Tuesday 21 February 2012

The Carling Cup, a legacy restored?


The Carling Cup for me has often been derided (even by me) as a second rate, mickey mouse trophy which is only any good for smaller sides who want silverware & bigger teams to give their kids a run out, but this year (2011/2012) it seems different. I’m not just saying this as the team I love (Liverpool FC for suckas who want to know) are preparing to contest a Final with Championship side Cardiff City, but I say this in the aftermath of what has been a great week for Liverpool FC considering the week looked potentially gloomy to some after we lost to Bolton in the way we did, not so much in terms of the 3-1 score line at the Reebok, but the limp, lifeless and defensively inept performance that the world saw on a Saturday evening, which I had a pleasure of spending the rest of with my team mates at the Amateur league side I play for Ibis FC after our 4th league win in a row (at the time). But I digress, and as previously stated, for me the mood has changed in relation to the Carling cup. Via my personal twitter account @sslja (feel free to follow me) & the @pitchtalk twitter account me & my Pitch Talk show co-hosts (@dagman84 & @apparentlyrich) jump on to do our match updates etc, I saw not laughter or derision of the Carling Cup, but a pride in getting to the Final of the competition after a hard fought 2 legged tie with Manchester City. The reason why I feel the mood has changed & the Carling Cup seems to have got a lot of credibility back is largely down to the manner in which the Semi-Finals were played. Both Semi’s had intrigue & passion laced into a must-win attitude that not only permeated the psyche of the fans, but also the mentalities of the players, especially in the case of Liverpool & Manchester City who both put out their strongest teams available over both legs, thus showing their intent & signalling that the Carling Cup matters again. Both teams could easily have put out shadow teams but both clubs chose to play their strongest teams possible. There could be many reasons why it mattered so much to both teams, Man City wanting to win every trophy & do an unprecedented Quadruple, Liverpool wanting to try & guarantee European football next season (even if it is Europa League), King Kenny wanting to win another trophy for a club he so dearly loves, whilst interrupting a six year gap of no trophies. It’s also interesting considering last year’s final that it’s a Championship side, Cardiff City this time (as opposed to Birmingham City last year) versus a Premier League side again in the form of my beloved Liverpool fc, as opposed to serial capitulators Arsenal, (Gman if you read this, I had to take the swipe) but the Championship v Premiership final does give a bit more intrigue to it and the potential of an upset will be an interesting reason to watch the game. The motives/reasons for teams wanting to win the Carling Cup in 2011/2012 could be and probably are numerous but one thing’s for sure, in my mind & maybe many others, the Carling Cup may have its credibility back, or at least some of it.


I’ve been Straight Shootin’ LJA & that’s my opinion

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Tuesday 14 February 2012

The England managers job, a tremendous opportunity or the FA’s poisoned chalice?


Some say when a manager abdicates his role as the manager of a club it’s an easy way out but for the sake of this blog entry i’ll disagree. The reason being is because of the way football clubs are run nowadays, like businesses, extremely badly run businesses. Now, a lot of people have differing views on Fabio Capello but I for one thought he did well. The stats are on his side as he had a 67% win ratio but as has been the case with a lot of England teams his team stood on ceremony in the 2010 World Cup, which left some England fans (including yours truly) disappointed again, but to me it’s one of them ones whereby the players have to pull their socks up and perform on the pitch, the manager can only do so much with what he’s got & then it’s the players duty to fulfil their potential. England generally remind me of pre-Abramovic Chelsea fc, gifted individuals but not a team who could succeed when it mattered (in the premier league in Chelsea’s case at that time). The England captaincy is the hot topic that was apparently the reason for Fabio Capello’s shock resignation, some say it was because Fabio was backing John Terry, but the more logical reason is the fact that Capello probably felt disrespected more than anything. Imagine being in his position and having a bunch of morons like the English FA taking decisions out of your hands, which directly impact on your job. I don’t advocate Capello abdicating his post, but I can understand why he did it, every heard the phrase ‘too many directors on a movie?’
I’ve called the FA, FIFA & UEFA morons & borderline retarded many times in casual conversation & on our Pitch Talk Live show because of the way they do things & this to me might be another situation where I can use that sort of verbiage. The reason why I call the FA morons in this instance is because of the way they handled the stripping of John Terry’s captaincy. If you are going to make a decision of that gravity surely you have to consult the man running your team aka your manager? Nope, in the FA’s case you don’t have to as David Bernstein & Alex Horne & the other band of morons have made a job that already was a poison chalice even more unattractive to any prospective manager. Now, that brings me neatly to my next points, who should be the next England boss & captain? To me Joe Hart gets my vote, as a Liverpool supporter i’d love to see Steven Gerrard get the nod but if England are going to take a step into the future then for me it has to be the Manchester City stopper leading England for at least the next couple of years, with Jack Wilshire (if he stays on the path he is now) being the next captain after Hart. Simple question, simple answer from me because as an Amateur league left back myself I am a firm advocate of leadership from the back, as well as leadership by example. Now, the second question, who should be the next England manager? I have said and will say again that Harry Redknapp looks like he’ll get it & I am inclined to believe he is the best man for the job but whoever succeeds Mr Capello should be allowed to do what they need to do to make England winners, without the prying and pressure of the media & without the constant interference of the morons at the FA. If any manager is to succeed, he needs a degree of control over what happens at the club/team & the players. Just like in wrestling where a booker would need total control over what talent is placed where on the card and how much they are pushed other wise that booker is hamstrung, so, with my obligatory wrestling reference out of the way I leave you with this question on this Wednesday 8th February night at 23.08, Harry Redknapp may be the favourite for the England job, but with the FA constantly meddling, an English media who do nothing but try to sabotage and bring people down & fans who expect the world, why would any manager want to take it?

I’m Straight Shootin’ LJA & thats my opinion


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