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Frank Praverman

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Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley fans, are you too excited to sleep? Are you sweating with trepidation about the upcoming season? If so, we want to hear from you.

Our Fanzine Fanzone is the place to air your rants, raves and ridicule.

If you think your manager is getting it all wrong, believe your goalkeeper should be England's No 1 or have a theory on why your arch rivals should be thrown out of the league, then get in touch and you could be interacting with thousands of people around the globe.

We want biased and ballsy opinions: perhaps you would alter Alex McLeish's tactics. Maybe you have a message for clubs sniffing around Owen Coyle. Or there's a reason why Mick McCarthy has taken his side as far as he can.

To get an idea of what we are after, take a look at what our Liverpool loyalist had to say about his club's ticket pricing policy, why our West Ham aficionado backed Burnley for promotion and how a defeat cheered up our Hull devotee.

We can't offer money in return, just a space to get it off your chest plus the incentive of a bottle of bubbly for the best thread of the month, as chosen by us.

E-mail sport@timesonline.co.uk with a brief description of why you should be your team's Fanzone writer and an example of any previous article you may have written. Don't worry if you have never done this before - send us a short piece now and if we think it's up to the mark, it will be your first post on the Fanzine Fanzone.

Shrewsbury: Serie A's Siena would be no match for us

It is always my aim to come back home with some kind of football memorabilia when I leave these shores. However, as A.C. Siena do not even have a club shop I struggled. The 15,725 temporary seats in the ground suggested the club does not have a major following to increase demand for their ‘famous’ black and white strip. If I asked any shop owners around the small Tuscan city I would always be greeted by the same response. Laughter. But I could leave with a fake Inter Milan shirt if I liked. Yet Siena are actually a Serie A club

This got me thinking. Are Shrewsbury a bigger/better club than the side with the lowest attendance in one of the top leagues in the world? The English football league is so successful and attendances have remained so high despite the economic woes of recent times. In fact, crowds at matches in the Football League topped the 16 million mark for the fifth consecutive season. Shrewsbury have added to this brilliant statistic since their move to the Prostar stadium in 2007 with an average attendance of 5,664 and I would like to think they could give Siena a run for their money on the pitch too.

Bristol City: Hartley signing shows promotion intentions

With the signing of Paul Hartley announced this week, Gary Johnson has signalled his intent to the rest of the Championship that Bristol City are aiming for promotion this season.

Hartley, 32, has joined the club from Celtic, having played 86 games in a central midfield since joining from Hearts. Capped 22 times by Scotland, he regularly featured for Celtic in the Champions League, matching up against the likes of AC Milan and Barcelona in recent years and will add some vital experience to the midfield.

As well as experience, Hartley will offer some much-needed creativity in the centre of midfield. Though he was primarily employed as a defensive midfielder at Celtic, Hartley is renowned for his incisive through balls and deadly set play deliveries - two attributes which City badly missed last season.

Burridge: Back to work

“Bloody dogs,” said Paul Andrews after examining the sole of his shoe. It was 8.15pm and he along with 15 others had slogged their guts out during Burridge's first pre-season training session. Andrews' work wasn't done yet. He dragged a twig up and down the gripped sole of his trainer, trying to dislodge the clay brown soil left by a dog for his size 12 Adidas to sink firmly into.

Burridge gaffer, Pete Lyons, had his players charging up grassy slopes and carrying each other on their backs along the shore of the Solent for almost 2 hours. The water was still. On it sat the car transporter, the Tagus, but that giant orange hulk was unable to draw any attention away from Lee Fielder, who arrived dressed in long-sleeved skin-tight black lycra.

He reacted quickly to the jeers his team-mates greeted him with by saying that the reason they couldn't wear a top like his was because they were fat gits. While this may be true, the main thing preventing anyone else coming to training dressed like a contestant on 'Dancing on Ice' had more to do with fashion sense.

Burridge: eat yourself fitter

68,000 patients needed treatment at the Royal Victoria hospital in Netley during World War 2. 20 more names will need to be added to that list by the time Burridge have finished their first pre-season training session in the grounds where the hospital once stood.

Among them will be Lee Fielder. One of the worst memories of his life was eating a baked bean pizza. “I didn't want to appear rude or ungrateful in front of a mate's parents,” he said about the food Phil Layley's mum served up to him when he visited for tea, “so I ate the whole thing.” When asked if the experience was worse than breaking his leg, Fielder worked a Wrigley's in his heavy jaw and took a moment to think. The hesitation in answering showed just how much he dislikes baked beans. Some people feel the same way about exercise. Quite a few of them play for Burridge.

Everton: loyal to the lucre?

Whilst summer rolls into action many Blue websites have been indulging in Evertonians' favourite warm-weather pastime: Kenwright kvetching. Some anticipate a summer of scraping around for money, missing out on signings, and seeing our chairman fail - once more - to sell the club. I'm actually glad Kenwright has failed to flog our beloved Toffees, and because of that, in my eyes he is the perfect chairman.

If Kenwright is unqualified to run our club, then why is a rich Sheikh more acceptable? Would a moneybags owner shed blue tears when we lost to Chelsea? Would he be able to wax lyrical about  Mikel Arteta, comparing him to Alex Young like Kenwright did? The sad truth is a chairman's success is totally dependent on his money and his ability to attract investment if he has no money himself. I see it in a different way. Yes, Kenwright's theatrical tendencies make for ridiculous sound bites: watch this space, I'm working 24/7 to sell this club, are both embarrassing public belches but the fact that Kenwright hasn't been able to find a buyer is a bonus.

Man United: At least Real Madrid won't hijack this deal

Craig Malpas

A few days ago during this weird mini-heat wave we have been enjoying in Manchester, my girlfriend asked me why Michael Owen got relegated. I thought he was good, she said, with the simplistic view that only bad players get relegated. I contemplated explaining the Newcastle saga but decided to agree that ‘yes, he’s alright’. Then came the line she has been triumphantly reminding me of tonight, she suggested that United should buy him. Yeah, course they should sweetheart – let’s get you out of the sun now you’re talking nonsense.

Is Fergie G-Owen crazy? Maybe, but I like it.

