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Soccer Banter

Extra Time with Dave Clarke

10/27/2011

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On the day before England played Montenegro recently, Wayne Rooney’s father was arrested as part of an investigation into suspicious betting activity relating to a game between Motherwell and Hearts.  Motherwell’s Liverpool born midfielder Steve Jennings allegedly got himself deliberately sent off so that spread betting on the game could cash in on his red card at odds of 10-1.  Fabio Capello’s decision to then play Rooney against Montenegro should have set off the same level of betting.  If there was one game in which Rooney was going to be sent off it was that one.  I am not a betting man, but even I would have put a few quid on Rooney to receive his marching orders.

The Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after being eliminated by France in a playoff.  The infamous Thierry Henry handball incident put paid to Irish hopes in Paris in 2009.  Two weeks ago at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin a phantom handball led to Armenia’s keeper being sent off and Ireland winning 2-1.  The win saw Ireland make the play-offs where they drew Estonia.  FAI President, John Delaney was not as outspoken this time when the decision went in his side’s favor.  At the draw for the play-offs Delaney could not contain his joy when Ireland were drawn to play Estonia.  Be careful what you wish for John because football has a nasty way of coming back to bite you when you least expect it.

The Euro 2012 tournament in Poland/Ukraine is shaping up to be a very competitive and promising event.  The list of qualifiers reads like a who’s who of European football including former champions Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Holland, Russia and Spain which have all qualified.  England will be there too.  



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Man United went to Anfield with a make shift team intent on getting a draw against a resurgent Liverpool.  Alex Ferguson’s team selection and tactics were somewhat dismissive of Liverpool and it was obvious he had one eye on his team’s Champions League tie against SC Otelul Galati and their next league game against Man City ’08.  The game was a non event in comparison to recent games between the two clubs.  The Merseysiders were slightly better without creating much while a subdued United snatched a well earned and hard fought draw. 

Alex Ferguson displayed the same dismissive attitude towards City in Sunday’s Manchester derby and it backfired on him.  He left Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones, Javier Hernandez and big game player Ji-Sung Park out of the starting lineup.  In 25 years at Old Trafford Fergie has not made many mistakes, but he did in his approach to the Liverpool and City games.  Fergie’s tactics failed miserably as they did in the Champions League Final against Barcelona.  Is there a pattern developing here? 

Man City ‘08 certainly deserved their win over United, if not the extent of their victory. City are now favorites for the title, but their 6-1 rout of their neighbors is a one off result similar to United’s hammering of Arsenal earlier this season and England’s 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich in 2001 not to mention City’s own 5-1 over United in 1989.  These results happen from time to time, but are not a real reflection of the quality of the losing team.  United will be back and City are a long way from being crowned champions.  The result is a great one for City fans who have endured a long period of time in United’s shadow.  However, the 6-1 win will be a hollow victory if City do not win the title. 



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In the recent past Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday both played in the Premier League and met in an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley.  The Blades and Owls have won five league titles and 7 FA Cups between them and are now suffering the ignominy of third tier football.  Last weekend they met in the Steel City derby in a League One game in front of 28,136 at Bramall Lane.  United led 2-0 before Wednesday scored two late goals to share a point that keeps both teams in the play off places and a return to a higher division where they rightly should be.    

Last April the Celtic fans showed their support for embattled manager Neil Lennon by standing and cheering his name in the 18th minute of a game at Kilmarnock.  The same ground was nearly the scene of Lennon’s departure from his beloved Celtic.  Kilmarnock raced into a 3-0 lead and until the 73rd minute seemed set to end Lennon’s managerial reign.  A superb free kick from Anthony Stokes sparked Celtic into life.  Stokes would add a second before Charlie Mulgrew scored a dramatic equalizer to send the Celtic support into raptures.  Lennon’s reign at Celtic Park is still a tenuous one at best despite a draw at Rennes in the Europa Cup and a nervy 2-1 home win against Aberdeen.  However, if his team shows the same desire and application in the coming month he might just turn things around.



