Monday 30 August 2010

Saints Sack Pardew


Southampton have this morning released a statement detailing the decision behind removing manager Alan Pardew and his coaching team from their roles at the club.

The statement reads:
"Following a review of the current status in and around the First Team, the Club has decided that, to achieve its well known targets, it is essential to make changes to the First Team management and coaching.

"These targets for sustained and significant progress embrace both the First Team and the Football Development & Support Centre as integrated, co-operative units."

The news will come as a shock to many fans, especially after the Saints thumped Bristol Rovers 4-0 at the weekend. As well as manager Pardew first team coach Wally Downes and goalkeeping coach Stuart Murdoch will also be leaving the club.

Pardew had spent the previous season with Southampton not only taking the team from a 10 point deduction to within one place of the play offs but also winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, the clubs first major honour since winning the 1976 FA Cup

Prior to the win over Bristol Rovers the Saints had started the season with a 1-0 defeat against Plymouth and a 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient, despite having most of the play on both occasions. They also made it to the second round of the Carling Cup, losing out 1-0 to Premier League Bolton. The club also had one match postponed following the death of owner Markus Liebherr.

While the club look for a new manager Dean Wilkins has been placed in temporary charge of the first team, being assisted by Martin Hunter, for the home game against Swindon Town in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Tuesday.

Saturday 28 August 2010

Stumped By The Saints


At least it was sunny, eh?!? That's about all the good I can fathom from a disastrous day when the Gas were thumped by title favourites Southampton. From the tactics to the individual performances Rovers were well beaten right across the pitch, and it never looked like it could ever be different. If you weren't at the game then you could be saying 'it can't have been that bad', but trust me, it was.

Yet the day had started so well, a bacon sandwich woke me up from a night at the pub and with the sunshine meaning I didn't have to sell matchday programmes in the wet, it all looked rosy in the garden, but then then the first thing went wrong. The previous day Rovers had finally ended the year and a bit wait for a targetman to replace Rickie Lambert, coming in the shape of John Akinde from rivals Bristol City, a move that should have given Rovers more options in their styles of play, someone to get on the end of crosses but alas, it wasn't to be.

He had taken a knock in a reserve game for Bristol City the week before although no ill effects were particularly felt for much of the time between then and the game, then somehow he inexplicably suffered a recurrence of the injury and was ruled out of the Southampton match, only at the Rovers. So it was to be the same team from the last two games, a win against Yeovil and a draw at Exeter, to step across the white line and take on the Saints.

From the first goal going in, a Jose Fonte prod from a Jason Puncheon corner, Southampton never looked back and the Gas never looked forward. It was the same old problems that have bugged Rovers under the stewardship of Paul Trollope, negative passing which either went backwards or high and the defence setting up to mark around their own penalty area like a basketball team. The passing and movement was nearly non-existant with Rovers rarely making progress towards the Saints area without the move being snuffed out, although, you have to hand it to Southampton, they closed down with great ambition and showed a hunger to win the ball back.

It was like this throughout the game, Southampton controlled the play and looked dangerous whenever they came forward while Rovers backed off and allowed them enough space to dock an ocean liner. Southampton were the complete opposite of the Gas throughout, moving intelligently, using the width and making space for each other while slick passing created chance after chance. The negativity even spread to a usually solid Mikkel Andsersen, the gloveman having a poor kicking game, though the Saints players did put him under a great deal of pressure when the ball was passed back to him.

Right across the pitch the Saints team sheet was far better than Rovers, Lambert and Barnard up front scored one each, Lallana is arguably the best attacking midfielder in the division and when a team has enough on the bench to bring on Guilherme do Prado you know you're in a lot of bother. Lambert was his usual self, winning flick ons and holding the ball up well for his side and the penalty he scored was typical of his powerful approach to the game.

But though defeat is always hard to take it was the manner of the defeat that gasheads will have been most distraught about, their seemed to be a resignation among the players that they were going to lose the game, standing up to the views of some fans who say Paul Trollope isn't a great man motivator.

Credit to the Southampton fans though, they never stopped singing and the slow then fast rendition of 'when the saints' echoed around the ground, even though they had open terracing and the tent end to sing in. The Rovers fans were much quieter, though goodnight Irene was heard on a few occasions during the match, but it was the boos from the home support that will be ringing in Paul Trollope's ears over the coming nights. I said in my last Rovers blog that four points from the last two games was a decent return, having been thrashed in the first two games of the season, and that it would be harsh to sack Trollope after a defeat to the league favourites but on that performance the board will most likely take a look at their options, conceding 16 goals in 5 games this season just isn't good enough. The defeat also came against a side whose only previous win this season came against Bournemouth in the League Cup and had gained only one point in the league prior.

An enigma has also turned up amongst Rovers fans thanks to the Football League Show, that of winger Mark Wright. He never managed to turn it on during his time at Bristol Rovers and the fans quickly turned on him, but since moving down a level to Shrewsbury he has upped his game, caliming an assist and two goals of his own as the Shrews won 4-0 away at Stockport. A tricky forward thinking wideman is something that the Gas are lacking at the moment but will Wright get another chance at the Memorial Stadium when he returns from his loan spell in January? We shall have to wait and see.

Oldham next, a team that have had a good start to their season, and with the game being at Boundary Park Rovers could be in for another tough match, lets hope that Paul Trollope can turn things around in Lancashire.

At least the grand prix was good.

Goodnight Irene

Wednesday 25 August 2010

Welcome To The Jungle



In order to play football you need to have at least seven players on the pitch, it says so in law 3 of the FIFA guide to the game and in order to get players, for the professional game at least, you have to wrangle in the messy world of the transfer market, so here's a quick guide on what it's all about.

The first thing to look at is the process a club will go through in order to acquire a player from another team so, step 1, a manager at a club will compile a list of potential targets. These players will have been scouted by the club, using either the PFA transfer list, tip offs from Joe Bloggs or a players agent attempting to hawk his 'product' to a manager directly. In some rare cases players may come from other sources, the tale of Robbie Ryan being one, he joined Bristol Rovers after the club scouts son signed him on Championship Manager.

The manager will then go to his board or chairman with his list in order to be given permission to go for these players, he will also be given limits as to what transfer fees and personal terms can be offered. After this the gaffer will go through his list one by one, speaking to the players clubs and, if a transfer fee can be agreed, speak to the player about a contract. If the clubs can't agree on a fee or the player turns down the offer himself the manager will move onto his next target, and so on, until he successfully agrees a deal with a player. Money (hopefully) will be paid in due course and the signing can meet up with his new team mates.

