1. QPR are living on the edge .
In 18 months, since July 2011, QPR have signed or brought in on loan the
following players. Bothroyd, Dyer, Gabbidon, Campbell, Murphy, Barton, Young,
Traore, Wright-Phillips, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Cisse, Zamora, Macheda, Puncheon,
Taiwo, Diakite, Perone, Fabio, Nelsen, Johnson, Green, Park, Hoilett, Bosingwa,
Cesar, Granero, Magri, Mbia, Ben Haim, Samba and Loic Remy. 32 players, with
the promise of at least 2 more today, in 18 months. No other team can get close
to that level of transfer dealing insanity… and it’s likely no team would want
to. The most worrying thing for QPR fans isn’t the signings, or indeed the
insane wages being paid to attract such a stellar cast of mercenaries, it was
the words spoken by Tony Fernandes last week that he would “leave the club” if
QPR got relegated. It is hard to think of a bigger potential disaster in
English football. Imagine Portsmouth, but in a just a few months not a few
years. The new players will have big relegation clauses written in, but the
older ones won’t and are likely to get huge severance packages if they get
relegated. It’s hard to see how their values will have done anything but
decrease, having helped to take down the most expensively assembled squad in
the clubs history. No, the bottom line is that QPR have gambled absolutely
everything on staying up. It is a risk that should not be allowed and is
indicative of a game that is spiralling desperately out of control. Football
clubs shouldn’t belong to millionaires and their toys, they should belong to
their fans. And it is the QPR fans who are right now on a knife edge, just five
months away from the potential total collapse of their football club. Shame on
you Fernandes and shame on you all who have joined that club solely for a quick
pay day.
2. Rafa Benitez is
probably not going to be the permanent Chelsea manager.
Going behind in matches is problematic enough, Utd have continued to dig themselves out of such holes this season but the law of averages say you will eventually come unstuck; but if there’s one habit that’s even more destructive, it’s giving up leads over and over again. Chelsea, under the historically defensively minded Benitez, aren’t just giving up leads… they’re giving up two nil leads to teams they have no right to. Chelsea are short on confidence and looked ragged last night when Reading pulled a goal back. Despite there being only 3 minutes left on the clock… and it being Reading. The interim managers’ team selections continue to baffle, picking Torres ahead of the vastly superior Demba Ba for a second game in a row for no fathomable reason. He has continued to play Ivanovic at centre back, where he makes at least one horrific error a game, as opposed to right back, where he scores or assists a goal every game. Lampard is being overplayed, despite what Chelsea fans may think, and a midfield shield of him and Ramires is nowhere near defensive enough to protect the back four when the going gets tough. Chelsea continue to create chances, thanks largely to the mercurial Juan Mata, but Chelsea are in a rut and need to dig deep to get out of it. With Pep Guardiola having planted his flag in Germany early, the question now isn’t whether Rafa has any chance of getting the job full time… but whether he’ll even last the season.
Going behind in matches is problematic enough, Utd have continued to dig themselves out of such holes this season but the law of averages say you will eventually come unstuck; but if there’s one habit that’s even more destructive, it’s giving up leads over and over again. Chelsea, under the historically defensively minded Benitez, aren’t just giving up leads… they’re giving up two nil leads to teams they have no right to. Chelsea are short on confidence and looked ragged last night when Reading pulled a goal back. Despite there being only 3 minutes left on the clock… and it being Reading. The interim managers’ team selections continue to baffle, picking Torres ahead of the vastly superior Demba Ba for a second game in a row for no fathomable reason. He has continued to play Ivanovic at centre back, where he makes at least one horrific error a game, as opposed to right back, where he scores or assists a goal every game. Lampard is being overplayed, despite what Chelsea fans may think, and a midfield shield of him and Ramires is nowhere near defensive enough to protect the back four when the going gets tough. Chelsea continue to create chances, thanks largely to the mercurial Juan Mata, but Chelsea are in a rut and need to dig deep to get out of it. With Pep Guardiola having planted his flag in Germany early, the question now isn’t whether Rafa has any chance of getting the job full time… but whether he’ll even last the season.
3. Where now for
Aston Villa.
Since winning at Anfield, Villa haven’t won in 7 Premier League games and have been dumped out of both cups by lower league opposition. They have shipped 22 goals and scored just 5. They are 19th in the league table, 4 points off the bottom, 3 points away from safety and have not brought in a single player during the transfer window. There have been many “too good to go down” teams over the years… and it is an insult to those teams to bracket Villa in with them. They have a team short in quality, short in experience and short in heart. The defence can’t keep a clean sheet, the attack doesn't function as a unit and the midfield is a mixture of under performing over paid washed up failures and children. Holman, Bannan, Westwood, Ireland, N’Zogbia, Herd, Albrighton and Delph have played 7,205 minutes between them this season and have scored one goal. Let me just repeat that in case you missed it, the 8 midfielders of a single team in the Premier League have scored one goal in 24 matches and over 7,000 collective minutes. Nothing I say could be more damning than that stat. Paul Lambert did a fine job at Norwich, and he has had his hands tied to a large extent at Villa, but that is simply not good enough. The formation changes every week, the personal changes every week, but the results are not changing. All the teams around them currently possess the ability to improve… Villa don’t. After 25 years in the top flight, the Championship is coming.
