Number 24 April 3 2017
Big Sam; a case of what might have been
I always look on Sam Allardyce as one of ours even though he
was a West Midlands lad, possibly because much of his playing and managerial
career was in the Red Rose County, He made over 290 league appearances with
Bolton and subsequently Preston, a moustachioed, macho defender who either headed
the ball or the centre forward or preferably both a long way. He later
commenced his fledgling coaching and managing career at Preston and then
Blackpool. He was extremely successful at Bolton for almost 7 years, taking
them out of Tier 2 and into the Premier League, to Wembley for the League Cup
Final and into the Europe. He later worked at Blackburn for 2 seasons, saving
them from relegation and giving the club stability before being sacked by the
Venkys, allegedly because they found his tactical approach too negative. Since
then he has continued to be regarded as a manager who can save clubs from the
drop and then steady the ship. He did so at West Ham, completed the first part
of the task at Sunderland and is now performing miracles at Crystal Palace. All
of this begs the question, what would have happened if he had not allowed himself
to become entrapped by Daily Telegraph journalists, being forced to resign from
the England job after just 1 game? I have been impressed so far by the work of
Gareth Southgate who appears to be a very honest, intelligent and hard-working
manager who will hopefully bring success in Russia next year. But Allardyce has
special qualities; different than the self-styled “Special one” at Old Trafford
but special nonetheless. He has managed at 11 different clubs over a period of
25 years, each one inherited with problems galore yet never once been
relegated. I could have foreseen him marching his squad into Moscow,
steadfastly refusing to even think about defeat, defending in depth and coming
through the group stages of the World Cup. He would have set the side up to
withstand wave after wave of attacks from German, Brazilian, Italian or Uruguayan
hordes and probably conjured something up from set plays to take us into the
very late stages of a World Cup for the first time 1990. This is his stock-in-trade;
this is what he does week in and week out. It would not have been pretty but
damned effective; often the antithesis of an England performance. Of course all
this is mere speculation because we will never know, but there are clues in
Crystal Palace’s game plan at Stamford Bridge last Saturday. A master class in
defensive strategy from the maestro.
Blackpool FC; their Finest Hour
Blackpool was never a Lancashire
footballing giant; the cotton mill towns were the pioneers of the professional
game and the club did not join the Football League until 1896. For the next 40
years, Blackpool was recognised as a 2nd Division side. Despite a brief
excursion into the 1st Division in 1930, they only became an
established “top club” in 1937 in the early part of Joe Smith’s 23 year tenure
as manager. This was Blackpool’s golden era. With Stanley Matthews (signed from
Stoke City in 1947) creating havoc on the right wing and setting up goal after goal
for the voracious Stan Mortensen, the Tangerines reached 3 FA Cup Finals. They
won the legendary “Matthews final” in 1953 and were league runners-up to the
“Busby Babes” 3 season’s later. By 1961, the gloss was fading and the “wizard
of the dribble” was sold back to Stoke at 46 years of age. They somehow
retained Tier 1 status until 1967 when the inevitable relegation occurred. For
the next 43 years there were more downs than ups with 20 different permanent
(!!) managerial appointments. By 2009 Ian Holloway was at the helm. With his
winning (albeit quirky) personality, he persuaded the Board to pay a record
£500,000 for the mercurial Glasgow Rangers’ star Charlie Adam. The Scot notched
16 league goals and Brett Ormerod also reached double figures. There were a
number of journeyman professionals who were stalwarts of the side including
Matthew Gilks, Alex Baptiste, Ian Evatt, Stephen Crainey, David Vaughan, Keith
Southern and Gary Taylor-Fletcher. Everton’s Seamus Coleman also featured 9
times on loan. Blackpool sneaked into the play-offs in 6th position
with a home 1-1 draw v Bristol City and was drawn to meet Notts Forest in the
semi-final Play-Off. A 2-1 home win was followed by an amazing 4-3 win at the
City ground, on loan DJ Campbell scoring a hat-trick. The Play-Off final against
Cardiff City was so typically “Blackpudlian”; a roller coaster with the
Lancashire club leading 3-2 at half-time. An inevitable Adam free kick, a Taylor-Fletcher
header and Ormerod, with what turned out to be the winner, did the damage; the
second half remaining goalless. The club had set a record as the first to gain
promotion from each Division of the Football League via the Play-Offs. The
Golden Mile was packed on their return but despite a valiant effort, the
Premier League was just too tough and since then it has been downhill all the
way. 2009-10 was not quite Matthews vintage, but it was their finest hour for
50 years.
Charlie
Adam; his left-footed magic illuminated Blackpool’s Golden Mile
Performances of the last week
The preliminaries before the 196th Merseyside derby
were littered with moans from Klopp and Koeman about wounded players returning
from International games. As it was, Liverpool
coped far better with the situation (if one ever existed) and ran out
comfortable 3-1 winners in this vital Premier League encounter, the goals coming from
Mane, the influential Coutinho and Origi. Fourth place is still a potential
scenario but Everton, for whom
Matthew Pennington scored his first goal, now look like Europa League
contenders.
