With the FA Cup final just one day away, one corner of Staffordshire is undoubtedly working itself into an excited frenzy. Stoke City have the opportunity to win their first piece of major silverware in nearly 40 years, but regardless of whether they win or not, manager Tony Pulis must start to receive recognition for his achievements with the club.
The 53-year-old, who began life in management with Bournemouth in 1992, is set for the biggest day of his managerial career so far. However, establishing Stoke City as a stable Premier League club surely ranks as his biggest achievement to date.
Stabilising a club as a Premier League side is no mean feat. Of the 30 sides promoted to the Premier League between 1998/99 and 2008/09, 18 have been relegated within three seasons of appearing in the top flight.
Of the 12 clubs who managed to achieve three consecutive seasons of Premier League survival following promotion, Pulis’ side are the only one to achieve an improved Premier League final position in each of those three seasons (providing they finish in their current position, 8th, at the end of this season). Indeed, if Stoke do finish 8th, Pulis will be the only manager in the Premier League to have led his side to three consecutive seasons of Premier League improvement.
Although Pulis and his side have received heavy criticism for their style of play, he must be applauded for accepting his side’s inadequacies and playing to its strengths. Pulis is fully aware that attempting to play attacking football, or employing a short passing-based approach, can be fatal to a side’s chances of Premier League survival. Tony Mowbray’s 2008/09 side, much like Ian Holloway’s current Blackpool side, were lauded for their attractive style of football. However they finished 20th and were subsequently relegated, and Holloway’s side are fighting to prevent a return to the Championship.
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A high turnover of players (Stoke City have signed 28 players since the summer of 2008) would suggest frivolous behaviour on Pulis’ behalf, but this fails to take account of the Welshman’s shrewd and effective work in the transfer market.
Although he has since left the club, James Beattie’s arrival in the January 2009 transfer window galvanised the club’s survival bid; he managed 7 goals in 16 appearances that season and effectively secured the club’s Premier League status. The likes of Danny Higginbotham, Dean Whitehead and Robert Huth have all brought a wealth of Premier League experience to the Britannia Stadium. German Huth has excelled at both ends of the pitch, having scored nine goals in all competitions this season.
Pulis has also managed to bring the best out of inconsistent and previously undisciplined players – Matthew Etherington won three of the club’s end-of-season awards in 2010, and fellow winger Jermaine Pennant looks settled for the first time in his troubled career.
The achievements of Pulis have not gone unnoticed within the club. Speaking to Teamtalk, club chairman Peter Coates said: “The twin reason for success is having the resources and having the management to do it. And we continue to do remarkably well because of the fantastic job Tony Pulis has done. I think he is the best manager we have ever had.”
With the end of the season in sight, the League Managers Association will be preparing to name its Manager of the Year. Whilst more illustrious candidates may garner greater support, few are more deserving than the unfashionable man who manages the unfashionable club.
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul
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One look through the Premier League finances quickly shows that it is a very uneven financial field. Based on this it at least appears on the surface that there are only a number of Premier League teams that have a realistic chance of winning the title and qualifying for the Champions League by finishing in the top four places in the league. However, is that just close minded thinking? And can Major League Baseball (MLB) in the US and a book written by Michael Lewis entitled Moneyball provide inspiration for smaller teams with less money?
Moneyball details the success that MLB franchise Oakland Athletics had despite having significantly smaller budgets. Oakland A’s had some truly remarkable seasons, most notably in 2001 and 2002. In 2001 they won the American League West with a 102/60 win/loss record. However, the following season they did even better by winning the American League West with a 103/59 win/loss record. These achievements are to be commended under any circumstances – but the truly remarkable thing is they did it with a payroll considering less than their rivals.
Comparisons with the MLB in 2002 and world football now can be drawn at the time. As the game was ceasing to become an athletic competition and becoming a financial one; at the time the gap between the richest and poorest teams was the greatest of any professional sport. To put things into perspective, the richest team was the New York Yankees and they had a payroll of $126m and the two poorest teams were Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a payroll of around $40m. However, despite that financial difference Oakland A’s showed that they can perform equally well in the regular season as the New York Yankees – because both teams won the same number of games.
Critics might say that Oakland A’s performance is somewhat less impressive without World Series wins – but doing well in the regular season and qualifying for the play-offs is a measure of consistency. Much like in the Premier League qualifying for the Champions League is the real gauge of consistency. Arsenal fans may bemoan the lack of trophies – but would they really swap their place in the Champions League for winning the FA Cup.