That's a basic outline of what goes on, deals can stall on many levels and 4/5 times nothing will be agreed, only a lucky manager will get the player at the top of his list. Transfers can range from the multi-million pound deals for players such as Ronaldo or Robinho, right down to Western League clubs paying a hundred quid to eachother for a players services.

The loan window works much the same way except deals are reached on how high a percentage of a players wage a club pays, how long the loan lasts for and whether or not the player in question actually wants to join the potential club. With free agents clubs can go straight into contract talks.

It is these contract talks that make or break a deal and there are a massive amount of things that personal terms can involve. The starting point is a players basic wage, normally discussed in football in weekly terms. Yaya Toure for example will be on a staggering weekly wage of £221,000 when the 50% tax bracket comes in, before that he will be on a measly £185k a week. But it's not just about keeping the new signing happy, the rest of the squad has to be managed well, there could be carnage in the Man City saga if players revolt over how highly paid their team mates are. Other things involved in contracts can include a signing on fee, bonuses and in some cases relocation costs if the player has to move a considerable distance.

Some managers and clubs have a gift of attracting talent while some are poor in the transfer market, there's more to football management than what happens on the field of play. If a manager signs rubbish players and the inevitable happens, he gets sacked, that's a given, but if a manager at a mediocre club somehow signs top class players he then puts himself under even more pressure to get the results. Just look what happened to Sam Allardyce at Newcastle, bringing in Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and David Rozehnal and then getting it all wrong when trying to gel them together on the pitch.

Most of the transfer news this pre-season has revolved around Man City, spending £100million for the second summer in a row including the aforementioned Yaya Toure for £28million, David Silva for £24million and James Milner for £26million plus Stephen Ireland. Roberto Mancini seems to have a bottomless pit of funds to bring what's required and could field two teams of full internationals. The loaning of Craig Bellamy to Cardiff, while still paying at least half of his wages and paying him off to boot, shows that they will do everything in their power to keep their rivals at bay.

It is that Bellamy move that will be the undoubted transfer capture of the summer in the Championship, he scored ten goals in the Premier League last season and has already shown Doncaster how it's done but there have been other moves that have caught the eye. Before Bellamy the most surprising move was David James to Bristol City, despite interest from Sunderland and Celtic and he, along with some other decent acquisitions for City, should mean that they are in with a shout of the play offs. One player who has already shone this season is Adel Taarabt. He first joined QPR for the last two months of the 2008/09 season and has been there ever since, only signing a permanent deal this summer. His pace and skill on the ball has the potential to tear defences apart, one of the best wingers in the division for sure.

In League 1 I have picked out three midfielders who have made the move. Joey Gudjonsson has scored goals in the Championship for both Leicester and Burnley through the years and his scoring prowess will be a menace. Grant McCann had a decent season at Scunthorpe last term and even though he is now getting on he can still deliver some fine dead balls. Finally Guilherme do Prado signed on loan for Southampton having guided Cesena from the second tier of Italian football last year, scoring nine in the process. He has passed up a season as a Serie A squad player for Saints, one to be feared.

The transfer coup of League 2 is probably Rotherham keeping hold of star striker Adam Le Fondre, who scored 30 goals in all last season as the Millers lost out in the play off final to Dagenham. Do, however, look out for Tadhg Purcell, a young Irish striker who scored 9 in 22 for failing Darlington in the latter half of last season, now at Northampton he should be one to watch.

I hope this has enlightened you a little bit on the processes of the transfer market, while I'm sure the manager at your club will hope you now see how hard he has to work to sign players.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Can Man City Gel In Time To Take The Title?

Pause and rewind, two years this month if you will, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has just bought Manchester City for a staggering £210million, clearing all City's debts in the process. August 2008 signalled a new era in the history of a club that looked forever like the little brother of their biggest rivals United.

Ever since British football and indeed the worlds transfer markets have had a new pin up boy who have never once managed to remove themselves from the spotlight, be it changing managers, spending millions upon millions of pounds on players or for their on the pitch fortunes.

Over £100million have been spent in each of the last two summers with players such as Milner, the Toure's and Carlos Tevez coming in, all of whom were able to walk straight into the City starting line up. The attitude taken towards Craig Bellamy's exit from the club was also a stark decision which went along the lines of 'we don't want him, but nobody else can have him', so much so that it's rumoured that City will be paying at least half of his £90,000 per week wages as well as giving him a £2million pay off.

City will be hoping that all the outlay will finally reap the rewards, it is the third year and so Champions League football is the aim for the season and the pressure will certainly be on Mancini and his players but they should be able to cope. A squad of the calibre of City's should be able to handle such pressure, many of them have played in the world cup, all have played at some of the top levels of Europe while Tevez and the Toure brothers have previously played in Champions League finals.

Certainly in previous years the board have been sensible in their behind the scenes decisions, the first season they came in City dropped a place to tenth in the league and failed to qualify for Europe but they stuck with Mark Hughes, that was until a better option became available, Hughes leaving City in December 2009 despite the club being in seventh place in the Premier League, they eventually finished fifth under Roberto Mancini, narrowly missing out on a place in the Champions League.

Thus far City have made a decent start to the season, drawing with Tottenham and beating Liverpool, as well as winning the first leg of their Europa League tie with FC Timisoara and these will certainly help build confidence among the squad, confidence breeds confidence, moving the club forward at an ever increasing rate. But what happens if a couple of results quickly go the wrong way?

With the team still gelling together a string of poor results could upset the balance of team harmony in a dressing room where the wages are currently unbalanced, Yaya Toure thought to be on nearly £220,000 when the new 50% tax bracket arrives, making him the best paid player in the history of the Premier League. This situation could cause aggravation among some members of the squad who are known to be on considerably less than Yaya. Roberto Mancini, however, is recognised as a good man manager, a skill he will certainly need with the fiery Mario Balotelli in his squad, so City will hope to keep any trouble down to a minimum.

Indeed, the team seemed to have worked well with eachother so far and results seem to suggest that the new era at City is starting to move along nicely.

Monday 23 August 2010

Saints Bring In Cesena Midfielder


Southampton have announced the loan signing of Guilherme do Pardo in a deal that will see the player at St Marys until January with the option of making the deal permanent in January.

Also known as 'Guly' the attacking midfielder scored 9 goals last season as Cesena clinched promotion to Serie A. Do Prado has been in Italy for eight years prior to Saints move but has only spent one season in Serie A back in 2002/03 with Perugia. Following Perugia's exit from the Italian top flight the Brazilian joined Fiorentina but an injury prevented him from making an appearance in three years at the club.