As everybody has known, Michael Owen is available on a free. Initially, clubs like Hull and Stoke were credited with an interest. Nah, he’s too good for them was my suggestion. Then there was talk that Villa and Everton could be in for him. He could be good at Villa or Everton was my initial reaction, with a bit more thinking, though, I began to think that if he still has the magic, he could be really, really good at Villa or Everton. That’s where I left it, Owen to Villa or Everton, that’ll be lovely.

Next thing I know, Sky Sports are showing a top story that the deal to United was ‘imminent’ - I thought I was seeing things. You know the way Peter Kay described garlic bread, I was much the same when digesting the headline. Michael Owen to Manchester United. What?? Crikey, Fergie, we are scraping the barrel here, big man, a bit risky I thought, bit of a gamble signing Owen. Then I thought, is it really a gamble? After all, the outlay is nothing, if the deal goes through we will be signing a player who can offer something to United which we haven’t had for the last few years. When he is fit, sharp and, most importantly, hungry, Owen is a predator. He has the instinct and desire which Van Nistelrooy had. Give either of them the ball in the box and it will probably go in. He also offers something which Rooney and Park are often guilty of lacking: clinical finishing when they only have the keeper to beat. Michael Owen with a point to prove and the desire and stage to prove it would be a cracking signing for any of the top teams on the Premiership.

Reading: Doyle Dances with Wolves

The departure of Kevin Doyle should be really be considered in four main ways; what it means for the player, what it means for the teams involved, what it says about the game in general (forgive the indulgence of elevating it to such levels but you might see my point) and of course what it means to the fans, of which I am one.

For the player it is a mistake. Not for leaving Reading, I can understand that. Kevin Doyle has ambitions to play for as long as possible in the Premier League. He gave it his all to do that with Reading. We couldn't do it this time, so fair play, he left. No, the mistake is not him leaving but who he has left for. Doyle's assumed faith in the idea that Wolves will not only stay up this season but also for a prolonged term is an unnecessary risk for the Irishman. Surely, with the likes of Everton, Fulham, Bolton and Villa sniffing around him to various degrees he could have waited to get a team more likely to a) be playing in Europe at some point in the near future and (more fundamentally) b) will not constantly be looking down the table, hoping for safety rather than up the table looking to Europe?

Now, Wolves are likely to build an attack around him, they are also likely to have made grand protestations about how they have the facilities, the money, the know-how, the history etc to stay up and build "not just for now, but for the coming seasons with you  Kevin being a big part of that."

Fulham: we haven't reached our peak yet

 

Nick MacManus

Fulham’s upcoming season looks to be their biggest challenge yet in the top flight of English Football as they prepare to fight on two fronts, Europe and the Premier League, for the first time since 2002-03.

Let's not forget what an achievement it has been to reach this position. On the April 26, 2008 Fulham looked doomed to relegation. 2-0 down at half-time to Manchester City, the tears were flowing in the away end as the Fulham faithful watched their team seemingly roll over and die. A historic comeback followed and we have not looked back since. It is a crucial time in Fulham’s history and whilst the times ahead will be testing, on the other hand they offer immense opportunities.

Real Madrid: In their defence...

As the ticks on the calendars gather pace, the business district of Madrid continues its normal operations, the third most populous city in the EU continues with daily commitments under the constant watch of the beaming sun, as the Spanish capital treats each day like the previous.

But swollen in the middle is the hub of football sovereignty, the most emblematic stadium in Europe according to its creators. The Santiago Bernabeu it is named, and its occupation? Starting a revolution that is proving impossible to defy.

Galacticos II: The Sequel is avalanching towards climax, rampaging through the football hemisphere with devastating effects. The brain behind the invasion is Florentino Perez Rodriguez, arguably the biggest Galactico of all and the brunt of European criticism, an opinion that has revisited due to the smashing of two transfer records in less than a week.

The acquisitions of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, from AC Milan and Manchester United respectively, highlight the colossal intent of a side determined to resurrect the past and produce the most formidable team on earth.

Everton: sharing with the enemy

 

Ed Bottomley

Moving home was always going to be an extremely testy subject. The very idea of it swills around our mouths until we spit it out like particularly disgusted wine-tasters.

It looks like we have three options with regards to our footballing home. First option, which should Kirkby go belly up will become even more viable, is to stay at Goodison, attempting to remodel our beautiful and historic stadium. For those who hate change (and as an Evertonian, force-fed past glory but starved of modern day success, how can we be anything BUT traditionalists) this looks like the least painful option. We stay in our beloved home and try and redevelop not a seismic shift, but a comfortable makeover for the Old Lady.

Bristol City: it's time to address lack of midfield flair

If Bristol City are to stand a genuine chance of promotion this season then they need to bring in at least two quality attacking midfielders.

City have consistently struggled to score goals in the past two seasons, despite breaking the club's transfer record with the £2.25m signing of striker Nicky Maynard (above) last summer. City scored just 54 league goals during the 2008-09 season,  but our goal-scoring crisis is not however a failure of bad strikers, its roots are founded in the lack of creativity, flair and service from the midfield.

With two impressive Championship finishes (4th and 10th) since promotion from League One, City have shown that they are more than adequately equipped for life in the second tier of English football but have struggled to make much of an impact on the scoring charts.

Burridge: is it because I'm ginger?

 

Emerson Marks

Paul Dyke's ginger hair got Burridge on national TV in 2007. He wrote 933 cross words in a letter to the Southern Daily Echo, asking what right referee, Mark Rayment, had in using his hair colour as means to verbally abuse him. Rayment had answered Dyke's latest offside appeal by saying, “oi ginger, shut up,” during the second half of Burridge's bad tempered 4-2 defeat at Bishopstoke on 23rd December 2006. Dyke thought he was being discriminated against because of his hair colour and thought that he had an argument. His team mates agreed. Unfortunately for Dyke they agreed with the referee.

Football Supporters' Federation: Fans Parliament provides perfect away trip

How does a weekend on the beer in Newcastle with loads of football banter sound to you? Is that a yes? Well, read on…

Summer’s fast approaching and along with two weeks of sea, sand, and sangria it also means the Football Supporters’ Federation’s (FSF) Fans’ Parliament which, this year, takes place in Newcastle on Saturday, June 2o.

Fans' Parliament is the FSF's annual get together where we debate the big issues of the day – it’s entirely free of charge and open to everyone. Come and see what we're about.

