EVERTON v ASTON VILLA - Penalty patience

Sunday 27 April 2008

Everton are the only club in this season’s Premier League who have yet to be awarded a penalty. We believed that should have changed in Game No. 36 with Aston Villa’s visit to Goodison Park. Shortly before the first of the four shared goals in a pulsating second-half, Villa’s Stilian Petrov blocked Lee Carsley’s shot with his arm. The Bulgarian midfielder had his arm outstretched and, due to the distance the ball travelled, had the opportunity to take evasive action.

The Right Result is a 3-2 win for Everton.

BIRMINGHAM CITY v LIVERPOOL - Driven to distraction

Saturday 26 April 2008

Birmingham City earned a vital point in their battle against relegation with their draw against Liverpool. It came courtesy of a controversial second goal from Sebastian Larsson’s free-kick. Blues’ Radhi Jaidi was shown to be in an offside position in a direct line between the free-kick and Liverpool keeper Jose Reina. The big defender also moved from side-to-side as the kick was taken to fulfil the interfering with an opponent criteria - making a gesture or movement which deceives or distracts. No indication is suggested with regard to the degree of distraction so, as Jaidi is 6ft 2ins and 14st, it would be surprising if something didn’t catch the corner of Reina’s eye.

The Right Result is a 2-1 win for Liverpool.

YER ACTUAL FOOTBALL

Like Muttiah Muralitharan, you could spin it both ways. The Premier League’s (PL) top-four is the same old, same old. And it’s Liverpool/Chelsea in the Champions League semi again. But there’s a prospect of three of them winning fewer trophies than Milton Keynes (let’s drop the ‘Dons’, it’s a nonsense). Two certainly will.

Barcelona have to hold Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez for maybe two hours. And “have to score at Old Trafford…and not many teams have done that” said SKY’s Alan Parry, his confidence borne of forgetting his impartiality. But Derby did.

Meanwhile, crucially, the Liverpool/Chelsea second-leg is at Stamford Bridge for the first time – a more vital factor than bullet-headers from unfeasibly-ginger Norwegians. Roman might return to Russia. Let’s hope his financial ‘history’ doesn’t keep him there for questioning.

Another nil-nil, at Chelsea, and the title was Man Yoo’s. Two months after “a nil-nil at Old Trafford and the title’s Arsenal’s.” Many claim Arsenal never recovered from Eduardo’s injury. But they did on the day. Composure restored by the half-time team-talk, they were two-one up, inches from a third and denied a clearer penalty than the one they conceded. Had they got a third, none of it – Clichy, Gallas, Middlesbrough – would have either mattered or happened and Arsenal would have been still in it.

If it goes to the last day and Man Yoo need to win at Wigan, they shouldn’t fail like at West Ham in 1995. Steve Bruce doesn’t have revenge to exact on Ferguson, unlike, say, Roy Keane. So Wigan won’t hold them. Pressure might.

No need for split-screen TV coverage of the PL’s relegation dogfight. One hopes the blue half of Birmingham will be bluer still, because of the greasy David Gold and the squalid David Sullivan. Then we’ll be spared Gold’s pontificating on the England team’s problems (“not the PL’s responsibility”) and the ‘39^th game’ (“like a cup competition…you pull your ball out and hopefully get the team you want”). It’ll mean the supremely untalented Gary Megson getting unwarranted plaudits for rescuing Bolton from Sammy Lee’s experiment in, well, football. But hey-ho.

SKY must have long-known Portsmouth/Blackburn was Inter-Toto Cup play-off material but even they haven’t been naff enough to advertise it as such. Portsmouth have apparently done wonders to be near European football, given where they were in 2006. Guff. Redknapp did wonders to avoid relegation in 2006. But he’s spent millions on transfers to finish in a mid-table so bad West ham are in it. Worth losses of £23m? Maybe to Redknapp…somehow.

If the PL’s mid-table is ordinary, the Championship is extra ordinary. It’s been this close many times (although for a congested relegation battle, see the Unibond Premier). This excitement is translated as mediocrity by TV companies…who don’t have the broadcast rights. This year, they’re right.

Forget Barnsley’s Cup, remember Sheffield United’s, ghastly under Bryan Robson – whack it towards James Beattie and hope, against hope. Watford seem to have only won twice since Graham Taylor left, yet can’t leave the play-off places. Their tactics haven’t changed since ITV4’s ‘Big Match Revisited’ era. And Darius Henderson is no Ross Jenkins, let alone Luther Blissett.

Click here to continue reading » »

CHERRY RED

There was me thinking Bournemouth’s tale would have a happy ending or at least an ending in sight. Alongside Mansfield and Southampton, Bournemouth’s woes were almost romantic. The team’s remarkable win at Champions-elect Swansea, one-nil down with NO minutes left, suggested another Easter resurrection, their relegation nowhere as assured as when they entered administration and were deducted ten points. AND Harry Redknapp said he’d save them. What could go wrong? Well…

AFC Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic (bet their scarves are warm, with that to fit on) are war veterans in financial-troubles, critics tracing these back to Redknapp’s generally well-regarded 1980s managerial tenure, when Man Yoo fell Cup victim at Dean Court. Debts multiplied. Redknapp boasted £848,000 transfer-profit (yes…a lot of money in those days). But wages turned that into £2.6m losses, a lot more money in those days. “The mess we are desperately trying to resolve,” said a club source, years later.