Guly joins will be just one of a raft of midfield talent at Saints that also includes the likes of Adam Lallana, Jason Puncheon and Dean Hammond and will face stiff competition for a place in the team.

do Prado spoke to saintsfc.co.uk about his excitement at the move where he clearly feels the club have the ability to make it back into the Premier League:

"I am delighted that everything has now been agreed and that I can now join up with my new teammates, I can't wait to start playing.

"I was looking forward to what was going to be a very exciting season playing in Serie A, and although there was interest in me from other Serie A clubs, as soon as I heard Southampton were interested I knew that I had to come here.

"I have always wanted to play in England and at the highest possible level. The Chairman sold me his vision for where this Club is going and I wanted to be a part of that and help take this Club through the divisions."

His new manager was also pleased with the deal telling BBC Radio Solent:

"We'd like to think that he'll add to our attacking prowess. We're not flowing with goals like we were last year. He's a player who excelled in Serie B - he's a central midfielder who is comfortable in possession.

"We're taking something of a risk taking him from Serie A to League One, but we're confident that he'll be able to make the switch."


Southampton are awaiting international clearance from the Italian FA before he can play his first match, which the club are hoping will be Tuesday nights Carling Cup clash with Premiership side Bolton Wanderers. He will most likely make his league debut when Saints play Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Saturday 21 August 2010

Seeing The Blue And White Mist


It gives me great joy and, at times, a whole lot of despair, you'd think that I'd be referring to Bristol Rovers here, and I am, but I can also describe my feelings for the Xbox 360 in a similar way.

It was this morning that I decided to put my copy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup game into my console and have a crack at getting that damned 'Masterful Performance' achievement and it all started fairly well, playing as Russia I successfully guided Guus Hiddinks virtual charges to the quarter finals, and that's where things started to go wrong. I was paired up against the French in the last eight, ok, I thought, I can take them, they were after all the biggest joke this teams World Cup saw, but of course there is no team disharmony in video games, only statistics.

The first game I played we lost on penalties, which was annoying, but I'll get on with it. The second game is when it started to get to me, we were 1-0 down with ten minutes left and, I hate to say, I lost it and turned the console off in a fit of rage. I gave it a break for an hour and came back to it, only yo go down 1-0 yet again thanks to Nicolas Anelka's avatar. The fourth time did the trick, winning 4-0, but it cost me inside as I had to turn the difficulty level down a setting, shameful. All this may seem like a queer anecdote but bare with me.

You see it got me thinking about second chances, I can take as many as I like sat in my bedroom tapping away on the buttons of the control pad, but in the real world there are no second chances, it's a results business and if you get it wrong your outta here. This stands in great stead with the recent trouble Paul Trollope's been in, having overseen a poor run of recent results. He doesn't get a second chance, not for all he did in his first full season leading the gas to Wembley and promotion nor for the run to the FA cup quarter finals the next season, all that's in the past and there is no room for sentiment, football lives in the now and that's the problem that Paul Trollope faces.

It was reported that he had to turn results around quickly and most thought that he would have two games to change the tide and he has done that, though the win against Yeovil was scrappy it's three points nonetheless. This weekends result was a disappointment however, giving away a lead against ten man Exeter, but then again if Exeter couldn't be up for this game, the first they have played since the sad death of Adam Stansfield, then they would never be up for anything.

I was unfortunately unable to make the trip to Exeter but the occasion was still felt down the radio airwaves. Radio Bristol tuned in to the minutes applause and the Exeter fans in the background singing 'one Adam Stansfield' did themselves and their club proud. Exeter fans have already commented on the Rovers fans, saying how well they handled their part in the occasion, so gasheads can also hold their heads up high.

I can't say I missed St James Park however. I went last season and while the place and the people were all perfectly nice the away end wasn't up to much. The fence at the back had holes everywhere in it, the terracing was cracking in places and half of it was shut off due to problems with Leeds fans a couple of games before, not to mention the toilets that left a lot to be desired. Add to that the fact that me at 5ft 2in spent most of the game watching the back of peoples heads while Rovers were busy losing, it wasn't the most enjoyable way I've spent £14.

But with such an emotionally charged game the Rovers board should be happy enough with four points from the last two and with 3/1 league favourites Southampton coming up next it would be unfair to expect much from the next game although, that being said, Saints are yet to win this season and there is no better time to put them to the sword than in our next home game.

One of the most encouraging things to come out of the Exeter game was the first gas goal for Will Hoskins. Since his super spell at Rotherham in the 2006/07 season Hoskins has never really had a great deal of first team football as well as a lack of goals but now he is at a team where he will get regular first team football, his first strike in his four competitive games for Rovers will hopefully start some goalscoring form similar to when he was with the Millers. There have also been rumours going round as to why he was taken off so early, some claiming they had seen him asking to be subbed while there may have been a slight knock involved in this, lets hope it's nothing serious.

There were goals aplenty today right across the spectrum of the English league, and while there were massive 6-0 wins in the Premiership, as well as a thumping 7-0 victory for Crewe, my result of the weekend has to be Peteborough's 4-2 win over Huddersfield. These are the two sides that, in my opinion, can stay consistent enough to challenge Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday for the automatic promotion places so this one was to be a big pace setter for the season, especially for the Posh who had lost 5-1 away at Bournemouth last weekend. Huddersfield got off to an electric start, going two goals up in 33 minutes but Boro held strong and came back with four goals to take the three points.

A weekend that could have been better for Rovers but thems the breaks, as for me, I think I'll go back to Halo for a bit.

Goodnight Irene

Friday 20 August 2010

The Pressures On For Paul Trollope



When I read through the various online forums and talk to fellow gasheads I sometimes wonder what Paul Trollope has to do to win them over. Complaints come in from all quarters, we play poor football, we're tactically naive, et cetera, it all mounts up and the pressure on the gas gaffer builds, but one thing that Trolls can't argue with is the recent run of poor results.

Before Saturday's win against Yeovil the Gas had failed to win in their eight previous competitive games. Admittedly this was split between two seasons but the same manager was the basis for these failures, of which only one was a draw. It's not just the defeats, though, it's the manner of them, that sequence I've mentioned includes a 3-0 home reverse to Norwich and a 5-1 loss to Southampton at the same venue. Throw into that a 6-1 humiliation at League 2 Oxford and Rovers really do find themselves in a sticky patch.