The FSF represents more than 142,000 football fans throughout England and Wales – we lead the campaign against Game 39 and also campaign on fans’ rights, ticket prices, safe standing, and much, much more. Every year we come together to talk about the big issues affecting OUR game, and this year we’ve got plenty of tasty ideas to make a real weekend of it too.

As well as a top speaker addressing the key issues in today’s game we’ll have breakout groups looking into club governance and ownership, policing and stewarding, safe standing, ticket prices and diversity – all will have expert speakers too and every fan will also get the chance to have their say. Registration is required to attend Fans Parliament. Register today.

Man United; Ronaldo’s step down will see Rooney step up……

 

So, there we have it. Barring a highly unlikely U-turn, Ronaldo’s gone and United are searching for a new ‘number 7’ and a new best player.
 
When I initially heard the news that United had accepted an £80million bid for Ronaldo I was gutted. There’s no hiding it, as much as his histrionics annoy me, I secretly loved the fact we had a player that struck fear in to every team we played. After years and years of having great players, we finally had somebody who was recognised as the greatest player in the world.

After the cursing of Madrid, Ronaldo and my colleague who told me the news, I began to think that the world beater I was mourning for was what we’d had last season. This season, Ronaldo has either been below par or he has shown everybody that the previous two seasons were the best he could offer and, hopefully now, the best he will ever offer. It got me thinking, is £80million a cracking deal for a player whose heart has lay in Spain for at least 12 months? For a player who scored 18 league goals last year? For a player who had no more than 3 or 4 ‘world player of the year’ type performances last year? Answer no to any of those and you could lie as well as Ronaldo did when he claimed he would be at Old Trafford next year. For 80 million big ones, I think Perez might have been had - break your heart that wouldn’t it. Pellegrini, Perez or whoever picks the team won’t ever get a better two seasons out of him than United got between 2006 and 2008.
 

Man Utd: At last an end to the United saga

Player moves from one club to another shock horror. It happens all the time, so why is there so much fuss about Ronaldo? Don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful player and replacing his goals will be hard, but is it really such a big deal? In my opinion no.
 
The transfer has created such big headlines for several reasons. Firstly, it involves clubs with such huge global names. Secondly, it involves a player who is a celebrity as well as a footballer and who courts publicity and contraversy wherever he goes. Thirdly, the public want to read about Ronaldo because they either love or hate him.

Shrewsbury: 2010 will be our year

Paul Simpson did not hang around in the wake of the play-off final defeat, releasing seven players, including the useless Nick Chadwick. There were ripples of discontent when the declining Darren Moss kept a reliable Ben Herd out of the right back position last season and genuine surprise that Simpson chose to release the crowd favourite this summer.

However, the manager has been unable to stop John McMahon leaving the club after three positive years of service. Town will now be searching for a new assistant manager as McMahon joins Benitez as head reserve-team coach at Anfield.

Reading: an open letter to Brendan Rogers

 

Dear Brendan,

You don’t know me, but I used to offer my advice to your illustrious predecessor Sir Steve of Coppell. Following your ascendancy to the crown, I thought I would do the same for you.

Firstly I must congratulate you. You were the better choice than the slightly untrustworthy Pardew; the fresher choice than a Curbishley or a Boothroyd; and while Darren Ferguson would have been interesting, you have that crucial Reading connection that makes you the rightful successor.

The beginning of any reign is important, potentially defining our progress, our style and our prospects for certainly the medium and possibly the longer term. So here are my thoughts on what you have to do.

Manchester United: Paul Scholes - the legend's time is up

I wrote an article in January comparing the virtues and careers of, in my opinion, the two greatest midfielders in Premier League history. Whilst one has recently been voted the Football Writers Player of the Year, the other is unceremoniously winding down his illustrious career. The folks in question go by the names of Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard.

Unfortunately, it now appears to me that the Scholes which Utd fans, and probably many neutrals, know and love has gone, for good.

Burridge: A plea to Joe Hart

Emerson Marks

Gareth Barry insists that the reasons behind his £12 million move from Aston Villa to Manchester City are not motivated solely by money. If Burridge could persuade Joe Hart, City's second choice goalkeeper, to swap the Premier for the Southampton League, in order to fill their goalkeeping vacancy, his reasons for doing so would have nothing to do with money either.

The only thing standing between the England international and 22 guaranteed games for Burridge is a £50 signing on fee payable to the club. While this may be 11 less appearances than he made for City last season, it's likely to be a lot more than he'll play if he stays put at Eastlands next year. With Shay Given cemented as City's first choice to play in goal, how many appearances is Hart going to make? 10? Maybe 15 at a push? He has no choice but to play elsewhere for a club who will play him week in week out. A secure club with no financial noose around their neck.

Everton: another great season despite club's hobbled ambition

This has been a curious season, pebble-dashed with injuries and splattered with disappointment, but nevertheless it leaves most Evertonians yet again bursting with pride.

The FA Cup Final was the summit of our hobbled ambition, with Phil Jagielka our player of the season and just under six foot of injured defensive brilliance - impotently witnessing his team's trophy dreams slip six feet deep. Mikel Arteta also looked pained being watching from the sidelines, and there is no sight more unnatural than a player walking the turf after the game in a suit.

It was always going to be tough for us, a team so comfortable in the guise of plucky outsiders, shedding their underdog skin after seconds when Louis Saha scored. The brittle Frenchman came out in the heat and pressure of Wembley with a new found trick up his sleeve - fitness and he started as if he was wearing tungsten tipped boots.

Liverpool: Loyal Supporters? Casualties of Greed

This morning the new Liverpool Commercial Director, Ian Ayre, sent a letter out to all 10,000 Liverpool fans that have signed up to the Priority Ticket Scheme (PTS) informing them that the scheme is to be disbanded for next season. This is a scheme that costs each fan £55 each year to join for the "privilege" of having access to 5,000 tickets for each game at Anfield. In theory, giving each PTS member a 50% chance of a ticket for each game.

This scheme has been in place for a number of years now, with the reasons given for disbanding as being:

1. 25% of the PTS membership didn't purchase a single ticket last season
2. 50% of the PTS membership purchased tickets for 3 games or less last season

What he failed to mention in his letter or consider in his decision making, is that means 5,000 of the membership attended 3 games or less; therefore the remaining 5,000 must be purchasing the 5,000 tickets every single week. Those 5,000 fans have been turning up every week for years for midweek games against Fulham and Portsmouth, as well as the bigger and more glamorous fixtures.

