Super-Sunday Excuses

Super-Sunday Excuses

          This Sunday just gone saw two of the England's biggest Derbies. The Manchester Derby, and the Merseyside Derby. Two of the teams will be disappointed but have no real reason to feel sorry for themselves. Two angry managers and a 'Tunnel Fracas' make up the content of this post.

          Kicking-off (dya see what I did there? ay?) with the Manchester Derby. Neither of the teams were that great in truth. City were constantly attacking but their end product was less than impressive. They had the vast majority of the ball but the final pass was often lacking. The main talking point of this game was Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese has some kind of issue where nothing is ever his fault. Having spent a cool £90-odd-Million on Romelu Lukaku he seems to hesitate whenever it comes to blame. The Belgian International was at fault for both of City's goals, one of which he cleared onto his own player, enabling Otamendi to finish unchallenged. It's almost as if Mourinho won't bring off Lukaku just because of the fee spent on him. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sat on the bench but no change of personnel was made until late on, where Lukaku was not even replaced.

City players celebrate David Silva's opener at Old Trafford.

         Continuing on the trend that nothing is ever the fault of Jose Mourinho, he blamed the defeat on Michael Oliver's decision to not give a penalty for a 'foul' on Ander Herrera. Any Manchester United fan looking back at the replay who thinks that was actually a penalty is deluded. End off. But then again, the majority of Man United fans are...  While we're on the subject of penalties not given, City were unlucky to not win one of their own. Nicolas Otamendi was hauled down in the box by a combination of Herrera and Nemanja Matic but the referee gave nothing. Another penalty was rightly turned down when Gabriel Jesus took a tumble in the box under minimal, if any, contact.

Ander Herrera, set to receive his caution for diving.

          Credit where credit is due, Manchester City looked quality at times and showed the class that has seen them go to 11 points clear of second place United. For them, the title is more or less sewn up. United though, looked poor again against one of the top teams in the League never really looking like scoring apart from a few defensive mistakes and in the closing stages. Guardiola has surely now reached his target at walking pace, City look like a real force in Europe at the minute and could go deep into the Champions League.

          Following the game, Mourinho went in on the Officials, slamming them for not awarding his side a penalty, in what was his way of avoiding the blame (as already mentioned), but afterwards there was a 'fracas' in the tunnel, which left Mourinho covered in milk(?) and Manchester City Assistant Manager, Mikel Arteta, with blood on his face. This has gone straight into the press which plays exactly into Mourinho's hands. Another distraction from the fact that Manchester City are the best team in the country.

          Now, onto the Merseyside Derby. I'll start with a quick disclaimer, I like Jurgen Kopp and Liverpool, but Klopp dropped a clanger before the game by naming the team he did and the result can be put down to him and individual mistakes from those on the pitch. Mo Salah continued to show his class and scored a fantastic goal to keep up his good form. But Coutinho and Firminho both found themselves on the bench. Sam Allardyce set his Everton side up to avoid defeat and that is exactly what they did. I have no complaints about the way Everton played, unlike Klopp. The German bemoaned the referee's decision to award a penalty to Everton after Dejan Lovren pushed Dominic Calvert-Lewin over in the box. It was a blatant penalty, but Klopp thought they didn't deserve it due to the fact Everton didn't even try and score in this game.

Liverpool players celebrate Salah's goal.

          Liverpool had numerous chances to score, including a chance for Sadio Mane who shot wide on his weaker foot despite having four teammates in better positions. It was inexcusable on Liverpool's behalf to blame anyone but themselves and Klopp again made a strange decision, bringing off Salah with half an hour or so still to go. Why?

          In other news my accumulator on Wednesday night was ruined by Liverpool and Arsenal both failing to win against some of the worst teams in the league this season. Very, very annoying.

Until next time though,

Craig

Two More Games and The Plague of Non-League

Two More Games and The Plague of Non-League

          I'm going to keep this half of the post relatively short. I want to keep the content interesting and regurgitating the information that Will puts in our match reports is a waste of my time, and yours. I have other things to write about that may be of more interest.

