20/12/03 - Euro 2004 - England Hooligans and ticket allocation
05/12/03 - A Fair Hand for Ferdinand?
12/11/03 - Owen Comes Of Age With England
04/08/03 - Allardyce tips Manchester Utd for the championship

20/12/03 - Euro 2004: England Hooligans and ticket allocation

Along comes another tournament, Euro 2004, which is to be proudly hosted by the Portuguese. No surprise that there is already talk of fears about the possible bad behaviour of English hooligans.

UEFA has stated that teams whose fans cause trouble will face expulsion from the tournament... this is all well and good if the responsibility for ticket allocation lies solely with each country's FA, they could then fairly be responsible for the people using their tickets.

In England much money, time and effort has been spent setting up the official England Supporters Club and I'm confident that these official fans will cause no trouble, and support their team with peerless pride and passion. That's if they can get a ticket! As a member of the England Supporters Club, I'll count myself lucky if I get a ticket for one of the qualifying matches. If I want to see more games I'll have to look into the black market and pay way over the odds for tickets.

Any potential problems in Euro 2004 will occur due to the tens of thousands of tickets sold by UEFA over the Internet to anyone... it is rumoured that England fans have already bought 80,000 tickets for Euro 2004. The allocation of these tickets is completely out of the control of the English FA and if these fans head out to Portugal and cause trouble, who is to blame? UEFA have been irresponsible and you can bet that, if trouble occurs they will take no part of the blame. I can't comprehend how and why tickets are sold to anyone in the world when the fixtures are not yet known. Selling tickets to people living locally to the stadium would be fair enough. Maybe they suspect some of the smaller games like Latvia v Czech Rep. may not sell out? By selling the tickets for games prior to the teams being known, they know that fans in countries such as England will buy up the tickets due to it being so difficult to get official tickets to watch England further down the line.

Another result of these ticket sales are dozens of Internet sites selling Euro 2004 tickets for around 400 euros. I wouldn't be surprised if they blindly bought tickets for all games at around 30 euros a time. This means that any hooligan with a spare £200 can get a ticket to any of England's 2004 games!

I really hope there's no trouble at Euro 2004, however if there is I hope people don't look blindly at the FA of the offending country. UEFA really need to think about the way they allocate tickets for future tournaments.

05/12/03 - A Fair Hand for Ferdinand?

The Rio Ferdinand saga has already been the subject of many thousands of column inches, hours of debate and much controversy, yet, three months on, his case has yet to be heard. Everyone seems to have had their say - from the ubiquitous radio phone-in caller to the president of FIFA himself - and most were quick to judge and condemn Ferdinand without waiting to hear the case for his defence. It seems that the only people not to have rushed to voice their opinion on the affair are the venerable members of the FA disciplinary committee themselves. The case finally comes before them on the 18th and 19th of December in a hearing at Bolton's Reebok Stadium, but why has it taken so long to arrange?

In Italy, they recently announced that Lazio's Dejan Stankovic would receive a ban after an incident that occurred the previous weekend! Surely that's a much more reasonable timescale for this sort of process. There's no real reason why a jury of the men charged by the FA with upholding the repute of the game cannot be convened at short notice. After all, they meet regularly to deal with all sorts of other disciplinary matters such as red cards and appeals. To their credit, the FA recognise the problem and have moved to speed up the process in the future. We can only hope that they are successful in doing so.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has made his discontent with the situation clear. The FA are already in his bad books, having  ignored a recent directive to have players receiving red-cards automatically suspended for the next match. Now he's unhappy that Ferdinand was allowed to continue playing until his hearing. Here is a man who clearly doesn't believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

In the case of red cards, it is often proven after a game that a player was wrongfully dismissed. Blatter would like to see such players receive further punishment regardless. He believes that rescinding red cards undermines the power of the referee. Thankfully, the FA still treat each dismissal on merit and don't just hand out summary punishments across the board. Similarly, in the case of Ferdinand, the player will be given a fair hearing and the chance to appeal, yet Blatter has already decided that Ferdinand should receive a harsh exemplary punishment to set a precedent for other cases.

However, were Ferdinand to be found not guilty of deliberately avoiding a drugs test, it would be a little harsh to give him a long ban. Indeed, had he been barred from playing in the period before his hearing, he may already have served a longer suspension than his eventual punishment. What is important is that justice is seen to be done and that Ferdinand serves the punishment handed out by the relevant organisation, be it a three game ban or a three year ban.