Their reward for that loyalty?

Liverpool: Gareth Barry - money or medals?

It feels strange writing this when Gareth Barry was never a Liverpool player; but the chants from the Stretford End of "you scouse b******" when he turned out for Aston Villa at Old Trafford last season indicate that Gareth Barry was all but a Liverpool player in waiting. Until his head was turned by the glistening coins of Man City.

I'm neither upset, elated, bitter, disappointed nor pleased that Gareth Barry will not be a Liverpool player next season. He is a player I rate and feel would have improved the squad, but if he is the sort of player motivated by his bank balance rather than a desire for success then we may have dodged a bullet in losing out on his signature.

Hull City: It was a marathon, not a sprint

I realise I'm a little late with the news here but I've only just finished celebrating so this is the first chance I've had to say - WE ARE STAYING UP!

Yes, the Tigers have done it - secured a second season in the top flight. Okay, it might have been a close-run thing (and then some), and come the climax of the season you couldn't get an American Express card between the alternate buttocks of success and failure, so tightly squeezed together were they - but whichever way you slice it, the end most definitely justified the means.

There's little point in becoming the 78th writer to ruminate on the winding path City's season took - you already know our list of scalps; you already know we were flying high before Christmas; you already know that things took a turn for the worse in 2009. You don't need me to spell all that out, yet again.

In fact, there's very little I can say that hasn't already been said, but I'll give it a go...

Everton: Moyes and his Insatiable Workaholics

 

All Evertonians love history, immersing ourselves in our glorious past  at every opportunity. From the relentless goals of Dixie Dean, the mysterious and porcelain Alex Young, firing off magic bullets from Goodison's grassy knolls, to the modern day and Yakubu, a powerhouse who doesn't so much shoot the ball as pistol-whip it through goalkeepers. But history will be a mere bystander at Wembley on Saturday.

Forever In Our Shadow

"Are you watching Merseyside" the assembled United masses sang before the game in Rome last night. Yes, we are. And how we enjoyed it.

The United fan base have this unhealthy obsession with Liverpool, with everything they do being measured against our own achievements. They cannot play a single game without their fans singing about Liverpool. Everything they strive for exists at the other end of the M62. The odd blog from myself does not constitute hypocrisy on that front. We go to the game to support our own side and very rarely sing about others unless we happen to be playing them. The hatred and jealousy United fans have for us doesn't allow them to do that.

After living in our shadow for so long, they can now see the sun blazing down just a few steps away. Just a couple more strides and they'll walk from that shadow and cast one of their own as the most successful club in the land. They can see the light, and last night missed a huge opportunity to take another huge step away from that darkness.

Man United; Worthy losers.

For all those people that hate United then please, feel free to enjoy yourselves today, read on and bask in our magnanimous failure. United fans and, in particular, Sir Alex Ferguson are often much maligned and mocked for their tunnel vision and inability to accept defeat gracefully. For instance, if I agreed with Fergie and said we were the better side when we got stuffed by Liverpool, you would get my point. Just like when Liverpool took us apart at Old Trafford, last night we were woefully short of the quality needed to become European Champions.

Hopefully, I am a little different to many of the annoying, arrogant and blinkered United fans which plague the planet. Last night, I have to admit that we were out thought, out played and most certainly out classed.

End Of Season Review

The rollercoaster that was the 2008/09 season has now passed. A season of "what if's" and "what might have beens" to look back on for years to come; hopefully with smiles at the season of where it all began as we pick up yet another league title, and not with regret at an opportunity missed as the barren period prolongs.

We can look back on this season either way, depending on whether your glass is half full or half empty, and both opinions are just as valid as each other. There's no doubt whatsoever that this season is "one that got away" and could so easily have resulted in us being champions. But that's football; the table doesn't lie. It didn't lie throughout the 70's and 80's when we dominated and it doesn't lie now when we finish a gallant second. We didn't have the squad to cope with injuries to key players, and as a result, we weren't good enough over the course of the season.

But what this season has been is a season of vast progression. Where on Benitez' arrival we were a side 37 points behind the champions Chelsea, we are now a side that have finished ahead of Chelsea and within touching distance of the current champions Man Utd. That progression has been evident year on year, as much in footballing prowess and stature than just in league position alone. We were huge underdogs in the major competitions as little as 4 years ago, but now see anything less than the semi finals of the European Cup and a serious assault on the league as a relative failure. If that's not progression then what is? One look at the team sheets from then and now highlights everything.

How good is Fernando Torres?

This weekend Fernando Torres opened the scoring against Tottenham with a header John Toshack would have been proud of, and with it, scored his 50th goal for the club on only his 84th appearance; reaching that landmark in less games than the like of Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen managed. The great Roger Hunt netting his first 50 goals in 79 games being the only Liverpool player to reach that landmark before him. So much for "foreigners" needing time to bed in and adapt to the pace of the English game.

But just how good is Fernando Torres?

Can strikers be measured only by goals scored, or is their influence on the shape of the side, assists provided or off the ball work as crucial when considering their importance to a side, or deciding their ranking among the world's best?

Man United; Time for Ronaldo to deliver!

As the title to my blog suggests, Wednesday night is the time for Ronaldo to deliver. You may think I am a little strange to suggest that the current World Footballer of the year needs to deliver as, after all, he destroyed every competition put in front of him last year and he has done pretty nicely this term too. The reason I suggest he needs to deliver is two fold. For us and for himself.

Burridge Indigestibles: What's in a name?

Emerson Marks asks if you've ever yearned that your team had a more interesting and exotic name?

Last season's Southampton league table makes terrible reading. Not just because Burridge finished one place above the relegation zone, but because the division's stacked full of teams with exceedingly dull names. With the notable exception of Hythe Aztecs, looking through the names of the 12 sides is about as exciting as reading the ingredients of a bottle of shampoo. At least they have some oddly named things in it, like methylchloroisothiazolinone and Isobutylparaben, which sound like they'd be better suited to playing Shakhtar Donetsk and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the Ukranian premier League, rather than helping to wash my hair. Some might think the name, Aztecs, is pushing it, but Hythe is on the other side of the water, and let me assure you that their inhabitants are most certainly a different ethnic group. One who speak in a primitive dialect and enjoy fighting in bars populated chiefly by men whose very short hair is dominated by an over abundance of wet look gel.

