My Froch-Kessler II Thoughts

This coming Saturday the long awaited rematch between England's Carl "The Cobra" Froch and Denmark's Mikkel "Viking Warrior" Kessler takes place in London live on Sky Sports Box Office. The event, co-promoted by Eddie Hearn and the Sauerland Brothers has predictably been referred to as the biggest show of the year by all of the promoters, but does it justify the hype?

The first fight saw Kessler win via unanimous decision with the judges scoring the fight 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111, while the build-up to the rematch has declared that this will be another "war" the clear margin of victory and footage from the fight suggests it wasn't quite the fight some would have you believe. True, it was a very interesting fight but one which took place in-between Kessler's defeat to undoubted Super Middleweight king Andre Ward and Froch's defeat to the same opponent. Froch would have you believe his clash with Ward was a very close fight but after watching it in its entirety for me the only judge who got it right that night was John Keane giving it 118-110 to Ward, the scores from judges Metcalfe and Stewart (both 115-113 for Ward) were generous to Froch who struggled to land cleanly against the slicker, faster American. This fight is to determine the number two Super Middleweight in the world and potentially give one of the competitors a rematch with Ward (who is struggling to find worthy opponents as his decision to fight a deflated at the weight Chad Dawson emphasised).

Don't get me wrong, I believe this will be a good fight, a good event and a good battle but is it really worth the Pay-Per-View treatment and additional cost for the fans? The last time these two collided Sky Sports were not interested, this time they are proclaiming it as fight-of-the-year potential. I believe the bookmakers offering 1/2 Froch and 2/1 Kessler have got this one a bit wrong. Carl Froch possesses a good record, that can't be questioned but looking at it more closely questions have to be raised about his credentials as a top two Super Middleweight. Arguably his two biggest wins came against Jermain Taylor and Lucian Bute, two fighters who in themselves do not have victories to compare to Kessler. Firstly I will look at the Taylor fight, in this contest Froch famously got the victory by KO'ing the American in the final round when losing on two of the three scorecards, this shows heart, resilience and a great inner strength but Jermain Taylor was a fighter who had twice lost to Kelly Pavlik and drawn with Ronald Wright by the time he got in the ring with The Cobra, he probably accepted he was not one of the top elite boxers at the weight and the fact that he almost won the fight and did indeed win most of the rounds should result in some alarm bells ringing for Froch backers and fans. The Bute fight was one which, like the Kessler fight, received massive media attention and saw the Romanian-Canadian go into it as the favourite to retain his world championship. What happened of course was Carl Froch totally dismantled him and picked up the win via 5th round TKO (cue a certain Mr. Hearn jumping in the ring!) at the time this appeared a massive result but in the aftermath a lot of boxing observers and fans had a closer look at Bute's record, he was scandalously saved early in his career by the referee in a fight against Librado Andrade (who?) when he should have been counted out when down but was instead given far too much time to recover by the referee in his adopted country of Canada. Aside from that the biggest name on his record is Glen Johnson, the same Glen Johnson who had already lost fifteen times by the time he got in the ring with Bute, Froch put on a great show that night but for me simply exposed Bute as an over-hyped cash cow.

Now for Mikkel Kessler's record. Kessler has lost twice to Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward. Calzaghe finished his career undefeated whilst Ward looks to be going the same way, the fact that a man like Kessler has been active in the same era as these two amazing fighters is somewhat unlucky but with the way boxing is nowadays he is still considered a world champion by the WBA. Interestingly Kessler's victory over Froch the first time around came after his defeat to Ward, Kessler is clearly a man who can bounce back from defeat. Since the Froch fight he has stopped Mehdi Bouadla, Allan Green and Brian Magee, none of these are elite fighters (they have ten accumulated losses between them) but in the Green fight he showed something that Froch could worry about. Kessler was stunningly knocked down in round one by the veteran Green but his ability to get up almost straight away and look like he was back to full health (and indeed this turned out to be the truth) showed the chin and calm nature that the man can call on. You may question why after being knocked down I am saying he has a great chin, well if you look at the fight on Youtube you will see that it was a massive shot and his ability to take it, get up and fight on (and indeed knock out Green in round 4) was very impressive. Should Froch get to Kessler in the rematch and put him on the canvas that will be far from the end - Kessler is a fighter in every meaning of the world and will not sit down for anybody.

Now for my prediction. On fight night a lot of people will decide that they are experts on boxing and whilst I certainly do not consider myself one I feel I know more and will have seen more of both fighters than the average watcher on Saturday night will. A quick look at the method of victory odds shows Froch 6/4 to win by Decision, Froch 5/2 to win by KO/TKO, Kessler 9/2 to win by Decision, Kessler 11/2 to win by KO/TKO and 22/1 for the draw. This shows it is pretty much wide open - you can more than double your money regardless of which outcome you back. I plan on doing two bets for this one, Kessler to win by decision at 9/2 and the draw at 22/1. If this fight ends early I will be very surprised and for me in the build-up Kessler's actual boxing skills have been underrated. Froch, in the eyes of some, is a devastating puncher but for me KO wins against over-hyped Lucian Bute, relative journeyman Yusaf Mack and a exhausted Jermain Taylor doesn't portray that. Kessler has 35 of his 46 wins by knockout but when you consider the calibre of opponents he will have fought early in his career this is nothing special. I can see this one going the distance, I can see it being a more calculated affair than the promoters and mainstream media are making out and, ultimately I can see Mikkel Kessler outclassing Carl Froch for a second time, but the draw and a lucrative third fight is far from impossible, a little stake on that could see large rewards.

The fact that this fight is on a Pay-Per-View card has left a lot of boxing fans unhappy, one way that Eddie Hearn could have softened the blow would have been to offer a stacked undercard. For a promoter with the likes of Tony Bellew, George Groves, Carl Frampton, Darren Barker, Ricky Burns, Kell Brook and Gavin Rees on his books the decision to only have one respectable undercard fight is very disappointing. In Bellew-Chilemba II we have an interesting fight - the first one was recorded as a draw despite both fighters feeling they had won it, a lot of questions will face Tony Bellew going into the rematch. Alongside that we have George Groves fighting 34 year-old Noe Gonzalez Alcoba who has lost in both of his fights against high-level opposition (Adonis Stevenson and Felix Sturm) and has almost exclusively fought unknown fighters with bad records in South America, certainly not a fight to interest the majority of fans, the odds of 1/33 on a Groves win surely shows the level of competitiveness that is expected in this fight. Aside from those three fights only prospects are on the bill, this fight is the same night as the Champions League final which gives Matchroom a good excuse as to why they don't think the bill needs to be stacked but having one competitive bout makes it pretty dismal as Pay-Per-View undercards go.

I fancy a double of Kessler by decision and Chilemba by decision, that comes to around 16/1. Add Bayern Munich to beat Dortmund in the Champions League final and you get better than 30/1 with some bookmakers. 

And So The Season Ends...

I haven't made a blog post since December, perhaps I should blame that for our complete and utter collapse.

At the time of writing I have just seen Tranmere battle to a final day 0-0 draw against Bournemouth. Had somebody read my previous blog but heard nothing at all about Tranmere Rovers until today you may look at that as a respectable result and one which would confirm promotion - after all we were so brilliant earlier in the season surely we must at least have finished in the top six, something which would have illustrated a brilliant season for Ronnie Moore's side.

Unfortunately that has not come to fruition. Instead we have endured a quite horrible run of form which has ultimately left the side in 11th place, only one higher than the horrible season that was 2011-12. The truth was we achieved 11 more points than last season but given the start we had seeing Bournemouth celebrate promotion on our pitch left a sour taste. Having not lost a league game all season until Bournemouth on 20th October spirits were high, since the beginning of February that high feeling has been replaced by one of extreme frustration and annoyance. A run of 12 defeats in 17 (featuring an embarrassing 2 wins in last period) and no goals in any of our final six league games (5 1-0 defeats and a 0-0 draw) the season has ended in miserable fashion. The result today against Bournemouth was actually a good one and the players did pretty well, especially goalkeeper Jason Mooney who after one slippery moment early on looked very composed.