One of the biggest complaints is that Rovers play unnatractive, defence minded football and fans have different views amongst themselves as to performances and the style of play. Some complain that they would rather pay their money for entertainment value, sacrificing defensive responsibilities for scoring goals and generally keeping the tempo up, while some fans don't care about style points, its getting the results that matter, a la Colchester's brand of football from last season. At the end of the day it's a results business and while Paul Trollope's job is at stake we can expect to see the team play cautiously.

Something that Rovers do have trouble with is changing matches once they've fallen behind, something that happened far too often last term. The problem is that over the past season there has been nobody on the bench with the ability to come on and turn the tables. Ok Andy Williams showed some spice but there was little end product from the vibrant youngster, and now he's gone anyway. This season the onus will be on the youthful Charlie Reece and Ben Swallow to change things up, but with little experience behind them this will be a risk in some games, and Paul Trollope doesn't like risks. One player who has potential is Lamar Powell who we will hopefully see more often as the season wears on.

Over the past two and a half months since the transfer window opened you can't really complain about what Trolls has done in the footballing marketplace. Will Hoskins was chased by other teams in our league, Charlton to name one, while Wayne Brown and Gary Sawyer are both quality signings but there is one problem, a targetman. The saga has been going on since Rickie Lambert left last August and it's now been over a year that Rovers have failed to replace him. Much of the interest was focused on Chris Wood, a New Zealand international, who has been touted as the answer to all Rovers problems.

It was the January window this year when fans first put him forward as an option and rumours grew and went on as West Brom picked up injuries and claims were made that he didn't want to drop to League 1 before the world cup until the loan window closed and it all looked dead in the water, especially with a chance to shine in the summer. After a period of quiet his name was brought up again, only this time it was about a possible loan deal to Barnsley. Nothing came of this however and he is still available but it does seem to have been a problem of Paul Trollope putting all of his eggs into a single basket. With little over a week of the transfer window to go it could still happen, but some fans hold the opinion that the whole situation has been a bit of an embarassment.

There could, however, be problems caused by bringing in these supposed 'Championship quality' players. If results continue to go poorly Trolls management skills will be continually questioned until it all comes right or it all goes wrong. Indeed the most interesting comment I've heard is that 'we've got the players, but there's a clown in charge of them', harsh words perhaps while the players are still gelling but as the season draws on it could be the most accurate assessment of Trollope's managerial skills yet.

Walsall Complete Reid Loan Signing



Reuben Reid has joined League 1 side Walsall in a loan deal that will see him stay with the Saddlers until January.

Reid will hope to return to the regular goalscoring ways he was known for at Rotherham where he scored 19 goals in 51 appearances during the 2008/09 season. Following that season Reid moved to West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee.

He was unable to force his way into the first team at Albion failing to score in his seven Baggies games and found himself out on a three month loan to Peterborough United at the end of last season, and while at London Road he once again was unable to get on the scoresheet.

Walsall manager Chris Hutchings is pleased with his latest loan capture telling saddlers.co.uk:

"We are delighted to have Reuben on board, he had an excellent spell at Rotherham the season before last, which prompted his move to Albion where he has continued his football education.

"He's a young, hungry player with a proven track record. He can play out wide or through the middle.

"We're grateful to Roberto Di Matteo and West Bromwich Albion for agreeing to this loan deal and we're looking forward to working with Reuben during the coming months."


The youngster will make his debut at his new home against former club Plymouth Argyle on Saturday with Walsall looking to continue where they left off following their 2-1 win over Brentford last weekend.

Thursday 19 August 2010

Saints To Go Marching Off With League 1 Title?


Another season has started and it once again looks as though League 1 will be highly competitive. Though the division has lost teams of the calibre of Leeds and Norwich there are still some big, ex-Premier League teams in the third tier who will want to push on to better things and meanwhile there are some sides for whom League 1 is the pinnacle of their footballing history, but the question remains who will go up and who will go down.

The top of the table looks to be fairly well sewn up with Southampton, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday all at odds of less than 5/1 with ladbrokes. Following them Charlton, Peterborough and Brighton are the favourites to make up the rest of the top six and, in all honesty, it wouldn't be surprising to see those sides up there.

Southampton are quite rightly favourites, they very nearly made it into the play off places last season, even despite starting on -10 points and not claiming their first win until the eighth round of games. Saints have one of the best keepers in the league in Kelvin Davies, who turned down a move to Premiership West Ham to assure himself of first team football last season, the man is rightfully club captain and will earn his team many points with his individual displays throughout the season. In front of him in the centre of defence will be Radhi Jaidi, the experienced Tunisian defender who has bags of top flight experence will be a rock in an otherwise youthful defensive line up.

But it is in the midfield and forward departments that Saints are at their strongest and where else is there to start than with star striker Rickie Lambert. As a Bristol Rovers supporter I know Lambert's game very well and at League 1 level the man is nearly faultless. He's big and strong and was a key part of the way Rovers played and they are yet to replace him, though players of his quality don't come around every season. Some of the goals he scores are breathtaking, his stunning volley against MK Dons last season just one of many long range efforts he has scored in League 1 over the past three seasons. Next to Lambert you will find Lee Barnard, a former Tottenham junior who Southampton signed from Southend during the January transfer last season. While at Roots Hall he scored 35 league goals in 75 appearances over two seasons, a record that shouldn't be messed with.

Behind the front two in the midfield are Adam Lallana and Jason Puncheon, two exciting attacking midfielders who have bags of goals in them, the former in fact finished with 20 goals in all competitions last season, a staggering Frank Lampard-esque return from a midfielder. Puncheon has pace in abundance and a sweet left foot and was previously successful in League 1 with loan spells at MK Dons. The newst signing among the midfield is Guilherme do Prado, also known as 'Guly'. He scored nine goals last season in helping Cesena win promotion to Serie A, turning down the chance to be a squad player at Italy's highest level for the chance at the Saints, already stating his desire to get the club back to the top.

Expect Wednesday and Huddersfield to be close behind. The Owls were only relegated last season and have kept the core of their squad together, the only big loss being keeper Lee Grant to Burnley for a £1million fee and they have also been able to bring in players such as experienced striker Paull Heffernan and ex-Wolves full back Daniel Jones, both of whom were sat on the bench for Wednesday's first game of the season. Marcus Tudgay scored his fair share of goals in the Championship last season so expect him to prosper in League 1, another one to look out for is Giles Coke a midfielder who has just been signed from SPL side Motherwell.

Huddersfield were high scorers last season and often had large winning margins behind them but some poor defending let them down and made sure that they could only make sixth place before eventually losing out to Millwall in the play-off semi's. Jordan Rhodes and Theo Robinson are still with the club and will score hatfuls of goals while new signing Joey Gudjonsson has the talent to provide a fair few goals from midfield to boot.