But back to the Oakland A’s performance in the 2002 season – it is really hard to comprehend how incredible it is; a bit like if Wigan Athletic winning the same number of games as Manchester United and finished second in the Premier League. However, as the Premier League is at the moment it’s hard to imagine that such a feat is even possible.
MLB had a similar issue until the moneyball concept completely changed things and defied belief in the baseball world – how a team with so much less money could be successful. The trick in baseball seemed to be to take a much more scientific approach to how teams were put together. It became less about who the magazines/newspapers thought were the best players and to a certain extent less about what the scouts made of the player on one-off games – but much more about what the statistics said. Ball players were now being signed on data from someone’s laptop, even when it seemed to defy what the scouts thought they knew. Ball players were being traded despite being out of shape and being unable to run. But somehow the statistics concluded they were effective and the statistics were proved to be correct.
The moneyball statistical analysis concluded that there were two statistics more important than any other and those were on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Therefore, Oakland A’s knew where they should focus their efforts in order to build a successful team. It is debatable if such an analysis could be undertaken in football and if two or three statistics could be considered more important than others. But despite all the statistical data available from companies such as Opta – has anyone bothered to find out?
Anyway what Oakland A’s found out was that they were able to trade players cheaply because the data wasn’t being analysed as well by the other teams and they could sign statistically brilliant players very cheaply because they were drastically undervalued by the market.
But here really holds the key to the system, if you want to compete with the Yankees then you can’t simply do what they do, if you are a team with low budgets – because the Yankees have spent $126m on 25 players and have maybe another $100m in reserve; whereas, Oakland have just $40m.
So a team has to be put together cheaply but it also has to been competitive with the best – which have the biggest budgets. So player development plays a big part in the system and when those previous nobodies become stars and command too high of a salary they are traded and the next one comes in.
However, could an adapted strategy work in the Premier League? Could a smaller Premier League side like Fulham use it to be successful? Well some of the ideas may need to be adapted bearing in mind football is a different sport. However, it seems sensible to look at some players that will not be on the radar of the big clubs. Clubs have managed to do this in some way – think to the success of players like Charlie Adam and Peter Odemwingie from last season’s Premier League.
But not all teams follow that blueprint – West Ham has been overspending on player’s wages and will need to adjust their wage bill quickly to adjust to life in the Championship – especially if they don’t make an immediate return to the Premier League.
In order for clubs to spot these rough diamonds in the first place they need to have a worldwide scouting network and use statistical data to back-up the thoughts and opinions of the scouts. Furthermore, the scouting system needs operate at youth level to bring through and develop young players at little to no cost that could become future stars; that involves expertise to spot youth players and facilities to train them up.
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Gradually building a team in the right way and not spending excessive wages and when those players get too good and demand too high wages then are simply sold off and the next crop of talent comes in. With the right ownership and good manager it is certainly a system that could work and certainly seems like it’s worth a go. After all it isn’t just about how much money you have but also how well it is spent.
Time will tell if such ideas will come into the Premier League with teams with smaller budgets getting smart – but it’s certainly food for thought.
Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has asked the club’s fans to give him time to show he is the right man for the job.The former Birmingham City manager crossed to the city rivals last week to replace Gerard Houllier, who stood down as boss.
Villa fans were unhappy with his appointment, but McLeish asked on Monday to be given a chance.
“Let me prove myself and I will win you over. It is not a case of proving the fans wrong. I want to go forward with them and prove I am the man for this job,” he said.
“I can understand the passion and emotion of football and as long as it doesn’t get out of control I can understand their feelings. Am I fazed by it? No. Have I had it before? Yes. I really look forward to the challenge.”
The former Rangers manager, 52, led Birmingham to success in the League Cup last season.
The club was relegated to the Championship after a 2-1 loss at Tottenham on the final day of the season and City powerbrokers were unhappy when he resigned on June 12 with two years left to run on his contract.
McLeish said the offer from Villa was too good to refuse.
“To think I have been able to manage both of them (Aston Villa and Birmingham City) is a wonderful honour,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say it was a difficult decision in my career but it was a tough one. It is not every day you get offered a job like this. There is no way I couldn’t have been the manager of Villa.”
“I thank them very much for their support over the four years I have been there. Not everybody was sure of me at Birmingham and OK, I left on relegated, but we just fought one of the hardest Premier League campaigns ever.”
The Scot did not rule out making a move for some of his former players at St Andrew’s.