The fact that we finished 7 points away from the play-offs is incredible, earlier in the season people spoke about where failing to achieve automatic promotion would equate to a bad season given our start, finishing so badly that we didn't even end up close to the play-off spots simply defies belief. What went wrong? Well injuries can be blamed in a way - the loss of Wallace, Akpa Akpro, Gibson and Bell-Baggie in particular at important parts of the season undoubtedly weakened our side, however blaming injuries alone wouldn't be fair - every team has injuries. Personally I believe the drop in performance levels of certain players (namely Danny Holmes, Ash Taylor and Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro on his return from injury) have to be looked at as largely why we failed so badly. Ronnie Moore signed a new 2-and-a-half year deal to widespread joy in Wirral on January 24th, since then we have won two from twelve matches, while that shouldn't be a factor perhaps complacency did come into it as players like Danny Holmes and Abdulai Bell-Baggie signed contract extensions around that time.

Ultimately this season will be looked back on with some fond memories but a overall feeling of "it should have been us" after watching Bournemouth fill the away stand at Prenton Park and sing about the promotion they had achieved, whether they "bought" the promotion or not the fact that we finished the season without even a shot at promotion through the play-offs meant disappointment.

It is looking like Bristol City, Wolves, Barnsley, Gillingham, Rotherham, Port Vale and one of Burton, Cheltenham, Northampton and Bradford will be the  teams to join us next season. In Wolves we see a team with a great history and massive budget - if they can sell or release players to free up some of that budget they should be major players, Rotherham also have a big budget by league one/two standard and so could cause problems, however aside from those two I don't see too much for us to worry about - I remember seeing Bristol City and Gillingham face us in League One in recent years and none of the others are clubs on par with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds, Leicester and Nottingham Forest who have graced our league (I say our league because we will be heading into our 13th season in it next campaign!) with their presence in recent years. One of Brentford, Sheffield United, Yeovil and Swindon will be promoted as well next season meaning should that side be Sheffield United or Brentford another side with a budget far too big for League One will be moving on to pastures new.

At this time optimism comes into play - should we avoid injuries next year and improve our squad we could well finish in the top six - but it has to be recognised that every team in League One will be thinking the same thing. Can we really improve on what we have? and can we actually score goals from the start of next season?  are questions that face Tranmere fans tonight.

Whatever happens we will start next season with new players - the likes of Black, Harrison and Kay look to be certainties to leave Prenton Park which will of course mean replacements. Perhaps we peaked too early this year, perhaps the conspiracy theories which stated owner Peter Johnson didn't want us to get promoted are actually true or perhaps a lack of investment in January ultimately cost us a place in the Championship.

Whichever it is this season has seen more ups and downs than a impressive rollercoaster, football is a funny old sport - despite the hurt it sometimes offers we all know we will be back for more.

Ronnie Moore's Super White Army!

The Changing Style Of Tranmere Rovers

In the space of less than a year the football style being deployed at Prenton Park has changed massively, clearly the change of manager was what led to this but just why have the results turned around so drastically?

Let's go back twelve months to Les Parry's reign as Tranmere Manager. At this stage towards the end of December we had seen a disastrous run of  six defeats and one draw from seven games in all competitions, after thirteen days off between December 17th and December 30th we saw the team win 2-0 at home to Bury, after that the "one win in twenty" phase began, our next win wasn't until March 10th, a few days after Ronnie Moore had returned as manager.

Now, what went wrong for Les? I'm far from a football expert, indeed I have no coaching badges or anything of the sort but having watched every home and quite a few away games during that spell under Mr. Parry I feel I can give something of a educated view on the whole affair. In my view and the view of many Tranmere fans the problem was a relatively clear one, the formation; Parry played a rigid 4-5-1 which he continually insisted was 4-3-3, the striker (whether it be Showunmi or Tiryaki) was left on his own with nobody around him, the wingers often refused to move inside and instead hugged the touchline at every opportunity. In McGurk and Devaney we lacked supply for the sole striker and all too often on the rare occasion the ball did find its way into the opposition penalty area from a cross the attacker was outnumbered by two stronger and taller central defenders. The returns of main strikers Tiryaki (3 goals in 30 games) and Showunmi (14 goals in 70 games) during Parry's tenure emphasise the lack of chances we made. The only time we seemed to score goals was when we did our usual hoof to the striker and the ball either ricocheted off the striker into the path of whichever midfielder decided to try and support him or the ball hit a defender before bouncing to one of our players in lucky fashion. Looking back the football we played really was appalling and how I went into matches optimistic I don't know.

Now let's move forward twelve months to the football we see under Ronnie Moore. Ronnie took over with the team in a poor position and by finishing the season with a record of six wins, four draws and three defeats he more than earned the job on a full-time basis. In the summer he re-designed the squad, for me a few pieces of look were on our side (for once) firstly amongst the players we offered new contracts to John Welsh and David Buchanan were the only ones to turn us down, Welsh was a player who did little wrong last season but on reflection that probably disguised his lacklustre uninspiring performances. Buchanan was voted the player of the season (and indeed he got my vote) but he was a left back who defended well but rarely got forward and when he did was often left unsure as to where he should be standing - the team lacked organisation. The replacement for Welsh was Palmer, like Welsh before him he is expected to do the easy things but occasionally offer some flair going forward, from what I have seen of the Sheffield Wednesday loanee so far it is vital we can extend his loan deal until the end of the season - he is showing real quality and doing better than Welsh did with a similar role expected of him. Instead of David Buchanan we now play Zoumana Bakayogo at left back who is an extremely fast full back who has really come into his own this season defending brilliantly and overlapping the winger effectively in most performances, I did not expect "Zoom" to do such a good job but in the absence of Buchanan's direct replacement Paul Black through injury we have seen Bakayogo excel. The other player who left the club without being released was Lucas Akins who requested a transfer before moving to Stevenage in a rumoured £75,000 deal. Akins was the running joke amongst Tranmere fans for quite a while - he ran but all too often lacked the finish or cross expected of him, while most fans would have been content to see him stay getting a fee like that for him was seen as a goof bit of business. His replacement was Joe Thompson, signed for a fee rumoured to be below the one we received for Akins. While Thompson hasn't been the standout player this season he has done a good job when called upon on the wing, happy to supply the full back and confident holding the ball up, he also grabbed the vital solemn goal away at Notts County which led to amazing scenes in the away section at Meadow Lane. As well as these players coming in Ronnie also secured the services of Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, Jake Cassidy, Ben Gibson, James Wallace, Abdulai Bell-Baggie, Paul Black and Jason Mooney. Max Power and Cole Stockton have progressed from the youth team and all of these players aside from Black who has had an injury-riddled start to his career have jelled into the new fluid style of play employed by Moore. 

When at our optimum we play the ball around with real pace and effectiveness, we look to get the ball to Wallace or Palmer, then on to Cassidy or Akpa Akpro and then either play it wide to Bell-Baggie or Robinson or a neat through-ball to whichever striker is not in possession. This has lead to great attacking football and a great number of chances being created, games against Colchester and Notts County come to mind as great attacking performances. Defensively we battle for everything and look composed when winning the ball, backed up by Owain fon Williams  the side have the best goal difference in the league thanks in no small part to our brilliant Welsh goalkeeper. Unfortunately injuries have hit the squad hard - at the time of writing we are without Black, Gibson (whose loan spell looks to be over) Bell-Baggie, Wallace and Akpa Akpro - for a small squad with a low budget this has been crippling. However we remain top of the table and while the football going forward hasn't been quite so strong we remain top of the table. In Max Power we saw a potential star of the future away at Sheffield United on Saturday and we have seen glimpses of what Cole Stockton could do should his talent be developed properly.