Since winning at Anfield, Villa haven’t won in 7 Premier League games and have been dumped out of both cups by lower league opposition. They have shipped 22 goals and scored just 5. They are 19th in the league table, 4 points off the bottom, 3 points away from safety and have not brought in a single player during the transfer window. There have been many “too good to go down” teams over the years… and it is an insult to those teams to bracket Villa in with them. They have a team short in quality, short in experience and short in heart. The defence can’t keep a clean sheet, the attack doesn't function as a unit and the midfield is a mixture of under performing over paid washed up failures and children. Holman, Bannan, Westwood, Ireland, N’Zogbia, Herd, Albrighton and Delph have played 7,205 minutes between them this season and have scored one goal. Let me just repeat that in case you missed it, the 8 midfielders of a single team in the Premier League have scored one goal in 24 matches and over 7,000 collective minutes. Nothing I say could be more damning than that stat. Paul Lambert did a fine job at Norwich, and he has had his hands tied to a large extent at Villa, but that is simply not good enough. The formation changes every week, the personal changes every week, but the results are not changing. All the teams around them currently possess the ability to improve… Villa don’t. After 25 years in the top flight, the Championship is coming.
4. Mario will be
missed.
Say what you want about Mario Balotelli, he was Box Office. On field, off the field, you were never sure what you were going to get… but it was always entertainment. Balotelli was no doubt a disruptive influence, and it’s hard to see how him leaving will be anything but a positive for City. Unlikely to buy anyone over the next few hours, three strikers into two fits a lot better with the team out of the Champions League and not staring at a possible fixture pile up. Mancini has already expressed his disappointment in his surrogate son leaving his side, but the move will surely help him exert more power on the rest of his troops now he isn't wasting time man-managing a child. Given the strength of Mario’s appeal, it’s likely the media will continue to follow him around to see what escapades he gets up to next. City’s gain though, is the league’s loss. Mario, wherever you are, whatever you do, we’ll be watching. Please, for the good of all things fun, don’t ever grow up.
Say what you want about Mario Balotelli, he was Box Office. On field, off the field, you were never sure what you were going to get… but it was always entertainment. Balotelli was no doubt a disruptive influence, and it’s hard to see how him leaving will be anything but a positive for City. Unlikely to buy anyone over the next few hours, three strikers into two fits a lot better with the team out of the Champions League and not staring at a possible fixture pile up. Mancini has already expressed his disappointment in his surrogate son leaving his side, but the move will surely help him exert more power on the rest of his troops now he isn't wasting time man-managing a child. Given the strength of Mario’s appeal, it’s likely the media will continue to follow him around to see what escapades he gets up to next. City’s gain though, is the league’s loss. Mario, wherever you are, whatever you do, we’ll be watching. Please, for the good of all things fun, don’t ever grow up.
5. Has any team got a
worse collection of barnets than Everton?
Fresh from almost throwing away another three points at home to West Brom, Everton moved to within one point of a Champions League spot and left me wondering if any team could boast such an impressive array of failed hairstyles than David “Zombie” Moyes’ players. Steven Pienaar has at least dropped the Predator look, but the move to convict was surely a bridge too far? Likewise Leon Osman and Johnny Heitinga, who both look like they belong in prison garb rather than football shirts. Captain Phil Neville has had his mum cut his hair his entire career, and Fellaini’s ‘fro is both absurd and questionably legal. Jelavic meanwhile, looks to be struggling with his locks as much as his form. What was once slick, now appears to have moulded into lank, uneven curls that cling to his forehead. The real stand out though, in every way right now, is Leighton Baines. The full back may well be as good as anyone currently playing in the league, but appears completely unable to accept that he isn't living in 1960’s Liverpool Beatlemania. Presumably the management took one look at Leroy Fer’s perfectly normal hair cut during his medical… and pulled out the deal faster than it takes Seamus Coleman to comb over his ridiculous side parting.
Fresh from almost throwing away another three points at home to West Brom, Everton moved to within one point of a Champions League spot and left me wondering if any team could boast such an impressive array of failed hairstyles than David “Zombie” Moyes’ players. Steven Pienaar has at least dropped the Predator look, but the move to convict was surely a bridge too far? Likewise Leon Osman and Johnny Heitinga, who both look like they belong in prison garb rather than football shirts. Captain Phil Neville has had his mum cut his hair his entire career, and Fellaini’s ‘fro is both absurd and questionably legal. Jelavic meanwhile, looks to be struggling with his locks as much as his form. What was once slick, now appears to have moulded into lank, uneven curls that cling to his forehead. The real stand out though, in every way right now, is Leighton Baines. The full back may well be as good as anyone currently playing in the league, but appears completely unable to accept that he isn't living in 1960’s Liverpool Beatlemania. Presumably the management took one look at Leroy Fer’s perfectly normal hair cut during his medical… and pulled out the deal faster than it takes Seamus Coleman to comb over his ridiculous side parting.
https://twitter.com/HinduMonkey
No comments:
Post a Comment