A Good Friday ramble

THIS IS NOT A RANT, BUT...

Eat Sleep Drink Blog Football is back, and yes, two years on C is still moaning! But for good reasons I'm sure you'll agree. 

1. Raheem Sterling, he does what he wants

"I don't want to be perceived as a money-grabbing 20 year old". Well, Raheem, it's funny that - it's a bit like telling me not to think about a pink elephant with spots sat on a car bonnet! The warning signs were there when he chose to leave QPR (the club that spotted him) aged just fifteen and not having ever played a senior game for them to sign for Liverpool. 

The same player has now publicly come out and effectively declared himself bigger than his club, and indeed bigger than the national team, feeding us lines that his personal trainer life coach agent has pre-prepared for him about being "too tired", "suffering burnout" and "wanting to win more trophies". I translate this as someone who has had his head turned by the poison in football influencing him to be demanding too much too early in his career and basically planting the thought in his head that he is too good to appear for England Under 21s or indeed for Liverpool and could sit on the bench at somewhere like Chelsea doing far less and earning far more. You're only 20 for Christ's sake, mate! Oh and PS there's this other young player called Harry Kane who wants to play every game he possibly can for club and country and doesn't grumble about it!! Quite simply, a ridiculous interview and major own goal Raheem...

2. Steve Evans

I could just leave it at the name couldn't I? I've mentioned poison in football above, but how the big red Scottish criminal continues to make a living managing Rotherham United with his managerial style of "go ballistic at everyone and everything and blame them when we lose, but take all the credit when we win" I do not know. What kind of a role model is this man to young Millers fans or indeed fans of any other Championship club who have to put up with his demeanor for 180 minutes a season? This week he managed to successfully demolish the FA's "Respect" campaign once more, effing and blinding on the touchline. Then after the game he had the audacity to say "I'm not questioning the integrity of Dean Whitestone (referee), I'm just saying he was atrocious today. You can write that in capitals for the Football League... Certain people don't want us in the Championship". This bloke is deluded and scum.

3. AFC Bournemouth - a "success story"?

I do enjoy watching the style of football that Bournemouth play, however this feeling they have managed to infiltrate the press with that they are "underdogs" and "wouldn't it be amazing if they made it to the top flight" is ridiculous - they, just like fellow nouveau riche Wigan and Fulham before them, have been bankrolled up through the divisions - let's be honest, how many clubs of Bournemouth's stature are likely to attract people like Kenwyne Jones to sign on loan for them? They would fade in to nothingness without the millions of Max Demin and Eddie Mitchell. I bet Harry Redknapp can smell the bank notes and should think he is a shoo-in to pitch up at his "local" next season as Director of Football.

And if they are so good and such a tremendous genuine lower league success story then what is the point in the blatant diving of today's televised fixture against Ipswich (Callum Wilson and Yann Kermorgant with particularly embarrassing examples of Ashley Young impersonations)?

On the plus side, watching the Nationwide Division Three West London derby between Foolham and Brentwood unfold was very entertaining - it's just a shame that five teams can't be relegated from the Championship this season! 

Felix Magath pictured enjoying the demise of the Cottagers

Finally I suppose you want to know my prediction for QPR tomorrow - 2-1 to West Brom. Individual errors to cost dear as usual. Performance summary: "Edit copy, edit paste".

C

Weekend Preview: Spotlight on the Football League

I don't think it is necessary to give much attention to England v San Marino tonight, and clearly neither do you if you are reading this preview on a Friday night! So let's talk Football League.

It's been a chaotic week in England's lower divisions and the managerial merry-go-round has been in full swing. We reported to you that earlier this week that Owen Coyle had lost his job at Bolton, incredibly becoming the 8th manager to part company with their club within just eleven games of the new season having passed (ten in the Championship). Since then, we've also seen Neal Ardley appointed at AFC Wimbledon, Eddie Howe swap Burnley for Bournemouth and now Edgar Davids (yes, the guy with the goggles) pitch up at Barnet as joint head coach! The last two on that list came as real shocks - Eddie Howe has gone back to the South Coast citing family reasons and given he lost his mother earlier this year the drop down a division is understandable in these circumstances. But Dutchman Davids certainly can't say the same for Barnet! Davids, whose last notable contribution in English football was an excellent assist for QPR's Adel Taarabt whilst wearing Crystal Palace colours (he massively underhit a backpass, wish I could find it on YouTube to share with you!), has finally found a club where he has a chance of getting into the first team for the rest of his life, whilst even doing some coaching at the same time. I can't believe for one moment that he's gone to North London for financial reasons. 