Whatever happens this season we have improved so much since last season under Les Parry that we can be forgiven for forgetting just how bad it was at times. The feeling around the club has gone from one of dull boring football and low crowds to excitement and at the back of most fans despite us not even being half way through the season yet a real hope that promotion could be on the cards. Should we finish outside of the top six it will be extremely disappointing but at the same time we must reflect on just how far we have come in twelve months, the end of the season is a long way - anything is possible. Super White Army!! 

Still Top Of The League!

I was at Prenton Park on Saturday to see Tranmere draw with a Portsmouth side struggling to put out a team and with no permanent manager in place. They are currently managed by caretaker Guy Whittingham following the departure of Michael Appleton to Blackpool and had not won a match in eight going into this clash at Prenton Park.

The first half was a cagey encounter, a few drummers operated at the bottom of the kop who made a bit of noise but the fans were more confused as to why their ears were suddenly being invaded by a few beats of the drum and sticks hitting together than interested in adding to the "beat". Portsmouth appeared to have more of the ball without creating any real goal scoring opportunities, when Tranmere took the lead in the 31st minute through Ash Taylor it was out of nowhere, the free-kick was a good one and the connection Taylor got on the header left Pompey goalkeeper Eastwood with no chance. The remainder of the first half was played out without much incident.

Half-time saw the pitch announcer inform the three men doing the "rock the crossbar challenge" that he had never seen all three contestants hit the crossbar successfully on the same day and that he felt confident today would be the first time all three qualify for the semi-final. Whether they did or not I don't know - I was in the unnecessarily long line for a hot chocolate, by the time I got to the till they had run out! I returned to my seat to jokingly inform my friend that it was his fault the half time entertainment had never had a 100% crossbar hitting success rate, last season me and another guy had hit it whilst my friend had missed all three attempts!

Onto the second half and after another cagey first few minutes Gyepes equalised for Portsmouth, based on the first half they probably deserved this goal but the manner in which we conceded it - all of the defenders stood still as Pompey's monstrous central defender ran through and headed it simply past fon Williams - was disappointing. When former Tranmere loanee Jake Jervis came on for Portsmouth in the 69th minute the Tranmere fans had a bit of a laugh, he was generally considered a bad player during his short spell at Prenton Park. Gradually we grew into the game and took a deserved lead in the 73rd minute through Michael O'Halloran after some brilliant skill from Andy Robinson put the ball on a plate. The celebrations ended up being extraordinarily short-lived, football is a funny old game and yes, you guessed it, Jake Jervis equalised about fifteen seconds after the restart, delight had turned to a feeling of "how did we know he was going to score?" football is a funny old game. As the game opened up, players tired and gaps in the pitch became bigger Liam Palmer almost won it for us after a good run, however his shot when one-on-one with Eastwood was straight at the goalkeeper, his and the Tranmere supports frustration was clear to see. After seeing Doncaster and Brentford score in injury time at Prenton Park this season we feared for the worse, Scott Allan somehow found himself inside the penalty area but thanks to Ian "god" Goodison's pressure he put it just wide. We left the ground with mixed emotions - after going 2-1 up at home we should have held out for the win and combined with Palmer's late miss we maybe should have won the game, however the miss from Allan right at the death saved us a point.

The usual routine of checking the other scores on our phones begun and we soon realised we were still top of the league. The team who went into this game joint on points with ourselves, Doncaster, had drawn with Swindon and a recent slight blip in form meant Sheffield United's win over Carlisle left them third. I was pleased to see national hate-figure MK Dons had lost to Brentford until I realised Brentford are now fourth and only two points behind us!

At the other end of the table Hartlepool had lost (again) meaning they are now a massive eleven points off safety, take the ten points Portsmouth are being deducted into account and it's thirteen points. A minor miracle is needed if they are to stay up, with the season not even halfway through saying that shows just how bad their results have been this campaign. The other team I always back to lose on the football coupon, Bury, also lost this time against Leyton Orient, they are only one point off safety though so with 25 games still to play they will be optimistic they can move away from the relegation zone under new boss Kevin Blackwell.

Mathematically by 5pm next Saturday we could be in fourth position... typical Tranmere fan, always pessimistic! However Sheffield United are certainly beatable and we are statistically still the best team in the league... bring on Bramall Lane! 

Moore Of The Same Please!

Five matches into his third spell as Tranmere Rovers manager Ronnie Moore has turned a depressingly stale season into one which breeds real hope for the next campaign. Wins against Leyton Orient, Preston and Rochdale added to hard-fought draws against Notts County and second placed side Sheffield United have created an extremely positive atmosphere in and around Prenton Park.

For most of his reign Les Parry's Tranmere were all about fighting for a draw, it appeared the players were given instructions pre-match telling them to try not to concede for ninety minutes while trying to score a goal if possible, vitally the most important thing to the former physiotherapist was the clean sheet. This mentality worked during the run in of the 2009/10 season which saw Parry gain thousands of admirers by keeping Rovers in League One against the odds but after this amazing survival we as a club needed to push on, we didn't.

The following season saw Tranmere rarely flirt with relegation as we finished a respectable 18th place, a whole nine points clear of the relegation zone. After Tranmere's performances the previous season staying away from the relegation zone in such a comfortable style was considered an impressive finish by many but in the minds of the fans something was missing. Parry insisted that he played a 4-3-3 formation, to Tranmere fans this was quite clearly not the case. Instead what we played was a defensive 4-5-1 in which we left one man isolated in the opposition half (normally Enoch Showunmi) with one player hovering around the half-way line (often the perceived wonder kid Dale Jennings) whilst the other eight outfield players focused on defending and trying to win the ball from the opposition. All too frequently the players won the ball from the opposition before hoofing it towards Showunmi, the result was often our lone striker being drastically outnumbered as the oppositions central defensive pairing either won the ball in the air or simply took it off Showunmi when he realised he had no support within his general vicinity. Occasionally we did have support for the big former Nigerian international but only ever when one of our players decided to gamble and join in the attack. What was missing last season was a tactic which allowed the players to pass around and play attractive football.

If last season was bad most of this season has been worse. All too often we have seen the central defenders smash the ball forward in the hope that the striker (this season normally Tiryaki or Showunmi) win the header, when our striker did win it the ball often fell to an opposition defender or midfielder who had tracked back, when they didn't win it the entire Tranmere team dropped back thus allowing the opposition to launch a counter attack. At the start of the season we grabbed goals on the break, from set pieces and generally against the run of play. We started the season with a brilliant defensive record and at one stage had the most clean sheets in the league. However when in around January the defence began to crumble we looked to have no answer offensively, any ideas we had at the start of the season dried up and by the end of January most of  Tranmere's fans had turned on the former cult hero Parry. After a defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday January the 21st most wanted him gone. It took another six matches (and no wins in that time) before Parry was given the proverbial boot by chairman Peter Johnson. By the time he left Tranmere had won only one of the last twenty matches.

Immediately after the defeat to Chesterfield on March the 3rd rumours that Peter Johnson had finally done what the vast majority of Tranmere fans had wanted him to do and sacked Les Parry began doing the rounds. By Sunday the 4th of March the confirmation had come through, Parry had finally departed Tranmere. His sacking actually came as a bit of a surprise to me, by then I had decided Peter Johnson wasn't bothered if we stayed in League One or got relegated to League Two.

What happened next took many by surprise. Just one day after the departure of Parry it was announced that former manager Ronnie Moore was to return on a deal until the end of the season. Given the fashion in which he left many thought he would never return with Johnson in charge, it appeared one or both had swallowed their pride. With the club now just one point above the relegation zone his job expectation was simple: keep Tranmere Rovers in League One.

