I know quite a few Real Madrid supporters. Some of them I would even call friends, not in the modern social way but in the true sense, the traditional sense of being prepared to do anything for them at the drop of a hat and knowing I can rely on them to do the same. With regard to their being madridistas, well, there but for the grace of God go I, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and so on. I imagine I should be as forgiving of their sins as they are of mine.
However, some of my lilywhite friends went one step too far last Wednesday evening for the Champions’ League final, a game I forsook in favour of an obscure but excellent film about Dylan Thomas. They decided to support Barcelona. I am not referring to what the plastic fans around me have done in jumping on the Barça bandwagon just because the team is fashionable; I mean they actually wanted them to win.
The explanation was simple: Catalonia IS Spain. They wanted the total number of Spanish European Cups to go up, and they didn’t care who won the tin pot on offer. And this is what I cannot fathom because the simple fact of the matter is that the Champions’ League is a club competition and as such has nothing to do with nationality.
How could you sit down and watch the match with these fans? The rules have been completely changed and you are on a totally different wavelength from these other fans; their attitude towards the game would have been far too confusing to be able to follow the action without a profound sense of something being wrong. In short, you are watching the Champions’ League and they are watching the World Cup.
I know that all English fans want English football to be the best in the world, but I am convinced that there was not one Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea fan rooting for United that night. I don’t like Liverpool FC. When Liverpool played in the two finals against AC Milan I was rooting for Milan both times. As it happens in 2005, when Milan started to bottle it and the amateur Liverpool team, in spite of the best efforts of Alonso and García to throw it away, won the cup, I tried to find consolation in the fact that English football had another trophy. It didn’t work. And nobody cares anyway.
In club football there are no half measures. You always support your own club, always and forever, and you always hate your rivals. There is no truce. The only ceasefire is when the national team plays, but woe betide a player from a rival club should he make a mistake. If your country wins a game, it will be in spite of that rival. If the rival player scores the winning goal, it will be because of the pass from your club’s player. It is widely accepted as true that certain players – from certain clubs – cannot play on the same team.
In fairness to the Spanish, they have always been more than complimentary about English fans, who they invariably describe in their sporting press as the most passionate in the world. Now I understand what they mean.
Also in fairness to the Spanish, they are incredibly good at football – in fact they are much better than the English. And their national team, full of Real Madrid players and FC Barcelona players, won the last European Championship. England never win anything. Perhaps now I understand why that is too.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Newcastle United: second floor, going down
On Sunday Newcastle United – arguably one of the biggest clubs in English football – were relegated to the Championship after sixteen years of PL football, including six seasons of UEFA Cup football and two jaunts in the Champions’ League. If they do not come straight back up – and with the laughable situation at the top of the club and the woeful set of players who wear the shirt there is very little chance of their doing so – they should be worried.
Just weeks before Newcastle’s relegation, three former PL clubs were relegated from the Championship to the third tier of English football, continuing a worrying trend of top-flight clubs becoming third-class clubs in the blinking of an eye. Norwich, remember spent four seasons in the PL and played in the UEFA Cup, while Southampton and Charlton spent thirteen and eight seasons at the top respectively.
Bigger clubs than these three have come a cropper too. Leeds United spent twelve seasons in the PL with two seasons in the CL and five in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City eleven seasons, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City eight apiece (with one and two seasons in the UEFA Cup respectively), Nottingham Forest five (with one UEFA Cup season) and QPR four. So far the only one of these teams to return to the top division is Manchester City.
It’s not all pessimism though – Nottingham Forest were the team that took the longest to climb back out of the third tier, doing so after four years, but QPR spent just three seasons down there while Sheffield Wednesday went up after two seasons and Manchester City and Leicester did it in only one. Leeds will hope for some better luck in their third season in the third tier after two years of play-off heartbreak. At least it can be said that there is a definite split between 6th in Division Two upwards and 7th downwards.
Leeds perhaps are a case apart, and their rise and fall have been well documented in recent years. In spite of the financial controversy surrounding clubs like Southampton and QPR, it could not be claimed that any of the clubs above have been in the same situation as Leeds. However, one thing which does link all these clubs is the lack of coherence in the policy of choosing and keeping managers.
Since October 2006 Norwich have had five managers, Charlton have had four managers in the last three years and this century just about everyone has had a go at St Mary’s, including otherwise successful managers such as Gordon Strachan and Harry Redknapp.
