Up the Football League we go

Top of the league – having a laugh?

2012-01-13T17:05:00Z

It's not all fun leading the pack, says Southampton fan Chris Cox...

For the past few years I’ve looked on with a slight sense of envy as teams other than my own top various divisions.

I can remember watching Reading absolutely running away with the Championship a few seasons back whilst a depressing Southampton side struggled to run away with a point from Roots Hall. Then again, for every 5-0 loss at Hull on a foggy evening there was a 6-0 win at Wolves.

Eventually you find yourself jealous of sides like Chesterfield last year, despite the fact they’re in a league you wouldn’t dream of seeing your team playing in, purely because their fans are watching a lot of winning football.

But now my beloved Southampton are top of the league and I’m genuinely not sure how to act about it. It’s quite difficult knowing what to do, especially in recent weeks when we’ve been on a bad patch of form. You can’t keep singing ‘We are Southampton, we’re top of the league’ with conviction when you’ve only had one win in the past six league games.

Given where Saints were a few years ago, I wonder how to feel about things at the moment. Do I take the line that we’ve spent a fair bit of money to get where we are and our form is unacceptable, especially when we’ve shown we deserve to be at the summit? That’s one way to look at it.

The flipside to that particular coin though is that we’ve only just escaped League One, administration, a negative points total and trips to Adams Park, Spotland and the ‘other’ St. James Park (No offence intended, Wycombe, Rochdale and Exeter…). Maybe I need to appreciate having a football club at all.

It’s a difficult one, all said and done.

Watching those other sides do so well, you imagine being top of the league and in with a shout of promotion or silverware must be one massive party. I can’t say it’s been like that so far. You just want the season to end now so that you win the title and that’s that, and you worry each time a team around you runs into good form.

That team’s form could be what dispatches you from your lofty position. Cardiff, for example, who have already beaten Southampton, are doing very well. Too well for my liking…

Last season was a difficult one too. We finished second and got promoted, which was the aim all the time we were in that division. I found myself on the pitch after we secured our place in the Championship, celebrating with thousands of others, but really I don’t think I was ever amazingly happy. Having been used to the Premier League for so long, League One was a bit of a shock. Escaping it was more relief than joy.

January is a particularly difficult month in the table-topping fan’s diary. Having seen a five-point lead evaporate and now sitting at the top of the pile on goal difference alone, the focus is on reinforcements. Except Southampton these days don’t do reinforcements, per se. Nigel Adkins has stressed time and again that we won’t sign for the sake of signing, and any additions will be better than what we’ve already got.

Easier said than done though, isn’t it Nigel?

Reports recently linked us with Gary Hooper, scoring goals for fun in Scotland – and the price is £6 million. To pay that in the Championship would be incredible and I’m not sure I’d like it, though it does occur to me that it’s not every day we’re top of the league with ambitions to get back into the Premier League – and can afford to spend such amounts of cash.

The transfer market has moved on too; if you’re English and can kick a ball, you’re going to have a hefty price tag. Maybe it's time to break the record fee spent on Rory Delap (locally pronounced ‘Rory Dollop’, ‘Rory DeCrap’ or even ‘Rory BeCrap’, depending on where you were sat at St. Mary’s).

With prices like £6m being quoted from Scotland, it’s no surprise the net has been cast a lot wider – like Tadanari Lee, a highly promising Japanese international. Maybe it’s time to put on hold the dream of an all-English XI and look abroad for value-for-money signings, if we’re really that serious about promotion. Horses for courses and all that...

I should point out I'm incredibly grateful for the position we’re in. There are clubs in much worse places than us with fans on the verge of crying, if not already in tears. Looking at crisis clubs like Darlington makes me question how I should feel about it all, so please spare me the accusations of being a spoilt brat.

As proven by Darlo, things change very quickly in football. Imagine the feeling of winning the FA Trophy one minute, then facing extinction the next. I think ‘terrifying’ is the word. The Championship in particular isn’t going to stop and let us think about how to act and how to feel. It’s time to simply keep calm and carry on, like those overused posters tell us to. Perspective must be kept, but at the same time there is room to dream - it is football after all.

Perspective is a funny thing in football, funny because it often goes missing. Look at Spurs right now – in with a shout of winning the league, which I think the neutral would absolutely love. If they didn’t at the very least qualify for the Champions League they’d be disappointed, wouldn’t they? Same thing here. I’m afraid to say I’d now be disappointed if we didn’t achieve promotion, and to put a finer point on it, automatically.

How am I going to treat being top of the league then, now that the rare feeling is actually here? Well, I’m going to carry on as normal. Celebrate when we’ve won, moan when we’ve lost, agonise when we’ve thrown it away, and rejoice when we’ve won it at the death. Most importantly, I’ll carry on through thick and thin, simply because it’s my duty as a fan. Come on you reds.

…I’d take the end of the season now though. Seriously.

El Clasicoast: The Southampton view

2011-12-16T16:00:00Z

Southampton fan and FourFourTwo.com writer Chris Cox tells the recent history of the South Coast derby from his side...

The windows are being boarded up, the police are creating their own version of the Berlin wall and two south coast cities have gone absolutely mental. It can only be Portsmouth vs. Southampton, the south coast derby.

For me, it’s probably the best game in the Championship this season. Millwall and West Ham fans might argue otherwise, as I’m sure Brighton and Crystal Palace fans will too. Or maybe Coventry and Leicester supporters. But who cares? They’ll have their turns again this season but right now it’s all about the royal blue against the red and white.

It’s never dull when this occasion is around the corner. Prior to one tie in 2005, there was a huge banner on the Redbridge roundabout that read ‘Skates – please leave your caravans at the park and ride’. In another clash I’ve seen a single grown man, seemingly possessed, in a fit of incredible rage try to smash past his own fans to have a go at Portsmouth’s mob in the away end – all because they were calling our goalkeeper fat. I wonder what will happen this time…

Matters on the pitch ought to be just as feisty - Portsmouth have had 33 yellow and two red cards at Fratton Park this season. The last ten derbies have featured 31 goals. Sometimes there’s more action than a Die Hard box set.

Saints celebrate victory in 2005, but they would still end up relegated

Personally I’ll never forget my first south coast derby. It was the F.A Cup Fourth Round in the 2004/05 season. I even remember where I was when I found out the result of the draw. It was GCSE History and I was sat on the back row trying to ignore the invention of penicillin and the medicinal uses of boiling tar.

A friend of mine, on an early internet-enabled mobile phone, had managed to load the draw on the FA’s official website. It only took about 20 minutes. His phone’s screen was probably the size of a one pence piece, but squinting, I could just make out the all-important words ‘SOUTHAMPTON v PORTSMOUTH’.

We won that game 2–1, but it was the rare highlight of a terrible campaign. Having beaten the blue few in the cup, on the day of my 16th birthday I watched us get hammered 4-0 at home by Manchester United at the quarter-final stage. A couple of months later we then got relegated. It’s the hope that kills you, one television pundit remarked, and how right he was.

Looking back, it comes as no surprise to me that we ended up finishing bottom of the table, down and out after 27 years of the top flight. I remember hearing some time ago that there are statistics explaining that success is directly related to the number of players a club uses. In that season, from memory, we used about 40. The back of the match day programme was barely big enough.

Just look at where some of those players are now. David Prutton, who got himself a ten-match ban for pushing a linesman against Arsenal, spent time with Swindon and Colchester, and Paul Telfer, despite somehow playing in the Champions League and having had more comebacks than a prog rock band, is at Sutton United.

That’s one end of the scale though I suppose. Peter Crouch, having relaunched his career with us, now has a formidable goal scoring record at international level (if against relative minnows like Andorra and Jamaica) and appeared in a Champions League final. Anders Svensson is the all time record appearance holder for Sweden and Antti Niemi was one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League at the time.

It all appears to be going right for Southampton now, though. I no longer feel as if I’m watching a team held together with paper clips, sticking plasters and chewing gum. It feels like a solid squad with the potential to be in the Premier League next season, and one that might actually win enough matches in the league we’re currently in. Although there have been blips – Doncaster and Bristol City away most notably.

So it’s with a sense of excitement and expectation that I go into the game at Fratton Park. We’ve lost 4–1 in our last two encounters, one which was totally unacceptable and shambolic, the other a League One team recovering from being deducted ten points against a side who had recently won the F.A Cup – and would go on to the final that year too.

While we were rotting away and slowly heading for oblivion between 2007 and 2010, I dreaded the thought of visiting Fratton Park, as Portsmouth spent vast sums of money (which as it turned out, didn’t do them any favours in the long run) and went from strength to strength. Now, it’s two Championship teams playing for the three points and pride. There is no massive gulf between the two teams, their league table positions aside, so perhaps this is the first proper derby for a long time.

So this clash marks the end of perhaps the worst period in Southampton’s history and the start of something special. For me at least, it’s personal too. I don’t want to celebrate Christmas with stockings, trees and baubles this year. Give me a good game, three points and bragging rights.

El Clasicoast: The Portsmouth view

El Clasicoast: The Portsmouth view

2011-12-16T16:00:00Z

Journalist, FourFourTwo contributor and Portsmouth fan Steve Morgan tells the story of the South Coast derby from the blue side...

Seventeen miles. One – as Southampton fans will cheerily point out to any Pompey aficionado – for each of the points currently separating the clubs in the Championship as they gear up for another shuddering bout of El Clasicoast.

Southampton still head the table after an impressive start, but have wobbled of late. Pompey are mired in 16th, but show signs of life on the pitch under rookie boss Michael Appleton (the less said about life off it, the better).

Just four games into his Pompey career Appleton is chasing the kind of result and performance which can make a reputation. Lord knows Portsmouth could use a bit of local pride. Even the otherwise mostly-hapless Alain Perrin, or ‘Reggie’ as our charismatic, bonkers, briefcase-sporting French boss was inevitably known during his time passing through the ever-revolving door of the PFC managerial suite under chairman Milan Mandaric, is a legend. Pourquoi? For ‘beating the scum 4-1’ in 2004/05, of course. Allez les Bleus. Chapeau monsieur!

On paper, this encounter arguably has all the makings of a scrappy draw, maybe even an away win, though the horror of that admission makes me want to gag. It’s certainly a prime opportunity for Appleton to assess the talent at his disposal where it really counts. No less is it the sternest test of nerve yet for Nigel Adkins’ promotion-seekers. Urgh The.Very. Thought. Of. It.

Still, on the plus side Southampton don’t travel well and a trip to Fratton Park when the mood is right is about as welcome as an invitation to a picnic in a wind tunnel. Faint hearts in the blue corner should take succour at being reminded of Pompey skipper Arjan De Zeeuw’s reflections on the 4-1 triumph over the recently-defected Harry Redknapp’s Saints in the afore-mentioned L’Affair Perrin in 2004/05 – the last season the clubs spent in the same division.

Old 'Arry was made to feel at home on his Fratton return with Saints...

That day, all five goals came in a breathtaking opening 24 minutes in which the sides traded blows charging around the turf like frantic, puffing, stark-eyed heavyweights in search of haymakers. Lomano Lualua bagged his spot in Pompey folklore with two goals before crocking himself with a traditional backflip. Job done, this was one of the greatest cameos Fratton Park has witnessed, at least in my relationship with the old girl.

De Zeeuw talked of having had the game won in the tunnel, Pompey’s pumped-up players realising that Southampton, already teetering on the Premier League precipice simply didn’t fancy it.
‘Win it in the tunnel’ would be the keynote of any fan’s pre-match address, especially today. Rumour has it that Peter Crouch, due to play for Southampton, failed to re-appear after the warm-up because he’d felt a bit queasy. Such occasions, though probably apocryphal, are nonetheless food and drink to fans ever-hungry for popular mythology where derby-day tales, or ‘ledge bants’ if you’re unlucky enough to be Tim Lovejoy.

Come what may, events at Fratton Park will certainly ruin one city’s collective Sunday lunch. If familiarity breeds contempt, one wonders what the blue and red corners would make of each other were that old adage to fit the bill here, for while this is one of English football’s fiercest, least-understood derbies, it’s also one of the least-contested. Absence – it’s only the seventh league meeting in 24 years – has not made the heart grow fonder.

Cross-city derbies dictate by geography that both sets of supporters have to rub along together during the week at work, and often at home. Pompey-Southampton is perceived by extremists in the former camp as a sporting collision of markedly different cultural worlds – us and them. Portsmouth, with what a friend jokingly refers to as ‘the people’s republic of Milton’, an imaginary island within a real one, is replete with historical grudges perceived over status accorded Pompey by Southampton-based media. Then, and this is far more likely, its navy port pitted against commercial port, the former on the slide since the war, the latter burgeoning from the 1950s. Throw in a chippy mistrust of anyone who may have been on a yacht and is called Giles and you have the perfect storm.

Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and no, Portsmouth-born Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities was about Paris and London and written before football was codified and all that. Still, it’s a neat coincidence and the author’s birthplace is not a matter of dispute.

No-one seems to have a definitive handle on where football relations really began to sour, though. Some say the ‘scummers’ (Pompey’s nickname for ‘the team down the road’) moniker is derived from a 1930s dockers’ strike, the Southampton Company Union Men (SCUM, for people struggling to add two and two) returning to work before their blue brothers. Others suggest the rivalry really began in earnest when the teams’ fortunes started to diverge: Pompey’s slump to the basement, squared with Southampton’s FA Cup final success in 1976, albeit thanks to a solitary goal from the late Portsmouth born-and-bred Bobby Stokes.

While the sides share proximity on a map, they are currently in different orbits. As I write this, our current owner Roman Antonov is due in court on charges of fraud and money laundering. Only a fool would compare the clubs’ respective youth operations, though Andy Awford is doing his damnedest to rectify that, having twice taken bragging rights at junior level this season. Small beer admittedly, given a recent Southampton harvest that includes Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, and most disconcertingly of all, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Portsmouth-born, Pompey fan and son of former England winger and Pompey player Mark.

It’s a record that has been stuck in the same groove since the 1960s. Less than a decade after Matt Busby’s testament to youth with his vibrant Manchester United side, often plucked from the neighbouring Salford streets, 200 miles south Pompey boss George Smith could be found dismantling the club’s youth policy, claiming that there was nothing around Portsmouth but fish (in the spirit of equality, Pompey fans are known as ‘Skates’, owing to suggested sexual proclivities of sailors on long hauls at sea with their catch. Whatever).

Michael Appleton is a son of Salford himself. And as is the unwritten rule with any Alex Ferguson alumnus, however fleeting, hopes are high that he will have had some Govan shipyard magic dust rubbed into his pores. Good times for a change, as the bard of Salford, Morrissey, opined.

The cut of his jib has been admired already. He might be a ringer for Voldemort (even Ferguson can’t match that), but he clearly possesses a keen sense of humour – and the gallows variety is a must, given our well-publicised, if never satisfactorily explained travails since FA Cup glory in 2008, which now feels like the lifetime ago that it more or less was.

Apparently, we have enough money to last out until April. Administration is knocking at the door again. It’s round more often than the Jehovah’s Witnesses, to be truthful. There is always the thought that these may well be the end times, as supporting Pompey these days is rather like living with a manageable medical complaint.

If reality bites the hand of salvation here, Portsmouth fans will be crossing everything that it won’t be too hard. Spare us that at least.

El Clasicoast: The Southampton view

Championship report card: How many of the 24 teams are matching expectations?

2011-10-26T12:25:00Z

With over a quarter of the Championship season has gone, Christopher Cox provides the low-down on the second tier the action so far…

Above expectations

Newly promoted Southampton lead the way at this early stage, and before their 1–1 draw at Reading on Saturday evening they were five points clear. Even the most optimistic Saints fan wouldn’t have seen this one coming - just don’t ask Nigel Adkins about it. He’ll talk forever about how it’s not about individuals, yada yada yada. Have they peaked too soon? Is better to peak early than not peak at all?

Despite the Saints’ impressive start, Crystal Palace are perhaps the biggest surprise packages of the Championship season so far. There has been quite some turnaround at Selhurst Park. It wasn’t that long ago they were needing to win their final few games to stay up (Hull away last season, Sheffield Wednesday away before that), so Dougie Freedman’s young team are really defying expectations by surging up as high as third place

Peterborough United have obviously learnt their lessons from two seasons ago – when they dropped straight back down to League One, and they’ve coped admirably with the departure of Craig Mackail-Smith. Hull City are also looking good, which is perhaps surprising given their lack of goals.

About right

You’d expect West Ham to be involved in the promotion shake-up come the end of the season, though it’s probably tougher than some people might imagine being the big fish in what is a medium-sized pond, at best. They’ve got almost a completely new team, a new manager and a new philosophy to adopt. That bedding in period can’t last forever though, and they do now look to be clicking into gear.

Middlesbrough finished last season strongly and to go twelve games unbeaten is a fine achievement, though the number of games they’ve drawn at home may be a concern. Their defeat at Nottingham Forest could be attributed to ‘new manager syndrome’, and given that has been their only loss to date, you can’t argue that it’s been pretty damn good so far.

Leeds, Derby and Cardiff are up at the right end of the table. The Yorkshiremen came through a sticky patch at the very start of the season, Derby have been pretty solid, and Malky Mackay’s Bluebirds have gone about their business well, if not making too many headlines.

Brighton and Ipswich are probably where they deserve to be too. The Seagulls are currently searching for the form that made them early-season pace-setters, while Ipswich seem to be improving with each game.

Must do better

Blackpool fans are probably a bit disappointed with things so far given how close they were to avoiding being in this division at all last season. Yet Ian Holloway is in the middle of a rebuilding job, especially after losing key players such as Charlie Adam, David Vaughan and DJ Campbell, so it would be harsh to condemn him too strongly.

Leicester and Birmingham fans will definitely be disappointed with their starts. It was only a matter of time for Sven, having spent so much money with little sign of reward. That said, the Foxes are only five points off the automatic promotion spots, but big spending owners will nearly always expect immediate success. At St Andrews, meanwhile, Chris Hughton has a massive job on his hands given the weight of expectation and the worsening financial situation of the Blues. Both have strong squads, so really should be climbing the table.

Burnley and Millwall have both disappointed despite little being expected of them, which takes some doing…

Eh?

A category those teams who leave us thinking ‘what on earth is going on there?’. Reading look as if they’ve suffered some sort of hangover after last season’s play-off final. They may have lost Shane Long and Matt Mills, but it’s still a bit of a mystery as to why they have started so poorly. Things are getting better though, so they might not be in the bottom half for much longer.

Portsmouth seemed to have put their troubles behind them and even started spending the cash. Steve Cotterill is apparently not all that missed at Fratton Park after some negative tactical decisions (such as playing 4-5-1 even at home), but with players like Dave Kitson, Luke Varney, David Norris and Greg Halford, you wonder what’s wrong (this time) in the blue part of Hampshire.

Nottingham Forest have made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it is genuinely baffling that a squad so strong hasn’t led them to a higher position in the league. It’s not fair to place the blame solely at the feet of Steve McClaren, with the goings on behind the scenes clearly causing problems for the former England boss. And it’s not as if the aforementioned Steve Cotterill is any better a manager, though they now have two wins from their last two games, so maybe things are about to change.

Careful Now…

It could go either way with these two. Bristol City may have appointed a new manager, but it still doesn’t look all that good. Has the damage been done already? Derek McInnes comes with the backing of managers such as Bolton’s Owen Coyle, but not all managers from Scotland can bridge the gap between Scottish and English football (Maurice Malpas springs to mind).

Barnsley appointed Keith Hill, a man with big ideas and a record of success in the lower leagues, and they’re not doing too badly so far. Jacob Butterfield is their standout player and he’s been rewarded by Premier League interes. Fans at Oakwell however will surely be looking over their shoulders…

Uh-Oh

For these teams, it’s brown trousers time already. Coventry were widely touted to struggle this season, and they’ve done little to prove the doubters wrong. A lot rests on the shoulders of Lukas Jutkiewicz, their powerful striker who was linked with a move away in the summer.

It’s a similar story at Watford. Manager Sean Dyche is a likable figure and you have to feel sympathy for him given the situation he’s walked into. Marvin Sordell isn’t having quite the season he did last time around, with pundits theorising that speculation of a move in the summer has affected him. Whatever the reason, Watford are in trouble.

It was a shame to see Doncaster dismiss Sean O’Driscoll so swiftly, but few were complaining when replacement Dean Saunders lead Rovers to their first win of the season in his first match in charge. Successive defeats in their last two matches mean the honeymoon is already over, though, and it’s going to be a long and quite possibly painful season for Donny.

Why Premier League greed will kill the Football League – and England

2011-10-21T15:15:00Z

This week, the Football League voted to pass the Elite Player Performance Plan – much to the chagrin of Aaron Cox...

The Grim Reaper was welcomed in by the Football League this week as clubs voted to accept proposals for a sweeping overhaul of the academy system that could spell the end for many of the 72.

The changes come as part of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) unveiled in January by Sir Trevor Brooking and passed by Premier League clubs in June. The aim of the EPPP is to revolutionise youth football, bringing England up to a level currently occupied by Spain. Sounds good, right? Think again.

This particular piece of legislation has the potential to rip the heart out of the Football League. It could leave teams that consistently produce quality youngsters, such as Crewe Alexandra and Crystal Palace, with very little to show for their endeavours.

The ruling itself, passed by the brass at Walsall’s Banks's Stadium, means that clubs' academies will now be categorised. The top category – branded, with impressive originality, 'Category One' – will cost around £2.5 million and require 18 full-time staff. Essentially all Category One academies will be at Premier League clubs and the richer Championship sides, such as West Ham and Leicester.

The current format states that when a player under the age of 17 moves to a bigger club, a tribunal determines the compensation paid, ensuring the smaller club gets an apparently fair price for the talent they have nurtured.

Under the convoluted new ruling, clubs will receive £3,000 for each year spent nurturing a player between the ages of nine and 11 and between £12,500 and £40,000 – more for the higher-category academies – for each year spent at the club between the ages of 12 and 16. The new system will essentially create a monopoly for bigger sides to poach players as and when they wish at a pittance of their true price. In short, Category One clubs can buy any under-17 footballer they like for well under than £200,000.

The money here is quite simply feeble. For many clubs, the income from a well-nurtured academy can be just as vital as money generated by the first team. The new system reduces trickle-down economics to a barely dripping tap.

To put into perspective the impact that the new ruling could have on Football League clubs, simply look at some of the recent youngsters to have made the switch to Premier League clubs.

Only this week, MK Dons agreed a deal of £1.5m rising to £2m with Chelsea for 14-year-old Oluwaseyi Ojo; under the new ruling, they would be lucky to get £100,000 for the talented youngster. The deals that took players like John Bostock from Palace to Tottenham and Raheem Sterling from QPR to Liverpool to big Premier League sides totalled around £7m, vital money for the selling clubs. Under the new system, the deals would combine to make a measly £200,000 or so.

Olwaysei Ojo: Available to the rich for buttons

So why has the Football League accepted a deal that seems likely to whittle away at the foundations of English football until it crumbles into a powdery mess? Quite simply, the Premier League has, in typical ‘We’re bigger than you’ style, forced the hand of the 72.

Purely in the interest of ‘developing’ English youth football, the Premier League threatened to remove the funding they provide to the Football League for youth development. This funding totals somewhere in the region of £5m annually, money that many lower-league teams depend on in order to survive. The 'big' clubs generously agreed to increase the youth development funding if the Football League agreed to the terms of EPPP.

With little other option, and reluctantly encouraged by forlorn Football League chairman Greg Clarke, the EPPP was passed by 46 votes to 22 with three no-shows and one abstention. The 72's short-term needs will be pacified, but what happens when they get £60,000 for a player who would previously have raised a million?

For their part, the Premier League clubs are also keen to stress that it was possible for Football League clubs to obtain the Category One status. But how? Even outside a recession, there aren't many Football League clubs able to dedicate £2.5m and 18 full-time staff to players outside the first team.

They have absolutely no chance when their most promising prospects are being swallowed up for a price equivalent to a bag of balls, a set of cones and a handful of training bibs. Rudimentary maths indicate that to cover that annual £2.5m, academies would have to sell 20 top-rated 17-year-olds every single season.

This could quite simply spell the end for many Football League academies. It used to be said of many smaller clubs that they couldn't afford to ignore a youth system; now it may mean that clubs can't afford to have one. If nurturing players costs significantly more than it saves (or makes), clubs will have to make the hard-nosed business decision to stay alive by killing off their youth programmes.

If (or rather when) that happens, the EPPP becomes counter-productive by significantly reducing the number of players coming through academies. Only those players deemed good enough in their early teens by the big clubs will survive; the others, previously picked up by smaller clubs, will drift out of football altogether.

Bristol City and their academy lads: will they survive?

That would mean, for example, that there'd be no room at the table for Ashley Young: now starring for Manchester United and England, but not good enough for Watford before the age of 18. No Bradley Johnson, recently called up by Fabio Capello for the Montenegro game: he was released by Arsenal at 15 and worked his way back up via the Cambridge United youth teams.

It may be pragmatic for the talent to be funneled into fewer academies, but making the pool significantly shallower can't be good for English football.

If Football League clubs can't afford academies, England risk losing players like Joe Hart (who came through Shrewsbury's youth ranks), Chris Smalling (Millwall), Darren Bent (Ipswich), Gareth Barry (Brighton), Kyle Walker (Sheffield United) and Leighton Baines (Wigan, after being released by Liverpool at 17) – not to mention all the players produced by the excellent academies at Middlesbrough and Southampton, whose jewels would be snatched for far less than the recent going rates.

The days of seeing the local boy make his debut, or getting that shiver down your spine as you see a 17-year-old talent for the first time on a wet and windy night at Gresty Road or Selhurst Park, may well be over. The Reaper is on his way to your club, and it would appear you have little choice but to open the door and welcome him in.

Five things to note about the Championship

2011-10-14T12:50:00Z

What's been going on so far in one of the world's toughest leagues? Ed Wilson examines the evidence

Championship fixtures come thick and fast, meaning trends and patterns appear with all the clarity of one of those magic eye pictures shoved right up against your face. With that in mind, the international break provides a good opportunity to take a couple of steps back, squint a bit, and see what's emerged so far.

Southampton aren’t ‘the new Norwich’… yet
Only the most hardcore Pompey fan – the character with the tattoos and the bell, for example – would deny that Southampton have made a great start to their return to the Championship.

After 10 games they’re top of the table and playing with all the confidence and purpose we’ve come to expect from the best newly-promoted teams. The box marked ‘attacking gusto’ has been emphatically ticked, with the Saints scoring more goals than any other side. In Rickie Lambert, they have the division’s joint top scorer.

But they shouldn’t be booking their open-top bus for May just yet. Of the current top six, they’re the second most generous at the back – only fellow arrivistes Brighton have conceded more goals.

And while they’ve filled their boots against sides who started the season in a catatonic stupor (Birmingham, Ipswich, Watford), they’ve lost to the two teams you would expect to offer a real challenge, Cardiff and Leicester.

More than ever, the Championship is a fiercely competitive division, with at least 10 clubs capable of claiming one of the three promotion spots. This season, there’s no obvious runaway title winner like Newcastle a couple of seasons ago, or even a side who look reliably hard to beat, like Warnock’s QPR. All the top teams will take points off each other.

So while it’s true that Southampton have got off to a flyer, only an impulsive idiot would be marking them down as a certainty for back-to-back automatic promotions. Let me finish, then, by saying that Southampton are a certainty for back-to-back automatic promotions.

West Ham need to relax
To the unbiased observer, West Ham look nicely positioned in 4th, just four points off the top spot. But dissatisfaction is in the air at Upton Park. Their 1-0 loss to Ipswich, a second home defeat of the season, drew boos from supporters and prompted Kevin Nolan to criticise himself and the team.

But while Nolan might find it productive to stare dementedly into a mirror and slap his own face until his form improves, West Ham should resist the temptation to beat themselves up over their failure to take the division by storm. They're only ‘failing’ in the context of massively high expectations.

In fact, plenty of teams would envy their position. They have one of the best squads in the division and, in Sam Allardyce, a proven manager capable of delivering the goods. ‘Big Sam’ doesn’t call himself ‘Big Sam’ for nothing, you know?

Rather than cranking the pressure gauge up to 11, the Hammers should accept that it’s going to take a while for them to find their feet. They should also be encouraged that they’re still comfortably in contention for an automatic promotion place, despite not playing their best football.

Granted, their start hasn’t been the stuff of legend, but it’s not been seriously damaging, either. All that’s needed is a little perspective. A 1-0 defeat to Ipswich isn’t a disaster. Speaking of which…

Ipswich are in a false position
When Paul Jewell is embarrassed, his features slide to the side of his face, as if they’re trying to disassociate themselves from humiliation. After his team’s dire start to the season – including a 5-2 home defeat against Southampton and a 7-1 spanking at Peterborough – he looked like he’d be condemned to see out the rest of his life without a nose and mouth.

Luckily for Jewell’s facial integrity, Ipswich have started to turn things around. In recent weeks wins against Coventry, West Ham and Brighton, and a draw at second-placed Middlesbrough, have seen them rise to 10th in the table.

So, what’s changed? Well, firstly, Jewell has strengthened his defence. And while 12 goals conceded in two games means he doesn’t deserve much praise for spotting the problem, he can take the credit for recruiting Senegalese international Ibrahima Sonko, who has added some much-needed steel at the back.

Just as importantly, the 12 signings brought into the club over the summer have started to resemble a team. And with their poor start behind them, they should be looking to kick on. Jimmy Bullard and Lee Bowyer are one of the strongest midfield pairings in the division.

Up front, Michael Chopra guarantees goals. Their goalkeeper is Robbie Stockdale, on loan from Fulham. With players like that, the minimum Ipswich should be aiming for is a play-off place.

McClaren situation defies analysis 
After two top-six finishes in a row, Forest must have hoped that the appointment of continental sophisticate Steve McClaren would convert playoff potential into promotion. The omens were good. On his first day, McClaren wore a green jumper, causing some journalists to invoke the memory of Brian Clough. (To be honest, you suspect that these people would have drawn the Clough comparison whatever McClaren had worn. "Look! Trousers! Brian Clough used to wear trousers!")

Unfortunately, the jumper was as good as it got. With Forest just one point above the drop zone, McClaren resigned after only 111 days in charge, claiming the board didn’t share his ambitions for the club.

But while it’s true that McClaren didn’t have much money to spend, he should have done better with the resources he had. Defensively, his side were a shambles, conceding three to both Southampton and Birmingham, four to West Ham and five to Burnley. His tenure was so disastrous that Nigel Doughty, the chairman who appointed him, has announced his intention to stand down as a result.

The Forest job was presented as a decisive point in McClaren’s career. He would either salvage his reputation in his home country, or be categorically condemned as a hapless buffoon with a squeamish dislike of rain. Given the spectacularly awful way things ended up, it’s tempting to conclude that the latter must be true. But in fact, the whole situation is so strange, and the rancour between McClaren and Doughty so extreme, it defies conclusions.

So, for McClaren, the jury, in England at least, should still be out. Forest, meanwhile, have been forced to ditch their play-off ambitions and instead must simply try to steady the ship. New chairman Frank Clark and manager Steve Cotterill have a job to do.

Palace put their trust in youth
Crystal Palace struggled to stay up last season, but they’re currently 12th, and look like a solid bet for a top-ten finish.

This turnaround has happened without big-money signings. Over the summer, Dougie Freedman’s major additions to his squad were striker Glenn Murray, signed on a free from Brighton, and Australian international midfielder Mile Jedinak, also on a free.

Instead, Palace are relying on young talent. The 18-year old forward Wilfried Zaha is probably the pick of an impressive bunch that also includes Sean Scannell and Jon Williams. The phrase ‘impact player’ is often a euphemism for ‘wildly inconsistent’ but Zaha has the skill and pace to change games. Against Coventry, he came off the bench to cause mayhem, grabbing two assists as Palace turned a 1-0 deficit into a 95th-minute 2-1 win.

Palace’s success, then, will depend on whether their youngsters can maintain their form for a whole season. Speaking of which, during the January transfer window Freedman will have to hope he can stop richer clubs – Chelsea are reported to be chasing Williams, and Fulham are supposedly interested in Zaha – from pinching his players to fill out their reserve squads.

Gloss coming off the JPT as interest and attendances continue to drop

2011-10-07T12:35:00Z

The final defences for the existence of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy are being eroded, leaving it virtually defunct in the minds of managers and fans alike.

While it may not have the tantalising prospect of drawing a Premier League club, the JPT presents a genuine, miracle-free chance to reach a Wembley final.

It’s an opportunity for silverware taken by Mansfield (1987), Rotherham (1996) and Wrexham (2005) among many others who would normally only dream of reaching the FA Cup final. This possibility of glory, though, is no longer enough.

Cup competitions will always be looked down on by clubs who like to think they have other priorities. The high-flyers of League One will be more interested in promotion than the JPT, in the same way the top six of the Premier League will be more interested in Champions League qualification than FA Cup success.

The worry for the JPT organisers is that, if the letters page of the November edition of FourFourTwo (out now) is anything to go by, all the other clubs are starting to feel the same way.

Charlton vs Brentford on Wednesday evening was attended by just 3,486

In the past, the regional organisation of the trophy has meant managers and fans give it a semblance of respect. After all, nobody wants to lose to their local rivals, no matter what competition they are playing in.

However, the bizarre organisation leaves ‘local’ games like Northampton v Huddersfield a first round inconvenience. Combine this with the regionalisation of the Carling Cup first round - which offers the chance for local clubs from lower divisions to fight it out in the hope of a ‘big’ second round draw – has deflated the entire competition.

On Wednesday night, Charlton – unbeaten in League One so far – lost 3-0 at home to Brentford. The result, witnessed by a crowd of only 3,486, hardly made the morning papers. Up north on Tuesday, Huddersfield – on a rather stunning unbeaten league run themselves – lost on penalties to Bradford, while Sheffield United scraped through against Rotherham 2-1.

The results won’t concern Charlton or Huddersfield, who are battling for promotion. The Don Valley scoreline, rather than having the Blades’ rivals fearing a resurgence in form, will leave them with a wry smile at the extra game.

Even the teams already looking likely to be stuck around the middle of their division overwhelmingly now see the added games as a nuisance that overrides the exciting chance to reach Wembley. There is no magic, no chance of a major upset and very little glory.

When even the Carling Cup is more interesting than your competition, you know you are in trouble. It’s time the organisers of the JPT changed the format to make it worthwhile, or scrapped it all together as part of a complete shake-up of the English cup system.

Championship round-up: Bentley's chance, Le Fondre's step up & McClaren's sighs

2011-09-05T09:33:00Z

Every year, as the end of the August approaches, transfer business done by Championship clubs tends to be overlooked amid the frenzy generated by Premier League signings.

Leicester’s Martyn Waghorn, for example, will have to resign himself to the fact that his short-term loan to Hull is never going to generate the same attention as Raul Meireles’ £12-million move from Liverpool to Chelsea.

Nonetheless, there were plenty of interesting players preparing to awkwardly hold aloft a Championship team’s shirt with their name on the back in the last week of the window.

West Ham probably conducted the division’s most high-profile business, mainly thanks to the sale of Scott Parker to Tottenham for £6 million. But they did recruit some big names too, bringing in Papa Bouba Diop on a free and ‘England international’ David Bentley on loan.

It’s hard to predict what impact Bentley in particular will have at West Ham, apart from maintaining the club’s quota of 1950’s haircuts now Parker has left.

DB8 – as he almost certainly doesn’t refer to himself – could be a great provider for Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan, both of whom like to get on the end of a cross. And, as Bentley himself said in an interview with The Sun, the move is a chance for him to ‘rebuild’ his career.

If that sounds worryingly familiar, it’s because he said exactly the same thing about last season’s loan spell at Birmingham, where he continued to give the impression of being only partially interested in football. But West Ham offer Bentley a better chance of rediscovering the form that prompted Spurs to fork out £15 million for him in 2008. In addition to getting a clean break by dropping down a division, he won’t spend games watching the ball fly over his head in the way he sometimes did at St Andrew’s.

Not satisfied by the close-season signing of David Nugent, Sven Goran Eriksson spent most of the summer publicising his desire to bring another striker to Leicester. Despite the club’s jumbo-cheque sized budget, that man turned out not to be Carlos Tevez or Neymar, or even Rangers’ Nikica Jelavic, but Everton’s Jermaine Beckford.

Beckford was signed for the relatively big price of £2.5 million – possibly rising to £4m – and is a strong addition to their squad.

Although he was hardly prolific during his time at Goodison Park, he scored 25 goals in League One when Leeds won promotion to the Championship, and has a good chance of recreating that form if Leicester can live up to the hype their money has generated.

Reading and Coventry both signed strikers with big lower-league reputations. The Royals brought in Adam Le Fondre, who scored 50 goals in 92 games for Rotherham in League Two. Coventry, who had a bid for Le Fondre rejected, signed Cody McDonald, who scored 25 goals in 41 games for Gillingham while on loan from Norwich.

Coventry desperately need McDonald to adapt quickly to the demands of a higher division. They’ve only scored twice in their five league games so far, with both goals being bundled in by Lukas Jutkiewicz, who was reportedly a target for Middlesbrough.

The hard-up Sky Blues financed the deal for McDonald by selling Ben Turner to Cardiff for £750,000. Perhaps a better solution to their goal-scoring crisis would have been to keep hold of Turner and play him up front – the central defender is an big aerial threat and scored four goals in fourteen games last season.

Ipswich’s start to the season has been uneven to say the least – they beat Bristol City 3-0 on the first day of the season, but have since conceded five goals against Southampton and seven against Peterborough. Paul Jewell – enjoying a Schwarzenegger moment – diagnosed their problem as being ‘mentally weak’.

His two experienced free signings, Jimmy Bullard and the Senegalese international Ibrahima Sonko should go a long way to countering that problem. Both featured in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Leeds, who themselves sold Max Gradel to former European Cup runners-up (and indie-dance outfit) Saint-Étienne.

Scott Parker aside, the biggest loss to the division was probably Scott Dann, who completed a move from Birmingham to Blackburn. The Blues also sold Cameron Jerome to Stoke. Although they should have raised around £9 million from the sale of both players, it must count as a blow to their prospects for automatic promotion.

But it was undoubtedly Nottingham Forest who had the worst of the final week of the window. Their total inactivity resulted in an early face-off between the board and manager Steve McClaren, with the former England boss eventually being forced to publicly state that he wouldn’t leave the club due to a lack of investment.

