Matches of 2009: Sympathy for the Ghaly

Despite almost reneging at the last possible moment, I braved the cold to make my way to White Hart Lane last night for my second live game of 2009.

Alright, handsome.

I haven’t been to Tottenham since I was forced to give up my season ticket to emigrate from London for work commitments, so I probably should have been more excited than I was to make the 444 bus journey from the end of my road to the Angel Islington.

However comments from manager Harry Redknapp had basically said that we can’t win the competition and he isn’t going to necessarily field a full-strength side to give it the best possible go. There was also the fact the game was taking place on a Friday night, which just felt wrong and also that the tickets were in the South Stand of the ground. While it would be unfair to slander the entire section, because there are some genuinely really good fans there, but it also houses by far the largest concentration of morons by far.

The teamsheet presented some interesting story points though. Gareth Bale was back at left back with a chance to remind everyone that he was / is the most promising left back in Europe. Modric played in the middle of a 4-4-2, a tactic that Harry had criticised former boss Juande Ramos for utilising. Most interestingly of all, Hossam Ghaly was in a matchday squad for the first time (I believe) since he was threw his shirt onto the ground after being substituted, having earlier been brought on in the first half.

The game itself wasn’t much to write home about, so I’ll comment slightly on the Ghaly incident. He was booed last night when his name was announced. With about 15 minutes to go, he got stripped off and ready to come, a sight that was also roundly booed. A couple of minutes later Redknapp changed his mind and it was cheered.

For perspective’s sake, let’s explain the reason for the shirt-throwing incident. It was in a 1-1 draw with Blackburn, at a time when we were desperately trying to clinch fifth place. The crowd were edgey because it appeared as though it was going to slip through our grasp and a home game with Blackburn, which is the sort of fixture the WHL crowd assume should be  walkover, was deemed must win more than ever.

Ghaly was never a popular figure anyway despite putting in man of the match performances in the 2-1 home win against Chelsea and the 3-3 draw in the FA Cup. It’s too easy to cry racism, but the fact that he was Egyptian and therefore a friend of fellow player Mido (an unpopular figure for equally bozarre reasons) and I think that definitely counted against him from day one.

So on he came for the injured Malbranque and shortly afterwards Blackburn took the lead, although if memory serves there was no link between the incidents.

The whole team then took a bit of stick every time there was mis-placed pass. Ghaly was one of the few that didn’t alter his game though and refused to revert to simple sideways passes just to make sure it met the feet of a team mate but played his normal flair-filled game and continued to try through balls and chipped passes etc. 

Now he isn’t exactly Zidane in his prime, so not everything came and every miss-placed pass was booed with increasing ferocity.  He was the only one on the night actively trying to make something happen but alo the one being greeted with most derision.

The boos turned to cries of ‘getimoff’ and when still behind on the hour mark, with Robbie Keane ready to be introduced, fans were calling for him to be replaced. Gardner seemed the natural choice to go off, wth Tainio switching to full back, or even the Finn himself but Jol chose the Egyptian for I’m sure completely tactical reasons as he isn’t the type of manager who is so weak to be influenced by the crowd to the detriment of the team.

The decision was cheered more than anything else that night and he trotted to face the ultimate humiliation of a substitute being substituted to the jeers of his own supporters.

I don’t agree with the reaction to throw your shirt down at all, but given the circumstances his frustration must have been boiling over. It was wrong but he did and then came the fury.

“Ghlay, you’re a c*nt, Ghaly, Ghaly, you’re a c*nt” rang the South stand. Forums later demanded he never play for the club again and it seemed as though that would be the case until last night when Redknapp threw in a curveball.

The ironic thing is, he is clearly good enough to play for us and could do a decent job at a time when the manager himself has admitted we have a stretched squad. However that one show of dissent it seems will never be allowed to be forgotten.

The question now is whether he perseveres with the player, which in my opinion he should, or gives up on him forever. If the former then expect him to be brought on during the next away game, hopefully when already head, to get the stigma out of the way in front of as few fans as possible when in as good a mood as they can be. Maybe then they’ll show a little leniency nearly 20 months on.

