#OneLastGame

When the idea of #OneLastGame was first mentioned by journalist Iain Macintosh, we all thought it was a great way of winding down the clock before the latest Football Manager game was released. Little did we know it would lead to us traveling over 350 miles to watch a game of football in North Wales.

The idea was simple: take control of the lowest ranked team on Football Manager 2011 and guide them to as much glory as possible within five seasons. The winner of this competition would receive a VIP trip to Bala to watch the boys in action! Josh (@coullj) won the league, Dave (@nicholls33) won the league, Jim, (@JimCalver1) won the league, Owain (@pulpsong) managed a very respectable 11th, and then was sacked. Still Josh’s abilities enabled the four of us to pick up the tickets.

The date was set: we chose the game against Neath FC as the game to watch. This was due, in part, to Neath’s ‘superstar’ Lee Trundle.

The journey was going to be a long one, we had to stop over in Bristol to pick up one of the Drivelling Wizards, and so in total, we were going to drive 360 miles just to get to Maes Tegid.

Having lost Jim, as he’d just become a father, we set off. An overnight stop at Bristol and we made our way to Bala.

The journey through Wales was spectacular, especially through Snowdonia. Hills and valleys rolled out in front of us, and the sun pierced through the clouds making the national park look like a far away magical land.

However once we heard the truly devastating news about Gary Speed, the rest of the journey was spent in stunned silence.

We arrived to a warm welcome at Bala. Gareth Moon, the club’s hospitable front man greeted us like old friends and gave us an enthusiastic tour of the ground. We just had enough time for a quick cuppa before taking our seats to watch the action unfold.

The Three Drivellers in all their glory.

Some heavy overnight rain had made the playing surface slow and boggy and in the early stages of the game, the players struggled to keep hold of the ball. Neath had the better of the opening period, Lee Trundle displaying a touch of class and flair to set up a couple of chances, the closest of which skimmed the top of the bar. Bala’s cross bar had to come to the rescue for a second time, as Chris Jones took aim from a free kick on the edge of the area.

Bala defended resolutely and began to get a hold of the game. However the home side struggled to make any real impact in the final third. Their long balls were easily intercepted by the ever present, man mountain, Matty Rees.

With no luck in the air, Colin Caton’s boys changed their game plan and used the wings to their advantage. Young left back Rees Darlington put in a sterling performance both going forward and defending, every Bala attack looked dangerous when the youngster got involved. Darlington could even have bagged himself a goal but his shot clipped the top of the bar before flying over.

An injury just before half time forced Bala to make a change. Winger, Peter Doran, picked up a nasty looking knock and had to be carried off. Stephen Brown, who had shown glimpses of brilliance in the first half, was switched to the right wing, as the explosive Stef Edwards was brought on. 

Brown setting off on another mazy dribble.

The whistle went for half time and we all retreated to the relative warmth of the pavilion to be treated to more tea and a slap-up buffet lunch. They know how to treat a man in North Wales I can tell you.

The second half started brightly for the home side, the substitution gave Bala more impetus and they began to take control of the game.

Mark Jones was instrumental in feeding delightful balls out to both flanks and Brown caused the Neath right back all sorts of problems as he danced down the wing time and time again. He was unlucky not to score as he weaved into the box and fired just wide. Edwards’ searing pace created several chances for the home side, and they must have thought they were in front as a cross from the left wing found Brown in acres of space with the goal at his mercy, his shot, however, squeezed agonisingly past the post.

Neath did manage to create some chances of their own, and has a bit more spark going forward once the completely ineffective Lee Trundle was brought off. Bala’s Terry McCormick was called on to make a heroic save to keep Neath at bay and some strong defending from right back Stuart Jones frustrated the visitors until the final whistle.

A Big save, from Big Terry.

Even though we weren’t treated to any goals, the game was fast paced and exciting and Bala’s hospitality was first class. In the bar afterwards, we chatted to the team’s manager and Chairman, both of whom were happy with the performance, with good reason too; that result guaranteed the North Wales club a spot in the top end of the table as the league splits in two.

