Updates from Michael Coxon RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Michael Coxon 8:27 am on April 17, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Alex Song, Antonio Valencia, Clint Dempsey, David Silva, , , Michel Vorm, , PFA Player of the Year, , Scott Parker, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany,   

    Alternative Player of the Year nominations 

    The PFA Player of the Year nominations were announced yesterday afternoon and, as usual, they show that footballers might not be the brightest bunch. While not helped by the fact they vote for the thing in February it seems to be another year of reputation ahead of achievement. Obviously some of the nominees deserve it but here’s a run down of who’s up for the prize:

    • Robin van Persie – a no brainer and the undoubted eventual winner.
    • David Silva – fantastic until January, slightly off the pace since then
    • Joe Hart – another solid season although, as the Sunderland game showed, even he’s not infallible
    • Sergio Aguero – an impressive first season although, like Silva, he’s quietened post-Christmas
    • Wayne Rooney – a quietly good, and surprisingly disciplined, season for the United man
    • Scott Parker – the media will be happy…has he even been Spurs best player?

    So who’s missing? Any of the following, that’s who!

    Vincent Kompany (instead of…Robin van Persie)

    RVP has been the best striker in the league this season but what of the best defender? Vincent Kompany has been nothing short of excellent all season. He’s far and away City’s most important player (as shown by their performances in his absence) and deserves all the plaudits he receives. He’d be a worthy captain to lift the Premier League trophy, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen yeah?

    Antonio Valencia (instead of…David Silva)

    While David Silva was the creative star of the first half of the season Antonio Valencia has been the star of the second. Inexplicably he’s able to tear full backs apart despite only having one foot to kick with, a foot that was nearly ripped clean off against Rangers last season. A true old school winger, United fans love him and only partly because he never smiles.

    Papiss Cisse/Demba Ba (instead of…Sergio Aguero)

    If we’re talking strikers impressing in their first full season in the Premier League then Demba Ba has to be near the top of the list. Before Christmas he was a machine despite having very dodgy knees…and then the African Cup of Nations came. Since then, Ba’s only managed to find the net once. But that hasn’t bothered the Geordies, as another Senegalese goal machine has stepped into the breach. You can’t really split the two for their contribution to Newcastle’s fantastic over-achievement this season so I’d give them a joint nomination.

    Michel Vorm (instead of…Joe Hart)

    Swansea have had an awful lot of praise this season for avoiding the relegation dog fight and playing some lovely football, but it’s their goalkeeper who has formed the base of much of their good form. Vorm was relatively unknown in this country before this season despite being Holland’s number two goalkeeper at the 2010 World Cup but there’s not many people who don’t know him any more. Apparently United, Arsenal and Spurs are sniffing around him now which shows just what an excellent job he’s done…and what an eye for talent Brendan Rodgers has.

    Alex Song (instead of…Scott Parker)

    I like Scott Parker. I think he should be England captain at Euro 2012. But really, has he been THAT good this season? Tottenham have struggled since February and that’s been mirrored by Arsenal excelling and overtaking them in the league. For me, if you’re talking about a defensive midfielder then it has to be Alex Song. Tough tackler, great passer of the ball and the unsung hero in an Arsenal team that, back in September, looked destined for mid table.

    Clint Dempsey (instead of…Wayne Rooney)

    Wayne Rooney probably hasn’t got the credit he deserves this season from the press or the United fans, however I wouldn’t even say he’s been in United’s top five players this year (Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Evans, Ferdinand in case you were wondering). Clint Dempsey on the other hand is the archetypal under rated player in the Premier League. He’s scored a hatful of goals, mainly from midfield, and contributed a fair few assists on top of that. A big money move beckons in the summer but you do wonder why nobody took the chance three years ago when he was playing equally well?

     

  • Michael Coxon 3:30 pm on March 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

     

    • Michael Coxon 3:32 pm on March 27, 2012 Permalink

      And no, uploading youtube videos doesn’t seem to agree with me…

    • Dan Silver 3:40 pm on March 27, 2012 Permalink

      Put it up as a Blog Post and not as a Status Update you muppet!!

  • Michael Coxon 8:16 am on March 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Fraser Forster, , Scott Carson   

    Mike’s Euro 2012 Squad: The Goalkeepers 

    Back in November a few members of the Pubcast team predicted their starting XIs for England’s first game at the Euros. Here’s a little reminder of who we picked…

    Mike: Hart; Smalling, Cole, Terry, Jones; Wilshere, Parker; Milner, Gerrard, Young; Welbeck
    Si: Hart; Richards, Jagielka, Jones; Parker, Wilshere, Gerrard; Walcott, Bent, Young
    Sean: Hart; Richards, Cole, Lescott, Jagielka; Walcott, Parker, Wilshere, Milner; Young; Bent

    It makes for a interesting read now. Only Joe Hart, Jack Wilshere, Scott Parker and Ashley Young featured in every XI (I knew I should have gone for Scott Carson…), but my how things have changed in the last 5 months.

