England v Ukraine Preview

Neeeeeeeeeeeigh

After the efficient 1-1 draw with the French and the comeback win against the Swedes, hopes are high for the final group match against the co-hosts Ukraine. Trying to predict or preview any England match is always a bit dodgy, the factor of unpredictability comes into play more in England games than any other. I mean who could have predicted that a horse (Andy Carroll) would head home England's opener against Sweden. 

Out of respect and not wanting to jinx any potential England victory by ignoring our hosts, I'll start by assessing Ukraine. I would expect them to stick with their 4-1-2-1-2 formation which can sometimes change into a  4-1-3-2 when defending with Nazarenko dropping deeper. They started the tournament in magnificent fashion with a 2-1 win over Sweden, despite falling behind they dominated the match with an impressive 57% of possession, interestingly more than England when they played the Swedes.

Sheva

That game saw the 2nd coming of Andriy Shevchenko who's brace showed he could still finish at the top level, even if he cant run. I will add that those headers came against a slack Swedish defence with no pace, although that same defence contains a Swedish defender in Olof Mellberg that twice scored against us - swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Yevhen Konoplyanka

In both their games the Ukrainians played with a certain style and swagger. The most impressive players for me were Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka, two tricky wingers with lots of pace and the ability to drift inside and cause more havoc. However for all there style and ability defensively is where the problems are for the Ukraine. 

Calamity Pyatov

Anatoly Tymoschuk, the Bayern Munich midfielder, sits in front of the defence as more of a protector of the back four than an enforcer. The worry is that the Ukrainian defence will switch off at key moments or as manager Oleg Blokhin puts it, 'We have problems related to both the central defenders and full-backs, figuratively speaking, our defenders do not even tackle properly'. So Tymoschuk is there too see danger and prevent it. If you have watched both Ukraine games it is easy to spot their main weakness, Andriy Pyatov. His erratic style of goalkeeping means he can produce world class saves and then throw one in. If you've yet to see him in action here he is (watch out for his brilliant attempt at jumping over Andres Iniesta's finish)

As regards England before the tournament it was, ' we are not favourites to win it, so maybe we will win it'. After the France game, ' we have drawn with one of the best teams in the world, so maybe we will win it'. After the Sweden game, ' WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS'. Whatever your aspirations for England, it cannot be denied that Roy Hodgson has moulded us into a hard to beat and well organized team.

Group Hug..........Go on then

The only decisions Roy has to make, is whether he should bring Wayne Rooney back into the team following his suspension and after his Man of the Match display against Sweden whether Theo Walcott should replace James Milner. I believe that Roy will bring Wayne Rooney back into the team for Andy Carroll, despite his impressive performance against the Swedish the prospect of linking up the Manchester United trio of Rooney, Young and Welbeck is just too mouthwatering. I also believe that James Milner with start ahead of Theo Walcott, simply for the fact that England's weak link (If they have one!) is Glen Johnson. Milner is there to fill in the hole Johnson leaves when he bombs forward. 

The vital cog in this England squad is the team spirit and it is vital it keeps turning. We have already seen a squad that is arguably better than England in the Dutch, go home following a lack of unity. Arjen Robben's greediness on the ball and Klass-Jan Hunterlaar thinking and saying his should start ahead of Robin Van Persie all lead to the the downfall of the Dutch team (it also may have had something to do with their naff defence). From Gary Neville to Jack Butland the squad have a harmonious team spirit, which was non-existence two years ago in South Africa. 

Whatever happens tonight in Donetsk, the main thing is England play for the win and don't sit on the draw as that can only lead to disaster. Also it would be nice to finish top of the group and play the Italians rather than the Spanish in the Quarters. COME ON ENGLAND  

England Team spirit

Dutch Team spirit

Irish Team spirit, 'You'll never beat the Irish'

Yes you can there shite!

