itsmyball

[itsmyball]

Albion Rovers v Rangers - Pre Match Blog

It’s been a strange few months at Cliftonhill in the wake of the crushing disappointment of relegation. After hopes of a new dawn with some pretty interesting names being touted about Rovers fans were a mix of despondent and angry to find James Ward, Todd Lumsdens almost  anonymousassistant had been promoted to the big job. The out cry was massive with some even predicting we might finish bottom this season. Although I didn’t go that far ill admit to being pretty upset about the appointment, Ward had shown nothing a few days prior to his appointment I struggled to remember his name despite seeing him every Saturday for a year. However Ward was defended on twitter by players and once he was given a chance to air his views Rovers fans very quickly came round to his way of thinking. It’s fair to say he done himself no damage by making club hero Scott Chaplain his first signing and also by communicating with fans at a live q&a. Helped with a little extra cash Ward has put together a decent squad arguably better than last seasons.The finishing touches this week of Mark McGuigan and David Crawford really show we mean business this year and have every Rovers fan excited for the start of the league season and they are all cautiously behind James. But still there was a sense it was too late that wouldn’t get us the games against Rangers we missed out on …..

Then it happened for once the god of cup draws smiled upon us and rovers drew Rangers in the Challenge Cup. 31 Years! For the first time in 31 years we would be playing on of the Old Firm by far the longest any team in Scotland has gone without such a plum tie. Now Rangers are a team who on paper finished one place below us last season. But I’m not going to sit and pretend that’s all this is. This is massive for Rovers there is a massive sense of excitement and novelty about at the moment pretty much nobody has seen such a game. It will also be massive finacially for the club! program sales alone will probably be bigger than some of the gates towards the end of last season. With sound financial heads in the board room this money won’t be thrown at getting some “experienced" ex spl mercenary in but rather go towards the long term future of the club. There is however one downside. The venue.

Now the second thing after “yass" that every rovers fan said after the draw is " there is no way that’s being played at Cliftonhill". It saddens me so much that we will lose that advantage that the Rangers team of millionaires and internationalists won’t be subjected to our “cosy" away dressing room that junior players have nightmares about. It saddens me that every other team is able to welcome TV cameras and the worlds media to their unique ground and we can’t. It saddens me that deep down its probably not wholly down to the state of the stadium but the town the stadium is in that this game had to be moved. It’s a head v heart situation in the long term it makes sense for the club , but for the game not even to be played in Lanarkshire with 4 perfectly sized stadiums available its a bit gutting. we have given up any notion of Home advantage and will be playing in a stadium more familiar to Rangers players than our own. It would have been much better had the game been played at Ibrox but after 31 years I guess we can’t be greedy.

Greedy is a accusation being flung in our direction by many of our rivals this season.Claiming we have neglected our stadium in favour of the squad and are now reaping rewards with a gate of 8,000 expected. While I can see how one might come to this view it’s just not right. We have very little money a lot of which is put into getting Cliftonhill up to scratch each year, we can’t put further money into it just so that once every 31 years its fit for a big game. It’s not exactly a Falkirk Brockville situation.

Anyway enough negativity this is a week to be proud to be a Rovers fan for one week only the spotlight is on us, we’ll be on tv ,on the back page of the paper, on the radio. Pundits will pretend to know our players and people at their first game will pretend to be die hards. Hopefully we can make some money and gain some new fans says my head. But in my heart and in my dreams I’m seeing us sneaking a 1-0 and a place in folklore.

Come on The Rovers!

[itsmyball]

We Need to Talk About Kenny

In the home final games of Craig Levein's doomed tenure as Scotland manager one decision more than any got the Tartan Army's back up more than any. The continued picking of Kenny Miller in front of a new generation of strikers. Some who actually score goals.

Miller was unimpressive in the home opener against Serbia, he looked way off the pace and unable to even hold the ball. This of course wasn't  helped by the absence of Steven Fletcher and the uber defensive tactics of the hapless manager. It was a massive surprise then when I turned up at Hampden a couple of days latter to see that he was again starting again and yet again red hot Blackburn striker Rhodes was on the bench. During this game Miller was actually boo'd despite scoring and chants of Rhodes name went round the stadium until it become almost impossible for Craig Levein to continue to play his stubborn games with the fans. Rhodes cameo on and was impressive but had little time, it was clear to me and to most of the fans in attendance that Miller's international career was coming to an end.

With Levein gone and man of the people Gordon Strachan now in charged many hoped that this would signal a change. It was with dismay that when Steven Fletcher was taken off Gordon turned to Miller to come on and lead the line in the game against Wales with predicable results. Strachan now runs the risk of being the third Scotland manager in a row to fall out with his most promising striker and for what ? A man who has lost his main attribute in pace who is now winding down his career in the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps. I'm not saying the MLS is a bad league its much better than the SPL however he isn't exactly pulling up trees with three goals since his move last year.We learned nothing from his performance and nothing that the new manager will be able to use going forward to the Euro qualification campaign by which time Miller will be 35.Why then deny a man like Rhodes with 24 goals this season and 3 goals in his 7 caps a chance.

