Rio All At Sea-o

Well,
Rio Ferdinand is the England Captain for tonight's game against France. Taking time out from his busy schedule of helping United win the league and organising Rap Idol, he will lead England out for a 1-0 loss tonight.
Old Rio wouldn't be many people's choice for captain (as discussed recently here) but Capello has little option here. Gerrard is lacking as captain (witness last Sunday's mess at OT) and people have argued that it takes his focus away.
John Terry, as well as being odious and hardly someone you'd like to lead your country has been in poor form (esp. vs Spurs) and has an annoying habit of haranguing referees. Rooney is too young, volatile and foul-mouthed. Of the other guaranteed starters, no one would make a case for Ashley or Joe Cole and in the rest of the positions there is too much uncertainty as to who will play constantly. Gareth Barry may be a good choice but is he a long term starter?
Hargreaves too would seem to be good, but he is not playing for United and his injury problems will probably ensure he won't be starting enough games for England. No one knows who will be playing at RB, RM, GK or up front with Rooney, and none of the candidates offer a compelling case, so Capello is stuck with Rio or Stevie G. God help him.

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Mark

England's Heroes

As a counter point to JJ's post yesterday, I'm gonna have a crack at the England national team.

Reports have emerged that - shock! - that Capello fella is a bit of a disciplinarian. Never would have guessed that from his high profile fallouts with Cassano, Beckham, Baggio, et al.

The days of Wazza, JT and Stevie G are over, Stevie Macker's (that's McClaren to you and me) laughable attempts at being one of the lads was consigned to the dustbin upon his sacking. Capello insists on calling all his charges by surname only, and too right it is. While we're at it, how about some more public school behaviour - heads down toilets, public thrashings and humiliations all with an undercurrent of latent homosexuality.

Despite all the arse-licking over the past few months by the likes of Ferdinand, Gerrard and Rooney, Capello has refused to name a permanent captain until the autumn qualifiers, which I hope is in the belief that the gigantic egos will somehow find themselves out of the squad later this year. Certainly teh candidates mentioned are hardly the ideal choice but it also doesn't say much about the rest of the squad. Would you have Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, or Wright Philips as captain? How about A.N. Other in goal? Or the permanently crocked duo Owen and Terry?

The millionaire footballers also managed to turn up on time for this morning's breakfast, a notable achievement for some members of the squad. Not only did Rio Ferdinand remember it was on, he turned up too and had this to say of training - "We went out there and worked hard." Well, I don't know about you, but it is soundbites like this that confirm everything I've known about English football over the past 20-odd years - everything is newsworthy.

So, England host Switzerland tomorrow night in what should be a routine home win, despite England once again being hit by injuries, meaning we won't get a good indication of his future line-up.

So, we're in for an interesting few years with Capello at the helm,
the football won't entertaining but at least the fallout will.

Mark,
Okey Doke Football

Capello's Job

I haven't had a chance to write about Fabio Capello yet, so here's the perfect time.

I've been amazed to see articles in the English media that are a bit critical about Capello.
The points made were:

• He's being paid too much money - from an organisation that has loads of money, and who had previously made Eriksson the highest paid manager in football, why shouldn't they pay a better manager more money?
  
• What about the root and branch review - ah yes, the old bugbear, reviews are supposed to be the FA's (or at least independent consultants) job on a continual basis, regardless of the sacking. I'll even give a quick and free root and branch review - your players, managers & coaches aren't good enough, sort it out! It has nothing to do with Capello's job.
  
• But he's an Italian - yes, but no English manager is good enough.
  
• He should have an English coach as part of his team - why? to teach them how to miss penalties and choke at the highest level? To take them out on the piss?
  
• Why does he need a fitness coach? - you didn't have one and England have won nothing in 41 years. I think it's worth a try with one.
  
• He can't speak English - do you think he can't learn it with all his free time. How much effort does it take to learn 'Frank, you're dropped' and 'give it to Rooney'?
• He was hired too quickly, why didn't they wait a few months? - what is the point of hanging around while candidates rule themselves out or get different jobs?
  