    John Terry being stripped of the captaincy was followed by Fabio Capello resigning and Stuart Pearce stepping into the breach. By the time May comes round we may have Psycho in charge, we may have ‘Arry, we may have someone else completely (I’m sticking a fiver on a Peter Reid/Bryan Robson dream team). Internal politics aside, Darren Bent is presumably going to miss out thanks to injury and Jack Wilshere is yet to play a minute of competitive football this season.

    So…I’m going to take another crack at guessing who the team will be when we step out against France, starting with the goalkeeper…

    Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

    Joe Hart hasn’t looked the assured, top class goalkeeper we know and (for England at least) love in recent weeks. A few flaps against Holland, a mistake against Sporting, giving away (and to be fair subsequently saving) a penalty against Swansea. However, it would probably take him to lose the use of both arms and one leg before someone else had a realistic chance of taking his place in Polkeraine (and even then I’d still play him over Scott Carson).

    Behind him it’s more interesting. To be fair to Scott Carson he’s had a good season in Turkey, with Bursaspor 7th in the league but holders of the 2nd best defensive record. But is the Turkish league really that high a standard, especially bearing in mind Turkey didn’t manage to qualify for the tournament. My suggested back up keepers we Rob Green, who’s done a decent job in the Championship for West Ham, and John Ruddy from Norwich. Rob Green has had his problems in the past at international level and hasn’t played top flight football for a year while Ruddy has been in goal for the worst defence outside of the bottom five – not exactly filling you with confidence should the worst happen to Joe Hart is it?

    The alternatives are few and far between. Fraser Forster, on loan at Celtic from Newcastle, has had a fine season in the SPL and might be worth a look. Paul Robinson is apparently interested in leaving international exile now Capello has left and Ben Foster might consider a call as well but do we really want someone who takes his ball and goes home when they’re not selected? David Stockdale still hasn’t managed to get ahead of octogenarian goalkeeping machine Mark Schwarzer at Fulham and Frank Fielding of Derby has no experience of top class football. Of our under 21 goalkeepers, Jason Steele of Middlesbrough plays regularly at club level but only has one cap for the youth side and Ben Amos is only third choice at Manchester United.

    All in all, a sorry bunch. I’m happy for Man City to have plenty of bad luck between now and the end of the season, I just hope it isn’t in the goalkeeping department.

    My selection: Joe Hart, Fraser Forster, Scott Carson

     

  • Michael Coxon 2:47 pm on March 12, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Haifa,   

    It’s a couple of weeks old now but here’s a classic from a recent friendly between Maccabi Haifa and Dynamo Kiev…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt5B3ItEMKc

     

    • footballpubcast 8:37 pm on March 14, 2012 Permalink

      Please learn how to post a link correctly Mike… it’s really not that hard

  • Michael Coxon 2:39 pm on January 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Aleksandr Geynrikh, , Johann Cruyff, , , Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, ,   

    How not to (and how to) do a penalty routine 

    Aleksandr Geynrikh tried to do the fancy fancy with a penalty for Uzbekistan U23 against Zenith St Petersburg in a friendly. And failed miserably…twice…

    He should have left it to the all time greats. Johann Cruyff could do this kind of thing…

    Then again…Thierry Henry & Robert Pires, two (begrudging) legends of the English game couldn’t pull it off…

    The key thing? Just smack it down the middle!

     

  • Michael Coxon 3:33 pm on January 18, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Non-league,   

    Spare a thought for Northwich Vics 

    Please spare a thought for Northwich Victoria. Despite sitting 2nd in the Northern Premier League and going well in the FA Trophy the last week has been catastrophic. First manager Andy Preece and his backroom staff left for Airbus UK in the Welsh League, then bailiffs issued an eviction notice on the club’s Victoria Stadium. The club need to be out by the weekend when the demolition men move in.

    Homeless and managerless, Vics are staring down the barrel at extinction. As a club Vics were founder members of the Second Division (now Championship) and the home of great players from days gone by such as Billy Meredith, Bruce Grobelaar, Alan Kennedy, Gordon Hill and Sammy McIlroy. More recently Vics have helped develop the career of modern players such as Blackpool’s Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Charlton’s Scott Wagstaff and German U21 international Felix Bastians.

    It’s a proper club with proper fans, if such a cliche can still be used. Fans who will remember not only the 1-0 win over Charlton in the FA Cup a few years back, the 1996 FA Trophy Final at Wembley and the 2006 Conference North championship, but also a record stint in the Football Conference without promotion or relegation and a rivalry with neighbours Witton Albion that author Stuart Maconie described as the most pointlessly intense in English football.