“I know there are many good players there but the policy that I have always maintained is not to talk about other clubs’ players,” McLeish said.
“If I thought a player could improve Aston Villa Football Club, why not?”
McLeish’s first competitive game in charge will be away at Fulham on the opening day of the Premier League season on August 13.
The Championship is already the 5th biggest league in European football and with the new season kicking off in less than three week it looks to be one of the hardest campaigns yet in the race to the promised land of the Premier League.
There are only six teams in the league who have not had previous experience in the Premier League and there are number of sides that have had long-term spells in the top-flight and will be looking to return there this season.
The likes of former double European Cup winner’s Nottingham Forest, Leeds United with their intensive history and recently relegated West Ham are all clubs associated with the higher echelons of the English game, not the second tier.
These sorts of clubs are capable of attracting high-profile managerial names such as former England manager’s Sven Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren who will both be looking to set their career back on the right-path with Leicester City and Nottingham Forest respectively.
West Ham’s new man at the helm, Sam Allardyce is a highly regarded manager in the lower regions of the Premier League and probably one of the main reasons why both Bolton and Blackburn are now established clubs in the Premier League. Although the football under ‘Big Sam’ won’t be that pretty, I don’t think Hammers fans will mind if come the end of the campaign they are back in the top tier of English football.
Then you have the other relegated teams, Birmingham City and Blackpool who will both be hoping for an instant return to the Premier League. Birmingham have recovered from losing Alex McLeish to rivals Villa by appointing Chris Houghton as boss. Houghton did an excellent job taking Newcastle back to the Premier League at the first time of asking and Birmingham fans will be hoping he can repeat his magic at St Andrews this term. Blackpool may have lost key men in Charlie Adam, David Vaughan and DJ Campbell but under Ian Holloway they still stand a chance of challenging this year and also have the benefit of parachute payments to help them achieve an quick return.
Leicester City look like title contenders after their summer spending and they have made a statement of intent with their high-quality signings. They have strengthened an already established team and I would not be surprised if it didn’t pay off with a promotion season under Sven.
Another team who could be in with a shout are Reading who will still be picking themselves up from the disappointment of their playoff final defeat to Swansea but the success of their season may hang on keeping last year’s squad together.
Other clubs who will be disappointed not to be involved in the playoffs in May are Burnley who under Eddie Howe look a good bet to have a better campaign after a transition season last term. The list goes on of teams who will be in with a reasonable chance of competing for the playoffs.
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Middlesbrough who ended last season in impressive fashion will be hoping to continue this improvement and mount a push, while Ipswich look a lot stronger this year and under Paul Jewell have a manager with experience of reaching the Premier League.
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Add teams like Hull City, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Milwall, Portsmouth and Watford to the equation and you can see just how tough it will be this year, with all these outfits looking for a place in the higher reaches of the league.
Then you have to consider the three promoted teams who all have plenty of cash to spend after winning promotion from League One. Southampton look an outside bet for playoffs under the leadership of Nigel Adkins as do Brighton who will be in a new home with over 18,000 season ticket holders. Both could well upset the odds this season and repeat Norwich’s trick of a double promotion.
The new Championship season is set to one of the most competitive ever and it will be hard to predict the winner in any game making it very difficult for even the biggest of teams. I expect to see a few of these major teams disappointed at the end of the year and trying to pick out of any of the teams that will finish in the playoffs is a bit of lottery, a lottery worth an estimated £90m to the victor. I can’t wait for it to kick off now!
Having been part of the club’s relegation, new manager Matias Almeyda wants to return River Plate to the Argentinean Primera Division.Almeyda was handed the role on June 28 as a replacement for Juan Jose Lopez, who had resigned in the wake of River’s relegation.
Three days before his appointment, Almeyda, 37, had started the first leg of the aggregate loss to Belgrano that sent River to Nacional B for the first time in their 110-year existence.
The playoff loss sparked chaotic scenes at River’s Monumental, with incensed fans damaging the stadium and more than 70 people needing hospitalisation.
Guiding the club – where he began and finished his 20-year career – back to the top-flight is Almeyda’s first goal.
“I am convinced we can turn things around and I am looking forward to the prospect of leading River back into the top flight,” the former Argentina midfielder said.
“I am new to the job and only time will tell if I am able to transmit my belief to the players.”
“I want a team that is strong, fast and combative, but I also want a team that plays football, because in recent times River have struggled to play good football.”
Almeyda has already begun the rebuilding, enticing former duo Alejandro Dominguez and Fernando Cavenaghi back to the club.