Forest’s chief executive Mark Arthur has tried to dismiss the tension between the board and the manager as ‘teething problems’ typical of any ‘new relationship’. For Forest fans, that’s not actually a very comforting analogy.

Plenty of relationships are at their sweetest during the honeymoon period. It’s when reality bites that they turn sour. So this is potentially the best it’s going to get for McClaren at Forest.

It’s all downhill from here, Steve.

Leicester need to lead their marathon from the front

2011-08-08T15:22:00Z

Sven's spending has put a premium on Leicester's league performance, says Ed Wilson

As the Championship gets into its swing from its unusually early start date, speculation over the promotion favourites intensifies. The big hitters of Birmingham and West Ham feature prominently; so do play-off nearly-men Nottingham Forest and Cardiff. But at the moment, despite their 10th-placed finish last season, it’s Leicester that are getting the nod from most bookies.

This isn’t surprising, as the club are doing their best to raise expectations. They’ve invested heavily in their squad, with Sven Goran Eriksson bringing in nine players over the summer, at an estimated cost of £10 million. New recruits include ex-Premier League stalwarts John Pantsil and Paul Konchesky, as well as proven Championship players like David Nugent and Kasper Schmeichel.

It would be totally understandable if followers of top-flight football were a little underwhelmed by these signings, but while none of them are ever going to generate the same transfer heat as Sergio Aguero, they’re all more than decent. In particular, full-backs Pantsil and Konchesky should work well in Leicester’s attack-minded 4-3-3 formation.

And it’s not just the quality of the acquisitions that reflect Leicester’s ambition; it’s the quantity, as well. Eriksson has said that he wants a squad of 20 players all genuinely capable of competing for a first-team place and makes almost daily statements promising more stars, including a ‘big name’ striker.

He justifies this quality-in-quantity policy by pointing to the length of the Championship season. It’s hard to fault his logic: the 46 games constitute a marathon in which your fellow runners insist on trying to kick you. You don’t just need good players: to last the distance, you also need plenty of them.

Among the newbies: Konchesky, Danns, Schmeichel

But while this is undeniable, there’s more to Leicester’s voracious appetite for players than the demands of their coach. It’s part of a bigger statement being made by the owners, Asia Football Investments, about the club as a whole and the direction it’s going in.

This summer, besides trying to buy almost every lower-ranked player in the Premiership, Leicester have hosted a friendly against Real Madrid – reportedly at seven-figure cost – and had their ambitions endorsed by Jose Mourinho (he predicted Premier League status "very, very soon").

Like other aspiring brands, they’ve been linked with David Beckham, presumably hoping his cosmopolitan glamour will do for their slightly faded image what it did for Brylcreem’s. Clearly, the club is positioning itself for a move onto a bigger stage.

In this context, Eriksson’s bullish recruitment policy is both understandable and risky. By making use of the transfer market to raise Leicester’s profile, he’s improving the quality of his squad while simultaneously cranking up the pressure to get results.

Speed is of the essence in this; the club’s comparatively massive outlay means the fans and owners will expect them to win promotion from the front, rather than copying Norwich, who were fifth at Christmas before eventually taking second.

That won’t be easy. In addition to Birmingham and West Ham, sides such as Forest, Reading and even Middlesbrough, who all finished strongly last season, should compete well from the start. Compared to some of these squads, Leicester are still in transition.

The example of Sven’s former club, Man City, suggests that while money can make that transition quick, it won’t be instantaneous: it takes time for a team to establish their own identity. But in these circumstances, time is often the one thing in short supply. So while Eriksson is right to identify the Championship as a marathon, his transfer activity is increasing the pressure on his side to start sprinting.

Championship preview 2011/12: Sven, McClaren & Big Sam prepare to do battle

2011-08-05T11:08:00Z

It’s a well-worn mantle: ‘The toughest division to get out of is the Championship’. Something of an overused phrase perhaps, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.  

Of course, it’s ‘tough’ because it is professional football at a very high level. But the difference between the Championship and Leagues One and Two is that because of the nature of the prize at stake, the pressure is astronomical from the very start. Because of what it means to clubs who achieve promotion, every team has a gigantic weight on their shoulders.  

Consequently, it’s tough on the flipside too. Just ask Reading or Cardiff fans, or those of any other clubs who have had near misses in recent seasons. When you come agonisingly close to promotion from the Championship, but ultimately fail, you don’t forget it in a hurry. That is, if you can forget at all.  

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at this year’s runners and riders – and those with less lofty ambitions...   

PROMOTION CHALLENGERS  

You’d be hard pressed to find a Championship preview that didn’t have LEICESTER CITY among its tips for the top, and rightly so. A quick scan of the summer arrivals column makes for impressive reading indeed.

Witness playmaker Michael Johnson – on a season-long loan from Manchester City, who could make serious waves if maintaining peak fitness. Not to mention David Nugent, Paul Konchesky and Kasper Schmeichel. Throw in Gelson Fernandes (another season-long loan), Matt Mills, Sean St Ledger and the lovable John Pantsil to a squad that already contained the likes of elusive goal-grabbing midfielder Andy King, and things are looking rather rosy at the Walkers.

Plus, critically, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has experience of life in the division under his belt. Surely it is only a matter of time before the magic that paid dividends with Ulrika is a similar hit with the Foxy talent he has at his disposal. Automatic promotion likely.

"May the best man win, old chap..."

With a potential central midfield pairing of Scott Parker and Kevin Nolan – should the former not find himself a new club in the top-flight, WEST HAM are likely to make a big impact too.  Big Sam, big wages, big club, big fanbase, big players, big squad. They are just bloody big, especially for the Championship. Expect a lot of big long balls that will cause lots of teams big problems and get many big results in the process. But they are also a big scalp; the team everyone will want to beat.

Nevertheless they boast the talents of (big) Carlton Cole, Matt Taylor and Rob Green among others, and there could well be a big Hammers promotion party come May.  

NOTTINGHAM FOREST used to be big. But that was a long time ago and this campaign marks their 12th successive season outside the top flight. There are reasons for their faithful to be cheerful, however, the shrewd appointment of Steve McLaren being one of them. ‘The Wally with the Brolly’s’ managerial record at club level is actually fairly impressive, major trophies bagged at both Middlesbrough and FC Twente, with a forgettable spell at Wolfsburg chucked in.

He also is likely to feel he has something to prove on these shores – which can be no bad thing.

Hitting the back of the net could be Forest’s biggest problem. Whether Dexter Blackstock, Marcus Tudgay and Robbie Findley are a potent enough strike-force is debatable. McLaren’s ability to harness the attacking prowess of Lewis McGugan and larger-than-life passmaster Andy Reid will be key to their chances.

A watertight back four and Lee Camp between the sticks is a proven plus, and the acquisition of Jonathan Greening could be a masterstroke. That they are four times the price of Leicester and West Ham with some bookies seems a bit silly.

McClaren and his new coaching staff - sans umbrellas...

MIDDLESBROUGH finished like a steam train last year, and despite the recent loss of Leroy Lita they could really excel under Tony Mowbray. The former West Brom boss’s time on Teesside has been uneventful to date, but things certainly appeared to be coming to fruition at the back end of last term.

A healthy Boro dressing room is a must, given their relatively thin squad, but there is certainly the required talent within to maintain a serious promotion assault. Dutch hitman Marvin Emnes resisted Premier League interest to remain at the club and is the type who could smash the 20-goal barrier for the men in red.

Elsewhere, Barry Robson, Scott McDonald and Nicky Bailey all ooze quality, while fit-again youngster Jonathan Franks could blossom into a real star. The return of free agent Julio Arca, who is training with the club again, would be a massive bonus and Mowbray has been there and done it in this division too, taking West Brom into the Premier League in 2007-08.

Another man who knows what it takes to get out of the Championship is Chris Hughton. BIRMINGHAM CITY will surely benefit from the calmly efficient approach he employed during Newcastle’s Championship-winning campaign of 2009/10. Sure, they have lost some key men in the shape of Craig Gardner and Roger Johnson et al, but enough quality remains for the Blues to be contenders.

Hate figure Marlon King is a significant presence at this level and Cameron Jerome has thrived, albeit inconsistently, both in and out of the Premier League. Adam Rooney could be the division’s surprise strike package, and lively Scottish winger Chris Burke provides some zest and panache.

At the time of writing, Scott Dann, Liam Ridgewell and Stephen Carr all remain and Steven Caldwell’s arrival adds extra steel. Hughton’s biggest headache may come from matters away from the pitch.

Financial controversies have reared their ugly head and a Europa League campaign might now be a simply unwelcome distraction. But, they are decidedly unfancied in many circles – which is probably just how Hughton likes it.

Holding on to Ridgewell and Dann could be key for Birmingham

Recovering from defeat in last season’s play-off final is the darkest cloud hanging over the head of READING. Otherwise, all roads lead to Wembley, or better, once again.

Only Danny Graham bagged more goals than Irishman Shane Long last season and he appears set to stay at the Madejski. With Noel Hunt, Jimmy Kebe and Jobi McAnuff also among the ranks, the Royals are choc-full of threat.

Indeed there are capable players throughout the squad (Mathieu Manset, Brian Howard, Ian Harte, Adam Federici) and with no glaring weaknesses it is hard to fathom just why they didn’t manage to return to the Premier League last season. It is indeed a tough old league.  

PROMOTION OUTSIDERS

Gus Poyet can simply do no wrong in the eyes of Seagulls fans and there are murmurings of expectation of more success for BRIGHTON this term. On paper they don’t seem a million miles away from Norwich City, who achieved back-to-back promotions from the Championship last year.

They certainly have a lot to shout about at present. A lovely (but awfully named) new stadium has bolstered the feel-good factor on the South coast. But adjusting to life away from the decrepitly unique Withdean Stadium might not be as smooth a process as many assume.

Poyet’s easy-on-the-eye approach should be rewarded at this level though – note Blackpool and Swansea’s recent triumphs. Yet while Craig Mackail-Smith, Kazenga LuaLua, Will Hoskins and Gary Dicker should take care of things at one end of the pitch, there are certainly defensive concerns.

A lack of strength in depth at the back could be their undoing, but a top-half finish at the very minimum is realistic.

CARDIFF CITY might have to settle for similar. Unlike Albion, however, they appear to have a rock solid base from which to operate. Malky Mackay has added to a tight unit (assembled largely by the now departed Dave Jones) by snapping up Andrew Taylor, while the return of Anthony Gerrard from Hull, where he won Fans’ Player of the Year, means competition for starting spots at the back will be fierce in South Wales.

Having lost 12 players after more play-off heartbreak last year, though, means this is likely to be a transitional season for the Bluebirds. Much will depend on how quickly the new faces, of which there are many, settle.

Fan favourite Rob Earnshaw is back and Kenny Miller should thrive on the service provided by compatriot Craig Conway and Peter Whittingham. Should the enigmatic Craig Bellamy return then there will be renewed optimism of another tilt at the play-offs.

Kevin Phillips - a goalscoring certainy at Championship level

Ian Holloway seems to have toned down his larger than life presence in the media of late (or maybe people are a little bored of his West country twang). Regardless, there is unlikely to be anything dull about BLACKPOOL’s approach as they aim for a quick return to the Premier League.

But the worth of Charlie Adam to the Tangerines cannot be overstated, and without him and the also departed DJ Campbell they might just fall short of a top-six finish.

Still, they should be in there pitching, having recruited Barry Ferguson and Kevin Phillips amongst others. If Gary Taylor-Fletcher can bring his A-game with him for another season and Holloway can uncover another gem or two then it could be another rollercoaster at Bloomfield Road.

Another North-West hopeful, BURNLEY, still seem to be reeling from the loss of manager Owen Coyle 18 months ago. Can young gun Eddie Howe repeat the unlikely success he enjoyed with Bournemouth at Turf Moor?

A paper-thin squad that has been further depleted by the loss of Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears suggests he has his work cut out. Yet Howe appears to flourish in unlikely circumstances. Wade Elliott, new recruit Keith Treacy and Dean Marney are all useful assets, but they will all need to contribute goals.

Much like Birmingham, low expectation levels could suit.

Simon Grayson will enjoy no such luxury at Elland Road, however. LEEDS UNITED hung around the top six grimly for the majority of last season before missing out at the death. Their loyal fans will expect to go one better this time around. Is that realistic? Maybe.

Grayson’s love for the club he supported as a child is oh so evident, and his infectious enthusiasm could help instigate another lofty finish. But they will have to endure a lengthy spell without prolific Argentinian Luciano Becchio, who has undergone hamstring surgery, and fellow attacker Davide Somma could miss the entire campaign.

A lot rests on the potency of diminutive Scottish forward Ross McCormack and Player of the Year Max Gradel, as well as Robert Snodgrass. If Michael Brown can curb his irrational streak, then he will provide valuable cover to a back five in which Alex Bruce remains but Kasper Schmeichel does not.

Michael Brown and Leeds United - a winning combination?

Former Leeds star Lee Bowyer is one of many new faces at Portman Road this season, where Paul Jewell will be hoping to steer IPSWICH TOWN back to the league they last graced in 2002.

He will have to do so without Connor Wickham, who has departed for Sunderland, but as well as Bowyer, Michael Chopra has arrived plus Nathan Ellington and highly-regarded Arsenal academy product Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Chopra in particular should prove to be a massive addition alongside targetman Jason Scotland.

Improvement on last season’s 13th place finish seems a distinct possibility, but sneaking into sixth is probably the most they can hope for. And that’s assuming the likes of Carlos Edwards, Grant Leadbitter and Damien Delaney perform.

  MID-TABLERS

PORTSMOUTH continue to stabilise, and the excellent signings of trio Greg Halford, Luke Varney and David Norris offers some hope of a flirtation with the upper echelons of the division, but in all likelihood another mid-table finish is the call.

If they can keep Nicky Maynard fit and actually at the club, BRISTOL CITY could enjoy something of an upturn in fortunes. But they are so dangerously reliant on the 24-year-old that they could almost as easily be looking nervously over their shoulders should the former Crewe man depart or become crocked.

They appear content to stay put for the time being, which is something that might also be true of HULL CITY. Saddled with a significant wage bill, and with Jimmy Bullard currently suspended by the club, boss Nigel Pearson has had little opportunity to strengthen.

In Matty Fryatt, Robert Koren and Jay Simpson they have the thrust to compliment their solid defence, but they still look a little short.

On a par are Nigel Adkins’ Championship new boys SOUTHAMPTON. They will be dependent on Ricky Lambert being as destructive at this level as he was in League One. Chelsea rookie Jack Cork is a great signing, and they could get off to a flyer and surprise a few. Sustaining any fast start might be the problem, however.  

Newly-promoted Saints: a potential surprise package?

DROP-DODGERS

Sean O’Driscoll has earned many plaudits for the way his DONCASTER ROVERS outfit play the game, but they were dangerously close to sliding down to League One last year. Billy Sharp is key, so too James Coppinger and Brian Stock, and if Giles Barnes can rediscover the Midas touch then they might just scrape their way to safety.

With the departure of Craig Mackail-Smith, PETERBOROUGH UNITED’s hopes of survival might have disappeared too. Darren Ferguson will be hoping daddy is in a generous (loanee) mood if they are to avoid a return to from whence they came.

COVENTRY have stagnated recently, but mid-table mediocrity is something to aspire to this season. Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, a relegation battle is likely to loom large, especially having lost Marlon King and Kieren Westwood.

WATFORD start the Championship season at a three-figure price – no change there then. But can they overcome the loss of boss Malky Mackay and key men Danny Graham, top scorer in the Championship last year, Don Cowie and Will Buckley? It is a very big ask indeed.

CRYSTAL PALACE will be similarly reliant on a doggedness that has seen them evade demotion in recent years, but it maybe a bridge too far this time around. That is unless Darren Ambrose can have another wonder season and Glen Murray hits the ground running.

Another London club who could find things tough is MILLWALL. Kenny Jackett’s Lions punched well above their weight in 10/11, even briefly entering the play-off picture, but it may well be a different story without talismanic duo Steve Morison and Neil Harris.

Finally, BARNSLEY and DERBY aren’t likely to find too many below them, which will probably mean the end for poor old Nigel Clough. And on that cheery note, please see predicted table below:

FourFourTwo.com predictions

1 - Leicester
2 - Nottingham Forest
3 - Reading
4 - West Ham (p/o winners)
5 - Birmingham
6 - Middlesbrough
7 - Blackpool
8 - Brighton
9 - Leeds
10 - Cardiff
11 - Ipswich
12 - Burnley
13 - Hull
14 - Portsmouth
15 - Southampton
16 - Bristol City
17 - Watford
18 - Millwall
19 - Crystal Palace
20 - Doncaster
21 - Peterborough
22 - Coventry
23 - Derby
24 - Barnsley

League One preview 2011/12: Steel City rivals battle for supremacy

2011-08-04T14:22:00Z

League One really is the league that keeps on giving. Well, for the fans of the smaller clubs anyway.

While England's third tier has lost the likes of Leeds, Norwich and Southampton to the more glitzy Championship in recent years, the two Sheffield clubs and Charlton fill the mantle of recent Premier League names fallen on hard times. And that’s not to mention the perma-tanned karaoke king that is Phil Brown at Preston North End.

Other new additions to the league, basking the glory of promotion rather than the shame of relegation last term, are the four clubs that have made the climb from League Two.

Champions Chesterfield, automatically promoted Bury and Wycombe, plus Stevenage –whose first-ever league season ended in play-off triumph – will all have survival as the basic aim but may look to push on into mid-table and beyond.

The season starts on Saturday so while the match-day pies are brought out of the freezer and the excitement of many a fan is ready to burst, why not whet the appetite with a little run through the possible Title Challengers, Dark Horses, Mid-Tablers and Survival Hopefuls? You’re going to need that enthusiasm come the torrential downpours that greet a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie on a Tuesday night in windy November.

TITLE CHALLENGERS

This season’s League One campaign sees the resumption of one of England’s biggest rivalries, the Steel City Derby, although both Owls and Blades will attest that the third tier really isn’t the arena where the two clubs want to do battle.

The last time these two met at this level, in the 1979-80 season, the two fixtures drew a combined attendance of 94,465, illustrating just how big this rivalry is to the people of Sheffield – and the challenge facing the South Yorkshire police at the teams' two Sunday summits on October 16 and February 26.

The summer started explosively at Sheffield United as fans, furious with the appointment of former Wednesday manager Danny Wilson, reacted with contempt to their new manager. Malcontent, although sure to re-surface should the season not start well, seems to have been submerged by the optimism surrounding the shrewd signings of Chris Porter and Ryan Flynn as well as the promises to integrate the stars of the club’s youth team – Jordan Slew, Harry Maguire and Matthew Lowton – into the senior squad.

Bramall Lane: Danny's new home...

City rivals Sheffield Wednesday will also be targeting promotion back to the Championship as they embark on their second season in the third tier. Manager Gary Megson and chairman Milan Mandaric have been active throughout the summer holidays in changing the make-up of the Owls squad. In comes Jose Semedo from League One rivals Charlton and David Prutton to form a new core to the midfield. Anything less than promotion should be seen as a failure.

Of the other challengers, Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town are the closest things to surefire bets for success, with relegated Preston North End and play-off qualifiers MK Dons hoping to flex their muscles.

After racking up 87 points only to taste defeat in last season’s play-off final, Lee Clark's Huddersfield will hope the permanent signing of former Bolton loanee Danny Ward will help offset the departure of exciting winger Anthony Pilkington.

Meanwhile, Charlton will hope to arrest an eight-year slide after a summer of rebuilding. Local lad Chris Powell has added several men to complement his fellow south-east Londoner Bradley Wright-Phillips, who bagged 21 last term in a mid-table side.

Preston will hope that the apparent cash shortage that has led to the loss of Keith Treacy to fierce rivals Burnley and Billy Jones to West Brom won’t hinder the rebuilding process that manager Phil Brown believes can catapult them back from whence they came. And, with the firepower of Iain Hume and Neil Mellor up-front, they’ve got every chance.

MK Dons, under the stewardship of 30-year-old man-child Karl Robinson, will look to improve on the play-off defeat last season with the signings of wingers Jay O’Shea and Angelo Balanta providing them with plenty of forward thrust.

DARK HORSES

Any league’s dark horses are notoriously hard to predict as, in essence, it’s a game of predicting the unpredictable. Into that mix comes a range of teams, both new to and established in League One.

Lee Bradbury’s Bournemouth overcome the loss of manager Eddie Howe to Burnley to reach the play-off semi-final. They still have the mix of youth and experience that has, for the past few years, given them the feeling that anything is possible. Is it?

London geezers Brentford and Leyton Orient spent last year consolidating, but they've taken different approaches over summer. Brentford have made major changes over the summer, with former Manchester City striker Uwe Rosler taking the helm and bringing in a raft of new signings, including influential midfielder Jonathan Douglas. The sense of optimism around Griffin Park may just bring about a climb up the table.

Uwe Rosler chews over his options

But while Brentford have changed direction, Leyton Orient don't really need to after finishing seventh, their best finish in 18 years. Manager Russell Slade has kept hold of key players like fiery captain Stephen Dawson and brought in the solid if unspectacular Scott Cuthbert and David Mooney.

The other two sides worthy enough to throw a few pennies at are Scunthorpe United and Chesterfield, with the former falling into League One through the Championship trap-door and the latter climbing the League Two victors' stairs.

Scunthorpe manager Alan Knill seems to have used the lower-league knowledge he gained with Bury to bring in the players he thinks can secure the Iron's minimum aim of a play-off place. In comes Jimmy Ryan from Accrington Stanley and Andy Barcham from Gillingham, although United fans may hold concern for their attacking line-up, as interest in Rotherham’s Adam Le Fondre and Bury’s Ryan Lowe has been rebuffed by both clubs.

John Sheridan’s Chesterfield dominated League Two from early on last season and the capture of Arsenal midfielder Mark Randall, combined with the progressive football played by a confident and strong squad at the fairly new B2net stadium could see the Spireites upset the apple-cart somewhat this campaign.

MID-TABLERS

The mediocrity of a mid-table finish will disappoint some who had hoped for a flirtation with promotion but give cheer to others who managed to avoid a dance with relegation.

Carlisle, Oldham, Hartlepool and Yeovil, all established at this level, have each made suitable additions to already decent squads. Those additions, however, look good enough to avoid a fall down the table but may lack the quality to push on towards the end of the season. Whilst each side has certain outstanding traits – Carlisle’s flamboyant Francois Zoko, Oldham’s coup in capturing defender Zander Diamond, Hartlepool’s excellent home support and Yeovil manager Terry Skiverton’s unconventional press conferences – they all lack the consistency throughout the season and the squad to really strive for those play-off berths.

Skiverton: "Anyone got Twitter on their phone?"

Meanwhile Exeter City and Rochdale, fresh from exceeding expectations last season, would take comfort in another term safely avoiding any thought of possible relegation. The Grecians, who have steadily progressed each year of manager Paul Tisdale’s reign, have steadied the ship somewhat this summer, bringing in keeper Lenny Pidgeley from Bradford and attempting to cover for the loss of veteran striker Jamie Cureton to Leyton Orient.

Meanwhile the screwdriver's out again at Spotland as another name is put on the Rochdale manager’s office door: Keith Hill has jumped ship to Barnsley, replaced by former Manchester City youth team coach Steve Eyre. The new manager has already made his mark on the playing squad, bringing in Preston defender Neil Trotman and striker Ashley Grimes. He will also be hoping to make his mark on the Rochdale faithful.

The last and most treacherous looking of my mid-tablers is Notts County. Gone are the days when such names as Sven-Goran Eriksson would walk the corridors at Meadow Lane, with last season’s final-day survival bringing a reality check to the long-suffering Pies fans. Many have tipped them to struggle but the sure management of Martin Allen and nigh-on guaranteed goals of Lee Hughes could see the oldest professional club in the world enjoy a comfortable – if not easy – season.

SURVIVAL HOPEFULS

Among those battling to avoid the drop into the basement division this season are League One newcomers Bury, Stevenage and Wycombe Wanderers.

Bury, last season’s League Two runners-up, have found transfer dealings difficult this summer, bringing former Northampton centre-back Mark Hughes back from exile in Australia and the pacy Mark Cullen in on loan from Hull City, but seeing wave after wave of trialists disappoint rookie manager Richie Barker. Much will rest on last season’s key players, captain Steve Schumacher and League Two Player of the Year Ryan Lowe, if the Shakers are to stay in the division.

Schumacher and Lowe measure up

Stevenage, meanwhile, would be excused for still finding themselves in a state of delirium as after two promotions on the bounce they find themselves battling for points with former Premier League sides. Talented manager Graham Westley will have to earn his salary if he’s to maintain club’s record of not being relegated since 1988.

Wycombe return to League One at the first time of asking, although much has changed since they went down two summers ago. They have a different manager in Garry Waddock, a stack of new signings in Elliott Benyon, Scott Donnelly and Joel Grant and an uncomfortable debt of £6 million. There may be trouble ahead at Adams Park.

Those three promoted sides may find themselves battling with third-tier stalwarts Tranmere Rovers (in their 11th successive season at this level), Colchester United and Walsall.

After losing key midfielder David Perkins to Barnsley, John Ward’s Colchester look set to struggle for creativity, which the signing of Karl Duguid unlikely to alleviate the problem. To add to the creative woes, United have very little to play with up front, meaning that a tough season could be in the offing.

Tranmere manager Les Parry has moved this summer to bring in left-sided player David Buchanan as well as winger Martin Devaney from Barnsley, but a mediocre squad at Prenton Park may need to see some more additions before the transfer window slams shut at the end of August. After all, even Ian Goodison can’t go on forever at the heart of the defence.

It’s always difficult to tip teams to struggle in any league but Walsall lack sustained quality throughout the squad. Manager Dean Smith has insisted that his side can challenge higher up the league but the signings of Anton Peterlin and Adam Chambers don’t disguise the defensive frailties that meant they only narrowly escaped the drop last season.

FourFourTwo.com predicts...

1 – Huddersfield
2 – Sheffield Wednesday
---------------------------------
3 – Sheffield United
4 – Charlton (play-off winners)
5 – MK Dons
6 – Preston
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 – Leyton Orient
8 – Scunthorpe
9 – Brentford
10 – Chesterfield
11 – Bournemouth
12 – Carlisle
13 – Oldham
14 – Exeter
15 – Hartlepool
16 – Rochdale
17 – Yeovil
18 – Notts County
19 – Bury
20 – Colchester
---------------------------------
21 – Tranmere
22 – Walsall
23 – Stevenage
24 – Wycombe

League Two preview 2011/12: The 'other Red Devils' already set to challenge

2011-08-04T10:10:00Z

The fight for promotion in the fourth tier appears all set to be one of the most competitive and closely-fought in recent years.

The rise of cash-rich Crawley Town coupled with the descent of South West duo Bristol Rovers and Swindon Town means that, before a competitive ball has been kicked, there are a plethora of sides eyeing automatic promotion places, let alone play-off spots.

However, while the top end of the table should be so keenly contested, it leaves more than half of the division – possessing only a smidgen of the budget of some of their wealthier counterparts – already considering a mid-table finish a realistic ambition.

Whereas in recent years the likes of Aldershot Town, Accrington Stanley, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hereford United, Morecambe and Stevenage have surprised many by snaking up the division to snatch at least a play-off place, 2011/12 looks – on paper at least – a tough territory for the underdog to have its day.

TITLE CHALLENGERS

Bookmakers have universally backed the ‘other Red Devils’, CRAWLEY TOWN, to take League 2 by storm, in a similar manner to that which saw them steamroller their way through the Conference last term. And Steve Evans’ men, however disliked, look well placed to mount a second successive title tilt.

The Broadfield Stadium outfit topped the Blue Square Bet Premier by 15 points last season, scoring 93 goals and losing just three times in the process, and the colourful Scot appears to have used the wealth available to him wisely as his gunship prepares to enter uncharted waters.

Finding the net shouldn’t be a problem. Thirty-seven goal Matt Tubbs has been joined by Tyrone Barnett, John Akinde and Wes Thomas, while 19-year-old former Everton midfielder Hope Akpan has been added to an already strong midfield.

Steve Evans' Benny Hill impression needed some work...

Having endured a nightmarish campaign in League 1, BRISTOL ROVERS prepare for life back in the bottom tier with renewed optimism following a near-complete overhaul under new boss Paul Buckle.

The 40-year-old guided Torquay to the play-off final last term, and has steadily assembled a squad that will be expected to seal promotion at the first time of asking. Former Gulls Scott Beavan and Chris Zebroski – and ex-Torquay loanee Craig Stanley – have followed Buckle to the Memorial Stadium, where they have been joined by former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, Shrewsbury front-man Matt Harrold and talented wide-men Mustapha Carayol and Joe Anyinsah.

Like their South West rivals, SWINDON TOWN only have eyes on automatic promotion. Having been a game away from the Championship a little more than a year ago, the Robins find themselves back in the fourth tier for a second time in six seasons and don’t plan on staying around for long.

But a slight feeling of the unknown is circling the County Ground club ahead of the season, following the appointment of managerial rookie Paulo Di Canio. Town arguably possess one of the strongest midfields in the division with Alan McCormack and Etienne Esajas arriving alongside Matt Ritchie and Simon Ferry.

However, slight question marks hover over striker Alan Connell’s scoring record in the Football League – despite a prolific season with Grimsby last term – while only time will only tell if Di Canio’s fellow countrymen Mattia Lanzano, Alberto Comazzi, Raffaele De Vita and Alessandro Cibocchi and Algerian forward Mehdi Kerrouche will sink or swim in English football.

The County Ground side will also be looking forward to league meetings with arch rivals OXFORD UNITED for the first time in 10 years. The U’s enjoyed a solid opening season back in the Football League last term and will also have their sights set on the bigger picture of promotion, particularly considering their summer transfer activity.

An already strong squad has seen it bolstered by the experience and nous of defender Michael Duberry and midfielder Peter Leven, while strikers James Constable and Tom Craddock – who both bagged 17 goals last term – will have former Chesterfield forward Deane Smalley and ex-Wycombe and Crawley goal-getter Jon-Paul Pittman to keep them on their toes.

Di Canio vs. Duberry - an unlikely A420 derby face-off?

SHREWSBURY TOWN will hope that this season is finally their year as they look to escape the fourth tier once again. Lady Luck didn’t shine on the Shrews last term, as they narrowly, and controversially, fell a point short of third-placed Wycombe before two flat performances against Torquay in the play-off semi-finals sealed their fate.

With a squad already capable of challenging again, Graham Turner has added extra quality to his ranks in the form of ex-Aldershot striker Marvin Morgan, Accrington’s top scorer from last season Terry Gornell, defenders Joe Jacobson and Reuben Hazell and former Walsall midfielder Matt Richards.

PROMOTION OUTSIDERS

At the end of November last season, all was well with PORT VALE. Micky Adams’ men had just stuffed Stockport 5-0 to return to the top of League 2, with the Valiants looking well set for at least an automatic promotion place. But when Adams left to take over at boyhood club Sheffield United at the turn of the year, Vale sank like a stone.

But with Adams now back at Vale Park following an equally-disastrous stint in charge of the Blades, supporters are hopeful lightning can strike twice, without their manager jumping ship this time. The majority of the team that started last term so well remain in place, with Stoke-born striker Tom Pope recruited to replace Justin Richards.

Having arrived in April tasked with transforming ROTHERHAM UNITED’s ailing hopes of snatching a play-off place, manager Andy Scott will be targeting an automatic passage to League 1.

After play-off final heartbreak against Dagenham & Redbridge in 2009/10, the Millers began last season strongly, with in-demand striker Adam Le Fondre hitting 16 goals in 19 games. But as his form dipped, so did Rotherham’s, ultimately costing Ronnie Moore his job and the team any hope of going up.

The former Brentford boss has brought in Danny Schofield, Gareth Evans, Chris Holroyd and Lewis Grabban having seen Ryan Taylor depart for Bristol City. But, as in the past two campaigns, Le Fondre – who has been linked with a move to Coventry – will prove key to the club’s chances of success.

Andy Hessenthaler will again be expected to return GILLINGHAM to the third tier, after a poor end to last season cost the Kent club a play-off place on the final day of the campaign.

Last season’s strike-pairing is no more, with 25-goal Cody McDonald ending his loan spell from Norwich and Adebayo Akinfenwa going back to former club Northampton. But the arrival of strikers Adam Birchall, who netted 64 goals in 78 league games for Dover, and Danny Kedwell of AFC Wimbledon have revitalised the Gills’ attack, although the former will miss the opening months of the season with knee ligament damage.

Further additions in the form of Millwall’s Andy Frampton and Peterborough duo Charlie Lee and Chris Whelpdale should ensure the Preistfield outfit are there or thereabouts come May.

Like a man with poorly made shoes, Akinfenwa returns to the Cobblers

Despite knocking Liverpool out of the League Cup at Anfield, NORTHAMPTON TOWN only escaped relegation on the penultimate weekend of last season, but they are many punters’ dark horses for success in 2011/12.

Gary Johnson replaced Ian Sampson in March, but could not stop a winless run of 18 games that left the Cobblers staring down the barrel. Winning their final two matches spared their blushes, and Johnson now has his sights set on replicating the success he enjoyed with Yeovil at Sixfields.

Bringing in bulky front-man Adebayo Akinfenwa to partner ex-Shrewsbury striker Jake Robinson may prove a shrewd move by the former Latvia national team manager, as could the captures of wingers Arron Davies and Lewis Young from Peterborough and Burton.

MID-TABLERS

John Coleman continues to perform miracles on a minuscule budget at ACCRINGTON STANLEY but his record of improving the Crown Ground side’s league position for 12 consecutive seasons looks in jeopardy heading into 2011/12.

After a fifth-placed finish, Stanley fell short in the play-offs against Stevenage, with failure to gain promotion costing the club dear as the vultures swooped for their star performers.

The likes of Alex Cisak, Joe Jacobson, Phil Edwards, Jimmy Ryan and Terry Gornell have all departed, leaving Coleman to effectively start from scratch. Classy midfielder Ian Craney and skipper Andrew Proctor remain, however, and few doubt that Coleman will form a side capable of competing at the very least.

CREWE ALEXANDRA harboured hopes of automatic promotion at one stage last season, only to finish 11th, and they may have to lower their expectations for 2011/12.

Dario Gradi’s side proved spectacular at home – scoring the third highest number of goals at the Alexandra Stadium in 49 – but disastrous away, at one point losing 11 games in a row on their travels.

Products of the Alex’s famed academy will prove crucial, with talented teenagers Max Clayton and Nick Powell tipped to shine, while the loss of 29-goal talisman Clayton Donaldson to Brentford and Joel Grant to Wycombe means Shaun Miller will be under pressure to add to his 19 last term.

Shaun Miller (centre) will shoulder the goalscoring burden for the Alex

Having reached the play-offs a year before, ALDERSHOT TOWN fans would have headed into 2010/11 hopeful of kicking on and climbing a rung to League 1. But the Shots’ form nose-dived between October and January, costing boss Kevin Dillon his job.

Former Crazy Gang striker and Newport County boss Dean Holdsworth stopped the rot, meaning Town were looking up and not over their shoulders as the season drew to a close.

Having shed several members of last season’s squad, the up-and-coming manager has placed his faith in younger players with a desire to succeed. Whether or not their relative inexperience holds them back at the business end of the season remains to be seen, but a mid-table finish will be the minimum expectation at the Recreation Ground.

SOUTHEND UNITED boss Paul Sturrock performed heroics at Roots Hall last season, amassing a squad almost from scratch in the summer before transforming them into a side still in the hunt for a play-off place as late as March.

The side preparing to start 2011/12 is a far more settled one. Barry Corr – last season’s top scorer with 21 – remains, as does highly-rated Frenchman Bilel Mohsni. And with the additions of record Millwall scorer Neil Harris, Jemal Johnson and Alassane N'Diaye, they will be looking to push on from last term’s 13th-place finish as plans to move into a new stadium progress off the field.

Another season in League 2, and another season where expectations are high for BRADFORD CITY. The club’s 10,000 season ticket holders endured a campaign to forget at Valley Parade in 2010/11, with the Bantams flirting with relegation out of the Football League for long periods.

Hometown favourite Peter Jackson replaced namesake Taylor and did just enough to steer City to calmer waters, but will now be expected to make Bradford a side capable of challenging for a play-off place.

Former Torquay centre-back Guy Branston has been brought in to marshal the defence, while ex-Manchester United trainee and Hartlepool United midfielder Ritchie Jones should add quality alongside last season’s top scorer Dave Syers.

Guy Branston - insert 'pickle' pun here...

Like the Bantams, both HEREFORD UNITED and BURTON ALBION narrowly avoided the drop into non-league in the closing weeks of the season, and will be hoping to – at the very least – enjoy a more comfortable ride in 2011/12.

The Bulls looked doomed early on after losing seven of their opening 10 league games under Simon Davey, costing the former Barnsley boss his job. Former Hereford player and physio Jamie Pitman made the extra step up into management seamlessly, so much so that, had the Bulls’ form under him been stretched over the entire season, they would have been challenging for the play-offs.

Making the top seven this season would be an optimistic target for the most rose-tinted Bulls fan, but, having retained the services of the players who performed well from January onwards, Hereford will be hopeful of steering clear of danger. A small squad, partly due to Davey’s lavish spending a year ago, could prove a problem should injuries to key players kick in.

Paul Peschisolido’s Brewers will be praying for a kinder winter as Christmas approaches. Last term, Burton accrued so many games in hand over the New Year period that, at one stage, they dropped in and around the relegation zone but had enough extra games over their rivals to reach the play-offs.

Despite insisting his side were too good to go down, a loss of form, coupled with the fatigue caused by playing so many games in quick succession, caused havoc, and only a strong finish to the campaign saved their bacon.

With former Port Vale striker Justin Richards on board to partner Calvin Zola, along with wingers Cleveland Taylor and Chris Palmer, they will be confident of achieving bigger and better things this term.

Down in Devon, TORQUAY UNITED prepare to meet Plymouth Argyle in league competition for the first time since Boxing Day 2001, experiencing a different type of turmoil than their near neighbours.

Having lost the play-off final against Stevenage at Old Trafford in May, the Gulls were given a severe kicking while they were down, as manager Paul Buckle left to join Bristol Rovers, taking goalkeeper Scott Bevan and top scorer Chris Zebroski with him.