So, it looks like it is impossible for England fans and media to like the manager, despite the fact that he has attained that mythical status of 'world class', has won everything there is to be won in the club game - they have got the best available candidate for the job, why are they giving out?

If only over in Ireland we had the option to slag off a manager of his genius (which we would) but we have the easy option of slagging off Howard Kendall, Liam Brady, Dave O'Leary, Ron Atkinson and Terry Venables. I mean, it's not even a challenge for Christ's sake.

So, I think a variation of Wife Swap is in order, we send Irish journos to England to try to give skillful back-handed compliments to Capello, all the while preparing for the article, for publication the morning after defeat, which slates him. And we get Harry Harris, Jeff Powell and the lads over here to extol the virtues of the prospective candidates, depending on who you're mates with (and what the betting is), while penning a 5000 word piece about the grassroots GAA in Mayo and appearing on every sports TV & radio show going. They won't last a week.

Mark,
Okey Doke Football Podcast is available every Friday morning, subscribe here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball

Weekend Reflections

Hi All,

International week is half way through, and only a few more days of misery to go.

Ireland got a 2-2 draw in Wales in a match they should have won easily, given the difference in resources. Wales were depleted by injuries to Bellamy and Bale and started the match with two teenage fullbacks, Chris Gunter and Neil Eardley. Robinson went off injured in the first half and Ireland should have seized their chance. Overall it wasn't bad for an Ireland game, but the endless references to saving pride made me want to puke. I think pride went out the window a long time ago.
Steven Hunt came off the bench like a man possessed and added to his reputation as an impact sub. Because of 1 or 2 games, people are willing to box off his career. Let him start more in the next qualification campaign and we can properly judge his effectiveness. He starts every game for Reading, after all.
Don Givens, the U21 coach took charge of the match on Saturday. He has been in the job as long as I can remember, and I think the FAI should look at it's strategy. Many countries use the underage teams as a learning ground for potential future managers. Givens has no ambition for a top job and is happy in his role (why wouldn't he be - loads of cash - no results expected). It's time the FAI took manager development as seriously as player development. Staunton could, and should, have been asked to take over the U18's 2 years ago, so he could make his mistakes there.

In a game that was actually meaningful, Scotland lost 2-1 at home to Italy. It was cruel luck on the Scots, the Italians got a freekick that never was and Panucci scored the winner. A draw could have been enough, depending on Wednesday's Ukraine France game, but their hopes were over. I feel sorry for the Scots but I'm happy that Italy and France will be at the finals.
Credit must be given to Walter Smith, and Alec McLeish. I have long felt that McLeish did a good job with Rangers, winning titles despite a lack of money compared to Celtic. After the game, he was non-committal on his future, and it could be a perfect time for a Premiership club to pick him up.

Over to Israel - I was hit by the inevitability of it all. Despite the conspiracy theories floating around in the run up to the game, that the Russian connection would influence things, Israelis in general are pro-England and they won the game in time added on. Amazingly, England only need a draw at home to Croatia to progress, and I think it will be one of the most undeserving qualifications in a long time. I'm glad they are through though, it creates a buzz around the competition, there are countless articles and TV programs which are widely optimistic and then it all goes down the pan.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

Okey Doke Football Podcast is available every Friday morning, subscribe here
http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball

ODF 07 Sept Online

Our latest podcast is online now.
We discuss:
Fixtures & Results - A quick run through of the Premiership and a preview of some important International matches

Pub Talk - Etherington, Carson, Ballack, QPR, God, Adriano, Schuster, the love of Ronaldinho's life, and more....

We Hate Lee Hendrie - the abuser of the disabled, the drink driving speeder, the Jade Goody (*shiver*) conquestor, the man who didn't sleep with Steve Bruce's daughter. Oh, and he broke up his marriage too.

We finish the show with a sum-up of the antics of Ronaldo, Nani & Anderson. Get in.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Download it: http://libsyn.com/media/okeydokefootball/odf06Sep07.mp3
Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball

Cheers,
Mark
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

P.s. Next week JJ will be on holidays, the week after, I will be on holidays, so we plan to have a show out on the 22nd/23rd September. We will be updating the blog occasionally, though not with the usual frequency.