My outsiders for automatic promotion? Peterborough. Like Wednesday they have come down but kept their squad together and added a couple of really talented footballers into what is an already stong starting line up. Aaron McLean, Craig Mackail-Smith and George Boyd are three exceptional attacking players and make up a strikeforce that in my opinion is second only to Southampton. Grant McCann, a very experienced close season capture from Scunthorpe, will provide bite in midfield and also offer top class dead ball delivery and with Lee Frecklington preparing to come back from injury they should be a force, play offs at the very least for the Posh.


The play off picture once again looks as if it's going to be tight this season though there may not be such quality outside of those top four clubs, certainly not as much as there was last year. In all there are four other teams that I can see nudging the play off door open and they are Charlton, Brighton, MK Dons and Swindon.

Charlton were unlucky in so many ways last season and if you took out the class of Leeds and Norwich they would surely have been one of the teams you would have put money on going straight back up. This season however there has been little growth at The Valley, Kyel Reid being the only real stand out signing the club made during the summer. But they will have a settled side, Christian Dailly is a rock at the heart of the defence while Pawel Abbot knows how to get things done in League 1. The loss of Jonjo Shelvey and Nicky Bailey are big misses though and I think that the reason they won't be challenging for automatic promotion is that the soul of last years side have moved on to better things.

The real strength that Brighton have is in their new manager, Gus Poyet, thought to be the real mastermind behind Dennis Wise at Swindon Town he is now on his own in the big old management world and, in the transfer market at least, he has already begun to shine. Poyet and assistant Mauricio Taricco have built a team from the base up, having two experienced keepers in the squad including former Leeds custodian Casper Ankergren. They have also bought well in defensive areas, the poaching of Gordon Greer from Swindon being a particular highlight for the Argentinian duo. Inigo Calderon will bring an exotic look to the back four while an aging Radostin Kishishev will add a bit of guile to the squad. Glenn Murray and exciting youngster Ashley Barnes should do a good job up front but behind those two the options are thin on the ground.

MK Dons have strong options at the top end of the pitch with Jermaine Easter and Sam Baldock in the team and the rest of the squad looks solid. After a dissapointing end to last season the Dons will want to come back strongly and they have the tools to do so. It was an agonising finish for Swindon Town last year, being beaten in the play off final by Millwall, made even harder to take by various rogue bobbles and despite the loss of hitman Billy Paynter to Leeds United, Swindon should have enough in the tank to mount a challenge to the top six, especially with battle hardened manager Danny Wilson and the talent of a certain young Mr Austin.

As a Bristol Rovers fan I would love to say the Gas are in with a shout for promotion. They have certainly signed some talented players, Will Hoskins and Wayne Brown already look a class apart but without the targetman in the squad and manager Paul Trollopes negative tactics, I just can't see them finishing higher than tenth.


The 'R' word, that which shall not be talked about, the big R or quite simply a pretty crap season. Inevitably there are teams that will unexpectedly get drawn towards the black hole of relegation but for now I'll focus on my four candidates for this seasons League 1 drop.

Firstly Russell Slades Leyton Orient. I have a lot of respect for what Russell did during his time at Yeovil, taking them to Wembley, as well as guiding Grimsby to the league 2 play off final the season before, but he really has had a bad spell of luck and will need a lot more of it to keep Orient up this season. Barry Hearn can pump in all the money he wants but unless some new players are brought in sharpish they will struggle. It's difficult to see where the goals are going to come from, Adrian Patulea had a great spell with Lincoln but that was in the division below and since moving to Orient he has scored only three times in 27 appearances. Jonothan Tehoue may add some spark to proceedings but aside from him the only other players to catch the eye is centre back Elliot Omozusi, who will really need to drag his fellow defenders up to his level.

It took Rochdale 36 seasons to get out of League 2, but will they be able to maintain that sort of record in League 1? Probably not. It's a shame for the fans that little transfer activity has been going on at Spotland, especially after Dale fell over the line at the end of last season, owing their promotion to the fantastic start they had. Chris O'Grady scored in the division below but was never able to do the same with Oldham at this level. Anthony Elding returns from a decent spell in Hungary with Ferencvaros, but that only really goes to show the state the Hungarian league is in. Expect goal scoring central defender Craig Dawson to be the key man for this season.

Last season end in farce for Hartlepool, a three point deduction for fielding the ineligible Gary Liddle earlier in the season meant that Pool went into the last game of the season with the relegation monkey on their back, eventually avoiding going down with a 0-0 draw with Brentford. And with the resignation of Chris Turner just two games into the league season it is probably going to be a struggle. Goals should be the least of the worries however as Denis Behan and James Brown can provide but it's the lack of stability that is likely to cause Hartelpool problems this term, the last thing they need is a spate of injuries.

Dagenham & Redbridge will get one honour this season, and that's the fact that most people will be rather patronising about them, the little club from east London that have had a meteoric rise through the leagues to get to the high point in their history, much like Blackpool fans will also suffer this coming year. But once the high of promotion wares off its likely to be a struggle for the Daggers this season. Little of the squad have any experience at this level, most being brought from non-league into John Still's squad and it is this that will trouble them throughout the season. Damian Scannell and Gavin Tomlin have played a few games in League 1 but that's about it. Expect them to be 'brave' and end up 'heroes' at the end of the season, no matter where they finish up.

Turner Resigns From Pools Posts


Chris Turner, the Hartlepool caretaker manager and Director of Sport has resigned from his roles at the club with immediate effect.

The decision comes after Hartlepool made a half decent start to the season, drawing their first two league games and beating Championship side Sheffield United in the Carling Cup. Pools have however struggled for the past two seasons, both times avoiding relegation to League 2 on the final day of the season finishing 19th and 20th respectively. Last season also saw the club nearly go down as a result of the deduction of three points for fielding Gary Liddle against Brighton, a game they won 2-0, this despite the striker being ineligible due to suspension.

This was Turner's second spell as manager of Hartlepool, the first spell saw him turn the perennial relegation candidates into a side fighting for promotion and indeed the club won the League 2 title even after Turner had left halfway through the season to take over at Sheffield Wednesday. After spells at Wednesday and then Stockport County Turner returned to Victoria Park as Director of Sport and after over two years in the job he was forced to take over as caretaker manager following Danny Wilson's departure from the club to manage Swindon Town, seeing the club through two tough season finales.