With experienced central defender Guy Branston departing for Bradford, United fans’ hopes of kicking on from last term’s promotion charge have been tempered. Nevertheless, new manager Martin Ling still has a talented squad at his disposal, adding to it by bringing in forwards Rene Howe, Chris McPhee and Taiwo Atieno and midfielder Ian Morris.

The loss of Chris Zebroski could hit Torquay hard

At CHELTENHAM TOWN, manager Mark Yates is glad to be starting afresh after failing to halt a slide down the table last term that could have resulted in an unlikely return to non-league.

The Whaddon Road outfit made a strong start to the campaign with strikers Wes Thomas and Jeff Goulding firing in a team that played a decent brand of football.

However, the wheels came off at the turn of the year, with Town triumphing just three times in their final 21 league games of the campaign, as victory over Lincoln City proved vital in the closing weeks of the season.

Front trio Darryl Duffy, James Spencer and Kaid Mohamed have arrived following Thomas’ departure to Crawley, while experienced centre-back Alan Bennett and midfielders Russell Penn and Marlon Pack should provide a combination of graft and guile to keep Town competitive.

DROP-DODGERS

A fairytale was realised in May as AFC WIMBLEDON overcame Luton Town on penalties to seal promotion to the Football League, nine years after forming the club in the aftermath of the Dons’ move north to Milton Keynes.

Former Aldershot Town boss Terry Brown – who twice led the Shots to the Conference play-offs – has worked wonders at Kingsmeadow, with his young, hungry side a blueprint as to how sides should play and football clubs be run.

But having reached League 2, staying there will prove a different challenge altogether, particularly having seen strikers Danny Kedwell and Kaid Mohamed join Gillingham and Cheltenham Town respectively, while midfielder Steven Gregory has been snapped up by Bournemouth.

Charles Ademeno and Jack Midson have arrived to try and keep the goals flowing and ensure AFC don’t suffer an immediate exit from the Football League, which they shouldn’t so long as they continue to play their way.

They may have lost a star or two, but the spirit at Wimbledon will remain

BARNET must be sick of plotting merely to survive in League 2, but with such a small budget they are left with little option.

The Bees have stayed up on the final day in each of the past two seasons, with home victories over Rochdale and Port Vale respectively ensuring Underhill remains a Football League venue.

After Martin Allen provided the spark to Barnet’s end-of-season turnaround, former Bees striker Giuliano Grazioli and ex-Fulham and Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez completed the job, and it is they who are tasked with making 2011/12 a more comfortable ride.

That alone will prove a challenge, with defenders Danny Senda and Ryan Watts and striker Jason Price the only new recruits at the time of writing. Keeping strikers Izale McLeod and Steve Kabba fit and firing will prove pivotal to their hopes.

Making a swift, but not unexpected, return to League 2 are DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE. Retaining their League 1 status was always going to be a near-impossible task for John Still’s side, but they gave it as good a crack as they could have hoped for, taking it to the final game of the season where a win at Peterborough would have kept them up.

Still could yet prove to be the Daggers’ best signing of the summer, with the 61-year-old courted by Bradford at the end of last season. But losing key players could harm the East London outfit’s hopes of success, or survival, this term.

After star striker Paul Benson moved to Charlton Athletic a year ago, winger Danny Green has followed suit, while central midfielder Romain Vincelot has joined Brighton & Hove Albion and veteran goalkeeper Tony Roberts has retired to become a full-time coach at Arsenal.

In the incoming Richard Rose, Kevin Maher, Luke Howell and Sam Williams, Still has shown once again that he is a shrewd operator in the transfer market, and should at the very least keep the Daggers in the Football League for another season.

Peter Reid - he used to have hair, you know...

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE, on the other hand, will probably take anything other than a third straight relegation which would leave the club languishing in non-league. Pilgrims fans, for now, are just thankful that they still have a team to support.

To ensure they remain a League 2 club, for the short-term at least, manager Peter Reid will still need another striker or two, after agreeing a deal for Warren Feeney, but otherwise the acquisitions of Robbie Williams, to assist Stephane Zubar and Carl Fletcher in defence, and former Norwich winger Luke Daley appear a step in the right direction.

MORECAMBE’s 2010/11 campaign was a largely forgettable one, as the Shrimps coasted along with promotion hopes a distant dream and relegation never a genuine prospect.

But the Globe Arena outfit have been revitalised with idolised central defender Jim Bentley taking over from the increasingly unpopular Sammy McIlroy. Whether Bentley’s managerial experience poses a problem remains to be seen, but the former skipper’s never-say-die attitude should rub off well on the players and undoubtedly will on the fans.

The former Manchester City trainee has added no-nonsense defender Nick Fenton to his ranks alongside Izak Reid and former Oldham forward Lewis Alessandra, with an upper mid-table finish likely to be seen as a positive in Bentley’s debut season at the helm.

At Moss Rose, MACCLESFIELD TOWN continue to defy the bookmakers’ tags as one of the favourites for relegation.

The Silkmen have had to overcome terrible tragedies in each of the past two campaigns, with midfielder Richard Butcher unexpectedly passing away less than a year after manager Keith Alexander’s death.

Alexander’s assistant, Gary Simpson, successfully led the side through last season to ensure Macclesfield retained their league status. However, despite retaining the majority of the players, their cause has not been helped by the departures of Algerian midfielder Hamza Bencherif to Notts County and powerful 13-goal striker Tyrone Barnett to Crawley.

Emile Sinclair and Waide Fairhurst, a summer signing from Doncaster, will have to step up and replace Barnett’s goals, while former Stockport County striker Tom Fisher has also been brought on board to try and fire Town to relative safety once again, but this season could prove one too far for the Cheshire side.

FourFourTwo.com predicts...

1 - Oxford United
2 - Bristol Rovers
3 - Crawley Town
4 - Swindon Town
5 - Shrewsbury Town
6 - Gillingham (play-off winners)
7 - Northampton Town
8 - Rotherham United
9 - Port Vale
10 - Southend United
11 - Burton Albion
12 - Crewe Alexandra
13 - Aldershot Town
14 - Bradford City
15 - Hereford United
16 - Accrington Stanley
17 - Torquay United
18 - AFC Wimbledon
19 - Dagenham & Red
20 - Cheltenham Town
21 - Plymouth Argyle
22 - Morecambe
23 - Macclesfield Town
24 - Barnet

Blades look to cut their losses after dropping a division

2011-05-06T13:24:00Z

Jonah alert! After watching Stockport get relegated, Ben Collins was despatched to cover Sheffield United's must-win home game with Barnsley. Guess what happened next...

Four years ago, Sheffield United were in the Premier League. Danny Webber needs no reminding that but for the thickness of a post, they could still be there. Yet following Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Barnsley, the Blades are now preparing for their first season in the third tier since 1988/89.

United fans revelled in seeing derby rivals Sheffield Wednesday get relegated from the Championship last season. And having narrowly missed out on the play-offs, not even the most pessimistic Blade would have envisaged suffering the same fate 12 months later.

But England's sixth city is now facing the stark reality of not having a club in the top two divisions for the first time since 1980. Barnsley will finish as South Yorkshire's top club – and having spent so long in the shadow of their Sheffield rivals, their fans in turn relished the opportunity to hammer the final nail into United's coffin.

They packed the away end, chanting "Are you Wednesday in disguise?" They mocked the Blades boss, singing "There's only one Micky Adams" while asking him to give them a wave – needless to say, it wasn't forthcoming. After Danny Haynes made it 2-2 late on, thus denying United the win they needed to keep their survival hopes alive till the last game, the away end chirped "You're going down in a minute". If you want sympathy, don't go to a relegation battle in Yorkshire.

Tykes fans take the mick(e)y

The Blades have little time to nurse their bruised egos, however. Over on the other side of the steel city, Wednesday went through some bleak times financially before Milan Mandaric took over in December. Now an extensive cost-cutting mission must begin at Bramall Lane. United were banking on a quick return to the Premier League. It didn't happen. Instead they are heading out of the Championship with one of the biggest wage bills in the division.

It's difficult to pinpoint any one reason for their demise; it's more the culmination of a series of factors, namely financial mismanagement, lack of player investment, managerial changes and downright bad luck.

Kevin Blackwell led United to the 2009 play-off final in his first full season, but top scorer James Beattie was sold mid-season before Tottenham signed youth products Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker in a combined £10m deal that summer. After that Wembley defeat, last season's eighth-placed finish was seen as an underachievement – so when United made a poor start to the current campaign, Blackwell was given the sack.

The Blades board opted for continuity, with highly-regarded assistant Gary Speed promoted to manager, only for the rookie boss to win just six in 18 before taking the Wales job in December. His successor Adams also failed to inspire an immediate upturn in fortunes as it took 13 games to get his first win.

Adams had enough time to turn things round, but by then the character and team spirit built by Neil Warnock had long gone. Injuries robbed United of key players and they've resorted to too many loan signings the last two years, diluting the identity of the squad further. Saturday's team was mainly a mix of loan players and unproven youngsters, with a handful of senior pros making up the numbers.

Blades fans try to take it all in

While it is natural there have been question marks over Adams' future, the Blades board will be wary of making another managerial change and appointing a fourth permanent boss in less than a year.

In truth, the Blades have failed to rebuild their squad sufficiently after selling their prized assets in the last few years. Yet what makes their current predicament even more alarming is that despite that profit from transfer fees, the Premier League parachute payments and the compensation they received from West Ham (that's another story!), United were still riddled with debt as they came into the current campaign.

Before United can even think about bouncing back up at the first attempt – as they did in 1988/89 under Dave Bassett before making it back-to-back promotions the following season – much must be done to balance the books. In practice, just as industries across the country have discovered during the recession, that usually means cutting the wage bill.

Daniel Bogdanovic was signed as a free agent last summer after the Malta striker turned down a new deal at Barnsley; on Saturday the Tykes fans delighted in singing "Daniel Big-wad-ovic". Another big-earner set to move on is Darius Henderson. The former Watford striker has come under fire from fans since his recent return from injury, but they will be keen to keep Lee Williamson. The combative midfielder was everywhere against Barnsley, scoring his third goal in the last three since his own comeback.

The United faithful got right behind the youngsters, though. With the senior pros failing to impress during the run-in, Adams has promoted the likes of Matt Lowton, Harry Maguire and Jordan Slew into the first team. Sure, they made mistakes. Maguire's slip gifted Haynes the opener for Barnsley. But the 18-year-old centre-back did not let that affect his game, immediately restoring his composure and continuing to play from the back, while right-back Lowton headed the equaliser and fired over shortly after.

Lowton celebrates… but it wouldn't end well

They weren't able to pull off a 'great escape' but given the circumstances, they acquitted themselves well and the ordeal may, in fact, do them more good than harm in the long run.

United are keen to keep hold of their top youth products and build for the future. There's even more home-grown talent waiting in the wings, too, as the Blades play Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup final this month.

But even after they slash the wage bill this summer, United may still have to cash in on their most promising youngsters to help cut their debt. Either way, it may be best if they look at next season as merely one for consolidation.

Fowler and friends join movers at the Shakers

2011-04-21T11:34:00Z

Guest writer Ben Collins sees Bury join forces with their latest famous friend, Robbie Fowler, in their charge for promotion.

While most eyes were on Old Trafford last Tuesday, there was something stirring on the other side of Manchester.

United were overcoming Chelsea to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals. But eight miles north, a famous face was helping unfashionable Bury take a big step towards promotion from League Two.

Only Notts County and Preston have been in the Football League longer, yet Bury is more famous for its black puddings and market than its football team. And with City and United just up the road, the Shakers have long been the backstair sprogs of Manchester football.

Even as the club spent two seasons in the Championship after Stan Ternent masterminded successive promotions in the late ‘90s, Bury knew their place – they were not getting ideas above their station. Sure enough, they were back in the bottom tier in 2002 and almost went bust before fans from around the globe chipped in to help the club out of administration.

They may live in United's shadow but Bury have close ties with them. United’s reserves used to play at Gigg Lane while many United youngsters have come on loan to Bury, such as current 12-goal striker Nicky Ajose.

The Neville brothers hail from Bury and Gary has brought some of his United team-mates to watch the Shakers. Their father, the splendidly named Neville Neville, is a former director who spearheaded the 'Save Our Shakers' campaign, and their mum, Jill, is club secretary.

Hiyaaaa! Neville Neville and co

Phil has spoken of his desire to one day manage his hometown club and the recently retired Gary was linked with the job after manager Alan Knill was head-hunted by Championship strugglers Scunthorpe last month.

Yet it was an old foe from down the M62 that came to Bury's aid as they close in on a first promotion for 14 years. Robbie Fowler spent last week coaching the first team and the Liverpool legend was in the dugout with caretaker boss Richie Barker for the midweek win over lowly Burton.

Fowler’s presence on the touchline helped keep the gate around the 2,500 average – not bad considering there was a big Champions League game on the box – yet you could tell many were a different bunch to the hardy souls that have followed Bury during their gradual decline since relegation from the second tier in 1999.

Like any lower-league club with more illustrious neighbours, Bury have plenty of fair-weather fans, and they became anxious too early. They had come expecting the Shakers to continue their march towards League One and for the most part they – and Fowler – must have wondered why they bothered as there were almost as many red cards as chances (for the record, Bury finished with nine men and Burton 10).

But they breathed a collective sigh of relief after defender Tom Lees rose highest to head the only goal late on and cement second spot.

Having been there or thereabouts all season, the long-suffering Bury fans finally dared to chant about promotion. They have since beaten Barnet on Saturday to build a five-point cushion over the play-off places with four games left.

Yet you'd think they would have learnt after recent years. Bury narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League for the first time in their long history in 2007, but Knill soon transformed them from perennial strugglers into promotion contenders. Little wonder Scunny, another of his former clubs, came calling.

Over 7,000 turned up for the final game of his first full season in charge – 2008/09 – and Phil Jevons' late penalty against Accrington put Bury on the brink of automatic promotion.

Fans poured onto the pitch thinking 1-0 was enough. It wasn't. And in the confusion, Andy D'Urso blew the final whistle after barely two minutes of stoppage time. Five had been indicated. Wycombe went up instead on goal difference – by just one goal.

Knill’s team looked like broken men. Yet worse was to come as Shrewsbury claimed a last-gasp goal to take the play-off semi into extra-time before winning on penalties.

Shrewsbury's Man of the Match Luke Daniels breaks Bury hearts

After being in contention again for most of last season, Bury faded to miss out on the play-offs and no fewer than eight first-team regulars left in the summer. Incredibly, Knill rebuilt the side on a shoe-string budget to defy the odds by keeping Bury amongst the promotion contenders this term.

Several have excelled so it hasn't all been down to the form of Ryan Lowe, the 32-year-old striker who broke the club record of scoring in nine straight games to pass the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.

Bury have a team stocked with technically gifted youngsters and Lowe has been helping them develop, even when he hasn't been wearing the captain's armband, and it was the veteran Scouser’s connections that brought Fowler to the club.

Lowe knew Steven Gerrard from their days at the Liverpool Academy and he later became pally with the Reds skipper through a mutual friend, Accrington keeper Ian Dunbavin.

Bury are short of coaching staff after Knill took his backroom team with him to Scunny, and Fowler, looking to build his coaching experience, offered to lend a hand. A Liverpool fan and a regular at Anfield, Lowe was happy to help get him on board and last week found himself driving to training with one of his idols.

Fowler has 'verbally agreed' to spend another season playing for Perth Glory. That, of course, is no guarantee he will return to Australia this summer so until the 35-year-old puts pen to paper, a serious coaching offer could sway him to stay in England.

"So am I in Australia or Lancashire now?"

Bury remain on the look-out for a new boss and Fowler confirmed he wants to go into management, admitting he will probably have to start at their level.

Despite winning his first four games in charge, Barker expects to go back to youth-team duties in the summer, and the Bury board are biding their time in a bid to find the right man. Whether that man is a big-name rookie such as Fowler or Gary Neville is open to debate.

But one thing is for sure. If big names keep associating themselves with Bury – and they clinch promotion – they might not be quite so unfashionable any more.

Seagulls ready to take flight with their new home finally in sight

2011-04-15T15:25:00Z

If there’s a charming success story to be found anywhere in the Football League this season, then Brighton and Hove Albion’s plucky romp to promotion to the Championship would surely be among the top contenders.

Five years after their relegation from the Championship, the Seagulls are returning to the second tier. Gus Poyet’s side confirmed their emphatic rise on Tuesday evening with a spirited 4-3 win over Dagenham & Redbridge at the Withdean - twice coming from behind to secure a deserved promotion.

If securing promotion alone wasn’t enough, doing so with five matches to spare is quite something, with the likes of Southampton, Peterborough and Huddersfield being left in their wake by Albion’s trail of destruction.

The tight and unpredictable nature of the Football League means promotion is always a hopeful pre-season possibility for any side, but Poyet’s transformation of Brighton from lower-table scrappers to league golden boys has been quite spectacular. For the man himself, promotion is a new feeling both as a player or manager.

You can’t say they haven’t deserved it either. The Seagulls have hung onto top spot since September, most admirably holding their nerve in the latter stages of the season in some style. Poyet’s side have won 10 of their last 11 fixtures, have not surrendered a point at the Withdean for 11 matches and have managed to keep clean sheets in six of the previous nine.

"There is no doubt that this is my proudest night," Poyet beamed after the victory over struggling Dagenham.

"It is up there with the best times of my career. I believe in myself, I know what I want to do but I needed to prove it and what we have done is much bigger than people think."

Poyet’s dependable squad has produced when it matters. Casper Ankergren has produced form ranking him among the most consistent goalkeepers in the division, while full-backs Inigo Calderon and Marcos Painter have proved to be two of the finest on offer in League One in their first full Seagulls campaigns.

In midfield the young Elliott Bennett has defied expectations with a stellar year on the wing, and was unsurprisingly the subject of serious interest from Premier League-chasing Norwich City in January. Fellow midfielder and former Chelsea youth product Liam Bridcutt has also enjoyed a wonderful campaign, with the club keen to tie the 21-year-old down to a new long-term contract.

Up front Glen Murray has been unstoppable with 21 strikes to his name, while partner Ashley Barnes has in with 14 league strikes after his permanent switch from Plymouth in the summer.

Individuals have played their parts when it has mattered for Poyet’s men, but the team outlook created by the Uruguayan has proved pivotal.

Chairman Tony Bloom has called it the 'perfect season'. And if you weren’t already aware, that’s because next season, the Seagulls will be bidding farewell to the Withdean to pitch up in the swanky new 22,500 capacity Amex Stadium this summer.

And with an incredible 16,500 season tickets already sold, it’s with little wonder that Bloom is a happy man. The current number of Withdean season ticket holders? Around 4,000.

He’s not the only one who is delighted either. Away fans need no longer bring binoculars on their trips to East Sussex.

For Bloom, this scenario would have been unthinkable 12 months back. The Seagulls have a lot to thank him for. His takeover in May 2009 signalled the beginning of a financial transformation, so much so that the club was finally able to put into motion its stadium dream after years of hold-ups.

He may be one of the country’s leading poker players, but there are no bluffs here. His interest-free loans to the club have gone straight towards the Amex Stadium to give Brighton fans their club’s first permanent home in 14 years.

Those lengthy 70-mile trips to Gillingham where Brighton were forced to play ‘home’ matches for two seasons between 1997 and 1999 now seem a distant memory.

Brighton’s last match at the Goldstone came against Doncaster Rovers, when both sides were scrapping at the bottom of the old Division Three. Albion avoided relegation on goal difference, while Rovers stumbled to a lowly 19th-place finish. Fast-forward almost a decade-and-a-half and both sides will be preparing to face each other in new grounds in the Championship. Perfect symmetry at its most rewarding.

It’s barely surprising that Bloom is already challenging the troops do emulate the achievements of Leicester and Norwich, both who gained promotion from League One before taking the Championship top six by storm the following year.

"Next season we will be aiming for the top six. I'm not saying we're going to get there or putting any pressure on," Bloom declared.

"We'll be in a fantastic stadium. We'll aim high and see where we get to."

A new ground, a bright team and Championship football to accompany it. Those long-suffering faces on the south coast have finally got their parties underway. Victory at Walsall tomorrow will confirm the League One title for Poyet’s worthy heroes.

Can they really stake a claim at the big time next season? You just try stopping these Seagulls from taking flight...

Accrington Stanley hoping to have the last laugh with playoff push

2011-04-08T14:33:00Z

Many moons ago there was an advertisement for milk that caused the nation to chuckle, as two youngsters discussed Ian Rush's claims they’d be condemned to playing football for Accrington Stanley if they didn’t drink the white stuff more often.

But nobody’s laughing anymore. Stanley, after countless years of trying, finally occupy a play-off place in League Two at the tail end of a season for the first time. Tuesday night’s win over Southend was enough to send John Coleman’s men into sixth spot to cap a fine run of form in the league.

Victory over the Shrimpers was Stanley’s eighth consecutive win at the Crown Ground, and it fired them to within touching distance of promotion’s busy grasp.

It’s no wonder they’re smiling on this side of Lancashire. League form aside, there are plenty of other reasons to be pleased for Stanley fans. Ilyas Khan, the man who saved the club from the clutches of the taxman two years ago, has now taken the reins for good.

Most importantly, Khan has pledged to rid the club of the debt which has left players unpaid for parts of the campaign. Indeed, the players were forced to suffer another wage setback prior to the win over Southend. But according to reports, Khan has informed key figures at the club that he expects them to be debt-free by the end of next week.

“I have always said that Accrington Stanley should not have a controlling shareholder,” Khan said. “A club such as Accrington should be owned as widely as possible and run by people that are professional, so my ownership as of now is temporary.

"It allows us to get back on what I believe is the right track."

So soon enough, Accrington Stanley could be owned by its own supporters – if Khan has his way. His pledges look bright, and Stanley fans are understandably optimistic about their club’s future.

And why wouldn’t they be? On the pitch, things have never been better. Since being promoted to the league for the first time in their history just five years ago, Stanley have gained a reputation as a lower table outfit, with last season’s 15th-place finish their highest to date.

But times change quickly, and with good form comes great rewards. In the space of seven weeks they have climbed 13 places in League Two, taking 30 points from a possible 39 in that space of time.

After 12 years at the helm, manager John Coleman is currently the third longest-serving manager in England behind only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. He could soon get an even greater reward than that original tempter: a mere place in the Football League.

There would have been a time not so long back when the thought of Accrington Stanley in English football’s third tier would have raised more than an eyebrow for Coleman, but three promotions as champions at non-league level together with this season’s impressive form have suddenly made it all one dizzy possibility.

Goals have been far from lacking for Coleman’s side, with only runaway leaders Chesterfield having bagged more on home territory than Stanley so far. Youngsters Terry Gornell and midfielder Sean McConville have produced 25 goals evenly distributed between the pair in League Two so far this campaign, while defender Phil Edwards has hit another 12 to fire his side towards the play-offs.

Referees have been kind to Stanley so far this term, with a mammoth ten of Edwards’ strikes coming from the penalty spot.

It’s with little wonder that Coleman has been nominated for the league’s manager of the month prize twice this season, although he today missed out on March’s award to Aldershot’s Dean Holdsworth.

Now the task for Stanley is staying put – or if they dare, push on higher. The form book certainly suggests they have more than a chance of having a crack of play-off glory at Old Trafford, but Coleman and his side will be taking nothing for granted.

For these perennial strugglers, forever struggling to compete with the lure of Blackburn and Burnley just around the corner, success has been a long time on the horizon. Nobody would begrudge them of the fairytale story that would accompany a miraculous promotion – heck, half the league is wishing them along.

The days of better that the club’s players and staff have long deserved appear to be surfacing now Khan’s takeover has been completed. Stanley fans have never had it so good. They are daring to dream, and long may it continue.

Rare stability and resolve allow Pompey to dare to dream again

2011-04-01T11:30:00Z

The date is October 22nd 2010, and the breaking news is that Portsmouth are in serious danger of going out of business for good. Whether you are a fan of the Fratton Park outfit or not, the revelation would not have come as much of a shock.

This wasn’t a simple case of administration or minor financial irregularities, it was far, far more serious than that. The Football League was not allowing the club out of administration, and talks with former owner and key creditor Sacha Gaydamak had grinded to a stuttering halt.

The administrators declared that a likely scenario would involve the club being forced to close down and enter liquidation.

While of course the club were in dire straits, the obvious cry for help worked. The following day Gaydamak revealed that an agreement had been made to secure the club’s future, Portsmouth exited administration and Hong Kong businessman Balram Chanrai completed his takeover. Not bad for a day’s work.

And now, against all the odds, Pompey are quietly looking to ambush the play-offs. There may still be a long road ahead if the south coast outfit are to achieve the unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

Competition for a top-six spot last season may have been somewhat less fierce, but Blackpool were five points off the mark with the same number of matches remaining last term - just one fewer than Pompey are now. A win at Reading tomorrow would take Pompey level on points with the Berkshire side, themselves currently the closest club to the play-off positions.

And in truth, Steve Cotterill’s side are looking like having every chance of upsetting the apple cart. While the Championship’s big-hitters are hardly falling over each other to stake their own claims for a top-six finish, Portsmouth have capitalised after looking completely down and out at the start of the year.

The Fratton Park outfit have now taken 22 of the last 27 points available, keeping clean sheets in eight of those nine fixtures. Their success is no secret; one needs only look at that final stat alone.

Their latest victory, a hard-fought slog away at a strong Leicester side, epitomised much of what Cotterill has managed to achieve with his team this year. Portsmouth fans will not shy away from the fact they were perhaps second best for much of the encounter, but that certainly does not mean they didn’t deserve it.

Dave Nugent, enjoying his most prolific campaign since the 2006/07 season with Preston, hit an excellent early goal to give his side a vital lead from which to defend.

And that they did, incredibly well. Pompey restricted the usually creative Foxes to half-chances and hopeful efforts, making Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side look a shadow of their capable selves. It was a testament to Cotterill that his side could probably have played all day and still kept the score goalless.

A compelling brand of football it certainly was not, but the former Burnley boss has been forced to conjure on limited resources ever since taking the reins.

But even with a threadbare squad, Cotterill still has unsung gems to call upon. One of those, Ricardo Rocha, has played a colossal role in sustaining Pompey’s impressive strength at the back since returning from injury against Doncaster in February.

And yes, we are talking about the same man who was sent off twice in his first three matches for the club. The former Benfica man is now proving himself to be one of the finest centre-halves the division has to offer.

While the squad at Fratton Park may be thin, Cotterill can still rely upon those who were only recently plying their trade in the Premier League. Former Stoke pair Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson have both proved invaluable to the cause, while top goal-scorer Nugent has weighed in with his fair share of 11 league strikes.

Resources are limited, but the club managed to draft in Aston Villa’s tenacious Jonathan Hogg, Manchester United full-back Ritchie de Laet and Swansea’s David Cotterill on loan in January and February.

Two weeks ago, however, Steve Cotterill revealed his disappointment that the club’s stance was not geared towards a serious assault towards the Premier League.

“I think that I’ve more than achieved – along with the staff and players – what the owners wanted this season,” he admitted. “I know our fans would obviously want us to be up there and higher.

“But you would have to ask the owners their thoughts on that. The first seven games – no team. That block of 10 games – no team. We’ve had injuries, suspensions, contractual issues. It’s ridiculous.

“We haven’t been on a level playing field, really.”

And he has a point. Sections of the club’s support including the ‘SOS Pompey’ group continue to demonstrate against the way the club is being run, and while few are likely to be surprised Chanrai hasn’t dipped into his pocket a great deal this season, this underlines the lingering concerns for the longer term future of the club.

Speaking just over a year ago, eight months earlier than his eventual takeover, Chanrai had insisted he had no interest in taking over the troubled club at all.

“I have zero interest in buying Portsmouth,” he conceded. It's nothing to do with controlling the club. I don't know anything about running a football club. I just love the game and that's why I've taken this action.”

It appears his hands were tied. Would he allow the club to sink and lose his money, or take them on with the intention of recovering some of that debt? Subsequently, he simply hasn’t been willing to invest any more than is strictly necessary.

The likelihood of investment in the summer remains reasonably low, but some Pompey fans may simply be content with a relatively quiet life for a while. After all, there are no major rucks with Gaydamak, no complaints from the Football League, none from other clubs, and none from players whose wages had previously gone unpaid.

On the pitch there can be few complaints from the Fratton faithful who are ready to carry the dreaded hope that maybe, just maybe, they can go all the way. It is the same question on the lips of no fewer than 13 sides, all of whom have realistic aspirations of a Premier League shot next season.

Promotion looks unlikely, but nothing can be certain in the frantic life of the Championship. Cotterill’s team have proven they can churn out results on a consistent basis - the key ingredient of any successful side in the Football League.

But even if they don’t make the grade when it comes to the final grind, Cotterill knows it will have been some achievement to have even had a sniff at the big time this year.

The big clash in Wales (England not invited)

2011-03-25T11:57:00Z

Like most South Walians, Owain Jones would love England to get beaten this weekend – but there are bigger matters afoot in that part of the world...

In the 1980s and 90s, most young boys in Wales adopted a First Division team. In parks up and down the principality, they ran around in Liverpool, Manchester United or Everton shirts recreating iconic moments from their designated club’s history.

In the main, they weren't inspired by the pedestrian exertions of Cardiff City and Swansea City, who were mainly knocking around the lower leagues or knocking lumps out of each other on the terraces.

In order to watch their Welsh idols up close, fans would have to watch international football to savour the world-class talents of Neville Southall, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs.

A telling statistic about the lack of quality at domestic level during that period came in 1994 against Romania, when Paul Bodin smashed the ball against the crossbar to leave Wales yet again bridesmaids to World Cup qualification. How many Wales-based players were in the starting line-up? Zero, that’s how many.

Bodin gets wood and Wales' hopes deflate

The rules were simple. If you were good enough, you’d have to trade your wares over the Severn Bridge to play at the top of football’s domestic pyramid.

In recent years there's been an apathy towards the Wales side as a result of poor performances – yet on Saturday afternoon, the Millennium Stadium will be full to the rafters. England’s superstars can expect a wall of noise from Welsh fans vociferously backing an unlikely win, yet most of the home fans – though they may not openly admit it – will be covertly admiring the skills of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and wunderkind Jack Wilshere as part of the entertainment.

However, for the first time in decades, the significance of the game has been reduced in the eyes of the Swansea and Cardiff fans. Firstly because Wales’ Euro hopes are already flatlining under new boss Gary Speed, but more importantly because the game is set against the backdrop of a more lucrative race worth far more than national identity and parochial pride: promotion to the Premier League.

As it stands, Swansea are in third place with Cardiff a place below. Whisper it gently, but Wales’ highly unfashionable club scene is the strongest it’s been for decades.

JACKS ARE MASTERS OF THEIR TRADES

Of the two clubs, Swansea’s ascent has arguably been the more impressive. In 2003, they were only a matter of minutes from being turfed out of the Football League; less than a decade later, they're pushing for their second bite of top-flight football – 30 years after Dai Davies, Leighton James and Alan Curtis carved their names into folklore at the Vetch Field.

Brendan Rodgers, the incumbent Swansea City manager, has steadily rebuilt his reputation on the Gower Peninsula after an underwhelming 21-game stint at Reading. The 37-year-old Ulsterman has continued the continental approach embraced by predecessors Roberto Martinez and Paulo Sousa and turned Swansea into what many pundits consider to be the division’s most stylish team.

Craig Beattie leads the celebrations

Their modus operandi is based upon movement and width in a well-drilled 4-3-3 system. Theirs is certainly a different philosophy to the individually blessed talents being showcased in Cardiff. Granted, the first team has a gifted spine in keeper Dorus de Vries, classy central defender Ashley Williams, midfielder Darren Pratley and tricky wide men Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair. Nevertheless, the squad’s main strength lies in its collective team ethic.

Players coming off the bench intuitively know their jobs, are comfortable on the ball and slot effectively into a system. It’s not surprising that Rodgers, who was acclaimed by Jose Mourinho after their time together at Chelsea, likes his sides to play with the intricate passing skills and keep-ball ideology of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

MEANWHILE, IN THE CAPITAL

Up at the Cardiff City Stadium, Dave Jones, the division’s longest-serving manager, has the unenviable job of nudging the Bluebirds towards the play-off places as a minimum requirement, with the wounds still raw from last May's 3-2 play-off final loss to Blackpool.

That season’s fourth-placed finish was Cardiff’s highest league finish for 39 years, yet despite the undeniable progress which also saw Jones also leading Cardiff City to the 2007 FA Cup Final, the Liverpudlian has had to constantly fend off criticism from a vocal minority. The general consensus is that with one of the highest wage bills in the Championship and an infrastructure primed for Premier League football, Cardiff should be challenging for promotion to the top flight. Jones accepts that, and whether he likes it or not, the fans are close to demanding it.

Craig Bellamy leads the celebrations

Since arriving in May 2005, Jones has taken something of a scattergun approach to transfers with over 50 players bought. While there has undeniably been some dead wood, Jones has made a success of taking unwanted players from bigger clubs. Of the current squad Jay Bothroyd, Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra all fit that criterion, and Jones’ skill has been blending them with inexpensive, promising players, like Cameron Jerome, Roger Johnson and Glenn Loovens, who were all sold on for a healthy profit.

The Cardiff City youth system has also played its part in their progression with young talents Chris Gunter, Aaron Ramsey and Celtic-bound Adam Matthews all being sold to balance the books.

On the pitch, not since the days of John Charles have the Bluebirds boasted such a potent attacking threat, with Bothroyd and Chopra joined by Craig Bellamy. Simply put, they have the firepower to punish any side – but the flipside is that without a return on a season in which they have rarely left the top four, many fans will not be as forgiving if Cardiff end up with the 'nearly men' tag again.

THE DIFFERING GAFFERS

The contrast between the sides doesn’t stop there. The managers have markedly differing styles. Dave Jones is an old-school manager in the mould of Sir Alex Ferguson, who prefers to leave coaching drills to assistant manager Terry Burton but likes to have the final say on the day-to-day running of the club.
Famously stubborn, Jones prefers a siege mentality, as his year-long media stand-off with the local press illustrates. Critics point to the fact that he can be found tactically wanting and that Cardiff don't always win when it matters, but Jones is defiant in defending his methods and his record – which, for the most part, does stand up to close scrutiny.

Brendan Rodgers couldn't be more different. More likely to be found in a tracksuit, he sparks well with the media – obviously he learnt a few things from Mourinho – and leans towards a more continental approach to coaching, championed by Arsene Wenger.

Jones and Rodgers after the recent derby

While Cardiff, under owner Datuk Chan, are now one of the Championship’s richest clubs, one aspect both clubs share is a firm belief in investing in youth. Swansea’s feted Centre of Excellence is geared to fostering and developing players out of necessity, rather than choice; Cardiff's Centre of Excellence and Academy have had successes in grooming the next generation of Welsh superstars, with Darcy Blake and Jonathan Meades next off the production line.

Some argue that if neither side reaches the Premier League, Swansea’s heavy investment in home-grown players make them better placed to cope, with Cardiff’s Championship superstars expected to seek a promotion with or without the club. That said, Swansea fans will spend the close season shifting uneasily as offers for Joe Allen, Darren Pratley and Nathan Dyer come in from Premier League sides.

Whatever transpires at the end of the season, the South Wales economy, which will receive a welcome boost with the England game, will be desperate that one of the sides joins odds-on favourites QPR in the lucrative Premier League.

With analysts bandying around fiscal figures of up to £90 million, it’s hard to imagine the pressure that both Jones and Rodgers face in delivering passage to the Promised Land.

What price for the Cardiff versus Swansea play-off final? Now that would make Saturday's game look like a minor-league kickabout.

Owain Jones is a freelance journalist for hire.

Forest faltering as crunch time approaches

2011-03-18T15:50:00Z

The final whistle blows at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest’s players trudge off the field, dejected after another winless fixture which takes the tally up to six. Yet again they have dominated possession and goalscoring opportunities, but once more have come away without the three points.

In truth, it's a similar story for most Championship top-six sides in recent times. The majority of the promotion hunters have fallen down in recent weeks, leading to one obvious question: does anybody want second place this year?

Where Forest once looked excellent value for second spot in the division, they now sit in sixth nervously peering over their shoulders at the chasing pack. After all, just over a month ago this was a team sitting pretty in second with two games in hand.

Times change quickly in the Football League, Billy Davies needs no reminder of that. But for a side boasting one of the finest squads in the division, sixth spot simply isn’t good enough. Davies knows it, and Forest fans certainly know it.

Occasionally a winless streak may perhaps be accountable for – tough fixtures, injuries and the like. But Forest can have few excuses for not pulling out results against Scunthorpe, Preston, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Doncaster – all sides in the last month to take points off the Reds, and all stuttering towards the bottom of the pile.

While results continue to disappoint, nobody’s position in the play-offs is safe. The likes of Burnley, Hull and Leicester are waiting in the wings for any sniff of a stumble.

Of course, all is not lost. With the talent available at Billy Davies’ disposal, few would be shocked by a surge at just the right time back towards the top of the table to remind Forest fans that the last month was simply just a bad dream.

But, according to Davies, talent may only get you so far in the Championship. "Every single game can be won,” the feisty Scot declared. “But I can I say to you, what I feel now, over the next nine games, is that you are better being a lucky manager rather than a good manager.

"That's what it's going to take over the next nine games – luck. You need the refereeing decisions, the ricochets of the ball, the opportunities all to fall your way. Over the next nine games, it will not be about being a good manager, it will be about being a lucky manager,” he finished, presumably alongside the angry cries of Neil Warnock and Paul Lambert.

And with his ‘possible-end-of-season-excuse-that-probably-won’t-wash-but-I’ll-try-it-now-anyway’ well and truly heard, off he went to ensure the mirrors in his house were safely attached to the wall (probably).

So what exactly has gone wrong with the Reds in the space of just a few weeks? Well, simply put, finding the back of the net. Apparently goals win matches, and Forest aren’t getting them. Last year’s top goal-scorer Robert Earnshaw has failed to recapture the same form this time around, netting just six times so far this campaign. And with wingman Dexter Blackstock having been sidelined since November, finding a true goal-getter has proved elusive for Davies. Dele Adebola and David McGoldrick are simply not your 20-goal men.

Earnings squeeze: Not enough of these celebrations this term

Indeed, the Scot has even looked for inspiration to his compatriot Kris Boyd, despite the striker's hugely disappointing season for division strugglers Middlesbrough. The man who was tipped by many to top the goal charts has so far managed to weigh in with just six. Completely devoid of confidence, the former Rangers man will be hoping it’s second time lucky with Forest.