That might not be the end of the managerial casualties for a while either; Aldershot's board have given Dean Holdsworth the dreaded vote of confidence as they sit in 23rd place in League Two, whilst Milan Mandaric has issued the same kind of backing for Owls chief Dave Jones, who must be an awful manager to play for.

This bizarre week in the footballing world also saw Luis Boa Morte sign for Chesterfield until January. Boa Morte, aged 35 going on 53, says there is method in his madness, explaining that he is a good friend of Spireites goalkeeping coach Mark Crossley. We can't wait for Davids vs Boa Morte in League Two - for those of you excited by this (i.e. all of you), it's 27th October at the Proact Stadium.

Tranmere go marching on at the top of League One and this weekend's visitors Yeovil don't really look like ending the Wirral club's unbeaten start. Incredibly, three of their players have scored seven goals each after just eleven games and they are just one shy of half of their points total from last season already! Andy Robinson, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Owain Fon Williams are big misses for the hosts so perhaps there is some hope for the Glovers, but I can't look beyond the home side here. 

Prediction: Tranmere 2-0 Yeovil

After a solid if unspectacular start to League One life under Paolo Di Canio, Swindon find themselves in the playoff places ahead of the visit of lowly Coventry City this weekend. The Sky Blues won't be the easy game they were in the opening weeks of League One though, as they finally look to have turned the corner under the guidance of Mark Robins - they've won two of their last three games and produced an emphatic performance away at York in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy midweek. Still I expect the Robins (of the team variety) to take all three points here given the quality they have. 

Prediction: Swindon 3-1 Coventry

There aren't really any stand out fixtures in League Two this weekend, but Sky Sports have gone with Port Vale v Oxford as their prime time Monday night blockbuster. The Valiants have mustered 25 goals in their 11 league games this season so far and unsurprisingly are League Two's top scorers. Tom Pope has notched 11 of those and is currently in the most prolific form of his career. But the side from Stoke have found points harder to come by on home soil, winning just twice in five games at Vale Park this term. Oxford stopped the rot with a win over AFC Wimbledon and a draw at home to early League Two pacesetters Gillingham to end a run of six straight defeats which had had U's fans calling for Chris Wilder's head and he, too, got that dreaded vote of confidence from the board. Such is the patience level of fans, the media and board these days that a few defeats on the bounce no longer goes unnoticed and you will soon come under fire. I fancy Vale to put the pressure back on Wilder here (though surely they won't dispense of him if he loses away at the team 2nd in the table), but not without an early scare of going a goal down early on.

Prediction: Port Vale 2-1 Oxford

With just one of our regular sides in action, it would be foolish to pass on the opportunity to go and see them. C and J will be in the away end at Fratton Park this weekend to observe crippled Portsmouth host Crewe Alexandra. Both sides go into the game having found a bit of form of late, so this should be a good game. Portsmouth have assembled a team of Championship/League One quality freebies which on paper is quite a formidable side at this level. Having said that, all of their players are on monthly rolling deals so theoretically could walk away from the club at the end of the month, which probably suits the players but certainly isn't ideal as far as the fans are concerned. One such player is QPR legend Akos Buzsaky, who, presumably like his colleagues, views the opportunity at Portsmouth as a chance to put himself in the shop window for a couple of months in the hope that a bigger fish will come in at the end of one of the said months and offer him a longer term deal. How Pompey can sustain the kind of wage he was on at QPR is beyond us. All that aside, it really is a sorry state of affairs at the South Coast club and I genuinely hope that they don't go to the wall - I wouldn't wish that upon any football club, even Luton Town!  

Use the international weekend profitably and get down to support your local football league club this weekend. We'll be back early next week with a match report and a weekend review.

C&J

Match Review: Bournemouth 1-1 MK Dons

Five minutes in and a lot of the crowd is still queuing at the ticket office

I took the opportunity whilst in the area to watch another club with a high turnover of personnel in recent times that has been sparked by a sugar daddy turning up off the pitch. Bournemouth were at home (think it was called the Goldsands Stadium this week) to Franchise FC, the club whose fans I always enjoy telling that they are not a proper club.