Doubtless, Sepp Blatter will continue sticking his oar in to try and influence the outcome but he should be compelled to accept the FA's final verdict on the matter. They have already taken it very seriously by banning the player from successive England matches, and are unlikely to be unduly lenient when they come to consider the matter of a domestic ban.

12/11/03 - Owen Comes Of Age With England

Whilst no international side will relish facing England in either Euro 2004 or World Cup 2006, the 3 lions are still an outside bet to succeed in either Portugal or Germany - Ladbrokes currently have England as 4th favourites to win Euro 2004 with odds of 7-1. Clearly there are a few decent sides beyond Sven's men when you look for possible tournament winners. However, where England may exceed the expectations of bookmakers, pundits and even quite a few fans is with Michael Owen, now an established, experienced and prolific goal scorer at international level.

Although missing with a shin injury from the recent game against Turkey, the level of media attention afforded Owen before the game shows just how important the player has become in his 5 years with England.

Currently the 10th leading English international goal scorer of all time with 24 goals, Owen has already earned a respectable place in the FA's archives. However, the scrap book is not ready to close just yet. Take a closer look at Owen's international strike rate and it is easy to see he is a class act. More importantly for England, he just seems to be getting better all the time.

In his first 24 games for England Owen netted 8 times, a strike rate of one goal in every 3 games. In the next 29 international matches Owen bagged double that - 16 goals, a return of 1 goal in just under every 2 games. Such success puts him amongst distinguished company. Bobby Charlton's 49 England goals came in 109 internationals, an overall hit rate of one goal in just over every 2 matches.

Understanding why Owen continues to grow at international level is complex - what can't be overlooked though is the Eriksson factor. Owen has now seen 5 different England coaches come and go and the improved strike rate of Owen coincides well with Eriksson's tenure. The Swede quickly made his mind up about Owen being the number one striker - he's also stuck to his guns, critical for a striker's confidence. In fact, Owen has only come on as a substitute once under Eriksson (the Holland friendly 2 years ago). Such a vote of confidence from the head coach would be sweet music to any strikers' ears.

Eriksson is also the canniest of motivators, knowing which levers to pull in order to get the maximum returns from his stars. Before the game for his 50th cap against Slovakia, Eriksson showed the squad a video montage of Owen's 19 England goals to date. Rapturous applause was heard throughout the team - Owen then scored twice in the actual game. Others will point to Eriksson's "lucky streak" shining through which could now be wearing a bit thin. Can we really envisage messrs Wilkinson or Hoddle adopting a similar approach?

Alan Shearer's decision to hang up his England boots would also have helped Owen's international blossoming. The Shearer and Owen axis had many parallels with the Cole & Cantona partnership at Manchester United. In particular, the understudy's performance improved tenfold when they made the striker's shirt their own. Playing with great strikers and strong characters no doubt aids the learning process. Being the main man probably lifts the confidence more.

Shearer was a huge, talismanic player for England and a powerful voice in both the dressing room and off the pitch. His preference to be accompanied by the experience of Sheringham rather than the youth of Owen was never a secret. However, the striker's psyche is probably more fragile than most. Being a young 20 something knowing that not everyone in the side thinks you should be there would have done little to placate Owen's demons at the time.

What's missing to date is probably the most important bit - the player himself - in particular, his commitment and attitude. Owen is an outstanding player, of that there is no doubt. What makes him different from the rest is his willingness to learn and improve. When he first came on to the scene Owen was a right-footed striker who didn't use his head regularly enough. Progress in these areas has been sharp and noticeable - remember the 2001 FA Cup Final or the goal against Liechtenstein? With 8 to 10 years of an England career to go (injuries permitting), further dividends will clearly come Owen's way if this continual improvement is sustained.

Another area of unparalleled excellence is in his off the field conduct . You can't really see Owen lying in the dentist's chair being filled with tequila. Additionally, when you assess his career against Robbie Fowler's you can see how pressures off the pitch may have influenced their careers in distinctly different ways. Despite Fowler being a better young talent than Owen, it was Owen who went on to scoope the prestigious European Footballer of the Year award in 2001 and carved out a glowing reputation for himself. Fowler hasn't played for England for just under 18 months and can often be seen warming the bench at Manchester City.

The Gerard, Owen & Heskey triumvirate probably hasn't hindered Owen's development either. All three players have been regulars at club and international level and all three seem to have prospered from it. Such continuity (plus the influence and experience of Houllier) have clearly had a positive impact on Owen. Gaining an extra second in face of goal because you can better anticipate the next pass or knock down will always give a premium striker an edge.

