shoe-ins for a franchise award, played 15 homegrown players in the squad of 17 for their game last weekend, after losing 6 first teamers to the England team the same weekend. And still won! Can you imagine a league where David Bentley doesn't feel he had to leave Arsenal to get a game, or lower teams filling their ranks with unknown scandinavians as they're cheaper than their English equivalents?

A franchise system may be mooted as a future plan for the bloated plutocrats of the Premiership, but suffice to say there's no way in which it would be so well managed, and universally accepted, as the Rugby League version.

For those who are lost for something to do in the close (football) season, you could do worse than adopt your local Rugby League team - Salford City Reds in the Manchester area - and get nostalgic for run down terraces where you can enjoy a pie and a pint.

It's Nad-al over for another year

Well that's Wimbledon for another year (yes I know we're not even at semi-finals day yet). One fantastic game to get expectation building up then the usual trauma of our great white hope being ruthlessly annihilated by a serial Slam winner.

Rafa Nadal looked like he had the shots to beat anyone - that is anyone other than the King of the grass courts in his natty cream cardigan. It would be unimaginable for Federer to lose to Nadal on grass - the major bastion of his dominance. And the way he brushed aside Ancic, the last man to beat him on this surface, his inexorable march to the title looks assured.

Will Pimms keep until next year?

Murray is mint

I've got to take a quick time out from my (so far) football themed posts to congratulate Andy Murray on a fantastic comeback to reach the quarter finals of Wilmbledon. Where he'll now get mullered by Rafa Nadal, but you can't have everything.

It's often that we watch British players and teams imploding when the going gets tough - or perhaps ranting, raving and blaming anyone other than themselves. At 21, Andy murray displayed maturity and self discipline to keep plugging away from 2 sets down, convinced he could still salvage something. Some of his tennis was extraordinary, one or two of his reaches were just short of miraculous.

Congratulations to the cnetre court crowd for pulling their idol through the ordeal, which will only now serve to increase the weight of expectation on his shoulders. Still, if he carries on like that, and as he is still a young man, Federer can't have too many years of domination left...although now I've said that Murray'll retire in a year to become a bodybuilder.

Closing off Euro 2008

The dust has begun to settle on the 2008 European Championships, as indicated by the publication of the Squad of the Tournament. In a typically political exercise, our chums at UEFA have contrived to pick practically half the continent's available players in a squad of 23, rather than the more accustomed team of the tournament. Who cares who you thought was the 3rd best keeper – Van der Sar apparently - was he better than Artur Boruc who kept Poland in every game they played.

For better or worse here’s my XI –playing 4-1-3-2. And is it possible not to pick Spain’s entire midfield in team of the tournament? (Apologies Andres Iniesta).

GK – Boruc, LB – Zhirkov, CB – Puyol, CB - Simunic, RB - Altintop
DM – Senna
LM – Silva, CM – Xavi, RM - Fabregas
CF – Arshavin, CF - Torres

Tough luck on Michael Ballack who continues to carry a poor German team to heights they should never achieve. Commiserations to Van Der Sar for an excellent final tournament. Finally well done to Turkey and Croatia for showing up some of the more fancied nations, with a level of skill and commitment that was a credit to them.

A team of flops would be much more interesting – let’s hear it for Mario Gomes (worst miss ever) and Luca Toni (most misses in one match), Portugal’s Ricardo (when do you come to catch a cross?) most of the German defence (unable to win the ball near their own area), and anyone in the French team who’d previously won anything (bus pass trophy).

The one bright spot is Xavi of Spain being named the top individual player. Based on his displays throughout the tournament, and off the back of his Barcelona form, we know he's not just a flash in the pan (see previous Arshavin comments about big games?), more so a prime exponent of the killer pass for whichever forward is lucky enough to play ahead of him. Pushed hard for his place by the ever more impressive Fabregas, he looks a firm foundation on which Pep Guardiola (another great midfielder) can start to rebuild Barca.