Of course, strikers can only convert if they are getting the opportunities. Forest fans have questioned Davies’ perceived negativity for the majority of the campaign, perhaps understandably so given the modest goal tally for a side in their position. And with one of the lowest totals of efforts registered in the entire division, it is not difficult to see why the boys in red up top have struggled.

“But the goals must have been coming from somewhere?!,” you cry. And, of course, they have. Indeed, a lot of Forest fans and they might admit that they have been somewhat carried by the wonder strikes of Lewis McGugan this year, who, if you somehow haven’t already seen, could hold his very own goal of the season competition.

Despite being benched for the goalless draw against Doncaster, McGugan has been vital in Forest’s bid for promotion and has understandably caught the attention of the bigger fish. But the 22-year-old academy graduate hasn't found the net since early February, and Forest have continued to struggle in front of goal. On top of that, last season’s midfield hotshot Radoslaw Majewski has found the net just twice.

But all is not lost by any means. For anybody to doubt the capabilities of Nottingham Forest this season would be completely foolish – after all, second spot is by no means out of reach. The play-off race is well and truly on.

Home form, as ever, will be key to any success. Forest may have lost their outstanding 36-match unbeaten home streak with a 1-0 defeat to Hull, but the City Ground remains a difficult place for sides to visit.

Davies knows his side has what it takes to hang onto their promotion dream, but will almost certainly be wincing when he takes a look at the remaining fixtures for his side. A trip to Swansea is the weekend order for the Reds, followed by matches against Leeds, Reading, Burnley, Norwich and Leicester, all top-10 sides.

On the surface it appears a long and daunting road ahead, with the remaining fixtures ready to test Forest’s mettle. And if they do happen to fall short after this month’s dismal run, they can only have themselves to blame.

Can Championship outsiders upset the front runners in race for promotion?

2011-03-04T17:04:00Z

With just a dozen matches of the Championship campaign remaining for most sides in the division, it’s time to break out the clichés and assess who will be 'in the mix' for the top spots come the end of the season, and who will be left 'sick as a parrot' come May...

One thing is certain – it will be about as dull as a firework party in your granddad’s garden shed. With no less than half the division still believing they have a crack at the Promised Land, nothing is guaranteed in the race for promotion.

Of course, the usual suspects have taken their places in the division’s top spots, but with a whole host of strong sides battling for a place at English football‘s top table, quite who will be strutting their stuff at Old Trafford and the Emirates next year is still nowhere near being determined.

1. QPR (pld 34, 67 pts)

Ask most Queens Park Rangers fans about their side’s promotion prospects, and the vast majority will struggle to see past a crack at the big boys next year - and who can blame them? They have seen their side occupy top spot for the bulk of the campaign, holding on to pole position ever since mid-November.

It’s been quite some campaign from Neil Warnock’s side, who have built from the back with a strong defence which has conceded just 20 goals all year. Couple that with the revelation that has been Adel Taraabt and you have yourself a winning formula. Warnock has made the mercurial Moroccan international the attacking linchpin of his side, and the rewards have been spectacularly reaped.

There may be some way still go – Warnock will need not reminding – but it is becoming increasingly difficult to look past his Rangers side for league glory.

2. Swansea (pld 34, 62 pts)

The decision to hire Brendan Rogers has been the very definition of a masterstroke. Life looked somewhat bleak in this corner of south Wales at the beginning of the campaign, and eyebrows were raised at his hiring after a disastrous spell in charge of Reading. But Rogers’ reputation at Chelsea had not been diminished and the Swans were prepared to take the gamble.

The rest, as they say, is history. Rogers has maintained the excellent defensive reputation that had remained with the Swans throughout the Sousa days, but with it he has added the goals that had previously been painfully lacking. With four straight league victories, including a 3-0 demolition of Leeds last weekend, a defeat is becoming difficult to predict. Just try stopping them.

3. Cardiff (pld 34, 61 pts)

Snapping at the heels of their fierce rivals are a Cardiff side who have flirted with promotion for too long. With arguably the strongest squad in the division, it may soon be time for the Bluebirds to pluck up the courage and finally sweep the automatic places off their proverbial feet.

Simply put, Dave Jones will never get a better chance to take this side to the Premier League.

With loanees Craig Bellamy and Seyi Olofinjana helping the likes of Michael Chopra and Jay Bothroyd prove the firepower up top, there really can be no excuses this time around.

The Bluebirds have unsurprisingly not struggled for goals, and they will need their big players to continue firing if they are to finally land their Premier League dream. A midfield crisis is threatening to derail another year’s promotion bid, but for the record, UTFLWG thinks they will.

4. Nottingham Forest (pld 34, 59 pts)

If there is one side to burst the Welsh promotion bubble, it is more than likely going to be Forest. Like their Cardiff counterparts, Forest pose one of the fiercest challenges in the division and will almost certainly fight to the death in the battle for the automatic promotion places.

As is the case with most sides pushing for the top, a strong defence has proved the foundation of success for Billy Davies. That and a formidable home record, with Forest’s untainted by defeat in almost a year and a half of league football.

Davies has the squad, they have the confidence and soon, Forest could have another shout at English football’s top tier. Don’t be surprised if they break Welsh hearts this time around.

5. Norwich (pld 34, 59 pts)

The Norfolk side have taken everybody by surprise this term, not least for the outrageous manner in which their league matches have so often ended – usually, with a Canaries goal. Paul Lambert’s side have hit the net 10 times in the last five minutes of matches this season, propelling Sky Sports’ Jeff Stelling into his excitable late goal routine on a seemingly weekly basis.

As was proved with Leicester last season, suffering relegation to League One doesn’t always signal the start of a prolonged period of pain. Quite the opposite in fact, as the Canaries have demonstrated in a flawlessly consistent season since gaining promotion back to the second tier.

An excellent away record has formed the basis of an enjoyable campaign for Lambert and his side, who look good value to hang onto their current top six place. The automatic places are still in reach, but there is perhaps too much of a strong challenge from elsewhere for them to scare the top two.

6. Leeds (pld 34, 54 pts)

Like Norwich, Leeds have hit the ground running after making the step back up from League One. The heavy defeat at Swansea on Saturday may have put their play-off place in doubt, but

Simon Grayson knows his side have enough heart to hang onto their top six spot.

The Elland Road outfit have been in the promotion mix since the end of October, and will not bow down without a fight. Goals have been free-flowing all year for Grayson’s attack-minded grafters, with Luciano Becchio and Max Gradel catching the eye in particular. Gradel, a steal from Leicester in the summer, is finally proving his Championship value after struggling for consistency with the Foxes.

The trailing pack is hot on the heels of the Whites, but Grayson will be confident of holding off the ambush below to help restore Leeds to its former glory.

7. Leicester (pld 34, 52 pts)

It’s been quite some turnaround at the Walkers Stadium for Leicester under Sven-Goran Eriksson. Sitting bottom after nine matches when the Swede arrived, the Foxes have since turned things around and now look like making a like surge for the play-off places.

Eriksson has already admitted defeat for his side in their bid for automatic promotion after failing to win in either of their last two fixtures, but with a strong squad, a shot at the top six is well within sight.

The likes of Yakubu, Andy King, Richie Wellens and Kyle Naughton will all need to keep firing on all cylinders throughout the run-in. The Foxes’ recent league run of eight wins in nine is more than enough proof required to demonstrate they have what it takes.

8. Burnley (pld 32, 50 pts)

It all started well for Burnley in their return to the Championship. Then it got worse. So bad, in fact, that Brian Laws was forced to clear his desk and head for the door. It always was an odd appointment, wasn’t it?

But enough of that. Eddie Howe arrived to take the reins after working wonders with Bournemouth, and it appears on the surface that the same could be about to occur at Turf Moor. With just the one defeat in his seven matches in charge so far and three wins in their last four, Burnley are quietly going about making their assault on the top six.

The goals of Chris Eagles, Jay Rodriguez and Chris Iwelumo are likely to come in handy soon enough as Howe’s men begin their charge towards the play-off places. Don’t rule anything out.

9. Hull (pld 34, 49 pts)

Nigel Pearson is getting rather good at putting together promotion-worthy teams. After getting close to taking Leicester to the Premier League last season, Pearson looks to be doing it again with his ambitious Hull side.

The club’s newfound financial backing has allowed him to bring in the likes of Matty Fryatt, Aaron MacLean and Cameron Stewart to help turn around the team’s dismal goal record in the league so far this season.

The Tigers will make their case heard for a top six finish, but several tough fixtures waiting ahead in the run-in will ultimately make it an uphill struggle from here.

10. Reading (pld 34, 48 pts)

The stats may not tell the whole story, but a questionable defence at times has been the Achilles heel that has perhaps prevented Reading from taking up a play-off place at this stage of the season.

That and some highly questionable consistency. The season graph reads like a Himalayas dot-to-dot, with frustrating patches derailing hopes of a top six position.

But the Madejski outfit will not worry too much. At this stage of the season last time around they were in 19th position without a hope of mounting a promotion charge, but a late onslaught saw the team finish within three places of a play-off place.

There is quality in the ranks with the likes of Jimmy Kébé, Jobi McAnuff and Shane Long capable of scaring any Championship defence on their day, but it may be too little too late for Brian McDermott’s challengers.

---

And this is just the top ten. Millwall, Portsmouth and Watford are all narrowly behind in the rankings, with Steve Cotterill’s Pompey winning their last five matches. A late challenge for a play-off spot is not uncommon – can the Fratton Park outfit put all their financial troubles behind them and shock the lot?

This is the Championship, after all. Everybody thinks their side has a shot at play-off glory, but when it all boils down to it only one will emerge out the other side with a smile on their face.

At this stage nobody looks like folding in the top six, but we all know that change is almost inevitable before the campaign’s time is up. And for your amusement when the time comes, here are the UTFLWG predictions for the final table:

1.   QPR
2.   Cardiff
-------------------------------
3.   Nottingham Forest
4.   Swansea
5.   Norwich
6.   Leicester

Yellow fellow Lambert has fire in his belly

2011-02-24T19:59:00Z

There’s as much chance of Norwich City gaining promotion to the Premier League this season as there is Paul Lambert’s favourite colour being yellow.

That should encourage the Canaries' supporters then, as the former Motherwell, Livingston and Borussia Dortmund player clearly has an eye for ‘Gelb’ - yellow, if you’re not a regular at the Westfalenstadion.

"I don’t think us [Norwich] doing so well in the Championship should come as a surprise. We had the foundation to have a decent season with the crowds and the fan base we've got. Whether we are going to do as well as we are at the minute, we'll have to wait and see. The rise has been pretty quick though," said Lambert.

The 41-year-old isn’t scared of a challenge, nor is he scared that a successive promotion with the Carrow Road outfit would be too much too soon: “I'd rather worry about that if we got up, rather than not have that worry. The football we're playing at the minute is very, very good.

“I think the npower Championship is a terrific league, and I think the difference between it and League One is vast. One of the main things we've got here, as well as our ability, is a great team spirit to try and win football matches.”

The Scot has never been one for blowing his own trumpet, but many in Norfolk see him as a hero for leading the former Premier League outfit from the depths of League One.

Bizarre as it sounds, Lambert was actually the architect for what was to prove a Championship-winning campaign – despite starting the season in the away dugout when they lost 7-1 at home on the opening day of the 2009/10 season to lesser rivals Colchester United. “I think people misread that game, and thought we [Colchester] were just going to turn up and get beaten,” he said.

The man from Paisley had his head turned by Delia Smith and her fellow board members, though, and was persuaded to jump on to the sinking ship. And there was the small matter of taking his new Norwich players back to face his old Colchester players again.

“When we went back to Colchester, we knew it was going to be a bit hostile,” he deadpans. "But to do that, to win 5-0 there, was a phenomenal achievement for the lads. At the end of the day it was three points. We just went there and played brilliantly, especially when the game was nearly called off due to the rain. To put that one to bed was very satisfying for everyone at the football club."

Moving from ‘established’ League One side Colchester to ‘unstable’ Norwich could be seen by some as a gamble. However Lambert has never shirked a challenge, going back to his time as a player.

He left the comforts of ‘bonny’ Scotland behind for a year to play for Borussia Dortmund, and the German giants reached the Champions League Final against Juventus. The Bianconeri midfield included French maestros Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, but Lambert insists it didn’t faze him.

“I had the belief in my ability that I could handle being in that company. I was never bothered that they were playing. I knew I had to look after my game, first and foremost.

“But I also knew that, in my own team, I was playing with people that had won World Cups and Serie A and Bundesliga titles. I had phenomenal footballers beside me in that 1997 European Cup final. With Andreas Moeller, Matthias Sammer, Steffen Freund, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Paulo Sousa, our team was as good as anybody else's."

So what of today’s Champions League? “It’s still got its appeal today too, it's the best club competition in the world,” he said. "Everybody wants to win it, and people spend millions and millions of pounds trying to do that. The media attention and prestige of winning it means that the global appeal of it is vast. You come up against some brilliant teams and brilliant footballers."

After his successful spell in the northwest of Germany, the Scot returned to his homeland and the lure of Celtic.

“I think people saw winning the Champions League as a great achievement – not many people do it," notes Lambert. "I'm lucky to be in the same company as the likes of John Robertson, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, and all the Lisbon Lions. Scotland's a small country, so for me to be in that group makes me very proud."

Lambert proved his international qualities and represented Scotland at France ’98 where he tussled with the likes of Dunga in the opening game in which the Tartan Army lost 2-1 to Brazil.

Domestically, Scotland has seen its better players, such as Kenny Miller, moving abroad for a better salary and the former midfielder has sound advice.

“I recommend going abroad, but I think you have to go to the right club. I was fortunate because I knew the players I was going to play with, and they weren't your run of the mill, they were world class.

“Anyone can go abroad and make money then decide they don't fancy it and come back, but I wanted to win things and learn a different culture and a different way of playing football. British players rarely make it because they aren’t adaptable enough.”

Lambert the manager appears different to when he was a player, “I try to put your arm around people and make them feel better about themselves. I’m always learning and looking for things to benefit the team. I have a really good backroom staff with me, which really helps.

“At this moment club football is what I want to do. I want to try and do as best we can with Norwich. I want to strive for the best that I can be,” he said.

With that, Paul Lambert retains the steely determination that got him so far as a player and consequently he is showing the traits of another potentially successful manager from North of the border.

Words by Tom Biltcliffe. Paul Lambert was speaking to Yahoo! through its partnership with the League Managers Association. Visit The Dugout at www.yahoo.co.uk/dugout

Savage rapping and a not very bright striker - it's all going wrong for Derby

2011-02-18T08:30:00Z

Fan protests, a manager publicly blasting players and a team steadily sliding down the Championship table. Welcome to a month at Derby County.
To use the phrase ‘a season of two halves’ would be quite some understatement. This is a Derby side who were on the cusp of the automatic promotion places in November, but who now stare nervously over their shoulders in 17th place.

It’s been quite a turnaround at Pride Park. A team which was surprising one and all with a blitzing opening to the campaign has capitulated spectacularly, picking up just five points from their last 12 league fixtures, while the football on offer is less appealing than an Anne Widdecombe strip-tease.

So where did it all go wrong? Well, a useful place to begin would be Turf Moor, where things went particularly pear-shaped. On a frosty November afternoon the Rams took the lead midway through the first-half through Luke Moore, but two goals in the final ten minutes from Burnley condemned Nigel Clough’s side to what was then a rare defeat.

The equaliser - courtesy of a free-kick from ex-Ram Tyrone Mears - proved the catalyst for a dire run of form which included just one win against bottom-of-the-pile Preston. Derby supporters have not experienced a winning feeling at Pride Park in almost three months.

All is not well in this corner of the East Midlands. Fans gathered prior to the Rams’ home fixture with Leicester last weekend to demonstrate against the club’s American owners, furious at the lack of investment which they believe is simply stagnating the squad.

It is easy to empathise with club’s supporters, who see the likes of Nottingham Forest and the Foxes themselves climbing the table just a mere stone’s throw away. The match against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side saw the Rams hopelessly outclassed in a first-half which failed to produce an effort on goal from the home side. Derby fans’ frustrations were dealt a killer blow as Eriksson’s stellar signing Yakubu sent Leicester on their way to a comfortable victory.

"No, idiots - the actions to YMCA go like this..."

As a fallen Premier League side themselves, Derby supporters, perhaps rightly so, do not see their club in the selling mould. The Rams allowed talismanic striker Rob Hulse to depart to Championship pace-setters QPR in the summer, while this season’s top scorer Kris Commons also bid farewell to Pride Park last month, jumping the border to join Celtic.

Their exits were irksome enough, but the fact that Nigel Clough failed to sufficiently replace either player was a grievance too far. Even when Clough found reasonable short-term successes in the likes of Luke Moore and Shefki Kuqi, their departures were once again addressed inadequately, if at all.

Moore made a loan switch to Championship rivals Swansea when his deal at Pride Park expired, while Kuqi was left to remain a free agent despite some useful outings leading the Derby line. The football world may have spat out their tea with hilarity when Alan Pardew snapped up the bustly forward for Newcastle, but Derby fans were left wondering why it hadn’t been them.

A half-fit Chris Porter has been left to fill the void of lone ranger up front, but with most still unconvinced by the former Oldham man, the tumbleweeds in front of goal may have to continue rolling for a while yet. Spanish summer capture Alberto Bueno (who, it should be noted, isn’t really a 'natural' striker) looked a promising acquisition at the beginning of the campaign, but with just four league goals under his belt this term, Derby hopes of a saviour have all-but dried up.

Clough’s striker headache was eased on Thursday by the capture of Sheffield United striker Jamie Ward on loan until the end of the campaign, after his attempts to land both Martyn Waghorn and Conor Sammon both failed. "They've said they want to keep him (Waghorn) for now on the bench and use him for the last five or 10 minutes," Clough grumbled.

Frustrations at managerial level were unleashed in the aftermath of the team’s 1-1 draw at Fratton Park two weeks ago, when Clough took out his anger on Polish forward Tomasz Cywka. "We would like some players who, in the 89th minute, don't lose the ball 20 yards outside their own box, which is what Tomasz Cywka did and which is what led to us conceding a goal,” the Derby chief fumed, before ‘reasoning’ that the Pole was “an inexperienced and not very bright footballer.”

This is a player who was, naturally, signed by Clough in the summer - why doesn’t say much for his judgement if his latest analysis is accurate. And no prizes for guessing who was dropped to the bench for the next game.

The simple fact of the matter is, Clough’s squad is alarmingly thin. Options up front are worryingly sparse, and so-called replacements for the clubs departed players are simply not up to the standard for mounting a decent promotion charge. The youth policy has yet to really bare fruit, and the lower-league hopefuls snapped up in the summer have soon become exposed as being a fair way from ready to mix it at Championship level.

The Rams are still some way above the relegation zone - six points as it stands - but they will not fancy sustaining their dreadful run of form going into the tail end of the season. Confidence is at an all-time low, the playing squad is thread-bare and the manager is seemingly losing his nerve. And to top it all off, Robbie Savage has officially lost the plot

A trip to Scunthorpe’s Glanford Park awaits on Saturday, where the Rams hope to re-ignite their campaign once again. Ian Baraclough’s men pulled off a shock win over high-flying Forest on Wednesday evening, but Clough knows it the matches against their fellow strugglers which will define their Championship campaign.

The clock is ticking at Pride Park for Clough, just a year into his three-and-a-half tenure. At the beginning of the campaign keeping the Rams up was priority, but even that task alone looks like being far from straightforward.

Derby supporters are losing patience with their club at all levels. But with a statement released earlier in the week insisting the club is not for sale, they may have to wait longer than expected for their wishes to come true.

Forest finally ready to regain their place at the top table

2011-02-09T15:45:00Z

For much of last season, Nottingham Forest were in the thick of the promotion race, flirting with the top two for much of last winter before eventually finishing in the play-offs and suffering defeat at the hands of Ian Holloway’s Blackpool.

Throughout the campaign, Forest boss Billy Davies consistently stated his side weren't good enough to go up, and that it would benefit the club to wait another season before finally sealing their return to the Premier League they left in 1999.

After a sluggish start to the current campaign, it looked as if Davies’ side may have to wait a lot longer than one more season, but they have slowly but surely climbed the table, and a fantastic run of six straight wins has now lifted them into second spot.

They currently lie seven points behind leaders Queens Park Rangers, with two games in hand and a trip to Loftus Road looming this Sunday. A victory for the Championship’s form side would lift them to within four points of the summit, and would provide a real platform for a title tilt as the season approaches its climax.

Despite constant claims of a lack of investment from Davies, he has been able to put together a squad that boasts both talent and depth for the Championship. The club has seven first-team strikers, including recent arrivals Marcus Tudgay and USA international Robbie Findley, while Davies has looked to plug the left-back position with former England international Paul Konchesky, who has joined from Liverpool on a three-month loan deal.

"Yay!"

Couple the ability to bring players of such a calibre to the club with the form of their home-grown talent, such as goalscoring midfielder Lewis McGugan, and Forest now have one of the most competitive squads in the Championship. And at last, Davies seems confident that his charges are capable of climbing out of the second tier.

The former Preston North End and Derby County boss has a fantastic record when it comes to winning promotion from the Championship. He came within a whisker of the Premier League when in charge of Preston, losing in consecutive play-off campaigns, before winning a surprise promotion with Derby in his first season in charge at Pride Park.

Davies left Derby within a couple of months of that promotion, with the Rams rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. The circumstances surrounding his departure from Forest’s bitter rivals is somewhat shrouded in rumour, but it is widely accepted the club were not able to compete in top flight, and that Davies was a victim of his own immediate success.

And it is that experience that may well have led to the Scotsman playing down his current side’s promotion hopes last campaign, wary of the fact that should they win promotion and then seriously struggle in the Premier League, his head would quickly be back on the chopping block.

Davies: Don't look back in anger

Now, however, everyone at the City Ground seems ready and willing to step up to the top flight, and very few Football League fans (outside Derby) would begrudge Forest a spot back in the Premier League.

The club has endured a torrid decade of financial struggle and on-the-pitch woes. In May 2005 they were relegated to League One, and in doing so became the first European Cup winners to ever play in the third tier of a domestic league. A three-year spell in League One followed, Forest’s first seasons in the third tier for more than half a century and a far cry from the club’s most successful period.

Under Brian Clough, Forest won the First Division title in 1978, just one season after gaining promotion from the Second Division. Clough’s side then went on to win the European Cup the following season, and retained the greatest honour in club football the season after.

Blinding: Is that the Premier League over there?

Clough left the club in 1993, after 16 consecutive seasons in the top flight. During his time at the City Ground, the club added four League Cups and a European Super Cup to the haul of trophies.

Clough passed away aged 69 in September 2004, at the beginning of the season that saw Forest relegated to League One. Six seasons later, the club is over its spell in the third tier and is once again on the verge of real success.

And if they can go on to a notable victory at Loftus Road this Sunday before sealing a long-awaited return to the top flight, there's no doubt Cloughie will be smiling down upon the club once more.

Swindon look to Benyon to fill void left by Burnley-bound Austin

2011-02-08T11:35:00Z

Last Tuesday we brought you a run-down of the Championship dealings from the January transfer window. As promised, here’s the best of the rest from Leagues One and Two.

Activity was somewhat less quiet in English football’s third and fourth tiers, with many of the lower leagues’ star performers heading for pastures new in the Championship.

Perhaps the most high-profile departure from League One was Swindon starlet Charlie Austin, who left for Eddie Howe’s Burnley. It is a scenario which is becoming all too familiar for Town, who have also seen fellow top scorers Simon Cox and Billy Paynter depart in the last two seasons.

Robins boss Danny Wilson was quick to line up a replacement for his departed goal-getter, capturing Torquay hot shot Elliot Benyon on a two-and-a-half year deal. The striker has already hit the ground running, scoring a last minute equaliser on his debut against Rochdale on Saturday. The permanent signing of Portsmouth winger Matt Ritchie, following a successful loan spell, should go some way to helping the new striker continue to bed in.

Torquay themselves were left in the lurch on deadline day, picking up Shrewsbury striker Jake Robinson on loan to cover the loss of their departed 13-goal man. A dream debut against Hereford produced the game’s opener – until it was later found out Robinson had indeed been ineligible to play.

Can Benyon fill the void left by Charlie Austin?

Hereford went on to win 3-1. Mathieu who? Well, that would be a certain Manset, the Bulls’ prize striker who made the switch to Championship Reading. Manager Jamie Pitman looked to Aldershot mouthful Wesley Ngo Baheng to step into the young Frenchman’s shoes.

Another club looking to fill a goal-scoring void were League One Plymouth, who were resigned to losing star man Bradley Wright-Phillips to Charlton. But the Devonshire outfit’s untimely transfer embargo prevented Argyle chief Peter Reid from replacing the striker.

It didn’t end there. Reid was resigned to losing winger Craig Noone to Brighton for £300,000 and Benin international Reda Johnson to Sheffield Wednesday. A plethora of financial strains are making life tough at Home Park.

The aforementioned Owls were busy in the transfer market themselves, but Alan Irvine will not be overseeing his new boys after being handed his P45 by Milan Mandaric on Thursday. Irvine snapped up Leicester centre-back Michael Morrison, as well as Carlisle forward Gary Madine on permanent deals. Fellow forward Marcus Tudgay departed to Nottingham Forest on a permanent deal.

Greg Abbot’s north-east play-off hopefuls snapped up the strike pairing of the highly-rated Bohemians Paddy Madden and Rangers’ Rory Loy to cover the loss of ten-goal hitman Madine.

Elsewhere, another manager who will be putting his feet up in front of Jeff Stelling on a Saturday afternoon is Brentford’s Andy Scott, who was dismissed in unfortunate circumstances on Thursday.

The Bees snapped up four Championship loanees throughout the month, including Millwall pair Lewis Grabban and Marc Laird, as well as Norwich midfielder Owain Tudor-Jones.

Fellow strugglers Tranmere grabbed former midfielder Andy Robinson from Leeds after a successful loan spell, while relegation-haunted Bristol Rovers signed no fewer than six players in their battle to avoid the drop. Midfielder Gavin Williams made the short-distance move from rivals Bristol City, while striker Rene Howe joined on loan from Peterborough.

Darren Ferguson added David Ball to his Posh ranks, along with the loan capture of Leicester’s Tom Kennedy. The departure of Aaron Mclean to Hull was a blow, but holding onto the key pairing of George Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith will be crucial for the Posh’s promotion hopes.

Another League One chief snaring former Premier League stars was Huddersfield boss Lee Clark, who tied down the services of former Everton striker Danny Cadamarteri - who is now in his second spell with the Terriers and scored on his return in a 4-1 win over Exeter - and the loan signing of Hull City midfielder Kevin Kilbane. The addition of young Newcastle defender Tamas Kadar also looks an astute piece of business.

Cadamateri scored two minutes into his Huddersfield comeback

League One promotion hopefuls Southampton were more conservative in their approach than in recent windows, tying down Richard Chaplow on a permanent deal from Preston after a useful loan spell on the South Coast. Jonathan Forte was picked up from Scunthorpe, while Leicester winger Dany N’Guessan joined on loan until the end of the campaign.

Ambitious Oldham looked for the signings that would cement their current play-off position, bringing in veteran defender Andy Todd, Arsenal youngster Cedric Evina and Derby midfielder Medi Abalimba. Manager Paul Dickov also secured the services of Manchester United stopper Ben Amos on loan.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth lost highly-rated Josh McQuoid to Millwall, while the Cherries re-signed Norwich’s former Welsh Under-21 international Rhoys Wiggins. Paul Ince’s Notts County picked up Liverpool full-back Stephen Darby, along with former Wolves winger Lewis Gobern from Grimsby.

Struggling Dagenham picked up striker John Akinde on loan from Bristol City, while Walsall snapped up journeyman midfielder Jason Price on a short-term deal from Carlisle.

At the top of League Two there was little in the way of transfer activity from the top four, but Rotherham will be pleased to have hung onto linchpin striker Adam le Fondre for another window at least. Promotion seems imperative if they are to keep their star forward for much longer.

Port Vale added no fewer than five loanees to their ranks, including West Brom pairing Romaine Sawyers and Kaylden Brown, while Shrewsbury wasted no time in bringing in the likes of Coventry’s Jermaine Grandison and former Walsall wideman Mark Wright.

At the bottom, the loan market proved kind to Stockport, who snapped up Blackpool striker Ishmel Demontagnac and Rochdale forward Anthony Elding on short-term deals. Fellow strugglers Burton Albion brought in Crewe striker Calvin Zola on loan - having sold star striker Shaun Harrad to Northampton, while Lincoln were kept busy to bring in Sunderland keeper Trevor Carson and Rochdale midfielder Scott Spencer. The Imps lost longest-serving midfielder Scott Kerr, however, who joined York on a permanent deal.

As usual it was the loan market which was utilised most by the sides in League One and Two, with Championship and Premier League youngsters in particular flocking in their numbers to taste the delights of lower-league first team football.

In a climate where survival is crucial to securing the long-term futures of clubs in the Football League, managers never want to lose their best performers. But as we have seen, it is rarely easy to hang on when the bigger fish come calling.

Swindon boss Danny Wilson has been forced into finding a man to replace his star forward three seasons in a row. Has he got it right again this time?

Charlie Austin and Mathieu Manset are both ready for their first tastes of Championship football, a platform they both need if they are ever to achieve their aspirations of performing at an even higher level. For former Poole Town man and bricklayer Austin, it’s been quite a story.

Noisy-neighbour catfight at Olympic Stadium drowns out Orient's plea

2011-02-04T17:23:00Z

By now, we should be absorbing the Olympic Park Legacy Committee’s decision on exactly what will happen with the 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium at the conclusion of next summer’s London Games.

However, the decision has been postponed, with the well-reported battle between West Ham and Tottenham to take over the £537 million stadium getting messier with every press release and counter-claim.

But among the mounds of counsellors’ quotes and elaborate plans, London’s second-oldest Football League club appears to have been completely overlooked.
League One side Leyton Orient have played at Brisbane Road in Leyton for more than 70 years. The site lies just 750 yards from the edge of the Olympic Park and under a mile from the stadium both Spurs and the Hammers are desperate to move in to. Should either Premier League side be granted permission to relocate to Stratford, the risks to Orient are clear.

"Oi! Keep that banging noise down!"

Like most other Football League sides, Orient face a massive battle to attract fans away from their sofas, out of their Premier League replica shirts and through the turnstiles. Factor in that there are a whole host of bigger sides within London trying to entice the biggest possible slice of the South-East’s football fans, and it's easy to see why crowds at Brisbane Road sit around the 4,000 mark.

The fear for Orient is that an increased capacity for one of the two top-flight sides will make tickets easier to come by and possibly more affordable, with the broader appeal of a better standard of football in a fantastic new stadium just a Rory Delap throw-in away attracting the casual fans that smaller clubs like Orient try incredibly hard to entice.

On top of the concern regarding the effects on their fan-base and revenue, the O’s are also very proud of their community work and feel a big boy moving to their doorstep would have a massive detrimental effect on their work in the local boroughs.

The club was the Football League’s Community Club of the Year in 2009 and, according to a statement released by Leyton Orient last week, the club’s work in the community has reached over 130,000 local residents across six London boroughs. Despite a large proportion of their supporters now residing in Essex and the A12 commuter belt to the north-east of London, the club still sees itself as an East London community-focused organisation, an ethos that would be threatened by the arrival of a substantially bigger club.

Both the Premier League and the Football League have very strict rules on the relocation of member organisations, one of which states that the move must not adversely affect clubs in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location – yet the pleas, both public and private, from O’s chairman Barry Hearn have been met by silence.

If within a mile is not the immediate vicinity then exactly what, in the eyes of the governing bodies, is?

In 2007 Hearn did enter into discussions with the OPLC, with the idea of Orient becoming tenants at the reduced-capacity stadium post-Olympics being put forward. However the plans fell through, with Hearn rightly concerned about the matchday experience being destroyed if there were 5,000 or so fans rattling around behind a running track in a 25,000-seater stadium.

There's no need for Orient to move. They have slowly and sensibly developed their current ground, rebuilding three stands over the last decade or so, resulting in an attractive and suitable stadium that meets their needs while retaining an excellent location at the heart of their community.

However, if the OPLC choose to grant the Olympic Stadium to either West Ham or Tottenham and the Football League and Premier League allow the relocation, then, according to Leyton Orient, a huge question mark hangs over their long-term viability at Brisbane Road.

Sunset over Brisbane, and not an Aussie in sight

The club and chairman Barry Hearn have previously spoke about plans to move out of London and towards the commuter regions of Essex, where the majority of the club’s fans now live. And the fear among O’s fans and traditionalist supporters across the leagues is that a Premier League club rocking up a mile away will merely force Orient to move away from the communities they have invested so much in.

When the bid for 2012 was submitted a key element was legacy. The initial plans to reduce the capacity and maintain the stadium as a home for athletics in the UK was morally correct while using the arena as a multi-purpose facility, hosting everything from Twenty20 cricket to music concerts, would ensure it was used as much as possible.

A move to Stratford is wrong for both Tottenham and West Ham. Spurs fans are desperate to stay in North London while Hammers fans would lose the atmosphere of Upton Park and would instead spend their Saturday afternoons watching football in a half-empty athletics stadium.

The original plan no longer seems to be receiving worthy consideration but the idea of all three football clubs staying put and the stadium becoming a reduced-capacity multi-purpose venue should be strongly considered.

Football’s governing bodies, their political counterparts and the OPLC must stop ignoring Leyton Orient and instead take the O’s into consideration when making the decision as to exactly what will happen to the Olympic Stadium after London 2012. It's the very least Barry Hearn, his club and its fans deserve.

If they fail to do so, one true legacy of next summer’s Olympics could well be the death of a community-focused Football League club rich in heritage.

Foxes make a statement but Cov stand still amidst transfer madness

2011-02-01T23:09:00Z

Phew. The transfer window has finally closed (or “slammed shut” if you worship at the Church of Jim White), and talk of Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres has died down. Well, one out of two ain’t bad…

If you’re as fed up of hearing the petty details of the outrageous dealings of yesterday as the rest of us, you may be interested to know that the Football League does indeed exist. Madness.

The transfer window offered a flurry of activity in all three divisions for the 72 other clubs that managed to drop off the radar on deadline day, with several surprising – and often impressive - acquisitions putting pen to paper throughout the course of the month.

Have no fear League One and League Two, we certainly haven’t forgotten about you - we‘ll be rounding up the movement from the third and fourth tiers later in the week. But here’s a brief round-up of each team’s dealings in the Championship for January...

Mid-table hopefuls Barnsley picked up two Premier League loanees on deadline day with the captures of Franck Nouble and youngster Jacob Mellis from West Ham and Chelsea respectively. Danny Haynes joined midway through the month from Championship rivals Bristol City, hitting a brace against Doncaster in only his second match for the Tykes.

Staggering Bristol City endured a quiet month until deadline day, with the entrance door swinging open only for highly-rated Scunthorpe midfield Martyn Woolford and Wolves loanee Andy Keogh. The arrival of Woolford should help to reignite a somewhat stagnant City side that have now gone four-and-a-half hours of Championship football without scoring.

Woolford will look to boost Bristol City's disappointing season

If fans at Ashton Gate thought their window had been quiet, spare a thought for fans of Coventry, who saw nobody arrive at the Ricoh despite a customary slide down the table after a horrible run of eight without victory in the Championship.

Another side enduring a disappointing fall down the league ladder are Derby, who were also reasonably innocuous throughout the course of the month. The Rams saw star midfielder Kris Commons depart to Celtic for a nominal fee, bringing in only Notts County midfielder Ben Davies and Liverpool youngster Daniel Ayala to aid their survival bid. Expectations are seemingly low at Pride Park.

East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest enjoyed a constructive transfer window, securing the services of Sheffield Wednesday striker Marcus Tudgay and American international striker Robbie Findley on a permanent basis. But without doubt the best piece of business for manager Billy Davies was the capture of Liverpool left-back Paul Konchesky on loan until the end of the campaign. That’s right Forest fans you heard it correct, a left-back.

Alongside the Reds aiming to battle for an automatic promotion spot are Cardiff, who also appear to have used the window wisely in their efforts to overhaul Norwich and QPR from the top of the pile. There was a homecoming for young Arsenal starlet Aaron Ramsey, who rejoined the Bluebirds on loan, along with fellow Gunners hopeful Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Dave Jones also picked up Preston powerhouse Jon Parkin for a miserly £100,000 in a tidy deal for the Welsh outfit.

Paul Lambert was quiet in his bid to keep Norwich in the top two, retaining the services of Henri Lansbury on loan, along with the capture of West Brom Leon Barnett on a permanent deal.

New Burnley manager Eddie Howe tied down the services of the sought-after Charlie Austin from Swindon, while Watford utilised the loan market to bring in Danny Drinkwater (Manchester United), Andros Towsend (Tottenham) and Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa) from Premier League sides.

Keeping up? Good. Fellow promotion hopefuls Leeds made Andy O’Brien’s loan switch from Bolton permanent, while also bringing in Manchester City goalkeeper David Gonzales on a short-term deal, and taking former £6.5 million man George McCartney (I know, I know) back to Elland Road on loan for the rest of the season, having previously borrowed the Ulsterman from Sunderland for three months earlier this season.

Millwall turned to both youth and experience as Kenny Jackett swooped for Bournemouth hit Josh McQuoid and Arsenal youngster Craig Eastmond, as well as securing the services of the evergreen Darren Purse from Sheffield Wednesday. Reading also looked to the lower leagues in search of the talent of tomorrow, picking up bullish Hereford forward Matheiu Manset and Swindon defender Sean Morrison.

Manset was highly regarded at Hereford - can he make the step up?

Arrivals to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium came in the form of West Brom striker Luke Moore, Exeter’s Ryan Harley and former Swan Leon Britton, while there was also the deadline day snaring of Burnley defender David Edgar on loan.

Top-of-the-table QPR looked to add the final additions to get their noses over the promotion line, adding the useful loan signings of Wayne Routledge and Ishmael Miller, as well as the ever-temperamental Pascal Chimbonda on a permanent basis - or at least as permanent as a deal for the club-hopping, glove-wearing Guadalupian can be...

At the bottom, a storm of activity swept through the relegation-threatened sides, most notably at Scunthorpe where no fewer than eight new faces arrived at Glanford Park. The loan capture of Forest striker Joe Garner is perhaps the pick of the bunch, along with Norwich centre-back Michael Nelson. Bottom club Preston secured experience stalwarts Ian Ashbee and Nathan Ellington, along with journeyman striker Leon Clarke.