In 1997, Bournemouth became a ground-breaking supporter-owned club, 51% voting rights (the ‘golden share’) in a supporters’ ‘trust fund’ after they’d bought Bournemouth out of £5m receivership. But even if supporters’ mistakes came with the noblest intentions, they remained mistakes. By 2005, Bournemouth were £5m light again and had to sell assets, including a three-parts refurbished Dean Court (that’s when the money ran out), sold to property firm Structadene and rented back at…eek!…£300,000 p.a.

Bournemouth’s latest saga began in March 2007 when local businessmen Jeff Mostyn and Steve oooh-change-that-name Sly gained a controlling interest via a £750,000 share-purchase plan, enthusiastically backed by shareholders at an EGM. The Supporters Trust transferred their ‘golden share’ on the basis of this investment. A mistake, as we’ll see.

Despite considerable financial assistance, from Mostyn especially, it was always a case of when Bournemouth would file for administration, not if. Three ‘notices of intention’ were issued, protecting them from creditors’ attempts to get their money back, while new finances were sought. But, two months ago, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued a winding-up petition to reclaim £644,000 tax and £344,000 VAT.

HMRC had taken a hard-line with football clubs since losing ’secured creditor status’ – their right to full repayment – in 2003 (some phenomenally-paid players, often the root cause of administration in the first place, get their money by right, taxpayers have to make do with bits of what’s left…no, me neither). The hard-line was reinforced after losing £6m+ through Bates’ Leeds United manoeuvrings. This petition couldn’t succeed because of Bournemouth’s third ‘notice of intention’, filed when HMRC weren’t looking. But no new investment emerged, so Bournemouth entered administration anyway.

Like HMRC needed Leeds reminders, Elland Road ex-chairman and insolvency expert Gerald Krasner became joint-administrator alongside Julie Palmer, representative of ‘business recovery specialists’ Begbies Traynor. Palmer could have conducted business semi-naked (not topless, neither) and still been the low-profile one. Krasner introduced himself thus: “If somebody thinks they’re buying Bournemouth for £2, they don’t know me.” Everybody soon would.

Click here to continue reading » »

ASTON VILLA v BIRMINGHAM CITY - Second goal syndrome

Sunday 20 April 2008

For the second week in a row, Aston Villa have enjoyed an emphatic win against struggling opposition.
And, for the second week in a row, we’ve chalked off their second goal. This week it’s John Carew who
had advanced into an offside position before rising to head home Ashley Young’s flighted free-kick as
Villa rose to the occasion against Birmingham City in, of course, the second city derby.

MANCHESTER CITY v PORTSMOUTH - Defoe denied

Sunday 20 April 2008

Having conceded two early goals at Manchester City, then being reduced to ten-men before half-time, Cup finalists Portsmouth gave themselves plenty to do to maintain their impressive away form. It could have been a climbable mountain had Pompey been awarded a legitimate penalty with the score at 1-2 in the second half. As he burst into the area, Pompey’s Jermain Defoe got to the ball first before being caught by Richard Dunne’s lunge.

The Right Result is a 3-2 win for Manchester City.

BLACKBURN ROVERS v MANCHESTER UNITED - Almost there

Saturday 19 April 2008

Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea next Saturday is being billed as a title decider and, but for a mathematical freak, United will be crowned champions of the Right Result table if they avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge. That’s because we believe they should have taken three points from their clash at Blackburn Rovers as we uphold two of their penalty appeals. In the first-half, Rovers’ Steven Reid tripped Wayne Rooney inside the box. In the second-half, defender Brett Emerton blocked Michael Carrick’s goal-bound header with his arm.

The Right Result is a 3-1 win for Manchester United.

MIDDLESBROUGH v BOLTON WANDERERS - Hero and villain

Saturday 19 April 2008

Gavin McCann became the hero for Bolton Wanderers with the winner at Middlesbrough that has given the struggling Wanderers a Premier League survival lifeline. Shortly before his possible defining season moment, the summer signing from Aston Villa could have played the role of villain. Some distance away from Stewart Downing’s cross and with time to avoid the flight of the ball, the deliberate element of his handball offence should have resulted in a Boro penalty.

The Right Result is a 1-1 draw.

WEST HAM UNITED v DERBY COUNTY - Bus for Zamora

Bobby Zamora’s first Premier League goal in almost exactly a year arrived with relegated Derby County’s visit to Upton Park and - sure enough, just like buses - the second should have come along minutes later. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker last found the net with the winner against Everton on 21 April 2007 before giving the Hammers a 20th minute lead against the Rams. No. 2 seemed to have followed 12 minutes later, only to be wrongly denied for an offside offence.

The Right Result is a 3-1 win for West Ham United

WIGAN ATHLETIC v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - Mario’s hands on job

Saturday 19 April 2008

Wigan Athletic appear to have escaped the clutches of relegation from the Premier League but the Latics’ status in the Right Result table isn’t quite as secure as we deny them the point from Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to the JJB. Clearly, Spurs should have been awarded a first-half penalty after Mario Melchiot pulled Dimitar Berbatov down by the shoulders to prevent the Bulgarian striker taking advantage of a goalscoring opportunity.

The Right Result is a 2-1 win for Tottenham Hotspur.