          So, on Saturday we travelled to Selby with a depleted squad. we came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 away from home against one of the most organised teams I have seen this year. I say this meaning no disrespect for anyone but they were by no means a 'good side', they knew what they were good at and knew how to execute a plan that exemplified their particular set of skills. Countless times we saw a long ball into the channel aimed at one of their forwards who pealed off the defenders and flicked the ball on. It wasn't an aimless long ball though, it was a pinpoint long pass and it was actually impressive to watch.

          The turnaround came in only a matter of minutes. Gav King's cross-cum-shot (a phrase that always makes the lads laugh when we live tweet it) reached the backpost for young Jordan Buckham to put away. The second goal was a moment of individual brilliance from the youngster, Buckham, again. He curled a 25 yard free kick into the top corner giving the keeper no chance.

          Late in the game there was a glimpse of some outstanding officiating. A little known offside rule regarding the goalkeeper was applied to deny Selby a winner. The rule is as follows: 

“A player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.” 

In this rule their is no distinction between goalkeeper and defender, so this is the actual offside rule itself, just a different way of explaining it. The second last defender would usually be what we call the last man, and the rules call the second last man.

          The other game this week was played in conditions I have never seen before, away at AFC Emley. At points 70mph winds were taking their toll on the proceedings. We took the lead through Gav King when the wind was on our side. In the Second half when the wind was on the hosts side, they scored twice and began to dominate the game. We were also unfortunate to have an acrobatic effort from Kyle Ludlow cleared off the line. 

          The game could well have been called off as the referee spoke to both managers in regard to the weather, but we'd driven for an hour in horrible conditions and we'd taken a decent side so there was no point in turning around.

          The other thing I want to write about is the money in Non League football, particularly the exploits of Glen Tamplin and Billericay Town. The way things seem to be going in Non League is that to have any success you need to bring big players in with a decent pay packet. It's almost a game for rich men who don't want to lose too much money by buying a league club. 

          Glen Tamplin is the owner of Billericay and is the main point behind this piece, he appointed himself as manager and then went mental, bringing in former pros like Jamie O'Hara, Jermaine Pennant and Paul Konchesky. The best bit is they aren't even succeeding, just wasting money and getting nowhere. As a club they are cringeworthy, singing 'The World's Greatest' before each game is embarrassing, let's be honest. Last year Jimmy Bullard led Leatherhead to victory over them and proceeded to mock them by singing the song themselves.

          There is examples at all levels, a team local to me have some of the best players in the area on a decent packet each but they've not yet come close to getting out of their league. A lot of the players are happy playing at that level rather than stepping up though because they're getting paid for doing very little. Teams like Ollerton with very little by way of a budget struggle to compete.

         On the flip side of all these teams pumping thousands of pounds per week into players, there is smaller teams, who rely on volunteers to have work done, donations to afford new kits, sponsors helping us run events to hopefully raise a bit more money. Teams go bust by trying to give some players a bit of money and then having funds withdrawn. It's almost impossible for clubs to compete with those who spend money. If you look at a Non-League Table the top teams will probably be paying certain players, if not all. The bottom teams will almost definitely not being paying, and if they are then they're not paying as much. It all comes down to volunteers. I'd love to work full-time at Ollerton Town, but there's no money to do it. Ask anyone on our committee and they'd probably say the same.

          In conclusion I don't like Billericay Town, Glen Tamplin, the local club who pay more than we can and the people involved.

Until next time,

Craig.

Cramming Two Posts Into One

Cramming Two Posts Into One

This will probably happen a lot. Two things I want to write about and no effort to write two posts. Anyhow, this post will feature Non-League football and International football. Starting with Ollerton Town's victory over local rivals, Shirebrook Town.

    Kyle Ludlow(bent over) Tries to take a quick freekick to Lewis Bingham(R) but is blocked off by Timmons(L).