We really enjoyed our mammoth trip to Bala, and were told that many people visit from all over the country, to take in the sights of Snowdonia, or for a stag do weekend. Take it from us, In Bala, £6 to watch the Lakesiders, will be the best money you’ll spend all weekend.

The Problem with Carlos Tevez

Well, as a United fan, I get a certain degree of pleasure from witnessing all these events unfold with Tevez at city. Mancini says he will never play for the club again, Tevez says he was misunderstood. A club in crisis? Not quite. A club with too many big-headed ego-inflated players? Definitely.

With Dzeko getting in a strop after being subbed off and Tevez ‘refusing’ to play it’s a bit of a farce. Throw into the mix Balotelli and you have 3 centre forwards that don’t seem to show any regard for their manager, the club or any discipline.

But, with Tevez, really, Man City fans should have seen it coming. If we track Tevez’s senior career, it looks like this:

Club	Transfer Fee Paid	Joined	Left	Appearances	Goals
Boca Juniors	-	2001	2004	75	26
Corinthians	£13.7 million	2004	2006	38	25
West Ham United	£12 million	2006	2007	29	7
Manchester United	Loan	2007	2009	97	34
Manchester City	£27 million	2009	-	91	53

Figures taken from BBC football

Notice two things about Carlos Tevez? Firstly, he has scored goals at a very high rate for every club he has been at. And secondly, and more importantly from the aspect of this blog, he has never been at a club for more than three years.

There is also an argument that at each of his past clubs, he has caused problems and aggravated a move away from that club (except Boca).

If we start with his earliest club, Boca Juniors, surprisingly he left the club under quite ordinary circumstances. He had won all he could with the club (winning Copa Sudamericana, Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup in 2003) he decided to leave at the end of the 2004 season.

At Corinthians, Tevez caused a major stir by becoming part of the biggest ever deal of South American football. After the Brazilian giants agreed a fee of £13.7 million for the Argentinean, they agreed to offer him a £6.75 million 5-year (£1.35 million a year) contract which was funded in-part by the now infamous Media Sports Investments - enter Kia Joorabchian.

After captaining the club to the 2005 Brazilian league title, he was named the best player of the league season. However, it all went sour for Corinthians as Tevez refused to play any further part for the club and announced that he, along with Javier Mascherano, had been granted a move to the Premier League with West Ham United.

Tevez is more than likely to spit his dummy out after 2 season at any club.

The proposed move went through and West Ham had pulled off a remarkable transfer coup on the 31st August 2006. However, this transfer has now gone down in history because, with the purchase of Tevez and Mascherano - who were partly owned by Kia Joorabchian's Media Sports Investments - came a whirlwind of problems. This culminated in a fine of £5.5 million for the East London club and the payment of £4 million a year in compensation to Sheffield United for five seasons.

Following this, more controversy revolved around Tevez and his ever-present representative Kia Joorabchian. After rejecting an apparent move to Italy to play for Inter Milan or AC Milan, Tevez fell out with West Ham and demanded a move once he heard Manchester United were interested. A transfer saga followed which eventually ended with Tevez going on a 2-year loan deal to Man Untied. Strangely the player was loaned from Media Sports Investments rather than West Ham, although a fee was paid to the London club in the region of £4 million.

At United, Tevez made himself into a hero and a crowd favourite, only to ruin it all by moving to neighborly rivals Man City. He complained that United didn’t offer him a decent enough contract for a player of his stature, a statement which was refuted by Fergie who claimed the club had offered to make Tevez the highest paid player at United.

Fast-forward to 2011, and the trouble that Tevez is causing at his present club. After moaning about everything and anything to get out of the club in December, being quoted to say that he will never return to Manchester as there was nothing to do and insisting he must move closer to his family (it surprises me how much closer apparently Italy or Spain is to Argentina than England) he eventually ended up staying in the blue half of Manchester and withdrew a transfer request. As a move never materialised to a new club, Tevez stated he would give his all for City and even in an interview after the Bolton game stated, "I’m happy at City and I’m not moving from there”. 