Hull City: Once more unto the breach

So.

This is it.

The end of Hull City's first ever season in the top flight, is nigh. Some might say that it's been a season of highs and lows, and while it's hard to disagree with that, I don't think it's quite that simple. There are undoubtedly some days that none of us will strive particularly hard to remember for long - Wigan at home, Man City away, Sunderland home - but for us true City fans, this season has been one long, beaming smile. Think of supporting football as one big party. We've been quietly stood off to one side grinning like closet serial killers as fans of other teams stroll past holding designer drinks and wondering what on earth the weird kids in the corner are looking at them in that disquieting way for.

What that odd look really means is this - "WE'VE WAITED OVER 100 YEARS FOR THIS... I CAN ASSURE YOU, WE'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT IF IT KILLS US."

And how we have.

West Ham: come on the claret and blues

 

With West Ham having daintily avoided qualifying for the Europop Cup and settled into a midtable position, you might think our season is as good as over. But there’s one more game – some would say the biggest of the season – that all of us will be looking forward to: the claret and blues of Burnley versus Sheffield United.

Arsenal: Gallas' Silence Speaks Volumes

You’d have thought that rather than simple knee ligament damage, William Gallas was recovering from tongue surgery; such has been the defeaning silence from the ex-Arsenal skipper.  Gallas was too easy a target for hostile Arsenal fans at the end of the 07/08 season and the start of the 08/09 season.  While the outburst that resulted in the loss of the captaincy was untimely and should have remained in house, the words that he spoke were not exactly far from the truth.  Gallas’ cry for the team to be “warriors” is a plea that I’m sure resonates with every Arsenal fan. 

Spurs : TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR D.A.

After being much maligned, the Tottenham defence completed a Premier League season with only 10 goals conceded in their 19 home matches to establish a new club record.

This beat the previous best of 16 and also set a new record low number of goals let in during a league season, beating the 11 of 1919-1920, albeit that was from 21 home matches.

So, all those who labelled Heruelho Gomes a clown and the Tottenham back four who were leaking goals, but not many more than we scored, have provided the basis for Harry Redknapp's revival of the club from the bottom of the table to Europa League challengers.

With Fulham two points ahead with a game to go, Everton visit the Cottage, while Spurs travel in the opposite direction to play Liverpool.  A poor record at Anfield doesn't hold much hope of a result that will see Tottenham complete a double over the Reds, having been only one of two sides to defeat them this season, but then you never know with Spurs.  If the team don't succeed in gaining European football, then it will allow us to conentrate on the league next season.

This win over Manchester City was an odd one.  Spurs controlled the first half and then allowed City to get back into the match in the second half, before getting a fortuitous decision that swung the game in Tottenham's favour.

At times, it looked like a meaningless end of season game, with both sets of players enjoying the sun rather than sweating on getting into Europe.  The pressure to gain access to the Europa League was more acute for City because of their wealth burning a hole in the pockets of the money men behind them.  Unfortunately, that will have to remain in the bank for a little while, as it will be more difficult to attract the top players without the lure of Europe.  And attractive players are what City need, as I imagine the likes of Dunne, Caicedo and Richards are not the sort of players that the owners see as leading the club to the Champions League.

Tottenham got a good goal when Huddlestone played in a fine ball for Defoe to back-heel through his own legs to notch the opener.  City rode their luck with Keane missing two good chances and King and Defoe forcing Given into sharp saves.  It was only when Bojinov came on that City looked threatening and he hooked a shot past Gomes for the first goal conceded in eight games for Spurs to grab a City equaliser.

When Richards clumsily fell over on loan United forward Fraizer Campbell, as Defoe shot on goal, it was a shock when Tottenham actually benefitted from a referee's decision for a change.  In truth, Richards had been all over Tottenham's players for much of the game, with few free-kicks given to the home side for it, thus it was all the more surprising that Halsey pointed to the spot.  It was touch and go as to whether Tottenham would score, with Robbie Keane taking the penalty against his Republic of Ireland team-mate Shay Given, but he managed to send the keeper the wrong way and Spurs had the lead again.

It could have changed near the end, when Kompany (who partners Dunne in a gents outfitters ... sorry defence) had a header heading for goal, until Benjani changed the direction and headed it over the bar.

Good defending or a bit more luck ?  Whichever way it was, Tottenham's good luck or good defending (following a run of four 1-0s to the Tottenham !!), the rise has gone onwards and upwards and maybe it might just continue.

Wyart Lane
My Eyes Have Seen The Glory
www.mehstg.com

Fandom and Terrace Culture

Do we all look back on the football of yesteryear with rose tinted spectacles, when it's nostalgia more than anything else that keeps us pining for the past? Was everything really so much better in the pre-Premiership era; or do we just resist change in the same way your grandparents refuse to accept "it's not like in our day" or "they don't make them like they used to" when discussing anything from clothing to footballers.

Those of us that do hark back to days gone by can be accused of not being able to see the wood for the trees. We now have a Permiership that plays hosts to 4 of the best 5 sides in Europe, with the best players on the planet now plying their trade in our league. Whereas the top dogs of the 80's saw Italian football as the pinnacle; with the creme of the time nearly all seeking a transfer to the land of the lira, the top brass of today's game all head for these shores in search of financial happiness. The money our league now generates has drawn them here; resulting in the best players in the world playing for the best teams in the world right in front of our very eyes. Was it really so much better back then?

For me, it's not just about the quality of the football on display, nor the sightlines and size of the seat I'm now provided in today's ultra-modern stadia. Those developments are a god send for the spectator; but for the supporter they are a hinderance. The move away from supporting to spectating is the one change in the game I resent the most. Several decades of cleansing by the authorities in a move to stamp out hooliganism and tribal fandom have achieved sanitisation of the game and shut out the next generation of supporters. The moves that have taken place within our game have rendered fandom an endangered species.

Post-Heysel and Hillsborough, it was obvious changes needed to be made to our game. Football was being played in crumbling stadiums and all fans treated like animals. Thatcher and her army set out to change the face of English football; an evolution still gathering pace today despite having carried out all the essential works. This is where it's all going wrong.