In short, we bloody well beat them! Before the game I spoke to one of our centre backs and the two of us predicted we'd either draw or one side would be comprehensively beaten (edited). Going in at half time with the score at 0-0 I was confident that something would come from the game for us that saw our former captain and coach in their technical area, as well as our former midfielder running their midfield. Our first goal came from the penalty spot. Gav King turned the Shirebrook captain and Timmons brought him down. Sam Stretton converted the penalty. After the game the Shirebrook management and committee claimed it was a soft penalty but they were wrong. Stone wall penalty. Ollerton's second goal cam from a long through-ball courtesy of Jordan Buckham, the young wingback recently signed from Rossington Main, his ball was flicked on towards Ash Shannon who scored again to make it 3 in his last six. Not long afterwards the game descended into madness as the young Referee, in charge of only his second game at this level, dropped a bollock massively. He even admitted after the game that he'd lost concentration. He awarded Shirebrook a penalty in the last minute that nobody understood why he gave, except the man who writes Shirebrook's match report (?). Kieran Watson got the turn on Ollerton debutant Tom Moody who did foul him. However he was a good two yards out of the box, the decision was given as a freekick, but he then changed his mind and gave a penalty because he fell into the area. Watson stepped up and scored it. That's how it finished. The banter in the aftermath was enjoyable but there was no aggro.

The next thing I want to write about is the England team. In one of my previous posts I wrote about how I think the squad should set up. Southgate used the formation I wrote about (don't think I can claim responsibility though!). It seemed to work. With several key players missing England did not look out of their depth, despite failing to score in either game. The defence didn't look as dangerous to our own cause. Pickford looked quality in goal against the Germans, Stones and Maguire look good together, Gomez looked good at centreback as well when he came off the bench against Germany and in his start against Brazil. the wingback options look good. Even Ashley Young looked good when he came on. Dier was steady in the centre of the park but I can't wait for Harry Winks to take Jake Livermore's spot from him. Loftus-Cheek did well against Germany but came off after half an hour against Brazil. Lingard doesn't look like he should be playing against good teams, he doesn't suit it and should have won us the game against Germany in the final moments. Rashford needs to be played up front and he did really well against Brazil. Vardy did well in his two appearances, Abraham could and maybe should have got England a late winner against Brazil. Solanke looked impressive when he came on despite the criticism of his selection.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek(L) did well in a difficult midfield battle against the likes of Ilkay Gundogan(R) and Mesut Ozil(Not Pictured).

I'm not saying we're going to win the World Cup this summer, because we won't. But on those performances we will be a lot better than we have done in recent years. Two respectable performances against the two top teams in the world right now without key players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Raheem Sterling cannot be looked down on.

Anyhow, until next time.

Craig

A Two Game Week

A Two Game Week

In the last week my beloved Ollerton Town have played two game with differing results. On Saturday we travelled to Doncaster to face Armthorpe Welfare in a game which we lost by Two goals to Nil. But that flattered the hosts. Two errors, and he won't mind me name dropping him, by Jack who basically dropped two efforts over the goal line cost us the game. The standard of officiating is woeful at this level as seen by one of the offside calls in this game... the linesman flagged a player offside who cam from behind the player who passed it to him and by the time the player reached the ball and had been flagged he had yet to the pass the defensive line. Needless to say the players were up in arms! The second Armthorpe goal again showed the referees inability to cope. The goal came from an indirect free kick, which he struck at goal, the Ollerton goal keeper palmed it onto the post but it passed the line. As Jack, in the Ollerton goal had touched it the goal should have been allowed to stand. However the referee disallowed it, until the linesman who dropped a bollock in the first half told him to allow it. In the closing stages Ollerton's Sam West, who is never usually far from trouble, was involved in an incident that saw him get strangled by a former football league player, Darren Mansaram. The Armthorpe Player was rightly dismissed. On his way off he shouted to one of our players that he should google him before googling himself. So we did. Less than impressive. Hardly something to brag about anyway... The tea there wasn't very good either, good pie and other food as well, tea was weak (told you I'd mention tea at some point).

