Modern Day Football..... What's all the fuss about?

The world wide web has changed the way we view and interact with the greatest game on earth, from blogs to tweets, every man and his dog as an opinion. One great game for a player now makes him a superstar, from ex pros to pundits they all jump on that bandwagon. We're being told just how good players are compared to the old days, how the likes of Best and Pele wouldn't be able to keep up with todays pace, but is the quality of the football really as good as it was 40/50 years ago?  

Over the next few months we're gonna be dusting off the archives and plough through the statistics that will hopefully answer this long running debate, the only spillage here, will be that of the Midweeker spilling his pint down his bright orange shirt! 

We want goals!

First up in this series, we will be looking at the great art of goalscoring, We've all seen Harry Kane shin it from 5 yards out, Ryan Giggs missing an open goal and that classic Arsenal penalty routine that would be better suited on strictly ballroom! But over a full season how does the modern game measure up to its past? Are we getting more goals on average over a full season? or should we be getting a refund on the ever increasing ticket prices? 

Lets go back to 1958/59 season, A random choice i know!  - Just a few things to point out - The old first division had 22 teams in it, meaning that each team would end up playing 42 league games per season, and to even make it harder, teams couldn't even make substitutions!  The only thing players needed to get through a match back then was that half time cuppa! 

So Wolves had just won back to back titles, banging in over 200 goals in the process (110 during 58/59), whilst second place, Man United also managed to get into the 100's in terms of scoring goals, not a bad effort when you consider most teams ended up playing 10 a side! 

Now back to present times - The top two teams last season (Chelsea & Spurs) only managed to hit the 80's in terms of goals, yet players now days have better nutrition and each team can make unto three subs! 

This pattern continues into the 1960's, During the 60,61 season three teams in the top flight managed to hit the 100's, The champions Spurs, third place Wolves (once again) and fourth place Burnley. Even relegated Newcastle managed to score 86 goals throughout that season. If we head back to 2015/16 when The Foxes managed the impossible, they only managed to hit the 60's in terms of their goalscoring abilities... Now is that entertainment... really? 

When you consider Jimmy Greaves still holds the record of being the outright leading goalscorer in top flight matches in England, (lets not forget he fell out of love with the game at the tender age of 31) it hammers home even more that we are being blinded by fancy advertising and over the top pundits! 

Now don't get me wrong, Big Alan Shearer was top notch but he was still over 70 goals shy of Jimmy's record, and you have to remember he was at The Toon into his late 30's! 

So in terms of putting the ball in the net over a course of a season, it seems the greats of the past found it easier than todays modern not so greats. 

                         

Here we go again!

It's taken just under 3 months for us to get blogging again after a shocking performance at the summers Euros.... Hats of to Portugal and Ronaldo.... I've heard a rumour we're gonna see if we can help Portugal pay pack some of its national debt by agreeing to sign Ronaldo on loan for the 3 lions next tournament (if we make it!) Something to do with a loop hole when he played over here at United!

In all seriousness it was a a shambles and it was great to see the FA finally give Roy that final push over the diving board and into the shake infested waters... closely followed by everyones favourite pundit Gary Neville.


Once the bloody had subsided and the waters had calmed back down the FA decided to search the deep depths of our footballing nations ponds (lower leagues) and quickly realised that the ponds were almost emptied of any decent English managers!

In a panic and mist of salt and vinegar flavouring the FA appointed BIG SAM.....

Football fans were outraged! The Scots thought it was the funniest thing since Billy Connolly! 

All jokes aside the Big Man recently got his first international out of the way, and at first glance - Nothing much had changed, Rooney was still living on yesterdays glory and Joe Hart was still in goal even though he had a summer to forget and Harry Kane... well the less said about that the better! 

Twitter was going mental, they wanted blood, they wanted the Big Man to fail at the first hurdle.... Some of the tweets were bang out of line, talk of Big Sam being a secret Jock.. looking to put the final nail in the coffin of our once proud footballing nation! 