One argument might be that this competitive game required a man with the international experience of Miller  This game in reality meant nothing why then not give Rhodes the chance to get some competitive experience against the level and type of player he comes up against every week. It would have been the perfect way to ease Rhodes into competitive action for Scotland and let him gain confidence, instead we went with the same old same old and got what we deserved.

Its imperative now that starting with the Serbia game this week , Strachen defines his era by bringing in a new group of players to finish this campaign. Kenny Miller has done his best for Scotland and has a decent record but its now time for guys like Jordan Rhodes and Johnny Russell (who was injured for this round of games) to be allowed the chance to lead Scotland's attack in these competitive but meaningless games. If Miller starts on Tuesday  Strachen could risk losing the fans before he even gets his feet under the table.

Sam Tennent

[itsmyball]

Why Always Milan ?

As Mario Balotelli’s private flight touched down at Milan’s Malpensea airport you could almost hear the tears of the UK’s tabloid reporters shedding a single tear as the Crazy Football Story Creator 5000 decided it was time to return to Milan although this time swapping  i Nerazzurri for i Rossoneri. While some journalists gave us an obituary like run down of their favourite Super Mario moments others such as Sky Sports News top interviewer of car windows Gary Cotterill seemed to be having some sort of mental breakdown following Balotelli around Milan’s finest restaurants in the most Alan Partridge-esque fashion.

However what their seemed to be little talk of is football, what where Manchester City losing? And why would a club like AC Milan want someone who if some pundits are to believed who is trouble and apparently isn’t very good? There are two main reasons.

Firstly there is the suspicion that politician,” legitimate” businessman and all round Bond villain wannabe Silvio Berlusconi who also happens to be Milan’s president is looking to boost his poll numbers for the upcoming election. He has denied this claiming Mario isn’t worth an extra 2%, but the move makes perfect sense. Silvio wasn’t exactly in the Milan fans good books this season after little investment and the selling off of key players such as Ibrahimović and Silva, season tickets were returned and even with slashed prices the uptake on the remaining tickets was slow. However after a poor start results have steadied and the club are now 5th in the table. Still that wasn’t good enough for this famous old club and Berlusconi realised that he needed to put some investment in to the club and boost his campaign,  an attempt to bring club icon Kaka back to the club on loan failed and so attentions turned to Balotelli .An ideal candidate he is a Milan fan and was even pictured in the famous strip whilst playing for cross stadium rivals Inter. He is one of the stars of the new young Italian national team and perhaps most importantly he was available at a knockdown price of a player of his age and quality. Silvio may claim this move wasn’t political but he has already used the signing to attack his rival.  I bought Balotelli because I thought: he scored two goals against Germany and made the Germans cry while the other Mario, Monti, scored two goals as well and made the Italians cry.

Secondly he is that good, despite what Alan Hansen might spout on Match of the Day Mario is a fantastic striker, yes he has some attitude problems but he has proven himself over his short career to have the potential to go on to be one of the best in the world. With all the stories that follow him and his physical style of play it’s easy to forget that Balotelli is just 22 the same age as players like Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson who are still considered “prospects” and younger than a lot of the players in the current Aston Villa “kids” set up. Yet Balotelli is derided for his weakness and shortcomings which he still has plenty of time to work on. The fact of the matter is that Balotelli has three Serie A medals; a Premier League medal and a Champions League medal countless domestic medals. He was man of the match when City won the FA Cup and came on to make the crucial pass to Sergio Aguero on the last day of the season and scored the goals which saw his country put out the favourites in Euro 2012 and make it to the final. If an English player had half the CV of Balotelli at this age he would be hailed a contender to Messi’s throne by the media and any his stories laughed off. Like Wayne Rooney in his early days.

I’m not saying that Super Mario doesn’t come without problems, he was already found himself in the middle of a riot in Milan, but what exciting player didn’t come without some issues and let’s face it Italian football is no stranger a character or two. Less than 24 hours after his flight touched down he was already scoring in a friendly – although as the video below shows it seemed to be against the staff of the canteen or some locals who double booked the pitch- proving he wants to work hard and build on his talent. £19 million looks a steal and it would seem City’s loss will be Milan’s gain.

[itsmyball]

Nigel Adkins Sacking - Strange But Not Surprising

The sacking of Nigel Adkins today sent a moral outrage throughout the twittersphere and anger from Southampton fans and neutrals alike. Sure the question had been whispered earlier in the season could Adkins be sacked but it was always met with a rushed of course not he got them promoted TWICE. Now he finds himself P45 in hand just days after a fantastic comeback at Stamford Bridge and to rub salt in the wounds replaced by a handsome young South American man that was secretly hiding in his proverbial wife’s proverbial closet. This decision seems bizarre, but is it really all that surprising?