With reference to the other clubs that fell from grace, it was the same situation. From August 1993 to their return to the top flight, Manchester City enjoyed the expertise of nine managers, including the likes of Peter Reid and Steve Coppell. From the sacking of Trevor Francis in May 1995 onwards Sheffield Wednesday have had fourteen managers, including men like David Pleat, Ron Atkinson and Paul Jewell. QPR have had ten managers so far this century.
Between 1896 and November 1994 Leicester City had twenty-six managers; since then they have had twenty more in fifteen years, including Martin O’Neill (1 League Cup, top-half finishes every season and two seasons in Europe). Nottingham Forest have had as many managers in the PL era as they had in the previous 100 years. And Leicester and QPR have had to contend with changes in ownership too.
Now let’s look at Newcastle United. Numerous permutations of ownership in the last decade. Three different chairmen in two years. Four managers this season alone. And as Shay Given remarked when he left the club, the back four has had more changes than the axe that killed Anne Boleyn.
In a sense it could be said that teams generally bounce when they hit the ground; West Brom, Birmingham City and Sunderlandnil are clear examples. The drop is so sudden for some clubs that they just need to drop a little further before they bounce back up. They just need a little longer to sort themselves out before climbing out of their problems.
However, the situation in which Newcastle United find themselves is frightening to say the least, and only a radical change at a fundamental level will enable the club to turn itself round. Either that or a spell in Division Two.
Just weeks before Newcastle’s relegation, three former PL clubs were relegated from the Championship to the third tier of English football, continuing a worrying trend of top-flight clubs becoming third-class clubs in the blinking of an eye. Norwich, remember spent four seasons in the PL and played in the UEFA Cup, while Southampton and Charlton spent thirteen and eight seasons at the top respectively.
Bigger clubs than these three have come a cropper too. Leeds United spent twelve seasons in the PL with two seasons in the CL and five in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City eleven seasons, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City eight apiece (with one and two seasons in the UEFA Cup respectively), Nottingham Forest five (with one UEFA Cup season) and QPR four. So far the only one of these teams to return to the top division is Manchester City.
It’s not all pessimism though – Nottingham Forest were the team that took the longest to climb back out of the third tier, doing so after four years, but QPR spent just three seasons down there while Sheffield Wednesday went up after two seasons and Manchester City and Leicester did it in only one. Leeds will hope for some better luck in their third season in the third tier after two years of play-off heartbreak. At least it can be said that there is a definite split between 6th in Division Two upwards and 7th downwards.
Leeds perhaps are a case apart, and their rise and fall have been well documented in recent years. In spite of the financial controversy surrounding clubs like Southampton and QPR, it could not be claimed that any of the clubs above have been in the same situation as Leeds. However, one thing which does link all these clubs is the lack of coherence in the policy of choosing and keeping managers.
Since October 2006 Norwich have had five managers, Charlton have had four managers in the last three years and this century just about everyone has had a go at St Mary’s, including otherwise successful managers such as Gordon Strachan and Harry Redknapp.
With reference to the other clubs that fell from grace, it was the same situation. From August 1993 to their return to the top flight, Manchester City enjoyed the expertise of nine managers, including the likes of Peter Reid and Steve Coppell. From the sacking of Trevor Francis in May 1995 onwards Sheffield Wednesday have had fourteen managers, including men like David Pleat, Ron Atkinson and Paul Jewell. QPR have had ten managers so far this century.
Between 1896 and November 1994 Leicester City had twenty-six managers; since then they have had twenty more in fifteen years, including Martin O’Neill (1 League Cup, top-half finishes every season and two seasons in Europe). Nottingham Forest have had as many managers in the PL era as they had in the previous 100 years. And Leicester and QPR have had to contend with changes in ownership too.
Now let’s look at Newcastle United. Numerous permutations of ownership in the last decade. Three different chairmen in two years. Four managers this season alone. And as Shay Given remarked when he left the club, the back four has had more changes than the axe that killed Anne Boleyn.
In a sense it could be said that teams generally bounce when they hit the ground; West Brom, Birmingham City and Sunderlandnil are clear examples. The drop is so sudden for some clubs that they just need to drop a little further before they bounce back up. They just need a little longer to sort themselves out before climbing out of their problems.
However, the situation in which Newcastle United find themselves is frightening to say the least, and only a radical change at a fundamental level will enable the club to turn itself round. Either that or a spell in Division Two.
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