Pub-based punditry on the beautiful game.
The Football Pubcast is a podcast featuring four (or more) blokes, in a pub, talking football.
Shows are recorded every week from our local pub in Canary Wharf, London.
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!
Mr Nasri is having a tough time lately. Abject performances in a number of games have left the diminutive play-maker facing criticism from football fans from all corners. Now I’m sure the reported £175k weekly salary will soften the blow… but he still didn’t take to well to this spot of fan baiting last night.
Greater Manchester Police might also be interested in the midfielder’s sudden change of pace!
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.
Ouch…my pride.
I’ve had many hangovers in my time but none as bad as this, and the worst thing is it isn’t alcohol-induced. There’s a long way to go etc but that will hurt for a while. And what could have been…possession dominated in the first half, Hernandez, Berbatov, Valencia et al on the bench…surely this would be another famous comeback robbing City of their moment in the sun? But alas, what happened will go down in Manchester folklore and probably be spoken about for many…many years to come. I’m trying to stay positive though:
* If that’s our worst defeat at home since 1955 that means the next one will come in 2067. I’ll be 80 by then or, if I’m lucky, dead.
* The first 30 minutes were encouraging. Young, Rooney, Welbeck, Smalling and De Gea all played reasonably.
* We’ll have three Jonny Evans free games coming up now! And with the international break that means we won’t see him until at least the Swansea game on 19th November.
* We’ve got a decent enough XI from players not starting today to eventually play a whole new team…Lindegaard; Rafael, Vidic, Jones, Fabio; Valencia, Cleverley, Giggs, Park; Hernandez, Berbatov. Can’t do any worse.
* We have a good record against Everton at Goodison and hopefully our reserves will be out to prove themselves against Aldershot in mid week. As well as those available and mentioned above give Owen and Carrick a run out with some of the promising youngsters we have…Pogba, Morrison, Fryers, Cole, Thorpe, the Keanes et al.
* I still remember losing 4-1 at home to Liverpool in 2009, 5-0 to Chelsea in 1999, 3-0 to Arsenal in 1998 and 6-3 vs. Southampton and 5-0 vs. Newcastle in the space of a week in 1996. We went on to win the league all three times.
* I don’t work with any Manchester City supporters. The beauty of migrating to London.
* Hopefully Xavi will be past it in a couple of years and Barcelona will need a David Silva shaped replacement. Either that or Madrid will need someone to help them play catch up.
* At least a certain Argentinian wasn’t on the pitch to enjoy it.
* Mario Ballotelli has the potential to do something insane…a move across the city perhaps?
* If we’re lucky James Milner will play like that at Euro 2012 and carry us to glory
* If we beat Arsenal 8-2 then we can expect a cracking City 14-2 Arsenal game. Or it will come full circle and Arsenal will win 7-3.
* After 20 years City fans might finally shut up about 5-1.
* When I switched off at 3-0 I watched a wonderful episode of the Simpsons. It was a Treehouse of Horror one where Homer made a load of clones of himself. Classic.
* Chelsea lost 1-0 to QPR and now have no Drogba or Bosingwa for a few games, and Liverpool only drew with Norwich.
* Erm…we’ve still got Darron Gibson to come back from injury
* I haven’t got a single splinter yet from all these straws I’m clutching at.
Enjoy it City, let’s hope it doesn’t last.
This time two weeks ago we were all looking forward to the transfer window, weren’t we? Who knew what would happen; United had just hammered Arsenal (Hello Dan Ferdinand…), Carlos Tevez still wanted to return to South America and Gary Cahill was destined for North London.
But nothing, NOTHING…came as much as a surprise as Manchester City’s signing of and England midfielder who made his international debut in 2001. Joe Cole? Nope. Michael Carrick? Of course not. Gavin McCann? Close, in that he’s a defensive midfielder. I’m of course talking about Owen Hargreaves, the man who makes Darren Anderton look like Mr. Incredible.
Now those of you who listened to the Pubcast last season and the eight of you who listen to my interjections this seasons know I’m a bit of a Manchester United supporter. And as such, I shouldn’t really like players we signed for £17m moving on a free transfer to not only our biggest challenger in the league but also our neighbours. But I’m fully behind Owen Hargreaves, and I cite the case of another Owen to back it up.
Cast your mind back to the summer of 2009. Heady days they were, with the country in disarray and the pop charts a state. Kind of like today.
One of the country’s biggest clubs had just been relegated and their star player was available for nothing (not like today, unless you come from Blackpool). Hull were interested, as were Everton, and never rule out a move from Stoke. But amazingly, on a hot June day, the League Champions and Champions League runners-up swooped in. The player? Michael Owen. The club? Manchester United.
Now the cases do differ. Michael Owen had no club and had left our bitter rivals from down the M56 a whole 5 years earlier, whereas Owen Hargreaves had left United mere months before despite 3 years of rehabilitation from the club. But how can anyone begrudge him his move? Michael Owen could have started 30 games in the league for Stoke, scored 13 goals and earned a move to Tottenham or Villa. Instead he went for 15 starts, 3 goals and a few medals. But be honest, if you had been barracked by your former fans for being driven out of a club where the fans now supported an incompetent Spanish madman what would you do?
Hargreaves probably would have gone to the MLS, played a bit and retired aged 32. Instead, he now stands the chance to win the League (next season…maybe…) and, if he can stay fit, play a lot of games. Everyone knows he’s better than Gareth Barry, and he could usurp him for not only club but country as well. I won’t be happy if Hargreaves does win the league but he deserves the opportunity to do so.
When it comes down to it, professional players at the top of their game shouldn’t leave one club for an equally placed rival when they could get the same money, adulation and plaudits where they were (I’m looking at YOU Carlos…). But if it revives your career and gives you the opportunity to reclaim past glories then go for it. Whether your name includes Owen or not I support you.
Better than Gareth Baryy?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Thanks for the larf geezer!
You don’t think a fit Owen Hargreaves is better than Gareth Barry? It’s all subjective and your opinion may differ from mine but put it this way, I don’t think a lot of people would have been complaining had Gareth Barry been missing from the England team for 3 years.
Jim Staples is discussing. 
Mike Coxon, and 
Alphie Izzett are discussing.
Jim Staples 4:28 pm on December 5, 2011 Permalink
Bring on the freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/oct/26/newsstory.gillingham?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038