Southampton have became most peopled promoted team of choice this season, they have a traditional burly English centre forward , (until today) a youngish English manager and their presence alone harks back to a more innocent time in the early days of the Premiership with Matt Le Tissier volleys , The Dell and Man United having to change their shirts at halftime. With all this it’s easy to forget that Southampton are backed with some serious money and run by Italian business man Nicola Cortese.

The reason his sacking is not really all that surprising goes back to Adkins appointment back in 2010. The club found itself in League One after years of finical instability which left them on the brink of oblivion when Swiss billionaire Markus Liebherr who quickly moved to appoint an experienced Premier League manager in Alan Pardew as the man to oversee the project to take Southampton back to the top league. Unfortunately Mr Libeherr died after just after a year at the helm with his estate keeping control of the club and giving full control over the running of the club to Cortese. Less than a month after Liebherr’s death and in the wake of a 4-0 victory over Bristol Rovers Pardew was sacked. Although forgotten now the move was widely criticised by the media and fans alike.  Results on the pitch had not been fantastic but much like Rodgers at Liverpool or Lambert at Villa Pardew was seen as the man at the helm of a bigger overall project and these results should be forgiven in the short term.

Of course Adkins took over and never looked back the club were back in the big time less than two years after his appointment. He even went as far as to dismiss his predecessors contribution saying that Southampton “owed nothing” to the now Newcastle manager. Perhaps he should have paid a little more attention to his predecessor’s time there and seen that his employers were not much for the wills of the fans nor for living on past achievements.

So what of his replacement Mauricio Pochettino a man whose only managerial experience consists of a short spell at a club where he was a hero managing many of his ex-teammates. After a good half season at Espanyol taking them to 10th in La Liga he was sacked the next season with the club bottom of the table. Hardly the kind of old hand clubs like to bring in when they fear relegation. Pochettio now finds himself in the Steve Kean situation a popular manager sacked when the club is performing above or at its expectations, replaced by the owner’s choice with very little experience. Often in these situations the only way is down and if that’s the case it might not be too long before we see Cortese wild the axe again.

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[itsmyball]

English Football's Pep Talk

To paraphrase Richard Keys fawning over another Iberian manager Oh he's a tease isn't he? 

Only hours after Pep had apparently signalled his intention to come to England and sent the tabloids into frenzy everyone's favourite jumper enthusiast (sorry Joachim) had done a complete U- Turn and signed on to take over at Bayern Munich. It was met with much shock by those people who had been furiously tipping him for Manchester United, Chelsea and even Arsenal hours earlier. 

But was it really that much of a shock? The basis of the original Pep to England story was a vague quote about liking English football in what basically amounted to a promotional video for the Football Association showmen at an event to celebrate their 150th anniversary. He was hardly going to use that medium for what’s known in professional wrestling as a "Heel Turn" and announce his move to Germany then was he? Of course he was going to talk about his love of England and his ambition to "one day" play there the same way Carlos Tevez "one day" wants to play in the Argentine League again whilst picking up his bumper pay at City and that ex-girlfriend of yours "one day" hopes you can give it another go whilst going out with that guy who’s just better than you.

For all the hype and glitter English football has now been left looking rather silly why would footballs new crown prince not want to come to what one Premier League owner calls THE GREATEST LEAGUE THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN ? 

Well the reason isn’t as some embarrassingly out of touch tabloid reports would have you believe because Sir Alex Ferguson fancies another year at United so he needed a stop gap. It because of the challenge

Yes it seems Pep has found a challenge even more temping that a wet and windy night at Stoke and that is Project Bayern.

Guardiola has signed a three and a half year deal a longer deal than he ever had at Barcelona. He joins a Historic club with plenty of money behind him them but also a very modern club owned partly by the fans. Pep is a man who enjoys the purity of football and the vibrant German League suits him perfectly. It’s the best attended league in Europe which some magnificent atmospheres and the quality of German football is also on the rise which has been seen in the performances of Bayern in the champions league last year and the out classing of Manchester City by the Champions Borussia Dortmund in this years. And all this for the cheapest prices for any of Europe’s top leagues

He has the chance to put his mark on the Bayern squad get rid of people like Robben and Ribery and take his time to build a squad in his image, is this something he realistically could have done at say Chelsea ? Look at the reaction anytime a manager hints at a reduced role for Lampard and Terry. Would he be given the time that he has been assured of in Germany? Roman Abramovich has proven time and time again that it doesn’t mater how highly respected a manager you are and what you have won, on his whim you could be out of a job at anytime.

  Instead of scratching its head the Premier League and some sections of the English media should sit up and learn some lessons. There is no doubt that it is still a fantastic league and a great product but it is in danger of falling behind. The Bundesliga's a fan friendly league with a sustainable model with model which makes a mockery of the bloated EPL with Clubs seemingly forever running at a loss and fans protesting over obscene ticket prices. Maybe as bitter a pill as it may seem it’s time for England to take a few tips from their old rivals.

Sam Tennent

Follow @samtennent on Twitter