        

The First Day of the Rest of our Season

Clive Platt

It was today when it really dawned on me that Coventry City were in the 3rd tier of English football. As the fixtures appeared at 9AM and it materialised that our first game would be against Yeovil Town at Huish Park, how far our 'mighty' club had fallen. You'd now expect me to say, 'however there are many reasons why the club can be confident of an automatic return to the Championship', what I'm actually going to say is the very opposite. Since the 4-0 thrashing by Southampton the City have been in a period of stagnation (if it wasn't already) so much so that even the tree that is Clive Platt has been uprooted and jumped ship to link up with former City boss and full-time long ball merchant Aidy Hoofroyd. The club doesn’t appear to know what direction there going in and as June 1st nears we look no closer to removing the transfer embargo, for me it is clear there are several big decisions to be made .

The defensive duo

Firstly the whole will they won’t they Richard Keogh and Martin Crainie saga, needs to be given some level of clarity. We are all aware that the club have offered both of them new contracts and that Steve Waggott is even taking sense on the matter, "I've told them that we aim to bounce back at the first attempt which is easy to say and hard to do, although we’d certainly stand a much better chance of realising that aim with players of their capability on board", with respect Mr Waggott - no shit, Keogh and Crainie are the only two players to come out of last season with any credibility, so of course they need to stay. Nevertheless with clubs like Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Cardiff City sniffing around it wouldn't come as a surprise if we were without them come the 18th of August.

Ah Freddy so many memories.........or just the one 

This leads me onto the others that have left already; Sammy Clingan, Freddy Eastwood, Herman Hreidarsson, Clive Platt and both James McPake and Roy O'Donovan looking increasingly likely to depart. There was a lot of dead wood left from last season and the club have at least made the decision to get rid of it. For me there are not many complaints about letting this lot go; only McPake could be missed if the aforementioned Keogh and Crainie leave. As regards the rest, Sammy severely underperformed last season and Conor Thomas, Bigi and Gary Deegan can do his defensive midfield role just as well if not better. Freddy promised so much and has delivered so little, he will always be remembered for the Hat-trick against Peterborough and not much else. Platt, Plattini, The Tree, that big donkey up front whatever you call him he was never good enough . Roy hasn't played and so as you'd expect seeks pastures new, personally I hope he finally starts to play some football as his career could go the same way as the City. With these players leaving the question remains who is coming in?

Transfer Target No.1 - Deadly Dele

Transfer Target No.2 - Cool Clinton (You get me bruv)

This business with the transfer embargo has gone on for far too long, it has already cost us two players in Bradford's Dave Syers and Shrewsbury's James Collins who have joined our league one rivals Doncaster and Swindon. The situation with SISU hasn't appeared to have changed and so Thorny won’t have much to work with if the embargo ever gets lifted. It is vital that it does and fast as even without money there are so many free agents out there that are so much better than what we've got. For example Danny Webber, Justin Hoyte, Mikael Forssell, James Harper, Paul Green, Dele Adebola (jokes), Simon Gillett, Giles Barnes, Clarke Carlisle, Lee Naylor, Tommy Milller, Brian Howard, James Beattie, David Cotterill, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Clinton Morrison, Lloyd Sam, George Boateng and Emile Heskey (Not a joke as Heskey jokes are not funny anymore) to name but a few. With wages being available following the exit of Sammy Clingan and Freddy Eastwood, why not try and sign a few of these. Many of them have that key attribute of PACE, that in the past ten years we have only ever had once in Marlon King and he despite leaving us for the Yam-Yams last year was quite good. 

Transfer Target No.3 - Georgey Boy

The situation with SISU has been well documented as has the situation with the takeover. As I see it between now and the start of the season action needs to take place. If Gary Hoffman is serious about a takeover, and I don't doubt that he is, he needs to enter into negotiations with SISU and place his cards firmly on the table. In recent weeks one of Hoffman's potential investors has been revealed as 57-year-old businessman Wang Jianlin, president of Wanda Group. He is the sixth richest man in China with a personal fortune of £4 billion, the maths is simple: Wang Jianlin = MONEY, SISU = NO MONEY. If this takeover is too happen it needs to take place before the start of the season, if it does not happen by then Gary and his investors may have to call it a day.

