And we are off and running (Part 2)
In France they call it “Le grand depart” when 180 or so bicycle
riders begin their 3000 mile odyssey around the country each year, hundreds and
hundreds of photographers capturing the first push of the pedals. English
football has no such single magic moment in this TV dominated age; “le grand
kick off” being scheduled sporadically as captains shake hands at different
times, on different days and even on different weekends. Incidentally they have
the same situation in French football. Ligue 1 kicked off last Friday, Saturday
and Sunday, thankfully with Neymar missing. However, it is the turn of the Premier
League, the Northern Premier League and the North West Counties League to jump
into action this coming weekend, along with the Manchester Premier,
the West Cheshire and the Cheshire Premier Leagues.
There will be fanfares aplenty on the likes of Sky TV, Radio 5Live and Talk
Sport as well as in the tabloids, all looking to grab their share of the
viewers, listeners and readers as the referees’ whistles blow at 10 grounds
across the country, heralding 9 months of (we hope) action packed football in
the “greatest league in the world”. Last season was uncomfortable for the Red
Rose County as London dominated the Premier
League, leaving the 2 Manchester and the 2 Liverpool clubs in their wake.
Rumours emanating from the “Bridge” and the “Lane” (sorry, Spurs are playing at
Wembley this season) suggest some disharmony so I am extremely confident that
the Premier League pennant will be fluttering over the grey skies of Manchester
in 9 months’ time. The transfer window remains open for another 3 weeks or so
and there is still time for both Guardiola and Mourinho to unveil other
superstars, making predictions even more difficult at this stage. I plumbed for
Manchester City last time out and
although it proved to be an unwise choice, my spare change is going in the same
direction once again. The “Sky Blues” have worked hard to stiffen their
defence, bringing in Ederson, a goalkeeper with great potential from Benfica.
Let us hope that he knows how to stop shots! The manager has off-loaded 4
ageing full-backs and replaced them with Kyle Walker from Tottenham, Benjamin
Mendy from AS Monaco and Danilo from Real Madrid. All three are known for their
attacking prowess but they will need to defend also when, on cold and rainy
afternoons at the Hawthorns, Turf Moor or Selhurst Park, the opposition is
playing Route 1 football. Bernardo Silva has also arrived from Monaco to add
even more craft to the midfield and it will be interesting to see if Aguero and
Jesus can hit it off as a pairing or if the manager will start with one up
front. The attacking potential from full back will also give them even more of
a cutting edge and when on song, they can murder any opposition. Manchester United will not make it easy
for them. By previous standards, United were quite moderate last season with 2
trophies plastering over a variety of cracks. The boss has largely kept his
powder dry so far, spending big on Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic, both with
proven Premier League pedigree from Everton
and Chelsea respectively. The Belgian centre forward would be first choice in most
clubs in world football and Matic will provide a defensive wall in midfield, a
vital signing as Michael Carrick grows ever older. I am certain there will be
more marquee signings before September 2nd to make the Old Trafford side
extremely competitive on all fronts. Liverpool
worry me. Coutinho seems more and more likely to depart, Lallana is out for 2
months and Sturridge is never fully fit. These are the crème de la crème at Anfield
and although Dominic Solanke has obvious potential, Andrew Robertson is a
proper full back and the ex-Chelsea (via Roma) winger Mohamed Salah will offer
pace wide, the Red’s loyal supporters deserve better. The recruitment at
Anfield has been poor in recent years. Klopp needs to move quickly if his team
is going to compete. I suspect that they will struggle to make the top 4 this
time around. Everton, working on a
smaller budget, have been busy, making sensible buys to fill the gaps which
have been apparent for years. Jordan Pickford has enormous potential in goal,
Davy Klassen is yet another off the Ajax production line; a midfielder who can
do everything and Michael Keane could well be the signing of the summer. Wayne
Rooney’s experience will surely help the development of the talented youngsters
coming out of Goodison and Koeman is not afraid to blood them, but with Lukaku
having left and Barkley seemingly certain to follow, one wonders who will
provide the goals. It would not surprise me however if the Toffees won the battle
of Merseyside this season. Heavens knows it has only happened three times in 25
years of Premier League history, 2011-12 and 2012-13 being the last 2
occasions. Having banked £30 million for the sale of Michael Keane, Burnley have so far bought 4 players.
Jonathan Walters, Jack Cork and Phil Bardsley are all hardened professionals
who know their way round this League, but none are young men. It has worked for
Sean Dyche before, particularly when he signed Joey Barton but one cannot help
but think that it will be a long and arduous battle to retain Tier 1 status for
another year. One consolation is that if you had to choose a manager to save
your club, you would pick Dyche, particularly now that Sam Allardyce is out of
the picture. It is always difficult to pick potential winners of leagues down
the pyramid, but the ever improving Warrington Town have an infrastructure capable
of sustaining a long promotion campaign in the Northern Premier League. In Division 1 North, Trafford, once ensconced in the league above, showed consistency
last season and they may be the Red Rose County’s best bet for promotion. City of Liverpool, the new club which is drawing in
the fans, may make it 2 promotions on the bounce from the North West Counties Premier League whilst in NWC Division 1; their close neighbours Litherland REMYCA seem favourites to clinch the title.