P.p.s This is a good link to the charming Brazilian lineswoman (warning: not safe if you're in work!)

International Break = Football Poverty

Ho hum,

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog this week, which was not intentional but reflects the poverty of happenings in the football world this week.

We had a great weekend in the Premiership but after the reflection of Monday, we crashed back down to earth. We've had days of tedious news on Steven Gerrard's injury and whether he will play or not on Saturday. Hargreaves is missing and Heskey may play upfront. Does it really matter who plays for England? They all underperform anyway.

In Ireland there are doubts over Steve Finnan and what fresh madness Steve Staunton will come with up with next.

In the general scheme of things, Ruud Gullit and Sir Trevor Brooking having been banging on about English youth development which is at least the tenth time this year that there have been debates about the number of foreigners in the English game.

And in a couple of weeks, there will only be 1 game kicking off at 3pm on Saturday, the traditional time, which, despite the fact that it has been like this for years, has occasioned even more hand-wringing about 'the state of the game'

Then after various inevitable humiliations on Saturday, we only have next Wednesday's further horror to look forward to. It's gonna be a tough week.

There is nothing else to say, let's just fast forward

Mark

The International Break

Well, another international break is upon us (crept up fast didn't it, what with it being a mere six days into the season now)

Next Wednesday we have a friendly: Denmark v Rep of Ireland, in a match sure to set the blood racing in at least one person, known extrovert Stan Staunton, Ireland's more boring version of Alan Curbishley.

For everyone else, the game will probably mean nothing, serving only as a warm-up for next month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Squad:
Colgan (Barnsley, caps 9), Doyle (Birmingham, 1), Henderson (Preston, 5),

Carr (Newcastle, 43), Dunne (Man City, 35), Finnan (Liverpool, 46), Kelly (Birmingham, 5), McShane (Sunderland, 5), O'Shea (Man Utd, 38),

Douglas (Leeds, 7), Hunt (Reading, 5), Ireland (Man City, 5), Kilbane (Wigan, 80), McGeady (Celtic, 10), O'Brien (Hibernian, 5), Potter (Wolves, 2), Reid (Charlton, 22),

Doyle (Reading, 9), Elliot (Wolves, 9), Keane (Tottenham, 72), Keogh (Wolves, 1), Long (Reading, 4), Murphy (Sunderland, 2).

The absence of Given and Duff is a blessing in disguise for Irish fans, it means we get to see the impressive Colin Doyle in goal, and the madcap Steven Hunt on the left wing, a chance one suspects that would not have been given had Staunton the choice.
In defence, it is a chance for McShane to continue his improvement, and in midfield, Steven Ireland to gain more experience on the international stage. 'Fat boy' Andy Reid will eat up (sorry, couldn't resist) the opportunity also.

Up front, Ireland have plenty of options and a decent run out should be given to Long and Murphy.

So, on the surface, a nothing game, but a few interesting subplots to think about.

With every international, thoughts naturally turn to our neighbours, England. As ever, the proceedings off the pitch claim the headlines, with McClaren recently seen groveling in Liverpool, begging Carragher to help him out just for a friendly match, albeit one against Germany. As Gerrard will not play, it is the perfect chance for McClaren to sort out his midfield problems for the crucial autumn qualifiers.
John Terry, Owen Hargreaves, and Michael Owen are also in the squad, but will not play either, they will be there for their experience and to team spirit. Hmmm. Will they be teaching the others how to miss penalties, get a transfer or stay injured permanently?

Beckham, Campbell & James are all in, meaning that it's the same old England.
So, find yourself a nuclear bunker next Thursday to avoid the slaughtering...

Good luck
Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

Condemned Before They Fail

Howdy Folks,
Mark here.

I was suprised to see the sniping against the England U21's (should that be u23's?) this week.
It was perhaps accelerated by Gianfranco Zola's comments to the press, but it seems the resentment and disappointment is carrying over from the senior team.