With attacking midfielder Erik Lamela having been sold to Serie A club Roma and Diego Buonanotte departing for Malaga in La Liga, the two signings will bolster Almeyda’s attacking options.
Almeyda knows the challenges that stretch before him, with River’s financial concerns – at a reported debt of 33 million pounds – hardly helped by the drop in divisions.
But he believes the timing is right for the step into management.
“I am happy to be the coach of River,” he said.
“I think as a player I was suffering. I played my last games with a fracture in a rib and a pulled abductor, and once you start to have these kinds of problems I think that’s it.”
“As a player I think I’d given my all. I couldn’t give anymore and today what I want has left the player (in me) behind.
With the new Premier League campaign lurking around the corner, the inevitable discussions as to where ones club will finish come May have begun, with the red half of Manchester sure to be confident that the league is once more theirs to lose. United won a record 19th league title last season, overtaking the previous 18 set by Liverpool in 1990. Since taking over in 1986 Ferguson has won 12 of the 19 titles at Old Trafford, and while Liverpool have gradually fallen away from the top of the league, the United boss has created team after team of league winners and will undoubtedly be looking to do the same again this season. United have already been installed as favourites to be crowned champions, but with fierce competition expected from the usual suspects of Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as Manchester City and a rejuvenated Liverpool looking to make their mark on the league, this season looks set to be one of the toughest and tightest for years.
United have been relatively busy in the transfer market so far, and have brought in the likes of Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David De Gea to strengthen the side. Speculation over the signing of Wesley Sneijder continues to dominate the headlines, with the retirement of Paul Scholes is expected to leave a void in the midfield that cannot be filled sufficiently by the current crop. Should the Dutchman complete a move to Old Trafford then this United side would certainly be more of a force to be reckoned with however, as they are, the strength of their midfield has rightly been brought into question. Whilst the likes of Carrick, Anderson, and Gibson can all fulfill a role at United, they are not the kind of players that are going to score and create goals in the way that Sneijder would, or that Scholes did.
Liverpool on the other hand have spent over £40m on midfielders, acquiring the services of Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing. This season will certainly be an interesting one at Anfield, and should these signings replicate the kind of form they demonstrated last season, then Liverpool could well be pushing into the top four again come the end of May. Whilst a number of optimistic fans will be talking of bringing the league title back to Merseyside, I feel this Liverpool side may take some time to adjust, and do not look particularly convincing at the back. In four pre-season games, Dalglish’s side have conceded 12 goals and will need to eliminate such defensive frailties if they are to break in to the top four – winning the league however, is almost certainly a bridge to far this season.
Arsenal have now gone six years without a trophy, winning the league last back in 2004. Questions over Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to spend large sums in transfer windows have intensified since then, and his side seem to have adopted an unfortunate habit of spending much of the season competing for the top spot, only to finish in 3rd or 4th place come May. Again Wenger has failed to spend significant sums this summer, bringing in the Ivorian forward Gervinho when most fans would have liked to have seen a new centre half or goalkeeper at the club. Similarly to Liverpool, I feel the league is out of reach again for Arsenal, and it seems their season could rely upon the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri – should the two leave the club and not be replace sufficiently then this Arsenal side could struggle to break in to the top four for the first time in years. Should they both stay, then again, we can expect them to be there or thereabouts for much of the season, but without improvements at the back, we can also expect Wenger’s side to falter at the final hurdle once more.
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United’s biggest challenge may well come from the other side of Manchester, with Mancini’s side now a ‘top four’ club looking to improve on last seasons achievements. The signings of both Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic indicate Mancini’s desire to strengthen his defensive options, and the £38m capture of Sergio Aguero should take some of the goal scoring pressure off Carlos Tevez, though his future at the club is yet to be determined. City have built a squad over the last two years that have learned to play together, and though many disapprove of their playing style at times, it works. Having qualified for the Champions League, Mancini must find a balance between the league and European football and hope he can keep his key players fit for the best part of the season. Should City cope with the demands of European football, then I can see them mounting a genuine challenge for the league title, and what better incentive than to knock your arch rivals off of their perch at the top of the league.