Great Red Rose Midfield Players
Our
clubs have produced quality mid-field players by the bucket full since the 2nd
World War, a fact which is reflected in the list below. From the young Duncan
Edwards in the 50s to Steven Gerrard half a century later, top quality English
players have shone through in England shirts. Manchester United have produced 3 magnificent mid-field players to
captain England, Charlton, Robson and Beckham, but there have been outstanding
foreign imports to the Red Rose county also; Alonso, Silva, Souness and Jimmy
McIlroy to name just four. Once again for inclusion, I have looked at those
having played in 150 league games for the club and to have been awarded a
minimum of 10 international caps in that period of time. I have tended to list
modern day wide mid-field players as wingers, so they will appear in a future
blog. The listed caps include international
appearances with other clubs also.
Blackburn
Rovers: Ronnie Clayton (England 35 caps), Tugay Kerimoglu (Turkey 94 caps).
Blackpool:
Allan Brown
(Scotland 14 caps), Alan Ball (England 72 caps). James Quinn
(Northern Ireland 50 caps)
Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles; 2 of the most tenacious players of their day
Bolton Wanderers: Per Frandsen
(Denmark 23 caps), Lee Chung-yong (South Korea 76 caps).
Burnley: Jimmy McIlroy
(Northern Ireland 55 caps)) Brian Flynn (Wales 66 caps) Scott Arfield (Canada
11 caps).
Everton: Peter Farrell
(Republic of Ireland 35 caps), Alan Ball (England 72 caps), Peter Reid (England
13 caps), Kevin Sheedy (Republic of Ireland 46 caps), Trevor Steven (England 36
caps), Thomas Gravesen (Denmark 66 caps), Lee Carsley (Republic of Ireland 40
caps), Tim Cahill (Australia 100 caps), Steven Pienaar (South Africa 61 caps),
Ross Barkley (England 22 caps)
Liverpool: Gordon Milne
(England 14 caps), Terry McDermott (England 25 caps), Ray Kennedy (England 17
caps), Sammy Lee (England 14 caps), Graeme Souness (Scotland 54 caps), Ronnie
Whelan (Republic of Ireland 53 caps), Jan Molby (Denmark 33 caps), Steve
McMahon (England 17 caps), Ray Houghton (Republic of Ireland 73 caps), Steve
McManaman (England 37 caps), Jamie Rednapp (England 17 caps), Steven Gerrard
(England 114 caps), Xabi Alonso (Spain 114 caps), Dietmar Hamann (Germany 59
caps), Lucas Leiva (Brazil 24 caps), Jordan Henderson (England 32 caps),
Manchester City: Colin Bell (England
48 caps), Asa Hartford (Scotland 50 caps), David Silva (Spain 113 caps), Yaya
Toure (Ivory Coast 100 caps),
Manchester United; Henry Cockburn
(England 13 caps), Duncan Edwards (England 18 caps), Bobby Charlton (England
106 caps), Nobby Stiles (England 28 caps), Pat Crerand (Scotland 16 caps),
Sammy McIlroy (Northern Ireland 88 caps), Ray Wilkins (England 84 caps), Bryan
Robson (England 90 caps), Gordon Strachan 50 caps), Brian McClair (Scotland 30
caps), Paul Ince (England 53 caps), David Beckham (England 115 caps), Nicky
Butt (England 39 caps), Roy Keane (Republic of Ireland 67 caps), Paul Scholes
(England 66 caps), Darren Fletcher (Scotland 78 caps), Michael Carrick (England
34 caps),
Wigan
Athletic: Lee McCulloch (Scotland 18 caps),
Oldham
Athletic: Gunnar Halle (Norway 56 caps),
Performances of the last week
The Championship stole the headlines, Preston North End
making it an opening day to remember with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield
Wednesday. PNE were dominant, winning it from the penalty spot when Daniel
Johnson converted after Jordan Hugill had been fouled in front of an impressive
18,267 spectators. Sadly Bolton Wanderers could not repeat the performance.