Kia Joorabchian, not welcome at Old Trafford or in World Football.

He doesn’t strike me as a player that is happy when he refuses to come on as a 2nd half substitute. You can tell that he is still angling for that move, and you can only feel that as much as the player makes his own decision, he is probably being influenced by Kia Joorabchian.

I feel, after looking at Tevez’s past and his continued involvement with Kia Joorabchian, only trouble and problems will follow him where ever he goes. Manchester City should have seen this coming and have only themselves to blame. Although with a club full of superstars it will not be easy to keep them all happy and seemingly only a matter of time before the wheels began to come off.

This attitude from Tevez in Munich has caused an angry but necessary reaction from Mancini. The Italian will be hoping that his firm stance with Tevez, insisting that he will never play under him again, will scare others into keeping their discipline.

All that is left to do is for Manchester City to get rid of Tevez to the highest bidder and, more importantly, the Premier League and FIFA to get rid of any involvement Kia Joorabchian has in world football.

Dave

Scottish Fiction

For the last few weeks I have been captivated by Redwhiteandblue pod’s epic #onelastgame, which has seen Football Manager fans from across the globe take control of Bala FC in the Welsh Premier League and battle it out for five seasons to try to achieve glory.

This game got me thinking, could teams from the Welsh and Scottish leagues cut it in the English football league system? Well under my stewardship, if #onelastgame has taught me anything, the answer is almost certainly no.

Bala Town, the new favourite Welsh club for many.

But what if we consider the two Old Firm teams from Scotland. Recently there has been a number of discussions about combining both Celtic and Rangers into the English Premier League, this would break their monopoly of success in Scotland, present them with a bigger challenge and improve the competitiveness of the Scottish Premier League. But could Celtic and Rangers cut the mustard in the Premiership? 

The answer, in a nutshell, is yes and no, well more specifically, no and then yes. Currently the calibre of each side is below that of the English Premier League. There are several examples of players who are topping all the charts north of the border, only to be brought down to earth with a bump when they take on careers in England.

Kenny Miller for example, managed only 4 goals for Premiership whipping boys Derby County (who finished with a record low amount of points). He then moved to Rangers and in three seasons put away 55 goals, winning the Scottish Premiership and Cup along the way.

James Mcfadden, despite a decent career in England has also struggled to recapture his form that persuaded Everton to part with their cash: his goal tally in Scotland, 32 in 70 games was only reached in England after 227.

Kris Boyd too had a glittering career for Kilmarnock and Rangers notching up a whopping 195 goals during his time in Scotland. Since Gordon Strachan signed him for Middlesbrough, he has managed just 12 goals, in the Championship – quite a difference.

There are of course a number of factors to consider and it would be unwise and perhaps even insulting to argue that both teams would struggle on the basis of a few strikers’ poor goal scoring records. However, the gulf in ability is prominent, not just between England but the rest of Europe as well. Their poor record in Europe led to their Champions League qualifying places being reduced from two to one.

The gulf between Scottish Premiership teams and English Premiership teams is due, in no small part to the difference in television revenue that each club receives.

This delight on Boyd's face was rarely seen south of the border.

Currently Scottish teams receive, on average, a share of around £13million each season for television rights, whereas teams in the Premiership receive on average £40million each per season. With this increase in revenue, the Old Firm sides would be able to stump up more for wages and be able to be competitive in the transfer market to improve their squads to Premiership standards.

It’s not just money that they’d be able to use as an incentive to lure players to the club, the attraction of the Premier League is well established with many players from across the world eyeing a move to England to compete in “the best league in the world.”

Right now, the two Old Firm sides would struggle in the Premiership, their squads are not talented enough and the pace of the game is much faster. However if they could survive for the first season, they’d be far better equipped to improve their sides, adjust to the rigors of a full Premiership season, and coupled with their extensive and passionate fan base, build a side that is capable of competing regularly in England’s top flight. The question is do we, as Englishmen, want them in our league?