Wang Jianlin

So there it is, if by the start of the season Keogh and Crainie are City players, we have Adebola and Heskey up front and Wang Jianlin is the new owner we could have great season and dominate the league. However as it stands now the only change the club have made is to get rid of Steve Harrison

      

Bye bye Steve

The Premier League Final Day Preview

Today is the climax to just over nine months of blood, sweat and tears (possibly a lot of tears if you’re a Wolves or Blackburn fan). It’s all come down to one last game and with the Premier League title, Champions League places and relegation yet to be decided, it’s all still to play for. What is already decided is the fact that by the end of play today we will have witnessed possibly the most dramatic end to a Premier League season ever, my advice to you sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Race for the Title/Relegation

The Barclays Premier League

Never before has the Premier League or as Owen Coyle so brilliantly puts it his enthusiastic Scottish accent, 'The Barclays Premier League' been decided on goal difference, today it could and most probably will be with both United and City odds on to win.

Game 1 - Manchester City vs QPR

Pantilimon

As much as I'd love City to lose and United to win the title, frankly I just can’t see it. Personally I fancy Sergio Aguero to get the better of Clint Hill and put a few past Paddy Kenny and although QPR do possess a couple of class players in their team, City have a squad full of them and if Toure doesn't get you, Tevez will and if Tevez doesn't get you, Silva will and if Silva dosen't get you, Pantilimon will and so on.

Man City's Key Man - Yaya Toure - One word sums him up - BEAST

QPR's Key Man - Djibril Cisse - He will either get sent off or score, I’m hoping for the latter

My Prediction - Manchester City 4-1 QPR

Game 2 - Sunderland vs Manchester United

I expect this to be a much tighter game than the one at the Etihad, although Sunderland haven't been in the best of form recently, they'll raise their game for the visit of United. As for United it’s a case of 'what if' for this season, what if they hadn't played their reserves in the Champions League, what if they had signed a decent central midfielder and what if they actually tried to defend against Everton. Whatever happens today United need to spend in the summer if they want to keep up with City in the future, my advice to them is go and get two of Sneijder, Kaka, Kagawa and Schweinsteiger so they can let Giggs and Scholes retire gracefully.

Sunderland's Key Man - Stephane Sessegnon - If Benin's greatest ever player is on song the Mackems may have a chance.

Benin's Greatest Ever Player

Man United's Key Man - Wayne Rooney - Without his goals united would have fallen well short

My Prediction - Sunderland 1-2 Manchester United

Champions League Chasing

At the start of the season many would have predicted Arsenal and Spurs to both challenge and probably qualify for the Champions League, but no-one would have backed Newcastle yet here we are game week 38 and all three are still going for the two spots left or will it be one.

Game 3 - West Bromwich Albion vs Arsenal 

Bring on the Euros

The game at the Hawthorns today will be Roy Hodgson's final game in charge of the Baggies before he departs to manage England to Euro 2012 glory. As a result of this I believe that the players will want to give Roy a good send off and maybe even a win. Another trophy-less season for the Gunners could only get worse if they fail to qualify for the Champions League (well it could get worse if RVP leaves.....nah he won't leave at Arsenal he can win trophies and play in the champions league.....oh dear) and for me this is a possibility.

What a Player

WBA's Key Man - Peter Odemwingie - Is he the man to shoot down the Gunners

Arsenal's Key Man - Take a guess and no it’s not Sebastian Squillaci

My Prediction - WBA 2-2 Arsenal

Game 4 - Tottenham Hotspurs vs Fulham

How on earth Spurs let a ten point lead over Arsenal slip no-one knows, yet they are still if with a great shout of finishing above their North London rivals. Wherever they finish I fully expect them to beat the Cottagers. As regards Fulham their only disappointment this season is not going further than the group stage of the Europa League, apart from that Martin Jol has had an efficient first season. All they need to do know is hang onto their star players Dempsey, Dembele and Pavel Pogrenebebrebebbenyak.

The Big Russian

Spurs's Key Man - Gareth Bale - When the Welshman is in full flow he is unstoppable

Fulham's Key Man - Alex kacanikkniclicklic - The Swedish trickster has looked good since returning from a loan spell at Watford.