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Neil Barnet is a regular presenter on the Chelsea ’03 radio channel otherwise known as Sirius Channel 92.  Barnet is the typical condescending and arrogant Chelsea ‘03 supporter prone to outlandish statements about the blues.  On a recent show he said that Chelsea ’03 have surpassed Liverpool in terms of worldwide fan support and that they and not Liverpool were now considered a ‘big club.’  What utter nonsense!  Chelsea ’03 are the lottery winners which have bought their success and which are trying to buy tradition and class too.  Neil, football did not start with the birth of Sky and the Premier League.  I am not a Liverpool fan, but their history, tradition and worldwide fan base is far superior to that of Chelsea ’03.         

It is only a matter of time before the foreign owners of EPL clubs demand a say in how the league is run and will call into question some of the game’s traditions such as promotion and relegation.  None of the foreign owners are true fans of the clubs they own and have only invested in English football for the money they can make from their respective clubs.  The Premier League has long since sold its soul to the devil and the new breed of owner cares nothing for the history, tradition and sense of fair play of English football’s pyramid system.  Foreign owners are cultivating a silent revolution in English football and the game might never be the same again.



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It has been 22 years since the Hillsborough disaster and finally the British government has agreed to release cabinet papers related to it.  Ninety-six fans lost their lives on April 15, 1989 due to the negligence of the police, local authorities and football’s administrators of the day.  I was at Hillsborough in 1981 to see Spurs draw with Wolves in the FA Cup semi-final.  The Spurs fans had the same Leppings Lane end of the ground as Liverpool and the same crush was avoided only when police allowed fans to pour onto the running track.  Fans in the 80’s were treated like animals and everyone that attended a game in England in that period knows that Hissborigh was a disaster waiting to happen.  Those 96 Liverpool fans did not have to die and one can only hope that the truth finally assigns blame to those guilty of negligence and indifference. 

John Terry has been allegedly a naughty boy again for something racist he may have said to Queen’s Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand in Sunday’s West London derby.  If the Chelsea ’03 and England captain is charged by the FA they should call Tottenham captain, Ledley King in too and have him ask Terry what is it he allegedly said to King before being sent off against Spurs at White Hart Lane in 2010. 
  


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Extra Time with Dave Clarke

10/9/2011

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Harry Redknapp entered the debate about Carlos Tevez refusing to play for Man City ’08 in last week’s Champions League tie at Bayern Munich.  Redknapp was critical of Tevez when asked about the incident.  “I just wonder what City legends like Malcolm Allison and Mike Summerbee would have thought of seeing a player refuse to play in a Champions League game,” said Redknapp.  I am sure they would think the same as Spurs legends like Dave Mackay, Danny Blanchflower and Bill Nicholson when Luka Modric refused to play for Spurs against City in last month’s EPL game at White Hart Lane. 

Kenny Dalglish was very critical of the referees in Liverpool’s recent games against Sunderland, Stoke City and Spurs. He complained to the media that Liverpool were not receiving fair treatment from the match officials and that the big calls were going against his team.  King Kenny was upset when the first question asked of him, after the Merseyside derby against Everton, pertained to referee Martin Atkinson’s decision, to incorrectly send off Jack Rodwell.  Kenny, you can’t have it both ways.    



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There is much to admire about Arsene Wenger as a football manager and the English game will be poorer for his absence.  However, one aspect of Wenger’s personality that will not be missed is his insistence that he is always right.  His post game comments in the aftermath of Arsenal’s loss at White Hart Lane on Sunday are already the stuff of legend.  Rafael van der Vaart may have handled the ball in the build up to Spurs first goal, but it was ball to hand rather than the other way round and therefore not an infringement.  Wenger would have been better served criticizing his right back for failing to track his runner, or his keeper for not stopping Kyle Walker’s shot, or his forward for that first half miss, or Theo Walcott for being, well, Theo Walcott.         

Wenger and many Arsenal fans bemoaned the number of players missing or unavailable for Sunday’s game and how it contributed to Arsenal’s loss.  William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone, Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar, Aaron Lennon, Danny Rose and Michael Dawson were all missing from the Spurs line up while Sandro and van der Vaart both played despite not being 100% fit.  Spurs did well considering they were missing four definite starters.