    It’s been ups and downs all the way for the Trickies, rarely threatening the status quo and all to often flirting with disaster in recent years. But it’s a club that despite suffering from being such close neighbours with the powers of Manchester and Liverpool still manages to produce talent and attract fans.

    Football is such a part of this countries culture that more should be done to support non-league teams, especially in a world of Glazers and Henrys, Sheikhs and Oligarchs. The poor management over the years at clubs like Vics and Darlington has no doubt contributed to their respective plights (I still blame Mike Connett for a lot of the problems at Vics) but they play a valuable role along with numerous other non-league clubs in cultivating the stars of the future. Not everyone can immediately sign for a top club, or even a league club. Non-league football gives young players a chance to grow and fans a chance to watch football at an affordable price.

    Just imagine the fortunes of many clubs (and national teams) without the following…

    Stuart Pearce, Vinnie Jones, Ian Wright, Jermaine Beckford, Steve Guppy, Chris Smalling, David Stockdale, DJ Campbell, Les Ferdinand, Kerry Dixon, Stan Collymore, Kevin Phillips, Alan Pardew, Junior Agogo, Craig Mackail-Smith, Michael Kightly, Sam Ricketts, Alan Smith (ex-Arsenal), Anthony Pilkington, Ben Foster, Gary Breen, Warren Barton, Lee Trundle, Iain Dowie, Grant Holt, Steve Morison, Luke Varney, Gary Charles, Andy Townsend, Neville Southall, Efan Ekoku, Steve Claridge, Jimmy Bullard, Maik Taylor, John Bishop (not a footballer, but the popular comedian was on the books at Winsford United)…

    So if there are any rich benefactors out there then please, please, PLEASE save Northwich Victoria (or any other struggling non-league side).

     

  • Michael Coxon 7:46 am on December 5, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Charlton Athletic, , , , , , , , ,   

    Everyone wins with this weekend’s draws 

    So, two major tournament draws a the weekend and two corkers!

    Let’s start with Euro 2012. I can’t think of a better line-up for the tournament. England have got the nice balance of a massive game against France, a match with the stronger of the two host nations and a tie with our bogey team. Fabio Capello will walk away fairly happy from Friday’s draw knowing that, on paper, England should be favourites to win the group. However it will need to be a different England to the one who lost against France at Wembley last year because Laurent Blanc’s side look incredibly far removed from the cough and splutter of South Africa 2010.

    Should England make it through to the knock-out stages then they can look forward to a tie against regular foes from recent years Croatia, Fabio Capello’s home nation Italy, neighbours Ireland or recently vanquished minnows Spain…If England are going to progress beyond the quarter finals then it will be a huge but not necessarily impossible ask. Ireland on the other hand will need three huge performances to escape the group. Still, Croatia are beatable and expect to see Ray Houghton’s goal from USA 94 a thousand times between now and June. Oh, and Spain? Well just remember the opening game in South Africa and an excellent performance from the Swiss.

    The other groups look tasty for different reasons. The prospect of a Germany/Holland game always whets the appetite but throw in Portugal and the team that finished above them in qualifying (and neighbours of Germany) Denmark and it will probably prove the strongest of the four groups. On the other hand, Poland must fancy their chances of success on home soil lining up with Russia, Greece and Czech Republic, arguably the weakest team in each of their respective pots.

    Predictions: Germany, Holland, Spain and, very, very optimistically, England in the semis…Holland to win it

    And then we had the FA Cup draw, which through up a few ties between top clubs and minnows…Everton & Tamworth, Stoke & Gillingham (good luck lads!), Arsenal & Leeds…Manchester United and Manchester City…

    A few years ago that would have been a hearty joke at our smaller neighbours, now we’re looking at a revenge mission in early January. The 6-1 defeat hurt everyone connected to United so expect strong line-ups and a fiery game. Fergie loves the FA Cup and he won’t want to go out at the hands of City for two successive seasons.

    The talk will be all about the big Manchester derby but the rest of the draw looks good to. Teams like Cheltenham, Southend, Oldham and Bristol Rovers can all savour the prospect of facing Premier League elite and there’s a couple of cracking derbies thrown in to. I quite fancy Charlton to pull off an upset against an inevitably under-strength Fulham and Paolo Di Canio will be looking forward to hosting Wigan.

    My girlfriend asked me yesterday why I was sat watching two men speaking bad English and fiddling around with balls…and then why I watched the FA Cup draw (boom boom!). But it’s these little events and little details that make the season that bit more exciting. Whether you support Manchester United or Macclesfield Town, England or Ireland, what awaits over the coming weeks and months is excitement, anticipation and hope that when all the waiting is over you’ll emerge victorious.

     

← Older posts

Newer posts →

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
l
go to login
h
show/hide help
shift + esc
cancel