My Prediction - Spurs 2-1 Fulham

Game 5 - Everton vs Newcastle 

With the unpredictability of this season we probably shouldn't be surprised that Newcastle have had the season they've had. You have to applaud Alan Pardew, three years ago he was sacked by League 1 Southampton and now he's on the brink of getting the Magpies into the Champions League. A special shout-out has to go to his back room staff of John Carver, Steve Stone and especially Graham Carr the club's Chief Scout. As for Everton it’s been a regular season for them, start crap, end well and bottle it against Liverpool on a number of occasions. But fair play to David Moyes on his ten years at Goodison Park and for getting one of the signings of the season Nikica Jelavic.

Goal of the Season

Newcastle's Key Man - Papiss Cisse - Who else

Everton's Key Man - Leon Osman - All of the Toffee's best play goes through him

My Prediction - Everton 1-1 Newcastle

Relegation Battle

It’s simple, QPR or Bolton

Game 6 - Stoke City vs Bolton Wanderers

The Master Tactician

Personally I'd rather Stoke were going down than QPR or Bolton with the dire football they play, but it’s a results business and Bolton just haven't got the results. In all fairness it’s been a traumatic season for the Trotters, with both Tyrone Mears and Chung Yong lee breaking their legs before a ball had been kicked and then the awful Fabrice Muamba situation who is thankfully on the road to recovery. What can I say about Stoke, their football is the most boring, abject, long ball I've ever seen and I've watched a season of Aidy Boothroyd Clive Platt Hoof ball, their fans have no respect for some of football's Legends such as Arsene Wenger and they bottled it against Valencia in the Europa League.

Stoke's Key Man - Peter Crouch - Maybe he will score another screamer and liven up the game a bit

Bolton's Key Man - Mark Davies - Makes Bolton tick

My Prediction - Stoke 0-1 Bolton

The Rest

Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn

Norwich 2-1 Villa

Swansea 2-1 Liverpool

Wigan 3-2 Wolves

On a lighter note I'd like to show my appreciation to the three best managers this season

Chicken Man

Mick McCarthy's Man

Scotsman

The Alternative Football Awards

With the recent release of the shortlist of both the PFA player and young player of the season and the Premier League 20 seasons awards, I have decided to give my own awards out. Unlike the conventional awards such as 'player of the season' and 'goal of the season', my awards will be a little bit different.

'Worst' Player of the Season

The Candidates:-

At least he has the looks

Andrey Arshavin - The enigma that is Andrei Arshavin, a player who can score 4 against Liverpool at Anfield one week and get substituted for Chu-Young Park the next. In his 26 appearances for the Gunners this season he has the amazing total of 2 goals the same amount as his Arsenal team mate Laurent Koscielny. As a result Arsene Wenger sent him back to Russia on loan with Zenit St Petersburg where so far he has one goal in five appearances.

Hindsights a wonderful thing

Fernando Torres - £50 million - Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney - some of the players you might think are worth this amount of money, to be honest Messi and Ronaldo are probably worth three times that amount. Three years ago you would most likely have added Fernando Torres to that list, two years ago he was worth £30 million, a year ago £20-25 million and now less than £20 million. Yet just over a year ago Chelsea payed £50 million for the Spanish international, since then has scored the grand total of 8 goals in 41 appearances for Chelsea, missed an open goal against Manchester United and been dropped from the Spain squad.

Get in! 7th place

Stewart Downing - To be quite honest I could of chosen any of Liverpool's recent signings especially Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll, but I was so astounded by his stats this season I just couldn't leave him out. In 31 Premier League appearances this season Downing has the accumulated the grand total of 2 goals and 3 assists - appalling. It is even more appalling when you compare Downing with his former Aston Villa team mate Ashley Young, who in fewer games (22 PL appearances) has 6 goals and 12 assists.

Joey Barton - Maybe if he wasn't such an annoying, outspoken (Insert expletive here) prima donna I may have a bit of sympathy for the QPR captain, but the reality is Joey Barton has been one of this season's biggest under performers. his inconsistent form has seen a QPR team with decent Premier League players such as Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cisse become embroiled in a relegation battle. In all fairness to Barton since he has taken a break from Twitter his form and that of QPR has improved.

