After two years in the uncertain and unforgiving world of Conference football, Torquay United came back up out of purgatory last season. Soap stars, artificial pitches and coaches who couldn’t speak the lingo were all in the past, but their first season back almost ended in relegation again after a run of terrible results.
This year, however, looks like it will be different. They are the last club in England to retain a 100% record, with the obvious exception of Chelsea, and they are the only club at this time to win their first four matches. They only conceded their first league goal of the season in the 37th minute of their fourth game. They narrowly lost in the league cup to a team two divisions higher (Reading) after keeping the game at 0-0 until the 121st minute. Tonight they went through to the next round of the JP Trophy after beating a team from a division higher (Bournemouth, 5th in Division One) on penalties after another 0-0 draw.
The fans will be forgiven for being optimistic and good luck to them.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
2011 - not Inter Milan's year
So Rafa Benítez has gone to Inter Milan. That’s Inter without a trophy this year, then.
Sure enough, they started by losing the European Super Cup to Atlético de Madrid (2-0) and drawing their first league game 0-0 away at Bologna. Counting the Italian Super Cup as a major trophy is the sort of straw that Rafa and his followers cling to on a regular basis. A bit like the 2006 Community Shield, the last trophy that Liverpool won.
Benítez took a huge club like Liverpool, highly successful in Europe and famous the world over as a standard to aspire to, and turned it into a series of mediocre teams which could only dream of Champions’ League football this season.
Inter have won the last five Scudetti; last season they won the domestic double and their third European Cup/Champions’ League trophy. This season, with Rafa in charge, they will be lucky to stay in the top three. When he joined Liverpool, Rafa took Houllier's team to CL success; Mourinho's team without Mourinho won't be as lucky for Rafa or for Inter.
Sure enough, they started by losing the European Super Cup to Atlético de Madrid (2-0) and drawing their first league game 0-0 away at Bologna. Counting the Italian Super Cup as a major trophy is the sort of straw that Rafa and his followers cling to on a regular basis. A bit like the 2006 Community Shield, the last trophy that Liverpool won.
Benítez took a huge club like Liverpool, highly successful in Europe and famous the world over as a standard to aspire to, and turned it into a series of mediocre teams which could only dream of Champions’ League football this season.
Inter have won the last five Scudetti; last season they won the domestic double and their third European Cup/Champions’ League trophy. This season, with Rafa in charge, they will be lucky to stay in the top three. When he joined Liverpool, Rafa took Houllier's team to CL success; Mourinho's team without Mourinho won't be as lucky for Rafa or for Inter.
Monday, August 30, 2010
2011 - Spurs' year again
Spurs seem to have a reputation in the British press of being also-rans, and yet they are one of our most successful football clubs. They have won seventeen major trophies, leaving them in fifth place in the list of overall trophy winners (behind Liverpool, United, the Arsenal and Villa). Three of those trophies were won in Europe (in the football sense; geographically they all were), including the first ever UEFA Cup in 1972.
They have won something every six years or so since their first FA Cup triumph in 1901; in the last forty-nine seasons (1951-2010) they have won something every three and a half years. Their last trophy was in 2008 – perhaps they are due another one this season?
Much has been made of the fact that Spurs often win a trophy in a year ending in a one – eight out of seventeen trophies, to be precise. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with at the start of a decade – thirteen of their seventeen trophies came in years one, two and three of each decade. This season ends in a one.
However, statistics of this type are no more than interesting titbits for the football nerd that lives inside all fans. The fact of the matter is that like all clubs Spurs go through cycles. They have been improving steadily for the last few years (in spite of that hiccough at the start of 2008-09), finishing inside the top five three times in the last five seasons and reaching consecutive League Cup finals. Their squad is undergoing fewer and fewer changes, and the players appear to be happy and performing well. And, after the managerial merry-go-round, in Harry Redknapp they have not so much a manager as a magician.
Finally they are playing in the Champions’ League, a crusade which will bring more money into an already well-run club. They are the first club in five years to break the monopoly of the so-called “Big Four” in the CL, and with a weakened Inter side (weaker for the managerial change, if nothing else) and fellow debutants Twente in their group they should progress to the knock-out stages. Even if they didn’t they can be sure of making it into the UEFA Cup and would have an excellent chance of bringing the trophy back to London.
So North London starts the season with increased optimism – but this time it’s not just Arsenal who are hoping to go all the way.
They have won something every six years or so since their first FA Cup triumph in 1901; in the last forty-nine seasons (1951-2010) they have won something every three and a half years. Their last trophy was in 2008 – perhaps they are due another one this season?
Much has been made of the fact that Spurs often win a trophy in a year ending in a one – eight out of seventeen trophies, to be precise. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with at the start of a decade – thirteen of their seventeen trophies came in years one, two and three of each decade. This season ends in a one.
However, statistics of this type are no more than interesting titbits for the football nerd that lives inside all fans. The fact of the matter is that like all clubs Spurs go through cycles. They have been improving steadily for the last few years (in spite of that hiccough at the start of 2008-09), finishing inside the top five three times in the last five seasons and reaching consecutive League Cup finals. Their squad is undergoing fewer and fewer changes, and the players appear to be happy and performing well. And, after the managerial merry-go-round, in Harry Redknapp they have not so much a manager as a magician.
Finally they are playing in the Champions’ League, a crusade which will bring more money into an already well-run club. They are the first club in five years to break the monopoly of the so-called “Big Four” in the CL, and with a weakened Inter side (weaker for the managerial change, if nothing else) and fellow debutants Twente in their group they should progress to the knock-out stages. Even if they didn’t they can be sure of making it into the UEFA Cup and would have an excellent chance of bringing the trophy back to London.
So North London starts the season with increased optimism – but this time it’s not just Arsenal who are hoping to go all the way.
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