They twice scored home goals against Leeds United through Madine and Le Fondre
but conceded 3, thus starting the season in the relegation zone. Seven Red Rose
clubs will bring excitement to League 1 this season but Saturday brought 4
defeats and 3 wins. Worryingly Blackburn Rovers lost 2-1 at Southend United
and Oldham
Athletic 2-0 at home to Oxford United. Both Blackpool and Rochdale
had difficult away fixtures, unsurprisingly going down to Bradford City (2-1)
and Portsmouth (2-0) respectively. On the credit side, Wigan Athletic won 1-0 at Milton
Keynes Dons; a 10 aside game for the last half hour and Lee Clarke will be
delighted following Bury’s 1-0 win over Walsall where the Shakers
missed 2 penalties but the much travelled Jason Beckford scored the winner. The
most notable display came from Fleetwood Town, easing to a 2-0 win over the
relegated Rotherham United. Star striker David Ball, sold to Rotherham during
the summer, lined up against them, but it was replacement Conor McAleny,
recently arrived at Highbury on a free transfer from Everton, who received the plaudits with a double salvo which has
given Uwe Rosler’s side the perfect start. Accrington Stanley started the new League 2
season with a comfortable 3-1 win over Colchester United. The newly signed
striker Kayden Jackson was on the score sheet early before old hands Billy Kee
and Omar Beckles put the Reds out of sight, Colchester grabbing a late
consolation goal. It was the ideal start, Stanley carrying on from where they
left off last spring. AFC Fylde’s
debut in the National League was
rescued for the 1641 spectators at Moss Farm by Jonny Smith, on loan from
Bristol City, who smashed in a thunderbolt to earn them a 2-2 draw against Borehamwood.
The result of the day in the National League 1 North was at Curzon Ashton where Max Leonard, a close
season signing from Glossop, put them 2 up within 10 minutes against the
relegated North Ferriby, two second half goals seeing them to a 4-0 victory. There
were a number of excellent performances in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round. North West Counties League 1 Litherland REMYCA
scored twice in the second half without reply to defeat NWC Premier League neighbours AFC Liverpool
with 312 spectators watching live plus many more who viewed the game on a live
stream from the BBC Sports web site. Other sides to progress were West Didsbury & Chorlton, 5-0 winners at Athersley
Recreation (Tom Bailey netting twice), Burscough, 3-0
winners at AFC Emley, Barnoldswick Town, Abbey Hey, City of Liverpool
(2-1 winners at Padiham), Maine Road and Ashton Athletic,
4-0 winners at Squires Gate with Joel Brownhill
notching a hat-trick. The West Lancs League opened
with newly promoted Haslingden St Mary’s making
an encouraging start, thumping Garstang 3-0 via a John
Ollett double.
Games to look forward to this week
The attention of the whole world switches
to the Premier League at weekend and
4 of our Red Rose clubs will be in action on Saturday. Manchester City, my tip for the top honours this coming season, travel
to the Brighton in the game of the day at 17.30. They should surely win this
fixture but newly promoted clubs have a habit of making fast starts, even
though the initial velocity generally dissipates after two or three games. City
will therefore have to tread cautiously to enable the new defenders to gel in
this, their first competitive outing, before finally taking hold of the game
and returning north with 3 points. Top billing in the Championship goes to Preston North End
who cross the Pennines to take on Leeds United. Both clubs made winning starts
last Saturday, the White Rose side winning at Bolton Wanderers, whereas Preston
won their Battle of the Roses, defeating Sheffield Wednesday at Deepdale. North
End performed well at home last season but were somewhat indifferent on their
travels, hence a mid-table finish. Can new manager Alex Neil give them the
confidence to stride out in the fiery furnace which is Elland Road and take
control of the game? It seems too early in the season for a local derby but two
of our in form League
1 sides clash at the DW Stadium. Wigan Athletic won at MK Dons
and Bury
had too much for Walsall last weekend. Both clubs were active in the transfer
market in the close season, each one signing up a completely new eleven and
more. It is early days yet of course but a win for either of our sides on
Sunday afternoon will probably propel them to the top of the league. Morecambe
cross the country from west to east to play Lincoln City on Saturday, buoyed
with the 3 points gained in their opening fixture against Cheltenham Town. The
Imps captured everyone’s attention last winter with a run to the 6th
Round of the FA Cup, in spite of being a non-league club. With a National
League Championship now under their belt, they could prove tough opposition for
the Shrimps in this League 2 game. Barrow
competed well against promotion favourites Dagenham and Redbridge last weekend
before being edged out 2-1 and they have the opportunity to put points on the
board when Woking travel north for a National League
encounter on Saturday. Chorley made a magnificent start to the
season, winning at the former Football League club Kidderminster Harriers. On
Saturday they host Curzon Ashton, fresh from thrashing North
Ferriby 4-0 in a National League North encounter. The Lancastrians will have
promotional ambitions this season, but for Curzon, it is an opportunity to show
that last weekend’s star performance was not a flash in the pan. The Northern
Premier League kicks off on Saturday and newly promoted Lancaster City
have an intriguing game against a well-established Buxton side; a game which
will tell us much about the Dolly Blues’ chances of consolidating their
position in this league. With only two promotion places from Division 1 each
season, Lancaster will not want to waste all of last season’s blood, sweat and
tears by being thrown into a relegation battle from the beginning of this new
campaign. In Division 1 North,
relegated Skelmersdale United have a
tough away fixture against Brighouse Town. The West Yorkshire outfit performed
well last season and Skem need a strong start to prevent a repeat of last year’s
sorry debacle when relegation was confirmed well before the end of the season.