Ronnie's first few press conferences brought hope to the Tranmere supporters. He seemed to say all of the things the fans wanted to hear - he will always play with two wingers and two strikers, he will get the team to pass the ball around and see how many crosses and shots the team can have, the team will not sit back but will go out to win every match. It sounded brilliant, to some people too brilliant. The more cynical out there believed that Moore was reading a pre-written script from Peter Johnson aimed at bringing fans back to the club on the promise of attacking football when in reality we simply wouldn't get what we were promised. How wrong those people were.

Since Ronnie took over we have seen a revitalised Tranmere looking to win every match and attack at any opportunity. Gone are the days when upon losing the ball the entire team would drop back and allow the opposition to have a go, now we press at any given opportunity. The opening game of Ronnie's third spell in charge was a home game against one of the leagues in-form sides, Notts County. The game started disastrously for Rovers as Damion Stewart gave The Magpies a fifth minute lead. Under Parry the fans may well have got on the team and his back but with this new lease of hope installed by Moore's appointment the fans were 100% behind trying to push the team on to get a result. When we scored a deserved 93rd minute equaliser through John Welsh a mixture of extreme relief and utter jubilation erupted in the stands. Let the revival begin.

Ronnie's second match in charge was again at home, this time against struggling Leyton Orient. The game went completely to plan as first half goals from Andy Robinson and Enoch Showunmi gave us a well deserved 2-0 victory. Aside from hitting the crossbar early on Orient rarely threatened. Our run of one win in twenty-one games was over!

The third match since Ronnie's return was against Preston, yet again this match was at home. After ending our horrible twenty-one game run in the previous match another streak was on the minds of the Rovers faithful - we had not come from behind to win a match since a 2-1 triumph over Leeds on December 6, 2008. The Tranmere manager that day was Ronnie Moore and coincidentally the man who scored the goal for Leeds was a certain Enoch Showunmi, the man who was to lead the line against Preston. When Preston took the lead on twelve minutes through Graham Cummins we feared the worse, I turned to my friends and once again informed them of our run of games in which we have failed to win from a losing position, it had become a bit of a running joke - we simply could not turn a game around. Move forward seventy-eight minutes and we had won the game 2-1, goals from Showunmi and Robinson (for the second game in succession) meant the streak was over at last! We had actually won two league matches in a row for the first time in almost five months and had come back from behind to win a game for the first time in over thirty-nine months. If this was all achieved in Ronnie's first week back in the helm what could the future hold?

Well in the immediate future was our first away game since Moore had come back, against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. The Blades were in great form and sat second in the league, this was always going to be an incredibly tough game. Ched Evans gave Sheffield the lead on the day but once again the fans saw the positives - they had scored in the first half, a lot of time still remained and we had come back from behind to win just four days earlier. Our faith was seen to be well-placed when in the 54th minute Lucas Akins equalised through a header. The game ended 1-1 and a brilliant point at one of the toughest grounds to visit in the league had been secured.

Ronnie's fifth match since he regained control was away at Rochdale, just three days after the Sheffield United game.  It was understandable that us Tranmere fans came into this game full of confidence. Two wins and two draws from Ronnie's first four games back in charge had us safely above the relegation zone. A win in this one would be a massive step towards securing our League One status for next season. A game in which we dominated for large periods ended in us leaving with a 2-0 victory. Rochdale are a side massively out of form and in massive trouble near the bottom of the table so it was a great relief to see us actually get three points from a game on paper we should have won. Under the guidance of Les this was the kind of match that we would draw due to playing too defensively, under Ronnie this was clearly not the case. The "shoot when you can" mentality brought in by Ronnie Moore had clearly reaped its rewards as both Wallace and Cassidy's goals were great strikers from around the edge of the penalty box.

We now sit 15th and are a massive seven points ahead of the relegation zone. We are certainly not safe yet but if we can keep this incredible form up it'll only be a matter of time before we begin our plans for next season. Some fans have called on Johnson to offer Moore a long term contract before another club does, I would certainly agree with those calls. In my mind there is no doubt that Ronnie Moore is the man to take this team into the 2012/13 season.

After witnessing dull and drab football for most of Parry's reign we as Tranmere fans now have a right to be blindly optimistic in the wake of our recent success. Ronnie's Unbeatable! 

The Problems With Modern English Football: Part One

Today I watched Liverpool beat Cardiff City to lift the 2012 Carling Cup. I will start this post by stating that I wanted Cardiff to win the trophy, I am a Tranmere Rovers fan, feel free to call me bitter but I will explain my reasoning.

In the past ten seasons the list of winners of the League Cup reads "Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Chelsea, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester United, Birmingham City, Liverpool" so of the past ten winners of the trophy seven have been from the so-called "big six" premier league teams.  The exceptions to that rule are Blackburn Rovers in 2002 who achieved a tenth place finish that season, Middlesbrough who finished eleventh in the same year they lifted that trophy - 2004 and Birmingham, last year's winners who despite relegation had a relatively expensive squad with a number of high earners even if the premier league season did end in heartbreak for their fans.  

So regardless of Cardiff being a side from Wales and competing in the English League Cup I wanted the upset to occur. What we saw was a game largely dominated by Liverpool with Cardiff scoring against the run of play in the first half and later equalising after a scramble in the penalty box. Liverpool's first goal was also the result of a penalty box scramble but Kuyt's goal which put Liverpool ahead was a good strike. The Liverpool starting eleven had six British players starting whilst Cardiff had nine. The Cardiff sub bench had one non-British player whilst Liverpool's boasted three. I have pointed this out to emphasise the difference in resources the two sides, considering Cardiff are currently amongst the top teams in the Championship the fact that one side is able to attract so many players from overseas compared to the other this is somewhat worrying.

Some more quick research tells me that ten of Liverpool's starting eleven (the eleven excludes Steven Gerrard who was of course a youth system graduate)  cost them a total of £143,100,000. In comparison Cardiff's starting eleven (none of whom are youth system graduates) cost them a total of £3,220,000. In terms of wages I believe Steven Gerrard alone will be earning more per week than the entire Cardiff starting eleven. One division separates these two sides and Cardiff City Stadium, the home of Cardiff has under 20,000 seats less than Anfield, the home of Liverpool. The problem is simple: The Premier League. I believe we can all agree that more money in the sport we all love is generally a good thing but when it is so unfairly distributed it is not. Naturally the top tier of football is by far the most attractive to overseas markets but with the astonishing difference in TV money given to Premier League clubs even when compared to Championship clubs is disgraceful, in my opinion the football association should take all of the money received from TV rights and distribute them equally to its 72 football league members, the fact that this has not happened added to the draw of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool to fans from outside their classic catchment areas has left such a divide between the financial power of Premier League and Championship clubs that competitions like the League Cup and FA Cup now produce fewer and fewer upsets even with top-flight clubs often fielding weakened teams. The fact that Liverpool expressed an interest in selling their own television rights is disgusting, they are a member of the Premier League and know full well that past glories have led to massive overseas support from people claiming to be "die hard" fans of the club, that's an argument for another day but if these same people focused on supporting a team in for example Norway they may well see the standard of football in that country increase.

As for the showing of live matches is it any surprise that such a gap between the top tier and the for example third tier has appeared? Sky show far more Premier League games than lower league matches and although Sky's defence would be that they do this because Premier League games are a lot more popular the only reason this is the case is because football has lost touch with its roots, top players from around the world have come to England to play paid by the money that Sky, ESPN and earlier Setanta have thrown into the premier league. The result is a much higher quality of football in the top tier (it could be argued that the way for example Barcelona play isn't real football and lacks passion, but again that's an argument for another day) which inevitably draws in the fans.