It is stretching things to say that Manchester City are in the running for performance of the weekend
but when only 2 out of 18 Red Rose County clubs from Tiers 1-5 actually won, a 2-2 draw at the Etihad cannot be
sniffed at. It was actually a poor result for both clubs and, short of winning
at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening; City surely cannot be Premier League
champions. Even more worrying is that Spurs are now 4 points clear in 2nd
place, but let us celebrate the fact that City led twice through Sane and
Aguero and created the best chances. We will ignore their failure to hold a
lead once again.
Accrington Stanley stretched their unbeaten run to 12
games in League
2 with a 2-0 home win over Cambridge United, followed by a
magnificent 1-0 victory at 2nd placed Plymouth Argyle. The deadly
“Mac” duo, Sean McConville and Shay McCartan were the goal scorers against
Cambridge and Jordan Clark notched for the first time at Home Park. Marek
Rodak, the Slovakian loanee goalkeeper from Fulham was the Stanley hero as they
completely eased any relegation worries, even giving themselves a faint sniff
of the Play-Offs.
AFC Fylde returned to form by crushing highly
rated Darlington 4-1 in the National League North, with Danny Rowe taking his
total to 44 for the season. Another 9 points from 5 games will ensure that
Fylde are Champions. Encouraging results for Salford City and Chorley
enabled them both to consolidate their positions in the Play-Offs. The Ammies struggled
to beat bottom placed Altrincham 2-1 to stay 4th, but Jason Walker
struck twice in Chorley’s 4-0 thrashing of relegation threatened Gainsborough
Trinity to return to 5th place.
In the Northern Premier League, Ryan Crowther scored
twice as Ashton United defeated
Corby Town 3-1 whilst Warrington Town
won 2-0 at Barwell to keep their Play-Off hopes alive. In the NPL League 1
North, Lancaster City
slipped one point behind Farsley Celtic at the top, albeit with a game in hand.
They lost 2-1 at home to Colne, who
can now be classed as legitimate contenders. Clitheroe, 1-0 winners at Goole, can still join them.
364 spectators witnessed a rare defeat for Atherton Collieries, narrowly losing
1-0 to title rivals Runcorn Linnets as the Cheshire side move into top spot in the
North West
Counties Premier. Bootle
drew 1-1 at 1874 Northwich to stay 3rd. Nelson’s Sebastian Julian scored all 5 in his side’s 5-1 victory at
AFC Liverpool, the real newsworthy
item of the week. In Division 1, Charnock Richard won 2-1 at Alsager, giving themselves a
favourite’s chance of silverware, particularly as leaders Litherland REMYCA lost by the same margin to Silsden. Bacup Borough gained a rare victory,
2-1 v Stockport Town in front of just 32 spectators.
Games to look forward to this week
Following Chelsea’s shock home defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, all eyes return to Stamford Bridge once more this Wednesday as the leaders play host to challengers Manchester City. Chelsea’s shock home defeat to Crystal Palace has at least robbed them of the “invincible” tag, but it will probably make them work even harder against the Sky Blues. Their attacking quartet of Aguero, de Bruyne, Sane and Sterling will keep the West Londoners’ defence busy but City’s problem is a lack of quality at the other end of the pitch. If Hazard, Costa and co hit it off, it is difficult to invent a scenario where the Etihad side can win. Even if they do, they will need other clubs to take points from Chelsea and Spurs.
It really is now or never for Championship side Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as they
welcome visitors Barnsley to Ewood Park. The Rovers lost narrowly at
high-flying Brighton on Saturday and travel to contenders Reading on Tuesday
evening where points will be hard to come by. It has been a difficult season for Tony Mowbray’s side
but at least he keeps a settled eleven which is always competitive. But at this
stage of the season, it is the 3 point gains which keep you up and this can be
the only acceptable result against the Tykes.
Craig Conway; always
gives everything for Blackburn Rovers
The one point gained at home by Bolton Wanderers against 23rd placed Chesterfield was
disappointing in front of a 23,000 plus attendance, but they are still in pole
position for automatic promotion in League 1. Their visit to rivals Scunthorpe
United could still be pivotal to the final placings although a 7 point cushion
over nearest rivals Fleetwood Town is
always comforting with just 6 games to play.
Blackpool performed well at Luton on Saturday
in League 1
before conceding an injury time winner. The defeat has pushed them just outside
the Play-Off places, making Saturday’s home game with Grimsby Town an
extremely important fixture. The Mariners are safe down in 14th
place in their first season back in the Football League so this should be a
home banker. The Tangerines as ever will give it everything, but it has to be a
3 point haul.
Quiz of the Week (Answers at the foot of the Blog)
Each question has a Red Rose County connection
1 Which is the only club to have been founder members of the Football League and Premier League and be champions of both?
2
Who was the only
Liverpool player to start for England v Germany in the ’96 Euro semi Final?
3
Who was the Everton
player who chased Diego Maradona in vain when the superstar scored his brilliant
individual goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter final?