I’m pleased to say Spain thoroughly deserved to win Euro 2008, my only regret is that after tipping them very heavily to all and sundry, I then forgot to put a bet on. Still, with my money on them, they’d have had no chance.

The Germans' next victims?

OK, I'm feeling suitably smug after the Germans indeed ground out an undeserved win last night without playing especially well. Well played Turkey for never knowing when they're beaten - until the final whistle obviously. With a half decent keeper who knows what may have happened - think David Seaman vs Ronaldinho free kick in 2002.

Anyway there's another game to look at yet, so let's talk about the Russians. I'm at a loss as to why Hiddink hasn't landed the Chelsea job yet, as his Russia team appear to play the football that Abramovich wants to see. Comfortable in possession and technically gifted, with a tough spine, I think the Russians have been a match for any team in the tournament. That is apart from their nervous first display against tomorrow's opponents, Spain. Shouldn't be a shock to anyone that has ever seen them play previously, or the ease with which the Zenit St Petersburg team dismantled Bayern and Rangers en route to the Uefa Cup final.

Pavlyuchenko up front is a threat, and can finish (sometimes), and it'll be a good battle with Marchena and the ever-impressive Puyol. If he gets the service from Arshavin, which should be nailed on, he'll get chances. Particularly now Barca have now made a bid for the little maestro. The two attacking full backs Anyukov and Zhirkov look ready to do a Thuram or Grosso and weigh in with an important goal, and the midfield is steady if unspectacular, mashalled by the skipper Semak. The doubt is at the back where Kolodin should be kept up the other end taking 45yd pot shots. Villa and Torres will run the two lumbering centre backs around and may cause problems. The jury's still out on the keeper Akinfeyeev, who's apparently great on Championship Manager, but appears to feel he has an unfair advantage using his hands, so elects to even things up by punching anything heading his way.

The Spanish have been many peoples tip (including mine) from the start. On the basis that they have some great players and "it's about time they won something". Doesn't work for England fellas. Villa and Torres haven't really fired together since the first game, against tomorrow's opponents Russia, but still remain a massive threat, particularly when they run at the Russian back four, and cut them apart with movement. They need to improve the link up play that's seen them hitting the first defender with every cross since that first game.

Fabregas ran the Italy game when he came on, and must be given a chance to start. If he can fire the midfield, probably at the expense of Iniesta or Xavi, then the Spanish have a chance. At the back much will reply on Puyol and Marchena marshalling Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko. The latter will be easier, and I can see Marchena being left that job, which means poor Carles or Ramos might be left chasing Arshavin across the width of the pitch.

With all that in mind, plus the pressure factor of being favourites, logic suggests the Spanish bubble will burst tomorrow, with a narrow Russia win without the need for pens. These are two of the best footballing sides in the competition so it's a shame that one of them will have to go on to be bored to death by Germany in the final.

Teutonic bulldozer and Turkey for tea

Well it's semi-final time again, and once again we're sitting here watching the business end of a tournament without England in it. At least we weren't here this time to get knocked out. And we still have the moderate comfort of watching some quality (and potential) premiership players.

The latest rumours surround the fleetfooted Andrei Arshavin, or Андрей Асрхавин as his mum knows him. I always wondered why the players names aren't in their own language on the back of shirts - now we know! Anyway, it appears the wiley old professor of Foreign studies at Arsenal has realised that Andrei has conjured himself out of fresh air, and anyone that can do that will be a welcome addition to the "go missing in big games crew" that occupy the Emirates dressing room. At least he has a pedigree of mesmerising Rangers in the UEFA pot final. Hmmmm.

Anyway, to tonight's match up.

