More games, more goals

Recent competitiveness in the Premier League has been a breath of fresh air - and the main reason is belief.

Rory Delap's long throw. No one can stop it!

While money still talks and Manchester City's elevation to the big-time shows it, clubs with less resource go into 90 minutes against bigger opposition with larger stature; both mentally and physically.

Birmingham's Carling Cup victory over Arsenal and Bolton and Stoke's FA Cup semi-final berths show more than ever that graft and experience can undo clever gameplans and squad depth. I thought Koscielny and Szczesny's mistake gifting Martins his Wembley winner was made of Blues second half pressure.

Fergie's "Men Win Matches" approach is even more applicable in 2011. Tactics and beautiful play just don't count as much as they did three seasons ago. Arsenal are the main fall guys of this. Yes, they're in the title race but they'll have to play with more force and individual leadership if they're to topple United to vindicate Arsene Wenger's ideals.

And more goals are being scored because manager's are more open to winning matches than sitting on leads. There are definitely less clean sheets around. Isn't it Bloomfield Road where every match has resulted in at least one goal for both teams?

Martins winner was a deserved one

Money is still the decisive factor and the longer the Champions League pays such huge bounty (together with being top of the Premier League of course), the cartel will be tough to break. It's where the cream of star players want to play. But the clutch of Europa League wannabe clubs believe the gates aren't shut to them. 

And with UEFA Financial Fair Play coming into force in two years, expect an even bigger impact on competition in the coming seasons.


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Football needs to punish its miscreant stars

Graham Norton gets to grips

The BBC's Graham Norton Show isn't normally the platform to gauge public opinion on football, but the instant reaction of his studio audience should send alarm bells ringing at the Premier League.

Norton's routine covered Ashley Cole, who took an air rifle into training at Cobham which he not only used, but actually shot someone with. Norton's fans booed Cole on two separate occasions, taking the entertainer by surprise.

Ashley Cole's story in The Super Soaraway

Obviously with a big midweek game against Manchester United just days away, Chelsea took no action. But neither did the Premier League or the FA. A case of the Three Monkeys if you ask me.

United also faced no censure as Wayne Rooney crunched Wigan's James McCarthy with his elbow.

Sir Alex Ferguson conceded Rooney had been "a lucky boy" not to be sent off, but the only swift reaction we got from football's authorities was the England striker was to face no punishment.



See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil

Football claims to be a cradle of English culture and values. The FA have run campaigns with titles such as Respect and Get Into Football. But its ideals will soon be regarded as hollow if it doesn't take even the smallest stands against its biggest miscreant stars.

Sponsorship and TV revenue keeps rolling in - but investment from corporations isn't just reliant on ratings. They're also badging a product and if it's perceived to have diminishing morals, then football will lose its financial value.

Sky took a stand against sexism with the resignation of Richard Keys and the sacking of Andy Gray. That sets the tone for a repositioned morality and style to football from here on in.


Rooney: The 4th Monkey



Football, TV and sponsors need each other in equal proportion. It appears in these days of ecomonic austerity, there isn't one stakeholder which is any more powerful than another.

The FA would have been surprised by the public's positive reaction had they had the guts to punish Cole and Rooney. Graham Norton would bear witness to that.

It's nearly twenty years since the formation of the Premier League. It's never been more successful, but it's probably never been more complacent either.

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Brian McDermott: then and now

Brian McDermott, though just an Arsenal fringe player pricked my Aston Villa supporting bubble twice during our glory years of the early eighties.

Now: Brian McDermott on the Royals touchline

He scored one of the Gunners goals on the final day of the 1980/81 to inflict defeat on us at Highbury. Luckily, it wasn't enough to stop Villa becoming champions that day.

He was also on the scoresheet as the Gunners ended an eleven-month unbeaten run at Villa Park. Tony Woodcock struck the other FIVE as dumbstruck European Champions Villa were smashed 6-2. It was the beginning of our end as a major force.

Then: as an Arsenal starlet

But maybe McDermott's greatest moment in football is reserved for steering Reading to a shock 1-nil win at Everton to reach the last eight of the FA Cup. Remember it was Everton who did for the cup holders, Chelsea in the previous round.

And Reading face Aston Villa in the next round. Let's hope he doesn't make a habit of slaying us again.

But he don't 'alf look different today! Presented to the media after beating the Toffees was a bald man with glasses; not the silky-skilled, mop-haired youngster of old. Two pictures for your Soccermongery delectation. The Then and Now of Maccy D!

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Significance this weekend at Wembley and in the Premier League

4-nil. The two most emphatic scorelines of this Premier League weekend carry a weight of significance and destiny for both the winners and losers.

Manchester United didn't even play well at Wigan, but it's a win which hoists them above the chasing pack in the title race and consigns the journeymen and mercenaries of Wigan to life in the Championship (or an impending transfer to a German or Turkish club, more like).

And Wolves' thrashing of fellow strugglers Blackpool shows Mick McCarthy's men can produce results when they apply themselves, while showing up the Tangerine's inability to defend. The Kingson Cops, you might say!

Wolves fans will be dreaming of kicking off next season at home to Arsenal rather than away to Bournemouth or Brighton. Blackpool will surely be making travel arrangements to those other seaside resorts.

The other noteworthy result unrolled at Wembley as plucky Birmingham City showed grit, determination and muscular resolve to beat off pretty Arsenal, 2-1.

Blues deserved their trophy (and I say this is an Aston Villa fan who's spent his 43 years laughing at their constant failure). They deserved it because despite being outclassed in quality, possession and creation, Arsenal couldn't compete with them in terms of their gameplan; one cut of desire, of physicality - and of threat.

Make no mistake, Arsenal are a team of great quality who play their football the right way. In Jack Wilshere, England has a player fluid of movement and fluent of mind. Arsene Wenger's team will pick themselves up from this. They have to. One minute Blues, the next Barcelona in the Camp Nou.

But the misunderstanding between Koscielny and Szcezny which gifted Obafemi Martins his last-ditch tap-in, was borne of Birmingham's bullying rather than of their own making; an above board piece of gamesmanship as muscle crushed craft.

Their victory is also affirmation of the glory of winning silverware. Newcastle and Manchester City aside, there's no club who've failed more than Birmingham City. Fourth is no longer the new first as those joyous Wembley celebrations showed.

I've been to many games at the new stadium and I can honestly say, this was the best one played there since it was rebuilt.

The weekend's action demonstrated application, fitness and unity overcomes all. It's not great news for the football purist; but it is a rebirth of why the English game perpetually keeps us on the edge of our seats.

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