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Finally, we come to Chelsea, last year’s runners-up and United’s biggest challengers in recent seasons. The Blues new manager Andre Villas-Boas has promised attacking football at Stamford Bridge, and whilst Champions League glory is believed to be top of the agenda, we can certainly expect his side to be challenging for the league throughout the campaign. Chelsea have been quiet so far in the transfer window, having only brought in 19-year-old Oriol Romeu to bolster their midfield options up until now. The Blues have also made no secret of their desire to bring in Luka Modric from Spurs and should they do so, would boast one of the strongest midfields in the division. Villas-Boas’ biggest task will be to find a formation that suits both the midfield and his forwards, with Drogba, Anelka, Torres and now Sturridge all likely to be fighting for a place in the starting eleven. If Villas-Boas can get both his £50m Spaniard finding the net, and a partnership alongside Didier Drogba working, then this would certainly be a strike force to be reckoned with. However, it seems probable that a 4-3-3 formation will be favoured by the new boss, and so long as his forwards can find the net, competition for places up front can only be a positive dilemma to have. Chelsea will be looking to rectify the failures of last season and, similarly to City, will need to be careful to not focus too heavily on their European commitments. If they can, I think that once again the Blues will be favourites to give United a run for their money, and may well be crowned champions of England by the end of the season.
On the 15th December 1995 Jean-Marc Bosman changed the face of football for the worse. The Belgian footballer fought for and eventually won the right to move from one club to another for nothing once their contracts had expired. Labelled the ‘Bosman Ruling’ it effectively shifted the power that football clubs once held over players putting them in the driving seat when it came to transfer dealings and contract negotiations. Player power has grown exponentially over the last 15 years and is continuing on a rapid incline towards an absurd level. But will this increase ruin the game we all know and love?
Looking at the transfer window that has just passed there were a number of cases that caught the eye and gave weight to the notion that player power is actually ruining the game. A couple of examples spring to mind with Samir Nasri, Jose Enrique and Charles N’Zogbia the obvious ones that come to the fore. Last season Wayne Rooney demanded to leave his club, leveraging his position to see his demands for a salary increase granted by Manchester United to prevent him from leaving Old Trafford. Quite frankly it’s disgusting that players now have the mind-set that they are bigger than the club, the owner and the fans. What makes them think they can bully the club into a corner and demand more money or dictate what they will do after their contract has expired?
The Rooney fiasco really did make my blood boil considering he is already paid handsomely by the club, is worshipped by those in the stands and is the poster boy of English football that many a young child look up to in awe of his footballing ability. If only they knew the truth about how greedy and conniving footballers are becoming. Rooney knew Man Utd would do everything in their power to keep him at the club and used that to grind them into submission. How can he accuse the most successful side in English football of lacking ambition? It was a paper-thin ruse that didn’t fool fans or the media alike. But it worked and he eventually got his pay rise because Man Utd were simply too afraid that they would lose him to a rival team.
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This trend is becoming all the more common in football with players in the final years of their contracts now more aware of the fact that they can hold a club to ransom by saying they’ll leave the following year for nothing unless they get an improved deal. This will either lead to a club selling the player on for a reduced fee (although on deadline day fees can soar) or giving into their demands and bumping their wage up to meet their requirements. Enrique left Newcastle for £6 million this summer despite being worth more than double that fee. But with the Spaniard refusing to sign a new deal and hankering for a move to Liverpool the Magpies had to sell otherwise they’d have an unhappy player on their hands that would be free to leave in 12 months time for absolutely nothing. It’s a dirty tactic but it works. Nasri is another example, refusing to sign a new contract and forcing Arsenal to sell him to Man City.
But who are real losers in all of this? The fans! They are the ones who are hit hard in the pocket when these players decide they want a pay rise or a move elsewhere. Whether a player pockets more zeroes on their weekly wage or decide to leave on a free causing their club to shell out money on a replacement, fans will be the ones left covering the cost. Ticket prices, merchandise and food has slowly risen in tandem with transfer fees and wages that players are now commanding and it’s having a serious effect on attendances. With the economy in the perilous position the clamour for players to earn the highest wage possible is sucking money out of clubs and the pockets of fans.
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These players are simply tearing the heart right out of football forcing more and more fans away from stadiums and into their armchairs or local pubs. Their selfish approach to earning money is killing football slowly but surely and ruining a game that was once built on respect and principles. If this problem isn’t nipped in the bud and rectified quickly, football will eventually cease to be as these players will become too powerful and too expensive to maintain.
The protest at the weekend against Steve Kean at Blackburn after only four games of the new season demonstrates the instantaneous demands of football supporters. I don’t for one minute believe that Kean is the best manager in the league but it still appears harsh to protest against a manager who is trying doing his best for the club and who actually kept them up last season. Shouldn’t the blame instead be placed on the Venky’s who appointed him on a long-term deal especially after sacking Allardyce who would have surely ensured survival?