People have been saying English players are not the equal to their counterparts, but take a look at this squad list:

GK: Ben Alnwick, Scott Carson, Joe Hart
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Anton Ferdinand, Justin Hoyte, Nedum Onuoha, Liam Rosenior, Steven Taylor, Peter Whittingham
Midfielders: Tom Huddlestone, James Milner, Mark Noble, Nigel Reo-Coker, Kieran Richardson, Wayne Routledge
Forwards: Matt Derbyshire, Leroy Lita, David Nugent, James Vaughan, Ashley Young

The squad would have been even stronger with the inclusion of Richards (injured) and Bentley (sleeping).
The outstanding players are there, they will surely make the step up to senior level - Carson, Noble, Derbyshire, Nugent (who already has) and Vaughan.

So what's the fuss? Well, they drew their first match 0-0 against the Czech Republic, primarily because Lita missed a penalty. Are the Czechs bad? No - just because we've only heard of a few of their players doesn't mean a draw wasn't a decent result.

Up tonight then for England is Italy, containing the likes of Pazzini (hat-trick against England in their 3-3 draw at Wembley) and the winger Alessandro Rosina as the standout players. The squad also includes Rossi, Padalino, Aquilani and Padoin. Tonights result is important for both teams (Italy lost 1-0 to Serbia in their first game) so I would say to tune in if you can.

A bad result for England will see the press jump on them again, and a victory will mark a 'new dawn' of hype and expectation - the papers tomorrow should be interesting...

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

P.s. Podcast out early Friday morning

McClaren in 4 situations

Hi Folks,
Mark here.
Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday, amazingly, people pay me to do real work, and afterwards, I got distracted with a bit of Championship Manager 01/02 and preparing for tonight's podcast.

Thanks for all your suggestions on last Friday blog, keep 'em coming.

A quick word about Red-faced Stevie Mc. He can't win, can he? He drops Beckham to show that it is a break from Sven, a new regime. Beckham plays reasonably well for Real, as he has done since joining them, McClaren doesn't want to be embarrassed in Wembley in a friendly against Brazil, and faces the sack if they fail to beat a team ranked 110th in the world next week. So, the handbrake is applied and a neat 3 point turn later, Becks is back.

So what will happen in these next two games:

1. Beckham plays well, and sets up or scores a goal in each game, justifying his inclusion. The media's reaction - McClaren was wrong to ditch him, Beckham is great, etc.
2. Beckham plays reasonably well but England lose to Brazil and beat Estonia 1-0 in last minute - McClaren wrong to bring him back, he's finished, past it, etc.
3. Beckham plays terribly, England don't beat Estonia - McClaren is sacked, with his reputation more in ruins, and looking like a weak man.
4. Beckham plays brilliantly but England don't beat Estonia - McClaren is sacked but has shown great humility to bring him back

So, Capello, and indeed other managers over the years, have u-turned, and brought players back into the fold. It is not about 'recognising your mistakes', 'being strong enough to admit you were wrong', it's quite simple, the closer to the sack you get, the more desperate you become, willing to try anything. The only way Steve can save his ass is by winning games, if he needs Beckham to do it, so be it. The outcome determines reality.

Cheers,

Mark,

http://www.okeydokefootball.com

That's what we want!

Hiya,Mark here.
Well, that's what we were all looking for, wasn't it?
A much improved performance from our players, helped largely by the Reading players, Dunne, Duff and S. Ireland.
My opinion of Stan, well, the pressure is off now, maybe he is learning from his mistakes and I really hope he can drive the team forward. He made mistakes in tactics and selection again last night but he must have had some effect on the performance and attitude of the players, which was like a completely different team than last Saturday.
We'll be talking about this and more on tonight's podcast (get the feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/OkeyDokeFootball)

Player ratings:
Given 7 - couple of decent saves, made a good impression as captain
O'Bese 6 - I can't bring myself to give him a good rating but he did well
Dunne 7 - Strong at the back with only 1 mistake all match
McShane 7 - Worked well with Dunne
Finnan 7 - Again didn't offer much going forward as he was on the left, but strong defensively
McGeady 6 - Young Scot looked comfortable the whole game without excelling
Kilbane 6.5 - Much improved from Saturday but we all know his limitations
Carsley 7 - Another solid performance, even managed to get forward on occasion!
Ireland 8 - Some intelligent link up play, will be very important creatively for the team for years to come
Duff 8 - Duffer on the left again, best performance in ages for Ireland, all the good things we remember from 3-4 years ago and the reasons Chelscum signed him
Doyle 8 - Took his goal well, can play up front on his own, unlike Keane.