The fact that the majority of Premier League teams are in massive amounts of debt whilst lower league fight to break even in order to avoid the doom of administration is another problem with the English game. Rangers recently went into administration and are probably the highest profile British football team to do so and yet Manchester United for example are in hundreds of millions of pounds worth and debt but are allowed to continue without serious question marks regarding the future from the FA. Is this because they make so much money for the FA thanks to the draw they carry in overseas markets? It's up to you to make your own opinion on that one.

Hopefully the UEFA fair play regulations will lead to clubs actively reducing their debt in the future. Whether that be by spending less money on transfers each season or cutting their astronomic wage bills (rather than just servicing the interest on their loans whilst continuing to take on more debt like most premier league clubs are currently doing). If all clubs in the football league were aiming to break even (by living off what they make from TV revenue, ticket sales, match day revenue etc.) we would see a  much fairer system. Instances  like those which occurred at Portsmouth and a few years ago Leeds in which we saw a club aiming for the big time before seeing those dreams, along with the clubs financial stability, falling into pieces should not occur.

The Elite Player Performance Plan is yet another disgraceful stab into the heart of lower league clubs. For many sides such as Crewe and Tranmere Rovers developing young players is paramount to being able to operate at a level around break even. Gone will be the days when clubs could negotiate a fee with higher division clubs to take their best young starlets from them in a deal that would benefit both teams, after being held to ransom by top sides the football league members were all but forced to vote in favour of this new system. This will probably lead to lower league sides having to feed off players released by premier league clubs rather than being able to fully develop youngsters. Will this actually benefit the national team? Well I think this will lead to a far higher number of players being signed up by premier league sides for measly fees and only so many players can play in premier league sides first team and youth sides. While the standard of the top tier may increase the standard of the lower tiers will probably decrease with players who have spent time sitting on a bench in youth systems around the country failing to develop much as footballers signing for lower league sides.

To end this post I will congratulate any of you who read this in its entirety. If you would like me to discuss anything specific in a follow up "The Problem With Modern English Football" then feel free to leave a comment. 

Power Failure Opens Up World Darts Championship

Phil Taylor crashed out of the PDC World Darts Championship at the last 32 stage last night after a 4-1 defeat against Dave “Chizzee Rascal” Chisnall. Without trying to take anything away from Chisnall’s achievement Taylor was far from his best – he uncharacteristically hit the 5 and the 1 a number of times and his finishing on double top was pretty woeful by and professionals standard, never mind the extremely high standards we have come to expect from Taylor over the years.

The departure of Taylor who was around evens to win the tournament has well and truly opened the door for a new World Champion. Of the players left in the competition only John Part and Adrian Lewis have won the world championship in the past and based on the performances of Lewis against Nigel Heydon and Robert Thornton I’m not convinced he has what it takes to retain the crown this year, if you disagree Lewis can be backed at 11/2. Part meanwhile is more of an outsider (currently best priced 40/1) and has so far beaten John Henderson and Richie Burnett en route to the last 16. Part has a tough task on his hands if he is to make the semi-final – he faces the in-form Kevin Painter in the round of 32 and then could meet James Wade in the quarter final.

Following his shock win over Phil Taylor last night Dave Chisnall has come in to 9/1 to win the championship, before the tournament began he was 66/1 – what a difference a couple of weeks can make. Chizzy will face Andy Hamilton in the third-round before a potential clash with Paul Nicholson in the quarter final, also in this half is bookies favourite Gary Anderson (4/1). In Anderson, Chisnall, Nicholson and even Simon Whitlock I believe we have four men who could genuinely win the World Championship.

My pick to win the crown from here however is James Wade. Priced at 13/1 at the start of the tournament Wade is now 5/1 – he faces Steve Farmer next before a match-up with Part or Painter, crucially I feel if he can get to the semi-final he’ll have an easier route to the final than whoever triumphs in the other half of the draw. If he makes it that far his semi-final opponent will be one of Wayne Jones, Adrian Lewis, Justin Pipe or Terry Jenkins and while these players all have ability I feel Wade on top of his game is better than any of the other players listed when they too are at their best.

Whatever happens from here we are guaranteed an exciting climax to the tournament, I for one am pleased Phil Taylor has gone out as the programming will no longer be 90% Taylor hype. A number of players will now feel this is the best chance they’ve ever had to win the title, Wade at 5/1, Painter at 22/1 and Chizzy at 9/1 are my picks from here. 

PDC World Darts Championship: Day One Preview

Let the singing and tungsten wielding begin... The PDC World Darts Championship is back!  

                                                    

Tonight marks the beginning of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship as 2011 champion Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis begins the defence of his title.

The champion beginning his defence on the opening night has become a tradition and in Nigel Heydon Lewis is expected to have a simple route to the second round. Lewis didn’t compete in the Players Championship event in Doncaster last week and it is yet to be seen whether this time off has a positive or detrimental effect on his performance. While a lot of his rivals for the crown got some much needed competitive darts on TV under their belts Lewis did not. However the same can be said for Leamington Spa’s Nigel Heydon who isn’t expected to put up much of a challenge against Lewis. Heydon is a little known name to PDC darts fans but this isn’t the first time he has been seen on our television screens. He surprisingly reached the last 16 of the UK Open in 2010 defeating the likes of Mark Dudbridge before eventually going out to Wes Newton. Nicknamed “The Undertaker” due to his other profession Heydon also appeared in the Grand Slam of Darts earlier this year where he made something of an impact beating Gary Anderson in the group stage, unfortunately for Nigel despite that victory he failed to progress from group C. Heydon’s other notable appearance came in last year’s World Championship crashing out to Robert Thornton in round one. Tonight Lewis is priced at 1/7 with the bookmakers whilst Nigel Heydon is 6/1. In this best of five sets first round match Lewis is 11/4 to win 3-0 while Heydon to win with a +2.5 set handicap is 4/5. If you’re really expecting a shock then Heydon to win 3-0 is available at 20/1 with 3-1 9/1!

Elsewhere this evening Jamie Caven faces veteran Roland “Tripod” Scholten. It is generally agreed Scholten’s best darts are behind him. The Dutchman’s impressive history includes two Las Vegas Desert Classic semi-final appearances, a Premier League of Darts final appearance, a UK Open title and two World Championship quarter final appearances. His opponent tonight is 18^th rank Jamie Caven, Caven carries a unique story with him as he is actually blind in one eye due to a bee sting when he was young, he’s also a diabetic and requires up to four injections per day, this doesn’t stop Caven, nicknamed Jabba though as the 35-year old looks to make a career for himself in this highly competitive sport. Caven is the bookies favourite at 8/13 with Scholten best priced 11/8. The correct score market sees Caven 10/3 to win 3-0, Scholten 13/2 to win 3-0 and under 5.5 180’s to be hit an interesting 4/5.

Mark Webster faces Richie Burnett in what could be the match of the night. The welsh duo have been tipped to represent Wales in the upcoming PDC World Cup of Darts and I feel this one could be a tight contest. Earlier this week Webster reached the final of the Players Championship where he lost to Kevin “The Artist” Painter. It’ll be interesting to see if Webster takes confidence from his performance in Doncaster or if after being made the favourite to win the final his confidence has taken a hit after his defeat. Burnett has become something of a rejuvenated figure as of late reaching both the World Grand Prix semi-final and the Last 16 of the UK Open this year. Burnett also appeared at the Players Championship event earlier this month losing a tricky first round match to Wes Newton. Without discrediting the Players Championship too much I don’t feel this was the main priority of any of the players on show as the withdrawal of Lewis and the Second Round departure of Phil Taylor highlighted. Mark Webster is a 3/10 favourite for this one with Burnett 11/4. Personally I think this could be a closer match than odds would suggest but if you disagree and can see this being a rout Webster 3-0 is available at 7/2. Burnett with a +1.5 set handicap is 6/5 and I wouldn’t discourage anybody from backing that outcome.