The second game of the week was in the Notts Senior Cup, where we beat Radcliffe Olympic 3-0 away from home. The side was as you'd expect in strength terms. the Goalkeeper was given the chance to amend his errors, by that I mean stand in the cold and do a very little, in a game that we dominated. A brace from Chris Hewitt on his return to a starting berth and a goal from Lewis Bingham sent us through to the next round of the cup with ease. The pitch was awful, it was freezing as the game went on and the facilities were even worse. We took a decent away following as usual with around twenty following us to Nottingham on a freezing cold November evening. You can tell me as much as you like how East Midlands Counties is the same standard as North East Counties but that's rubbish. Ollerton have knocked out two teams from that league without really playing that well. The teams and their players just aren't that good. Some players appeared to only use one foot, one in particular didn't look like he even knew how to use that. Even more surprisingly, the former England Under 21 international Julian Joachim turned out for Radcliffe at Centre Back. The Englishman once played in the FA Cup Final for Aston Villa as a Striker in 2000. What a fall from grace... The tea here was much better but the other choices of food were very average. Chips, bread or cake is hardly an amazing choice. 

But we're into the next round of the cup, and with a massive league fixture coming up against local rivals Shirebrook Town, where two of our former players are playing as well as a former captain and coach as assistant manager things will definetly be interesting.

Up the town. We're all town aren't we? Etc...

Until next time.

Craig.

A Two Game Week

The National Disappointment

I am aware that I have said I was going to talk about non-league football, as well as passing comment on the Premier League as and when I please, but seeing as another international break is on the horizon, and Ollerton have a two game week, I'll probably post about that at a later date. So in this post I'm going to write about the national disappointment, or the English National team. I might even mention tea, in-keeping with the name of this blog.

Following Euro 2016, I was one of many bemoaning Roy Hodgson and was thrilled when he handed in his resignation. Allardyce dropped a bollock and Southgate so far has been unremarkable. With this summer seeing yet another tournament that we can be extremely underwhelming in how can we turn this around? Let me break it down.

Firstly, in a major competition the aim is essentially to outscore the opposition, so for England to do that they need to play with more than one striker. In an ideal world I would have England playing in either a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2.

 

I yearn for the simpler times when you knew England would be playing with two strikers. It was a tried and tested formation that the English were good at. Why would we change it? For me 4-4-2 is the solid dependable choice, however more recently 3-5-2 has become more common in the Premier League, making it more likely to have a positive effect on the national side.

For me, I think England want to be playing one of the two formations/sides below.

Joe Hart is past it in my opinion, however will still make a dependable backup goalkeeper. Kyle Walker is England's best right back, but he and Clyne are arguably interchangeable. We are blessed with three good left backs in Rose, Shaw and Bertrand. I can't argue either of them is worse than the other when on top form, but Luke Shaw desperately needs minutes. Centre backs are an odd one at the minute for England. They're all amazingly average, John Stones is showing potential and will hopefully be our main man for years to come. In midfield we only need one defensive minded player. Dier is the best at that for England so he's obviously got to be the main man. Attacking midfielders don't come much better than Dele Alli at the minute and when fit Adam Lallana can be just as good. I am one of Raheem Sterling's biggest critics. I don't think he does enough in an England shirt to justify his place. But on current form he cannot be left out. Playing him as a wing back could be risky, but with Dier sitting deep in that shape and the extra centre back able to drift across he can be covered. Strikers, Harry Kane, what more can be said? One of footballs most in form players is guaranteed a spot and Rashford on the wing is a waste, play him in his natural role or don't bother playing him at all. Honourable mention to Harry Winks who could make an impact at the World Cup this summer. His performance against Real Madrid against some of the World's best players, was exemplary.

All that being said, I am prepared for another disappointing summer for the national side and I would expect nothing else.

Until I find something else to write about, tarrah.

Craig

A Non-League Weekend

A Non-League Weekend

The time has come for my first post about non-league football. This weekend my team, Ollerton Town faced Nostell Miners Welfare in the league. I was glad to be back at the Lane having been away last weekend and missing out on watching any football. I continued my usual tradition of trying to look busy whilst at the same time doing very little, hanging the kits up and beginning the club's Twitter feed for the day by announcing the team news.

The game itself was a drab affair, with the wind spoiling proceedings however Ollerton were by far the better team and deservedly left with all three points, but Nostell could feel lucky to have only conceded the two that they did. Ash Shannon finished well and Captain, Sam Stretton, scored from the penalty spot. As a club we haven't scored a penalty for what feels like ten years, and I'm convinced Sam gets a nosebleed when he goes past halfway but either way he scored the penalty!

The game itself saw the long awaited returns of three fan and club favourites in Chris Hewitt, who is now one of our longest serving players, Sam West, who recently rejoined the club following a spell with local rivals Thoresby (Now extinct! (YEEEEEAHH!)), the last is Kyle Ludlow who was top scorer in our promotion campaign a few years ago and his physical presence makes him popular with fans. All three got a run out, although two of them were replacing injured players in Kyle Clarkson and James Weaver.

At full-time the Nostell committee seemed to think that the referee had gifted the game to us, however this would appear to be bollocks as they had one shot on goal of note and the forward blazed it over in comparison to Ollerton who had one effort cleared off the line and a couple of good saves from the away keeper on top of the two we scored, it all seems bitter if you ask me.

On Sunday I had the choice of two teams to go and watch. Walesby FC or The Jolly Rodger. Walesby played a side called Evolution, The Jolly Rodger played against Shirebrook. Now for a footballing masterclass watching Walesby was the right choice as they played their opponents off the park in a 9-3 win. However, I kind of wish I had decided on watching the Jolly Rodger against Shirebrook as it would have been a lot more entertaining. The people of Ollerton, where the Rodger is, and the people of Shirebrook don't really get along and I imagine that having 22 of each sides finest village idiots running around kicking lumps out of each other would have been funny. Although for the record, I get along with the lads who play for The Jolly Rodger and they should not take my comments seriously, haha ;) .

Another post is on the way, don't worry about that.

Until then,

Craig.

Let's Talk Premier League Football Then...

Let's Talk Premier League Football Then...

Despite the fact that I don't watch a great deal of Premier League football, other than what I see on Match of the Day and on the occasional Super Sunday I watch in the pub, I'm going to make a prediction for the top six and try and put my arguments across to explain my views (although I know the majority will disagree).

Winners: MANCHESTER CITY

At the time of writing we're still reflecting on City's dismantling of Stoke last weekend, racing to a a 3 goal lead early doors. Once Stoke had pulled two back to make it 3-2 though there was no panic, instead the Citizens changed gear and ploughed on to win 7-2. Let's be clear as well, this is a Man City side without Aguero in it and against a solid Premier League side in Stoke City.

I can't look beyond Guardiola's side this year, he saw where his side needed strengthening and went out and did it. With a solid defence (despite Otamendi and Stones' best efforts), an incredible midfield with De Bruyne as the linchpin and two top quality forwards as well, the only thing that could let them down is injuries, which I hope we don't see, as this is some of the best football I've seen in the Premier League and is there any wonder with Pep Guardiola in the dugout?

Runners up: MANCHESTER UNITED

It pains me to say it, because I can't stand Mourinho, but United look a real quality side this year. Personally, I don't think they needed to sign Lukaku but it is working for them. Without him we could be seeing Rashford through the middle and the inform (but still on the bench) Martial on the left. Their key piece of business was the signing of Nemanja Matic from rivals Chelsea for the change in Mourinho's pocket (£40m, a bargain when people are paying £20m for average players). The only way things could go wrong for them is if Ander Herrera decides he's not prepared to play second fiddle to Pogba once he is fit again and the main man at United is struck down with another injury.

As boring as it was, their point at Anfield was a good one. Although I also completely agree with the view that if United had gone for it then they could, and probably should have won due to the poor quality of the Liverpool back-line.

Third: SPURS

I think Spurs may be my favourite side in the Premier League. The fact that Potchettino came in and turned average players into England internationals tells you a lot about the man who is constantly linked to the Barcelona job. Harry Kane is going to be top goalscorer for the third year running (fight me on it) and the core of the England squad at this summers World Cup will be Spurs players. They still need to strengthen a bit more in key areas to provide depth and if they did that in January then they could really kick on and potentially finish above United. The loss of Kyle Walker this summer looked like it would be an issue but they've replaced him with Serge Aurier with change to spare. Harry Winks looks like a future star and reminds me of Jack Wilshere when he came through initially.  Let's hope, for his and England's sake, that he can remain injury free.