This growth of foreign investment in English football has made owners increasingly impatient for results and has consequently increased the threat of managers losing their jobs. Managers are made scapegoats for the bad management of a football club with the unfounded belief that a change in management will reverse the fortunes of the club in question.
On Monday, League Two side Plymouth Argyle announced that Peter Reid had been dismissed as manager despite giving everything to the club. Pilgrims chairman Peter Ridsdale still thought it was right to sack Reid after a poor start to the season, all Reid has done for club off the pitch was forgotten to the general disgust of football fans everywhere.
There is no doubt that the business of football is an volatile industry and this season has seen a high number of dismissals before teams have even played games and the average tenure of manager reached an all-time low last season with managers being given less and less time to deliver success on the pitch.
Undoubtedly there will be a large number of sackings in the next few months as football owner convince themselves that the current underachievement can only be resolved by changing the man in charge. With the transfer window closed until January, club owners are unable to radically change their squad and they cannot blame themselves for egotistical and self-preservation and so find a scapegoat in a manager.
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In football the desire for results set against a backdrop of intense media scrutiny creates an extremely challenging working environment. It seems that many of those controlling our football clubs have forgotten that not every team can play in the Premier League and not every club can avoid relegation. While there will always be a point where a manager can instil confidence in his players or display any sign that things can improve, a system where nearly half of clubs change manager cannot be sustainable particularly when there is a large settlement has to been paid out for each one.
It is clearly the decision of club chairmen whom they hire and fire, and when, but the statistics show that a club is likely to end up worse off when the manager is sacked and they are often significantly out of pocket due to compensation and paying off contracts. As a result clubs in the lower leagues in England cannot not afford to keep sacking managers. Not only is it expensive but it is hugely destabilising to a club and its staff, and a new manager wishing to stamp his own mark on the playing squad brings with him the additional cost of the transfer budget needed to do so.
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However there is the argument that if you don’t do your job properly then you should be fired and no member of staff should be exempt from this. A football manager should be given time to improve things but where it is clearly causing a downward and relegating threatening trend, a board has to take the decision to change things. In which other business could a manager who is sacked for consistently failing to deliver results walk straight into another managerial post, often equally well-paid while still continuing to be paid by the organisation he had failed. If you are willing to accept that is will probably be a short term position where you will be constantly be under threat of losing your job, there are financial benefits of being a football manager, as long as you don’t mind traveling around the country for a new opportunity.
One can only imagine the shade of purple Fergie and co turned upon the news that not only do they have to wait through the duration of the Euros with baited breath hoping that their players return unsaved, now they have to contend with the prospect of players also playing for ‘team GB’ to boot.
The club v country debate has is always bubbling under the surface, with ill-timed international friendlies and injuries being sustained on international duty – we all remember the injury to Owen and his club at the time Newcastle’s reaction – but expect the issue to rear its ugly head with gusto once more as we head towards the summer.
With the Olympic team now able to consist of players who have participated in the Euro’s, albeit minimally, with England’s record at such tournaments, it is not impossible to envisage our players not only playing in Poland and Ukraine this summer, but also for team GB, further placing strain on their bodies and taking away their down time, something that is vital for them given that most will have played a full season for their clubs and will be going into another one straight away.
Should players such as Rooney be called up to take part in team GB, they could potentially miss the majority of their club’s pre-season training, and also the Community Shield match, which takes place on the same weekend as the Olympic final. Not only will this anger player’s clubs and their managers – after all it is the clubs who are paying the hundreds of thousands of pounds for the players wages and their medical bills, but it could also potentially cause anger amongst fans who want to see their clubs do well and players performing up to the level they expect.
Should players be fatigued after a summer of international duty and this then impact on their performance for the clubs throughout the coming season, don’t expect this to go unnoticed by the fans – they are the ones spending their money on football tickets, and deserve players to be at the top of their game, not suffering from the effects of playing for ‘team GB,’ having been denied both a rest in the summer and also a full pre-season – or any at all.
A good pre-season is vital to clubs for a variety of reasons, allowing new players to link up and form understandings with current players, getting the players fit after a summer away from the club and conditioning them to prevent injuries. More than a couple of people have remarked on the fact that Barcelona’s pre-season left a little to be desired, and attributing the vast amount of muscular injuries their players have sustained at the beginning of the season to this.