Finally we will see Wayne Jones up against either Paul Barham or Scott MacKenzie. Barham is a PDC Youth Tour Qualifier. MacKenzie has a Scottish father and was born in Brazil but now represents Hong Kong, the country he moved to as a teenager, he is an International Qualifier. The bookmakers have this one as 11/13 Barham and evens MacKenzie but with literally no knowledge of these players I couldn’t pass a recommendation! Whichever way it goes Wolverhampton’s Wayne Jones is waiting and in the 46-year old number fifteen in the world a tough challenge awaits. Jones reached the 2006 World Darts Championship semi-final before losing to Peter Manley and will no doubt be hungry to replicate that success this year.

Schedule:
19:15: Jamie Caven vs Roland Scholten
20:15: Paul Barham vs Scott MacKenzie
21:00: Mark Webster vs Richie Burnett
22:00: Adrian Lewis vs Nigel Heydon
23:00: Wayne Jones vs Paul Barham/Scott MacKenzie 

Ten Footballers You May Have Forgotten Exist: Part One

From players once labelled as wonder kids to premier league regulars of the past a number of football players now find themselves plying their trade in the bottom two leagues of the English football league. In this post I will look at the first five of ten players who fans of premier league teams may have forgotten exist.

1. Nolberto “Nobby” Solano

Best known for: Being a Newcastle United and Premier League legend

Now playing for: Hartlepool United

Nobby Solano is an interesting character, his fame in his native Peru is so extreme that his wedding was shown live on TV. He came to England in 1998 aged 25 joining Newcastle thus becoming the first Peruvian ever to play in the Premier League. He played at St. James’ Park for six years before departing the club in 2004. At that stage he joined Aston Villa, during just one season he played 49 times for Villa in the 2004-05 campaign before returning for another two year stint at Newcastle, in total he played over 240 times for The Magpies. By his own request Solano, now aged 32 joined West Ham ahead of the 2007-08 season so that he could be closer to his family, he netted four goals in twenty-three appearances for The Hammers during the one season he spent at the club. Solano’s next step was to depart England and for a season and a half he went under the radar of most British football fans as he played in Greece for Larissa before then turning out for Universitario de Deportes in his home country of Peru. In January 2010 Solano was back, returning to England for a six month spell with Leicester City. He was on the move once again that summer re-uniting with Nigel Pearson at Hull City, he played eleven times for The Tigers during the 2010-11 season before a somewhat surprising return to the north east which saw him join League One side Hartlepool United. He has so far played eight times and score two goals for The Monkey Hangers, if you happen to find yourself in the north east on a day when Hartlepool are at home it may be a good idea to go to the game and watch one of the true midfield engines of the Premier League era in the twilight stage of his career.  

2. Steve Simonsen

Best known for: At one point being the most expensive goalkeeper in British football history

Now playing for: Sheffield United

Steve Simonsen was once believed to have the world at his feet, after forty-two appearances for Tranmere Rovers in all competitions the goalkeeper joined fellow Merseyside club Everton for £3.3 million, at that point both Everton and Tranmere were controlled by Peter Johnson making this something of a controversial transfer. Simonsen appeared four times for the England Under 21 team and was widely tipped for a great future in the game but unfortunately for Simonsen this never really materialised. After playing just thirty matches in six years at Everton the ‘keeper moved on to Stoke City for a free transfer deciding that he didn’t want to be a benchwarmer anymore. During six years at the Britannia Stadium Simonsen played one hundred and sixty six times in the league, his appearance figure slowed down after the 2007-08 season as he once again become second choice, this time to Thomas Sørensen. He rejoined Sheffield United in March 2010 on a one-month loan deal, after seven appearances Simonsen returned to parent club Stoke City. At the end of the 2009-10 season Stoke decided to release Simonsen on a free transfer which resulted in him completing a permanent transfer to Sheffield United on a two-year deal, Simonsen’s luck didn’t turn however as he suffered relegation in his first full season at Bramall Lane. He continues to play for Sheffield United now in the nPower League One where he hopes to keep as many clean sheets as possible as his side battle to achieve promotion back to the Championship.

3. Bradley Wright-Phillips

Best known for: Being regarded as a star of the future during his time in the Manchester City youth system

Now playing for: Charlton Athletic

Although never a Premier League regular Bradley Wright-Phillips was once tipped to have a brilliant career. Before the Middle Eastern billions appeared Bradley, the half-brother of Shaun Wright-Phillips played 32 times for Manchester City. His City career never really took off and in 2006 he signed for Championship club Southampton. Unfortunately for Wright-Phillips after three years with The Saints he suffered the pain of relegation as Southampton dropped to League One. At that stage he moved to Plymouth Argyle but in another turn of bad luck Plymouth hit financial problems and in January 2011 he was on the move once again this time joining Charlton Athletic who were battling for promotion back to the Championship. Although often in the shadow of brother Shaun I doubt Bradley, now 26 expected to find himself in League One at a time in his career which is often considered a footballers prime. He has been brilliant so far for Charlton hitting 22 goals in 39 matches for The Addicks. At 26 could he potentially play in the Premier League again? If he works hard and keeps up his current form then I don’t see why not.

4. James Beattie                     

Best known for: His time in the Premier League at clubs like Southampton, Everton and Stoke City
Now playing for: Sheffield United

For a fair long time James Beattie was an established Premier League name; after appearing four times for his first club Blackburn Rovers he moved on to Southampton where he eventually became an established Premier League striker. He stayed in Hampshire for seven season scoring 68 goals in his 204 appearances before a £6 million move to Merseyside and Everton, he stayed at Everton from 2005 until 2007 until he transferred to Sheffield United for a fee of £4 million, he scored 34 goals in 62 games for The Blades before another transfer, this time to Stoke City for a fee which had the potential to rise to £3.5 million. After just 9 goals in 38 matches for The Potters Beattie moved on to Rangers, unfortunately for him he failed to make an impression in Scotland as he didn’t score in any of his 7 appearances for The Gers. A loan to Blackpool followed in 2011 but once again Beattie failed to hit the net, this time in nine appearances for The Seasiders. After a short period without a club Beattie has now returned to Sheffield United where he hopes to lead The Blades back to the Championship.

5. Neil Mellor

Best known for: Two vital goals for Liverpool earlier in his career

Now playing for: Preston North End

Neil Mellor was once tipped to be a star of the future for Liverpool and England but unfortunately for him it hasn’t really worked out.  Mellor’s youth career was something special as he starred for Liverpool en route to the FA Youth Cup semi-final of the 2000-01 season, then aged 19. Mellor made his debut in the 2002-03 season and signed a 3-year contract in 2003 which would keep him at the club until 2006. Mellor’s next step was a season-long loan deal to West Ham where he scored two goals in sixteen matches. Perhaps Mellor’s most memorable moment came in November 2004 when he scored a screamer from thirty yards out to win the game 2-1 for Liverpool. However things soon went downhill for Mellow as he had to undergo surgery on both of his knees, after recovering Mellor went on loan to Wigan Athletic where he scored one goal in three matches. In August 2006 Mellor signed for Championship club Preston North End under the guidance of Paul Simpson, since that move he has played 127 times scoring 38 goals, with Preston in the Championship he went out on loan to League One side Sheffield Wednesday for the 2010-11 season where he performed reasonably scoring 13 goals in 33 matches. At the end of the 2010-11 season Mellor’s parent club Preston North End suffered relegation and so decided to hold onto him ahead of the 2011-12 campaign in the hope he can spearhead an attempt at getting back to the Championship at the first time of asking. Once a player considered a star of the future Mellor scored crucial goals for Liverpool against Arsenal and Olympiakos but since then it hasn’t really worked out for Mellor. At 29 his time is numbered and if he wants to play at a higher level than League One again in his career the fortunes of Preston this season could be vital.  

