SOCCER ANGLES:Some stories that grabbed the attention last season have yet to reach a conclusion – 2011 is shaping up to be an interesting one
SOME RANDOM thoughts, observations and questions from 2010 to take into 2011.
Blackpool
Everyone says now 2010 belongs to Ian Holloway. The man himself might dispute it given he will remember Blackpool won one of their first nine league games of the year. They lost twice to Sheffield Wednesday in that period, who were subsequently relegated.
It was not until mid-February Blackpool began to kick on. Crucially, a fortnight before they secured a play-off place, Holloway’s team beat Nottingham Forest 3-1. That teed them up to beat Forest in the play-off semi-final and then defeat Cardiff City 3-2 in a thrilling play-off final at Wembley.
Blackpool were back in the top flight. Few could believe it and none of us thought it would be for very long, given where they’d been in January and the fact Holloway was allowed virtually no money to spend post-promotion. But what an offering Blackpool have placed before us since August. Even if there is a tailing off, or a collapse – unforeseeable now – Holloway deserves to be named manager of the season.
John Obi Mikel
Can someone explain what he does for a living? That may seem like a harsh question to ask of someone who in May was part of the Chelsea team that did the Double, but what has happened to Mikel since? He was once at the centre of a storm between Chelsea, Lyn Oslo and Manchester United that cost the Londoners €18.6 million. He is just 23 but it feels as if he’s been around for a decade. Mikel is part of Chelsea’s recent slump, offering very little when he might be expected to be the side’s new midfield leader. He has become the centre of nothing.
Spain and the Spanish
The notion that Spain is the centre of the football world grew in 2010. Their victory in the first World Cup to be held in Africa gave an indifferent tournament some lustre. David Villa, Xavi and Andres Iniesta excelled. Fernando Torres did not but Spain still had enough to add the global title to their European one from 2008.
Real Madrid added to the magnetic sense of Spanish football when they recruited Jose Mourinho from Champions League winners Inter Milan. Barcelona added to it with some more of their particular brand of the beautiful game. Their dismantling of Real at the end of November was one of the performances of the year, if not the performance.
La Liga
There is a “but” in the claims surrounding Spain and it comes in the shape of the domestic league. The past six Spanish titles have been won by either Barca or Real and this season it will be the same again. Barcelona are 10 points clear of third-placed Villareal, Real Madrid eight points clear. Seven in a row. Does that ring a bell? The unequal division of television money remains so the chance of that sequence being broken anytime soon is slim. The claim is that Spain has become “Scotland with sunshine”. You can see the thinking, though Rangers and Celtic have a bit to find on Barca and Real just now.
Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa
This time last year O’Neill and Villa were harvesting praise. Villa were set to break into the Champions League, they were to reach the final of the League Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup. It seemed like a club and a manager ready to kick on.
Then something happened. The one public explanation we have for O’Neill’s eventual departure was that he was concerned about future investment. Villa were readying themselves for a new economic climate in which the likes of James Milner would be sold to rivals Manchester City.
O’Neill would not tolerate that. In stepped Gerard Houllier but Villa had been destabilised. Now they look like relegation candidates and O’Neill is out of work. It is to be hoped he comes back soon and it would be some story if it were at Nottingham Forest that O’Neill resurfaces.
Billy Davies
Having said that about O’Neill, there is something brilliantly Scottish about Forest’s manager. And Billy Davies is no mug. He and Forest go into 2011 on the back of a 5-2 hammering of their greatest rivals Derby County.
Forest would do well to keep Davies but there is clear friction at the top of the club.
QPR should win the Championship but Cardiff appear vulnerable and there is a chance for several clubs to nip in to secure a second automatic spot. With a bit of investment this month, that could be Forest. As Davies – and O’Neill – would surely agree.
Shay Given
Given was Manchester City’s number one 12 months ago. Now he is Manchester City’s number two. And to say he is unhappy about that is one of the understatements of 2010 and ’11. But what next? Roma have made an enquiry and there is interest from another Premier League club but City have not said yet if a man who will be 35 in April can go. Given fumes as he watches his career stall and the months pass. He has reached a critical point.
Robbie Keane
On a cold night in Kilmarnock last February, Robbie Keane made his on-loan debut for Celtic. It was the transfer sensation of last January, Keane departing Spurs for Scotland, but that old Irish-Celtic thing had some pull and so Keane suddenly found himself part of an attack that also featured Aiden McGeady, Diomansy Kamara and Marc-Antoine Fortune.
Kilmarnock won 1-0. A week earlier Celtic had lost at home to Hibs. Tony Mowbray was soon departing and Keane was back to White Hart Lane. Harry Redknapp is full of praise for Keane but he does not pick him.
Keane’s last Premier League goal was in November 2009. That’s got to hurt. Like Given, Keane has to go. But where?
And for how much? And do you know what I earn where I am?
Leeds United
This weekend last year Leeds won at Old Trafford in the FA Cup thanks to Jermaine Beckford’s toe-poke and Tomasz Kuszczak’s slowness. It made for a glorious start to 2010 for Leeds. The following week they drew at home to Wycombe Wanderers and then lost four games in a row in March. But Leeds got over the line finally and look at them now. Leeds could be back in the Premier League in May. In the FA Cup third round they are away at Arsenal next Saturday. Shades of 2010 in 2011.