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It is also worthy of note that players will credit full pre-seasons as a reason for improved form during the season – Anderson has stated that this summer has been the first time he has participated in full pre-season and his form has improved for it. Likewise, the scintillating form of Wayne Rooney – who this debate may affect more than most due to his ban for the first three games meaning that he will, especially should England go home early, have played less games than most – can be put down to the player having a proper rest in the summer. This is something that would not happen anyway due to the Euro’s this summer, but would be magnified further should a player be included in team GB, removing any chance of a break for players should England crash out early.
It is not just English players that are candidates for the Olympic team, but Northern Ireland, Wales and despite strong objection from the SFA, Scottish players. Again these players although not playing in the Euro’s would lose the chance of a break during the summer and the chance of pre-season, and possibly playing in the Community Shield. For a player such as Ryan Giggs, whose name has been mooted as a potential squad member, a rest in the summer and a good pre-season is vital, and one can only imagine Fergie’s reaction to this potential situation.
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The issue of players sustaining injury playing for team GB would also be a problem, especially if managers have objections to their players taking part when they should be with their clubs, and potential litigation seems a likely outcome should this situation arise.
Either way, with managers already uncomfortable with the prospect of Euro 2012 approaching, the prospect of them losing key players for an extended period of time which will directly impact on the club’s pre-season and potentially the season to come, expect this debate to gain momentum as the summer gets ever closer.
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The FA, the Premier League and the Football League, the three bodies involved in the administration and delivery of youth development, have all pledged to improve existing practices over the last eighteen months. Zarif Rasul looks at the measures which could eventually turn England into world beaters.
LAST year, The Premier League, in consultation with the Football League and the FA, produced the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), a proposal designed to revamp the existing youth development system. It was ratified by all 20 Premier League shareholders at their AGM in June, and a final draft has been sent to the Football League for approval.
The Premier League says that the central aim of the EPPP is to “enable clubs to develop more and better home grown players in their Academies”. Under the proposal, clubs’ youth operations will be put into one of four categories. Those in the highest tier, category one, will have far fewer restrictions placed upon them in terms of the age at which a child can be trained and the amount of coaching time they can provide per week.
For clubs which run the top tier of Academy, rules regarding how far young players are permitted to travel (Academy/Centre players must live within 90 minutes’ drive of their club) will be inapplicable. Clubs will be expected to provide boarding school-style lodgings and team up with local schools in order to ensure those players’ educational needs are met. This will however, allow category one clubs to triple the existing amount of contact time they have with their players.
The cost of equipping a category one or category two training facility means that these groupings will be out of reach for a large proportion of Football League clubs. Unlike category one and two clubs, those operating in category three or four will not be able to access players until a later age. Category three clubs won’t be able to sign players until 11, whilst those in the category four will have to wait until a player is 16, effectively leaving them to sign players discarded by other clubs.
Manchester City have already announced plans to develop a brand new, state-of-the-art training facility. Undoubtedly aiming for category one status, the plans, which were unveiled last month, include 16 football pitches, on site accommodation for junior and senior players, a 7,000 capacity stadium for youth matches and an Academy designed to cater for 400 young players.
Football League Chairman Greg Clarke has expressed doubts over the EPPP, fearing that it may force several clubs to abandon youth development operations.
Jim Briden, Youth Development Business Manager at the Football League Trust, believes the Football League must guard against the disenfranchisement of smaller clubs.
“We have to try and ensure that the broad base of youth development that is often provided by a number of Football League clubs isn’t eroded. The fact that players who start out at fairly small Football League clubs often finish up at Premier League clubs demonstrates that those clubs have got a role to play in the programme,” he said.
The developmental makeup of the most recent England squad vindicates Briden’s assertion. Thirteen out of the 23 players called up for England’s squad to face the Netherlands earlier this month spent all or part of their formative footballing years at a club currently outside of the Premier League. Joe Hart, for example, emerged from League Two outfit Shrewsbury. Club team-mate Gareth Barry spent six years at Brighton before moving to Aston Villa as a trainee.
The EPPP will also seek to address the controversial issue of compensation for young footballers. Fair compensation has long been a bone of contention amongst ‘selling’ clubs. Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan infamously described the £700,000 fee set by the Football League tribunal for teenager John Bostock’s transfer to Tottenham in 2008 as “scandalous”.
Briden says that ensuring clubs are adequately compensated for the loss of young talent is essential if the EPPP is to receive the approval of the Football League’s shareholders.