First team coach Mick Wadsworth will be placed in temporary charge of team affairs and will oversee the next league match away at Yeovil Town and will most likely be in charge when Hartlepool face Premier League Wigan Athletic in the second round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

Pitman Discussing Personal Terms With Blackpool


Blackpool have agreed a fee with AFC Bournemouth for the transfer of striker Brett Pitman.

Details of the transfer fee have yet to be announced but it is likely to be in the region of £450,000, with various sums having been rumoured throughout the summer, with Bournemouth also rejecting an initial bid on Wednesday. It ends weeks of speculation as to the future of the 22 year old, with Derby County also thought to be interested at one stage during the summer.

Pitman finished last season with 26 league goals meaning that over the past two seasons and the first two games of this he has scored 46 times in league competition in 89 appearances for the Cherries, having scored his first goals of the season in the 5-1 victory against Peteborough last weekend, scoring a hat-trick himself. In fact his first ever senior goal earned Bournemouth a draw with Blackpool.

Pitman would become the Tangerines eighth signing of the season with Israeli defender Dekel Keinan the latest to join Ian Holloway's side. The news comes on the same day that Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston has resigned from his post at the coastal club.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Milner Joins The Man City Revolution



James Milner has put pen to paper and finalised a deal that will see him move to Eastlands and join Manchester City.

The deal has been the subject of much rumour over recent months with ex-Villa manager Martin O'Neill rejecting numerous offers for the midfielder before finally leaving the club. Indeed it is thought that the Northern Irishman left Villa Park due to differences with the use of the transfer money with owner Randy Lerner.

It was Tuesday that the Milner had a medical at Man City before paying visits to what will be his new stadium and training base during his time with the Citizens. The personal terms in the deal will mean that Milner is contracted to City for the next five seasons, a period that he hopes will include a Premier League title win as he told mcfc.co.uk:

"The last thing he said to me was 'be ready for the next game', and then he said 'be ready to win the Premier League', and that's my ultimate aim - that's what I want to do and why I'm here."


Milner will not be available for the City's Thursday night match with FC Timisoara but will make his debut the following Monday night in the highly anticipated clash with Liverpool at Eastlands.

His new manager was also excited by the signing, which he claims will be the last of the summer, saying:

"I am very happy to have James with us, everybody knows we have admired him for some time.

"He is an excellent midfielder, who can play in a number of positions. This is important for the team, and I am looking forward to seeing him play for us. We have a very strong squad, and this signing is a very important one for us."


Milner has already scored one Premier League goal this season, scoring the third goal in Villa's 3-0 opening day win over West Ham. The youngster also holds the record for winning the most England U-21 caps at 45 while also holding 12 senior caps. Aside from Villa he has represented Leeds and Newcastle in the Premier League and also spent a brief period on loan at then League 1 side Swindon Town in 2003.

The deal, rumoured to be worth £25million, also sees Steven Ireland move to Aston Villa, a move that the Irish international hopes can reignite a career that has already seen him win City's player of the year award in 2009:

"I've kind of forgotten the feeling of what it is like to come off after a game feeling tired, winning or losing. I'm not used to sitting out for so long.

"So for me, I want to get back to playing at the top of my game and I want to work hard for my team-mates."

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Bellamy Moves To Cardiff On A Seasons Loan


Cardiff City have acquired the services of Manchester City forward Craig Bellamy on a season long loan deal, ending weeks of speculation as to where the Welshman would end up for this season.

Cardiff was just one of many rumoured destinations over the pask few weeks, a list that included clubs from three separate countries showing an interest. The Bluebirds will become the ninth club of Bellamy's senior league career, having been on the youth team books of Bristol Rovers and Norwich City, the club for whom he made his debut in first team football.

Bellamy was happy to take the step down to the Championship for personal reasons as not only is he a Cardiff fan but his wife and three children live in Peterston-super-Ely, a small village on the outskirts of Cardiff. The striker spoke of the joy of joining his boyhood club to Cardiff's official website, saying:
"I'm thrilled to be coming back home to Cardiff.

"I am excited at the prospect of wearing the shirt and playing for the club I've supported since I was a boy.

"I'll be working hard with my new team-mates to bring success to the club and look forward to our next Championship game on Saturday.

"I'm sure that all City fans will play their part in driving us forward this year. It has been my dream to play my part in taking my hometown club to the Premier League, which would be fantastic for the football club, the city of Cardiff and Wales."


The transfer saga started on Sunday evening when a local newspaper claimed Bellamy was to move to Cardiff on Monday. Cardiff, however, denied having any contact with Manchester City over a possible move but this and Bellamy's comments that he would be happy to move to Cardiff seemed to spur Blueburds boss Dave Jones into action and the loan deal was announced this morning.

Other possible destinations for the striker could have been Steve McClaren's Wolfsburg, former loan club Celtic and teaming up with his former Welsh national team manager Mark Hughes at Fulham, as well as interest from Manchester City's Champions League rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The colourful hitman had known for some time that he would not be included in Man City's 25 man Premier League squad and had been previously told that it would be in everybodies best interests if he were to stay away from City's training ground, despite scoring 10 goals in 25 starts last season.

Bellamy is set to make his debut for Cardiff at the clubs City stadium when they play Doncaster Rovers on saturday. The Welshman is one of a number of signings that hint towards Cardiff's Premier League amibitions as he joins both Jason Koumas and Seyi Olofinjana at the club. The loan deal is one of a number of transfer dealings at Manchester City today which includes the signing of Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan and the announcement of a deal for Aston Villa's James Milner which will also see Stephen Ireland move the other way to Villa Park.

Monday 16 August 2010

Blackburn Bidder Gets Four Weeks To Decide



Blackburn could be the subject of a takeover from Indian businessman Ahasan Ali Syed.

London School of Economics graduate Syed, who takes undervalued business and uses their potential to make a turnaround, has been given a four week exclusivity period to look over the Ewood Park clubs finances before making a decision on whether or not to purchase the club, though he admitted that he would not take on Rovers as a business entity but rather as a personal passion.

He does, however, seem to be in a hurry to complete the takeover in the hope that some of his £300million investment can be used for manager Sam Allardyce to bring in players to the club before the end of the transfer window, as well as covering existing club £20million debts, although Allardyce still insists that no deal will be completed in time for the current transfer window.

Rovers have yet to spend any money so far this season, their two signings being youth team defender Hugo Fernandez, whom a nominal fee was paid to Union Deportiva Cornella for, and the loan signing of Mame Biram Djiouf from Manchester United. Blackburn kicked off the season with a 1-0 win over European dark horses Everton thanks to Niko Kalinic, who pounced on a blunder by everton keeper Tim Howard.