Crystal Palace were also busy in Dougie Freedman’s first window in charge, retaining Everton striker James Vaughan on loan along with the permanent acquisitions of Jermaine Easter, Alex Marrow, Dean Moxey and former Spurs man Steffen Iversen.

Unlikely strugglers Middlesbrough also left nothing to chance despite a summer of big-spending, recruiting German midfielder Maximilian Haas from Bayern Munich and Moroccan flair man Merouane Zemmama from Hibernian.

Micky Adams set to work to rebuild his floundering Sheffield United side, capturing former England Under-21 left-back Joe Mattock on loan from West Brom, along with the seasoned pairing of Marcus Bent and Michael Doyle from Birmingham and Coventry respectively.

Looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack, Ipswich’s new boss Paul Jewell brought in Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard - one of his former charges at Wigan - on loan until the end of the campaign in one of the more eye-catching deals of the window. Alongside them, Portsmouth secured the permanent services of seven-goal man Liam Lawrence, also snaring the loan services of Greg Halford, Ritchie de Laet and Jonathan Hogg at Fratton Park.

Doncaster handed a loan opportunity to promising Glenn Hoddle academy graduate Ryan Burge, along with once sought-after Sunderland centre-back Matthew Kilgallon.

But perhaps the most intriguing pieces of business in the Championship during the January window were to be found at promotion chasing Leicester and Hull respectively. With both blessed with the injection of funds from new foreign ownership, the duo pounced to secure the deals which now stand them in useful stead for a final play-off push.

Sven ponders an unsurprisingly busy month for Leicester City

Matty Fryatt swapped the Walkers for the KC, while Tigers chief Nigel Pearson also added Peterborough striker Aaron Maclean to bolster his forward line. The deadline day capture of Manchester United loanee Cameron Stewart also looks promising after a string of useful displays for the Yorkshire outfit.

Sven-Goran Eriksson also continued his work on building his promotion-chasing Leicester side, adding the intriguing deadline day acquisition of former Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo to join loanees Patrick van Aanholt (Chelsea) and Ben Mee (Manchester City) at the Walkers Stadium.

But unquestionably the Foxes’ - and probably the Championship’s - finest deal of the window was securing the services of Everton striker Yakubu on loan until the end of the campaign. The Nigeria international has already delighted Foxes fans with two goals in his opening two fixtures.

While some sides are fortunate enough to have the backing of wealthy owners at the top, many others are not. Several sides may have made modest additions to their squads, but simply put, ultimately could prove the difference between promotion and relegation. Few sides have unleashed their financial wings in January, instead relying on the loan market and nominal deals to help them cross their respective lines.

It is a formula which has worked wonders on several occasions, but one which naturally must come with a sprinkling of luck along the way. Chairmen, managers and fans across the nation will be desperate for their window captures to produce the goods, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it will be their year. Unless you’re Coventry, of course.

Why Oxlade-Chamberlain should give Arsenal & Man Utd a wide berth

2011-01-28T20:19:00Z

FourFourTwo Football League blogger Chris Cox explains why Southampton's bright young thing's interests may be better served by staying with the South Coast club rather than jumping ship for a top Premier League side such as Arsenal or Manchester United...

They say that love is blindness. It appears ambition is too.

Once again, the scent of young blood has got caught up in the nostrils of those occupying the upper echelons of English football. There’s a new kid on the block and word is, he’s pretty good. But he’s not playing for a club with immediate desires for the top prizes - the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Champions League, The World…

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Southampton’s latest in a long line of football prodigies, has found himself in the limelight. The son of former England international Mark Chamberlain has already achieved great popularity at Saints, not only thanks to his speedy ascension into the St Mary’s first team, but also by causing uproar at Portsmouth.

When Mark, formerly a youth coach at Fratton Park, announced he wouldn’t be sending his son to play in the blue half of Hampshire, opting instead for the prestige of Southampton‘s prolific academy system - he ended up being forced to suspect that his parenting skills were being rewarded with a P45[link]. The kid had to be something special.

Anyone who has seen the Arsenal and Manchester United target in action this season will say that he most certainly is. Some outstanding displays on the wing, including two chipped goals from the touchline against Dagenham & Redbridge say it all. He’s got confidence, skill and a cool head. Southampton have done it again - unearthed another England star of the future.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been a revelation at St Mary's this season

Arsenal lead the chase for the youngster’s signature - with Manchester United and Liverpool also said to be strongly in the hunt - with £10 million said to be Southampton’s asking price. But is a 17 year old with no experience of top-flight football really worth so much?

Perhaps these clubs, particularly Arsenal, would be better served by investing that money into own their academies - with the top sides increasingly getting into the habit of pilfering the top youngsters from smaller clubs just as they’re starting to develop, very few players truly ‘come through the ranks‘ at the elite clubs. For example, Arsenal’s England international Kieran Gibbs spent three years with Wimbledon before being snapped up by the Gunners at 15, while highly-rated Manchester United prospect Tom Cleverley arrived at Old Trafford from Bradford City at the same age.

In 2005, Arsenal’s ’recruitment drive’ included one Theo Walcott, who had recently made his debut for Southampton and looked every bit the pocket-sized wing dynamo. Blessed with blistering pace, impressive technique and bundles of flair, it wasn’t long before a pre-contract agreement with Saints was torn up as the big boys came calling.

Arsenal would be young Theo’s destination, despite interest from his boyhood club (not that he had yet ceased to be a boy, really) Liverpool and a last-gasp bid by a Chelsea side that had just won their first title in over 50 years under the stewardship of one José Mourinho. A £10 million deal was thrashed out with Saints’ chairman Rupert Lowe insisting his visit to Arsenal’s training ground was just a fact finding mission, and not the two clubs talking business.

A year later, rookie left back Gareth Bale was making a similar sized splash on the south coast, owing principally to his accuracy from dead ball situations, lung bursting runs and a level-headedness uncommon with young pros. Bale was seen as having the potential to take Southampton back into the top flight after a two year absence, and came close to doing so in 2006/07 when he helped Saints finish sixth in the Championship, only to be defeated in the play-off semi-finals by eventual promotees Derby County.

Deep in conversation with a referee - Fergie will love that...

Like Walcott, the Welshman had put in a series of scintillating displays in the second tier and had caused Premier League heads to turn. Such was the interest in the player that Liverpool were having scouts turned away by security at Southampton’s Staplewood training ground.

But following the team’s penalty shoot-out defeat at Pride Park interested parties could be kept from the door no longer, and another glimmer of hope for Saints fans was gone. Bale also left for North London, opting for Tottenham over Manchester United for a fee rising to £10 million.

Despite an impressive start, with goals against Fulham and Arsenal in his early matches, it was only in the second half of last season, three years after Bale’s move to N17, that he was considered to have gone anywhere near fulfilling his huge potential.

Physically Bale is now a completely different animal from the slight full-back who found himself burnt out after half a season in red and white. He now looks every inch the real deal, an superb athlete with an excellent touch and the ability to put in some amazing crosses from the left wing.

But nonetheless, it wasn’t instant. Who could forget the stat trotted out every other weekend: ‘Tottenham have never won a league game with Bale in the team’ that took over two years to shake.

Alex will hope to follow in dad Mark's footsteps and play for England

Despite hitting a hat-trick for England in Croatia back in September 2008, Theo Walcott has rarely if ever fully lived up to the hype. Questions constantly arise over his ‘footballing brain’ or lack thereof, as well as his injury record. Five years since moving and Walcott seems now to be just another Arsenal squad player rather than the stand-out genius he perhaps could have been.

Both Bale and Walcott moved as soon as their names hit the gossip columns. There was never any question of learning their trade and then moving on at a later date. Put simply, there should have been.

If the two were so confident in their ability and potential to further improve then they should also had belief that a move at a later date could have and would have materialised. Their transfers were surely not ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities given their obvious talent.

It soon became evident that Southampton were desperate for the money anyway, and even if the pair had wanted to stay, the club’s finances would have forced hands in the boardroom and they would have been sold on. This time around Southampton are on a far more stable financial footing, so it seems that the decision as to whether or not the youngster leaves will be purely the down to the man himself.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ought to take a step back and properly assess the two paths he can choose.

Go to one of England’s top sides and risk stagnating and maybe even not realising his potential by playing reserve team games and warming benches, or for the time being stay at Southampton where he will be first choice in a team playing good football and fighting back to the Championship.

Sadly it seems that the former is more likely, which may be good news for Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson, who could probably do with another nipper for their Carling Cup Playground XIs…

Howe set to continue rapid rise up the league ladder

2011-01-14T17:27:00Z

After weeks of speculation, Eddie Howe looks set to finally leave Bournemouth for Burnley over the weekend, just days after vowing to stay on at the League One side. The news will be a bitter blow for Cherries’ fans but once the disappointment of seeing Howe leave subsides, they will only have fond memories of Howe’s tenure.

‘Our Eddie’, as he is known at the Dorset club, will forever be a Bournemouth legend. He came through the ranks before making more than 200 appearances for the club during an eight-year stay.

He was then sold to South Coast rivals Portsmouth for £400,000 in 2002, a fee the struggling Cherries desperately needed to make ends meet.

His two-year stay at Fratton Park was massively disrupted by a series of serious knee injuries, restricting him to just a handful of appearances for Pompey. He then re-joined Bournemouth, initially on loan and then permanently, with the fans raising the cash to pay a proportion of his nominal transfer fee.

Another 50 appearances followed, but the Cherries were in dire trouble, both on the pitch and off it. Administration and a spell in the bottom tier followed. Howe retired aged just 29 due to the same knee injuries that had plagued him at Fratton Park, and moved into coaching.

When Jimmy Quinn was fired in December 2008 with the club second from bottom of the Football League, Howe stepped up to the top job, initially as caretaker and then permanently - one can only presume - because the club had such worrying financial troubles that finding the budget to employ someone else was beyond them.

A stroke of luck? A flash of genius from the club’s board? Or just the inevitable rise of a young manager accelerated by a set of circumstances that resulted in Howe being the only option.

At the time, Howe was the youngest manager in the Football League, having just turned 31. The club had started the 2008/09 season with a 17-point deduction and were marooned in the relegation zone, staring down the barrel of non-league football.

The club were also under a transfer embargo, but Howe somehow managed to unite the fans and the players and instil a belief and a spirit that had been lacking before. He dragged the club out of the bottom two, securing safety with a 4-0 home win over fellow strugglers Grimsby.

And the following season – his first full term as a manager - Howe led Bournemouth to promotion back to League One, despite still having to work under a transfer embargo.

Howe had gone from playing hero to club legend, from the cheap option and a gamble to one of the hottest young managers around - and clubs higher up the pyramid were quickly beginning to take note.

Then-Championship side Peterborough approached Howe in November 2009 but Bournemouth were keen to hold on to their young boss and Howe was in no rush to leave.

The club’s determination to keep Howe proved a shrewd move. He has now established Bournemouth in the League One promotion battle on a tiny budget, above traditional big-hitters such as Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday.

He hasn’t had any star players, tons of cash or a stream of top-quality loanees. He has even had to sell his most promising young players, Brett Pitman and Josh McQuoid.

But anyone who has had the pleasure of watching his side over the last year or two will vouch for the spirit, desire and togetherness that the Cherries have displayed and, coupled with the development of some promising young players plucked from non-league - like team captain Jason Pearce - they are now a real force in the third tier.

Following the club’s unbelievable start to life back in League One, Howe’s list of admirers was rapidly growing. Following the abnormally high turn-over of managers in recent weeks (eleven Football League managers have left their posts since Christmas Day) it seemed Howe was top of the shortlist at most clubs who decided a change was better than none.

Charlton and Crystal Palace made no secret of the fact they were pursuing Howe, and at one stage it looked destined to be a straight battle between the two South London clubs for his signature. But Howe resisted the move once more, much to the jubilation of Bournemouth fans. However, football can change very quickly, and now Howe looks set to finally depart Dean Court.

Tonight’s game against Colchester will be his 100th and quite possibly last game in charge of AFC Bournemouth. In that time he has transformed the Dorset side from a club looking certain to fall out of the Football League, to one on the brink of promotion to the second tier for only the second time in their history, the first being a three-year spell in the late 1980s under Harry Redknapp.

If you were to cut him in half, Eddie Howe would have AFC Bournemouth written through him like a piece of Boscombe rock. He will always be ‘Our Eddie’ to the majority of Cherries’ fans and there is no doubt he will leave Dean Court with a heavy heart.

But leave he must – for his own benefit – and if he can combine the passion, spirit and desire he instilled at Bournemouth with the playing budget of a top Championship side success at Burnley is all but inevitable, just like his rise to the top.

Kleenex at the ready as MacAnthony and Ferguson end 'trial separation'

2011-01-12T15:57:00Z

They say you should never go back in football. But Darren Ferguson certainly doesn’t agree. In a bizarre turn of events, Fergie Jr. has returned to London Road just 14 months after leaving by mutual consent.

Life’s rarely dull at Peterborough. Just two seasons ago, successive promotions under Ferguson from League Two to the Championship looked to have set up the fairytale story Peterborough fans had dreamed of, but a sour ending brought the club crashing back to reality.

Posh finished bottom of the Championship after a woeful season which included just eight league victories and a mammoth 80 goals shipped along the way. Ferguson departed after just two months of the campaign.

Life was no better without him at London Road it appeared, as Mark Cooper, Jim Gannon and Gary Johnson all arrived at the helm in attempts to stop the rot. They couldn’t. The latter eventually stayed with the club until his departure on Monday after ‘not seeing eye-to-eye’ with chairman Darragh MacAnthony.

Ferguson himself took charge of Preston North End in January last year, guiding the Lilywhites to 17th in his first season and subsequently being handed the summer to work on the squad. But life on the pitch proved dismal for the Lancashire outfit, who sacked the Scot in December. For the second time in just over a year, Ferguson departed a club sitting rock bottom of the Championship.

But Posh chairman MacAnthony has not been put off by another second tier horror show.

"It was actually great meeting each other again, when he came to the house and he walked in the door we had a bit of a hug,” he said, presumably to the accompaniment of a Kleenex or two. “It was a tender moment, a bit of a tear jerker.

"We had a real warts and all meeting, talking about everything about each other that maybe irritated each other at one stage, any problems we may have had and they were never massive problems."

But have the pair learned from their mistakes? Both have admitted there had been an air of naivety during the ill-fated Championship campaign, and concede that several errors were made along the way.

And what better way to say ‘welcome back!’ with a brand-spanking four-and-a-half year contract? It’s a gamble MacAnthony appears more than happy to make.

BFFs MacAnthony and Ferguson share a tender moment...

On the surface it seems a start on the road to stability, but quite whether it is enough for Peterborough supporters is another thing. Ferguson’s return signals the club’s fourth 'permanent' managerial appointment in just 14 months, and has been met with a mixed reception from the Posh faithful.

Naturally there is always a reserved atmosphere of caution when any manager returns for a second spell in charge, not least when the first ended in disaster. MacAnthony himself cited the distractions of interest from other Championship clubs which stretched his relationship with Ferguson, but is adamant the two have patched up any differences to take Peterborough forward.

But wherever Peterborough fans stand on the matter, few can argue that Ferguson oversaw some of the best football witnessed at London Road during their successful League One promotion season.

A different manager may arrive asking for reserved judgement until he brings in his own players, but Ferguson cannot fall back on this. Of course the managers that preceded him drafted in faces of their own, but essentially, this is still Ferguson’s squad. Players such as Craig Mackail-Smith, George Boyd and Gabriel Zakuani were all previously key players under Ferguson, and all still important first team fixtures.

But one player Ferguson may have to persuade to remain at London Road is goalkeeper Joe Lewis, who yesterday handed in a transfer request. Posh have already lost Aaron MacLean to Hull City this month, and Ferguson will be determined to keep hold of the young stopper, who has been in useful form between the sticks this campaign. But with a Premier League bid having already been rejected, Peterborough have a struggle on their hands.

Posh already have major issues at the back. The 43 goals conceded already this campaign is surpassed only by relegation-threatened Walsall, and Ferguson’s first job must surely be shoring up a backline with shows no signs of easing their generosity.

Supporters of the club know Ferguson has work to do; not only with the team, but with them. Bridges were burned, trust was tested and ultimately, results turned sour towards the end of his tenure. But nevertheless, Ferguson played a huge part in making his previous spell one of the most exciting since the flourishing Chris Turner era in the early 90s.

Ferguson’s relationship with MacAnthony is not like most other manager-chairman connections. The pair joked at their press conference about their ‘trial-separation’ and insisted they were back on-track together.

Peterborough supporters will certainly hope so – after all, there is a promotion bid to be continued. Sitting fifth in the League One table just past the halfway stage puts Posh in a handy position for another shot of the Championship, and Ferguson will be determined to show he is the man to do it.

Quite whether mistakes will be rectified this time around remains the biggest question for Peterborough fans, but there is no doubt that a renewed sense of optimism has swamped London Road for the return of their former hero.

Grayson continues to act as catalyst to Leeds United's revival

2011-01-06T15:59:00Z

December 21st 2008 – the once great Leeds United were marooned in mid-table in League One, the third tier of English football. They had lost five games on the spin, including an infamous defeat to non-league side Histon in the FA Cup second round, a run that saw manager and former club captain Gary McAllister fired.

Fast forward just over two years. McAllister’s replacement, Simon Grayson, has recently celebrated his second anniversary in charge at Elland Road. Leeds now proudly sit in the Championship play-off places, just two points off second spot and a long-awaited return to the Premier League, and head to The Emirates Stadium on Saturday to face Arsenal in the FA Cup.

Grayson, or Larry as he’s fondly known, is also a former Leeds player and started his career at Elland Road. He only made two appearances for his boyhood team before embarking on a successful career at Leicester and Aston Villa, among others, but his passion for the club never diminished.

Upon his return to the club, the Whites were enduring quite possibly the darkest chapter of their illustrious history. The club’s glory years of the late sixties and early seventies, when Don Revie led the side to two league titles, two domestic cups and two Fairs Cups as well as the final of the European Cup, were becoming increasingly irrelevant, while their success in the modern era, culminating in David O’Leary’s expensively assembled side reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2001, looked destined to never be repeated.

Under O’Leary and then-chairman Peter Ridsdale, the future of the club was placed in jeopardy by massive over-spending as the Yorkshire club chased the dream of domestic and European success. What followed was the well-documented financial implosion, the fire-sale of the club’s young stars such as Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Smith and James Milner and, just three years after their epic semi-final against Valencia, relegation back to the second tier.

The slide didn’t stop there, of course. After briefly flirting with a return to the Premier League, the financial implications of living the dream under Ridsdale and O’Leary continued to put the club’s fortunes on the pitch and their very existence off it under threat. Three years after the low of relegation from the top division came an all-new low as United fell into the third tier of English football for the first time.

Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet, and then McAllister, overcame a 15-point deduction to reach the League One play-off final but Doncaster denied them an instant return to the Championship, and the following season saw Leeds heading for their lowest ever Football League finish.

And then came Grayson. With the club sitting well outside the top six, 'Larry' left Blackpool for Elland Road and his arrival oversaw a dramatic change in fortunes. His new side went on to finish fourth, but missed out on a second successive play-off final after a two-legged semi-final defeat to Millwall.

The form that had seen United surge into the play-off picture the year before continued into last season. Grayson’s side won the first eight games of the season, a club record start to a campaign, and their impressive form continued, leaving them top of the pile at the halfway point. Grayson then celebrated a year in charge by leading his side to a famous 1-0 win away to bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup before eventually losing to Tottenham in a replay in the following round and, despite a subsequent drop in form, they went on to secure an automatic promotion spot, finally ending their three-year stay in League One.

Leeds United is a massive club. They continued to attract fantastic support throughout their spell in the third tier and can boast of one of the biggest average gates outside the top flight, but with a huge fan-base comes huge expectation as they battle to be back where they supposedly belong.

No club has a right to play at any level, despite the opinions voiced by fans of a number of ‘sleeping giants’. However, not even the most optimistic, nostalgic or demanding Leeds fan was expecting a real promotion push in their first season back in the Championship.

But Grayson added sensibly in the summer, blending Championship experience with promising home-grown players such as Bradley Johnson and Jonny Howson to create a balanced and exciting side. Argentinian striker Luciano Becchio has more than filled the void left by Jermaine Beckford and if Grayson can keep hold of his players, like Becchio and young winger Max Gradel , while continuing to add sensibly during the transfer window, there is now reason why he can’t lead them to successive promotions.

Simon Grayson is a proud Yorkshireman and the Whites have a place in his heart, two attributes that were always going to endear him to the hordes of expectant United fans.

And having now overseen the first stages of the awakening of the most mighty or all the sleeping giant, his reputation among Leeds fans and the wider footballing community is only going to grow in line with the recovery of Leeds United.

Parky out in the cold as Charlton linked with Wise move

2011-01-05T17:27:00Z

And so Phil Parkinson becomes the latest casualty of the hotly contested Football League sack race. Despite guiding the Addicks to a play-off spot in League One at the halfway stage of the campaign, Parkinson was given his marching orders by Charlton chairman Michael Slater in the aftermath of the team’s dismal 4-2 home defeat to Swindon on Monday, the culmination of a dreary run of five without a win in the league.

"Clearly improvement is needed on the field", Slater wailed. "Recent performances have simply not been good enough.

"Last night's defeat convinced us as a board that change is required now we are still in the hunt for promotion, and that we must appoint a new manager to give us every chance of going up."

The same Slater, who upon taking over Charlton last month said: "What we won't do is create unrealistic pie in the sky expectations." Going well so far then, Michael.

Charlton have not won in the league since victory against lowly Yeovil on November 20, but despite this slump remain just three points off the automatic promotion spots. Granted, football is a results business, but Parkinson’s premature exit from the Valley appears a tad harsh on the surface to say the least.

To suggest Parkinson has enjoyed overwhelming support from those in control of the club coffers would be wide of the mark. In fact, it’s with any wonder that the Addicks have managed to remain so competitive in League One this season given the activity around the exit door over the summer.

The play-offs proved the stumbling block for Parkinson and his side last season as they crashed out on penalties to those pesky Swindon boys in the semi-finals, and expectations of another stab at promotion this campaign were dealt several blows in the months which followed after an exodus of stars from the Valley.

Top goal-scorer Deon Burton picked up his bags and left on a free transfer for the glamour of Azerbaijani side Gabala, while tricky winger Lloyd Sam left for nothing to Championship Leeds. Influential midfielder and captain Nicky Bailey joined ambitious Middlesbrough, while team of the year right-back Frazer Richardson rocked up at Southampton. Add to this the departure of starlet Jonjo Shelvey to Liverpool in May and it’s easy to understand why some believe Parkinson got a bum-deal this season.

It didn’t get too much better. Their replacements were otherwise uninspiring on Parkinson’s shoestring budget, with only Johnnie Jackson from Notts County and Sheffield United's Kyel Reid raising a few hopeful eyebrows in SE7.

Which is why, given pre-season’s understandably modest expectations, many fans have found Parkinson’s departure somewhat baffling given the Addicks’ lofty position in the League One table.

That said, it would not be unfair to suggest that sections of the Charlton support have been calling for his head for quite some time. Home performances have dropped to dissatisfying levels for some, perhaps unsurprising having won less than half of their matches at the Valley this campaign.

Dropping points against sides with ten men hasn’t helped in recent times either. Both Colchester and Brighton have claimed a point against the Addicks in the last week having had a man dismissed, the latter still managing a share of the spoils despite playing 83 minutes with ten men and already being a goal down.

Is it tactics? Is it lack of motivation? Both have been bandied about at will to scythe down their team, but Charlton supporters have had their patience levels tested once again. But they’ve had worse - it’s been a long way down from 7th in the Premier League.

Of course, Charlton are not alone in League One when it comes to the so-called ‘fallen giants’. Both Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday occupy spots either side of the Addicks, with just four points currently separating all three sides. Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Leeds and Norwich have all risen from the third tier in better shape than they entered it in recent years, and all three will have undoubtedly taken great heart from these cases.

Only time will tell if showing Parkinson his marching orders is the right thing to do to help Charlton battle their way back to the Championship. Football, is apparently, more than just a results business. The board of directors will be keen to find a successor in good time given the opening of the January transfer window, and the new man will have to settle quickly if he is to overturn Charlton’s disappointing run of form.

Regardless, Parkinson leaves Charlton in a helpful position going into the second half of the campaign. Performances may not have been opening eyes, but with limited resources, most Addicks supporters recognise that he did a reasonable job with the resources at his disposal.

Speculation is already rife regarding news of a successor, with everybody’s favourite character Dennis Wise currently leading the way with the bookmakers to take the reins at the Valley. It won’t be dull. It is never dull when Wise is around.

The future's bright for Watford's Golden Boys

2010-12-21T12:00:00Z

Last season was a somewhat testing time for Watford fans. Memories of their brief stint in the Premier League in 2006-07 were fading, Brendan Rogers had left the club for Reading and the club's financial health was deteriorating rapidly.

The multi-million pound sale of top players Tamas Priskin, Mike Williamson, Tommy Smith and Jobi McAnuff, coupled with a last-minute intervention from majority shareholder Lord Ashcroft, was just about enough to stave off administration last December, and young boss Malky Mackay superbly battled through the drama to guide the Hornets to mid-table obscurity.

But with Mackay’s budget and squad shrinking again in the summer, the Golden Boys featured in most expert predictions as relegation candidates, and the mood among the club’s fans was far from optimistic.

Fast forward to a cold Friday night in December. A Danny Graham brace, one either side of Jordan Mutch’s cross-shot, hands Mackay’s side an extraordinary 3-1 win at QPR, in the process inflicting the league leaders’ first defeat of the season. Watford's fifth away win left them just three points off the play-offs.

A quick browse of the squad from that televised win explains exactly why things are very much on the up at Vicarage Road – and it's nothing to do with injections of cash.

Seven of that 18-man matchday squad had progressed through the ranks at the club, ranging from fans’ favourite Lloyd Doyley, who has made over 280 appearances for the side and is approaching his testimonial season, to new kid on the block Gavin Massey, a striker who has just turned 18.

Massey made his debut for the first team on the final day of last season, and the occasion marked a significant moment for the club and its revolutionary youth academy as he was the first graduate from Watford’s Harefield Academy to go on and play for the first team.

Is seven-goal Marvin Sordell (centre) destined for the top?

Watford have previous when it comes to developing top young players. During their remarkable rise between 1977 and 1984 from a run-of-the-mill Fourth Division outfit to League and FA Cup runners-up, manager Graham Taylor nurtured some of the best players of the time, including Luther Blissett and John Barnes.

More recently, their last spell in the top flight was punctuated by the record sale of future England winger Ashley Young to Aston Villa for just shy of £10 million.

The current side is littered with promising young players too. Goalkeeper Scott Loach moved to the club at 18 and is now reportedly being chased by a whole host of Premier League sides following a call-up to Fabio Capello’s England squad, while striker Marvin Sordell bagged five goals in the first eight games of the current campaign.

But it is the next clutch of youngsters that Hornets’ fans should really be looking forward to, thanks to the Harefield Academy. The centre has become the envy of clubs across England and Europe, with even the masters of youth development, Dutch side Ajax, paying an inquisitive visit to Hertfordshire.

Watford now boast that their young players receive up to three times the amount of contact time that they would at some of the country’s more illustrious academies. Maximising the amount of time players between the ages of 11 and 16 spend with their coaches is the one major hurdle every academy must find a way of overcoming. The recognised target is a rather ambitious 20 hours a week but, even after striking deals with schools, most Premier League sides struggle to get anywhere near that.

But Watford’s revolutionary approach is hitting the spot. By enrolling the young players at the Harefield Academy, a local secondary school that is fully focused on excellence in sport, the club has managed to combine first-rate education with maximum contact time, while ensuring the young boys’ lives are as normal as possible, avoiding any residential programmes or hectic schedules.

And the approach is already paying off. For the past two season the junior Hornets have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup, the national competition for Under-18s. Last term they beat Liverpool at Anfield before losing to a multi-national Chelsea side – a considerable achievement when one considers that at under-18 level most top Premier League sides boast players from across Europe, while Watford’s players grew up on average 12 miles away from the club’s home.

A couple of years ago the future seemed rather dim at Vicarage Road, with the club struggling massively at the bank and therefore on the pitch.

But their prolific production and development of top young players, alongside a promising young manager, looks to have solved the problem on the pitch, and will also financially secure the club going forward.

And now the Hornets' future looks Golden.

Eriksson looking to land final blow on hapless Keane

2010-12-17T16:05:00Z

Two of the biggest names in the Championship square up to each other this weekend – and it's the tough guy who's on the ropes, says Joe Brewin...

You'd find it difficult to picture Sven-Goran Eriksson leaping out of his chair in delight when he got the call from Leicester inviting him to be their new manager. In truth, you'd be hard pushed to think of any scenario where that might happen.

But sure enough Eriksson rocked up at the Walkers in October after Paulo Sousa's dismal reign in the East Midlands was ended prematurely, the Swede taking a leap into the glamorous world of the Championship.

Eleven matches later, with just three defeats, the Foxes have hauled themselves off the bottom of the table into the joyous position of mid-table obscurity. But of course in the Championship, mid-table obscurity means a viable crack at the play-offs.

On Saturday evening Eriksson's side travel to Ipswich for a match which ultimately could see the final nail hammered into the coffin of Town manager Roy Keane. Naturally, Eriksson will be all too happy to help complete the task.

Ipswich's drastic slide down the table has been cause by a horrifying six defeats on the spin, a run of form which has seen the Suffolk outfit drop from promotion hope to lower-table discomfort. Keane acknowledges he is walking a narrow tightrope at Portman Road, but just how long will ambitious owner Marcus Evans hold on for success? The feared vote of confidence has been and gone, with Ipswich still floundering in search of their elusive victory.

The Irishman has this week admitted he has been far too lenient on some of his squad members this year, a surprising confession given the well-documented tenacity of his successful playing days. "I need to be a bit more ruthless. I think I've been too good to a lot of players," he said, presumably to a nervous shuffling of boots behind him. "We've got to hang in there until January, try and stop this run, move one or two in, move one or two out."

"Yes, you. I'm talking about you."

A new striker appears top priority when January arrives after just three goals in their last six Championship fixtures, but quite whether it is Keane who is allowed to spend the club's money remains the burning question. Defeat on Saturday seems unthinkable if his bid to restore Portman Road to glory is to be achieved.

For visitors Leicester, the clash is a valuable opportunity not only to push closer to the coveted play-off places, but to improve the gloomy away form which has so far threatened to derail any kind of promotion bid. Eriksson has overseen both of the team's away victories during his turnaround at the Walkers, but successive defeats at Bristol City and Watford have undone promising work at home in recent times.

The club's Thai owners have already asserted their ambitions for the season ahead, with promotion, in their own words, imperative. Aspirations of a Premier League place next season are still a distant pipe dream, but the backing given to Eriksson thus far has given Foxes fans more than enough hope for a competitive campaign.

The loan market has certainly proved kind to Leicester, with no fewer than five Premier League players arriving on short-term deals with points to prove since the Swede's arrival. Curtis Davies from Aston Villa is perhaps the pick of the bunch, but the vital contributions of young Tottenham and Manchester City full-backs Kyle Naughton and Greg Cunningham have helped shore up a defence embarrassingly generous under Sousa. With Wigan's Chris Kirkland also joining the party this week, Eriksson's first-choice backline could potentially compromise entirely of loanees on Saturday. But that's another issue for another day.

"Hi Sam, can I borrow a player? Sam? Sam?"

Unsurprisingly Eriksson has attempted to lure bigger fish to the Walkers than those already caught in the net. Roque Santa Cruz, Robbie Keane and, naturally, David Beckham have all politely declined loan moves to join the play-off push. One can only imagine how short the latter phone conversation was.

Pundits have touted the Foxes as serious promotion contenders despite a woeful opening to the season, with ammunition to back these claims easy to find. Talk of 'going for it in January' when the window re-opens has been commonplace, but rest assured, they already are.

If history is anything to go by, however, Leicester may not be laughing all the way back to the East Midlands after Saturday's trip to Portman Road. The Foxes have won one only one of their last 14 league visits to Suffolk, losing nine of them. Daunting?

Eriksson's side were relentless in their second-half showing against Doncaster last weekend (in a crushing 5-1 victory), and against an Ipswich side in such poor form the Foxes will be looking to condemn Keane to his seventh defeat on the bounce.

There isn't much room for many more questions at Portman Road, and another loss this weekend may just see some of them answered with the harsh sound of the exit door.

Is FIFA’s monetary decision the final nail in a venerable English football club’s coffin?

2010-12-09T17:20:00Z

The widespread angst caused by FIFA overlooking England's World Cup bid was felt most keenly in a distant corner of the countrym, says Terry Pierce...

Wednesday saw a repeat of an all-too-frequent occurrence as another Football League club had a date with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the High Court. Plymouth Argyle, like Sheffield Wednesday not long before them, were facing a winding-up petition over a tax debt. Argyle owe HMRC £760,000 and have been given 63 days to come up with the cash.

The club were initially presented with the petition on October 23, after which their bank accounts were frozen, resulting in the non-payment of wages to players and all other staff. The Devon side’s directors are fully confident that a combination of new investment and the sale of their top players in January will enable them to raise the funds and survive the latest scrape, while they are also seeking a validation order to un-freeze the club accounts, enabling the payment of wages to resume.

But the future of the League One side still looks bleak, especially when compared to the excitement and hope the club were enjoying as part of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Plymouth was one of 12 cities bidding for the right to be a host city had England’s bid been successful. Home Park, Argyle’s home since 1901, would have been in line for major redevelopment and the club and city would only have benefitted had FIFA’s Executive Committee members awarded the World Cup to England.

"It doesn't look like anyone's coming...."

The main focus of Plymouth’s bid centred on the fantastic effect the World Cup would have on the city, South Devon, Cornwall and the South-West region as a whole. The potential of the club and the region is often spoke about with great positivity. There are only a handful of professional sides in Devon while Cornwall has never had a club in the Football League, and a successful World Cup bid would have aided Argyle in attracting a larger section of the regional community.

It was hoped that the bid would bring huge financial and cultural benefits to the region, and that the club would be able to improve its fanbase by attracting new fans from the substantial catchment area it lies within. Home Park would also have been completely redeveloped, with the new stadium having a capacity twice that of the current ground, giving the club, city and region a world-class facility.

Traditionally yo-yoing between the second and third tiers of the Football League, the Pilgrims have reached both the League Cup and FA Cup semi-finals but enjoyed arguably their greatest recent period at the beginning of the last decade. Under the guidance of former Scotland international Paul Sturrock and then fellow Scot Bobby Williamson, they celebrated two promotions in three years, taking them from the bottom division to the Championship.

Happier times for the Pilgrims

A combination of a redeveloped Home Park and success on the pitch saw crowds rise sharply, and it looked only a matter of time before top-flight football visited Devon for the first time. The club went on to flirt with the Championship play-offs under Ian Holloway before Sturrock returned and, in 2008, took them to tenth in the second tier, the club’s best league finish for over 20 years.

With the side doing so well on the pitch and crowds soaring, the future looked bright for the Pilgrims and got so much brighter when they became a bidding city for the World Cup bid. But unfortunately on-field success came at a cost as the financial difficulties began to mount. Many of Argyle’s better players moved on and last year the club returned to League One. Crowds are plummeting, with fewer than 5,000 attending the recent home fixture with Dagenham and Redbridge. Under new manager Peter Reid, the few who are still in attendance seem to have another relegation battle to endure.

And now the one great hope, the silver lining among the rapidly darkening grey clouds, has been extinguished by FIFA.

The World Cup coming to the South-West would have been a huge boost for the region, and the legacy of investment in local business and sport would have improved the sporting landscape of Devon. And it would have secured the future of Plymouth Argyle, a proud club with fiercely loyal fans who deserve the hope hosting the World Cup would have given them.

However, the decision of Sepp Blatter & Co, in their infinite wisdom, to ignore the technical reports and pitches and award the right to host the 2018 World Cup to Russia has not only dashed the excitement of English football fans across the country, but even called into doubt the very existence of Plymouth Argyle, a club rich in tradition and history.

Could FIFA kill Plymouth? Discuss it in the FourFourTwo forum

Could Southgate be the man for Saints?

2010-09-08T10:47:00Z

FFT.com contributor Carl Burkitt thinks the former Boro boss could be just the man for Southampton...

A 4-0 victory away at, the currently inconsistent but always difficult, Bristol Rovers is never a just cause to get the sack.

According to rumours circling St Mary’s, that’s not the sole reason Alan Pardew lost his job, but on the surface, it looks like a terrible decision, and one many Saints fans aren’t too happy with.

On the back of a 3-0 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Swindon Town and a 2-0 home defeat to Rochdale, Chairman Nicola Cortese will be finally appointing the new boss this week. And although people with louder voices than me have expressed strong opinions about who should get it, it’s still worth running through some of the contenders.

Names such as Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier, Martin O’Neill and Father Christmas have been chucked around as possible replacements. But these are unrealistic for countless reasons.

Two are currently understood to be happy with media roles, two won’t be keen on taking a job with an interfering chairman any time soon, and one - despite wearing the club colours – has absolutely no managerial experience.

Phil Brown and Gary Megson have both recently declared they want to get back in to management, but they’d probably jump at any job, and Southampton don’t need or deserve somebody desperate right now. Alan Curbishley’s name arises whenever a job comes available, and once the Aston Villa vacancy finally gets filled, I’m sure he’ll be back in line for the Saints job.

Reports and bookies are suggesting Cortese is thought to favour a young English manager, with the likes Exeter’s Paul Tisdale - who has recently pulled himself out of the running - Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe and Scunthorpe’s Nigel Adkins leading the pack.

But for me, he is overlooking a young English manager deserving of a(nother) chance. A young English manager who may be worth a punt. A young English manager who I feel has learnt from his mistakes. Gareth Southgate.

Now, before Saints fans log off and call me all the names under the sun, hear me out.

The man got a lot of flack, but I believe unjustly.

He took over after a great season that saw Middlesbrough reach the UEFA Cup final and he replaced a man who was (at the time) held in high regard – so much so that he was named England manager.

Expectations were certainly high and his case wasn’t helped by the loss of big names such as big Mark Viduka, Yakubu and Jonathan Woodgate.