As a child going to the game in the late 80's and early 90's, I would be taken on The Kop by my dad. We would arrive a few hours before kick off, queue up and pay into the ground for a relatively affordable amount. My dad was earning a modest wage but could still afford to take me to the game with him each week. I never felt threatened or frightened despite standing within a mass of around 16,000 people. I used to sit on the crush barriers along with many other kids and served my time growing up on The Kop.

Liverpool Football Club meant everything to me, and each week I'd go and mix with the very people that make the club what it is. The fans.

Our support had it's own identity and character. Anfield had 4 stands all different to each other. We sang songs no other team did and always tried to be different. Plenty of other clubs did the same and nearly all held some sort of character and uniqueness about them. Every ground in the country was different and the support within those grounds was reflective of the area and the people of that region. Individuality and tribal pride; which doesn't automatically mean hooliganism.

Fast forward to the here and now, and it saddens me to see these new build grounds popping up all over the country. It's as if the same company designs the lot; merely changing the colour of the seats and installing the same identikit stadiums up and down the country. These grounds have no character and nothing that sets them apart from the rest.

The fans now filling these grounds are also reflective of their designs. Identikit fans only wearing different colour shirts. Singing the same songs as every other side, just replacing the name of the club they support. They dress the same, they act the same and they have fallen for the great whitewash of falling in line; doing exactly as the authorities want them to. The clubs play loud music over the PA for them to dance and sing along to and they lap it up. The same happens in countless grounds in all divisions, and takes away the opportunity for each group of fans to impose their own characters and cultures on the club.

Add those changes to the difficulty kids have in affording tickets to watch their clubs these days. The next generation are not growing up as regular match goers that pick up and carry the cultures of their forefathers. The next generation do not have the opportunity to become engrained in a football culture specific to their own club and maintain those terrace trends. They have been forced out of our grounds and have become Sky supporters. Their football supporting cultures are now taken from programmes such as Soccer AM and other Sky Sports productions. The same message and culture beamed out to football fans nationwide. Is it any wonder the identikit craze is rife?

It frightens me to think of football in 20-30 years time, when those supporters that do still carry the flame for their clubs cultures and traditions begin to hang up their match going boots. Individuality will be lost forever; with each and every ground populated by identikit fans. Football will be dead.

The game will continue, probably generating more money than ever before, but the passion and the terrace culture that I fell in love with is in danger of disappearing forever. I didn't just fall in love with the green grass, the pace and trickery of John Barnes and clinical finishing of Ian Rush. I didn't just fall in love with the Liverbird and the red shirt, or merely choose to support Liverpool as they were the best side around. I had no choice. I was taken to the game from an early age by my dad, just like he had been by his dad, and he by his dad before. I was brought up engrained in that culture and fell in love with the The Kop just as much as I fell in love with the club. I looked forward to going to the game for the atmosphere and the people as much as looked forward to the actual football.

It saddens me that my young lad might never experience that. I'll try my best; but deep down I know that it's gone forever. I can't wait to see his face when he first enters Anfield and his eyes catch hold of the greenest grass he'll ever see. I can't wait to see his smile as he stands for You'll Never Walk Alone for the very first time. But I'll be saddened when I look around the stand and realise that he'll never experience what I did, and he'll never fully understand why I fell so in love with this club and the game.

So while successfully stamping out large scale hooliganism and bringing the best players to these shores, the changes made over the past two decades have all but killed the future of fandom and terrace culture.

The authorites have used the events of Hillsborough; not just to make football a safer place for us all, but to price out and exlude the very people that made the game what it is. We all know change was needed, and the death trap stadiums of yesterday had to be replaced; but look to Germany where they now watch their football in the most modern and safe stadiums in world football. They have the highest attendance figures for any league in Europe. The tickets are affordable and accessable to all, and as a result their safe standing areas are populated by the young and old, male and female, and allowing the next generation to bloom and carry the flag for their club's future.

The atmospheres generated in those stadiums are the best in Europe. Fandom and terrace culture across Germany is at an all time high, while all the time our own is in rapid decline.

I'd swap the footballing super power this country has now become in an instant, if we could replicate what Germany have done with their football. It's not just about generating the most money for the fat cats and the players. Football is not just about winning at all costs. It's about enjoyment, identity and belonging for me as much as any trophy.

Those German supporters are still seeing their club's win leagues and domestic trophies each season. They are no longer European heavyweights, and that could be attributed to the relative lack of money within their game in comparison to ours; but is a sacrifice of European success for a handful of clubs worth it if it improves the match going experience and enjoyment of an entire nation? Without doubt.

So while millions of German fans are watching their football each weekend with smiles on their faces, and taking their kids along to become a part of their clubs; our children are sat at home watching on the TV as the rich get richer and the suits get to applaud another success on the field, latching onto a club they probably had no interest in 15 years ago, and certainly don't understand what made the club so glamourous and appealing in the first place. The odd European trophy is the only difference between the success of our clubs and the likes of Bayern Munich.

If the price of that success is excluding the next generation of fans and killing fandom for good; then I'd rather not have it.

Paul Jones

If you tolerate this, then your children will be next...

The sun glistened quietly in the darkened background of the Hampshire evening sky, a few specs of rain slowly developed a puddle on the roof of the Fratton End. Hoards of blue and gold fans proudly applauded their victorious team, not just in battle but in their Premier League survival. Despite ending the season with a meaningless home game, they managed to show their gratitude to the loyal support they have received through out a season of relative turmoil.

In contrast stood eleven dejected stripes, hopefully feeling red with embarrassment and white with sickening guilt. But it is not the first time they have struck this pose, it seems to be a recurring trend in a campaign filled with promise, but badly let down by a losing mentality and a lack of endeavour. Ironically these two missing pieces of the jigsaw are the two things that any player can possess, regardless of their skill level, making last nights lengthy journey to the south coast another worthless excursion as a Sunderland fan.

Did The Best Side Win The League?

In a word. No.
 
Now before you all leap up out of your Fred the Red armchairs with "the table doesn't lie" and "19 years" type sour grape jibes; let me answer another question.
 
Did the best squad win the league? Yes.
 
This season, we've beaten United 6-2 on aggregate and looked by far the better side in both of those games. We've beaten Chelsea home and away and drawn twice against Arsenal. We've lost only twice all season, and both of those defeats were give aways. Tottenham away was one of our best performances of the season, we should have been out of sight after an hour, yet somehow threw it all away in the last 10 minutes. Middlesbrough away is best just forgotten, but is probably the only time this season when I can say we left the field as second best on the day.
 