I endured the trip from hell on Sunday morning.  I drove back from visiting the in-laws in Vermont.  That wasn’t it.  I was driving a minivan with my four screaming kids in the back.  That wasn’t it either.  I had the misfortune to listen to Sirius radio’s live commentary of the Spurs-Arsenal game in which they used the feed from the official Arsenal web site.  It was hell on wheels.  It is bad enough that Sirius is one long Chelsea FC ’03 infomercial without now having to endure biased Arsenal commentators too.  Unfortunately I did not get to hear the disappointment in their voices as the final whistle blew because Sirius for some unknown reason cut to a NFL game.         


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The referees in the two derby games have come in for a lot of criticism.  However, I have yet to hear any pundit discuss the van der Vaart and Rodwell decisions from the two refs’ perspectives.  We saw all sorts of camera angles to show why Rodwell did not deserve red and to a lesser extent why van der Vaart’s goal may have included a hand ball.  But none of the replays’ showed the incidents from the referees angles and lines of sight.  From where Atkinson was standing the tackle on Luis Suarez was a poor one and may have looked two footed and worthy of a red.  From where Mike Dean was positioned van der Vaart chested the ball down and finished exquisitely.  Maybe Sky and ESPN should put a micro camera on the referees’ lapels and we might have a better appreciation for how difficult the game is for them.

There is so much money in the modern game that incorrect referee decisions can cost teams millions in lost revenue or the chance to win a trophy, manager’s their job and players the chance to play in major finals.  It won’t be long until a club, manager or a player sues a referee and by extension the league in which they are playing for loss of earnings attributed to a poor decision in a game.  It will be a sad day for football when it happens, but like with the Bosman and Charleroi cases, football will have to respect the power of the courts.



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Earlier this year Owen Coyle was being hailed as the next great Scottish manager as his Bolton Wanderers side were flying high in the Premier League and had made it through to the FA Cup semifinal.  A confidence destroying loss to Stoke City saw Bolton go into freefall and their 2010-11 season fizzle out.  Bolton have carried on where they left off and Coyle now finds himself under increasing pressure as his team sit bottom of the table.  Bolton have played and lost to Man City ’08, Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea ’03, so they have endured a tough start.  Compare that schedule to Newcastle who have played Sunderland, Fulham, QPR, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Wolves.  Had the schedules been reversed Bolton might be comfortably in the top ten and Newcastle rooted at the bottom of the table.

Luis Suarez is fast becoming one of the most disliked players in English football.  He has a habit of diving and been over dramatic when trying to win calls for his team.  He was at it again this weekend.  His overreaction to Jack Rodwell’s tackle saw the Everton player sent off while his theatrics when being fouled by Phil Jagielka helped convince the referee to award Liverpool a penalty.



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According to some media reports Rodwell’s sending off was the worst decision ever in a Merseyside derby.  No it wasn’t.  I was at Maine Road the day Clive Thomas disallowed Bryan Hamilton’s apparent winner for Everton in the 1977 FA Cup semifinal versus Liverpool.  Thomas was the only person at Maine Road who saw an infringement and Everton’s chance was gone.  Liverpool hammered them 3-0 in the replay before losing to Man United in the final.  

Neil Lennon is under increasing pressure at his beloved Celtic as the Hoops fell 10 points behind bitter rivals Rangers following Sunday’s loss at Hearts.  Lennon’s side have played well in many games, but as soon as St. Johnstone, FC Sion, Rangers and Hearts took the lead the Celts imploded.  They lack a leader on the field, are a team devoid of ideas when behind, and in Lennon have a tinkerer for a manager who still does not know his best side.  If Celtic are not within striking distance of Rangers by the turn of the year Celtic will have no choice but to part company with Lennon.  

Juventus, La Vecchia Signora of Italian Football scored two late goals courtesy of Claudio Marchisio to beat AC Milan and go joint top of Serie A with Udinese.  The game with Milan was one of the first high profile games played in front of a full house at the new Juventus Stadium.  Juve and Serie A have been on a downward spiral in recent years and have lost ground to oligarch clubs like Chelsea ’03 and Man City ’08 who have nothing of the history and the tradition of their Italian counterparts.  The new stadium and the return to form of Italy’s leading club may just be the start of a turnaround in Serie A’s fortunes.   



2 Comments

    Dave Clarke

    Head Women's Soccer Coach at Quinnipiac University and US National Staff Coach who received a Masters in Journalism from QU.  A Spurs and Celtic supporter.


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