Sunday, November 30: A potentially great day of football

I typed ‘Soccer geek’ into Google images and strangely this came up. It’s not hugely appropriate but made me laugh anyway.

There are occasionally benefits to being ill. Feeling horrible and not wanting to leave your bed are not among them. However having a PC, laptop and (admittedly onlt terrestrial) television in front allow for opportunities of tremendous football-related geekdom.

I have decided to fully embrace this concept today, especially with the line-up of football on offer. As I start this post I am watching a highlights programme of yesterday’s league football on ITV. There is then Swansea v Cardiff, mixed with Histon v Leeds in the FA Cup. We then have the Mancs derby, Tottenham v Everton (assuming there’s a stream) and Chelsea v Arsenal to contend with. Following that, if I haven’t gone off sport forever, there will be two La Liga games although the do clash with my NFL team playing on Sky Sports. I will also be playing Football Manager in the background for good measure.

So join me – and if you’re in the mood then bother me on Meebo (see right) – as I attempt to watch more of the game in 12 hours than I previously thought possible.

“Why do they break my heart every year”

It’s known as the greatest knockout competition in world football and each season the FA Cup provides with heros and villains in equal measure.  We normally associate giant killing feats with a Championship high-flyer taking out a struggling Premiership outfit.

However even League Two sides are proverbial giants compared to the sides lower down in the pyramid that compete in the trophy’s early rounds.  On August 16th 406 sides entered at the lowest possible stage of the competition but yesterday saw it kick off proper, when another 332 joined in for the last preliminary round before even the firs qualifier.  Win yesterday, and you’re only three wins away the first round when the really big boys of League Two and League One get involved.

It was the combination of FA Cup romanticism and glorious London sunshine that made me travel to Barkingside for the tie between Redbridge FC of the Isthmian Division One North and and Uxbridge FC of Isthmian Division One South.

Redbridge FC, warming up.

I was not expecting to be blown away but can garner enjoyment out of watching pretty much any level of football, and most of those on display were semi-professional (with one being a pro) so I went into it with an open mind.

Barkingside FC’s stadium (which they share with Redbridge FC) is capable of holding a couple of thousand I would imagine but was filled by just 91 people reportedly.  Five of these were a very vocal and aggressive away contingent who made the referee’s life pretty miserable throughout.

Uxbridge FC, pre-match

The two sides are in roughly equivalent divisions so an even encounter looked to be on the cards.  Redbridge boasted the professional in their side with 17-year-old Harlee Dean who is on loan from League Two leaders Dagenham & Redbridge.

I won’t go into the full match report, which you can read in this week’s Ilford recorder newspaper or on their website, but Uxbridge went in to half-time 2-0 up after some poor defending from the Motor Men’s defence.  individually the back four had played well, although left back George received a frequent and vicious coating of verbal abuse from his own bench, but as a unit they looked like strangers and unorganised.  This is to be expected when you consider that the ten outfield players (and manager) and new to the club this season.  Such is the life of a lower league football club.

Redbridge waste a free kick, much to the annoyance of the vocal assistant manager (have your sound on)

They fought back well in the second half and forced home a goal to create a relatively tense final twenty minutes.  The home manager made three substitutions (including three of his defenders) and looked to take the game to the visitors.

The away side then had a man sent off for a two-footed lunge and their bench used every opportunity to waste time and delay proceedings even further.  Looking to use their man advantage, they pushed on and chances came and went with regularity but the home strikers could not finish any of them off.  The supporters grew frustrated and sensed that it was not to be their day.  Redbridge became more and more route one despite enjoying success when they did pass the ball on the floor as desperation set in.  On 85 minutes Uxbridge broke away and showed one of the hughest quality moment of the day when placing a low 20 yard drive into the bottom corner to make it 3-1 and secure their passage to the first qualifying round.

When the final whistle went, some home supporters stayed and contemplated their exit from the competition.  While nobody entertains hopes of winning it, or even reaching the first round in all likelihood, a win today would have paid for the entire’s seasons training expenses in prize money alone – which puts even the smallest fixtures into context.

