twofootedtackle

Prediction League: Week 12 - Predictions

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:48:00 +0000

Since I missed out that there was a mid-week fixture this week, I've added in two additional games from the FA Cup First Round for this weekend, and with things tighter than a Jamie Redknapp suit we need all the points we can get.

Aston Villa vs. Bolton
Chris: Aston Villa
Ian: Aston Villa
Gary: Aston Villa

Blackburn vs. Portsmouth
Chris: Draw
Ian: Portsmouth
Gary: Draw

Man City vs. Burnley
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

Tottenham vs. Sunderland
Chris: Tottenham
Ian: Draw
Gary: Draw

Wolves vs. Arsenal
Chris: Arsenal
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Arsenal

Paultown vs. Norwich
Chris: Norwich
Ian: Norwich
Gary: Norwich

Stockport vs. Tooting & Mitcham
Chris: Draw
Ian: Stockport
Gary: Draw

Hull vs. Stoke
Chris: Stoke
Ian: Stoke
Gary: Stoke

West Ham vs. Everton
Chris: Draw
Ian: West Ham
Gary: West Ham

Wigan vs. Fulham
Chris: Wigan
Ian: Fulham
Gary: Draw

Chelsea vs. Man United
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Liverpool vs. Birmingham
Chris: Liverpool
Ian: Liverpool
Gary: Liverpool

The twofootedtackle Football Podcast Episode 25

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:19:00 +0000

It's podcast time, and this week Gary Andrews and I were joined by Jonathan, the editor-in-chief of the excellent Just-Football.

On the agenda this week: the Premier League, Hull City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Carling Cup, Major League Soccer, DC United, Portugal, France, Napoli and a few other bits and pieces too.

Episode 25 is now available via iTunes, this link and the media player at CSRNUSA.com. Oh, and it's down below too.

As ever, your comments and questions are most welcome.

Prediction League: Week 11 - Results

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:18:00 +0000

Goals galore, red cards and shock results, could only mean one thing, the prediction league title race has once again heated up. Let's check out how we got on this weekend, and I will tell you now, it is well and truly game on!

RESULTS

Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham
Good win for Arsenal, Tottenham showing their weaknesses at the back and their capability of not being able to beat the Big Four sides. Points go to Gary on this one.

Bolton 0-4 Chelsea
Comfortable victory for Chelsea, can't say anyone was shocked, a point for everybody on this one.

Burnley 2-0 Hull
The Clarets' home form continues, showing last weekend was only a blip; surely this is the final nail in Phil Brown's coffin? One point each.

Everton 1-1 Aston Villa
A draw seemed to be a fair reflection, no doubt Everton will be the happier side, and glad to see the back of October at the same time. No points here I'm afraid.

Fulham 3-1 Liverpool
What can I say? It was an outstanding victory for Fulham, Rafa Benitez and Liverpool are surely out of the title race now. None of us saw this one coming.

Pompey 4-0 Wigan
Without a doubt a vital first home win of the season for Paul Hart's side, winning by a huge margin. Wigan look dodgy on the road. Chris gets the points on this one.

Stoke 2-2 Wolves
Tony Pulis will be fuming that the Potters let go a 2-0 lead to give Wolves a point. Wolves will certainly take it though, as will Gary.

Sunderland 2-2 West Ham
West Ham now know how Arsenal felt last weekend. Really should have been a home win though. The point goes to Gary, again.

Man United 2-0 Blackburn
Most likely the forgotten match of Saturday, but United got the points, while Blackburn sink again. It's a share of the spoils for all three of us.

Birmingham 0-0 Man City
City draw yet again, a point for both sides but no points for us.

Great weekend for Gary who puts himself back in the race for the Prediction League title as he now draws level on points with me in second place. Chris, however, remains in pole position. Here is how the table looks:

1. Chris - 56 points
2. Gary - 50 points
3. Ian - 50 points

Once again I'll be back on Friday with next weekend's predictions, have a good week.

Prediction League: Week 11 - Predictions

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Arsenal vs. Tottenham
Chris: Draw
Ian: Draw
Gary: Arsenal

Bolton vs. Chelsea
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Burnley vs. Hull
Chris: Burnley
Ian: Burnley
Gary: Burnley

Everton vs. Aston Villa
Chris: Everton
Ian: Aston Villa
Gary: Aston Villa

Fulham vs. Liverpool
Chris: Draw
Ian: Liverpool
Gary: Draw

Manchester United vs. Blackburn
Chris: Man United
Ian: Man United
Gary: Man United

Portsmouth vs. Wigan
Chris: Portsmouth
Ian: Wigan
Gary: Wigan

Stoke vs. Wolves
Chris: Stoke
Ian: Stoke
Gary: Draw

Sunderland vs. West Ham
Chris: Sunderland
Ian: Sunderland
Gary: Draw

Birmingham vs. Manchester City
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

Strong draw for League Cup quarters

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:10:00 +0000

The balls are in the pot for the Carling Cup quarter-final draw. Well, seven are in the pot - Manchester United's is still in the microwave. United are joined by Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur, about as strong a line-up as was possible given difficult fourth round encounters faced by Liverpool, Sunderland and Everton.

The League Cup, as I've written here before and for another website (it never saw the light of day - thanks), is a competition which deserves more respect and to be treated far more seriously. A glance at the teams through to Saturday's draw suggests that the so-called big clubs are in it to win it this year.

So is this a revival of the League Cup, a sign of something more worrying or simply a timely fluke of fortunes?

The teams so irritatingly referred to as the Big Four - yes, by me too - do prepare for Carling Cup matches with the intention of winning. Even Liverpool. To a certain extent their team selections are not as weak as they were for this tournament in previous years. I wonder, though, what that actually says about the bigger picture. Are the top clubs eager for a trip to Wembley or is it simply the case that their second strings are now so formidable that they can beat a pain-free path through this competition?

The answer of course is that United, Arsenal and Chelsea have such quality in depth that their reserves could arguably be competitive in their own right. There is undoubtedly an element of randomness too, given the fact that they were all at home in the previous round. It's just the luck of the draw, at least for the two London clubs.

But there is encouragement to be drawn from the second tier clubs and their attitude toward this season's Carling Cup. Manchester City, Spurs and Villa all beat excellent Premier League opponents in the last round and all did so with only slightly weakened teams. Taking Villa as the example, only three changes were made as Martin O'Neill brought in former West Ham captain Nigel Reo-Coker, England forward Emile Heskey and an American international goalkeeper who proceeded to save one penalty in normal time and three in a shoot-out.

These clubs are, for the time being, out of the Champions League picture and forced to aim for the Europa League on a European level. O'Neill has routinely fielded under-strength sides for Villa's recent European play and it does make you wonder why these teams aim for sixth at all.

And while a European spot is up for grabs at the end of the Carling Cup campain, there's something more important at stake, something forgotten all too often in football: silverware.

It is a damning indictment on a sport when an arbitrary league position (fourth, sixth) is an acceptable target and achievement. In an ideal world, target number one should be the title, number two the FA Cup and number three the League Cup. Domestically, everything else will work itself out over a season. But an afternoon at Wembley and a cup final win should mean more than sixth.

As a Villa fan who's now seen his club finish sixth for two consecutive seasons only to turn its nose up at Europe, I say this: thanks for two impressive league campaigns, Martin, but sixth means nothing to me now. I would take a League Cup win over that without a second thought. I think other supporters are beginning to think the same way which can only be good for the prestige of the tournament.

Intentional or not, the presence of the Champions League clubs on the latter stages can only further that effect. Long live the League Cup!

(Pic via Guardian.co.uk)

The twofootedtackle Football Podcast Episode 24

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:36:00 +0000

Despite some *massive* technical problems the twofootedtackle Podcast is alive and kicking. Gary Andrews is back from Croatia and we're joined by Manchester City supporter and Guardian scribe Will Dean to talk footy (the round ball kind).

On the agenda this week: the Champions League, the FA Cup first round draw, Atletico Madrid's managerial insanity, the Premier League, Major League Soccer and Manchester City.

Episode 24 of the twofootedtackle Podcast is now available via iTunes, this link and the media player at CSRN.

Please leave your comments below. Have a week!

ITV announces FA Cup schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:39:00 +0000

ITV has announced its FA Cup first round schedule, and in doing so has added a third match to the line-up for the first and second rounds. Take that, Setanta!

Two matches in the first round and two in the second will be shown live on ITV1 (or live and exclusive on ITV, as the channel used to say relentlessly during World Cups), with the third being shown on a shiny new medium called teh internetz - at TheFA.com, to be precise. And it's free, bargain fans.

As I've stated many times, I like what ITV has done with the early parts of the FA Cup since it took over broadcast rights. Stepping into a Setanta-shaped gap only reinforces that.

But most importantly, the games shown in the third round will be (drum roll):

Paulton Rovers v Norwich City, 7th November @ 12.45pm, ITV1
Oldham Athletic v Leeds United, 7th November @ 5.15pm, TheFA.com
Northwich Victoria v Charlton Athletic, 8th November @ 1.30pm, ITV1

Looking forward to it - let's hope Tooting & Mitcham United beat Eastbourne tonight and join them.

Prediction League: Week 10 - Results

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:24:00 +0000

Another lacklustre week in the Prediction League, as a few of our predictions go against us once again. But, I suppose that's all part of the fun and games. This week we earned a combined total of eight points. Derren Brown eat your heart out. Here how's it panned out:

Wolves 1-1 Aston Villa
Can't say I saw Wolves getting a draw against Aston Villa, but the Villa supporter among us did. Congrats to Mr. twofootedtackle.

Birmingham 2-1 Sunderland
I think it's a pity Sunderland didn't follow up last weekend's victory against Liverpool with a win over Birmingham, a former club of Steve Bruce's. None of us saw this one coming.

Burnley 1-3 Wigan
Burnley's 100% home record is over, as Wigan secured another comfortable victory this season. Sadly, none of us tipped them to win.

Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn
Not a fair reflection of the actual game, only for Paul Robinson Blackburn would have lost by more, points across the board for us.

Hull 0-0 Portsmouth
A relegation six-pointer ending in the only way possible, a draw, not a surprise by any means as both sides are as bad as each other. I managed to get a point in this one.

Tottenham 0-1 Stoke
Great win for Tony Pulis' men, keeping up their winning ways in the league. Not a result we saw coming though.

Bolton 3-2 Everton
Vital win for Bolton, Everton unable to bounce back from their 5-0 defeat mid-week against Benfica. Both I and Gary predicted this.

Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United
None of us saw this coming, perhaps because Liverpool had lost four games in a row before this game.

Manchester City 2-2 Fulham
Manchester City threw away a 2-0 lead against Fulham to draw their third game in a row, we all thought City would win this one, sadly not.

West Ham 2-2 Arsenal
Arsenal also throwing away a 2-0 lead to draw with London rivals West Ham, bit of a shock I think. Not for Chris though, who predicted this one.

Still no change in the league table as Chris remains top, now on 52 points, I am still in second on 47 points, while last but by no means least is Gary on 44 points.

As always I will be back on either Friday/Saturday as we continue with the twofootedtackle Prediction League as we hit Week 11.

What the NFL International Series tells us about Game 39

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:54:00 +0000

There is a man out there somewhere in football land who supports overlord Richard Scudamore's evil plot to take Premier League matches abroad. "The NFL does it," he argues. And he's right, the National Football League does do it, or at least something in the same...ahem...ballpark.

Game 39 is an idea so akin to destroying football that even Reading, the club which plays its football matches in front of fans more suited to ice hockey, had two men riled enough to walk a Football Supporters Federation banner along their row at the Madejski. It's somewhat quieter these days, but the idea is most certainly not dead yet.

The Premier League will not give up just because every right-thinking fan would turn his back on the top flight. Some godforsaken approximation of the scheme will emerge in due course.

I am a hypocrite. On Sunday, I went to Wembley to attend my third consecutive NFL International Series game. I love American football and I'd never pass up the opportunity to see a game live. I have been a suffering New York Jets supporter for many years and I played the game over football during countless school lunch hours. By attending these games, I suppose I endorse the NFL's decision to take regular season games abroad. But if the Premier League ever followed suit, you'd soon find an Isthmian League season ticket in my pocket.

The use of the International Series to justify Game 39 and its future variations is wholly and fundamentally flawed, but there are some interesting truths too. Here's what football should learn from the NFL's Wembley vacation:

Overseas games will only work for unique leagues. The NFL is the only meaningful gridiron league in the world. It is beyond a world leader, it's the sole owner of the entire American football market. The Premier League does not enjoy such a position. It would be stepping into competing markets and, despite potentially huge supporter demand, would face opposition from many of the local governing bodies
The Premier League couldn't just put any old game into a foreign city and expect everyone to be thrilled. Foreign football markets are sophisticated and they won't want to watch low-quality games after year one. The atmosphere on Sunday was very poor because the fans are not stupid - they knew it was going to be a very predictable, very one-sided game. This is because New England Patriots are good, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are crap
The game did have a huge amount of attraction because of New England's popularity in the UK and the excitement at watching Pats quarterback Tom Brady in the flesh. However, this was a Buccs home game with all the bells and whistles and cutlasses that go with that. There aren't so many Buccs fans in the UK, and the game was a little flat as a result. So unless Game 39 is always a Manchester United home game, it doesn't work - but then we knew that already
NFL International Series does not add a game to a symmetrical league format (or a growth, as I call it). For better or worse the London games are taken from the home schedule of one of the teams and fit the NFL's 32-team league system. "Game 39" would more likely be the same in reality, except with more opposition from the supporters. American football still has a world to conquer, football does not
However, people will pay ridiculous amounts of money for merchandise. I thought about buying a Jets baseball hat to counteract my windswept look on Sunday, until I discovered that it would set me back a cool £25. Many people weren't so reluctant, and that goes for larger items too. I've theorised elsewhere that a certain type of overseas football "fan" can be defined by Justin.tv and his obsessive desire to have the latest home shirt. He'll spend to get them, and that could only benefit the Premier League's money men - and let's face it, that's who this is all about

In conclusion, I still hate the Premier League. What do you think?

(Pic via Londonist)

Prediction League: Week 10 - Predictions

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:37:00 +0000

It's back to business once again for the Prediction League, hard to believe ten weeks have gone already, but things are now really starting to take shape as the league hots up.

PREDICTIONS

Wolves vs. Aston Villa
Chris: Draw
Ian: Villa
Gary: Villa

Birmingham vs. Sunderland
Chris: Draw
Ian: Sunderland
Gary: Sunderland

Burnley vs. Wigan
Chris: Draw
Ian: Burnley
Gary: Draw

Chelsea vs. Blackburn
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Hull vs. Portsmouth
Chris: Portsmouth
Ian: Draw
Gary: Hull

Tottenham vs. Stoke
Chris: Tottenham
Ian: Tottenham
Gary: Draw

Bolton vs. Everton
Chris: Draw
Ian: Bolton
Gary: Bolton

Liverpool vs. Man United
Chris: Man United
Ian: Man United
Gary: Man United

Man City vs. Fulham
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

West Ham vs. Arsenal
Chris: Draw
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Arsenal

As always, I'll be back once again on Tuesday for a round-up of the results and league table.

Sheriff Kimbo's Thursday Thoughts #9

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriff Kimbo) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Do you want to hear an interesting titbit? Today is the 21^st anniversary of my very first football game. It was at Villa Park (standard!) and we beat Everton 2-0, with goals from Tony Daley and David Platt. I'M OLD!

Speaking of the Villa, we had a great result last week and Sunderland also managed to beat another member of the 'Sky four'. I was quite confident we could get a result as, last season aside, we have a good record against Chelsea in recent years. I'd have actually bet on us had I known that we were somewhere in the region of 3/1 for the win, which is ridiculous when you think about it.

I would have DEFINITELY bet on Sunderland had I known that Gerrard and Torres were both out. I really should pay attention to things! That would have made a nice double with the Villa, but a double with the first goal scorer of 'Beach Ball' would have been even nicer! It was very strange wasn't it? I agree with the players, managers and pundits alike who said that they weren't sure about the rule. I also assumed that the game just continued. So yeah, Liverpool were unlucky but for one thing, it was their own fan that knocked the ball onto the pitch (how stupid can you get? Seriously?) and also, well, it's Liverpool so it's funny!

Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres are pretty poor, especially now that Alonso has moved on to pastures new. I'm not saying that everyone else in the team is rubbish, but they are essentially a mid-table team without them two players. Put it this way, take them out and compare their XI to Villa, Man City, Spurs and Everton... What Gerrard and Torres are, of course, are two of the very top players in the world that would get into any – and I mean any - team in the world. But after that, player for player, the squads of the other three quarters of the 'Sky four' are definitely better on a player-for-player basis.

So our friendly neighbours have announced that they will be spending between £20m and £40m in January and/or the summer. Erm... Rule number 1; NEVER reveal your transfer budget! Thank you, yet again, Birmingham 'gunna be bigga dan da Villa' City for providing me with a good chuckle.

What was going on with the goalkeepers in the Real Madrid vs. Ajax game? A quick point though on the first Milan goal. The commentators described it as both a 'wonder goal' AND 'a mistake by the keeper'. Sorry, it doesn't work that way, it can't be both! A mistake can lead to a wonder goal (see Patrick Viera pass/Ryan Giggs run/FA Cup semi-final/Villa Park for the perfect example) but a long range shot is either unstoppable or a keeper mistake. Jesus, how much do these people get paid?! But anyway, the game was a weird one, better in the second half, but weird overall. Over the course of the two games I watched (that and ManUre in Moscow) I was a little disappointed but there were still some great moments of quality, along with some comically bad errors!

Well that is me done for another week. I am off to contemplate my age...

The twofootedtackle Football Podcast Episode 23

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:43:00 +0000

It's Wednesday, and it's podcast time again. With Gary Andrews swanning about with something called "a girl" (me neither), Theo Delaney stepped up to host Episode 23 and mediate between Chris Nee and David Edwards as they engaged in some friendly sparring before Villa's trip to Wolves on Saturday.

On the agenda this week: England, the World Cup, Major League Soccer, the Premier League and the Champions League. Part Three is a a beast, because we got carried away talking about the fantastic Premier League weekend - sorry about that.

Episode 23 is now available via iTunes, this MP3 or the media player at CSRN.

Please leave your reviews on iTunes, comments here, add us on Twitter and Facebook and tell a friend. You know you want to.

Huge thanks to Eddie and Theo for a great show, we'll have them both back in the future. Gary will return next week to BRING THE PUN!

Is the "big four" dead?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:21:00 +0000

Tom Dunmore at Pitch Invasion poses an intriguing question: are Liverpool the next Leeds United? Given the Reds' reliance upon the Champions League and awful start to this season, it's a reasonable enough thought. He also touches upon the wider issue at the top of the Premier League.

There is no football concept more abhorrent than the so-called Big Four. It's disheartening enough that we have to put up with the Champions League creating a four-strong closed shop, but it's made even worse by the media - in particular Sky Sports - nauseatingly and emphatically endorsing the idea. Grand Slam Sunday: ranking football clubs by last season's position so you don't have to!

The referees favour them, the authorities favour them and the media favours them. It all adds up to make football far less enjoyable than it should be.

But the hidden danger is to the hallowed quartet themselves. Tom's post refers to the clubs' possible reliance upon the Champions League's dizzying financial rewards and adds to a discourse which questions whether they factor this money into their accounting. If they do, failure is not an option. Sadly for Liverpool, they seem the most likely to be writing cheques on the back of assumed success.

They also look in danger of failing to qualify this season. Beaten four times in the Premier League already this season, they have doubled last season's loss column by the middle of October. Manchester United offer a formidable next challenge. Saturday's defeat to Sunderland has been amusingly overshadowed by the fact that the winning goal was scored by a Liverpool-branded beach ball, but there is no masking the team's weaknesses.

Perhaps most worryingly, the defeat did not come as a surprise to anyone - even a miserable cynic like me had Sunderland down for a win. It highlights Sunderland's abilities but also exposed Liverpool's inability to be anything more than average without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Yes, all teams would suffer if the two best players were unavailable, but none so dramatically as Rafael Benitez's men.

85 toothless minutes after Glen Johnson and Pepe Reina were beaten by Darren Bent's beach ball strike, Liverpool's title challenge was again questioned. For me, even fourth place is now wide open.

Even if Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool do comprise the top four, the Big Four as inspiration of fear may be dying. They look increasingly bearable on any given day. Liverpool's four defeats demonstrate this, as do Chelsea's losses to Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa, and Manchester United's to Burnley. They're still impressive, but they're not as intimidating as they once were.

If they can be - and are - beaten more regularly, then the trapdoor is open. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are more than willing to stride into the void, with a clutch of clubs not far behind.

Is the top four as a concept dying? Could it be broken up as soon as next May? Let me know what you think.

(Pic via smh.com.au)

Prediction League: Week 9 - Results

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:44:00 +0000

At last proper football is back, no dead rubber games here. I think we are starting to the get the hang of this prediction thing, saying that nobody has successfully predicted a whole round of fixtures just yet. But, at least it’s close in our league table. Anyway, here’s how we fared in Week 9:

Results

Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea
Another win for Villa over one of the Big Four, sadly for us we didn’t see it coming. Not even Villa fan Chris.

Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham
We certainly fared better in this fixture, with everyone picking up a point.

Everton 1-1 Wolves
We didn’t see this one coming at all, vital point for Wolves though, Everton are still a bit shaky.

Man United 2-1 Bolton
Not a flawless performance from United, but as they say, a win is a win. It certainly got us a point a piece.

Portsmouth 1-2 Tottenham
I’m on my own with this one, which is a good thing, helps me keep the pressure on Chris.

Stoke 2-1 West Ham
A good win for Stoke, no second season syndrome yet. West Ham appear to be stuck down the wrong end of the table. The points go to me and Chris here.

Sunderland 1-0 Liverpool
As Gary did with Wigan’s win over Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, Chris did it with this fixture. It’s certainly a well earned point for Mr. twofootedtackle.

Blackburn 3-2 Burnley
Burnley’s terrible away form continues, while Blackburn actually find the back of the net for once. The points go to Chris and Gary on this one.

Wigan 1-1 Man City
Wigan will certainly be happy with a point, but we will not be happy, because we got no points.

Fulham 2-0 Hull
Hull go back to their losing ways, not a surprise at this stage. I don’t see how they can last another season in the Premier League. Gary and I envisaged the Cottagers winning this one.

Chris continues to top the prediction league; this week predicting 5/10 results correctly, that now moves him up to 49 points. I remain in second place, also predicting 5/10 results, and have 44 points. Last but not least, is Gary, predicting 4/10 results this weekend, moving his tally up to 42 points.

Gary is away on holidays this week but he has submitted his predictions for the coming weekend. Once again, I will be back on Friday with Week 10 of the Prediction League.

Weekend Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:55:00 +0000

What a breathtaking weekend of football. The Premier League led the way in the drama stakes, and here's what happened from there down.

Premier League

In the early Saturday game, Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 thanks to headers from centre backs Richard Dunne and James Collins, turning the game on its head after Brad Friedel had been caught out by Didier Drogba's opener. In another London v Birmingham clash, Arsenal beat Birmingham City 3-1, Robin Van Persie, Abou Diaby and Andrey Arshavin overpowering Lee Bowyer's goal for City.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's late, late equaliser spared Everton's blushes against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kevin Doyle had put Wolves in front and they lost Stefan Maierhofer to a stoppage time red card. Tim Howard should have joined him on the walk of shame.

An own goal from Zat Knight and Antonio Valencia's first league goal for Manchester United should have seen Alex Ferguson's side cruise to victory over Bolton Wanderers, but a goal from Matty Taylor 15 minutes from time made the finish nervous. It was a tale of the old boys at Fratton Park, where Jermain Defoe added to Ledley King's opener for Tottenham Hotspur against Portsmouth, whose goal came from Kevin-Prince Boateng. Defoe was later sent off for a stamp, along with Pompey's dirty scumbucket Michael Brown.

Two goals from James Beattie saw Stoke City to a 2-1 home win over struggling West Ham United, who did have the game at 1-1 thanks to a header by Matthew Upson.

And on Sunday, Wigan Athletic held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at the DW, Charles N'Zogbia (after having one disallowed) and Martin Petrov netting the goals. Pablo Zabaleta was sent off for two bookable offences. At Ewood, Blackburn Rovers triumphed in the derby game against Burnley. Robbie Blake put Burnley ahead before David Dunn, Franco Di Santo and Pascal Chimbonda swung the game in Rovers' favour. Chris Eagles scored a late consolation.

But for the story of the weekend we have to go back to Saturday, and to the Stadium of Light. Five minutes into Sunderland's game against Liverpool, Darren Bent's shot hit a beach ball, deceiving Glen Johnson and Pepe Reina and finding the back of the net. The ball had been thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan and not removed by Liverpool players. Serves them right, but it shouldn't have stood.

Championship

West Bromwich Albion have knocked Newcastle United off the top of the second division. Albion came from behind to beat Reading 3-1 at the Hawthorns before Newcastle's defeat at Nottingham Forest. Cardiff City are third after drawing with Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough fourth after losing to Watford. Fifth-placed Blackpool beat Plymouth Argyle and sixth-placed Preston North End where thumped 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers.

Ipswich Town remain bottom having drawn with Swansea City. Above them, Plymouth are one below Peterborough, who drew away at Bristol City. Defeat to the leaders leaves Reading perched on the dreaded dashed line.

Barnsley beat Doncaster Rovers, Scunthorpe United beat Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday beat Coventry City while Leicester City and Derby County drew 0-0 in their disappointing derby match.

League One

Charlton Athletic top League One after beating Huddersfield Town and seeing Leeds United sit out another weekend. United now have two games in hand. MK Dons are third thanks to a 2-0 win over Gillingham, while Colchester United could only draw at Wycombe Wanderers. Bristol Rovers lost at Southend United, and Leeds host sixth-placed Norwich City tomorrow.

At the bottom, Southampton won at Oldham Athletic to leapfrog Wycombe and escape bottom spot for the first time this season. Tranmere Rovers beat Brighton & Hove Albion after the sacking of John Barnes and are now just a point behind Carlisle United, who lost at Yeovil Town.

Leyton Orient beat Brentford, Millwall thrashed Stockport County, Hartlepool beat Swindon Town and Walsall eased to victory over Exeter City.

League Two

A goal from Danny Hollands gave league leaders AFC Bournemouth a much-needed win at Accrington Stanley. Dagenham & Redbridge are keeping pace thanks to a home win against Bradford City. Rochdale are in touch too, beating Grimsby Town and sealing the fate of Grimsby boss Mike Newell.

Rotherham and Notts County, in fourth and fifth, fought out a goalless draw, while Shrewsbury lost to basement club Darlington to stay seventh behind Aldershot. Darlo stay bottom, with Grimsby in 23rd and level on points with Torquay United, who drew at home to Morecambe and stay two points behind them.

Burton Albion beat Barnet, Hereford United beat Chesterfield, Northampton Town beat Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town beat Cheltenham.

Non-League

Oxford United are still tearing it up in the Conference, but could only draw with York City, who stay outside the playoff spots. Stevenage beat Salisbury and are second ahead of Kettering. In fourth, Mansfield Town won at Eastbourne Borough, while Luton Town beat Altrincham. Chester City moved onto -10 with a win over Gateshead. They are 19 points behind Ebbsfleet United, who lost at Barrow. Forest Green and Grays Athletic, on 11, were beaten at Histon and Wrexham respectively.

Droylsden lead the Blue Square North despite defeat to Workington. Southport's win at Telford draws them level on points, and wins for Fleetwood Town, Stalybridge and Corby leave them just a point behind. Farsley are bottom but won at Redditch to close the gap on them to a single point. Harrogate are third-bottom after a home thumping by Alfreton.

Newport County lead the Conference South ahead of Dover after both picked up away wins. Dover beat Weymouth, who remain rooted to the bottom - that's the least of their problems. Lewes and Dorchester also lost.

Prediction League: Results & Predictions

ismiseian@gmail.com (Ian) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Bit of a delay on last weekend’s Premier League results, but I’m here now so here’s how week 8 went for us, let’s just say it was great!

Results

Bolton 2-2 Tottenham
Tottenham continue their run of not winning at the Reebok, not something we saw coming.

Burnley 2-1 Birmingham
The Clarets make it four wins out of four at home, something which we did see coming.

Hull 2-1 Wigan
Hull winning is about as rare as Portsmouth winning these days; sadly we didn’t think Phil Brown’s side would actually win.

Wolves 0-1 Pompey
In fact Portsmouth did win, picking up their first points of the season, but no points for us.

Man United 2-2 Sunderland
No points here either I’m afraid. Not looking good eh?

Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn
Finally, a game that dished out some points, one each in fact.

Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool
League leader Chris picks up another precious point here.

West Ham 2-2 Fulham
I keep up the pace with a point from this game.

Everton 1-1 Stoke
Share of the spoils for the two teams, while Gary gains a point also.

Aston Villa 1-1 Man City
Gary gains another point to keep in check with me.

Let’s just say that was a review quicker than a Katie Price fling. Here’s how the league table looks:
1. Chris – 44 points
2. Ian – 39 points
3. Gary – 38 points

Things are starting to hot up, so let move swiftly along to this weekend’s predictions.

Predictions

Arsenal vs. Birmingham
Chris: Arsenal
Ian: Arsenal
Gary: Arsenal

Aston Villa vs. Chelsea
Chris: Chelsea
Ian: Chelsea
Gary: Chelsea

Everton vs. Wolves
Chris: Everton
Ian: Everton
Gary: Everton

Man United vs. Bolton
Chris: Man United
Ian: Man United
Gary: Man United

Portsmouth vs. Tottenham
Chris: Draw
Ian: Tottenham
Gary: Draw

Stoke vs. West Ham
Chris: Stoke
Ian: Stoke
Gary: Draw

Sunderland vs. Liverpool
Chris: Sunderland
Ian: Liverpool
Gary: Draw

Blackburn vs. Burnley
Chris: Blackburn
Ian: Draw
Gary: Blackburn

Wigan vs. Man City
Chris: Man City
Ian: Man City
Gary: Man City

Fulham vs. Hull
Chris: Draw
Ian: Fulham
Gary: Fulham

Dare I say this could be a make or break weekend for us. Check back on Tuesday to see how we got on.

England and Croatia: bringing back international rivalry?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:36:00 +0000

International football seems to lack something these days. While there are a few games which foster huge excitement, for England fans most are a little dull. Last night's dead rubber against Belarus was earned by Fabio Capello's side by way of a superb qualifying campaign, but it just strikes me that too many of our games are boring and meaningless.

Perhaps this is simply because there are too many friendlies, compounded recently by England's new-found quality. But I think there's more to it. International football, possibly partly thanks to globalisation at club level, is shedding its rivalries.

Let's take England as our example. With the exception of the supporters with a nationalist bent, few England supporters concern themselves with the home nations these days. The faux-hatred from England fans when we actually play Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is simply a hat-tip to geography. And I hope we never have to play the Republic again, but that's nothing to do with football and everything to do with hooligans.

I suppose one could argue that a rivalry developed between England and Turkey in the first half of this decade and for a while that was enjoyable. But once again I think that was a rivalry which stemmed from events off the field, unsavoury and occasionally tragic incidents involving Turkish and English supporters. Although hostilities will be resumed on the streets next time we play them, I think the players on both sides have been renewed enough for the past to be largely forgotten.

Thankfully there is a new rivalry, a rivalry based entirely on the pitch and involving football as its central and only dimension. England and Croatia have been drawn against one another in qualifying for two consecutive international tournaments. In Euro 2008 qualifying, Slaven Bilic's men triumphed, leaving Steve McClaren jobless and hopeless and the England players with a summer off.

But in the preliminaries for South Africa 2010, England dominated. Dropping just three points in their World Cup qualifying group, England took the time to hand out special treatment to Croatia, spanking them twice and helping to send them crashing out. Next summer, it will be Croat towels on the beaches.

I think it's great that the rivalry has been allowed a certain intensity by the draws, but it's been developed thanks to dramatic moments like goalkeeping howlers by Paul Robinson and Scott Carson, McClaren's umbrella and the fact that we have both missed out on qualification in recent years. These games mean something.

But what I like about this two-way competition is that it has a definite affection to it. I like Croatia a lot. I have huge respect for Bilic and he's a real character. I like many of Croatia's players, and I think that is true of most supporters and even the players. The two countries get along, but they love sparring with one another. That's the kind of rivalry I can subscribe to.

(Pic via This Is London)

Sheriff Kimbo's Thursday Thoughts #8

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriff Kimbo) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Hello everybody. I write this having just being bored by England. Not that it was really their fault; we have already qualified and

Belarus

had nothing to play for. I had to laugh at Potato Head's suggestion of David Beckham as MOTM. The strange thing was, although I thought that was a stupid decision, I struggle to make an actual suggestion! I guess Crouch, as he got two goals.

Speaking of stupid decisions...James Milner at left-back? What the hell?! I think Jimmy could potentially be a good central midfielder and was expecting him to go where Barry was (with him moving to left-back) but alas, no. Weird!

The aftermath of the Villa/Citeh game resulted in lots of talk about the treatment of Barry, which lead Shay Given to say that Villa fans and fans of many other teams were jealous of Man City. Now that is true to a certain extent, but let's get a few things straight. The likes of Tevez and Lescott are very overrated. The amount of money they are paying for them is ridiculous – for example, is Lescott worth four times Richard Dunne? Is Tevez worth somewhere in the around £200 a week or whatever it is? Okay, don't answer, because I'll tell you – NO!!!

The other thing they will have to start putting up with is the fair-weather fans. Even as a Villa fan I have experienced that. No, seriously! Since Lerner & MON have come in, I have had to put up with listening to people that I know for a fact were barely interested in the Villa – hell, football - the last few seasons leading up to the change, so there must be plenty more out there! Now, imagine being that rare breed – a genuine fan of someone like ManUre of the RedScouseScum? I met a ManUre fan from Moss Side a few months ago. He actually said that he, "hates 95% of the fans" and I can't say I'm surprised.

In fact, that is one of the things me and my Dad miss about when we were rubbish... it was a lot easier to find a parking space and get away from the ground! hehehe!

I see that Ryan Giggs has said that players' wages are justifiable. I fail to see that. I fail to see how someone like the aforementioned Carlos Tevez 'earns' in a month the same amount of money that could secure the future of some lower league clubs for the foreseeable future. Yes, there is a lot of money in the game and percentage wise it probably can be justified but two wrongs – which they are – sure do not make a right in this case. Football will kill itself, of that I am sure. What a great thing to say on a football blog, hey!

With it being an international week I have found that football has not really been at the forefront of my mind, so I suppose this Thursday is not the most thought-filled one I have ever had! Therefore it is a short one this week lads and lasses, I am sure you are all delighted! See ya!

The twofootedtackle Football Podcast Episode 22

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:54:00 +0000

With our sincerest apologies (well, mine) for skipping last week, this week's podcast is now available.

Gary and I were joined in the studio by Tom Phillips of the Metro and we talked about Nottingham Forest, the Championship, the Premier League, England, World Cup Qualifying, the fit and proper persons test and Major League Soccer.

It's funny, and a little bit emotional towards the end. You'll love it.

Episode 22 is now available via iTunes, this link, or the media player at CSRN.

If you have any comments, please leave a...comment. What do you think of the fit and proper persons test?

Enjoy!

Flares are sooooo last century

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:19:00 +0000

England lost their 100% record in qualifying for World Cup 2010 on Saturday, but the headlines since have been dominated by two more worrying problems. First, Robert Green's sending off may have just been "one of those things" but from my point of view the blame should be placed squarely at Rio Ferdinand's door. His form has to be a concern for Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello.

But yesterday's back pages carried images of a more disturbing issue. Early on in Saturday's match in Ukraine, lit flares were thrown onto the pitch, landing in Green's penalty area and causing a delay to the game. After Green had been dismissed and Andriy Shevchenko had hit the post with the resulting penalty, substitute goalkeeper David James was subjected to a second wave of flare-throwing.

The Football Association is planning an official complaint to UEFA, and rightly so. England players were put at risk by the stupidity of a tiny minority of Ukrainian supporters and the fact that they were able to get flares into the stadium is a worry, if entirely unsurprising. It is the FA's responsibility to hold the Ukrainian authorities to account, but from the tabloid coverage yesterday you'd be forgiven for thinking the English are angels abroad.

Anyone who has followed their team away in certain countries in Europe will know how easy it is to get flares into the ground and how often English fans take advantage of such ineffective security. Let's not kid ourselves.

That being said, the flares used on Saturday looked, for some reason, unusually dangerous little numbers. And the same can be said of the potential fallout for Ukraine. The country is due to share hosting duties for the European Championships in 2012 but their capabilities have been questioned from the moment they were selected.

In the coming days, Michel Platini and UEFA are due to discuss yet again the problems facing the tournament in Ukraine, largely regarding the readiness of stadia and infrastructural capacity. But Saturday's flare-throwing has thrown the issues of security and player safety into sharp focus. It will be interesting to see how Platini reacts.

England supporters have a paranoid outlook when it comes to UEFA punishments, even before alleged Anglophobe Platini took office. But there seems little doubt that England would be severely punished for such behaviour. Platini must show consistency here.

The scenes on Saturday were reminiscent of the worst days of European football culture, one step removed from large-scale hooliganism. In England, though we now face a different kind of football-related disorder, we have largely done away with violence which takes part inside our stadia. And while I'm loathe to look at any phenomenon independently of its cultural context, It's time certain parts of Europe joined in.

(Pic via Daily Express)

Weekend Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:48:00 +0000

A truncated programme took place during an international weekend in which England lost their 100% record in qualifying for World Cup 2010. Here's the lowdown.

England

In a match disrupted several times by flares being thrown onto the pitch, Ukraine beat England 1-0. Shocking defending from Rio Ferdinand (remember when he was good?) resulted in Robert Green committing a foul in his area and being sent off early on. Andriy Shevchenko faced David James from the spot and hit the post.

Sergiy Nazarenko scored the winner after his powerful shot flew in off Ashley Cole's head, and England were unfortunate in front of goal on a few occasions. Robert Green became the first England player sent off under Fabio Capello and the first England goalkeeper ever to be given a red card.

The Football Association will be making an official complaint about the flares, and UEFA will doubtless mention it when it considers Ukraine's position as Euro 2012 hosts.

League One

With no Premier League or Championship action this weekend, all eyes were on the bottom two divisions. Leeds United didn't Bristol Rovers play due to players being on international duty, but remain top of League One thanks to Charlton Athletic's 0-0 draw with Oldham Athletic. Colchester United are third after beating Leyton Orient and MK Dons' win over Walsall leaves them in fourth. Rovers are fifth, and sixth placed Norwich City won away at Carlisle United.

Southampton are bottom but moved onto five points with a win at Southend United on Friday night. Wycombe Wanderers sacked Peter Taylor after their defeat to Gillingham, and Brighton & Hove Albion stretch the gap between themselves and Tranmere Rovers with a draw at Yeovil Town.

Huddersfield Town demolished Exeter City 4-0, Swindon Town drew with Millwall, and Hartlepool United and Brentford were goalless on Friday.

League Two

AFC Bournemouth continue to lead the bottom division despite faltering form, resulting largely from the Football League's criminal treatment of the club. They were beaten at home by Chesterfield on Saturday, while second placed Dagenham & Redbridge picked up a home win against Darlington. Rotherham United complete the top three after drawing with Hereford United, who got a last-minute equaliser.

At the bottom, Darlington have lost more ground on Torquay United, who got an impressive away point at Notts County on Sunday.

Accrington Stanley beat Cheltenham, Aldershot beat Morecambe, Crewe Alexandra beat Bradford City, Burton Albion beat Grimsby Town, Lincoln City beat Macclesfield Town, Rochdale beat Barnet and Port Vale beat Shrewsbury. Bury and Northampton Town drew.

Non-League

Oxford United thrashed Grays Athletic to continue to sit comfortably atop the Blue Square Premier. Stevenage and Kettering are nine points behind after Stevenage won 4-0 against Hayes & Yeading. Chester, behind Hayes in bottom spot, were beaten by Rushden & Diamonds to leave them on -13 and had two players dismissed. AFC Wimbledon deserve a mention after an impressive 5-2 win away at Forest Green Rovers.

The rest of the non-league card was reduced over the weekend thanks to the FA Cup having reached third qualifying round stage. Harrogate Town and Droylsden drew 2-2 in the Blue Square North's only match on Saturday, leaving Droylsden just three points ahead of Southport having played a game more. The point took Harrogate out of the drop zone, replaced by Redditch.

The only game in the Conference South saw Weymouth destroyed at home by Maidenhead United, beating the Dorset side 5-0 to leave them bottom, below Lewes. Weymouth manager Matt Hale has resigned.

FA video wrongly criticised

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:45:00 +0000

A little while ago I went up to Hackney Marshes to play a starring 0.25-second role as a referee in a film made by the Football Association. More importantly, I spent the morning on set talking about the bigger issues around the film, entitled Whatever Your Level and launched several weeks ago.

Due to illness earlier this week I spent some time with my old irritating friend Sky Sports News and was surprised to see the video back in focus, this time as the subject of criticism.

Let's rewind. The film was made to raise awareness of the worryingly high quit-rate of amateur footballers between the ages of 16 and 18 - if I remember correctly it's about 50%. I feel I can speak about this with at least a degree of authority, having turned my back on the playing side of the game at the age of 16 to concentrate on beer and wotserface.