The difference between the United side that won the league and the Liverpool side that just failed? Options on the bench due to a far superior squad. Whereas Ferguson can bring on Tevez to change a game or another clutch of £20m players, we have to rely on David N'gog or the disappointing Ryan Babel. And before you point to the January departure of Robbie Keane to limiting those options; he was awful. N'gog is still a better option up front than Robbie Keane ever was. He was that bad.
 
Watching Match of The Day 2 last night, Martin Keown and Lee Dixon had me rubbing my eyes in disbelief. They'd put together their combined Liverpool and United sides; which went as follows:
 
...........................Van Der Sar........................
O'Shea.........Ferdinand.........Vidic.............Evra
....................Carrick........Fletcher....................
......Ronaldo...........Gerrard............Rooney.......
..........................Torres...................................
 
The only difference between the sides Keown and Dixon chose being Mascherano coming in for Fletcher. Both of them chose Van Der Sar, O'Shea and Carrick. Where do I start with that? O'Shea isn't even the best right back at United! He's third choice and slots in there in the absence of the little Brazilian kid and Gary "gorgeous" Neville. Yet those two clowns have him down in their best elevens. Ha.
 
Van Der Sar ahead of Pepe Reina? It's not even a contest. Carrick and Fletcher ahead of Alonso and Mascherano? HA HA HA.
 
The rest however I can agree with.
 
Ferdinand and Vidic are the best defensive partnership in this league by some distance, if not Europe. Evra is streets ahead of Aurelio, Insua or Dossena for the left back position. The fact we have 3 left backs and none of them being able to hold down the position as their own says it all. I don't think anyone could argue with the front four of Ronaldo, Gerrard, Rooney and Torres.
 
A more realistic Best Eleven:
 
................................Reina.............................
Arbeloa.........Ferdinand.........Vidic.............Evra
.................Mascherano......Alonso....................
......Ronaldo...........Gerrard............Rooney.......
..........................Torres...................................
 
Pitting our best 11 against the best 11 of United then I'd fancy us to come out on top more often than not; the two fixtures this season have proven that to be the case. But asking us to challenge them over the course of a 38 game season and expect to come out on top is slightly different; as the league table seems to indicate.
 
United have a squad littered with £17m - £30m players like Anderson, Nani and Berbatov that are not automatic first choice picks. They spent £17m on two kids from Red Star Belgrade in January that have yet to challenge for a place in the side and laid out £10m just to have Tevez on loan for two years. That is the luxury they have, and why their squad is far superior to ours. They've been building that squad for years; Ferguson replenishing his pool of players every year, merely adding quality to an already established top class side. Comparing the amounts spent by Ferguson and Benitez over a 5 year period is flawed for that reason. Benitez has had to start from scratch, Ferguson has just been topping up his squad; yet they've still spent very similar amounts.
 
We spend £20m on Torres, £10m on Alonso, £10m on Kuyt and £18m on Mascherano and they have to be first team regulars. Martin Skrtel was purchased last January for £7.6m; the most we've ever spent on a defender. We can't go out and spend £30m on a Rio Ferdinand.
 
All the above leads to United having a squad with far greater depth than the one assembled thus far by Rafael Benitez; but allow Benitez another couple of years of "topping up" this current squad with quality instead of quantity, and that could soon change everything. The rebuilding process is complete. It's fine tuning needed from here on in.
 
This season could be said to have hinged on a couple of major decisions that maybe the difference between winning the league and not; small details that could have changed everything. Disallowed goals here, poor decisions there and the general rub of the green. But one area with no argument that proved the difference between winning the league and not; the size and quality of the respective squads.
 
One to eleven we're pretty evenly matched. Twelve to twenty we lack the quality they have at their disposal. That is the difference.
 
Address that over the summer with a couple of quality additions to the squad, and next season could be a little different than looking back on dropped points and poor decisions here and there that cost us the league.
 
Paul Jones

Football Fans or Terrorists?

The policing of football fans in this country has long been a thorn in my side, with tactics deployed sometimes more akin to policing aggressive political rallies or clamp downs on terrorism suspects. Are we searched so thoroughly at turnstiles in case we dare to enter a football stadium with the top still attached to our plastic bottles? Or to stop us posing a huge threat to public order if we ever manage to smuggle a flagpole or some perfume into the stadium? I witnessed a women having her perfume confiscated at The Hawthorns on Saturday when her handbag was searched on entry. Seriously. Are we entering a football stadium here or boarding an aircraft under all these new anti-terrorism laws?
 
What was she going to do with that bottle of perfume? Lean over the divide between fans and spray somebody in the face? Use it as a missle and launch it into the West Brom fans? If that is the case, then why not take my car keys off me, or my shoes? I could use either of those as a missile as well. Taking perfume off a women; madness.
 
In the 20 years since Hillsborough, the policing of football fans has failed to change in line with the ongoing evolution of the game, the change in the demographic of the crowds and the complete behavioural changes from football fans within our stadia. We are constantly policed as if on the verge of a riot, when nothing could be further from the truth. A Sunday afternoon in West Bromwich provides a perfect example of over policing a situation.
 
I drove down to the Black County with 3 friends, arriving just before 12pm and parking up a short walk from the stadium, in a location I'd parked at during previous visits to the stadium. During our search for a pre-game drink, there was a sign on the road directing "away supporters" to the stadium. We walked through the open gate and up towards the ground, as it would bring us out at the other side of the stadium and hopefully closer to a few welcoming pubs. At the top of the hill we were met by 30 or more officers stood in two banks, blocking entrance to the turnstiles. They allowed us to just walk through without so much as a smile or acknowledging we existed. This was a full 90 minutes before kick off and with hardly a soul mingling about around the ground. Hardly a welcoming reception.
 
We then circled the ground still pursuing our search for refreshments, before eventually setting for a quick pint outside The Royal Oak. We left there at 1pm and headed back towards the ground, entering in the same direction as previously and up that "hill". On arrival at the summit, we were again met by the same two banks of police officers and an assortment of stewards. All stood stern faced and refusing to engage in banter. The mood was good natured, and when asked why we were being held, I was told it was to allow congestion at the turnstiles to release. Fair enough.
 