Speed Set To Become Sheffield United Boss


It is widely believed that former Premier League midfielder Gary Speed will be named as the new manager at Sheffield United. The 40 year old is the man likely to be revealed at a press conference the Blades have called for 2pm tomorrow.

United sacked former manager Kevin Blackwell on Saturday following a poor start to the season which has already seen them drop out of the Carling Cup to League 1 side Hartlepool United before losing 3-0 to former manager Neil Warnock's QPR side. With two games left in August, away at Middlesbrough and home to Preston, the new manager will want to stop the rot and start challenging towards the top end of the table.

Speed has been coaching at Bramall Lane since suffering a back injury in November 2008 and was approached by Swansea about taking the reins at the Liberty Stadium in June 2009, though this was rejected by Sheffield United. He was also named on the subs bench for the Carling Cup defeat at Hartlepool, despite having said he would retire from the playing side of the game.

The Welshman, who was capped 85 times by his country, enjoyed an illustrious top flight career with Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton, playing in every Premier League season up until the 2008/09 season when he joined the Blades. At one point he held the all-time appearance record for the league at 535 before that figure was broken by David James.

Speed, who was recently awarded his UEFA Pro License, has long spoke about his desire to move into the management side of the game and it seems as though his chance at the Blades has finally come.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Rovers FTW

Well, maybe in the results sense only, as the performance against Yeovil yesterday was nothing to signal the start of a push towards the top end of the table, but hey, three points is three points.

Three changes to the starting line up were made since the thumping we received at Oxford and all three were positive, improving the side, but the big change was that of the formation with Paul Trollope reverting back to the tried and tested 4-4-2, which I can't say I'm disappointed to see. The 4-2-3-1 formation that we had been using throughout the season so far is all well and good if you have a target man who can take the role of 'the one', but when you have 5ft 7in Jo Kuffour and 5ft 9in Will Hoskins up top it doesn't quite work, not unless you have players of the Xavi and Villa ilk in your team. And the search for a targetman seems to be going nowhere either, at least not in the public eye, as nothing has been seen or heard about the subject in the press aside from Nick Higgs stating that Trolls is yet to find someone who fits the bill.

The game itself saw Rovers only perform for about 25 minutes of the 90, the first five, the last five and a fifteen minute period at the start of the second half but aside from that, Yeovil appeared to have more of the ball and the better of the play even though the stats said that possession was 50/50. During those short spells when Rovers were on top however we looked like a side that can truly perform, Jeff Hughes shot in the first minute that followed some tidy passing and movement being evident of that. But it could have been so different had Danny Coles not gotten in a flying goal line clearance when the Glovers should have taken the lead and shortly after that Rovers took the lead as an excellent cross from Gary Sawyer was nodded in by Jo Kuffour, a player who rarely gets on the scoresheet from headers.



The second half started far better and the initial spell saw some slick passing, including an excellent counter attack that was set up by Wayne Brown, though all of the endeavour never lead to anything substantial. And once that period of pressure was over the Gas found themselves being forced further and further back by Yeovil and this continued even after the red card received by Jean-Paul Kalala and eventually Rovers paid as Adam Virgo drove a volley into the back of the net from a corner.

Most gasheads would have been left with a feeling of what could have been after the equaliser and two very good handball appeals in stoppage time wouldn't have helped that feeling go away but thankfully, right at the death, Byron Anthony, who had rather oddly been given man of the match minutes before, forced home the third goal of the match to win it for the Gas in the fourth minute of stoppage time, the sponsors must have been psychic! You could see how much this meant to the players on the field as Anthony was then mobbed before celebrating to the crowd.

My two stand out players from the match were Wayne Brown and Will Hoskins. Hoskins chased nearly every ball, putting pressure on the Yeovil defenders and winning a number of throw-ins during the match. His first touch is one of the best in the club, up there with Jo 'glue boots' Kuffour, and if he can get the right service from the players around him he will score goals at this level. Wayne Brown continued from when I last saw him in pre-season, he has bags of energy and isn't afraid to get stuck in for such a small player. Many of the passes he played were of a top standard, including a ball over the top that unfortuneatley just evaded both Hoskins and Kuffour.

So an overall disappointing performance from Rovers, too many long balls and being forced too far back made things look as if there had been no positive change from last season, though we can all be thankful for three points which can hopefully kick start our season. Onto Exeter next and hopefully some more points to add to the tally, though it will be their first game since the sad death of Adam Stansfield, so it should certainly be an emotionally charged affair. RIP Adam.

Goodnight Irene

Friday 13 August 2010

Trollope Under Pressure To Turn Pirates Sinking Ship Around


Following a disasterous start ot the season bristolrovers.vitalfootball.co.uk has revealed that chairman Nick Higgs has put manager Paul Trollope under pressure, giving the Rovers gaffer 'a limited amount of time' to turn results around for the better.

In their last eight games, spread over the end of last season and the start of this, Rovers have won only one game from their last ten, with only one draw included in that sequence. The poor run has spread into this season with two heavy defeats for Rovers, going down 3-0 away at Peterborough before a humiliating 6-1 loss to League 2 side Oxford United in the Carling Cup.

It is thought that Trollope will have two games to change the course of the season, the two fixtures being against Yeovil Town in a local derby and away at Exeter City, the first game the Grecians will play since the sad death of striker Adam Stansfield. With the following match being at home to highly rated Southampton the gas will want to get at least four points from these two games before heading into battle with the Saints.

Fans have also been questioning the Rovers manager due to his continuing innability to sign a targetman, something that was commented on by Nick Higgs in his chairmans report this week.
'Unfortunately, Paul has yet to find anyone who he feels fits the bill, but we remain committed to bringing a big striker to club as soon as possible', Higgs wrote in his weekly column.
He also addressed fears from fans that they may have to wait for the exit of striker Darryl Duffy before any further new players can be signed.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Coppell Quits Bristol City


Steve Coppell has resigned as manager of Bristol City and retired from football management altogether despite hacing only been in charge for two competitive games at Ashton Gate.

Coppell told bcfc.co.uk the reason for his departure.
"I found I could not become passionate about the role and give the commitment the position demands. I appreciate that the timing of my departure is not ideal, but I believe it is best for the club"

Though retiring from football management the former Manchester United winger still wants to be involved in the game, saying "I am retiring from football management but still feel I have a contribution to make to the game sometime in the future".

It is not the first time Coppell has quit early on into a spell as manager, having left Manchester City after just 33 days in charge back in November 1996.