Football: Five reasons why Chelsea will still qualify for the Last 16 of the Champions League

1.       Chelsea are brilliant at the bridge

Okay so Chelsea have been considered underperformers so far in Group E of this year’s Champions League but this doesn’t tell the whole story. At home they have played two games; one against Bayer Leverkusen who have already qualified for the Last 16 and surprise qualifiers Genk, both of these matches resulted in wins for the London outfit – 2-0 against Bayer Leverkusen and 5-0 against Genk. Although they need a result against Valencia on match day six to qualify their home record suggests they have not been as bad as some parts of the media are making out.

2.       Valencia have been largely unimpressive away in this year’s competition

Valencia may have stuffed Genk 7-0, beaten Leverkusen 3-1 and grabbed a point in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the home group stage matches this season but away from home it has been a different story. They fell apart to lose 2-1 away to Bayer Leverkusen and somehow failed to hit the net against group minnows Genk in Belgium during a 0-0 draw, clearly they are not the best travellers by any stretch of the imagination. Add into the equation Chelsea’s brilliant home record and the signs are somewhat ominous for Los Che.

3.       Chelsea have the better squad

A few years ago Valencia could boast names like David Silva and David Villa but nowadays it is a different story. Financial problems meant that they had to sell and while they did replace these star players they were never going to be able to get a like-for-like David Villa or David Silva. Roberto Soldado has come in from Getafe and impressed many but I believe the majority of Valencia fans would rather be seeing David Villa line up than 26-year old Soldado.  Meanwhile while Valencia have been selling Chelsea have been buying, £50M for Fernando Torres and £25M for David Luiz have so far been expensive flops but in the likes of Raul Meireles, Juan Manuel Mata and the ever-improving Daniel Sturridge (who many people forget they splashed out an initial £3.5M to take from Manchester City) they have bought clever, if these players play to the best of their abilities during the group decider Chelsea should triumph.

4.       The pressure is on Villas-Boas

Some may feel this is a peculiar reason as to why I feel Chelsea will qualify but bare with me. When appointed Andre Villas-Boas received complete backing from his senior players and although this is not a rare occurrence to me it all seemed genuine, the likes of Terry and Lampard spoke of how delighted they were that a manager of his ability had taken over. Chelsea’s players undoubtedly want consistency and in Villas-Boas, who Chelsea paid Porto £13.3M to release him from his contract, they surely hoped they had the man to carry them into the future. As it stands if Chelsea do lose to Valencia on match day six Villas-Boas may well not even last the season, the media are circling but I don’t think anybody at Stamford Bridge want yet another manager to depart so quickly under the Abramovich reign.

5.       Chelsea could go into this game in high spirits

Chelsea have certainly underperformed so far during the Premier League campaign but in their defence they have faced Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United already. The home tie with Valencia takes place on Tuesday the 6^th of December and by then they could have a new spark of life, this Saturday they have a home clash with Wolves a game they really should be winning before they then meet Liverpool also at home in the Carling Cup on the 29^th of November. The last match between now and the game against Valencia is a tricky away tie against in-form Newcastle at St James’ Park (or whatever it’s called at the time you’re reading this!) three wins from these games and confidence would suddenly come flying back to Chelsea, I believe Villas-Boas will be able to turn it around between now and the crucial game in two weeks time, Los Che beware. 

Football: Doncaster's Bold New Approach

El-Hadji Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda, Carl Ikeme, Herita Ilunga and Habib Beye. What do these footballers have in common? They all now ply their trade at the Keepmoat Stadium as part of the somewhat bizarre revolution happening at Doncaster Rovers. When it was announced that football agent Willie McKay would come in and have a lot of power relating to future transfer dealings in response to the clubs poor start to the Championship campaign a lot of eyebrows were raised. This change in transfer policy also coincided with a management change as Dean Saunders replaced Sean O’Driscoll.

Saunders was an interesting appointment given the direction the club is going in. His only previous management experience was as the top man at Wrexham whom he was in charge of for three years. Although he did a good job in Wales a move to a Championship club clearly illustrated a huge step up the ladder. Personally I’m not sure this was the right appointment or indeed the right move for Saunders given what was to come; names like El-Hadji Diouf and Pascal Chimbonda don’t exactly scream easy to manage and so bringing in somebody like Saunders (who admittedly had a brilliant playing career at the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Galatasary) may not have been wise on the part of Doncaster chairman John Ryan.

Any manager taking the Doncaster job was going to have to contend with this unique situation, Chimbonda, Ikeme, Diouf, Ilunga and now Beye will all be expecting to start every single match they are available for, this could spell problems for the new management team if they fail to perform to the standards which have seen all of these players perform consistently in the premier league in the past. Agent McKay pointed out upon taking this role that the wage bill at Doncaster was massive in comparison to another of the smaller sides in the Championship, Peterborough, he said that bringing in these players on low wages so that they are able to show to Premier League teams what they can do will help the club survive in the Championship but he did note that they will be paying these players some wages; surely with the wage bill already being so high the idea of bringing in these players isn’t as good as McKay wants people to think.

Diouf joined on a deal until January as did Chimbonda while Wolves ‘keeper Ikeme, West Ham’s Ilunga and most recently Aston Villa’s Beye joined the club on short-term loan deals. These deals have all been done with a view to the players moving on in January; this will hardly breed confidence amongst the Donny fans. The other names linked with the club have undoubtedly been more appealing to the fans – Robert Pires and Mahamadou Diarra are names recognisable to the more knowledgeable football fans and would have undoubtedly added a touch of class to the Yorkshire outfit. With El-Hadji Diouf lining up a touch of class wouldn’t have gone a miss. As it was these two big-name deals never came to fruition.

Whether or not McKay’s involvement at Doncaster leads to Championship survival or not is yet to be seen but with Dean Saunders record in charge so far seeing 3 wins 2 draws and 5 defeats from his first ten matches Donny fans can feel rightly uninspired. Add into that equation the very real possibility of the star names who have recently joined the club departing in January the omens don’t exactly look great for McKay, Saunders and Doncaster Rovers Football Club. 

Darts: Finals day in Wolverhampton

Today is the finals day at the Grand Slam of Darts and the question on every darts fans lips will no doubt be “Can Lewis, Anderson or perhaps even Walsh stop Taylor?”

In my last blog post I underlined who I feel has the ability to stop Taylor from landing his fourth Grand Slam title in five years. The names I gave then were Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, James Wade and Paul Nicholson. One thing is for certain today it will not be James Wade or Paul Nicholson stopping The Power. Wade left the tournament in the last 16 stage after a crushing 10-3 defeat to “The Flying Scotsman” Gary Anderson. Elsewhere Nicholson had a chance to get his revenge on Taylor in the quarter final stage but Taylor triumphed 16-7 to set up a semi-final clash with former protégé Adrian Lewis. I said previously that I believe Lewis has the skills to take down Taylor and I stand by what I said. He averaged over 100 in a surprisingly one-sided 16-5 win over Mark Webster. If Lewis was to beat Taylor this afternoon he would still have a mammoth task on his hands if he was to win the title. This brings me to the other semi-final. Gary Anderson faces surprise semi-finalist Mark Walsh in the first of this afternoons matches. Walsh has proved to be a fighter in this tournament battling past Dean Winstanley 10-9 in the last 16 before defeating Ted Hankey 16-14 in the quarter final. In these matches Walsh averaged 98.32 and 91.82 respectively and although he deserves respect for his performances so far that kind of average is not enough to beat Anderson. Anderson really has impressed so far this week averaging 100.45 in the 10-3 victory over Wade I mentioned earlier. He then averaged a cool 99.97 in a 16-12 win over an inform Terry “The Bull” Jenkins in the quarters. Betting wise I fancy the Anderson win with a -5.5 handicap at 4/5 with Paddy Power. For those unfamiliar that would mean Anderson winning 16-10 or better. I can’t look past Anderson winning this contest.