You only have yourself to blame Wolves

Roger Johnson - Throughout Birmingham City's recent two year stint in the in the Premier League their two stand out performers were the centre back partnership of Scott Dann and Roger Johnson, so when the brummies were relegated both Dann and Johnson were hot property. Blackburn snapped up Dann, who has had a decent season at Ewood park and Wolves captured Johnson, who has had an indifferent season to say the least. Wolves as a collective have been very poor this season, but it is defensively were they have been abysmal (This is what happens when you loan out George Elokobi) conceding 73 goals this season with Johnson being made to look very ordinary.

The Winner

Roger Johnson  

Yessssssssssss I won

They think its all over, they may have to think again

3.45 - We are staying up

I like many at half time at Ashton Gate on Monday allowed myself to believe that City would hold onto to the lead they had gained through Jon Stead's own goal through the second half and come away from Bristol with the valuable three points that were so desperately needed in the battle to avoid the drop, however 45 minutes and an inept second half performance later this belief of mine had been shot down in flames or maybe that should be rain. Worse still was what I can only describe as one of my most unpleasant moments as a Coventry fan, what seemed the longest walk out of a ground ever in the p*ssing rain with a few thousand Bristolians pointing out the fact that we may be going down this season (In all fairness we didn't need a load of cider drinking farmers to tell us that). Maybe it was Karma on my part as I had boldly predicted in my previous blog that we would stay up and Bristol would go down. At this point you may think I would accept the fact that relegation is an inevitability, ye of little faith, there is in my opinion many, yes many reasons with the City can stay up. I've been able to get down the many reasons to five main reasons why the Sky Blues can still stay up.

4.45 - Oh Dear

Reason 1 - Fixtures - With Millwall's win over Pompey last night it is now more than likely that the final relegation spot is between us and Bristol City, with this the final four fixtures of the two teams come into play. Bristol City's next two games are against promotion chasing Birmingham away and West Ham at home, it doesn't take a genius to work out the point I am making, that these two sides are just about guaranteed to be in the play-offs and should therefore have the quality to beat Bristol. Obviously this is the championship where anything can happen, but when you look closer at these fixtures you see that Birmingham have only lost one game at home all season and that West Ham have the best away record in the division. Add to this that we have two very winnable home games to come against Millwall and Doncaster, results in the fact that we should at least be able to take the relegation battle to the last day of the season.

We can only dream

Reason 2 - Oliver Norwood and Alex Nimley - Originally I was more impressed with Nimely than Norwood but the Northern Ireland international has impressed during the last ten or so games with his passing ability being particularly good. The fact that on Monday the fans had to chant Nimely's name to get him on the pitch shows his worth to the team (Lets face it he's the only player we have with real pace). Both players have been vital to getting City into a position where we can still fight for survival and I believe that they will both be key in the final games of the season.

Alex Nimely

Reason 3 - Fortress Ricoh - No one could ever say that the Ricoh has been an intimidating place for an away team to come to, but currently it appears that it is as we are unbeaten in six games at home. We need to use this to our advantage and I plead with anybody reading this blog (and that is quite a lot of people) to buy tickets for the final two games at the Ricoh and try and revive a Highfield Road-esque atmosphere.

Reason 4 - Brett Pitman - Bristol City's striker was red carded for a shocking tackle on Jordan Clarke on Monday and as a result he will miss the Robins next three games. I would now like to point out the fact that he is their top scorer this season and without him they do have trouble scoring. 

Reason 5 - The Return of David Bell - Yes I'm serious David Bell could be the answer to all Cov fan's prayers. Ever since Carl Baker pulled up with a Hamstring injury against Birmingham, the right side of the diamond position has been city's major weak link. Conor Thomas, Gael Bigirimana and most recently Gary Deegan have all been played their and all struggled. This is where Belly comes in, no-one really knows his best position he's not an out and out winger and not quite a central midfielder but maybe something in between. Whereas Thomas, Bigi and Deegan are naturally definsively minded midfielders, Bell has flair and skill to his game and in my opinion would be naturally suited to that position. 

David Bell

Well there they are, five fool proof reasons as to why Coventry City will stay up. Failing these five reasons we can only hope that Clive Platt actually starts to play like his name sake Michel Platini.