The difference this time was that the Big Man had a plan and a vision, as simple as it seemed - "Play to the final whistle" and like the great club teams managed by Sam the lads took that vision on board and well in the depths of extra time we managed to bag all 3 points! It may not of been pretty but in the short time SA has been in charge, England already look a million miles better than they did under Roy! 

Could we dream of a World Cup trophy in just under 2 years? or will it be another false dawn????? 

The Three Lions

So it's been nearly four long years since the last set of Euros! The hardcore fans are searching through their wardrobes for their retro England shirts (Italia 90 no 19 on the back) Hopefully England will play more than 3 games at this tournament! We won't even mention 2014's World Cup run.. Or lack of so to speak! 

Normally the press have already written the headlines by now.. The hype would be reaching fever pitch and every man and his dog would be convinced it was going to be England's year this year... For some reason though no one is really beating the England drum. It's almost as if people are praying that if they don't mention England in the same breath as tournament favorites Germany or Spain the boys may do the impossible!! 

The last truly great Euro campaign we had was back in 96! Who can forget Pearce's pen against the Spanish, or The great interlinking play between Teddy & Shearer against the Dutch? Unfortunately though we only made it to the Semi's.. A Mr G Southgate would be forever remembered as the man that missed that crucial pen! 

So what are we realistically hoping for this summer... 

It's hard to tell what formation or players Roy's gonna start with... But if we can play to our strengths with the likes of Kane & Vardy then there is a possibility that we can restore some pride to our national team following years of underachieving. 

If that doesn't happen then can we at least produce a modern day three lions icon. like we had of Gazza! Someone who the county can get behind... 

Although we all know Gazza was a one off so in that case i'd happily settle for another Chris Waddle! 

 

In a World of José

For weeks it's been a case of will he or won't he... Yesterday the news broke that The Special One was once again booted out the door @ Stamford Bridge and from a neutral point of view i'm gutted. Mourinho is the modern day icon. He is what the Premier League is about - The arrogance, flair, genius, outrageous, box office. Unfortunately for both him and the league he's management skills for now have come to an end. Depending what is written in his severance package it could be a hell of a long time until we see him managing back in the English top flight.

With so many clubs struggling to find their form this season it's outrageous that Chelsea felt they needed to sack arguably the greatest manager of the modern footballing era.

Ok a few results have gone a bit wrong and the league position isn't the greatest but they easily qualified for the knock out stages of the Champions League and face a winnable tie against PSG.

Have the board forgotten that winning the Champions League means your back in it the following season... It wasn't long ago Chelsea had a similar situation when they finished 6th yet won the CL.....

Now there is a slight ( i repeat slight) possibility that the board deep down were worried that Chelsea could end up getting relegated but in all fairness there is another transfer window about to open and on current form there are around 6/7 teams playing worse than Chelsea! But who's to say the new manager will turn the fortunes around this season???

Will big name players be up for a relegation scrap? Will their top transfer targets come or will the likes of Kane, Stones and co rather see out another few months at their current employers and see what unfolds in the summer?

Everyone has gone on record to say what a great leader John Terry is.. Well now the chips are down this is where the veteran defender will need to earn his keep!

We've got an interesting few months ahead of us.

Who will Chelsea have as their next manager???

Where will they finish come May???

What next for The Special One???

In the hands of Heurelho Gomes

As we head into the international break the weather outside has taken a turn for the worse, the Indian summer has now gone, no more jumpers for goalposts until next year and to top it off we're going to have to sit through another boring England match this week! We all know that Roy is going to pick the same 11, even though we have already qualified. Rooney up top running around aimlessly looking to link up with the midfielders that haven't got a clue what they are meant to be doing... don't get me wrong Rooney is top drawer but i ask you the question... How many goals has Neymar scored already for Brazil?? Before you lot jump on the 'well he plays for Brazil band wagon' just remember that Wales yes Wales are currently ranked higher in the Fifa standings than Brazil! 

Speaking of Brazil, it must be time that Watford keeper Gomes gets a recall? The octopus has been electric this season for The Hornets. At 34 he is in the peek of his powers and at this moment in time he is miles better than any of the other current keepers the Brazilians have at their disposal. 