In the North West Counties Premier League, Padiham welcome one-time non-league giants Northwich
Victoria. The Vics have regularly been relegated for off the field indiscretions
in recent years and it will be interesting to see how they cope against a
competent Tier 9 opponent such as the Storks. Finally in Division 1, Prestwich
Heys, who performed well in their first season back at this level, are
at home to the relegated Cammel Laird, The Wirral side looked to be in good
shape in the FA Cup last week, battering South Yorkshire’s Maltby Main 4-1 and they
could be difficult opposition on Saturday.
Quiz of the Week (Answers at the foot of the Blog)
1
The oldest player to
appear in the Premier League was in May 1995 when goalkeeper John Burridge
turned out for which Red Rose County club?
2
How many Red Rose
County clubs have actually competed in the Premier League since its inception
in 1992?
3
Which Red Rose
County club became the first in 1979 to have a sponsor’s name on their shirts?
The sponsor was Hitachi.
4
Which manager did
Manchester United sack, 2 days after winning the FA Cup in 2016?
5
Which Premier League
club has a badge with a centre feature of a “lock up” (prison cell) with the
Latin inscription “Nil satis nisi optimum”?
6
Liam Feeney, now
starting his second permanent season at Ewood Park, has also made 78
appearances for which other Red Rose County club?
7
In 2009, Wade
Elliott scored the winning goal at Wembley in a Championship Play-Off final for
which club?
8
Since 1888, Notts
County have played more Football league games than any other club. Which Red
Rose County club is in second place?
9
French international
full back Pascal Chimbonda was selected in the 2005-06 PFA Team of the Season
whilst playing for which Red Rose County club?
Pascal Chimbonda in his days at Tottenham
Hotspur
10
Which footballer has
played for Newcastle United, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United?
Post Weekend Musings
Further to last week’s chart concerning the number of "Players Provided" per club who have
represented England, here is a different take on the statistics. This shows the
number of "Caps gained" in total by players
from each club. The results are somewhat different.
Ranking
|
Club
|
From
when to when
|
Caps
gained
|
Ranking
by Players Provided
|
1
|
Manchester United
|
1905 – 2017
|
1245
|
6
|
2
|
Liverpool
|
1897 – 2017
|
1104
|
4
|
3
|
Tottenham Hotspur
|
1903 – 2017
|
891
|
1
|
4
|
Arsenal
|
1906 – 2017
|
876
|
7
|
5
|
Chelsea
|
1907 – 2017
|
586
|
10
|
6
|
Everton
|
1890 – 2016
|
505
|
5
|
7
|
Manchester City
|
1904 – 2017
|
500
|
9
|
8
|
West Ham United
|
1911 – 2017
|
417
|
13
|
9
|
Aston Villa
|
1888 – 2015
|
408
|
3
|
10
|
Blackburn Rovers
|
1880 – 2012
|
322
|
8
|
Other current Red Rose County clubs
and their positions
23
|
Blackpool
|
1923 - 1966
|
147
|
36
|
28
|
Preston North End
|
1887 – 2007
|
121
|
34
|
29
|
Bolton Wanderers
|
1885 - 2011
|
120
|
22
|
34
|
Burnley
|
1889 -2017
|
88
|
23
|
67
|
Bury
|
1899 - 1927
|
11
|
50
|
72
|
Wigan Athletic
|
2006 - 2008
|
8
|
78
|
82
|
Oldham Athletic
|
1911 - 1981
|
6
|
62
|
The early rounds of the League Cup always throw up surprising
results, the unpredictability often caused by managers being reluctant to play
their best elevens. I accept their argument that the League has to be their
number 1 priority and that it gives opportunities to squad players currently
not making the starting line-up. However, the opportunity for a club to mix in
classier company is good for morale, it can also be financially beneficial and
I have always believed that a couple of wins in whatever competition can
improve confidence levels no end. Therefore wins on Tuesday for Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic, Rochdale and
in particular Accrington
Stanley, the latter claiming the scalp of Preston North End in front of close
to an unheard of gate of 3,000, will have lifted the spirits of the fans and
have the Financial Directors rubbing their hands with glee, even if the
managers have to contemplate yet another game in an already congested fixture
list.
Quiz Answers: 1 Manchester
City, 2 Ten, 3 Liverpool, 4 Louis van Gaal, 5 Everton, 6 Bolton Wanderers, 7 Burnley,
8 Preston North End, 9 Wigan Athletic, 10 Michael Owen.
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