My opinion? No. Not because I don’t want the Scots in our league, I just think it’s a daft idea. Why take just those two teams? What happens when two other teams in Scotland become better than anyone? Do we put them into the league system here too? If we’re integrating two Scottish sides as well as the existing six Welsh sides scattered throughout the English league system, why not have a UK league? Put all the teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland too into one big UK league.

You’d have to restructure the league system, and probably add another division, but it’s possible, I think. Well I haven’t really got much time to think about it, Bala FC are leaking goals at the moment and face top of the table Port Talbot next, I need to go and prepare. 

Owain 

Are you loan-some tonight?

Although presumably not about the state of the current transfer market, legendary recording artist Mic Boogie seems to have stumbled across a fundamental truth about modern Association Football when he declared 'everybody's doing it'.

Loan signings have undoubtedly shaped the current league tables, from Manchester United's loan signing of Henrik Larsson to Carlisle's ‘most famous’ ever (non)player.

Not that there is a problem with this, loan signings are very often a win-win situation for both the clubs and the player involved; a young player gains valuable first team football experience while the club taking him on get a player they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Henrik's happy, Man Utd were happy and the fans were happy.

However, with the ever-growing size of top squads and the stricter rules regarding player registration, players are increasingly available for loan and increasingly seen by chairmen and managers as quick-fix solutions.

Take the curious case of Slobodan Rajkovic for example; an international centre back who Chelsea originally signed from his native Serbia nearly six years ago. However he failed to make an appearance in a competitive match for the West London club, making over 60 while out on loan in the proving ground of the Eredivisie, and was recently sold to Hamburg.

This is merely the crux of the problem, the readily available short and long-term loan deals means that top clubs can effectively stockpile talent, safe in the knowledge that they will be able to play football at a sufficient level to continue their education in the game.

Some people may argue that clubs have always stockpiled young talent: isn't the function of the reserve side largely for just that purpose? Perhaps it is, but there is a difference in having a second side made up of almost exclusively of home grown academy graduates, and a side boasting capped internationals from all corners of the globe.

Chelsea fans, recognise this player? No, of course you don't.

In February whilst Arsenal were suffering a second half collapse against Newcastle United, their roster included 10 players showcasing themselves at other clubs including Armand Traore at Juventus. This was far from uncommon, former-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor spent the season on loan at the iconic Real Madrid from his relatively new home at Manchester City. In fact, this February Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, Chelsea and Liverpool boasted an impressive 66 players out on loan at other clubs.

While this included young players learning their trade at the Lincolns and Leyton Orients of the football league, the fact that others could have been winning Champions League medals or banging in Premiership goals for fun surely highlights the absurdity of this situation.

This season has seen no change to the situation either. Adebayor is once again amongst the big-name loan signings, now playing at Spurs, a situation that means that the club whose shirt he wears each Saturday will be battling the club to whom he's registered for league positions.

And this phenomenon isn't just restricted to the Premiership. Just three years ago Grenada CF were a struggling club on the brink of bankruptcy, but an agreement with Italy's Udinese brought the opportunity to loan young and fringe players. Twelve Udinese players turned out for the Andalucía club last season, bringing with them promotion.

Adebayor has so far been a success, but will he still be there next season?

Now in La Liga, Grenada have been tipped by many to head straight back down again. Whilst the realists on the terraces of the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes might be happy with a healthy club and a spell in the glare of the top division, will other fans be able to recognise this as the false dawn that this probably is?

But what can be done about this? One would have thought that the tightening of player registration could help rectify the situation, and perhaps it will. However, the financial might of the big clubs currently means that they can continue to stockpile talent and loan the players out to continue their education.

Surely the current rules of eight standard loan players (plus two emergency loan signings), with five included in the starting line-up are too lax. If almost half a squad aren't registered to your club then surely this is not right.

The FA, it’s over to you! 

Jim