The chairman walked dejectedly round the pitch in his shorts while the sole journalist in attendance walked across the pitch gathering the reaction from disappointed manager Jay Deveraux.  In contrast, victorious Uxbridge emerged from their dressing room with many players choosing to go topless and showing the difference between those that prepare properly, perhaps with hopes of reaching a higher level, and those that are accepting of their fate and thus long-since abandonned any form of dieting or footballers lifestyle.

The Uxbridge striker, who had earlier scored a good goal, was usddenly short of firepower and borred a lighter from a local steward and made his way towards the team coach.  As I left, the husband and wife (the latter of which appeare to be ther under duress) finally stood up to make their exit with neither speaking a word to each other in solemn reflection.  Oh well, maybe next season.

Calm before the storm

First of all, it’s been a while since my last entry to this blog and there really is no excuse given the amount if important football going on in this time. So what have I missed…

FA Cup Final – I previewed this in glorious fashion but never got around to talking about the match itself. That’s probably because it didn’t inspire me to wax lyrical about it. Portsmouth played overly defensively as soon as they went a goal up and it largely killed the contest. They have played like this all season in the Premiership and their physically and commanding and tactically intelligent back five have been a key reason for their league position.

However such tactics are not really in line with what neutrals would like to see in an FA Cup final, especially from a top ten side in the country playing someone mid-table in the league below. You could say that they were slightly nervous and wanted to avoid a spectacular fall at the final hurdle and as such just did enough to finish. They started with one man up front and in the final minutes were running the ball into the corner to kill it off once and for all. Disappointing.

Champions League final - In contrast, I could probably write about this game forever but I think everything has already been said. I thought it was a tremendous game that kept me entertained all the way through. Chelsea more than deserved it based on the efforts of the night itself and will consider themselves unlucky to have finished runners up. Frank Lampard is not my favourite player but I have developed a new-found respect for him in the past few months and thought he was excellent in midfield along with Michael Ballack.

My liking for him is nothing to do with sympathy over his family circumstances, but initially were due to an interview on The Game podcast (link on the left) conducted with Gianluca Vialli and the usual presenters. He spoke very intelligently and showed a different side of character that we see all too rarely from professional footballers. Maybe it’s because the tabloid press is obsessed with headlines but it was more than refreshing to hear such a high-profile professional talk about aspects of the game including media intrusion, why players are reluctant to talk to journalists in this country and thoughts on foreign climates. I’m sure it will still be in their archives and is worth a listen if you haven’t already.

Whilst I found something very uncomfortable about the tribute when his mum died (picture above), in the public eye at least he has responded excellently and played some of the best football I have seen him play. His interview after the final whistle where he talked about how he has to hold his family together in the past few weeks while trying to win the double with Chelsea put a lot into perspective. This is a man who scored in the semi final and never looked like missing his penalty when the pressure was on. In contrast Nicolas Anelka (everyone’s favourite whipping boy) apparently refused to take one of the first five penalties in the shootout because he had not had adequate time to warm up. I’m sure that the usual morons will continue to boo him and some fans will even make sick comments chants about the death of his mother, but hopefully I am not alone in my change of opinion.

The play-offs - I don’t have a lot to say on these but I want to air a gripe I have that nobody has so far been able to answer. Why is it that they have suddenly decided to switch the order in which the play-off games are played. it is tradition that we start with League 2 on the Saturday and progress accordingly until the Championship game on Bank Holiday Monday. This year it is all different and as as result it all seems like a massive anti-climax. Typical case of change for the sake of it seemingly although I;m willing to be corrected if there is any thought behind the decision at all. I was pleased to see Hull go up mainly because of Nicky Barmby but their manager Phil Brown seems like a skilled coach as well. Everybody is naturally predicting that they will be next season’s Derby County but with the right investment they could surprise people. Doncaster also thoroughly deserved their victory over Leeds in yesterdays game.

Rangers - Their never-ending season has, err… ended. After 68 games their players are able to put their feet up. I don’t think many if any of them will be taking part in Euro 2008 and so can have a deserved few weeks off. Ultimately they fell short in the two competitions they put most effort into winning but they can still look back on a successful season. The SPL’s refusal to extend the season to accommodate the European success of one of their teams was both spiteful and unnecessary. If Rangers decide to rest players in domestic cup games in future seasons then they will attract plenty of critics for devaluing the cups. However when the authorities do nothing to help them then what loyalty should they have in return?