Subs:
Long 7 - Lively but missed a golden chance from Hunt's cross, did well with a header that was cleared off the line
Hunt 7.5 - Like Saturday, created chances when he came on and relieved pressure
Quinn 6 - Needlessly gave away possession, gifting Slovakia a good chance, but not on long enough to atone

Leave a comment below or email comments@okeydokefootball.com,
Cheers
Mark

Is the Ballon d'Or Biased?

Hi there,
Mark here. Myself and JJ were talking yesterday about the fact that only 5 players based in England had won the Ballon d'Or in its 50 year history. So, to check for bias, I picked the period 1977 – 1985 - of the nine European cups, English clubs won 7 and were the losing finalists in 1.

The Ballon d’Or winners 1976 – 1985, the only Englishman to win it was Kevin Keegan twice in ’78 & ’79. Keegan played for Hamburg. No English based player won it.

Of the 50 awards, only 5 went to English based players.
4 of those awards were in the period 1956 – 1968.
Since then, Only Michael Owen has won it, largely for one performance against Argentina(it this was Wikipedia, it would say 'citation needed'!)

1977 – Allan Simonsen

Mönchengladbach won it's third Bundesliga title in a row, and reached the final of the 1977 European Cup. Simonsen scored to level the game at 1-1, but Mönchengladbach eventually lost 3-1 to Liverpool. He was subsequently named the 1977 "European Footballer of the Year", as the first Danish player. The race for the award was tight, and Simonsen squeezed past Kevin Keegan by three points and Michel Platini by four points to win the prestigious prize.

1978/79 – Kevin Keegan
In ’76 Liverpool won the League and UEFA Cup (Keegan scored in both legs of the final)
In ’77 Liverpool won the League and European Cup (was fouled for a penalty in the final)
Why did he not win it before Hamburg??

1980/81 – Karl Heinz Rumminege
W. German League Winner with Bayern Munich(1980, 1981)
Won Euro 1980 and reached final of World Cup 1982

1982 – Paulo Rossi
Was banned for 2 years up to the World Cup, scored a hat-trick in the round-robin, 2 in the semi, and 1 in the final.

1983-85 Michel Platini

1983
Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (16 goals)
European Footballer of the Year
1984
Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (20 goals)
European Championship player of the tournament
European Championship top goalscorer (9 goals)
European Footballer of the Year
1985
Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Italian championship (18 goals)
European Cup top scorer (7 goals)
European Footballer of the Year
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Now, my analysis:

1983-85 – Platini was the best player in the world, a deserved winner

1982 Villa won European cup – Rossi won Ballon d’Or
Key players in this Villa side included Tony Morley, Gordon Cowans and Dennis Mortimer. – not exactly big names....

1981 – Rumminege, Pool won Euro Cup
Liverpool players:
Clemence, Neal, A.Kennedy, Thompson, R.Kennedy, Hansen, Dalglish, Lee, Johnson, McDermott, Souness - all good players, maybe Daglish or Souness had a shout?

1980 Rumminege, Forest won Euro Cup
Trevor Francis played well that season for Forest but didn’t play in the final because of injury

1979 – Keegan, Forest won Euro Cup
Trevor Francis scored in the final to win the game

1978 – Keegan, Liverpool won Euro Cup
Daglish, Souness and others starred

1977 – Simonsen, Liverpool won Euro Cup
Keegan starred

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To sum up my brief analysis, the stats are inconclusive, so please judge for yourself.

My own biased thoughts are - English football is seen as less technical by continental Europeans, it seems to me that Keegan only won it because he moved to Germany.

I only analysed a small section of data, but the winners are generally from teams that have done well in internation competition - Rossi 82, Rumminege, 80, Platini 84, and it makes sense that a higher weighting is given to those competitions

I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave a comment below or email comments@okeydokefootball.com

Cheers,
Mark