The other side of the draw sees Taylor (10-3 winner over Wes Newton and 16-7 winner over Paul Nicholson so far in the knockout rounds) face Adrian Lewis. This is a match between the 15-time World Champion and the reigning World Champion. Add to that the history between this pair and we have a potential classic on our hands. Lewis has been back to near his best in this competition averaging 100.30 in his quarter final win against Mark Webster while he managed to squeeze past a resurgent John Part with a 92.75 average in the last 16 round. Taylor is a massive favourite best priced at 2/7 with Lewis best priced 17/5. With that in mind it is the handicap market that best appeals. Taylor carrying a -5.5 handicap is priced at evens with Skybet and I’d say that is the best option here.

As for the tournament overall I am going to tip Gary Anderson to win the tournament best priced 3/1. Although Taylor is the clear bookies favourite Anderson has produced some brilliant darts and after winning the Premier League I feel he has the mature head on his shoulders required to win another major. Elsewhere the 9-dart finish is priced at 9/2 with Skybet and although it may well not happen I wouldn’t put it past these four great sportsmen on a finals day.

The action begins with the afternoon session at 14:30:

Phil Taylor vs Adrian Lewis

Gary Anderson vs Mark Walsh

And then comes the final at 20:00:

Taylor/Lewis vs Anderson/Walsh

Tips:
Gary Anderson to beat Mark Walsh with a -5.5 Handicap @ 4/5 (Paddy Power)
Phil Taylor to beat Adrian Lewis with a -5.5 Handicap @ evens (Skybet)
Gary Anderson to win the tournament @ 3/1 (Bwin) 

Darts: Can Taylor be stopped in Wolverhampton?

Phil Taylor confirmed his passage through to the last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton on Monday night after battling past Steve Beaton 5-3.

Although Beaton did manage to break his throw early on Taylor showed the class which has seen him lift no less than fifteen world darts championships in his glistening career on his way to disposing of “The Adonis”. The question now is can anybody stop Taylor regaining the Grand Slam he lost last year?

I would suggest the answer is no; last year Taylor was simply not in his best form, he lost in the Quarter Finals to the same player he defeated in last night’s group stage match – Steve Beaton. At his best Taylor is practically unbeatable, and by looking at last year’s PDC World Darts Championship (which took place just a month after the Grand Slam) we can see how off form he was. The greatest of all time crashed out at the Quarter-final stage and although for most people that would be considered a great achievement this fell below the usual extraordinarily high standards Taylor has set himself over the years – he was a troubled man.

This year Taylor’s achievements include capturing the World Matchplay in July and the World Grand Prix in October. He kept his cool in a comfortable victory over potential banana-skin opponent James Hubbard earlier this week and battled through against the aforementioned inform Steve Beaton. The question now is who can stop Taylor from taking the Grand Slam for the third time in its four year history? A number of players have the raw ability but can any hold their heads when the pressure is applied by The Power?

Adrian Lewis – Lewis, Taylor’s protégé earlier in his career certainly has the ability to beat Phil, he captured the greatest honour in the game ten months ago defeating Gary Anderson to land his first ever PDC World Darts Championship title. If (or when) these two meet it is up to Lewis to hold his head and keep up with The Power. If he can do this while making and taking chances then we might see “Jackpot” causing a bit of an upset in the latter stages of this tournament.

Gary Anderson – 2011 World Championship finalist Gary Anderson has really broke through as one of the top players in the PDC in the last couple of years since reaching the UK Open final in 2010. Anderson is the reigning Premier League champion and if The Flying Scotsman does indeed meet Phil at some point during this event he could be a real contender to stop Taylor in his tracks.

James Wade – Probably the best left-hander in the game Aldershot’s James Wade isn’t far off being the complete darts package. The reigning UK Open champion has so far beaten Dave “Chizzy” Chisnall and Justin Pipe in group D and has been tipped to go far in this year’s tournament. Wade is another with the ability to beat Taylor but if the two do meet can he handle the pressure of taking on an inform Taylor?

Paul Nicholson – Finally I will look at a real underdog. Nicholson is currently 16/1 to win the Grand Slam and it’s fair to say the Aussie-Geordie has a history with Taylor. The 2011 UK Open saw Nicholson shock the darting world taking out The Power. He appeared to mockingly wave to Taylor after this match a gesture which resulted in a lot of media attention. The two met again at this year’s World Grand Prix a game which saw Taylor comfortably beat Nicholson and get a degree of revenge for his exit from the UK Open earlier this year. Nicholson has begun this years Grand Slam with wins over Barrie Bates and Wes Newton and it looks like he will face Steve Beaton in the next round. If he can get through that one a real possibility of the Nicholson vs Taylor feud continuing will exist and who knows Nicholson could yet be the man to stop the flow of The Power – the man who thrives on boos from the fans will certainly be up for the challenge. 

Taylor is rightly the favourite in the bookmakers eyes and his price of Evens shows just how confident the bookies are in him. I believe Taylor will do what Taylor does best – grind out tough matches and demolish opponents who are nervous or out of form without a second thought. He is undoubtedly the man to beat once again this year.

Darts: King to reign for one night in Wolverhampton?

Tonight 2-time BDO world finalist Mervyn King (pictured) has a chance to leave an impression on the Grand Slam of Darts when he meets 19-year old James Hubbard.

Hubbard made his TV debut yesterday picking up a lot of fans in a 5-1 defeat to living legend Phil Taylor.

The commentary team on the Taylor vs Hubbard contest frequently spoke of how this is Hubbard's first match on the big screen and how anything he gets will be a bonus. I agreed with that; he was naturally a massive underdog and against the greatest darts player ever nerves were natural. When he picked up a leg Taylor was clearly surprised; he had handled the pressure pretty well despite the final scoreline.

Tonight however I feel the thought of an upset could be sneaking into the minds of fans who watched yesterday’s match. King (1/6) comes into this match favourite but after his glistening display against "The Power" the young apprentice painter-decorator Hubbard (11/2) could well give King a good challenge. King lost his opening match in Group E 5-3 to Steve Beaton; he is clearly not in form.

Realistically King must win this match to have any chance of progressing to the last 16. Most will expect Phil Taylor to dispose of Beaton in tonight's other Group E match (which would take him to 4 points) while a win for King against Hubbard would put him on 2 points (the same as Beaton) however crucially I believe Beaton's victory over King will be decisive in this group; Beaton's final match will be against Hubbard while King will have to face Taylor; assuming nothing unexpected happens Beaton will defeat Hubbard and Taylor will defeat King leaving Taylor top of the group on 6 points, Beaton second on 4 points and King in third on 2 points, in this scenario Hubbard would be last place on 0 points.

King will want to leave some sort of impression on this competition and so will be hungry to demolish the young up-and-coming player. I fancy King to win 5-0 (11/2) or 5-1 (3/1) with minimal pressure on him with his likely exit from the competition coming. Comparatively Hubbard will once again be feeling the nerves of sharing the stage with a season pro of the darting world.

Even if my somewhat pessimistic prediction materialises for Hubbard, the young man from Norfolk, we will see him again. He reached the PDC World Youth Championship Final earlier this month which resulted in his qualification for this event and the dream match with Phil Taylor. By performing so well in this event Hubbard (alongside fellow finalist "Mighty" Michael van Gerwen) earned himself PDC Pro Tour cards for years 2012 and 2013. Even if he does not qualify for any TV events during these years we are guaranteed to see him again in May for the World Youth Championship Final where he will face van Gerwen who seems to have been on the darts circuit for years.

Introduction!

A quick introduction to my blog. I have created this so that I am able to write about my views on sporting events and have a place to store them. I will be writing about a number of sports but will be primarily writing about football. I created this particular post more as a test than anything so welcome to the blog!