“From our point of view, the EPPP clearly requires clubs to invest more money in their youth programmes. And yet, there is a proposal at the same time, to reduce the amount of compensation that they might be able to achieve for those players that they’re developing. And that seems a bit of a dichotomy to me and to Football League clubs.
“They’re being asked to invest more and yet the assets that they’re investing in, the players, could move for less money. Until the compensation levels are deemed to be reasonable and appropriate, I think it will be difficult for Football League clubs to adopt the EPPP.”
Once all parties are in agreement, the implementation of the EPPP could happen as early as 2012. With UEFA’s financial fair play regulations to take effect from 2013, having a healthy and productive Academy will be even more important for elite Premier League clubs.
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Football League clubs recently reiterated their commitment to improving youth development, by agreeing to increase expenditure on young players and the minimum number of ‘home-grown’ players required in matchday squads. The 72 clubs agreed to introduce a one-percent levy on all transfer spending, with the anticipated extra £600,000 per season to be invested in Youth Development programmes. Teams must now name a minimum of six domestically-registered players in their squads.
The FA is also doing its part to improve programmes and coaching for young footballers. Mini-Soccer was first introduced for children under 10 years of age in September 1999, and now proposals have been put forward to extend small-sided formats to under-11s and under-12s.
“It’s because you go from six years old to ten years old playing 7v7 on smaller 60 by 40 pitches,” says Middlesex FA County Development Manager Stuart Allen.
“Overnight you go from playing 7v7 to playing 11v11 on a full-sized pitch, but overnight you don’t actually grow twice your size. You don’t become twice as fast or twice as physical. You end up having a ten-year-old kid standing in a goal, trying to defend the same size goal that Petr Cech has to defend.”
Nick Levett, the FA’s National Development Manager for Youth Football, has spent time over the last two years working on a review of youth development in England. He recommended the switch to smaller-sided games for 11-and 12-year-olds and explains why it is needed if young footballers are to develop better technical skills.
“With a big pitch and small players the game becomes a territory-based activity where the teams are encouraged to shift the ball as far away from their goal as quick as possible whilst moving it towards the opposition goal,” he said.
“This ends up being a game that does not encourage our children to ‘play through the thirds’ and work the ball up the pitch, rather get the ball from one end to the other in the shortest amount of time. Teams find they can become successful and score goals by having a player with a large kick in defence and a fast player in attack.”
The governing body has also introduced a range of new age-appropriate coaching courses, designed to help coaches to understand the needs of players. The FA Youth Award was launched 18 months ago, and is split into three modules. Module one was launched last year, and the second module debuted this summer.
English football finds a home
The long-awaited National Football Centre is set to open in Burton-upon-Trent next summer, 30 years after the idea was first mooted. Whilst it might be far-fetched to suggest that St George’s Park (SGP) will lead to an immediate upturn in England’s fortunes, the FA believes that it will help to create a centralised footballing philosophy in this country.
Howard Wilkinson was Technical Director at the FA when the freehold for the 330-acre site was acquired in 2001. He explains why it has taken a further ten years for plans to come to fruition.
“Money! When I first got it passed in the early part of the 21st century it had the full backing of the FA, and then Wembley was allowed to explode at Monty Python-esque proportions. There was not at times a great political will to see it finished, because there were people that didn’t understand the concept,” he said.
“I’d like it to be the Oxford and Cambridge of education in football. It’s the place where cultures will be trained, and cultures for specific jobs will be trained. It’s a place for research, a place for development; it’s a place where you bring the top minds in sport together. It’s a place that services the football industry in this country at all levels – boys, girls, men, women and all the associate disciplines to do with the development of football.”
In addition to providing a high-quality base for all of England’s teams, the FA hopes that SGP will raise coaching standards and the importance of the profession as a whole.
The number of UEFA-qualified coaches (at Pro, A and B level) in England is substantially lower than numbers in France, Spain, Italy and Germany; England has less than 10% of the average number of UEFA ‘B’ coaches in these countries, 16% of UEFA ‘A’ coaches and 12% of UEFA ‘Pro’ coaches.
SGP intends to boost these statistics by aiming to train 250,000 new coaches by 2018, offering a wider range of qualifications and introducing a raft of age-appropriate coach education courses.
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Fact box – Facilities:
Eleven full-size pitches, accommodating 11-a-side and 7-a-side football
One full-sized indoor pitch and running track
Multisport indoors sports hall
Hydrotherapy suite
Strength and conditioning gyms
Biomechanics and screening area
Read my investigation into the current youth development system here.
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul