English Football

Manchester United beat Wolves 3-2 at Old Trafford in the fourth round of the League Cup to secure a place in the quarter finals and move a step closer to defending the trophy they have won for the past two seasons.

The game came alive in the second forty five minutes, following a goalless and uneventful first half. Portuguese striker Bebe opened the scoring in the 56th minute, grabbing his first senior goal for the club somewhat fortuitously as his close range effort was deflected just over the line before Foley belatedly headed clear. However, Wolves were soon back on level terms as left-back George Elokobi crashed a powerful header into the net from a corner four minutes later.

Macheda and Park both missed good opportunities to restore the lead before the South Korean started and finished the move that made it 2-1 to United, shooting past Hennessey following a one-two with the Italian. Wolves again fought back strongly and dominated the next few minutes with another deserved equaliser coming from right-back Kevin Foley, who was neatly set up by Fletcher inside the United box.

Man of the moment Javier Hernandez was introduced to the United attack with ten minutes left on the clock. Sir Alex Ferguson obviously felt that the Mexican sensation could get the goal to win the game within normal time and he did just that, sprinting from the half way line to finish off an incisive move with some neat footwork in the box and a sharp finish leaving both Berra and Hennessey helpless on the ground.

Sir Alex had said that tonight’s team would offer a glimpse into the future of United, with a youthful line-up of reserve and fringe players taking the field. Here’s a quick summary of how they got on:

In goal, 20 year old Ben Amos made only his second appearance and didn’t have much to do in the first half but was kept busy after the interval. Allowed himself to be blocked on his goal-line by Ebanks-Blake as Elokobi headed in Wolves’ first goal, so he’ll need to learn how to command his box a bit better in the future. Probably couldn’t do a lot about the second goal.

In defence, Wes Brown and Johnny Evans are no strangers to the first team but Chris Smalling and Fabio are still finding their way at the club and all four will have benefitted from the opportunity of a run out given their recent paucity of first team football. Fabio managed to avoid making any of the rash challenges that have got him into trouble in the past and generally played well although he was replaced by Gary Neville when Matt Jarvis started to get the better of him in the second half. Neville himself was beaten by Jarvis soon after coming on and still looked short of match fitness. Brown, Evans and Smalling played OK without being exceptional.

In midfield, Carrick and Gibson were fairly anonymous. Each had a couple of long-range efforts that were either off target or never really troubled Hennessey. Both showed occasional glimpses of their passing ability but didn’t really stamp their authority on the centre of the park and Gibson was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply in the lead up to Wolves’ second equaliser. Park, as usual, worked extremely hard and deserved his goal. His experience was crucial in holding the unfamiliar team together and he earned the man of the match award from the broadcasters.

Macheda toiled away up front but didn’t combine particularly well with his fellow forwards and fluffed a few good chances. On his day he can be a useful first team striker, but today most definitely wasn’t his day. Gabriel Obertan again looked fast and skillful in possession but repeatedly chose the wrong option,, shooting or dribbling when he should have passed, or choosing the wrong pass. Defenders can’t cope with his close control and sudden change of direction but he’ll need more of an end product to make it at United. Fortunately for him, that is the sort of thing that Ferguson specialises in coaching. Bebe was impressive on the right side of attack and frequently beat his man to put in some decent crosses. He looked comfortable in possession and the goal will be good for his confidence. It remains to be seen if he will justify his price tag but it’s early days and there is promise.

Hernandez looked a class apart when he came on and there’s little doubt that he’ll be a mainstay of the first team in years to come, if he isn’t already. He has a knack of poaching goals not seen at United since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s retirement and has already notched up six goals for the club, having scored in four different competitions. A final mention goes to 17 year old midfielder Ravel Morrison, who came on in the last minute of injury time. One to watch out for in the future but he didn’t touch the ball tonight.

The new English domestic season kicked off this weekend, with the return of football league action plus the traditional Wembley curtain raiser – the FA Community Shield. This heralded the start of the fifth season of action at the new national stadium since its completion in time for the end-of-season finals in 2006-07, and this will be its busiest season yet, culminating with the UEFA Champions League final in May 2011.

This year’s Community Shield was the 44th competitive club match since the re-opening* and fittingly it featured the two clubs that have made the new stadium their second home: Chelsea (with a record 9 appearances) and Manchester United (with 8 appearances). In fact, Manchester United have played in all four of the Community Shield matches since the event moved to the new Wembley, winning three and losing one of them. In that period, the team that has won the Shield has always gone on to win the league, so Alex Ferguson will take great heart from his side’s 3-1 victory yesterday.

A grand total of 51 club teams have earned the honour of running out onto the new Wembley turf (which finally seems to be a decent playing surface) in the four and a bit years since the stadium opened. The most notable absentees from that list are Liverpool and Manchester City, who will both be hoping they can put that record right sooner rather than later. 18 teams have now played at the stadium on more than one occasion, with debt stricken Portsmouth the third most frequent visitors (5 times) followed by Stevenage, Cardiff and Tottenham (3 times each).

Of the 18 teams who have visited more than once, only two have managed to keep a 100% winning record at English football’s biggest venue and it seems it’s good news if you’re a northern seaside resort – Blackpool and Whitley Bay are the undefeated pair. It’s not such good news for Aston Villa, York, Shrewsbury, Cambridge and West Brom – they are the five teams to have played at the new Wembley more than once and failed to win on either occasion, with Cambridge and West Brom failing to even find the net on any of their visits.**

Comfortably the biggest win at the new Wembley is Whitley Bay’s 6-1 trouncing of Wroxham in the 2009-10 FA Vase final. The next biggest margins of victory are Southampton’s 4-1 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy thrashing of Carlisle United and Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa, both also in the 2009-10 season. By far the most common scoreline (including after extra time) is 1-0, which has happened on 13 occasions (or 29.5% of the time), followed by 2-1 (on 7 occasions). In total, 113 goals have now been scored in competitive club football at the new Wembley at an average of 2.57 goals per game. Chelsea’s 14 is easily the biggest contribution from a single club.

There have only been five new-Wembley penalty shoot-outs to date and incredibly Manchester United have been involved in them all, winning three and losing two. United have also been a participant in all three 0-0 draws thus far at the new Wembley.

The full record for the teams who have made more than one appearance at the new Wembley Stadium is shown below:

TEAM	P	W	L	F	A
Chelsea	9	6	3	14	10
Manchester United	8	5	3	8	6
Portsmouth	5	3	2	4	1
Stevenage	3	2	1	6	4
Cardiff	3	1	2	3	4
Spurs	3	1	2	2	3
Whitley Bay	2	2	0	8	1
Blackpool	2	2	0	5	2
Scunthorpe United	2	1	1	5	5
Millwall	2	1	1	3	3
Exeter City	2	1	1	2	2
Torquay United	2	1	1	2	1
Everton	2	1	1	1	2
Aston Villa	2	0	2	1	5
York	2	0	2	1	5
Shrewsbury	2	0	2	1	4
Cambridge United	2	0	2	0	3
West Brom	2	0	2	0	2

*The full list of competitive club matches played at the stadium is: FA Cup final and semi finals, League Cup Final, Community Shield, Championship, League One, League Two and Conference Play-Off Finals, FA Trophy Final, FA Vase Final and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final.

**In the event of a draw, we took into account the result after extra time and penalties – there are only winners and losers in club football at Wembley.

As the 2010/2011 Premier League season approaches Arsenal fans up and down the Country are feeling a little concerned. Last season it was clear the defence and goalkeeper needed some improving, Arsene Wenger said as much at the end of the season as well as saying he wanted to get any signings in quickly. The Colney creche approach means the new 25 man squad regulations have dealt Wenger a strong hand if he chooses to use it, but will he?

With a couple of weeks to go until the start of the season and most of pre-season behind us Arsenal have lost Campbell, Silverstre and Gallas with only Koscielny coming the other way. I don’t know too much about Koscielny other than the fact he comes from a mid table French club, has no European or International experience and doesn’t look like the beast of a defender Arsenal fans have so longer for. It looks like there still isn’t a solution to the Drogba problem, who will most likely be licking his lips when he sets his sights on Arsenal’s new boy. Those who argue he could hit the ground running like Vermaelen need to consider Vermaelen had played in Europe, played International football and performed week in-week out in a spectacular stadium at Ajax. Aside from Koscielny and Vermaelen the only recognisable centre backs are Johan Djourou and Havard Nordtveit. Djourou spent all last season injured and looks to already have a knock this year, expect Wenger to announce he’s like a new signing shortly, he has all the assets needed to be a great player but needs to stay clear of injuries for a period of time, he can only really be considered a 4th choice centre back this year. The last recognisable centre back who could be considered is Havard Nordtveit who spent last season playing defensive midfield for Nuremberg and has performed well as right back for Arsenal this pre-season, he hardly sounds ready to step up just yet. It leads me to conclude that Arsenal need to sign a strong experience centre back who can hit the ground running, Jagielka, Mertesaker and others have been mentioned but Wenger needs to move soon or he could risk blowing another season.

The other worrying position is between the sticks, after Almunia was shunned at the end of last season and Wenger astonishingly spoke about how he gets nervous before big games it’s amazing that he’s still at the club let alone the chance he could start the season as number 1. The alternatives at the moment are worrying, Fabianski has recieved endless praise and chances from Wenger but lets him down time and time again, Mannone looks fairly solid but rarely gets a chance and then there’s Szczesny who I think is the reason for a lot of our issues. I believe Wenger thinks Szczesny is going to be a star and doesn’t want to bring in a frist choice 28-30 year old keeper because it’ll stall his progress. This is why he seems to be incesantly chasing the aging Mark Schwarzer at Fulham, you’d take him over Almunia but he’s still not great. The worst case would be signing nobody which is looking increasingly likely.

So onto the new Squad regulations and due to the age of the Arsenal squad and number of “home grown” players who to be fair are mostly foreign everyone one of the current 26 players is eligible to play, not only that but Wenger sill has four slots that can be taken by players of any age and any nationality. If Wenger where to use these four slots to sign quality experienced players he’d have one of the biggest squads available in the Premier League. Arsenal fans can only hope Wenger finally patches up the flaws that have plagued Arsenal over the past 3-4 seasons.

Arsenal’s current first-team squad contains 26 players, of which 13 are counted as home grown, and seven are Under-21s.

The breakdown is as follows.

1 Manuel Almunia (May 19, 1977)
2 Abou Diaby (May 11, 1986)
3 Bacary Sagna (February 14, 1983)
4 Cesc Fabregas (May 4, 1987)
5 Thomas Vermaelen (November 14, 1985)
6 Laurent Koscielny
7 Tomas Rosicky (October 4, 1980)
8 Samir Nasri (June 26, 1987)
11 Robin van Persie (August 6, 1983)
12 Carlos Vela (March 1, 1989)*
14 Theo Walcott (March 16, 1989)*
15 Denilson (February 16, 1988)
16 Aaron Ramsey (December 26, 1990)*
17 Alex Song (September 9, 1987)
19 Jack Wilshere (January 1, 1992)*
20 Johan Djourou (January 18, 1987)
21 Lukasz Fabianski (April 18, 1985)
22 Gael Clichy (July 26, 1985)
23 Andrey Arshavin (May 29, 1981)
24 Vito Mannone (March 2, 1988)
27 Emmanuel Eboue (June 4, 1983)
28 Kieran Gibbs (September 26, 1989)*
29 Marouane Chamakh (January 10, 1984)
30 Armand Traore (October 8, 1989)*
52 Nicklas Bendtner (January 16, 1988)
53 Wojciech Szczesny (April 18, 1990)*

Players in BOLD = home grown
* = Under-21 for season 2010/11
(date in brackets is player’s date of birth)

England met fellow World Cup contestants Japan in a World Cup warm up match in Graz, Austria, with several England players hoping to impress coach Fabio Capello enough to keep their places in the squad ahead of him reducing the numbers from 30 down to 23 on Tuesday this week. What is expected to be the first choice back five began the match, but the midfield was experimental, with Tottenham’s Tom Huddlestone earning his first start, alongside Frank Lampard, and Aaron Lennon starting on the left, opposite Theo Walcott. Sunderland’s Darren Bent had a chance to shine alongside Wayne Rooney up front.

The plan didn’t seem to work that well in the first half, and Japan took the lead in the 7th minute, when Tulio Tanaka got ahead of Glen Johnson to fire home from a corner on the right. It was a disjointed performance from England in the first 45 minutes and Japan looked the more better organised outfit and more likely to get the second goal, although Lennon did produce a good save from Kawashima when played through by Rooney.

Capello made five changes at the start of the second period and England did improve as a result, pushing forward and creating more chances. The big chance to equalise came after 55 minutes when England won a free-kick to the left of the Japanese goal. Lampard struck it goalwards but it was handled by Honda in the Japanese wall leaving the referee no option but to award a penalty, which Lampard himself hit firmly towards the bottom left corner only for it to be expertly saved by Kawashima.

However, England’s heads didn’t drop and they continued to create chances until substitute Joe Cole finally managed to force a telling error in the Japanese defence, his cross from the right being inexplicably headed past his own goalkeeper by Tulio Tanaka to equalise his own opening goal in the 72nd minute. Lightening struck twice ten minutes later when more England pressure caused Nakazawa to slice the ball into the far corner of his own net and complete the turn around.

The result continues Japan’s worrying run of form ahead of the World Cup finals. They were comprehensively beaten 2-0 by South Korea on the 24th of May and they now only have one more game against Ivory Coast onthe 4th of June to complete their preparations. England maintained their 100% record in the warm up matches following the 3-1 win over Mexico last Monday.

England 2-1 Japan (30/05/2010)

Starting Line-ups:

England:
James
G. Johnson
Ferdinand
Terry
A. Cole
Walcott
Huddlestone
Lampard
Lennon
Rooney
Bent

Substitutions:
46 Hart for James
46 Carragher for Johnson
46 J. Cole for Walcott
46 Wright-Phillips Huddlestone
46 Gerrard for Bent
76 Heskey for Lennon

Japan:
Kawashima
Tulio Tanaka
Nakazawa
Nagatomo
Konno
Endo
Hasebe
Abe
Honda
Okubu
Okazaki

Substitutions:
65 Morimoto for Okazaki
72 Matsui for Okubu
86 Tamada for Endo

Goals:
Tulio Tanaka (7)
Tulio Tanaka O.G. (72)
Nakazawa O.G. (82)

A couple of days ago Aboutaball had the opportunity to meet-up with Sir Geoff Hurst for a chat;you can hear the full podcast here Geoff Hurst Interview podcast. We couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to a Football legend who is still heavily involved in the English game to get his take on World Cup’s past, present and future. In the final post we discuss Stoke, Dennis Smith and Ryan Shawcross.

Geoff played for Stoke from 1972-75, the questions here where posed by Barry Moult.

Dennis Smith played over 400 times for Stoke, scoring 49 goals, he is a true club legend. Should he have played for England?

” I saw Saw him yesterday, my Dennis, if I’m honest not quite. We joked about the amount of times he kicked me he’s surprised I’m still walking! In terms of his attitude he was absolutely amazing, he broke almost every bone in his body. He was a tough uncompromising player, but I’m not sure whether he was mobile enough to play at the top level.”

It’s clear Geoff and Dennis are still good friends and he sounds like the kind of player that’s pretty rare in the modern game.

On the subject of broken legs I asked him about Ryan Shawcross, is he good enough? Does he deserve another chance?

“Yes, why not, we’re looking for players with that kind of character. He’s on the radar. But he’s in a queue, although most of the other have had injury problem’s he’ll have to wait his chance.”

A couple of days ago Aboutaball had the opportunity to meet-up with Sir Geoff Hurst for a chat; you can hear the full podcast here Geoff Hurst Interview podcast. We couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to a Football legend who is still heavily involved in the English game to get his take on World Cup’s past, present and future. In the seond of three posts we discuss the 2018 World Cup bid and lost balls from 1966.

Following the apparent entrapment of Lord Triesman, it raises questions over the English Media and their apparent desire to press the self destruct button on anything England seems likely to do well at. It’s been good to see the likes of Gary Lineker taking a stand against this by boycotting the Mail. We asked Geoff for his thoughts:

The 2018 world Cup Bid, why do some aspects of the media want to ruin England’s chances?

“I was part of 2006 bid team and I know most people in the Country want to see England host a World Cup. It’s surprising that people in the media who have a powerful influence are not being supportive.”

However…

“The current story has to be printed, it’s a damaging blow and hopefully we’ve got 6-8 months so things can change. They’ve done well to move quickly for damage limitation”

Most worrying…

“The Media this is coming from are football writers, if they’re English it’s disappointing they’re not supporting it”.

I think it’s clear as a country we should get behind the bid and follow Lineker in boycotting anyone who’s against it.

We then moved onto other things, in the future there anyway and English sports person could better scoring a World Cup final hattrick at home against Germany?

“You can better it by scoring 4. But we need to get World Cup here and get to the final. Scoring three goals in the World Cup Final at him was something you never really dream about”

Is it true that you didn’t get the hattrick ball for 30 years?

“Haller took the ball after the game, it was forgotten. 30 years later the Sun and Virgin got Haller to bring the ball back, they paid 80 grand”

Interestingly after all the PR Geoff didn’t get it back himself, infact he said he expected it to just turn up after the match…

“After the game (1966 Final) I thought it’d just turn up, first time I thought about it was sitting in the dressing room, I thought it’s tradition, the ball will find it’s way back”

And he pointed out he’s not the only player to lose a Final hattrick ball…

“Like the other day Frank Lampard woofed the FA Cup final ball in the Crowd and Drogba didn’t get it”

Geoff is heading up an initiative that’s bought 20,000 coaches into the game to get more kids involved in football in a safe environment off the streets. Kids just playing and having fun has produced some of the greats and maybe will help produce a World Cup hero for 2018?

A couple of days ago Aboutaball had the opportunity to meet-up with Sir Geoff Hurst for a chat; you can hear the full podcast here Geoff Hurst Interview podcast. We couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to a Football legend who is still heavily involved in the English game to get his take on World Cup’s past, present and future. In the first of three posts we discuss the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, England, Brazil and Messi.

Firstly we asked the obvious, who is his World Cup pick?

“Brazil, they’re never far away, it’s a huge country, great support, great pedigree and still producing players. We (England) don’t produce as many so don’t have the depth.”

How can you argue with that, bookies have Brazil down as 5/1 second favorites. When asked who he’d punt for next?

“Spain had a good Euro’s so they up there”

Spain are the 9/2 favorites for the World Cup, however Geoff agreed Spain will probably suffer from key players being tired/injured after a hard season in England.

“Foreign players in our league are now subject to the same stresses we have, players in Spain have a winter break and maybe don’t play at such a high tempo”

It’ll be interesting to see how the top Premier League star do compared to their counterparts in Spain. A less demanding schedule may need to be looked into if England want any hope of winning future World Cups.

We then asked something he knows a lot about, scoring goals, who’s most likely to get the Golden Boot?

“Messi I would think.”

Chance of a Messi World Cup final Hattrick?

“No. There’s a chance but records show in 44 years nobody’s done it.”

On Argentina and Messi…

“I’ve spoken to Ossie Ardiles, he’s not hopeful about the Argentine side. They don’t provide the unit to give Messi the platform that Barcelona does. Even the Great Messi isn’t a one man band”

So Messi is already a Great, this is high praise from someone who was a great player himself

“He’s a World Class player one of the greats.”

Asked to go for a Dark Horse?

“An African side maybe”

And on England’s chances?

“I believe we’ll do well. I’d be disappointed in Capello’s management and discipline if we didn’t make the Semi finals. The draw has been kind to us.’

On us having no fighting fit centre backs…

“It’s a concern, you rarely pick players not 100% fit, Ledley King only plays every other game but under the circumstances there’s a case to take him. Especially as Capello has mentioned he may play with 3 centre backs, 2 attacking full backs and flood the midfield due to a lack of a holding player”

and surprisingly…

“Martin Peters made the point he’s played more games than Rio. Twice the number of games and it’s better to have someone to play the odd game than someone not good enough. Spurs players have been noticed because the club has done so well in the run in”

On Carragher…

“Maybe he’s matured and thinks that England are better places under the current management. It’s always disappointing when people don’t want to play for England. He should be in the squad, he’s a great character and can fill in at full back.”

Geoff is off to South Africa for the opening ceremony, opening game and England’s first match, thanks to McDonalds.

We’d like to thank the Royal mint for making the interview possible,  Geoff Hurst is currently working with them to raise awareness of the 150,000 limited edition World Cup Medal giveaway. To show your support for the England team and claim your free (+ £1 p&p) World Cup Medal visit www.itsenglandstime.com and get your Medal while stocks last.

Jeff Winter talks about the latest topics hitting the refereeing world.

By Matthew Campbell

There was a time long, long ago in a league not too far away, when the most spoke about people on a football pitch were the players.  Now that seems to be changing.  There is no doubt the best players in the Premier League such as Torres, Drogba and Rooney are still talked about by fans, but there are a group of men who are quickly becoming more recognised, mostly for the wrong reasons.  These men are the ‘Select Group’ referees.  So called because apparently they are the best we’ve got in this country. Ha ha don’t make me laugh!

There are sixteen of them in total and they are the guys that ruin your Saturday and Sunday afternoons, prancing around in black, yellow or even pink, dishing out cards like confetti and giving dodgy decisions against your team.

A man who used to be one of the guys we love to hate is Jeff Winter.  The former Premier League official from Middlesbrough hung up his whistle back in 2004 after taking charge of the 2004 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Millwall.  Now the former man in black who is still a football fan, and conducts after dinner speeches to talk about his ups and downs as a football official, believes the current crop of Select Group referees is strong, but it’s the quantity that should be worried about rather than quality.

“There are no problems with the quality of the best guys, but there is a problem with the quantity. The authorities failed to plan ahead when they should have known many of the most experienced guys were due to retire. It takes time for the new referees to acclimatise and gain the experience and confidence to be trusted with the biggest games.”

Recent weeks have seen the argument of goal line technology being discussed yet again.  Football is about scoring goals, goals win games and decisions regarding whether goals have been scored or not can have huge consequences.  Take a few weeks ago in the FA Cup 6^th Round.  Portsmouth took on Birmingham and assistant referee Adam Watts was at the centre of goal line controversy as Liam Ridgewell’s header crossed the line, but wasn’t spotted by the officials.  This decision contributed to Birmingham being knocked out the cup and Jeff Winter believes that goal line technology would be a welcome assistance to officials.

“Of course it should be introduced but Blatter and his buffoons have knocked that back.  It is vital that such an important aspect of the game should be got right.  It is fact not opinion and I imagine all officials would welcome it.”

Goal line technology isn’t the only aspect of the game that Jeff Winter would like to see change.  “I would like to see sin-bins, extra goal line officials, independent time keeping and retrospective post match disciplinary action against cheats and also against players that have not been dealt with correctly by the match officials.”

It is no good however introducing new aspects to the game if the existent ones aren’t working the best they can.  The Respect campaign was brought in by the FA to encourage good relations between players/managers and officials, although things have improved since it was introduced, Jeff thinks things could be better.

“The only way it will make a significant difference is if the authorities are seen to be setting examples from the very top.  Their refusal to take firm disciplinary action against managers and players waters down the campaign.  Football at all levels copies what happens in the Premier League and until the powers that be make examples at that level then the campaign will have limited success.”

The sixteen guys that make up the Select Group have been criticised this season maybe rightly, maybe wrongly.  There is no doubt the men in the middle have a difficult job to do.  Sometimes the most experienced officials struggle to cope with the pressure they are under, so how are the new guys meant to feel?

The newest inductee to the Select Group is Leicestershire’s Kevin Friend.  The 38 year old has had to wait for his chance to reach the big time having been a Football League referee for six seasons, but since joining the list at the start of this season he is slowly starting to prove he deserves his place amongst the countries’ leading officials.

Kevin has already taken charge of twelve Premier League matches this season, with some of those involving the top teams in England.  He will know that as the new boy, he will have to prove himself to not only his boss Mike Riley and the PGMOL, but also his Select Group colleagues.

Jeff Winter, who operated at both Football League and Premier League levels, believes the step up the divisions is a difficult one due to the speed of the game and the quality of the stars on show. “It takes three or four seasons to establish yourself at the new level.  Kevin will be no different but every game gives him added experience and confidence. “

Jeff refereed in the Premier League for eight years, taking charge of some of the biggest games.  He remembers his first ever Premier League game Nottingham Forest vs. Chelsea in 1996, his last Premiership encounter, Charlton vs. Southampton in 2004, and every match in between “I kept a record of every of every game throughout my career, from grass roots to the very top of my career.  It came in very helpful when writing my autobiography.”

One of the more recognised names within the refereeing world is England’s number one, Howard Webb.  The Rotherham based official has refereed in most of the major competition’s both nationally and internationally from refereeing the 2009 FA Cup final and 2007 League Cup final to officiating in some of the biggest stadiums in Europe in the Champions’ League.

In 2008 Webb travelled to Austria and Switzerland to referee at the European Championships.  He took charge of two games in the group stages.  The first was a controversial affair between joint hosts Austria and Poland.  With Poland winning 1-0 the match drifted into stoppage time, with a minute of injury time to play Webb adjudged Poland’s Mariusz Lewandowski to have pulled the shirt of Austria’s Sebastian Prodl inside the penalty area.  The spot kick was despatched and the match finished 1-1.  The decision was described as ‘brave’ by some commentators.  Poland were furious and Webb received death threats from the decision.

Webb now has South Africa to look forward to as the 38-year old has been named as England’s representative at this year’s tournament.  He has been working hard towards this achievement and Jeff Winter believes he is the best man for the job.

“He is our top official, a great guy and an excellent referee.” After Howard was criticised at the Euro’s two years ago and with Graham Poll’s three yellow cards to the same player at the last World Cup, Webb will be looking to prove that England’s referees are amongst the best in world football.

He will want England to perform well, but if they don’t, he stands a great chance of staying at the tournament until it’s conclusion on 11^th of July.  Webb is one of thirty referees who will operate at the tournament and Winter believes he will make up for his disappointment in 2008 and show why he’s England’s number one.

“I hope that luck goes with him and he performs to the best of his ability.  If he does that then he will have an excellent tournament.”

The Premier League has seven FIFA referees out of the sixteen.  FIFA officials mean that they can not only officiate in Europe, in UEFA Champion’s League matches or Europa League games, but they can also referee internationally meaning they could referee matches involving the biggest teams in the world such as Spain, Brazil or Italy.

Mike Dean is one of the FIFA elite guys.  He is arguably one of the most recognised of the Select Group at the moment.  The main reason? Because of the ridiculously high number of penalties he’s given this season.

‘Crackerjack’ as he has comically been refereed as this season has awarded seventeen penalties in the Premier League this season.  This is significantly more than any of his colleagues.  The question that should be asked is not ‘How many penalties he has given?’ but ‘How many of those decisions were right?’

Dean, who is one of the countries’  most experienced officials, and currently number three in England, has like all the other referees given some wrong decisions this season, but there is no question he is one of the more consistent performers.

Jeff Winter, who was a colleague of Mike’s for a number of seasons, knows how much high profile decisions are scrutinised by the media “Unfortunately one error is highlighted and all the referee’s previous good work is easily forgotten.  The best refs get the biggest games so they are constantly in the media spotlight.”

Mike Dean has refereed some of the biggest games this season from the potential title decider between Chelsea and Manchester United to the Lancashire derby between Burnley v Blackburn.  These are massive games for all sorts of reasons and the fact Mike has refereed them shows how highly he is sought of by his employers and Winter thinks he is one of the best we have “Mike Dean is usually very consistent.”

The next couple of seasons will see some of the more experienced guys reaching retirement age.  Steve Bennett, Alan Wiley, Phil Dowd and Peter Walton to name just a few who will hang up their whistles in the next couple of seasons, however some may see their careers extended due to the new retention rule meaning officials can be kept on past the previous retirement age.  This is something that Jeff thinks needs to happen.

“We need their experience in the short term, so as long as they are fit enough then they need to be retained.  This will buy time for the system to get more officials through and gain the necessary experience.”

There are a number of good, consistent performing young officials operating in the Football League so what does the future hold for Premier League refereeing?  There have been a few names thrown around, with two of them already having Premier League experience.

“The two most obvious I can see coming through are Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.  I haven’t seen too many others that stand out as much as they do.”

Should these guys make it to the elite level, and the FA decide to retain some of the older guys then we should have a top quality standard of refereeing for the next few seasons to come.

For more information on the life and career of Jeff Winter then visit his website www.jeffwinterentertainmentandmedia.co.uk or purchase his autobiography Who’s the b*****d in the black available at most bookstores.

Fabio Capello has announced his England squad for Wednesday night’s friendly against Egypt (Wembley Stadium, 8:pm 03/03/2010).  Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross is the main beneficiary of the current defensive crisis, earning his first call-up to the senior squad after only two Under-21 appearances. The call-up came on the day he broke Arsenal teenager Aaron Ramsey’s ankle with a clumsy challenge in a Premiership match at the Britannia Stadium. Shawcross left the pitch in tears, clearly distraught at the consequences of his mistake.  However, he has won many plaudits for his solid defensive work this season and takes the centre-back spot vacated by Rio Ferdinand due to his current back problems.

The whole defence looks short of experience at international level shorn of Ferdinand, Ashley Cole (also injured) and Wayne Bridge, who quit the national team this week citing personal differences with John Terry. Only seven specialist defenders were picked and they total only 108 caps between them, or seven fewer than David Backham alone! Everton’s Leighton Baines is the other uncapped defender. He and Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock (1 cap) take the left-back berths vacated by Cole and Bridge. They were the only viable options for left back but have both impressed this season and look ready for the challenge of international football.

There doesn’t seem to be a specialist right-back in the squad. Manchester City’s Micah Richards will be disappointed at missing out given the absence of Glen Johnson through injury. Capello may be planning to play Wes Brown or even James Milner at right-back.

The headlines in midfield and attack are recalls for Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing and Carlton Cole. Walcott hasn’t impressed this season in club football and has only started a handful of games for Arsenal, but Capello clearly thinks he has something to offer the national team. Stewart Downing is England’s only real natural left-sided player and was a squad regular before a serious injury ruled him out last May. This call-up rewards his recent good form since he regained fitness and broke into the Aston Villa first team following his summer move from relegated Middlesbrough. Joe Cole is the biggest name to miss out in midfield, having failed to play enough regular football at Chelsea to impress Capello.

Up front, Carlton Cole got the nod ahead of Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor for the fifth striker spot. It remains to be seen whether Capello will take five strikers to the World Cup, or four plus someone such as Walcott, but time seems to be running out for the Aston Villa man. Attack is certainly the most experienced department of the team, with Rooney, Heskey, Crouch and Defoe totalling almost 190 caps between them and those four look shoe-ins for places in the final squad.

GOALKEEPERS
David James (Portsmouth, 49 caps)
Robert Green (West Ham, 8 caps)
Joe Hart (Birmingham, 1 cap)

DEFENDERS
John Terry (Chelsea, 58 caps)
Wes Brown (Man. Utd, 22 caps)
Matthew Upson (West Ham, 18 caps)
Joleon Lescott (Man. City, 9 caps)
Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa, 1 caps)
Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City, 0 caps)
Leighton Baines (Everton, 0 caps)

MIDFIELDERS
David Beckham (AC Milan, 115 caps)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, 77 caps)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea, 76 caps)
Gareth Barry (Man. City, 35 caps)
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man. City, 29 caps)
Stewart Downing (Aston Villa, 23 caps)
Michael Carrick (Man. Utd, 20 caps)
Theo Walcott (Arsenal, 8 caps)
James Milner (Aston Villa, 6 caps)

FORWARDS
Emile Heskey (Aston Villa, 57 caps)
Wayne Rooney (Man. Utd, 57 caps)
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham, 38 caps)
Peter Crouch (Tottenham, 36 caps)
Carlton Cole (West Ham, 6 caps)

TEAM BY TEAM
Aston Villa – 4 players
Man. Utd – 3 players
West Ham – 3 players
Chelsea – 2 players
Man City – 2 players
Tottenham – 2 players
AC Milan – 1 player
Arsenal – 1 player
Birmingham – 1 player
Everton – 1 player
Liverpool – 1 player
Portsmouth – 1 player
Stoke City – 1 player

Here are About A Ball’s betting tips and predictions for the big matches in England and Scotland on the weekend of the 27th and 28th of February 2010. For the latest form guides visit the About a Ball Form Lab. For betting techniques and systems visit the About a Ball Betting Guide.

Saturday 27 February 2010

English Premier League

Chelsea v Man City 12:45
Chelsea return from Wednesday night’s excursion to Milan to face a Saturday lunch time kick off against Manchester City, themselves losers at Stoke on Wednesday night. There are likely to be some tired legs on both sides and Chelsea will be without a recognised left-back in Ashley Cole’s absence due to injury. Goalkeeper Petr Cech is also likely to be out following the injury he suffered in the San Siro. City hope to have Tevez available again after the recent premature birth of his child and it’s the first match-up between John Terry and Wayne Bridge since the tabloid revelations. Chelsea are unbeaten at home whilst City’s form is wobbling so a home win looks likely.
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PREDICTION: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City

Birmingham v Wigan 15:00
Birmingham’s form is becoming patchy of late whilst Wigan’s is simply atrocious. Both sides lost last lime out, against Fulham and Tottenham respectively last weekend, but Birmingham are solid at home and should have enough to see off the Latics and maintain their challenge for a European spot.
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PREDICTION:Birmingham City 2-0 Wigan Athletic

Bolton v Wolverhampton 15:00
This fixture has the air of a must win game for Bolton if they are to get their fight for survival back on track. With no wins in their last seven games (all competitions) and not even a goal to show for their last six Premier League outings, and coming off the back of a 4-0 FA Cup hiding by Spurs in midweek, Owen Coyle’s arrival has plainly failed to rejuvenate the team. Wolves aren’t faring much better, with only one win in their last eight and it’s likely to be a nervy affair at the Reebok Stadium with both teams fearful of losing so we foresee a draw.
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PREDICTION: Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley v Portsmouth 15:00
Many bookmakers have refused to compile odds in advance of this match as Portsmouth’s parlous financial situation means they are likely to enter administration on Friday. Hopefully they will be able to fulfill their remaining fixtures but a points deduction would remove any hope of Premier League survival and leave the team with nothing to play for. With no wins in eight league outings and facing a Burnley team who are strong at home, it looks like another defeat for Pompey.
No odds available yet.
PREDICTION: Burnley 1-0 Portsmouth

Stoke v Arsenal 17:30
Stoke are unbeaten this year and knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup 3-1 on home turf a month ago. Arsene Wenger is likely to take this game a bit more seriously but it’s rare for any visitors to take three points away from Stoke. Arsenal had the luxury of a free midweek to prepare for this fixture whereas Stoke were taken to extra time by Manchester City on Wednesday night and will perhaps already have one eye on next weekend’s FA Cup quarter final against Chelsea so circumstances could favour the Gunners as they strive to hang on to the coat tails of the leading pair.
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PREDICTION: Stoke City 1-2 Arsenal

Sunday 28 February 2010

English Premier League

Tottenham v Everton 13:00
Spurs have found their shooting boots this week with 3-0 and 4-0 wins over Wigan and Bolton respectively. Their Wednesday night cup win over the latter wasn’t too taxing so they should be considerably fresher than their opponents, who play away in Lisbon late on Thursday night and won’t have much recovery time between touching down on Merseyside and this early Sunday kick off in London. Everton have been in fine form recently, beating both Chelsea and Manchester United at home, but this will be just as tough a test of their mettle and their thin squad may start to feel the toll of so many big games in such a short space of time.
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PREDICTION: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Everton

Liverpool v Blackburn 15:00
Two wins on the bounce and a clear week to prepare for this fixture are encouraging signs for Sam Allardyce’s Rovers side, although both those wins were at Ewood Park against weak opposition and their recent away form is dreadful. Liverpool will no doubt be tired following their Thursday night Europa League game in Bucharest, Romania, but they know that nothing less than a win will do in order to keep pace with their adversaries in the race for fourth spot. The simply must capitalise on home games against bottom half opposition, and with Torres back in the squad they will surely be too strong for Blackburn.
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PREDICTION: Liverpool 3-0 Blackburn Rovers

Sunderland v Fulham 15:00
Fulham are another team who faced a long trip in Europe on Thursday night. They’ll be flying back from Ukraine on Friday and presumably travelling up to Sunderland the next day or early on Sunday whereas it will be eight days since Sunderland lost to Arsenal last time out. However, Steve Bruce’s team are without a win in seven and slipping down the table so morale is low and nerves are starting to show. They’ll see this game as a great chance to return to winning ways but goals have been hard to come by since the turn of the year and the well organised Fulham defence is unlikely to present them with any gifts. It’s been a great February so far for Roy Hodgson’s team, for whom Zamora is in fine form, but their best results have all come at Craven Cottage and they’ve struggled slightly on the road this year.
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PREDICTION: Sunderland 0-0 Fulham

Carling Cup Final

Aston Villa v Man Utd 15:00 (Wembley Stadium)

Cup football, a neutral venue, will Fergie play his strongest team? The form book goes out of the window for this one. Not that it would have told us much anyway as both sides have been impressive in recent weeks. It’s Villa’s big chance for a first trophy in over a decade and you can be sure that Martin O’Neill’s men will go all out for the win, playing their usual speedy, counter-attacking brand of football. Sir Alex Ferguson may take the opportunity to give some of his second string players a chance to star in a showpiece occasion, as he did against Spurs last year, but it’s still likely to be a stong side fielded by the holders. Both teams played in midweek so that shouldn’t affect matters too much. United have Ferdinand and Giggs on the injured list and Nani suspended following his dismissal in the 1-1 draw at Villa Park two weeks ago but Nemanja Vidic is back and looked impressive against West Ham. Anderson is now out for the season. Villa have few injury worries now that Stephen Warnock is fit again and Stiliyan Petrov is expected to overcome a virus. This could be a close and high scoring affair with extra time.
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PREDICTION: Aston Villa 2-3 Manchester United (aet)

Scottish Premier League

Rangers v Celtic 12:30
Rangers are unbeaten domestically since November and have a seven point lead over their rivals with a game in hand having sat out last weekend’s fixture due to a frozen pitch. Celtic beat Dundee United 1-0 last weekend and know that they must match that result at Ibrox to revive their ailing title challenge. January additions to the forward line such as Keane, Rasmussen and Kamara have shaken things up and given the team something of a new lease of life but they are still inconsistent, unpredictable and dodgy at the back. It will take a monumental performance for the to overcome Rangers on their own patch and I don’t think they have it in them.
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PREDICTION: Glasgow Rangers 3-1 Glasgow Celtic