Fourth: CHELSEA

Now I wouldn't say Chelsea deserve to finish here, I just think they are the fourth best side in the league this year. I cannot for the life of me understand why they sold Matic to a divisional rival as Bakayoko looks nowhere near the same quality and Fabregas is by no means the same sort of midfielder. Morata looks like he'll be a good Premier League striker and he won't be hated nearly as much as Diego Costa was in his time at Chelsea. At the minute I would say that Chelsea's biggest weakness is in defence, as shown by their defeats to Burnley, and more recently Crystal Palace last weekend. As much as it pains me to say it, I think it may be time to move Gary Cahill on and sign someone of the calibre of Varane or Godin. Their wing-backs still seem to be defying what we all thought to be possible based on their ability (I mean come on, Victor Moses, a Premier League Champion?)

Chelsea could be in trouble if Conte does leave soon as he is rumoured to be eyeing up a return to Italy in the near future. Who would they bring in to keep the same style? A club their size can't afford to be changing their style so often.

Fifth: LIVERPOOL

Jurgen Klopp is up there as one of the best managers in the league. I love his pressing style of play and I like how crazily good their attack is. I think it's a shame that a side of Liverpool's quality is likely to miss out on Champions League football but realistically this is where they'll finish. As good as their attacking line is, with Salah, Coutinho, Mane and Firmino, they still lack a recognised striker. They have some good deeper midfielders in Henderson (who I think is unfairly criticised a lot) and Emre Can as well, with Lallana and Wijnaldum(sp?) in back up they have a good front five or six. What is going to let Liverpool down is there defence. Of the regular back five, in my opinion only Nathaniel Clyne could be described as top end Premier League quality. Karius and Mignolet couldn't catch a cold between them. Lovren and Matip are incapable of clearing a ball and are more likely to make a howler then keep a clean sheet. The less said about left backs at Liverpool the better, where there hasn't been anyone of quality since John Arne Risse 10 years ago. Robertson isn't good enough yet, Moreno never was and never will be and if you play Milner there you lose his quality from elsewhere.

Sixth: ARSENAL

Wenger should have left last summer. Ozil and Sanchez both need to leave in January and who are they going to sign to come in? Lacazette is a good forward but without the other two around him the chances may dry up. As Liam Kent said on his blog Let Me Kentertain You, Jack Wilshere could be pivotal in Arsenal's campaign and realistically there only hop of Champions League qualification is by winning the Europa League.

This Arsenal side is strangely better than any they've had since the invincibles in my opinion but it is nowhere near good enough to compete with the other sides at the top end of the league. I can see Bellerin leaving along with the aforementioned Ozil and Sanchez. I think this year may be the final straw for Arsenal fans and the end for Wenger.

Phew, that was a long one to kick off with. If I find time then I'll also try to predict the bottom five or six as well. Feedback is appreciated and your opinions as well are welcome.

Craig

An Introduction-

An Introduction-

Chances are, this isn’t going to last long. I watch so much football and I like to think I know enough to pass some form of intellectual comment on the games I watch. I predominately watch games in non-league, particularly my local side Ollerton Town who play in the NCEL Division one. Mainly playing teams from Yorkshire, despite being in Nottinghamshire. I also follow Nottingham Forest and may occasionally pass comment on their fortunes. The English National team are a particular favourite of mine for a moan and if you read my tweets during an England game then you’ll see just how I feel in regards to them.

What I intend on posting is my experiences of football around non-league, commenting on the quality of the tea as well, with the occasional reflections of the big boys. For example, at the time of writing the main debate in football is whether or not Mourinho is ruining football by not even trying to beat a Liverpool side, who are very poor defensively, with his Manchester United side who boast one of the best attacks in the league. But I’m not going into that right now.

Until next time though.

Craig