4
Daniel Sturridge
played 16 league games for which Premier League club prior to leaving them for
Chelsea in 2009 as a 19 year old?
5
Which is the only
Red Rose County club to have won the Football League Trophy this Millennium,
doing so in both 2002 and 2004?
6
The current manager
of which Red Rose County club played at right back in the 1997 League Cup Final
for Leicester City, winners over Middlesbrough at Wembley?
7
From which Red Rose
County club did Tottenham Hotspur sign Kieron Trippier for £3.5 million in
2016?
8
Which is the only
Red Rose County club that Steve Bruce has managed?
Steve Bruce; a formidable centre back in
his Manchester United days
9
Billy Kee is the
leading goal scorer this season for which Red Rose County Football League club?
10
Who was the last
Frenchman to score for Manchester United in an FA Cup Final?
Post Weekend Musings
With
the end of the season looming ever nearer, there are some vital Non-League
games this weekend. National League
side Barrow have slipped out of the
Play-Off places again following a defeat at Maidstone and must beat the much
improved Woking to keep their season alive. In National League North, a Salford City victory at mid-table
Harrogate Town will consolidate 4th place. Marine are edging towards safety in the Northern Premier League and a
win over Mickleover Sports will enhance their prospects, whilst in 4th
place in the Northern
Premier League North, Trafford
must beat Kendal Town to hold Colne
and Ossett Town at bay. Atherton
Collieries travel down to a faltering AFC
Liverpool on Friday evening in the North West Counties Premier, desperate not to
drop any more points at the summit of the league. Finally in NWC League 1,
City of Liverpool has a tricky
fixture at Alsager Town as they attempt to hunt down Litherland REMYCA at the top of the table
I hated Ronald Koeman in 1993 when he rugby tackled David
Platt in a crucial World Cup qualifying game in Rotterdam. England had to win
to qualify, Platt was clean through and Koeman cynically hauled him down on the
edge of the penalty area. The referee only gave him a yellow card and England a
free kick from which they failed to score. Moments later, the Dutch gained a
free kick in a similar position and Koeman (who should not have been on the
field) chipped it over the wall and into the net. England failed to reach the
1994 finals in the USA and Graham Taylor was sacked. Now 24 years later, the
blonde haired Dutchman is annoying me again. He has been around long enough as
a manager to know that players can return injured from International duty. It
goes with the territory and the clubs have 25 man squads as a minimum, so what
is the fuss? Was it a case of making his excuses early, because Everton were well beaten by Liverpool? Poetic justice some would
say!
David Platt; scoring a penalty v
Spain in the ’96 Euros at Wembley
Rotherham United from Tier 2 are
the first to be relegated so it is time to look at Red Rose County clubs from
Tiers 1 to 10 which are now in danger of the drop. No relegation fears for
Tiers 4 and 6.
Tier 1 Burnley (possibly). Tier 2 Wigan Athletic (probably), Blackburn Rovers (50/50). Tier 3 Oldham Athletic and Bury (both possibly). Tier 5 Southport (definitely). Tier 7 Marine (just possibly), Skelmersdale United (relegated). Tier 8 Burscough
(probably), Prescot Cables (possibly),
Mossley (just possibly). Tier 9 Nelson (probably), AFC Darwen and Squires Gate (both
just possibly). Tier 10 Ashton
Town (definitely), Atherton LR (possibly),
AFC Blackpool (just possibly).
Red Rose County Player of the Week
Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool
He is the class act at Anfield. After taking time to recover from injury, the little Brazilian is back to his best. With the game level at 1-1, he beat 2 Everton defenders and curled the ball into the net. Then using a level of skill normally only seen on the bridge of a 2nd World War battleship, he plotted a route for his pass to Origi who put the result beyond doubt. It was a performance of consummate skill from possibly the finest technician in the Premier League.
Tier 10 Club of the Week
City of Liverpool FC
It is rare for a club to be involved in Tier 10 football
immediately on formation, but this is the case with City of Liverpool FC. The club was founded in 2015 in readiness for
this current season, the raison d’etre being that the city of Liverpool needed a
third club of substance to play within the city boundary. It is funded by
members, totalling well over 1000 at the last count. That success has been
replicated on the pitch as they currently stand in 2nd place, joint
favourites to be automatically promoted. Success however has been less easy in
finding a venue within Liverpool. The city is infamous for its lack of enclosed
grounds and the club has had to ground share with Tier 9 club Bootle in the Borough of Sefton. Their
support, averaging over 400 per game is outstanding for this level of football
and their loyal travelling support has massively boosted the gate at every away
game. They are exceedingly proud of representing Liverpool and their badge and
strip is heavily purple, the traditional colour of the city. With this level of
support and hopefully a local ground, progress could continue on the pitch; a
tribute to the hard work and business acumen of the founders.
Quiz
Answers
1 Blackburn
Rovers, 2 Steve McManaman, 3 Peter Reid, 4 Manchester City, 5 Blackpool,
6 Simon
Grayson, 7 Burnley, 8 Wigan Athletic, 9 Accrington Stanley, 10 Eric Cantona,