What's the flip-side? Maybe it's in Owen's official tournament performances. We all have vivid memories of the Argentina goal or the one against Brazil in Japan. However, in 3 main tournaments, his best performance came in France 1998, 5 years ago. His return for Japan 2002 was 2 goals in 5 games. Moreover, the overriding memories are of him having a low key and injury ridden world cup.

Now that England have qualified for Euro 2004, it's critical for Owen and England that the striker steers well clear of injury and looks for his first golden boot in a big tournament. Owen has already proved his worth for the England cause but such an achievement is well within him. The key question is whether he can continue his substantial upwards progress to become one of the all time greats. Judging by his success to date, you'd bet against him at your peril.

© Copyright Ali Reza
October 2003

04/08/03 - Allardyce tips Manchester United for the championship

By Marco Borg

Premier side Bolton Wanderers chose the hot days of the Maltese summer to prepare for the coming season. Marco Borg caught up with their manager, Sam Allardyce for an exclusive interview.

Few managers might think of Malta’s summer days as the ideal place for their pre-season preparation. The pre-season is the time of the year when players are mostly prepared from the physical point of view and thereby train harder and do most of the running. “The heat will help us prepare for next season, we are currently training twice and three times and day. The pre-season is about fatigue and having the right amount of rest together with careful attention to nutrition. Malta is ideal,” said Sam Allardyce when speaking to MALTA TODAY

Last season Bolton Wanderers have produced excellent football however they still had to fight till the end of the season to avoid being relegated to Division 1. “We must produce better results. We need some new signings but the squad is all right. We need to score more. Last season our top goal scorer only managed 7 and that tells a lot. We are an attacking minded side but then we are vulnerable to counterattacks. We need to find the net more often and try to kill the game earlier out. Last season we conceded a lot of goals late in the game due to lack of concentration.”

Allardyce has opted to signing experienced foreign players however he is aware of the benefits of investing in youths. “Our main aim is to maintain our Premiership status and the best way forward is to sign experienced players who want to prove themselves in the Premiership. Since my arrival at Bolton I have restructured various sections of the youth academy but we need a couple of years to be able to see some results. However, we have introduced Kevin Nolan and we hope to see more of Nick Hunt during this season.”

Allardyce is a manager who has gone up the hard way and that is probably why he has earned so much respect by his colleagues. His relationship with the supporters has always been excellent. Even because throughout his career he has always shown commitment, which is a quality supporters treasure fondly. When managing Irish side Limerick the club was facing a very difficult financial situation. “I used to go around pubs on Friday evenings collecting money for the club together with the parish priest, Joe Young. He used to put on his collar which put him in a position of favour in a country like Ireland and we kept the club going and also managed to win the championship” smiled Allardyce.

Managing a club is not an easy task and Allardyce knows all about it “as a manager you have to manage your players but it is also important to manage the directors, manage up. It is important that they approve of your plans and that they have the right expectations.”

Getting the right players is however the most difficult task for a manager. “Youri Djorkaeff was my best signing here at Bolton. He has been consistently good. Jay Jay Okocha was also a good signing but he lacked consistency. However there are players like Anthony Barness and Simon Charlton who have been very valuable for the side even though they are not that well known in Europe.”

Motivating his players is what he reckons to be the easiest part of his job “these players are playing in the Premiership which is the best league in the world. Players want to prove themselves in the Premiership. The level of play is ahead of that of the Spanish Liga or that of the Serie A. The fact is that the difference between the topsides and the bottom ones has narrowed and that is why strikers cost so much. Many smaller teams including ourselves have dominated games against the big guns but then they have Van Nistelrooy and bang the game is lost.”

The English game has definitely improved drastically and Allardyce attributes this to the technical side “Nowadays through computer software we examine each and every game, not only ours but also those of our opponents. We would know exactly what went wrong and how our opponents play. The player has no excuses. He knows exactly what is expected of him.” The fact that English sides still have to make an impact in the Champions league does not disturb him. “In the Premiership there are no easy games like in the other leagues and therefore they tend to fail the final hurdle as they always do it to the Quarter finals.”

For the coming season he maintains that Manchester United are the favourites for the league. “Arsenal should be behind them as their spending power has decreased but I also expect Newcastle to get closer” and Chelsea I prompt “it is not that easy. To get players and make them play together is not an easy task no matter how much money you have to spend. They have to learn how to play together”

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