However rather than mope, he used the opportunity to nurture young English talent, such as Lee Cattermole, Adam Johnson and David Wheater, relying on their youth and eagerness as they played a predominate role in his attacking, youthful philosophy.

And it was this philosophy that won him several admirers. He took Boro to 12th in his first season, spanking Man City 8-1 in the process, prompting Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to tip him to be a future England manager.

But despite playing attractive football, the thing that let Middlesbrough down was the lack of fight. For a team from the cold depths of the north, they were a side that appeared afraid to put a foot in.

If they went 1-0 down, it was basically game over. Their failure to mix fluency with fight in Southgate‘s second season in charge, resulted in the last thing a player and manager wants on their CV, relegation from the Premiership

Like all good managers, Southgate was aware of their frailties and aimed to address them. Speaking in an interview at the start of the 2009/2010 season he said: "When I took over I wanted to bring a certain style, a certain ethos, to the club. But ultimately you have to win matches.

"I'm responsible for the performance of the team. In my first two years I did pretty well, but not so well last year. We didn't have experienced players, the [Mark] Vidukas and [Jonathan] Woodgates, in the team any more, and the players needed managing differently. I didn't get that right."

And after a stuttering start, he got them to winning ways and things looked more positive, albeit a slow progression. However, in October 2009, Southgate was sacked merely hours after beating Derby County 2-0, with Boro sat in fourth place, one point off top of the table.

It must be said he also made a few dodgy signings, such as Alfonso Alves for £12.7 million and the portly Mido for £6 million. But in his defence, they both boasted a CV dripping with goals, they just didn’t leave continue in that vein at Boro. And in any case, name a top European manager who hasn’t made one, two or three poor signings.

Southgate generally comes across as intelligent, carries himself well and is one of the few pundits I find myself nodding along to.

No matter how much I plead his case though, it looks more and more like a lower league manager will take the job. Which is great, of course. It’s nice to see young English talent get the nod for a change.

I just feel Southampton have a great club with passionate fans, and English talent suited to attacking football. Perfect for Gareth Southgate to get his teeth stuck in to and kick-start the successful career he is destined to have.

Otherwise, I fear, his talents may just go wasted sat next to Andy Townsend.

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Yorkshire looks to rise again

2010-08-13T13:17:00Z

FFT.com contributor Toby Higgins thinks it could be a lovely spring in the White Rose garden...

The year is 1485. Henry VII is crowned King, England are booed off after another disappointing result, and the War of the Roses ends with a famous Lancashire victory.

Shoot forward some 525 years. David Cameron leads Parliament, England are booed off after another disappointing result, and Lancashire are still thrashing Yorkshire, but rather than the killing field, this time it’s the football pitch.

By the old county boundaries, Lancashire has eight teams in this season's top flight, while its next-door neighbour Yorkshire has none. The league table tells two stories: one of a county blinded by its own moderate success, and another which managed its money effectively.

In 1999-2000, the balance of power was very different. The counties had three teams each in the Premier League – Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday on one side of the Pennines, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton on the other. And you'll note that all those Red Rose sides played in cities which haven't always regarded themselves as particularly Lancastrian.

O'ervaulting ambition: Bradford sign Collymore

Fast-forward a decade and things looked very different. Lancashire seems a permanent top-flight fixture – Bolton and Blackburn are about to start their 10th successive Premier League campaign, Wigan joined not long after, and for every relegated Burnley there's a promoted Blackpool.

By contrast, 2009-2010 was surely one of the worst for Yorkshire football. Besides East Riding outpost Hull ingloriously ending a two-year top flight stay, the combined counties' highest finisher, Sheffield United, came 28th out of the 92 in the top four divisions, with Doncaster finishing 12th in the Championship. (Donny finished 12th in ‘99-00 too – but that was in the Conference.)

The way Yorkshire clubs have cascaded down the leagues is largely down to financial mismanagement, showcased by Leeds United. Their plight has proved to be a godsend to chairmen up and down the league, who found wanting to "avoid another Leeds" an acceptable explanation for anything that fans complained about.

Meanwhile the smaller top flight clubs in Lancashire, like Bolton and Wigan, have had careful investment and wise managerial choices.

But Bradford got it wrong too - having been caught out spending big at a time when the market was particularly crazy (see Leeds' £7m signing of Seth Johnson). And Huddersfield, who according to their fans had the "best team for 30 years" in 2000, suffered through overambitious spending.

"Here Seth, let me give you my pen"

Barnsley and Doncaster have found a level which fairly reflects two sides who are probably at full potential, but the giddy days of the Premier League are becoming a distant memory for the Sheffield teams – particularly cash-strapped Wednesday, who now reside two divisions away from the elite. And poor old Halifax, who 10 years ago faced Blackpool as equals, will start the season in the seventh-tier Evo-stik Premier Division.

Change, though, is in the air. Leeds' promotion back to the Championship has renewed hope of another shot at the big time, as did Huddersfield's emphatic 3-0 opening-day win at Notts County. Former England manager (well, sort of) Peter Taylor is the man asked to lift Bradford from the depths – which they will achieve if they play as well as they did in knocking Nottingham Forest out of the Carling Cup. In South Yorkshire, Rotherham and both Sheffields will expect to top their respective trees too.

It's not inconceivable that a Yorkshire side could be promoted from every division this season, and better still for the region, that no Yorkshire teams will be relegated.

A glance across at Lancashire, though, and there are one or two worried faces. Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton and Blackpool will all be unsurprised to finish in the bottom half, while the Merseyside clubs both finished down on the previous season in seventh and eighth. Even the imperious Manchester United, who failed to finish top for the first time in four seasons, could slip out of the top two this time around.

Lancashire may have won the War of the Roses, but on the pitch, Yorkshire are finally starting to fight back.

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Early Coppell departure no surprise

2010-08-13T09:30:00Z

FourFourTwo.com writer and Bristol City fan James Martini reflects on an unexpected early twist in the Ashton Gate club's season

Fans of Manchester City and Bristol City no longer have just the burden of expectation in common, they now also share a disliking for the 'bottling' antics of Steve Coppell, after the scouser's resignation from his Ashton Gate post this week.

As the shock of his retirement from football begins to dawn on Robins fans - only two games into a one-year contract - obvious comparisons are being drawn with Coppell's 33-day stint in charge at Maine Road back in 1996.

Put under the microscope, the similarities between the two clubs are uncanny. At the time Manchester City were under Coppell's guidance, they were deemed a sleeping giant, underachieving in the second tier of English football, just as Bristol City are today. Both teams harboured ambitions of Coppell being the man to restore them to their former glories, and both teams suffered as the former Manchester United winger ran away from his commitments.

Man City are probably over Coppell's departure by now...

Less than six months ago, Coppell was sat in the Sky Sports studios telling viewers of his desire to wait for the 'right job to come along' and 'a new challenge that excites' him, but something never sat quite right with the Liverpudlian's appointment at from the off.

First there was the one-year contract that he signed which, on the face of it, appeared to show a lack of commitment from the start. Then came comments that this pre-season was the toughest of his career, having been denied of eight first-team regulars throughout his preparations. Shortly after came Coppell's surprise at the singing of England keeper David James. He almost insinuated that the signing was perpetuated by City chairman Steve Lansdown without his say so.

Most bizarrely of all was Coppell's absence at the annual photocall last Tuesday. You know, the time when all the new, exciting players your club signed over the summer get together for the squad photo? Not at Ashton Gate this year anyway.

Usually the City manager, whoever he may be, takes the time out to talk to the local press in a smarm offensive ahead of the new season. But this time there was an uncomfortable atmosphere in the ground as Coppell, who had just grinned for the squad picture, left the assembled ranks of the press waiting for the best part of an hour before sending his assistant Keith Millen out to face the press instead.

NEWS: Coppell quits Bristol City

The reason given for Coppell's absence was that he had sped off early for a scouting mission. Speaking to some of the local press that day, it was the first time that any of them had been left high and dry by any City manager. No soundbite. No interview. Nothing.

It had become clear that Coppell was frustrated at the lack of signings and he hinted as much in the few interviews he did give, suggesting that City's tight wage budget was hindering his progress in the transfer market. He saw moves for Jon Stead and Ibrahima Sonko collapse in the same way as his negotiations for Stoke's ginger-haired striker Dave Kitson, who Coppell managed to great success at Reading.

All in all, Coppell only managed to land seven of 21 targets he had been either close to signing or had made a bid for.

City chairman Steve Lansdown has a role in all of this too. Some accuse the financial services magnate of taking his eye off the ball as he pushes for a new 32,000 all-seater stadium at nearby Ashton Vale. While other believe he should have been investing his money in a squad that has been left ridiculously unbalanced and lacking any sort of strength in depth following Gary Johnson's tenure.

"Errrrm, I think I left something in my car..."

Instead, Lansdown, who became a tax exile by fleeing to Guernsey earlier this year, has been focusing his attentions on battling the local council to get planning for a Sainsbury's supermarket on the current Ashton Gate site, whilst the squad gets weaker and weaker. The Bristol City Council voted against it, stopping an estimated £20 million worth of essential funding towards the new stadium, throwing another spanner into the works.

All this of course, leads us to presume that the chairman and Coppell had a relationship lacking any sort of personal touch. In the past, Lansdown and Johnson were as thick as thieves but the chairman's move to Guernsey prevented a similar relationship developing with Coppell. It became apparent the chairman was refusing to sanction the expensive flops he afforded Johnson last season and that Coppell was banging his head up against a brick wall when it came to competing with other clubs in the transfer market.

The truth is, we just don't know what went on in Coppell's head - even his biographer deems him an enigma, having being left in shock at this decision to walk out on Reading two years ago. But after lightening struck twice with us and our Manchester counterparts, I find it hard to believe he can claim to still feel he has 'a contribution to make to the game sometime in the future'.

Surely twice walking out on his employers in such a fashion makes him 'damaged goods'?

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Remembering Adam Stansfield

2010-08-11T10:21:00Z

Fans of Yeovil, Hereford and Exeter all trudged home on Tuesday night having seen their sides fall at the first hurdle in the Carling Cup. Yeovil suffered stoppage-time heartache against Crystal Palace, Hereford were comfortably dealt with by Colchester and Exeter fell after extra time to Roy Keane’s Ipswich.

However, sour grapes were to quickly turn to shock and sadness as news came through that a favourite son of all three clubs had cruelly passed away at the tragically young age of 31.

Exeter City striker Adam Stansfield was diagnosed with bowel cancer in April after being admitted to hospital with an abdominal complaint.

But the forward was thought to be on the road to recovery just last month, as he put back the start of his six-month chemotherapy treatment so he could join his team-mates on the first day of pre-season training with the Grecians. News of his sudden and tragic demise has hit fans and friends not privy to his recent condition for six.

A model professional and gentleman both on and off the pitch, Stansfield was not only a technically gifted goal-getter and clinical finisher, but a tireless worker that never gave up a lost cause.

It’s these traits that enabled him to become one of the most consistently successful players over the past decade: he is still, and is likely to remain, the only ever player to appear in three successive Conference Play-Off Finals.

Having joined Yeovil in 2001, Stansfield top-scored for the Glovers in his first season at Huish Park, netting three times in the club’s winning FA Trophy run, including one in the final at Villa Park.

Cruelly, he broke his leg on the opening day of the following campaign, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as Gary Johnson’s free-flowing side cruised to the Conference title before struggling to regain his place as Yeovil made their Football League bow.

In need of a fresh start, Stansfield joined the Glovers’ rivals Hereford in 2004, scoring 20 times as the Bulls reached the Conference Play-Off semi-finals. The following season, after sustaining a fractured cheekbone in a horrid aerial clash at Canvey Island in February, Adam recovered in time for another play-off tilt in May, sending over the most sublime of crosses for strike partner Andy Williams to equalise in the promotion showdown with Halifax Town at the Walkers Stadium (below).

With the Bulls back in the Football League, Tiverton-born Stansfield headed home to Exeter, where he would enjoy similar levels of success. And his two goals on the final day of the season paved Exeter’s path to the Conference Play-Offs, with Stansfield appearing as a substitute at Wembley as Paul Tisdale’s team endured misery against Morecambe.

Twelve months later, Exeter – and Stansfield – were back at Wembley against Cambridge. This time, Stansfield started, and this time, the Grecians won to end their exile from the Football League.

Not content with two promotions in three seasons, Stansfield made it three in four as City made light work of League Two in 2008/09 – the Grecians clinching the second automatic promotion spot, thanks in part to his 10 goals.

And he played no small part in helping the club retain their third-tier status last term, scoring seven league goals before his season was curtailed at the end of March with a mystery stomach illness that tests would reveal to be cancer.

Gone, but never to be forgotten, Stansfield will be remembered fondly for his part in one of the most bizarre goals in football history – for Exeter against Halifax in 2006 (below).

Team-mate Jamie Mackie burst through and calmly slotted the ball into the far corner, only for it to squirt out through a hole in the net.

As confusion reigned, Stansfield stepped in to ensure the goal stood by latching on to the loose ball and smashing it home. The goal was eventually awarded to Mackie, despite Stansfield’s best efforts to claim it.

Rest in peace, Adam.

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McBoro is a major risk for Strachan

2010-07-23T06:55:00Z

Boro fan Toby Higgins reflects on Gordon Strachan's Glasgowcentric shopping trips...

Gareth Southgate the pundit isn't too dissimilar to Gareth Southgate the player. He's calm and composed, with great positional understanding, and reads the game as well as any. He's reliable, if prone to the odd gaffe, and is fast becoming a respected voice among his audience.

To Middlesbrough fans, that makes a refreshing change. Gareth Southgate the manager was unsuccessful, his calmness taken as a lack of passion, his politeness a lack of adventure, and his mantra that a young squad needed time to learn quickly becoming a tired excuse.

The need for change prompted the arrival of Gordon Strachan, and Boro fans were understandably impressed when the Scot swaggered through the Riverside Stadium car park on the way to his first press conference, clutching in his hand a list with the names of the players he wanted to sign. There stood a manager who knew his own mind, a man who'd impose much-needed discipline on a largely immature squad more in need of a telling off than an arm around the shoulder.

But Strachan started poorly and won only three of his first 14 games – compared to Southgate's opening 14 games that term, which brought seven wins and second position in the league. The new man's selection policy was unsettling - in his 33 matches he tried 20 different back four combinations and over the season Boro used 40 players.

All that did was push away fans, who became disillusioned with reading a team sheet of players they'd never heard of playing in positions they couldn't play. It's a long way from the 2006 UEFA Cup final to borrowing from Birmingham and Stoke.

But it's the permanent signings that have attracted most media attention. 'McBoro' have six Scots on the playing staff and four more as part of the coaching team. Add Willo Flood, Scott McDonald and Chris Killen and Boro will start next season with at least nine players signed from north of the border in the space of 10 months.

It's an almighty gamble that Strachan is taking, one that has led some to ask whether his phone only stores numbers that start 0141. Very few of the new players have experience in England, and while the scrappiness of the mid-winter Championship might more closely resemble the SPL than the Premier League, players accustomed to hothouses of Parkhead and Ibrox must quickly grow accustomed to a stadium which frequently feels lifeless.

Then again, unlike most signings they shouldn't be fazed by the bitterness of the Teesside winter, and the training facilities at Hurworth are the equal of anything they'll have worked with in Scotland.

Strachan is banking on mental strength as he looks to create a squad in his own image. He says that players from the Glasgow clubs are used to winning, but that's because they play for the best teams with the biggest budgets and the most fans, which won't be the case at Middlesbrough.

Every game will be a battle and unlike in Scotland, the standard is much more even from top to bottom. All three of the promoted sides – Norwich, Leeds and Millwall – will have their eyes on a second consecutive promotion, while Hull, Portsmouth and Burnley will all expect to bounce straight back.

The pressure on Strachan, and the entire club, is huge. With the Premier League aura rapidly diminishing and the parachute payments due to expire next summer, Boro have to get it right this time or face going the way of Coventry and Ipswich, or worse, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton.

All the eggs are in one basket, and all the Scots are in one team. But if things go badly, Strachan could well find himself lining up alongside his predecessor in Poland for Euro 2012 – on the pundit panel.

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Why Brighton fans are rooting for Palace

2010-06-01T11:54:00Z

Diehard Brighton fan and FFT blogger Frankie Alunga finds himself wanting Palace to thrive...

In a rivalry that often baffles fans outside of Sussex or South Croydon, Brighton and Crystal Palace fans share a bitter hatred.

Despite meeting only fleetingly over the last decade or so, the two clubs have resisted flirting with new rivals. Charlton occasionally bat their eyelids at Palace, while Southampton - bereft of the annual tear-up with Pompey - certainly looked an appealing prospect for the Seagulls this season. All to no avail though.

For Palace and Brighton, only one rivalry matters.

With the Seagulls safely nested in for another season in League One, attentions turned to Hillsborough and Palace's relegation decider with Wednesday. Most Brighton fans, it is fair to say, would have given their right arm for a Wednesday win - or at the very least sacrificed a last-game home win against Yeovil.

But, despite the intensity, the violent clashes on the terraces and the entrenched nature of the rivalry, Seagulls fans will be keeping their fingers crossed for their South London cousins.

Brighton supporters, you see, love to hate Crystal Palace. As with any other rivalry in football, much of what it means to be a Brighton fan is defined by the club's differences with Palace. Where would Muhammed Ali have been without a George Foreman to beat? What would have been the fun in winning the World Cup in 1966 if we hadn't vanquished the Germans?

Palace going bust would mean almost as much to Seagulls fans as it would Palace. We would be left having to audition the likes of Reading, Orient and Bournemouth as potential new rivals. The X Factor final it would not be.

Perhaps more poignantly, Brighton fans are only too aware of the heartache surrounding such a threat to their club's very existence. Back in the 1990s, Seagulls fans fought to save their club. Only now, more than a decade on, is that future secure - with a new stadium at Falmer on its way.

There were many heroes in the struggle. And many of them did not follow The Stripes. The support from rival fans was key - if not in actually saving the club, then it certainly was in keeping up spirits among the lobbying Seagulls fans.

And none were more supportive than the Great Unwashed of Croydon. During a protest march at a Labour Party conference in Brighton, Seagulls fans were greeted by a huge banner hung on the seafront. It simply read: "We want Falmer: Save the Seaweed".

In Brighton's hour of need, the fights, the defeats and the decades of disputes were laid to one side. The survival of a football club is more important than petty squabbles. Especially if you value those squabbles.

In recent seasons Palace fans have joined in remembering a Brighton fan who died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. The Robert Eaton Memorial Fund has raised more than £80,000 for young, impoverished football-mad youngsters - mainly through an annual match between Seagulls fans and Palace fans.

Despite losing six years in a row, a coachload of Palace players and fans continued to make the annual pilgrimage to Sussex to play their part. This year they won. And there was not a Brighton fan in the ground who didn't (secretly) think they deserved it.

Rivalry is one of the most important things in football. When it isn't there something is missing. Brighton fans will testify to this after years spent without a derby. The Seagulls languished in the bottom divisions while the Eagles mixed it with the Big Boys in the top flight. However, even during those barren years, supporters always knew they would once again go head to head with each other.

By the end of today that may no longer be the case. And Seagulls fans everywhere will be keeping their fingers crossed for Palace to snatch an unlikely victory. Just this once, mind.

Richie's regular FFT Brighton blog: Good Old Sussex by the Sea

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Could Lions outmuscle Robins in physical Wembley battle?

2010-05-29T07:00:00Z

Southampton vs Norwich - that’s what I predicted for the League One play-off final at the start of the season.

I saw the Saints’ summer upturn in finance as a cue for a season of destroying those around them, despite their point deduction (much like Leeds’ first season in the third tier) and pinching third.

And Norwich? Well, their squad just wasn’t as strong as Leeds’ or Charlton’s, who were going to finish first and second respectively. So they would just have to put up with a fourth place finish. Ahem.

Now, as a Swindon boy, I’m pretty chuffed my predictions fell short. My wallet on the other hand, not so pleased. But I’m happy to take the hit if it means the Robins have their first trip to Wembley since 1993.

Out of the teams they could have faced in the final though, would I have chosen (or predicted) Millwall? I’m unsure.

The Lions have a lot in common with Swindon Town. However, the one key difference I believe the two teams have is making me struggle to have a guess at who’s going to steal the show.

Starting with the managers. Millwall boss Kenny Jackett has had a tendency of being at the right end of the table during his relatively short managerial career, with his first success getting Swansea in to League One in his debut season.

The following season saw Kenny’s Swans lose to Barnsley in the League One play-off final, the same stage his Millwall side lost to Scunthorpe in the 2008/09 season.

Danny Wilson, on the other hand, has been in the managerial game for a few more years, and subsequently has had his share of highs and lows.

The pain of relegation with Barnsley, MK Dons and Hartlepool have been eased slightly with the success of guiding Barnsley to the Premiership for one season and bouncing straight back in to League One with Hartlepool.

With Bristol City, Danny faced similar frustration as Jackett, losing to Cardiff in the 2002/03 League One play-off semis and in the final to Brighton the following year.

Now the clubs themselves in recent years have flitted around the second and third tiers, with Millwall having a brief spell in the old Division One in 1988 and 1990, but just missing out on the Premiership in 2001.

Whereas Swindon (albeit disastrously, but we won’t go in to too much detail) tasted Premiership life in 1993. Both clubs have had, what some may call, a freefall down to the third tier, with Swindon even dipping their toes into League Two for one season.

Neither side can be criticised for not scoring goals though. Millwall smashed in 76 (conceding 44) and Swindon 73 (conceding 56) this season. They even share Cinderella stories with both snatching a non-league striker and moulding them in to fan favourites.

Steve Morison arrived at Millwall in the summer from Stevenage Borough and thanked his new employers with 23 goals at time of writing. Swindon’s Charlie Austin gave up bricklaying and Poole Town in October and the 20 year-old has grabbed himself 20 goals.

Now for the difference between the two: style of play. Millwall seem to have adopted an approach not unlike their mascot: mauling their way through their prey, overpowering them with strength and aggression and ultimately getting the winning kill at the end of the chase.

The Robins, however, are very much lile their winged sidekick: floating around the pitch looking pretty, pleasing those around them with birdsong in the tune of one-two passes and a hatful of goals.

I like my football to be played in a sleek, smooth fashion. But I am fully aware that this does not always breed success, especially in League One.

The size of Wembley’s pitch lends itself to Swindon’s free-flowing, on-the-ground, attacking philosophy, whereas the quality of the turf may favour Millwall.

The clash of styles certainly elicits the over-used cliché that ‘football will be the winner’ as the strengths of each side could easily expose each other’s weaknesses in the flick of a switch.

Unfortunately my head is leaning towards 3-2 Millwall with Jackett’s men winning the physical battle.

But whatever the result, we’ve got two gaffers experienced in play-offs and promotion bids in charge of two teams both eager to climb out of League One and not afraid to shoot. Should be a corker.

Oh, and before I forget, I’d be more than happy for this prediction to be wrong!

Premier parachute plans could do more harm than good to the Championship

2010-05-04T15:13:00Z

Congratulations to Ian Holloway and Blackpool then for securing that final play-off place ahead of Swansea City. I told you I was due one...

It must be particularly galling to have been in the play-off places since January and yet miss out completely come May. Just ask Cardiff fans. That’s two years running a team from the principality has bottled it – even though Swansea’s failings weren’t quite as spectacular as their near neighbours’ last term. There must be something in the water in those parts.

Blackpool even opened the door for Paulo Sousa’s men by failing to beat Bristol City, yet the hapless Swans couldn’t manage to see off middle-of-the-table-nothing-to-play-for Doncaster Rovers on their own patch. The table simply doesn’t lie. Swansea in seventh it is.

A real life tangerine dream then for Blackpool and a truly remarkable achievement for a club whose principle aim in August will have been simply to survive in the division.

Blackpool's season has exceded expectations

But there’s another point of focus which is deeply concerning to all clubs in the Championship, and indeed those below. That of the proposed new parachute payment plans.

The basic offer on the table to the Football League is to increase payments to clubs relegated from the Premier League from £23.4million over two seasons to £48million over four. £32million of that is paid during the first two years.

The sweetener for Championship clubs not recently relegated from the Premier League, and less so for those in League’s One and Two, is that their solidarity payments will increase. For some, these will be tripled up to £2.2million. What’s more the money can be spent as the club’s wish. There will be no obligation for instance for them to invest in community projects.

On the plus side the extra solidarity payments allows the non relegated clubs in the Championship increased stability. This isn’t quite the case for the clubs in the leagues below – who will receive smaller payments.

But ultimately it’s just going to make the Championship predictable. With such a massive increase in payments for relegated clubs there is simply going to be permanent yo-yo effect created in the division. The same clubs year in year out will be getting promoted and relegated. Maybe a pool of around six teams will feature.

It’s leaning that way already to an extent, but consider that this season there were at least 10-12 teams who had realistic expectations of promotion, or making the play-offs.

But these new plans will create a complete, devastating topple effect in the future. One thing is for certain – the likes of Burnley’s fairytale promotion last year won’t happen again anytime soon.

Burnley would benefit from the larger payments over the next four years

This is why this year’s play-offs are arguably more important to the teams involved than in previous years. Take one look at Blackpool and consider how great an achievement it has been for them to finish in the top six this year – it will be nigh-on impossible for them to match it in years to come if their rivals are given extra financial help.

Similarly for cash strapped, debt ridden Cardiff, and the relatively stable but hardly cash happy Midlands pairing of Leicester and Nottingham Forest.

It seems inevitable that these proposals will be accepted, despite some reluctance on behalf of the Football League to agree to them. And given the precarious position many clubs find themselves in the Championship and leagues below it is understandable that they want to give a green light to extra money coming in through solidarity payments.

But ultimately the revised parachute payments will make the gap between Premier League and Championship bigger for over half the clubs in the division, and a similar gulf will develop between the Championship and League’s One and Two.

Promotion to the Championship will simply become the pinnacle for those in the divisions below. Unless there is significant investment from outside sources, for many clubs the idea of progressing beyond the Championship will simply be a pipe dream.

Blackpool will undoubtedly be the neutrals’ choice for play-off success this season. The harsh reality is though that if that goal is not achieved now, there is a distinct possibility it never will be.

Play-off lottery awaits clubs at the Championship's business end

2010-04-20T14:22:00Z

It's almost done and dusted at the top of the Championship, but there's the small matter of play-off qualification, a trip to Wembley and for one club the ultimate prize, still up for grabs. Emyr Price looks at the play-off picture and beyond.

The business end of the table is beginning to look rather final. Two of the much coveted play-off berths now are filled, WBA are up and only a volcanic ash induced type disaster will stop Champions Newcastle from smashing the 100 points barrier.

Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, flirted with the idea of going up automatically but Billy Davies’ charges decided to buy their ticket for the lottery that is the play-offs instead. No doubt the City Ground faithful will be delighted with that decision.

In all seriousness, their followers can have no complaints with what has been a pretty terrific season by all accounts. Relegation fodder last year, Davies has transformed them into a well organised bunch bursting with creativity throughout. They will be favourites to triumph at Wembley, and rightly so.

Cardiff also laid to rest the demons of last season’s horrendous end of season capitulation by beating QPR at Loftus Road to clinch a play-off place on Saturday. Like Forest, they have achieved this feat with a relatively small squad. Quality rather than quantity has been the key for Dave Jones’ Bluebirds.

Cardiff and Swansea could meet in the playoffs - could be fiesty...

Given the off-field problems that have besieged the club – and, it must be noted there is still the small matter of a hefty tax bill that needs settling imminently to avoid, well, complete meltdown – the Cardiff playing and coaching staff really should be applauded.

If it’s form you’re looking for ahead of the play-off’s then look no further than the South Walians. They have finished the season in positively Usain Bolt-esque fashion and won six from their last nine, as well as being unbeaten for that run.

Like Forest, Cardiff will fancy their chances. Experience at the new Wembley (if –and it’s a huge if - they negotiate the semi-final first) could be a big plus come the big day. Cardiff have it in spades compared to the other potential finalists.

Leicester and Swansea are in the box seats, but Swansea especially aren't sitting comfortably.

Blackpool just carry on winning and should the Swans fall from their perch, they look set to pounce. If Ian Holloway manages to take them up, then it’d be an achievement of possibly even greater magnitude than Burnley’s unlikely heroics last term.

Could Ian Holloway be about to step up to the Premier League with Blackpool?

A trip to Bloomfield Road will be the want of no-one come May too. For what it’s worth I think Blackpool will just edge out Swansea, who despite winning at the weekend have shown some alarming jitters in recent times.

We will see, but it looks as if it’s all come a bit quick for Paulo Sousa’s men. Having said that, the same logic seemingly doesn't apply to Blackpool, who have relished in their nothing-to-lose chasing role.

Any despairing Swansea fans will be pleased to note that this blog’s casual predictions over the course of the season (Preston, QPR and Ipswich to be in the play-off's, Reading to be relegated no less), have hardly been a roaring success. I reckon I'm due a correct one though.

It goes without saying that all of the five teams in with a shout of promotion via the play-off’s this term are unlikely Premier League survivors. Cardiff might not survive full stop.

But Forest could make a good fist of it, in much the same way that last year’s automatically promoted teams, Wolves and Birmingham, have done this season.

Billy Davies deserves a chance to prove himself in the top flight, having been given short shrift at Derby, and with the right additions Forest have the makings of a Premier League outfit.

They are a club used to being at the top level as well and as I'm sure their fans will tell you: they used to be pretty good a few years ago as well, y'know.

Amicable Ashton exit for jolly joker Johnson

2010-03-19T13:13:00Z

Another managerial casualty in the Championship. It’s getting a bit dull, all this chopping and changing.

Can’t those who make the decisions at the top just allow failing managers to see out their contracts in peace? They could take a step down from coaching the first team, let their No.2s get on with the job and go and make touchline shapes with the Academy first XI or something.

Until match day, that is, when they show up suited and booted in the dugout – business as usual. The casual observer would never know the difference. All of a sudden results would pick up, and hey presto before long that contract has petered out, teary goodbye’s have been exchanged, and there’s a ready made replacement already with his feet well and truly under the table.

Perfect. OK, unlikely. And a bit silly really.

Let’s get back to reality, sharpish. Gary Johnson has left Bristol City, the Robins' chairman Steve Landsdown pinpointing a season of disappointing results as the reason for this mutually consented departure.

"Mutual consent" is an overused and nearly always deliberately misleading phrase associated with managers being sacked from their jobs. But for once, judging by what’s been said in the Ashton Gate aftermath, it appears to be entirely appropriate. Johnson himself, in his parting statement, has elaborated a bit further than the standard "I’d like to thank all the fans and the players...".

To his credit he's conceded that it is probably the right time for him to move on, and that the club needs a fresh face. It's all strangely amicable. He even quipped: “You know when people stop laughing at your jokes, it’s time to leave.”

Said in jest it may have been, but Johnson could heed some recent advice from another Championship gaffer who's been where Johnson is now – in search of work.

Quizzed on the secrets of his overachieving success at Blackpool this season, Ian Holloway – another boss who might’ve been a stand-up comic in a different life – suggested that adopting the funny-man approach to management is ultimately limiting in terms of on-field gains.

Holloway opined that his No More Mr Nice Guy stance at Bloomfield Road has been a big factor in the club's upturn in fortunes on the pitch. On the advice of previous associates, he singled out his laugh-a-minute approach at Plymouth and Leicester as a major reason behind his failings at both clubs.

Jokes over: Jocular Johnson gets the boot

Johnson might take note, wherever he ends up. And realistically he shouldn't expect that somewhere to be below Championship level. For his time at Bristol City should be viewed, on the whole, as a success story.

The man who counts both Yeovil Town and the Latvian national team among his previous charges steered City to promotion from League One in his second full season in charge.

More impressively, the squad he assembled for the following campaign was more than a match for most of the Championship's biggest hitters. Arriving at the Gate were the likes of talented Australian international Nick Carle. Fitness concerns aside, Carle's game was the perfect blend of cultured and steely in the centre of the park. But he left prematurely, to Crystal Palace for £1million.

Similarly impressive was the addition of Marvin Elliot, whose energetic ball-winning midfield performances were key to the club's rise up the Championship in 2007/08 – a season in which, but for a stunning match-winning volley from Hull's Dean Windass in the play-off final, Johnson could well have steered the Wurzels to the promised land at his first attempt.

Yet without the benefit of being the league's unknown quantity, City have struggled to reach similar heights since. They stuttered to 10th place last time without really threatening to break into the play-offs and have had a poor time of it this time around. Currently they find themselves looking over their shoulders at the drop zone. That play-off final seems a long time ago.

Still, Johnson has added quality, from which his replacement (whoever that may be: Alan Curbishley and George Burley have been mentioned) should benefit. Shoot-on-sight striker Nicky Maynard should mature into a real powerhouse, while doughty former Celtic workhorse Paul Hartley – a rare shining light this season – has been another sound acquisition.

So, assuming there is no end-of-season capitulation, Johnson has succeeded in establishing Bristol City as a Championship club. When you consider he took over with them drifting in League One and throw in that near miss in the play-off final, his achievements there aren't really to be sniffed at.

He's moved them up a level at the very least. It seems that he's in agreement with the club's board that the next level is beyond him. No shame in that at all: a parting of the ways on good terms is all too rare in football nowadays.

It's quite nice when there's a bit of controversy, though. How long's Warnock been at QPR?

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Solid Swans no play-off also-rans

2010-02-19T16:30:00Z

FFT.com's Championship Correspondent Emyr Price examines a club who've shaken off the loss of their highly-regarded manager

In a footballing world dominated by risk-taking over-spenders, tax-dodging chairmen and those who like to specialise in financial mismanagement, Swansea City are an oasis in a what is increasingly becoming a very barren desert.

Their situation is one to marvel at: a reward of patience and sound decision-making that is now beginning to bear fruit.

One thing you won't find in club chairman Huw Jenkins' diary is a date at the High Court with the tax man. No. Leave that sort of business to Portsmouth, or Southend. Or the other Championship club down the road in South Wales, whose name they don't like to mention in these parts.

A balance sheet in the red? Not at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea City are that rare thing in the modern game. A club completely debt-free, yet successful. After a sluggish start to the season they've been an almost permanent fixture in the Championship play off-places since October, and there's nothing to suggest they are about to nosedive either.

Wind the clock back to February 2007, and Swansea were a third-tier side under the guidance of a greenhorn manager. Spaniard Roberto Martinez was a fan favourite, who had made more than 100 appearances for the Jacks and captained them to promotion from the bottom division in 2006.

In their first season under Martinez, the Swans swept to the League One title. Burly hitman Jason Scotland's sackful of goals undoubtedly helped, but the Spaniard's flamboyant approach had created a squad devoid of weak links, one in which every player was capable of contributing to the easy-on-the-eye football the manager was cultivating.

Not a bad first full season for Bob Martin...

An excellent eighth-place finish in their first season in English football's second tier – where again, Scotland wasn't exactly shy in front of goal – and things were looking rosy for the men in white.

Crucially, the money men at the club had resisted temptation to spend above their means and all this on-field success was achieved courtesy of a softly-softly business approach. Prior to the summer just gone, the club's record signing was a modest £400,000.

It's hardly the type of sum to get the pulse racing. But then again, Martinez's men were proving adept enough at that type of thing with their performances on the pitch.

Then Wigan Athletic came calling and Roberto scarpered, taking with him Scotland and another of the Swans' stars, Jordi Gomez.

The general consensus was that without the hugely influential departed trio – and half of Martinez's back-room staff - the club would find life in a very competitive league a little to tough to handle. And when Jenkins & Co. confirmed the equally inexperienced Paulo Sousa as Martinez's successor, most fans groaned.

They needn't have despaired. For whatever rickets the Portuguese boss has made in the fashion stakes – grey tartan suits, anyone? - he's more than made up for with his footballing nous.

He likes what he wears, and he wears what he likes

With Scotland gone, goals have been hard to come by for Sousa's men – despite the addition of Craig Beattie for (by Swansea's standards) a whopping £800,000, and the return to the Liberty of the man they like to call Magic Daps: Lee Trundle.

So instead foundations have been built, as they are with most success stories, from the back.

They've conceded just 22 goals all year, a record only matched in the division by leaders Newcastle United, and this has resulted in just five defeats. Again, it's only the heavyweights from the North East who can boast a better record.

When you consider they've scored just 14 goals at home – whereas bottom of the table Peterborough have notched 27 times on their own patch this term – to be in fourth place in the league is pretty remarkable.

But to paint a picture of a dour defensive unit devoid of any attacking flair would simply be wrong. You wouldn't necessarily go to The Liberty Stadium to see a hatful of goals, but if it's entertainment you're looking for then there are plenty of worse places you could end up in.

And it's little wonder, given the wealth of talent Sousa has at his disposal. Box-to-box midfielder Darren Pratley has alerted a number of Premier League clubs to his talents with some energetic displays in the centre of the park. So has the old fashioned whippet-winger Nathan Dyer.

Pratley (r), Dyer (2nd r) & Co celebrate a cup win at Pompey

The acquisition of Welsh international attacker David Cotterill in January looks a shrewd move already, and another Wales midfielder – Joe Allen – is showing himself to be a star-in-waiting. Oh, and the hugely influential Ferrie Bodde is due back imminently from long term injury.

There are concerns: a lack of strength in depth, coupled with the problem of where the next goal is coming from. Maybe the club isn't ready for the next level yet either.

But while strikers frequently forget how to score, it's not too often that you see defenders forgetting how to defend. And that watertight defence could well be the ace up Swansea's sleeve come the run-in.

After all, it's served them pretty well up until this point.

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All eyes on the trapdoor (and the last lottery ticket)

2010-02-13T00:00:00Z

Championship Correspondent Emyr Price on why there's two positions they're all watching: sixth and 22nd...

Whisper it, but it looks like there might be some semblance of order at the business end of The Championship. And it’s only February.

What on earth is going on?

With the heavyweight pair of Newcastle and West Brom exchanging jabs without seeming able to land a knockout blow, Nottingham Forest wait quietly in third, counter-attacks at the ready.

Further back, the Welsh duo of Cardiff and Swansea sit fourth and fifth, with a six-point advantage over seventh-placed Sheffield United.

Crucially they each also have a game in hand over Kevin Blackwell’s boys, offering the potential of a hefty extra buffer.

If the Blades are to slice into anyone's play-off place, it should be sixth-placed Leicester - but they've played two games more than the Foxes.

It’d be foolish to claim that at this season’s conclusion the top five will be as it is now.