After missing the opening five minutes due to a ridiculous policy where fans were unable to pay on the turnstile and instead were made to queue up with all those collecting season tickets from the booking office, I walked in to a game which the home side had started very brightly indeed and were pushing the ball around nicely. It was clear to me straight away that Bournemouth wanted to get their wide players on the ball at every possible opportunity. You could sense the anticipation in the crowd in particular whenever the ball was played to Marc Pugh, who was able to trick his way past the full back every time and deliver crosses into the area. 

Bournemouth were knocking on the door.

Early exchanges

After all that early neat build up play though, it was ironically a very scrappy goal that broke the deadlock on 16 minutes. A miscued shot from outside the area ricocheted off a MK Dons defender and found its way to the feet of Lewis Grabban, who was able to swivel and pass the ball beyond the despairing MK Dons keeper Martyn whilst off balance. Not a pretty goal but I have to admire goals like this - reacting quickly to a loose ball is very difficult. 

The momentum was now with Bournemouth and for the next ten minutes they visibly grew in confidence and MK Dons were looking rattled. So much so that hot-head Alan Smith managed to fly in to an ugly two-footed tackle on Harry Arter and earn himself yet another career red card. Alan Smith looks likely to be the pantomime villain in League One this season and the Bournemouth fans took great pleasure in abusing him even after he had left the pitch. They even had the audacity to call the MK Dons team 'dirty northern bastards', which made me laugh as a frequent advocate of the argument that the north starts from Watford. I then realised that they could sing that to fans of any football league club bar Exeter, Torquay and Plymouth. And they probably do, and laugh at it every time.

Half time, 1-0 to the hosts

MK Dons keeper David Martin had resorted to time wasting from the 20th minute in a damage limitation effort and his team mates were losing track of Pugh who was constantly switching flanks, twisting and turning and whipping in crosses. But these crosses were of diminishing quality and seemed to be becoming more and more hopeful. At half time I noted in the programme that Pugh made 218 crosses in the league last year (the most in the league) but was only credited with 7 assists. This statistic told a story in itself and remained the key feature of Bournemouth's second half play. It ultimately proved their downfall and, sensing that Bournemouth had ran out of ideas, MK Dons were given the incentive to try to bring themselves back in to the game. And they were rewarded for a bolder second half approach when, a few minutes after Dean Bowditch spurned their most clear cut opportunity of the game with the goal gaping, neat build up play saw them thread through the Bournemouth defence and Daniel Powell calmly finished a move by dinking the ball over the outrushing Schwan Jalal. 

The home fans' frustration began to pour out and, smelling blood, Karl Robinson sent on Jabo Ibehre in search of an unlikely victory. There were no clear cut chances after this though; the home side huffed and puffed and the crosses came from deeper and deeper - the attractive football from the first half had descended (or should I say ascended) into Sam Allardyce style hoofball. MK Dons did show a little attacking prowess but any inroads into the Bournemouth half were soon mopped up by the impressive Cook and Addison. 

Towards the end Matt Tubbs was brought on in a final throw of the dice by manager Groves, but his introduction was met by jeers by some of the crowd, a sign that not all has been rosy for Tubbs since his big money move to Dorset from Crawley. Obviously one goal in nine appearances illustrates that he hasn't exactly hit the ground running since January but the guy has had a major operation to recover from and Bournemouth fans will need to be patient with him while he rediscovers form. Lee Barnard has been drafted in to try and make up for the lack of goals but even this, together with tonight's result and performance, simply aren't good enough to please the expectant Bournemouth fans who sensed MK Dons were there for the taking when down to ten men (as all football fans do in the same situation). The Cherries were booed off (harshly, in my opinion, as MK Dons are no pushovers) by sections of their support at the end. Clearly, as QPR have also proved in the last few weeks, big change and big money doesn't necessarily pay dividends straight away in football. In the words of Take That, "Have a little patience". That's my lesson for you all from this week's football.

Man of the match: Daniel Powell - 21 year old attacker that showed great energy and promise throughout the game. Was able to keep his head in the face of adversity and keep his nerve to finish superbly when a chance came his way. Looks a good prospect and clearly the MK Dons staff and fans rate him highly.