Assistant manager Keith Millen has been charged with taking on the managers role, meaing it will be his second spell in charge having been caretaker boss when Gary Johnson left the club at the back end of last season. Millen has signed a three year contract at Ashton Gate. Millen expressed his joy at getting the job on a full time basis saying:
"I'm excited but I'm still getting over the shock really. I knew I wanted to do the job and last season I enjoyed it. For certain reasons I decided to step aside from it and I was looking forward to working with Steve.

"I did enjoy working with him and we are still friends. We met last night, when he told me the news. He apologised for leaving me in this situation. You have to be your own man and go with your decisions. The players know, certainly from last year, how I like things working."

Better Luck Next Time?


It was all looking positive for Bristol Rovers a week ago, new signings that were of supposed 'championship class', a close 2-1 loss to an established premiership side and an air of optimism among the majority of fans, then it all started to go wrong.

First up was a 3-0 loss to Peterborough following a poor second half performance, chances were created in the first period but there was still nobody confident enough to finish them off, not since the departure of Rickie Lambert last August. Following a well hit strike from George Boyd for the first goal a mistake from loan keeper Mikkel Andersen meant the gas went 2-0 down and a miserable day was rounded off when a poorly placed wall allowed Grant McCann to place the ball into Andersen's bottom corner for a third. But Peterborough have a potent strike force, a well versed manager and should be challenging for the play-offs this season, so some of the more optimistic Rovers fans wrote it off as a minor blip, but there was nothing minor about the next match.

Almost a year to the day that Rickie Lambert left for Southampton, and still with no replacement, Rovers travelled to lowly Oxford, who had only been promoted back into the League thanks to last seasons conference play-off triumph over York, no fan from either side could have predicted what they were about to see. A spell of five goals, four of which were from the home side, in eleven minutes meant that Rovers went into the break 4-1 down, and things got no better in the second half as they leaked two more to end up on the wrong side of a 6-1 scoreline. It was the first time since an away game at Cambridge in February 1992 that the pirates had conceded six goals in a single match and meant that, including the end of last season, they hadn't won in eight games, with the only stalemate in that sequence being a 0-0 draw with Brentford.

The inqusition that followed led to manager Paul Trollope issuing a warning that any of the playing squad who "haven't got that fire in their belly" will quickly find themselves frozen out of the team. That threat in itself can be seen as a sign that Trollope was distraught by the result as he is a manager that always seems to be able to keep a cool demeanour. It also wasn't the best of introductions for rookie keeper Mike Green, though he can't be faulted for the goals themselves his kicking throughout the game was poor.

The only positive to come out of the game was the first gas goal of the season from Chris Lines, though it will give Paul Trollope a selection issue, does he remove Lines, a la the first league game against Peterborough or does he reinstate a 10 goal a season midfielder to the team. It will also be interesting to see if he sticks with the new 4-2-3-1 formation, thats yet to yield any great results so far.

Two games in and Rovers should be reading from the average students proverbial school report card, 'must do better'.

Monday 9 August 2010

Not The Best Of Starts, Again


Another season opener, another failure, though to be honest it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Rovers haven't won on the first day of the season since the beginning of the 2004/05 season, thanks to a Junior Agogo brace against Mansfield. Going into the match there was a feeling of some optimism among a fair few gasheads on the various fans forums, though myself, I thought there was some underestimation going on.

When you look at it from a completely neutral viewpoint you have to say that Boro have as good a chance of making there way into to the championship as teams such as Huddersfield, Plymouth and Charlton. Their squad is littered with players that should thrive at League 1 level, Boyd, McClean and Mackail-Smith make up an exciting front-line that in my opinion can collectively challenge any other in the division. Add to that the likes of Lee Frecklington and Grant McCann in the midfield and with Joe Lewis, a goalkeeper who has made one of Fabio Capello's England squads, to sit behind them you have the basis of a formidable lower league team. Admittedly Frecklington wasn't part of the squad on Saturday but that's still only one name left off of a fairly impressive team sheet.

Lets not also forget Gary Johnson, any gasheads dream pantomime villain. Take away everything Rovers fans will hate about the man he's a top class manager, taking Yeovil from non-league mediocrity to League 1 but more notably having the experience of getting out of this division, taking City up into the championship and giving them a day to remember at Wembley, despite their eventual loss. But it's not only his connection and undoubted success with City and Yeovil that makes him a target for Rovers abuse, but his rumoured previous in the Memorial Stadium tunnel with Ian Atkins and his record against thw gas when he was in charge of the glovers.

It's not really fair for me to comment on the game as I wasn't there, in fact I was sat in my bedroom listening to the match via BBC Radio Bristol, but nonetheless I will have my say on what I heard, as well as the two minutes and four seconds of highlights available on the BBC Sport website. The first half seemed to be positive enough, the ball was being knocked about well and according to Paul Trollope we were in the ascendency at midway. The problem seemed to be the same as last term, finishing, as Jeff Hughes and Jo Kuffour missed good one on one chances, thanks in no part to Joe Lewis's starfish manouvres and a general lack of accuracy and as the game wore on we seemed unable to make the chances required to give ourselves the lead or eventually find a way back into the match.

Two of the three goals we conceded seem to arrive due to a couple of mistakes from keeper Mikkel Andersen, the second being the most obvious as he ran way out of his area, only to get beaten to the ball by Aaron McClean. The third goal, a free kick came as a result of poor placement of the wall by the Dane, or so I'm reliably informed anyway, that's something I couldn't really see in the highlights.

But it's all over now, lets put it behind us and look forward, and we don't have to look too far forward either, as tomorrow night the gas travel to Oxford United for the first round of the Carling Cup. It will be interesting to see the side put out as not only do Stuart Campbell and James Tunnicliffe have slight knocks but Mike Green should also finally get his chance due to Mikkel Andersen's international duties with the Danish under-21 side, good luck Greener.

Goodnight Irene

Monday 2 August 2010

Henry Goes 2-1 At The Leisure Centre

Henry came back from losing his first match, by a considerable margin, to claim two victories in the final badminton session at the Bath Sports & Lesiure Centre ysterday. He and Lucy were dissapointing in the first match, going down 21-6 to Pat and Phillippa. The game was littered with errors from both Henry and Lucy but it was the former who would make a solid comeback in the next match. Second time around Henry partnered Phillippa while Lucy teamed up with Gabrielle, and it was Lucy who was once again on the receiving end of a bad defeat, losing out 21-4 to their opponents.

Lucy's luck got no better in the thrid game of the day, this time losing out 21-16 in a far closer contest to Henry and Gabrielle. It was a tough defeat to take for her and Pat as they had been keeping close to the Henry and Gabrielle throughout, only to finish with a poor run of points.