After all, there's sure to be some up-a-ladder-down-a-snake type shenanigans over the next few months.

But the clubs currently sitting pretty at the top have remained there or thereabouts for some time now. You get the feeling they will probably stay the course.

The much-coveted sixth place is still well and truly up for grabs however: and it’s very much a lucky dip with five or six teams hoping to emerge from the bran tub that is mid-table.

A point behind Sheffield United, Gordon Strachan’s Middlesbrough could have turned the corner at last, and the unlikely trio of Barnsley, Watford and Blackpool are still within spitting distance of sixth.

Preston, too, could well make a late-season dash into the knockout lottery, while Bristol City and Coventry are only a good week away from the play-offs.

But however tight it is at the top, it’s at the bottom where it’s pin the tail on the donkey time.

Well, for that third relegation spot anyway.

It’s a tale of two P’s at the foot of the table with Peterborough and Plymouth both looking as if they have given up the ghost already.

The only consistency displayed by the Posh and the Pilgrims has been extreme travel sickness coupled with the inability to score more goals than the opposition when on home turf.

But who will join them in English football’s third tier next term?

You could make realistic cases for 10 different clubs, including some big hitters – clubs who would have been eyeing much better things but now find themselves looking nervously over their shoulders.

Reading, for example, have fallen from grace quite spectacularly in recent times. They find themselves in the dreaded drop zone.

Blame that revolting away strip, I say.

Only two points ahead of Brian McDermott’s men is the managerial swap-shop that is Queens Park Rangers.

They looked set fair to launch a serious promotion assault earlier in the campaign under Jim Magilton, but whatever did or didn’t happen between him and Akos Buzsaky in the inner sanctums of Vicarage Road seems to have put paid to their season.

Crystal Palace have also been hobbled by off-field problems, in their case a 10-point penalty moving them from play-off hopefuls to relegation battlers.

And Ipswich and Derby – both relatively big Championship names – have been struggling for most of the season.

It’d be a huge surprise if any of the five mentioned clubs tasted the bitter pill of demotion, especially given the fact there are more likely candidates in a similar situation.

Scunthorpe, for instance, have never been able to pull away towards safety and the Iron will have to use all of their, erm, mettle to retain their Championship status.

Yorkshire is well represented in the Championship mire.

Sean O’Driscoll’s Doncaster – easy on the eye, but not too clever at accumulating points – could do with remembering that football is a results business after all.

A few boring 1-0 wins would be most welcome at the Keepmoat.

Meanwhile Hillsborough is no longer the daunting fortress it once was – in fact, only Plymouth have lost more times on their own patch this term than Sheffield Wednesday.

Alan Irvine’s stewardship should see them right though. Just.

Predictions, then...

As you were for the top six, with Newcastle leapfrogging the Baggies at the top – but it’s heartbreak for Reading as they face the prospect of sliding from Premier League to League One in the space of three seasons.

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Ridsdale's Cardiff realisation in tatters

2010-02-05T13:30:00Z

FourFourTwo.com's Championship Correspondent Emyr Price on financial shenanigans at Peter Ridsdale's Cardiff City...

You couldn’t have made it up.

Cardiff City in 2006 was a club crippled with debt, on the verge of meltdown courtesy of a Lebanese businessman’s repeated financial follies. A Championship team still capable of delivering knockout blows on the football pitch, but punch drunk by failings off it.

Somehow, it was still functioning. But it wouldn't be for much longer. Unless, of course, there was a miraculous upturn in fortunes.

What to do, what to do, the club's directors must have wondered. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that.

But surely no one with a rational mindset would have suggested getting former Leeds United supremo Peter Ridsdale on board to steady the ship?

Well, however it came about, that’s what happened.

Transparent Pete (as he’s affectionately known in some circles) arrived alongside the club's then chairman Sam Hammam to get things back on the straight and narrow.

And oh, how everyone laughed.

The man in the spotlight during Leeds' catastrophic demise, as well as Barnsley's near liquidation, was now at Cardiff City, who were already teetering on the brink of disaster.

Ridsdale, as you might well imagine, isn’t exactly Mr Popular in Yorkshire. In fact, he’s not really Mr Popular anywhere.

In a recent poll in the Independent newspaper, he beat off the likes of convicted fraudsters Flavio Briatore and Sir Allen Stanford to the much coveted tag of ‘Sport's biggest villain of the decade."

Well done indeed on that accolade, Pete.

Yorkshiremen: Not known for tact and reticence

That he topped said poll wasn't that surprising given its timing. There were echoes of Ridsdale's past popping up en masse.

Revelations of unpaid tax bills, mooted star player sales, and spiralling, uncontrollable debts were surfacing in the tabloids by the end of the year just passed.

Things were beginning to look bleak for the Bluebirds chief and fresh allegations of financial turmoil followed reports of further tax problems.

Something of a recurring theme was developing.

But Ridsdale, at his effervescent best when speaking publicly, had convinced all – at an open meeting for fans - that things were hunky dory.

Repayment plans to creditors and the tax man had been agreed. The club could make them. There were no problems.

It would be a huge understatement to say that Ridsdale has mastered the art of spin.

Indeed to hear him bat away probing financial inquires in front of an audience is akin to witnessing Tony Blair in his pomp negotiate a fiery session of PMQs. But without breaking sweat.

Crisis seemingly averted, it was time for Cardiff's PR machine to kick into overdrive.

Generous season ticket offers were advertised – five-year price freezes, and even the promise of a full refund on next year's season tickets if the club were promoted to the Premier League.

Christmas had come early for the long-suffering Cardiff faithful.

Ridsdale then released a statement promising that all funds generated from these early-bird season ticket sales would be used solely to invest in the squad, and that new additions were certain.

And a Happy New Year to you too, Peter.

Meanwhile, ever the globetrotter, The Riddler (as he's affectionately known in some other circles) then jetted out to Malaysia in an attempt to secure significant investment in the club from businessman Dato Chan Tien Ghee.

Ridsdale claimed that DTG (as he likes to call him) had swollen City's coffers already, but that heftier sums were in the offing.

On the surface then, things were rosy off the pitch, and many - reportedly up to 10,000 - took up the season ticket offer's promise of potentially free season tickets and cash to spend on new players.

But the rumours of unpaid tax debts simply wouldn't go away.

Then it was announced that the club faced another day in court and a HMRC winding-up order on February 10, if they couldn't stump up the £3 million needed.

Ridsdale remained defiant and promised that this would be paid in full by the end of January – he even initially claimed that the court appearance was merely a 'backstop' date, if this unofficial, but agreed, January deadline passed.

But his assertions were beginning to wear a little thin now.

Despite these off-field worries, Dave Jones' men continued to collect league points at a healthy rate on the pitch.

A good January saw them cement their play-off place, as well as just about managing to hang onto the coat tails of those in the automatic promotion positions.

Backs to the wall: Ridsdale at Barnsley

An emphatic 6-0 victory against Bristol City made it just one loss in 12 in all competitions, and a 4-2 win over Leicester in the FA Cup was enough to earn them a money-spinning Fifth Round trip to Stamford Bridge.

But during the same week as these two victories, Ridsdale dropped the bombshell that all was not well with the club's finances.

There were some "short-term cashflow problems," meaning that there would be no new arrivals at the club – as he had explicitly promised.

No new investment had arrived, and the costs of the new stadium had been greatly underestimated.

Instead, all monies generated from the too-good-to-be-true season ticket offers would be use to fend off the taxman.

Understandably, this didn't go down well with fans who had bought season tickets in December - prime time for family spending - on the promise that there would be new arrivals in January as a result of their investments.

That the majority of the 10,000 who had bought or renewed their season tickets would have done so with or without Ridsdale's pledge is by the by.

He made a promise based on money that wasn't there.

What grated a now extremely disgruntled bunch further still, was the statement issued from the club by way of apology.

Yes, it contained a line saying that they were sorry that there would be no new arrivals, as promised. But the tone of the whole thing almost defied the supporters to be angry that they had been misled.

Instead it insisted that the long-term future of the club was the main priority.

No right-minded Cardiff fan would disagree with this final notion.

But had the real reasons behind the plea for cash made through the season ticket offers been made clear – namely, “Hey, we're skint, can you help us out and buy a few thousand season tickets please?” – then it's likely that few would have complained.

The honesty would no doubt have been appreciated, and there might even have been an element of that thing Ridsdale seems to destroy everywhere he goes: trust.

But it's gone beyond the stage of repair now.

Even if the club do manage to avoid next week's winding-up order – as seems likely, after a last-minute land sale to the city council - Ridsdale's days at the club must now be numbered.

He has always laid claim to being the man who has successfully overseen the club's move to the brand new Cardiff City Stadium – something that would not have been possible with Hammam at the helm, granted.

But the financial stability expected from the switch has never materialised. Far from it, in fact, given Cardiff's current predicament.

Ridsdale (third left) at the stadium opening

For all this, though, Cardiff City sit fourth in the Championship and have a realistic chance of promotion to the Premier League.

It's been almost 50 years since they tasted top flight football in this part of South Wales.

That's something that shouldn't be forgotten.

But then again, any football is better than none. Right?

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Forgetful Forest lose the knack of losing

2010-01-15T13:30:00Z

Summer time in Nottingham, 2009.

A promised revolution at Meadow Lane – a foreign takeover, Sven-Göran Eriksson, mountains of cash, and later Sol Campbell arrives as the first big name, big money signing of the season.

Many more to follow, so we are told. Roll up, Roll up.

The lads at Sky Sports News couldn't get enough of it.

League Two strugglers Notts County, more famous for being the oldest club in the world than for their on-field achievements, were revelling in their new-found role of media darlings.

Meanwhile their city neighbours skulked in the shadows of the Magpies' media glare.

But this is probably just how Forest's wily Scottish boss Billy Davies would have wanted it.

Fast forward to mid-September and a 0-1 home loss to a first-half strike from Blackpool’s Charlie Adam.

That was the last time Nottingham Forest tasted defeat in the league.

You have to turn the clock back even further – to 10 months yesterday (Thursday) – to find the last time they returned empty-handed from their Championship travels, a 5-0 loss to Premier-bound Burnley.

That’s a marvellous 15 away games unbeaten. It must be pretty good to be part of the travelling Forest faithful these days.

"Up yours, Burnley!"

Despite a couple of early home losses this term, this point-grabbing away form has helped Davies’ men stretch their unbeaten league run to a more-than-impressive 17 games.

For the moment at least, they looked to have spoiled Newcastle and West Brom’s private promotion party.

No one's talking about County any more. And Big Sol's done a runner, too.

The uninvited guests now sit in second place in the league, and they look well equipped to stay there or thereabouts too.

Davies has been there and done it before with Derby – as well as taking Preston to two successive play-offs – and the young squad he has assembled on the banks of the Trent is playing with a carefree exuberance reminiscent of David O’Leary’s easy-on-the-eye Leeds starlets of 2001.

To repeat Kewell, Bowyer & Co’s Champions League heroics might be an impossibility in the current climate for the likes of Forest – especially when billionaire-backed, Martin O'Neill-managed Aston Villa are struggling to get there.

But promotion to the Premier League is now a very realistic prospect.

For a club who in 2005 suffered the ignominy of being the only European Cup winners ever to fall into their country’s third tier, this is improvement indeed.

When you consider that only once in a whole decade have they finished higher than mid-table in the Championship, you might also say that it’s been long overdue.

What sets them apart this year, then? A wealth of attacking options, for a start.

Davies has four proven strikers at his disposal – Rob Earnshaw, Dexter Blackstock, Dele Adebola and Nathan Tyson – who do a good job of complementing one another as well.

If things do start to unravel, it shouldn’t be through a lack of goals.

Things are rock solid at the back too.

Lee Camp, acquired from QPR in the summer for what now looks like a bargain £100,000, has been the epitome of steadiness between the sticks.

Throw in the international full-back duo of Chris Gunter and (Villa loanee) Nicky Shorey, and the means to the end of that lofty league placing are becoming apparent.

Billy Davies eyes promotion

But it's in midfield where the Reds are really ticking.

The shrewd acquisition of stalwart Paul McKenna – who worked under Davies at Preston previously – has proved to be a key part of the promotion charge.

His calming influence alongside the precocious talents of Chris Cohen, Paul Anderson and Radoslaw Majewski have proved to be the perfect recipe for success.

There might even be some January additions to the ranks, with the likes of Spurs' talented but unsettled Welshman Gareth Bale being touted.

If Davies does get the men he wants then it'd be foolish to write off Forest's title aspirations.

They're five points behind leaders Newcastle, who have a game in hand, so there is still a gap that needs bridging at the top.

But for that not to happen, Forest would have to start losing. They might just have forgotten how.

Elsewhere in the Championship the frankly absurd goings-on at QPR continue as they announced last night that Paul Hart has left the club by mutual consent.

Yeah. 'Mutual consent'. Yawn. Oh, really?

A happier Hart

He didn't even get the half-season we predicted a few weeks ago. Five games was enough for the relationship to become untenable.

That's nine different managers in just over two years. Madness.

When will it end? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe when Forest start losing.

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Fergie Jr dives in at the deep End

2010-01-06T15:00:00Z

OK, so he hasn't taken the reins at Hull City as predicted back in November, but after less than two months of being – quite literally – out in the cold, the son of the game's most decorated manager ever is back.

Yep, Darren Ferguson is Preston North End's new boss.

NEWS: Darren Ferguson appointed Preston's new boss

His appointment sums up the cut-throat nature of life in the Championship.

The official line is still that Ferguson left Peterborough by 'mutual consent' at the tail end of 2009, but the widely acknowledged reality is that he was pushed out the door – despite guiding the Posh to successive promotions in the last two seasons.

Softly-spoken Scot Alan Irvine was given his marching orders by the Deepdale hierarchy last week.

His firing squad pointed to a run of one win in 10 games which had left Preston a lowly 16th place in the table.

Irvine's previous achievements of transforming the Lancastrians from relegation candidates when he took the job in 2007, to an outfit that qualified for the play-offs the following season – on a shoestring budget – have seemingly been ignored.

"Gah!"

It'd be fair comment to say that both managers were ousted prematurely from their posts, and they will have no doubt felt hard done by at the way they were treated.

But while Irvine will surely prove his worth elsewhere in the future, Ferguson is the one who will be smiling now. And well he might.

If, and it's a big if, he's given time to work the oracle at Deepdale then it could be a marriage made in North End heaven.

True, there'll be little money to spend for Ferguson Jr, but daddy's just down the road with a potential solution in the shape of nascent world-beaters, ready and willing to be shipped out on loan.

Deepdale is, after all, where previous United loanee David Beckham cut his teeth 15 years ago.

"Hiyer!"

But Preston are also something of the forgotten team of the Championship.

Perennially passed over in pre-season promotion predictions, they have nevertheless revelled in this lack of attention and secured a play-off berth in three of their last five campaigns.

Yes, they've failed to succeed in this end-of-season lottery – despite reaching the final in 2005 under Billy Davies, as they did under David Moyes in 2001 – but Ferguson's appointment could well be the final piece of the puzzle needed for them to secure that Premier League windfall.

Even this season, success is by no means a forlorn hope.

Preston sit just eight points behind sixth-placed Swansea, and a few canny additions in the January transfer window could kick-start a post-Christmas run under the new man's guidance.

There's usually one team who emerges from the pack at the business end of the season, and the nature of the division means there are a number of candidates for this tag.

North End are one you might confidently label as 'likely'.

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QPR: Hart appointment uninspiring

2009-12-19T08:00:00Z

The circus that is QPR football club has been wowing it's audience, matinee performances 'n all in recent weeks.

But if the alleged dressing room dust-up between the now departed Jim Magilton and Akos Buzsaky provided some crash-crash style intrigue for the neutral, then the appointment of Paul Hart as Hoops' manager sends a clear message:

The show's over folks.

Well, it is for now at least.

If Magilton – who still maintains he did nothing untoward - was something of an uncontroversial figure before arriving at Loftus Road, then Hart by the same token is an equally safe appointment.

But the words 'safe' and 'manager's job' don't sit too easily next to each other in the context of life at QPR.

Hart has just until the end of the season to, presumably, take Rangers up or he will be sent packing.

His record suggests the latter option is the more likely.

A pretty disastrous spell at Portsmouth was the latest in a string of failures for the man whose only flirtation with success as a senior manager came when he led Nottingham Forest to a Division One play-off semi-final defeat to Sheffield United back in 2003.

Since then he has tried and failed to transform the fortunes of the likes of Rushden and Diamonds and Barnsley, with little to no success.

OK, so he might not be as useless as his record suggests.

After all, both Forest and Pompey were in financial disarray when he was handed the reigns, and so to expect any possible success at either of those clubs was asking a bit much.

But Barnsley, under Andy Ritchie's stewardship, were promoted the season after Hart's sacking, with largely the same squad of players he was unable to inspire intact.

If there's one thing QPR do have, it's financial security, meaning Hart will at least have cash to spend in January.

So, there's no excuses on that front.

However, why the hell would the R's want to appoint a bloke who, at Portsmouth, has just overseen the worst ever start to a Premier League season by any team, and has no track record of success previously?

Because he was available? Because he was cheap? Because he was prepared to accept a deal with no long term security, when other managers weren't?

Yes to all of the above.

Because he is the best possible man to lead the club to the Premier League? No.

He could do the business I suppose.

Rangers have enough quality already to be mixing it at the right end of the table, and a few astute January purchases could propel them up the league.

But under Hart, it's unlikely.

A more feasible scenario would be play-off heartache, followed by Hart's exit.

Cue a big name summer appointment, who just might have been lined up already, and the job's, for whoever that big name may be, a good 'un.

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BLOG: Magilton always on borrowed time

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Magilton always on borrowed time at QPR

2009-12-09T15:00:00Z

Poor old Jim Magilton. It looks as if his days in the Loftus Road hotseat are at an end after a bad run of results culminated in his suspension by the club's board following an incident with midfielder Akos Buzsaky.

Before we get into the alleged details of said incident, the BBC's online coverage of what happened makes for interesting reading.

Not for their straight reporting of Magilton's suspension, but rather for the 'see also' section next to the article.

In case you can't make it out from the picture, it goes as follows:

    •   Watford 3-1 QPR
    •   League awaits Briatore F1 ruling
    •   QPR appoint Magilton as manager
    •   Briatore denies picking QPR team
    •   QPR sack Sousa after just 26 games
    •   QPR part company with boss Dowie
    •   De Canio parts company with QPR
    •   Briatore wants a QPR super-brand
    •   Briatore is QPR Holdings Chairman
    •   QPR secure huge investment boost
    •   Gregory sacked as manager of QPR
    •   F1 magnates take over at QPR

OK, so these hand-picked stories give a somewhat blinkered view of life at Loftus Road during the last two and a bit years, but even so that's a lot of largely negative related news stories in such a short time period.

And no wonder, when Magilton is the seventh different manager - of which only two were (officially) temporary - since the club changed ownership 27 months ago.

Let's try a quick recap. John Gregory was given the boot just a month after Flavio Briatore & Co. breezed into Shepherd's Bush to seize control of the ailing R's in September 2007.

His successor Luigi de Canio was given short shrift (seven months), but longer than Iain Dowie (15 games).

Paulo Sousa – who's now doing the business at Swansea – was probably even getting to like the area after the board flirted with stability by affording him a tenure of 26 games, before eventually giving him the chop.

Football is of course a results business, and while Sousa, Dowie and De Canio were hardly setting West London alight, they weren't afforded sufficient time to prove their worth either.

Moreover, both Dowie and Sousa both departed amidst allegations that the Italian tycoon was meddling in first-team matters, including team selection.

It's hardly the type of thing to fill any future managerial candidate with confidence.

At least the (probable) imminent departure of Magilton appears, at this stage, to be unrelated to any clashes with the club's hierarchy. Every cloud and all that.

Or maybe not in this case.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the former Ipswich boss was, to put it mildly, none too pleased with his players' efforts on Monday evening against Watford at Vicarage Road.

They had crashed to a 3-1 defeat, and this after shipping five at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

During a fierce post-game tirade the Northern Irishman is alleged to have barricaded the dressing room door, before having a confrontation with Akos Buzsaky, who was later seen – having presumably smashed his way through the barricade, Rambo-style – seeking refuge in a nearby public toilet.

Having initially played down the incident himself, by claiming all matters would be dealt with 'in-house', it now seems as if Magilton has had his chips.

Magilton has denied the allegations in a short but pointed statement released via the League Managers' Association: “While passions can run high in football, especially after a poor performance, I categorically deny any allegation of wrong-doing following Monday’s fixture.

"I understand that the club has initiated an internal investigation, with which I will cooperate fully. This is an unfortunate situation and I look forward to resuming my responsibilities shortly.”

It's not the first row between manager and player to escalate out of control. After one boot-flying confrontation with Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham briefly threatened to make butterfly stitches popular.

But by then Sir Alex had amassed a significant amount of silverware for Manchester United, rewarding several times over their belief in stability during the turbulent months when the Stretford End called for Ferguson's sacking.

It's surely no coincidence that QPR have announced Magilton's suspension with the team struggling in 12th place, having won just once in their last seven.

Wind the clock back a month. Rangers were flying high in fourth place in the league, having won three in a row, smashing 12 goals in the process.

Would this scenario have played out then?

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Could Cardiff win prove the catalyst for Tractor Boys blitz?

2009-12-05T07:00:00Z

After Ipswich Town finally managed to grab their first away win of the season at Cardiff City last week, Emyr Price ponders whether this could be the catalyst that sees Roy Keane repeat the Championship promotion he achieved at Sunderland three years ago.

First things first. Ipswich won't be winning the Championship this season.

The Tractor Boys have spluttered their way through the first third and a bit of the season, and as the busy festive period approaches they remain in the drop-zone.

This puts them a whopping 21 points behind second placed West Brom. A gap that is surely unbridgeable. Not least because West Brom, and indeed league leaders Newcastle, look set to stay the course.

But in a notoriously tight division, they are 12 points adrift of Blackpool who currently occupy the final play-off place.

Of course, 12 points is still a sizeable deficit, and closing it won't be a walk in the park.

Yet Keane's men have hinted that they are belatedly about to burst into life.

They are unbeaten in seven, and while five of those have been draws, anyone who has watched them recently will have noted a close-knit unit that is growing in confidence.

To the Sunderland parallels then.

At this stage of the 2006/07 season The Black Cats had recovered from a tardy start to the campaign to sit in 13th place in the league.

They endured an above average November, during which time they picked up eight points from five games.

Ipswich's last four fixtures have also returned eight points.

By the New Year, Keane had guided Sunderland into the top half of the table.

With six games in December, and a difference of 10 points to make up, the same scenario for Ipswich is a tough, yet by no means impossible task.

In 2007 the writing was on the wall by the end of February as the Wearsiders marched into the top four, and duly went onto win the division.

Achieving promotion from a similarly lowly position has been done in recent years elsewhere too.

Witness an Iain Dowie-led Crystal Palace in 2003/04. They were stranded in or around the relegation mire until mid-January before a steady run of results lifted them into mid table.

From which point on, they never looked back, and were crowned play-off winners at the end of the season.

But does Keane have the necessary ammo at his disposal this time out to launch and maintain a promotion challenge?

On paper you'd probably say yes. Just about.

Richard Wright is solid between the sticks, but news this week that he could be out for a few months is a worry. You'd expect a January replacement, if understudy Arran Lee-Barrett is found wanting.

Additions may be required at the back too, but the current defensive quintet of David Wright, Gareth McAuley, Damien Delaney, Alex Bruce and the on-loan Liam Rosenior have enough about them to prove that their leaky start to the season (29 league goals conceded already) has been merely an extended blip.

And there is enough quality in midfield to suggest creativity shouldn't be a problem.

Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter both have Premier League experience, and the former was a mid-season addition to the Sunderland squad Keane led to promotion in 2006/07.

With Owen Garvan back from the wilderness and another player with good Championship pedigree – David Norris – also set to return from injury, there are certainly positive signs for the Blues.

Up-front is more of a concern however.

Jonathan Walters is the club's hot-shot but has netted just five goals this season, while Hungarian forward Tamas Priskin, signed for a fee in excess of £1 million earlier in the year, has failed to settle.

Meanwhile the frustrating Jon Stead, continues to, well, frustrate.

This will surely be the area the fiery Irishman will need to address if he's to work the oracle at Portman Road this term.

It's 25/1 for him to do just that.

He couldn't, could he?

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Why the Championship's champion

2009-12-02T12:00:00Z

Last week, our Championship Correspondent Emyr Price wrote a thought-provoking blog on the nature of England's second tier.

Emyr's point was that The Championship is so open because of widespread mediocrity. He backs up his argument by looking at how teams promoted to the Premier League have, on the whole, struggled.

But this is, I think, slightly missing the point. The Premier League is a very large step above The Championship because the concentration of wealth therein creates massive talent-heavy squads.

For instance, take Manchester United's team on Tuesday night.

Decidedly second-string and therefore described by pundits as wise as the BBC's chief football writer as "kids," it included two players whose transfer fees cost the thick end of £50 million – Dimitar Berbatov and Anderson – plus a host of others who would walk into all bar the best teams, from Vidic to Park to Brown to Neville.

And on the bench sat £16 million Michael Carrick, Zoran Tosic (whose undisclosed fee may end up around the same as Carrick's) and some old blokes called Owen and Giggs. Obviously United are a special case, but their "kids" (sic - Spurs' average age was lower) illustrate the strength in depth of the top squads.

Elevated to this class of competition yet understandably unwilling or unable to spend anything like as much money, promoted clubs are often simply ill-equipped to cope. It's like a rocking bar band being asked to open for Muse at Wembley - without buying a Marshall stack.

None of which means The Championship's anything but a great league. When Colchester got promoted from Division Three a few years back most folks predicted they'd struggle, and they almost made the play-offs. So people predicted more success the following season, and they went down.

Does that make them bad or good? Are we that black and white?

It seems a particularly British thing that we assess unpredictability by denigrating it as widespread weakness rather than an even spread of ability. When the top-flight season started with a glut of goals, pundits moaned about deficient defending.

Only these islands could turn out a pundit like Jim Beglin, who notes every missed chance by blaming the striker and every goal by criticising the defender. Is there nothing to celebrate?

Yes, there are. Open leagues are great things. Imagine how horrible a league would be if the bottom three would be universally predicted to be the three teams freshly promoted. And you knew that, barring a major shock, the top four would remain the same every single season.

Man, that sounds nightmarish.

Gary Parkinson is Editor of FourFourTwo.com

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What's gone wrong at Watford?

2009-12-02T11:30:00Z

Another week, another reminder of how tough it is to stay financially sound for Championship clubs flirting with the big time. FFT.com's Championship Correspondent Emyr Price looks at the worries besieging Watford.

Wind the clock back three years. The world said good riddance to Saddam Hussein and celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday. Take That reformed too. And little ol' Watford were in the Premier League.

Aidy Boothroyd was the man charged with the responsibility of moulding a team capable of promotion from a squad made up of, amongst others, an ex-con (Marlon King).

A back-line boasting an inexperienced Yank plucked from the non-league footballing hotbed of Northwood (Jay De Merit). And recovering alcoholic Clark Carlisle.

Easy-peasy, then.

Boothroyd also had the precocious talents of Ashley Young and Chris Eagles at his disposal, as well as burly front-man Darius Henderson.

A crushing 3-0 play-off final win over Leeds (whatever happened to them?) sent the Hornets into England's top-flight for the first time since the Berlin Wall was operational.

But there was to be no cash bonanza for Boothroyd. Lavish outlays on money-grabbing old pros desperate for one more Premier League swansong would not be sanctioned.

Chairman Graham Simpson had managed to take the club up on bugger-all and was determined to keep them up on not much more.

Or, if you're of an angrier mindset, allow them to come straight back down without offering them sufficient financial backing.

On one level it seems a sensible approach: no reason to invest silly amounts of money in the team if, in the event of relegation, the subsequent debts would be unmanageable.

Sensible until you consider that three years down the line the club is on the verge of administration anyway.

They need to find just over £5 million from somewhere, this side of Christmas, or accept their fate.

But how has all this happened? The answer is by no means clear.

Aside from a few notable arrivals in the shape of Nathan Ellington, Jobi McAnuff , Danny Shittu and Damien Francis – none of whom are currently on the wage bill – it's been sell, sell, sell at Vicarage Road.

Gone are the likes of Ashley Young, who was staggeringly sold in the middle of the club's Premier League season to Aston Villa for £10 million.

This was the catalyst for other significant exits, including the likes of Tommy Smith and Mike Williamson to Portsmouth (combined fee of £4 million), Tamas Priskin to Ipswich (£2 million), and Darius Henderson to Sheffield United (£2 million).

Hamer Bouazza left for Fulham (£3 million) and the aforementioned McAnuff and Shittu to Reading and Bolton respectively (£4 million combined). That's more departures than Heathrow.

Meanwhile, boardroom unrest hinted at deeper problems.

Following the club's relegation from the Premier League, the Russo brothers – Jimmy and Vicenzo – were 'removed' from the board in mysterious circumstances.

Then in 2008 Graham Simpson resigned.

The Russo brothers are now back, with Jimmy as chairman, and it is their loans that are keeping the club afloat for the time being.

But trying to understand just where it's all gone so horribly wrong is perplexing.

Up until this season the club have enjoyed parachute payments from the Premier League, and have accrued at least £25 million from player sales.

Even though there have been some outlays for additions to the squad, a view from the outside in offers little clue as to why exactly the outfit still known to many as "Elton John's club" are on the verge of going bust.

Anyone?

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Level-pegging league no picnic for the punters

2009-11-27T16:00:00Z

With just over a third of the season gone, once again The Championship appears tighter than the proverbial duck's *rse. This of course is nothing new. But what does it say about the division itself? Emyr Price dissects England's second tier.

Not since Reading's runaway success in the 2005/06 campaign has a team taken a stranglehold in the division that is widely regarded as the most competitive outside of the Premier League.

A quick glance at this season's league standings show that just 10 points separate the entire top 10.

Yes, in just four games' time the side who currently occupy 10th position – Bristol City – could be top of the table.

OK, this is rather unlikely.

But not because City aren't good enough to win their next four games, or indeed Newcastle too good to lose their next four.

Or that every single result needed for this scenario could go The Robins' way.

Rather it's because the reality of life in the Championship is that there is no 'Big Four' or relegation certainties.

Or even a handful of teams you could confidently label as likely to finish in mid-table obscurity.

No. The reality is that everyone in the division is capable of beating one another week in week out. And this is what tends to happen.

It's a betting man's nightmare, and one reason why I take evasive action when I'm marking my weekend coupon.

So then, an embarrassment of riches or just in-depth mediocrity?

Well, looking at how recently promoted teams have fared in the promised land of the Premier League might offer some clues as how to best answer this question.

Of the 11 teams promoted between 2004 and 2008 (Sunderland have managed it on two separate occasions), seven have returned to the Championship at one point or another in the same time period.

And of the four who haven't tasted the bitter pill of demotion – Wigan, West Ham, Hull and Stoke – well you'd be hard pressed to describe either of them as Premier League mainstays.

Not even Upton Park has been free from relegation worry in recent times.

What for the current crop then?

Newcastle lead the way, and they'd be a good bet to go up and stay up. West Brom have been up and come back down in the past. Blame the frugal board I say.

Cardiff? Unlikely survivors. Blackpool? Nah. Leicester? Possibly. QPR? Yes!

Bristol City, Nottingham Forest and Swansea? Forget it.

Middlesbrough (currently 11th) – maybe, at a push.

So that's two teams out of the current top 10 who, once promoted, have realistic ambitions of plying their trade in the top-flight for the foreseeable future.

The fact that one of these two could stand toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the big spenders prize ring is hardly surprising.

And the rest? It just might be that the majority of teams in the Championship have found their true level.

Yes, they are one promotion away from the Premier League dream, but the reality is that the gap is unbridgeable for most, and it shows no signs of narrowing.

So that's settled then: A division that is by and large utter sh*te, with one or two notable exceptions.

Simple.

Brilliant. Right, I'm off to the bookies.

What the Ferg is going on at Peterborough?

2009-11-13T10:30:00Z

FFT.com's Championship correspondent Emyr Price looks at a Hull of a weird week...

Strange goings-on at London Road this week.

Attempting to untangle the logic of just what's happened over the course of a turbulent few days for the Posh can become a bit confusing, but here goes.

OK, so Darren Ferguson has left the club. That's clear. But why?

Two seasons, two successive promotions. Yes, they spent a bit of cash, and yes, they are currently bottom of the Championship, but it's not as if they have been cast adrift.

In two games' time they could be out of the relegation zone altogether.

It's now emerged that he has been sacked – although the official line is 'mutual consent'.

But this wasn't made clear straight away either. In fact, the club did its best to avoid making an announcement on his departure. It was almost as if they were ashamed to announce they had given him the boot initially.

Three days after Saturday's defeat to Newcastle, and still no official confirmation. A little bizarre.

Throw in the was-he-wasn't-he tapped up row – Barry Fry says so, the man himself insists not – and it's all a bit of a mess.

Yet the men who rarely get things wrong, the bookies, have Ferguson priced at 2/1 on to be Hull City's next manager.

Even this seems a little unusual. But it might be what was meant to happen after all.

Imagine this set of events (what follows over the next few paragraphs is entirely hypothetical - The Lawyers).

Hull's new chairman Adam Pearson rings Ferguson and says "Come and work for us." Ferguson agrees. Peterborough find out. They sack him, but then refuse to confirm it for a few days.

Meanwhile, Pearson has publicly (if somewhat equivocally) backed current Tigers' boss Phil Brown; Hull's win against Stoke means he can't oust the headpiece-wearing smoothie, or he'll look like a bit of a fool.

So, as Pearson waits patiently for Hull to lose another game (still hypothetically - Nervous Lawyers) – disastrously timed given the international break – so he can confirm the Scotsman's appointment, Barry Fry comes out and says Ferguson has been tapped up.

And this before the club makes any official confirmation regarding his departure.

Ferguson, in limbo now that he isn't in the Hull hot seat as expected, flatly denies he's been contacted by Hull, or anyone else.

A load of old posh? Watch this space.

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Tale of two Shrimpers for the Bulls and the Bees

2009-04-29T13:00:00Z

FFT.com's Gregg Davies on contrasting campaigns for Brentford and Hereford...

What a difference a year makes.

Saturday April 26 2008 will live long in the memory for Hereford United. And it can now also be recalled as a significant date for newly-crowned League Two champions Brentford.

Griffin Park was the setting for the Bulls’ 3-0 success on the penultimate weekend of last season, sealing an automatic passage to League One and a second promotion in three years.

But while the 1,500-strong travelling support danced around the west London playing surface, the home side’s boss Andy Scott was busy delivering a message of intent to his beaten Bees.

“I left the door open in our changing room so they could hear Hereford celebrating,” Scott said 12 months ago.

“I hate people celebrating on my patch. It is not good. I don’t want it to happen again. But I think we can reflect on their celebrations at some stage next season and it will trigger things in the mind that we want it to be us. We will use it to our advantage."

Use it to their advantage they did. And how.

Poetically, exactly one year on – last Saturday – it was Brentford’s turn to celebrate promotion, as 1,500 Bees fans went to Darlington to witness their side seal top spot in League Two.

Sharpshooter: Charlie MacDonald

Not the worst of starts to a managerial career for 36-year-old Scott, who only took over on a permanent basis in January 2008 after Terry Butcher left the club just four points above the relegation zone.

And having inspired the team to a mid-table finish with eight wins and three draws in his first 12 games in charge, the former Bees striker signed a five-year contract last summer and set about steering his side steadily up the fourth-tier standings.

The Londoners will now swap places with Hereford, following the Bulls’ immediate demotion back from whence they came.

And for both clubs, 2008/09 has proved a tale of two Southend strikers.

Brentford bagged their Shrimper, former Crawley and Gravesend talisman Charlie MacDonald hitting 16 league goals before succumbing to a shoulder injury.

However, Hereford missed out on their Southend target, Gary Hooper. Having guided the Bulls to promotion last year with 11 strikes in 19 outings on loan from Roots Hall, the former Grays marksman was pinched by Scunthorpe for £175,000.

The Bulls had no ‘Plan B’. And as they have struggled to find the back of the net in a new division – with just 42 goals scored in 45 games one of the key factors behind their demise – Hooper has helped himself to 30 in his first season with the Iron.

Brentford themselves have been the beneficiaries of loanees’ goals this campaign as their promotion push gathered pace.

With MacDonald out and fellow front-man Nathan Elder also sidelined, Ipswich starlet Billy Clarke arrived on cue to net five goals in seven appearances, including a brace in the title-winning triumph at Darlington.

And another Tractor Boy, Jordan Rhodes, ensured Scott’s side maintained their mid-season surge, arriving in January and adding another seven to the cause before he also pulled up lame, suffering metatarsal misery.

With a wealth of striking talent at his disposal in 2008/09, Scott will do well to hang on to as many of them as possible as he prepares the Bees for a return to League One.

Maybe then they will ensure they do not suffer the same fate as Hooper-less Hereford.

The one that got away: Gary Hooper

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Stunning strikes, keeper c**k-ups & a slaloming streaker

2009-01-20T15:00:00Z

FFT.com's Gregg Davies casts an eye over the weekend just gone...

Kaka? £100 million? No no, we’ll have none of that poppycock in the Football League.

No need, when there’s the likes of Joe Ledley scoring peaches like this for Cardiff against fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Birmingham.

The sweetest of left-footed volleys from the Welshman – who's being linked with a £5m move to West Ham or Stoke this month – wasn't all that dissimilar to his Wembley wonder-strike which beat Barnsley in last season's FA Cup semi-final.

And like at Wembley, the goal would deservedly have been enough to secure victory for Dave Jones’ side had it not been for that pesky Lee Bowyer – on loan from the Hammers – cracking home an equaliser deep into added time at St. Andrews.

The romantics among us were saddened by the lack of a triumphant debut for new Derby manager Nigel Clough. Instead, QPR profited from two slapstick pieces of first-half defending at Pride Park.

Another new incumbent fared better at Carrow Road, where Norwich battered Barnsley. Canaries legend Bryan Gunn, the man overseeing affairs as caretaker manager, is clearly a natural at the half-time team-talk malarkey, what with his charges planting four into the Tykes’ onion bag after the break.

Gunn: Been there, done that

Saturday’s ‘Relieved Goalkeeper of the Day Award’ went to Bristol City’s Adriano Basso following the Robins’ 2-2 draw with Wolves at Ashton Gate.