Fans approaching from the other side of the stadium however were continually joining the queues at the turnstiles while we were held back. I arrived at this blockade just before 1.10pm, some 20 minutes before kick off, with the turnstiles no more than 50 yards in front of me, giving myself what I thought to be plenty of time to be at my seat for kick off. I didn't gain entry to the stadium until just before 1.40pm, some 10 minutes after kick off. All because of the policy in holding fans back in this entry, and carrying out time consuming and vigorous searches to everybody entering the stadium. Women's handbags being searched from top to bottom, lads being padded down for a good 20 seconds each; resulting in the queues taking an age to disperse.
 
As I approached the turnstile, I tried to joke with the steward carrying out the searches in my queue. "Your little mate's going a little faster than you" and nodding to the steward next to him, as a little plea for him to speed up a little with his body patting. "I couldn't give a f**k mate" was his reply. Charming.
 
The mood was very relaxed within our support, mainly due to the title being taken out of our grasp the day before; but imagine we were still in with a shout of the title, and were being held for around half an hour outside the turnstiles while the game has kicked off? I don't think the atmosphere would have been quite as pleasant, and the policing tactics in place would have instigated an atmosphere of tension and anger out of nothing. Why are we searched and policed in the way in which you'd expect terrorist suspects to be monitored? What "intelligence" or "evidence" do they have to justify this pointless and hugely expensive exercise?
 
So much emphasis is now put on football being a family game and welcoming to women and children. If that is the case, then the "welcoming committes" we so often come across need to cater for those people. If you want to treat us all like potential hooligans then fine; but forget about pushing this "family game" nonsense while continuing to do so. Aggressive stewarding and policing is hardly conducive to promoting a family friendly atmosphere is it?
 
During the game a few dozen officers stood between the two sets of fans. Everyone watching on the television will have seen them. There was good natured banter between the two sets of fans and no sign of any animosity; yet the police remained in position, with a further 40 or so officers in the corner separating our end from the stand to our right. Anyone would think this was Roma v Lazio or River Plate v Boca Juniors; not West Brom v Liverpool.
 
At the end of the game, with West Brom's relegation about to be confirmed, two banks of police officers walked out in front of the away section. On the final whistle one bank stepped forward and took position level with the 6 yard box, and held that position for the few minutes I remained in the ground.
 
There was no pitch invasion. There was no hostility, and our fans were applauding the home fans on their support and it was all good natured. Yet still those two banks of police remained in position. Quite what justified that policy I've no idea; but whoever it was should be answerable to their seniors for the justification of it all and the cost of the entire operation.
 
Never mind the latest scandal of the politicians and their expense claims "stealing" from the taxpayer. Yesterday's policing costs are a far bigger waste of taxpayers money. Complete police overkill in a completely unwarranted situation. Yet nothing is ever questioned. Why?
 
Why should football games be policed at huge expense when there is no need? Everybody knows which games require a large police presence. That presence is needed outside of the ground following the "risk groups" attached to each club. That action can be justified in preventing disorder, and every man and his dog can see why the officers will keep an eye on such groups. But how do they justify needing almost 100 officers inside the ground acting as a segregation barrier between West Brom and Liverpool fans?
 
There was a similar incident at the recent Millwall v Leeds fixture. 
 
Now this game is no love in, far from it; but Leeds fans were only allocated 1,000 tickets for the game, and all positioned in the upper tier behind the goal. A few Millwall fans ran onto the pitch to celebrate their opening goal, but posed no threat of disorder due to the location of the Leeds fans situated above them, with no route for them to get onto the pitch. So what was the point in over 20 police horses lining up in front of the Leeds fans at the end of the game? Completely pointless. Again; who can justify that approach?
 
On leaving the ground on Sunday afternoon, we again walked down the same "hill" and back towards our car. At the bottom of this hill, as it meets the public roads, we were greeted by 4 riot vans and at least 3 officers stood there holding barking dogs. West Midlands police had chosen to deploy dog units and riot vans as we left the ground, and deployed teams of officers stood at every junction along that road; all when there had been no sign of disorder on the day and no aggression in the air.
 
Are police incapable of reacting to a situation and the demands of the here and now? Or do they stick to a plan regardless of what happens in front of their eyes? I think this Sunday's example answers that one quite emphatically.
 
I'm not just picking on West Brom with this article; we see similar set ups all over the country. Every football fan that travels to watch their team will be able to preach tails of a similar nature. Do the police forces around the country fail to understand that we're no longer in the 70's and 80's with rioting football fans in our stadiums? Do they not realise that there is no need to police every game as if we're all just one wrong word away from swinging punches at each other?
 
CCTV cameras within our stadiums have all but wiped out football violence beyond the turnstiles. Anyone entering a ground these days knows that every move they make is being filmed, and any wrong move they make will more than likely see them spending a few years behind bars. There's just no need for a huge police presence within our stadiums anymore. The CCTV cameras police the stadiums for them and prevent any "riots" far more efficently than they can.
 
So while there is mass scrutiny of public expenditure at the minute, and a cut back in non-essential spending being demanded throughout the public sector; isn't it time the police were asked to justify the costs of policing football matches?
 
Even if it does come well over a decade too late.
 
Paul Jones

Burridge: Lee Dixon with his head in the clouds wearing the rose tinted spectacles

Burridge correspondent, Emerson Marks, agrees with Lee Dixon's article in yesterday's Sunday Times. We are all hopelessly biased towards our own. 

Cristiano Ronaldo can forget about scoring 41 goals last season and remaining highly influential in helping Manchester United win their third straight title, because Lee Dixon has come up with a brand new criteria to measure greatness. Writing in yesterday's Sunday Times, the former Gunner, said he rates Dennis Bergkamp's contribution to the Premier League in higher regard than the Portuguese international. But of course, as Lee says, he hasn't eaten or lived with Ronaldo, and remains biased towards Dennis' complete professionalism.

What exactly does Lee mean? While I'm sure Dennis went to bed early and drank nothing stronger than isotonic fluid, if we're going to compare his impact on the English game with the current World player of the year, shouldn't we mention his collection of brilliant goals during his 11 years with the Arsenal? Or does Lee know something we don't about what living with Dennis is like? Can the Dutchman do something with a corby trouser press and a creased pair of strides that's more impressive than his goal against Newcastle?