Jol to Hamburg – My love for Martin Jol is unabound and so I am delighted to see him back in football at a high-profile European club in Hamburg. My interest in th Bundesliga has already increased exponentially and they become my official German team to follow. I loved spending some time in Cologne a few years but the lure of Jol and Rafael Van Der vaart, along with recently departed Spurs coach Ricardo Moniz, is too big to ignore. Come on the Rothosen!

And now, a week or off until Euro 200 begins. I shall try to update this daily or thereabouts from now on as there won’t be a shortage of stories and transfer rumours going around to keep everyone entertained.

City look for copy of 1927 Welsh victory

This is also another short item I wrote in the week for somewhere else.

A Welsh club getting to the final of an English competition may have abruptly woken those at UEFA who had never previously considered it, however it is far from a new phenomenon.

Cardiff previously won the trophy back in 1927 when Hughie Ferguson scored the only goal in their 1-0 victory over Arsenal.

Crewe Alexandra are among the clubs who have returned the favour by winning the Welsh Cup in both 1936 and 1937.

Going back further still, Queen’s Park of Scotland reached the FA Cup final on two occasions in 1884 and 1885, falling at the first hurdle both times.

On the continent, AS Monaco, the only team in the small principality, have won numerous French cups and topped the league table as recently as 2000.

SK Rapid Wien are the most controversial example of a team winning domestic trophies in another country.

When Austria was invaded by the Nazis in 1938, Wien were among those clubs incorporated into Germany’s footballing hierarchy. They defeated Frankfurt in the same year to win the German cup and clinched the league title three years later.

Euzkadi, the Basque national team, even crossed continents in 1939 when they entered the Mexican league and finished second.

Cup given kiss of life

This is a preview I wrote for a different publication earlier in the week and have permission to post here too.

The nature of cup final venus being decided years in advance means in the coming seven days football fans across Europe will temporarily swap cities in order to follow their clubs pursuit of glory.

Last night’s UEFA cup final forced the followers of Zenit St Petersburg to make the trip to Northern England while next Wednesday fans from Chelsea and Manchester will do the reverse by travelling to Russia when they face off for the Champions League trophy.

Cardiff City will take this border-crossing trend to the next level when they take on Portsmouth in the FA Cup Final as they travel not only to watch their team compete in another country but rather to actually try to win the domestic competition of a rival nation.

Saturdays finale pitting an over-achieving team from the South Coast against a lower division Welsh side will end one of the strangest years for the historic competition in recent memory.

For the first time since 1991 it will not feature any of the clubs who Rupert Murdoch’s media empire so lovingly refer to as The Big Four.

It is nearly 30 years since a team outside the top flight won the competition when Trevor Brooking inspired West Ham to victory over Arsenal in 1980 and 81 years hence from Cardiff’s previous cup final appearance.

The match in 1927 was also the last occasion a team from outside England has made it down to the final two.

The same small, select group of clubs reluctance to share the trophy with anyone else has caused the cup to lose some of its traditional spark in recent times.

This in turn has led to rival Premiership clubs becoming frustrated and seeing cup games as a mere annoyance and an excuse to give their higher-profile players a rest.

The supporters of clubs are always the last to give up hope but if the message coming from the manager himself is that the games are not worth paying attention to then what reason is there to care?

This problem is amplified the further you go down the football pyramid.

If teams of the stature of Everton and Aston Villa think they have no chance then how can fans of sides like Exeter and Accrington suspend disbelief and allow themselves to dream of glory?

Thankfully a shot in the arm has been provided by some of the least likely sources.

Portsmouth and their boisterous support are to be commended for beating Manchester United amongst others to get to this stage.

Beaten semi-finalists West Brom and Barnsley have also played their part in helping restore the cups lustre.

Cardiff City though are currently allege to be more than £30m in debt with their team consisting of Premiership cast-offs mixed in with graduates from their youth academy.

When they step onto the pitch on Saturday it will be symbolic of more than just a lower league club surpassing themselves.

It will be the kiss of life so dearly needed by a competition that is desperately gasping for breath.

This is something that fans in both England and Wales will be grateful for.