After 54 minutes the ex-Woking stopper was desperately seeking a hole to leap into, having seen a fluffed kick end up in his own net via Matt Jarvis – and this after the Brazilian glove-man had completely missed Michael Kightly’s cross, with Neill Collins mopping up from close range.

But Basso redeemed himself admirably soon after, denying Sylvain Ebanks-Blake with a flying one-handed stop. And it proved the catalyst for City’s revival, as Dele Adebola and Nicky Maynard netted to rescue a point for last season’s play-off finalists.

League 1's finest comeback came at Carlisle (with a shout out to bottom side Crewe, who twice came from behind to beat Scunthorpe 3-2). Trailing 2-0 to second-placed MK Dons at half-time, the Cumbrians came out all guns blazing and triumphed 3-2 with Joe Anyinsah hogging the glory after his effort deflected up and over despairing Dons keeper Willy Gueret.

However, the division's remarkable result came at Edgar Street.

Second-bottom Hereford, the division's lowest scorers, had been battered 4-0 by Oldham at Boundary Park back in October in a performance described by the Bulls' manager, chairman, director of football and all round head honcho Graham Turner as “amongst the worst performances that I can remember in a long time."

So a whiff of revenge was in the air as his side rattled four past the Latics by half-time, adding a fifth for good measure after the break.

Edgar Street became the 91st of the current 92 league grounds graced by Oldham loanee Dean Windass, according to the wily old fella himself.

And although he won’t be keen to set foot on Hereford’s hallowed turf again, it won’t be one the soon-to-be-40-year-old forgets in a hurry.

That’s because of the portly streaker who galloped the full length of the pitch towards the end of proceedings, slaloming his way past a string of stewards before being brought down in front of the travelling Athletic fans, who finally had something to cheer about.

Edgar Street (portly invader not pictured)

Down in the basement division, Darlington also found the net four times in the opening half against Luton, eventually winning 5-1 to propel them in to the automatic promotion places.

At the other end, Grimsby would be propping up the Football League were it not for the points deductions dished out to Bournemouth and Luton.

Having won just two of their previous 23 league outings, Town traipsed to table-topping Wycombe, seven clear of the rest having tasted defeat just once all season.

So you know what’s coming: One-nil to the Mariners, courtesy of one swing of Nathan Jarman’s right boot as he connected first-time with a left-wing cross. Wallop!

But we end on a sour note (or an amusing one, depending whether you’re a Brentford fan).

Bees striker Nathan Elder returned to the starting line-up against Notts County on Saturday after serving a three-match ban for a sending off at Gillingham before Christmas.

His comeback lasted just eight minutes, being discharged again – perhaps rather harshly on closer inspection – for leading with his arm in an aerial challenge.

The referee who sent him off this time? Stuart Attwell. Yes, him.

Calling all fans! Rate your players' performances at the weekend by visiting Talentspotter

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Camera carnage, sextuplets and train travel trauma

2008-11-25T11:00:00Z

FFT.com’s Gregg Davies casts his eye over a few of the ups and downs from the weekend’s Football League action…

I’d imagine it’s a tough old job being a sports photographer, particularly a football one.

There you are, sat on a little stool – or worse, just crouching – for 90 minutes, snuggled up to the advertising hoardings while competing with several other snappers to get the best shot in the following morning’s rags.

So you could appreciate the chagrin of one camera-wielder at Deepdale on Saturday, as Preston’s Richard Chaplow slid in to edge the hosts ahead against Barnsley.

As the former West Bromwich Albion man was coolly slotting the ball home, one photographer to the side of goal was still busy picking him/herself up off their backside.

Tykes defender Dennis Souza had been attempting to safely shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick, but evidently wasn’t strong enough for Steven Gerrard lookalike and ex-Liverpool striker Neil Mellor, who promptly barged Souza into the oncoming barrier of snappers before smartly squaring the ball for his team-mate to convert.

"Blimey. I can see right up that woman's ..."

Hopefully he/she emerged unscathed and quickly hot-footed it to the opposite end of the ground, where both the afternoon’s other goals were scored as Preston triumphed 2-1.

Thankfully, there were no photographer-related incidents at Plymouth’s Home Park, where Paul Sturrock’s men did what few other teams this season have done (just three in fact) and take all three points off Cardiff.

Former Manchester City striker Emile Mpenza got among the goals for the second time in as many home games – he'd scored with his first touch after coming on as an injury-time substitute in the 2-2 draw with Charlton – to keep the Pilgrims within touching distance of the play-offs and further support manager Sturrock’s decision to bring in the journeyman striker having tracked him for most of his career.

Down a division to League 1 and at Bristol Rovers and Hereford referees continued to cover themselves in the brown stuff.

At the Memorial Stadium, FourFourTwo-sponsored – and managerless – Swindon were seconds away from a morale-boosting West Country derby win against the Pirates until Chris Lines popped up with a 20-yarder.

Naturally, what with this being a notoriously intense fixture between two sides whose stadiums are just 40 miles apart, Lines ran towards the delirious supporters, hugged one or two, and was then engulfed by his hyperactive team-mates.

Celebrations too far, though, for referee Keith Stroud – a man who’s clearly never scored a goal, let alone a last-minute one to rescue a point for his side – who promptly showed Lines his second yellow of the afternoon.

Stroud: "There'll be no celebrating goals while I'm in town..."

Refereeing grievances of a different kind took place at Hereford’s Edgar Street, as the Bulls failed to clamber out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 reverse against Northampton.

For the second time in as many games, having been blown up for the same offence in an FA Cup First Round replay at Dagenham & Redbridge four days earlier, the Bulls were penalised for offside... from a throw-in.

“I've never experienced that in my career and I've experienced it twice in five days now,” uttered perplexed Bulls skipper Karl Broadhurst.

"Officials have a hard job, everyone knows that. They are no one's friends. Players are taught to respect the officials. But sometimes they've got to be put under a bit of pressure because we've had two sets of officials in two games now which were awful.

"Today they were not as bad as Tuesday but Tuesday was ridiculous. The lads likened it to a PE teacher who didn't know the rules.”

The old adage about ‘luck deserting those down the bottom’ certainly rang true for Northampton’s second goal. Hereford full-back Richard Jackson attempted to smash the ball clear but only succeeded in directing it into skipper Broadhurst’s face, allowing Ryan Gilligan to net while Broadhurst was still counting his teeth.

It’s to Hereford’s FA Cup conquerors Dagenham & Redbridge where we go first in League 2, as for the third time in 2008 John Still’s side smacked in six goals at Victoria Road – or the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium, depending on your persuasion.

Incidentally, Chester were the other team to concede six in east London this year… twice!

Strevens: On target in all three of the Daggers' six-goal hauls

The Daggers escaped relegation straight back to the Conference by the skin of their teeth last season. But they are having no such worries so far this term as Notts County were sent back to Meadow Lane with their tails well and truly between their legs, just a week after they had a pleasant afternoon in London thrashing Barnet 4-0. Funny old game, etc.

Although County fans will, on reflection, have wished they hadn’t bothered travelling to Dagenham, at least they arrived in time for kick-off, something that couldn't be said for a desperately unlucky band of Bournemouth fans.

Gate figures tell us that 84 Cherries made it to Blundell Park to see their side come back from 3-1 down to dramatically draw 3-3 with Grimsby on a cold, miserable Friday night by the sea.

However, countless others missed the late drama – and the 89 minutes that had preceded it – after getting stranded in Doncaster with all train routes to Grimsby blocked by trees falling on the lines.

Comrades, we salute you!

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Messi's mate at Macclesfield & travel turmoil for Brighton

2008-11-12T14:00:00Z

From the Hartlepool Mail to the Exeter Express & Echo, Up the Football League we go scribe Mike Holden rounds up the big stories being reported in the local newspapers of lower league clubs...

The big story coming out of the basement this week is the news that Macclesfield have signed Lionel Messi.

Oh no, hang on a minute, they haven’t. They’ve actually signed Lionel Messi’s mate, a defender who goes by the name of Joaquin Medinilla-Cabotti.

The Macclesfield Express reports that Medinilla-Cabotti (remember the name) is expected to get his first run-out in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Crewe, although they can’t actually supply us with any information about his age or pedigree at this moment.

"You've got yourselves one hell of a player there Macclesfield..."

In fact, we don’t actually know much about him other than the fact he’s top muckers with both Messi and Manchester City full-back Pablo Zabaleta, which at least goes to show us his versatility in appreciating both sides of Argentinean football.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, he has previously played alongside Esteban Cambiasso and Diego Milito, although we’re not quite sure how long ago.

A quick look at their profiles on Wikipedia (for some reason, Medinilla-Cabotti isn’t listed yet) tells us he’s probably 28 or 29 years old and hails from Buenos Aires but it’s unlikely that he’s appeared with either player in the last decade.

All of which begs the question: how on earth do we know all of this personal information before he’s even kicked a ball?

Either the Macclesfield Express boasts one very intrepid reporter and a massive budget for expenses or some random South American has been name-dropping a little too readily.

By the way, if Keith Alexander happens to be reading this, he might also be interested to know that there’s a midfield dynamo currently blogging on FourFourTwo.com who once played with Jonathan Macken and is quite good friends with Matty McNeil, the former casino croupier (now at Stockport) who helped keep the Silkmen out of the Conference a few years back and provided the assist for John Murphy’s equaliser at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup.

Oh yeah, and he went to school with Darren Campbell, so he’s not short of pace either.

Elsewhere, The Argus is bleating on behalf of Micky Adams about a punishing pre-Christmas fixture schedule facing Brighton.

The Seagulls will clock up at least 3,000 miles in the next five weeks starting with Saturday’s trek to Carlisle, which will then be followed by an FA Cup replay at Hartlepool three days later and further trips to Oldham, Stockport and Tranmere.

And if that isn’t enough, success at Victoria Park next week will mean a second round clash at Leiston or Fleetwood, while their reward for progress in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (should they beat Swindon on Wednesday night) is another away game at Shrewsbury.

Adams: "Sh%t... I've forgotten my flippin' toothbrush"

Unfortunately for Adams, it also sounds like he blew a decent-sized hole in the travel budget by booking flights to this weekend’s game, even though he probably now realises the squad could walk to Cumbria and still take three points given the state Carlisle are in at the moment.

So that leaves the possibility of approximately 60 hours spent travelling by coach in the space of a month.

Now let’s see how quick the players squeal about turning out at the Withdean when they’ve completed that!

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The riches of lower league rags

2008-11-07T11:00:00Z

From the Hartlepool Mail to the Exeter Express & Echo, Up the Football League we go scribe Mike Holden rounds up the big stories being reported in the local newspapers of lower league clubs...

The biggest scandal in the basement over the past seven days is the news that Chester striker Paul Taylor has tested positive for drug use.

The 21-year-old former Manchester City trainee was at the Deva Stadium on a six-month loan deal from Vauxhall Motors but now faces a lengthy ban from the game after providing a wrong ‘un to FA officials at the club’s training ground on October 6.

Taylor’s future with the Blues was already in doubt after he failed to board the coach to Gillingham a few weeks back, which was his third ‘no show’ of the season.

Brought your boots son? Taylor's gone AWOL again...

It’s always sad to see a young footballer go off the rails in this way with such a promising career ahead of him but it’s a situation that also presents a bit of a dilemma: do you try throw the book at the lad or try to show a bit of compassion and rehabilitate him?

I guess we’d all react in different ways, although managing director Bob Gray left us in no doubt about the club’s stance on the matter.

“We’ve given him more chances than a dog on a Monopoly board,” quipped Gray in an official statement to the Chester Chronicle, proving that no situation can ever be too delicate for a decent one-liner.

Reports that Frankie Boyle is set to take over as the club’s head of youth development are, as yet, unconfirmed.

Elsewhere, Morecambe goalkeeper Barry Roche was keen to explain in the Lancashire Evening Post how persistent hard work can pay dividends following his weekend penalty heroics against Aldershot.

Roche denied striker John Grant from 12 yards just before half-time, which proved to be the catalyst for a rare Shrimps victory, and he then revealed how the moment had been reward for all his graft behind closed doors.

“I watch videos of every penalty in this league on a Monday night," he said. "I’ve got a big list at home that I study. I knew Aldershot’s regular taker wasn’t in their line-up, so John Grant was taking the spot kicks.”

Bazza putting his Monday night homework to good use

And what exactly had he picked up about Grant’s technique?

“Well, I’d never seen Grant take a penalty, so it was pure guesswork. I got lucky I guess.”

Meanwhile, it was also a good weekend for the legend otherwise known as Peter Jackson.

The Lincoln boss still has unresolved contract issues with the Sincil Bank club but he appears to have struck upon a unique strategy for taking his undoubted managerial talent to the highest possible level.

It started with a surprise defeat at home to Port Vale on Saturday, ending an eight-match unbeaten run for the Imps.

Step aside Fergie... Man United here I come

He explained the secret to the Lincolnshire Echo only last week: “Look at Bondy [Kevin Bond], he gets sacked at Bournemouth and gets the assistant manager’s job at Tottenham. Terry Butcher gets sacked at Brentford and ends up being assistant manager for Scotland. So it just goes to prove how this division breeds good managers!”

Next up for Jacko is an FA Cup banana skin at Kettering, so he should be expecting a call from Sir Alex Ferguson any day soon.

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Championship sack race a marathon not a sprint

2008-10-23T14:00:00Z

An out-of-pocket Mike Holden is dying for someone, anyone, to be given the heave-ho...

It’s nearly November, we’re a dozen games into the Championship season and still nobody has been sacked. What the hell is going on?

This isn’t what I had in mind when I started throwing a few hundred quid around on a handful of sack-race contenders at the start of the campaign. If I had any inkling I’d be waiting more than a couple of weeks, I wouldn’t have bothered.

The problem is, the longer this climate of managerial stability continues alongside the current economic climate of instability, the more I feel guilty.

Now I have become what Chinese gamblers refer to as a ‘gravedigger’ - somebody who tries to make a profit out of others’ misfortune.

I don’t want to be willing people out of work but the simple truth is I am.

FFT's Mike Holden can't wait much longer...

I thought it would be all over within a couple of weeks. Five straight defeats somewhere. Manager gets the bullet. I collect my winnings, and walk out of the bookies like it was any other race involving 24 runners.

But now it’s getting far too personal.

I find myself taking glee out of reports of fans getting restless, teams being booed off the field, rumours surfacing in the local press of dressing room unrest and gaffers starting to behave irrationally, blowing their top with referees because they are starting to feel the pressure.

Oh yes, you might well pour scorn, up there on your moral high ground, but I bet you still want to know who I’ve backed, don’t you?

Well, seeing as you ask so nicely, there’s any one of three managers I want out, which kind of makes me feel a little better, because in that respect it’s not personal, if you see where I’m coming from.

My first investment was Alan Pardew at 10/1. Not because I think Pardew is a bad manager – quite the opposite, I think he’s brilliant – but because there’s a really negative atmosphere around the Valley at the moment.

"I ain't going nowhere Holden..."

Unfortunately, it seems Charlton fans have picked up that common personality disorder known as acute impatience.

They have been spoilt by a decade of overachievement, so now they’re no longer prepared to play the long game and wait for Pardew to get it right, conveniently forgetting they were garbage for six years until Alan Curbishley suddenly struck upon the right formula one day in 1997.

Meanwhile, another manager who has become a target for the boo boys is Aidy Boothroyd at Watford, who I have also backed for the first eviction at 12/1.

To be honest, I don’t think Watford would dare sack Boothroyd because they suspect, quite rightly, that he is far better at working on a shoestring budget than any other manager they could attract from outside the club.

"£5?! Who am I supposed to bring in with that!?"

However, recent reports would indicate that Boothroyd himself is getting restless at Vicarage Road, with comments from chairman Graham Simpson leading us to believe he was jumping into bed with Elton John (metaphorically speaking, of course) in order to get the message out that he’s not happy with his lot.

However, if the Watford board have complete faith in Boothroyd’s managerial ability, that’s not necessarily the case with my third and final runner, Kevin Blackwell at Sheffield United. Although I must admit this bet was always going to be a long shot at 33/1.

That said, things might get interesting if Sunday’s defeat in the Steel City derby leads to a poor run of results, because the Bramall Lane board hardly went out on a limb to let the world know he was their undisputed number-one choice for the job midway through last season.

"Did you say 33/1? Hmm..."

Blackwell was given the job on a temporary trial basis during which he excelled, albeit at a time when it was difficult not to, coming in to clean up the mess left behind by the woeful Bryan Robson.

So like one of those ‘dead celebrity sweepstakes’ that have become all the rage nowadays, that’s my portfolio of shame.

Now will someone get a move on and pull the bloody trigger!

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Madeley unmasked as Huddersfield's head honcho

2008-10-17T08:00:00Z

Mike Holden has sussed out who Huddersfield’s new chairman really is.

The man destined to take the Terriers into a bright new era might go by the name of Dean Hoyle but I can actually confirm he’s Richard Madeley, the bumbling TV presenter who makes up one-half of the Richard & Judy double act.

And how exactly have I managed to blow his cover? Well, it was easy really.

You only had to stop and think for a moment about his comments regarding manager Stan Ternent earlier this week to realise he couldn’t possibly be anyone else.

Those of you who are seasoned daytime TV viewers will be well aware of Madeley’s incompetence in a delicate situation.

I remember those moments well...

You would be sat there in your living room – perhaps innocently forgetting to attend a lecture on how to produce a serious, honest and well-balanced piece of journalism – when along comes a feature on This Morning about women whose lives have been ruined by husbands who were bigamists or kerb crawlers.

Instantly, you would always think to yourself: “Go on Richard, say the worst possible thing you could ever think to say to somebody in that situation!”

Not once did he ever disappoint.

"Can you find out how Town are getting on with that thing..."

Now it seems even Madeley (or Hoyle, as he insists on being called) has surpassed himself by likening under-fire Ternent to his nemesis and former Town legend Neil Warnock.

For those unschooled in the long-running feud between the two managers, it basically boils down to a sequence of events that started about a decade ago and culminated with a brawl at Bramall Lane in April 2001.

It’s a hostility that rankles Ternent so much he dedicated a fair chunk of his autobiography to the subject, the highlight of which documents when Warnock allegedly sent a spy to listen in on a half-time team-talk that Stan the Man was giving as Burnley boss.

As Ternent himself so eloquently puts it: “At half-time we were one goal down and as I was asking how much my players wanted it, I thought I heard a noise on the other side of an emergency door.

"I motioned for them to keep quiet and launched myself into a two-footed kung-fu kick against the door. It exploded outwards and I saw a figure scurry away.

"I then took one of my players to see the referee and heard a voice behind me say: 'Come off it Stan - you are always at it.'

"I turned to see Warnock's No.2 Kevin Blackwell and I shouted, 'Let's have it now.' I ran up, smacked him in the face and nutted him for good measure. He hit me back and my nose ruptured. I jumped on him and we fell to the floor shoving the door to the referee's room wide open.

"Stewards and United staff pounced on my back and eventually dragged me away. I'd given him a few cracks and a couple of follow-ups.

"I've had a friendly beer with Blackwell since, but I won't look Warnock in the face. I cannot abide the man."

"Come down Kevin, I know you're hiding up there..."

Anyway, that was then and, thankfully, their paths have rarely ever crossed since because while Warnock has been chasing the Premier League dream with Crystal Palace, Ternent has spent most of the last four years out of work.

But now he’s back and having a tough time of it.

As ever, he’s making plenty of enemies on his mission to show everyone who’s boss at the Galpharm but once again failing to get the good-cop, bad-cop balance quite right. Worst-nightmare-cop is how I believe the Huddersfield players refer to him.

Needless to say, the Terriers have won only four of their opening 13 matches and the fans have slowly been starting to get pretty miffed about it all.

So Madeley (sorry, Hoyle) has leapt to Ternent’s defence this week drawing comparisons with Warnock’s achievements 15 years ago when he turned things around at the club following a difficult start and eventually went on to win promotion.

One can only imagine what went through Ternent’s mind when he heard that, or what didn’t once you removed the expletives.

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Footwear farce at Ice Station Zebra

2008-10-16T12:30:00Z

FFT.com's Gregg Davies suffers more away-day misery

Swindon fans think they’ve had it rough in recent weeks. The former Premier League outfit suffered their fifth consecutive home defeat last weekend – a result that leaves the FourFourTwo-sponsored side 19th in League 1, with the sighting of Ian Holloway watching from the stands sparking rumours aplenty that he’s poised to replace Maurice Malpas.

However, compared to some, Robins fans have got it easy.

For a start, they don’t have to go far to watch their team lose – they can be in their local pub dissecting the defeat within minutes of booing the team off. And Town still sit four points and five places above my rock-bottom rabble, Hereford.

Sunday brought the latest instalment of yours truly ambling about the country to watch the Bulls get beat, with Oldham the setting for United’s latest defeat on the road. That’s now six out of six this season. And Boundary Park’s a very long way away, particularly when you have to hitch a lift to Birmingham to get home because it’s Sunday and the trains aren’t allowed out to play.

"No, he can't come out, he's having a bath"

Like the fellow former top-flight members Swindon, the Latics must look back longingly at the time they rubbed shoulders with English football’s big hitters in the early-’90s. In Oldham’s case they twice came agonisingly close to an FA Cup final appearance at Manchester United’s expense, in 1990 and 1994.

But John Sheridan’s side are making a far better fist of attempting to climb another rung back up the league ladder this season. Useful on their travels – they defeated title favourites Leeds at Elland Road – they score goals for fun at home, with Hereford becoming the third team already this season to concede four in a game there.

Despite the fearful reputation of Boundary Park – dubbed ‘Ice Station Zebra’ for its brass monkey-bothering match-day temperatures – I benefited not only from the glorious sunshine on show but all the press hospitality you might expect from a well-run, family-orientated lower league outfit: one Oldham official requested my permission to go and polish off his pre-match cottage pie before dishing out the team-sheets.

"Can anyone smell burning?"

But with pleasantries exchanged and – more importantly – trousers on, following my eventful day out at Roots Hall, I sat back to endure what I feared might happen but hoped wouldn’t: the Bulls passing the ball around crisply but lacking bite in attack and cohesion at the back.

Seven goals from 10 league games tells its own story about the team’s present plight. It doesn’t help when the side’s top scorer, Ghanaian youngster Bradley Hudson-Odoi, has to be replaced after just 30 minutes because he’s ripped his boots and apparently hasn’t brought any back-ups to Boundary Park.

Asked later about the alleged footwear farce, Bulls boss Graham Turner would only utter a terse “No comment,” possibly saving up all his energy on the subject for the player himself.

"Sorry gaffer, thought you said 'Get a fork in boot'"

Still, Hereford’s ‘lucky seventh’ away game of the season takes place at Brighton & Hove Albion this Saturday.

United were also welded to the bottom the last time the two sides met in the league, but the year was 1997 and the teams met at Edgar Street level on points going into the final day of the season knowing that one of them had to fall through the trap-door into non-league football.

A 1-1 draw ensured it was Hereford who gave way on the goals-scored rule. And while Brighton regrouped and went on to scale the heights of the Championship, it took the Bulls nine years to haul themselves back into the Football League, flirting with financial ruin en route.

Regardless of league positions, this is one to savour for the more battle-hardened United fan and manager Graham Turner – still at the Hereford helm after suffering the ignominy of relegation 11 years ago. It’s a reunion that’s been a long time coming, and thankfully it’s taking place courtesy of the Bulls rescaling the divisions, rather than the Seagulls also plummeting south.

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Madcap Mad Dog relishing Cheltenham challenge

2008-10-02T12:00:00Z

Mike Holden explains why he's a happy man now Martin Allen is back on the managerial map...

"There has yet to be a dull moment in the fortnight that has passed since Martin Allen took over as Cheltenham Town manager," reported the Gloucestershire Echo on Monday, without a trace of inevitability.

Meanwhile, the following day, chairman Paul Baker described the first couple of weeks of Allen’s tenure at Whaddon Road as "exciting and enlivening" before enquiring as to why so many reporters had turned up to a random Tuesday afternoon press conference.

For those of us who have followed Mad Dog’s career with a keen interest ever since he started taking his clothes off and jumping in stone-cold rivers as a means of motivating players before big matches, the world is a happier place once again.

Back in the game: Allen takes up the Whaddon Road hot-seat

Now we can look forward to an endless stream of yet more madcap man-management techniques and bizarre anecdotes or analogies in post-match interviews.

Anyone who harboured slight concerns that the eccentric side of Allen’s character might be suppressed following his sacking at Leicester didn’t need to worry for long.

In his first interview as Cheltenham boss, he treated one radio station to a potted history of his childhood, painting walls and sweeping stands at Whaddon Road when his late father was the manager of the Robins in the 1970s.

It was an account so wrapped up in nostalgia, you half-expected the station to start playing the second movement from Dvorak’s New World Symphony in the background – a tune which, I’m reliably informed, later became quite popular on an advert for Hovis bread.

Anyway, that was just for starters. He wasn’t even trying to be wacky in that instance.

No, the first real taste of Mad Dog came at the club’s training base in Swindon Village when he came up with the novel idea of a ‘speed dating’ session between the players and his backroom staff.

So everybody got a minute of intimacy in each other’s company to explain their roles within the club and ask the usual questions, like:

Which clubs have you played for in the past?

What on earth are we supposed to be doing?

Do you think we should take this seriously, he strikes me as a bit of a loon?

Jesus, what’s he like when he’s angry?

Anyway, apparently, it went down a storm.

“It was a good experience and I’m hoping to do this on a regular basis so there’s not a feeling of ‘them and us’ at the training ground,” said Allen, with a squad of 23 players and eight coaching staff nodding appreciatively in the background.

But then I guess that’s what makes Mad Dog such a special character because he can suggest pretty much anything in the world and his players, staff, even opponents will just go along with it because they’re never quite sure of the consequences when you say ‘No’.

"You don't want to see me when I'm angry..."

Part of me thinks Martin Allen is just a geek who doesn’t realise he has this reputation of being an absolute nutter. He just goes through life suggesting all these outlandish ideas, wondering how magnificent it is that the human race is so co-operative.

Then the other part of me thinks that one person – just once – got on the wrong side of him and the story is just so gruesome that people dare not relay the details for fear of what happens to a ‘grass’.

In which case, I didn’t just call him a geek.

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Respect will only go so far for refs and bosses

2008-09-23T11:04:00Z

An impatient Mike Holden warns against giving too much respect to opponents... including officials

The FA’s ‘Respect’ campaign was going rather well until the weekend.

OK, so the Football League season might have been less than an hour old when the first coach was sent to the stands. And gaffers might be getting their marching orders at a pretty noticeable rate, while the majority of post-match press conferences do contain some reference to the dubious decisions of match officials.

But, generally speaking, I think some bridges have been built. For example, I have yet to come across a single insult directed at a referee. Nobody has yet been referred to as a clown, a comedian, a cheat, or anything else beginning with C.

Indeed, it seems Football League managers have undergone a bit of a metamorphosis. If last season beaten managers approached the media with all the honourable intentions of Bernard Manning, this term they appear to have become the real-life equivalent of John Thomson’s alter-ego Bernard Right-On.

Right-On: "My mother-in-law... she's lovely"

The campaign began without too much direct criticism of individual officials; any grievances aired tended to be in reference to standards in general. So “the referee had a nightmare” was being cleverly disguised within phrases like “it’s early days yet but we’d expect the standard of refereeing to improve as the season progresses.” Diplomacy was definitely the name of the game in those first few weeks.

Then, inevitably, results started to get a grip, people’s jobs were on the line and things started to get personal. But still managers were trying desperately to employ a more subtle tack, the preferred method being to patronise any official who was deemed to have cost them valuable points.

So what was once the customary post-match summary along the lines of “the referee was clueless, he completely lost control, he’s not good enough for this level...” had now become “the referee might want to look at his own performance and ask himself could he have done better. If he does, I think he’ll be disappointed.”

"R.E.S.P.E.C.T., find out what it means to me"

However, something tells me the floodgates are about to open. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that all this pretence is already festering beneath the skin of those men who have shown admirable restraint by their own standards so far.

For me, the incident at Vicarage Road on Saturday will provide the tipping point. Suddenly now the managers have a ready-made example of outstanding incompetence to call an end to the peace process. I can almost sense the relief as they watch the incident back on television and sigh: “Well, we gave it our best shot – but how can you possibly respect these idiots?”

Indeed, if I was a certain Irish bookmaker who increasingly likes to be referred to as ‘a certain Irish bookmaker’ on breaking news stories, I’d be taking bets on which manager is the first to utter the words "He’s no better than that muppet at Watford last week".

Because let’s not be under any illusions, the last few weeks have been killing these managers. They’ve been biting their tongues until they bleed, all under some misguided moral sense of duty because our Sunday league pitches have become a breeding ground for ASBOs.

"Fingers on lips, children"

Don’t get me wrong, I realise players have a duty as role models to kids and their behaviour on the pitch seriously needs to be improved. But let’s not gag the gaffers. I want hear them letting rip at every opportunity. Football just isn’t the same without the after-match inquest turning into a pantomime of anger-mismanagement.

So, presuming my suspicions are correct, the only question that remains to be answered is: who will break first? Which manager will be unable to contain his vitriol any longer? Well, fourth from bottom, only five points from seven games, and a tense local derby lurking on the horizon... my money’s definitely on Neil Warnock!

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No ticket, no trousers, no points...

2008-09-16T13:30:00Z

A downbeat Gregg Davies recalls an eventful weekend watching his beloved Bulls...

Saturday meant Southend and a trip to report on Hereford as the quest continued for a first point on their League 1 travels.

It was my first visit to the snug surroundings of Roots Hall, and a welcome change to a similar trip little more than two years ago to watch the Bulls play, not the Shrimpers, but Conference outfit Canvey Island. Compared to that, third-tier status is veritable nosebleed territory.

Roots Hall: One of a dying breed of 'proper' grounds

All appeared fine and dandy en route to the seaside, with the added bonus of an entertaining taxi ride from train station to ground, as the Spurs-supporting cabbie mixed radio commentary on Liverpool-Man United with a verbal tongue-lashing on the transfers of Robbie Keane and, in particular, Dimitar Berbatov.

And, of course, how he would have conducted himself had he found himself in similar shoes considering that once upon a time he had been a “pretty decent footballer, I’ll have you know.”

But that chat was as enjoyable as my afternoon was going to get, as I soon discovered. Queuing for tickets to the press area, I was met with a peremptory “Davies? Never heard of you.” Ah.

Several phone calls and the flashing of an out-of-date press card later, I appeared to have convinced the Southend hierarchy that I wasn’t some chancer hoping to catch a League 1 basement encounter on a freebie. But having cleared the first hurdle, I went crashing into the second.

“Trouble is mate, you’re not allowed to wear jeans in the press box, it’s strictly trousers and shoes only.” Oh.

A faux pas on my part, admittedly, although I felt a little hard done by that my black-as-the-night jeans had failed to pass muster. That’ll learn me.

"You ain't coming in here wearing those..."

I wasn’t expecting what followed, though. “We can lend you some black trousers, if you’d like,” came the generous offer from the man I’d just met.

And in no time at all I found myself being led into a small, unoccupied room being asked to remove my trousers, whilst wondering just how often journalists turn up at Roots Hall donning the wrong type of leg-wear, and whether the Shrimpers have a cupboard specifically reserved for such occurrences, possibly named “Hacks’ Slacks”.

Still, I’m anything but ungrateful for Southend’s handling of the affair. Another club may well have just turned round and said: “You ain’t on the list, pal, so hop it.”

As for the game itself, following the difficulties I encountered just getting into the ground, defeat for the visitors seemed merely a foregone conclusion. And so it proved, Lee Barnard’s strike on the half-hour proving the difference between two unspectacular sides.

Barnard: On target

Southend’s struggles won’t last too long, with newly-acquired ‘experienced veteran’ Dougie Freedman likely to prove a handful for any League 1 defence, as high-flying Carlisle recently found out. In contrast, Hereford’s pleasing passing between the areas failed to work the goalkeeper enough – a recurring theme so far this season.

So, that’s four defeats out of four for the Bulls in front of your intrepid trouser-free reporter. And it’s a trip to Elland Road next. Should I have taken the hint yet?

A stink over Sturrock and a kicking from Claridge

2008-09-09T17:00:00Z

A humbled Mike Holden reflects on a bad day at the office...

Ever had one of those days when you wished you'd never got out of bed?

I'm talking about the sort of day when two or three perturbing incidents happen in quick succession and suddenly you're scared to leave the house for fear of a bus careering towards you the moment you step out of the front door.

Well I had one of those days on Saturday.

It started when I switched on the computer and decided to take a little peak at my opening gambit on FourFourTwo.com to see whether my tongue-in-cheek character assassination of Paul Sturrock had generated any interest amongst other like-minded Football League followers.

Now you might think the phrases ‘tongue-in-cheek' and ‘character assassination' don't really go together - but I obviously thought it was a goer!

"Holden, you don't know what you're talking about"

You see, in my capacity as an obsessive and somewhat geeky gambler, I spend a disproportionate amount of time psychoanalysing the comments and remarks of Football League managers in order to gauge the mood within a dressing room ahead of forthcoming fixtures. And Luggy is one gaffer I find particularly fascinating.

Watch him on the television or listen to him on the radio and he'll come across as quite a likeable bloke. The Championship's answer to Victor Meldrew, if you like. But stick his comments into print and you'd think he was the devil's answer to Willi Railo. The sort of man who's ruined many a career with unfair vitriol.

Come to think of it, reading my inaugural blog again, it seems we do have quite a bit in common!

So the outrage that greeted my piece wasn't the best of starts to the weekend because, believe it or not, it wasn't actually the kind of response I was looking for. Indeed, it reminded me of my days growing up in Moss Side, Manchester.

NWA were all the rage at school back then and my homies would endearingly refer to each other by the N-part of that particular abbreviation. One day I threw it ever-so-casually into conversation myself and let's just say the response was a moment of similar horror... although at least now I can provide living proof to the old adage about sticks and stones!

"Holden, you don't know what you're talking about"

Anyway, that was only incident number one. Next up to stick the boot in was none other than Steve Claridge.

He was sat in the studio of SportsXchange TV, ready to provide his own expert analysis on the day's football, when I was called up by the station to offer my own tupp'orth on the Peterborough vs Bristol Rovers game that was about to kick off over on Sky Sports 1.

I made my case for backing Bristol Rovers at 11/4 by outlining many points, one of which being that I thought the Gasheads' recent familiarity with playing in front of the TV cameras might give them a slight edge over a Posh side relatively unaccustomed to such nationwide attention.

Instantly, I was shot down in flames by some bloke who's only ever played for Bournemouth, Weymouth, Crystal Palace, Aldershot, Cambridge, Luton, Birmingham, Leicester, Portsmouth, Wolves, Millwall, Brighton, Brentford, Wycombe, Gillingham, Bradford and Walsall.

He'd clearly never heard such nonsense in all his life and so he proceeded to enlighten the audience about what actually goes through a player's head in these situations, clearly not quite grasping the notion of a conscious and subconscious mind.

I've only been doing the gig on SportsXchange since the start of the season but already it seems I'm going to be constantly at loggerheads with ex-pros who scoff at the mere mention of psychology having any place in sport.

"Holden, you don't know what you're talking about"

Anyway, thanks to that particular disagreement, my 15-minute segment soon evaporated without me really getting the chance to make my other points in any great length, such as the fact there would be goals - and plenty of them - mainly because of a suicidal Posh defence, which also made Rickie Lambert an outstanding bet to score anytime at 11/4.

Suddenly, the result of the game had taken on a silly macho importance in my mind because I didn't want to lose face. I now needed Bristol Rovers to win, preferably with the commentary including several references about Peterborough looking nervy in front of the cameras.

Needless to say, the Pirates were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes and continued to ship another goal each time comical home defending allowed them back into the game.

Salvation arrived in the 85th minute when Lambert bagged the ninth and least important goal of the afternoon. Well, least important for some.

For me, the 26-year-old Scouser's stunning free-kick was divine intervention. The good Lord had clearly noticed I'd put up with enough for one morning and decided to scrap the joke where I lose nearly £500, instead returning my stake with a bit more besides in that very instant.

Well seeing as though you're doing requests, oh Lord, how about this weekend I have one of those Saturdays when I don't upset anyone and pick up a few grand for good behaviour?

Do you Paul Sturrock take thee Eka Basunga Mpenza...

2008-09-05T13:00:00Z

Mike Holden casts his eye over Plymouth's new international signing...

If you thought Dimitar Berbatov’s move to Manchester United was protracted, get a load of this story about Emile Mpenza’s transfer to Plymouth Argyle.

Indeed, for those of you still grieving on behalf of Ramon Calderon and Peter Kenyon and their disappointment at missing out on Ronaldo and Robinho, this little tale should be enough to warm your cockles and put a smile back on your face. A happy ending if ever there was one.

Because Paul Sturrock isn’t so much an admirer of the former Belgian international as a lifelong stalker.

"There ain't nothing about Emile Mpenza I don't know"

Asked about how the transfer came about, Sturrock couldn’t resist spinning a good old yarn to convince the Home Park faithful about his shrewd eye for a player.

“When I was with Dundee United, I contemplated taking him from Mouscron when he was very young,” he said, hitting the close button on Wikipedia. Apparently, Sturrock’s pursuit of Mpenza would have gone back earlier but, understandably, he didn’t fancy his chances of pronouncing his first club KV Kortrijk.

OK, so that was 12 years ago. A Belgian young-footballer-of-the-year signing for Dundee United. Sounds feasible. But then he couldn’t resist taking this particular episode of Jackanory not just one, but two chapters further.

“I also thought about taking him to Southampton,” he continued, forgetting that his tenure at St Mary’s wasn’t long enough for him to move his Tartan Army Espana '82 and Mexico '86 pennants into the office.

But just wait for the icing on the cake... “and I was really tempted when I was with Sheffield Wednesday and he was in Germany.” OK, so let’s get this straight. The Owls were playing in the old third division while Mpenza was plying his trade for Hamburg in the Bundesliga? I’m not surprised you were tempted, Luggy.

Mpenza: Ready to take the Championship by storm

So what happened then? Did you custard pie the idea to chase a three-time Pichichi winner at Deportivo La Coruna instead?

Well, anyway, it does sound like a decent signing for the Pilgrims. And we have ourselves a manager and player joined in holy matrimony without a penny changing hands. And isn’t that what football should all be about?