Month: October 2015

Editorial

The Curious Incident of José and the Third Season – Mourinho, the Third Season and his potential Replacements

Earlier this season I wrote a piece about the depth of both City’s and Chelsea’s squad hampering either team mounting a serious challenge for the League this year. Who was going to be the team that was going to dominate opposition like the Chelsea of yesteryear? City, despite the injury of Aguero seem alright at present but Chelsea are a different kettle of fish. Where to begin with Chelsea. The Chelsea of last year, whose performances from August until that festive fixture car crash of a defeat at White Hart Lane were truly spelling-binding, brushing sides away like lower league opposition. Whilst their form curtailed through the second half of the season they sauntered to the league title. No one could have predicted this, predicted this opening to their title defence. 10 games played. 11 points collected. More defeats in the opening 2 months of this term than all of last season (5 already in 15/16 compared to the 3 in the entirety of last season). Why does the 3rd season under Mourinho’s tenure really dislike the man so much? Continue reading “The Curious Incident of José and the Third Season – Mourinho, the Third Season and his potential Replacements”

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Football’s ‘Holiday Season’ and the International Break

At last the dark days are over. The ‘International Football Holiday Season’ is now over. We can emerge from the wilderness that had plagued the previous weekend to re-join the throng of the domestic football pleasure bus this coming Saturday.

Platini’s ‘WEEK OF INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL EXTRAVAGANZA’  was meant to bring the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign back to life, back to the centre of the footballing world and for me personally it has provided quite the opposite, a nice little break away from football. Playing games from Thursday to Tuesday has sort of been like going to Centre Parcs (other destinations/camps in the wood are available) for a long weekend away. In a world where Easter and Christmas in this country are dominated by the festive fixtures, welcome to football’s very own ‘Holiday Season’. Continue reading “Football’s ‘Holiday Season’ and the International Break”

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‘A Night under Lights’ – Oxford Utd vs. Swindon Town, 2nd round JPT, 6/10/15

Nothing particularly beats a good old night under lights with the football. The mid-week fixture that breaks up the week’s monotony more effectively than Patrick Viera breaking up play in 2003. The JPT is a strange trophy only consisting of League 1 and 2 sides, broken up geographically according to that political lion’s den of ‘north’ and ‘south’ (somewhere around Birmingham I guess), in a straight knock out like any good old cup competition. How seriously the JPT is taken is anyone’s guess bar for the most ardent and informed fan involved but derby games always brings about a certain zest to any fixture. Continue reading “‘A Night under Lights’ – Oxford Utd vs. Swindon Town, 2nd round JPT, 6/10/15”

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Reaction: The Sacking of Brendan Rodgers

Wow. There I am about to sit down eat my dinner after working today and it broke. Brendan had gone. Pushed at the start of the international break, that two week period where certain managers will be worried when the phone rings. I’d missed the Merseyside Derby but thought initially a 1-1 draw at Goodison was an ok result for Liverpool against an in-form Everton side on a massive high after their comeback win against West Brom. Yet now Brendan has been pushed at the start of October. The surprise perhaps for me is the timing. Continue reading “Reaction: The Sacking of Brendan Rodgers”

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