It's funny how football works out. Gomes was down and out a few seasons back.. Not even making the Spurs reserve team. When the chance came to move Gomes decided to stay in the surrounding area and drop down a division to try his luck @ Watford. A season later Watford are promoted and a large part of that was down to the saves Heurelho was making! 

Went off on a bit of a Monday afternoon tangent there! So lets put the focus back on England and in particular a young Mr Harry Kane. Great to see 'Arry score again this weekend thats 2 in his last 2 games (ok in fairness it was an own goal by the lad but they all count) Is Kane the modern day Peter Crouch? Crouch had one prolific season for The Saints in the early 2000's and since then struggled to reach double figures again in the Premiership. But Crouch was quality for The Thee Lions, banging in goals left right and centre! Kane this season looks slightly off the pace - He has scored 2 in 2 for the national side but for his club side he has struggled. I wonder if he will discover the goal scoring touch for his club or will Kane be an England Cult hero like Crouch?? 

Holidays, social media & Jon Stead

It's that time of the year when players are jetting off all around the world on their travels, and with the joy of twitter and Instagram we can feel as if we are taking that holiday with them!

Now we're big fans of young Harry Kane but dude.. Seriously you are on a bike on holiday - Why on earth would you need to take a selfie!

Imagine if moments after he took this, he came flying off the handlebars and a piece of the bike managed to lodge itself up young Kane's bum... Ouch! Remember the golden rule - Safety first then team work!

Anyway as we debate (over a cheeky Pimms and lemonade) who's gonna set the league a light this year, we wanna know who's your favourite one season hit wonder??

Cracking question the man in the flat cap shouts!

Personally we're loving the Jon Stead story.

Just over 11 years ago the big man was making back page news with some stella performances for The Terriers. It wasn't long before Blackburn (Yep the fallen giant of Premier League past) came calling and paid a cool £1million -  Stead was branded the next Alan Shearer.... unfortunately it didn't all go to plan! A move up north to Sunderland followed although he left his shooting boots back in Blackburn, the goals had all but dried up and it wasn't long before he was loaned out and on the move again.

After many moves and loans Stead had practally disappeared off the face of the planet, this one time future England international had been restricted to the archives of the footballing past! But the magic of the FA Cup was about to re-write Steads chapter in footballing folk law!

Last season Stead found himself shipped out on loan again - this time to Bradford. Things weren't going too well in the league -  failing to hit the net on a regular basis - it was if the goals had been sucked right out of him.

But then as if by magic......

We all say the FA Cup can make a grown mans dream come true! And it was the magic of the cup that put Jon Stead back on the footballing map! Scoring a hat fall of goals in Bradford's cup run to the Quarter finals! Including a peach of a goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge! A pure moment of magic! It's taken a while for Stead to make the back pages once more,  but hopefully at the ripe old age of 32 this charming man as many more headlines in him for his new club Notts County!

The Weekender

Its been a while but we're back! The Weekender has been off on his travels, sampling some of the classic footballing derby across the UK! Sunday league football is on the rise and black boots have made a come back! It's like going back to the 70's!

With the season drawing to a close it looks like we're gonna have a few newbies joining us in the dizzy heights of the top tier next season - 'Arrys old-boys Bournemouth look nailed on for top flight. The seasons other surprise package Brentford are trying to get into the playoff places, spearheaded by a young loan player by the name of Pritchard - With the youngster gaining rave reviews along the way... A future Frank Lampard maybe?

Anyway thats enough rambling on for a Saturday morning, lets have a cuppa and a slice of toast and get down to business!


The Weekenders - Weekend cuppa

Now we've had some crazy results in the last few weeks and my footballing brain is telling me we're gonna have some more this week! But if you have a cheeky fiver to spare stick it on a high scoring draw at White Hart Lane, Tim's back in town and he has a point to prove against his old employers, his got his big men firing and the fact Spurs can't defend it has all the makings of a cracker!

We're going for a 4-4 Draw with Harry Kane to score a hat-trick!