Clive Platt

Michel Platini

       

The Championship - Every team with something to play for (except Barnsley and now Peterborough)

Part 2 - Relegation

Team - Nottingham Forest

Garath McCleary

My View - After the debacle that was Steve McClaren's reign as Forest manager, Steve Cotterill appeared to have steadied the ship with four wins out of his first six games. However a poor run of results coinciding with the failure to score at home in seven consecutive games, led to Forest being thrust into a relegation battle. However recently they have played some decent football and got some excellent results, none more than the 7-3 hammering of Leeds at Elland Road. As it stands they are six points outside the relegation zone and with the quality of squad they have I expect them to stay up.   

Key Man - Garath McCleary - The skilful wide-man has been one of the reasons for Forest's return to form, his explosive performance against Leeds in which he bagged four goals highlighted his quality.  

My Prediction - 18th

Andy Keogh

Team - Millwall
My View - It's been a case of second-season syndrome for Millwall this year. Last season a newly promoted Millwall team finished the season in 9th and flirted with the play-offs throughout the season. However this season they've consistently been a bottom half team. Personally I don't expect them to go down but their recent form hasn't been brilliant with only eleven points from their last ten games.   
Key Men - Darius Henderson and Andy Keogh - One of the main reasons for Millwall's underwhelming season has been the loss of Steve Morison to Norwich. If Henderson and Keogh can continue the decent scoring record they've had this season Millwall should be ok  
My Prediction - 21st

Team - Coventry City

Inspirational

My View - The super Sky Blues have struggled for the majority of the season, mainly for reasons off the field. Many youth players have been thrown into first team action as a result, with the likes of Conor Thomas, Gael Bigirimana and Cyrus Christie showing their worth. However they are unbeaten in six games and are now out of the relegation zone for the first time since October. At this stage of the season momentum is key and with five of their last six games against teams in the bottom half I am confident that City will maintain their championship status for another season. 
Key Man - Richard Keogh - A rock at the back all season long and has formed a solid partnership at centre half with Martin Crainie.
My Prediction -19th

Calamity James strikes again

Team - Bristol City
My View - Similarly to Forest the robins sacked their manager Keith Millen early in the season and replaced him with Scot Derek McInnes. This change had the same effect as it did at Forest, after an initial run of wins they have fallen down the table and have only one win in their last ten games. The loss of top scorer Nicky Maynard to West Ham in January only added to their woes and with David 'calamity' James giving goals away relegation is a distinct possibility. Failure to get anything out of key games with Coventry and Forest will in my opinion see relegation become a reality   
Key Man - Brett Pitman - If the former Bournemouth hotshot can find his shooting boots Bristol may have a chance of survival 
My Prediction - 22nd

Oh dear

Team - Portsmouth 

My View - If Portsmouth go down it is a simple case of a club not learning its lesson. Having been in administration once before you would have thought that they would have tried to stabilise the club, this wasn't the case and in February they entered administration again (If your going to pay tinpot players like Tal Ben-Haim 60k a week what do you expect). With administration came a ten point deduction, the loss of first team players such as Erik Huseklepp and Liam Lawrence and in my opinion relegation  
Key Man - The Administrator - If he does his job properly Portsmouth may have a future as a football club
My Prediction - 23rd 

'Yes lads were going down'

Team - Doncaster Rovers
My View - What can be said about Doncaster that hasn't already been said, frankly there just not good enough. It doesn't matter how many 'big' players you sign for huge money on short contracts, the fact of the matter is that the likes of Diouf, Piquionne, Ilunga and Beye are all over thirty and couldn't careless if Donny go down as long as they get their pay packet   

Key Man - Dean Saunders - A good manager who will do well with Donny as he did with Wrexham 
My Prediction - 24th

The best of the rest - Peterborough and Barnsley

My View - With six games to go they are ten and nine points outside the relegation zone and as a result I can't see them going down. However I can see Barnsley not picking up a single point for the rest of the season. The only reason Barnsley will be safe is down to Ricardo Vaz Te's goals in the first half of the season

The Table