Filmed from a first-person perspective, it sends up a Nike ad and features the hero playing football, getting drunk and going on the pull. And that's the bone of contention for its recent criticism, although I must confess to having forgotten the name and role of the gentleman interviewed by SSN.

He argued that this is not the impression the game should be emitting. He has a point, of course - it certainly wouldn't attract me to the game. But when the FA produces these films we need to think in terms of target markets. Ray Winstone, the star of the two FA films for the Respect campaign which sandwiched Whatever Your Level, was chosen specifically because he is known and loved by the demographics targeted.

And Whatever Your Level, whether we find its hedonistic content palatable or not, speaks to a significant section of footballing society. Why do the older teenagers stop playing? Because they want to drink and womanise. The film tells them that these things do not exclude them from the game, and that football can be more than just booting a pig's bladder around for 90 minutes.

It doesn't present a perfectly realistic picture, but one which represents the excitement, camaraderie and passion I left behind at 16 and have missed ever since. As I said, it wouldn't attract me back to the game because I want different things from life and I also want football to be seen in a better light. But I'm 24, and this film wasn't aimed at me, and it's important to recognise that.

(Pic via cpluv.com)

Sheriff Kimbo's Thursday Thoughts #7

noreply@blogger.com (Sheriff Kimbo) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:09:00 +0000

With me being a Villa fan, the big event this week was the Manchester City game. The fact that we didn't play brilliantly, coupled in with some questionable tactics made the fact that ultimately we got a fairly comfortable draw with a team that is now apparently strides ahead of us (according to the media and their own fans, as well as some of our own) quite pleasing.

What I didn't find pleasing was the booing of Gareth Barry. Barry will know that it's the vocal minority that booed him. But I still thought the treatment of a player who consistently gave us his best for 12 years was absolutely out of order. I won't pretend that I haven't been hurt over certain things to do with Barry leaving (the, "I left to guarantee my England place" comment I found particularly galling) but ultimately, this man gave us a hell of a lot and I think the fan that booed should be more thankful for what he did in a Villa shirt for over a decade.

An international break awaits us. *YAWN*. There will undoubtedly be lots of talk about Jermain Defoe/Emile Heskey yet again. Personally I would play Agbonlahor but I am biased... (Yes, I am aware that Heskey is also a Villa player). I have said on many occasions to many different people that the reason Heskey gets picked over Defoe is that while Defoe is undoubtedly a better goal scorer, he offers nothing else to the team and when he doesn't score, we may as well be playing with ten players. Say what you like about Heskey but the fact is that he follows the ball across the line, he DOES help the likes of Rooney and Gerrard to play, and ultimately if Fabio Capello can see this then who are any of us to argue? The bloke has one heck of a record in football, he has an England side that qualified by winning every game and with games to spare, and yet people still want to tell him how to do his job. Brilliant! Put it this way; Defoe is a top class finisher. But there are very big reasons why none of the top 4 will go anywhere near him.

I will not be watching the game against

Ukraine

due to the fact that it is on the internet. Sure, it is cheaper than going the pub but I wont be doing that either. We have already qualified and I am quite open about the fact that international football is not really something I feel that passionate about anymore anyway. I may watch the U-21's, as that is free. To me, the fact that this game is being covered in this way is just another reason that modern day football winds me the hell up. Chris has already covered the reasons why the whole saga is a short-sighted experiment in a very good article on this very site and rather than me rehash what he wrote, just scroll down and read it you lazy buggers!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Old Firm clash on Sunday; possibly because if I have any loyalty it is to Rangers. If you're really interested you can ask me why but I won't go into too much detail because, well, I think it's not that interesting! But it was a proper game, I thought it was quite well refereed and there wasn't really any of that rolling-around-on-the-floor-like-I've-been-shot malarkey. Celtic were denied a clear penalty before they actually got the one they scored from, which was a bit of a theme this weekend. Ask the Wolves fans!

Right, have a good week everybody. I'll be back next Thursday with more irrelevant drivel to waste some space on this otherwise fine website!

Web-only coverage shows lack of insight

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Showing an England international online might sound modern and progressive but Saturday's World Cup Qualifier against Ukraine exposes flawed ideals and a lack of understanding of the football market in 2009.

The UK rights to show the game were originally held by Setanta Sports, the astroturfers supreme who collapsed in the summer. The company's spending on football it couldn't afford, most notably England and Premier League matches, forced it out of business as far as UK coverage is concerned, leaving the Ukrainians with rights to sell. Unsurprisingly, nobody of note was willing to pay. It's likely the asking price was astronomical.

As a result, the coverage has wound up online. Omnisport, who've been blitzing the football blogosphere with invitations to take part in an affiliate scheme to help sell the game, are charging £4.99 until midnight today and putting prices up thereafter. The same prices are available on some of the newspaper websites including The Sun.

The purchasers have shown a serious lack of insight here. The game is meaningless, with England having already qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa. The assumption that supporters will pay for the game is a dangerous one. Many, like myself, would have watched the game on free television or even gone to the pub to watch it on paid TV. But pay for a match online? Not a chance.

There are also a number of oversights on Omnisport's part:

Bet365.com are showing the game for free to customers with a funded account
The game would likely have struggled for an audience anyway
If it's online, it's online for free - people will watch illegally
The market isn't ready to pay for football online, by and large
Football supporters hate being ripped off

So, I suspect the newspapers and Omnisport will be slightly disappointed with the take-up for this game. I'm not paying for it, and I won't watch it. But if I were to do so it wouldn't cost me a bean. I have noted the speed with which the rights purchasers have attempted to make some cash from England fans.

On the plus side, we like a freebie. So well done to the Football Association who (having taken advice from it disgital agency, I'm sure) is showing Friday's England under-21 international against Macedonia online for the princely sum of zero pounds.

No podcast this week

noreply@blogger.com (Chris N) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Afternoon everyone. I'm sorry to say that there will be no podcast this week due to illness. We'll be back and raring to go next week - hopefully.

Apologies.