Germany against Turkey offers yet another underdog scenario, and as usual the Germans have ground out the passage to the knock out stages. The majestic Michael Ballack looks like the player of old, and the guy who so nearly propelled Chelsea over the finish line this season. The solidity of Frings and the runs of Lahm from full back mean that Germany's midfield should dominate and create chances for Podolski, Klose and whoever replaces Gomes (who apparently can't remember scoring all those golas in the Bundesliga last season). The German weakness is that they have 2 centre halves who look like they'd be more at home administering Suplexes in the WWE than dispossessing a skilful forward. And then there's Jens Lehman. Add your own punchline.

Hands up anyone who can name a Turkish player other than Nihat, who dragged them back from the brink against the Czechs, but is now apparently out of the tournament. Much rests on Semih Senturk, who has 2 already this tournament. Turkey have battled their way through, and I heard a great stat that they've only been in the lead for 2 minutes of the entire tournament. This suggests that they're very fit and never give up, qualities that willbe tested against the Germans who might not be spectacular (Ballack free kicks apart) but will pound away til the opposition cave in. Their injury crosis is so bad that Terim claims only 13 fit outfield players will be in the squad tonight. Remains to be seen, but they are shorn of a couple of centre backs and Klose and Podolski are too much for many fit defenders, never mind the heroic Servet who has pretty much been on one leg since day 1. And Rustu's renaissance will probably last only two games.

It's a shame for that Turkish support which trebles by the formula - (Massive underdog x playing Germany)+ Hansen sticks to Germans - but I can't see anything other than the German bulldozer rumbling on in normal time - and if it did go to penalties we all know what would happen.

What's it all about then?

No, before you read any further, this isn't my half hearted attempt at working out why we're here.

I've decided (with pushing from a few mates) to start to air my views on various sports (but mainly Football) to the wider world. Not that they're necessarily any interest to anyone but it may allow the lads to get a word in edgeways.

I thought the best way to start a blog about football was to write something about what the world of football has offered over the last few weeks.

We're nearing the end of the European Championships already (anyone remember the 3 year long cricket world cup?) and I agree with many of my mates who say they've enjoyed it much more than we thought we would. Without the inevitable torment of an early England exit in the knockout stages, this major tournament has actually served up some great entertainment as well as a putting a few of the lesser known players in the global shop window (take a bow Mssrs Arshavin, Zhirakov, Engelaar and Boruc).

The only thing that has slightly spoiled the whole event has been the commentary and punditry (Cue rant number 1). We're all pleased the BBC and ITV continue to broadcast these tournaments even without England, but wouldn't they be better served getting some more incisive (by that I mean not braindead) co-commentators and studio 'experts'.

I've long held the view that being forced to listen to David Pleat for 90 minutes is what the American phrase 'cruel and unusual punishment' was invented for. A normally fairly calm individual watching a match in which he has no partisan views will be roused to a level of TV smashing anger by the stream of inanities that pour out of the man. Example - during Portugal's final group game Helder Postiga made an appearance. Having had him at Spurs you'd have waited for some insight from Pleat, perhaps "he likes the ball played in low to the front post" or some such. What we actually got was..."he's a nice boy". Fantastic. The prosecution rests.

We all know Alan "dressing room joker" Shearer has all the dynamic TV presence of the couch he shares with the sardonic Mr Hansen (who is usually worth hearing at least). It amazes me that despite all the rumours of a supposed return to football (Newcastle/Blackburn/Sheff Wed??????) the guy hasn't returned to the environment he obviously felt (and looked) more at home in. Come on Alan, do us a favour and go help out old Kelvin Koogan before his hair actually goes totally see through.

Finally, as a Manchester resident, I think it's about time we all forgot about Cristiano Ronaldo entirely. My one take on the whole subject is this; if a player wants to go, there is pretty much nothing a club can do to stop him. Ronaldo wants to go, so United should wait til he asks for a transfer. Thus saving themselves millions in loyalty payments, and ensuring the villains of the piece, his agent Mendes and the money men at Real get 10% of f*ck all and a larger bill respectively. Then sell the boy for £70million and buy 3 world class players to defend the European Cup.