The Demise of Robert Green

Robert Green is the once talked about permanent problem to the England number 1 jersey since it was vacated by David Seaman those many years ago. So many before him had tried and failed such as Paul Robinson, Scott Carson and David James. Green managed to battle through and he got the backing of Fabio Capello in receiving the starting goalkeeping place in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He was having a good season with West Ham and worked hard to beat off the stiff competition for the start between the sticks. Then it went downhill from there...



This was the moment that changed it all for the highly rated goalkeeper.

I was sat in South Africa in a room full of football fans and a few Americans too, feeling confident and getting ready for a positive World Cup campaign for England. It started so brightly until that moment of horror that caused a ridiculous amount of expletives from my mouth, my hands having to cover my hugely embarrassed face and the look of complete humiliation (and this was just a fan). Robert Green had spilled a very tame effort from Clint Dempsey making the game 1 all. Afterwards, Green was vulnerable throughout the whole game, looking incredibly nervous during every defensive passage of play. This was it for his World Cup and he was quickly replaced by David James for the rest of the World Cup campaign.



Green got absolutely hammered by the English Press for this mistake and he had to forget about it quick and focus on a big season with West Ham. The question was could he do this?
Now there is no doubting that Green had a reputation amongst everyone in the game for being a terrific shot stopper. But we all know the key to being a top class keeper is, CONSISTENCY. This is what separates the men from the boys between the sticks. Goalkeepers like Van der Saar and Cech have shown that consistency week in week out and puts them above other keepers.
Green started the season very very shaky and he made a lot more crucial mistakes in the West Ham goal last season, costing the team plenty of points along the way. He conceded 69 league goals in 37 appearances last year, and along with the poor west ham defence, he was a big reason why West Ham ended up getting relegated.

There were a few clubs mentioned throughout the summer who were linked with getting Rob Green back into the premier League, but not surprisingly none of them have come to fruition. What could he offer a team in the premier League? In my opinion he would cause defences a lot of problems with his uncertainty and his lack of confidence would breed throughout the whole team.
Will he do better in the Championship? I think a goalkeeper with no confidence will struggle in whatever division he plays in.

Today, Rob Green has proved in my opinion that he is a complete shadow of the goalkeeper we saw 18 months ago. He let a late Kenny Miller shot get through his hands, which goalkeepers 99 out of a 100 I believe would have palmed it away. It is a complete demise of a promising goalkeeper with a big future ahead of him. Although, extremely surprisingly, Fabio Capello has called up Green for his International squad for a friendly against Holland. It beggars belief.

Premier League season prediction

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Manchester City
4. Arsenal
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Sunderland
8. Everton
9. Fulham
10. Bolton
11. Stoke
12. West Brom
13. Aston Villa
14. Blackburn
15. Wolves
16. Newcastle
17. QPR
18. Swansea
19. Wigan Athletic
20. Norwich

Championship Table Prediction

1. West Ham
2. Leicester City
3. Ipswich Town
4. Nottingham Forest
5. Blackpool
6. Cardiff City
7. Brighton
8. Reading
9. Leeds United
10. Birmingham City
11. Southhampton
12. Middlesborough
13. Hull City
14. Portsmouth
15. Burnley
16. Watford
17. Milwall
18. Bristol City
19. Derby County
20. Barnsley
21. Coventry
22. Crystal Palace
23. Peterborough
24. Doncaster Rovers

That was one of the hardest things I've had to do! It is so hard to predict and I have gone for a couple of random ones on gut instinct, such as Brighton having a good season. Let me know your thoughts

The Championship - The season to come

The Championship is one of the most competitive leagues in the world and has got a reputation that is higher than a lot of top leagues across Europe. At the end of the season the prize for gaining promotion into the Premier League is the richest one of all! They say it is worth around £60 million for a club that is promoted, which makes it one of the richest prizes in football.



The league now consists of some fantastic managers, including 2 former England managers in Steve Mcclaren and Sven Goran Eriksson, and a lot of Premier League experienced managers including Chris Hughton and Sam allardyce. This shows the importance of this league now, as does the players that are now playing in this division. Last season we saw a player of the quality of Craig Bellamy playing at Cardiff, this season Kevin Nolan tops the list of some very talented footballers gracing the Championship grounds.

I thought I would give my thoughts on the Championships and a bit of a prediction to who I think will be sitting at the top of the tree and these teams who may be struggling to stay in the division.

THE TOP

West Ham, Leicester City, Blackpool, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town and Brighton.
These are my predictions for the teams I believe are going to be competing at the end of the season.
West Ham have done well to keep a lot of their team that were relegated from the Premier League last term, including Scott Parker and Carlton Cole and also have improved their squad with the great signings of Nolan and Matty Taylor in particular. The experience of these players and the influence of a very good quality manager in Sam Allardyce should stand the Hammers in good stead.
Leicester City have been busy in the transfer market and with Eriksson's first full season in charge, I have no doubt the Foxes are going to be a difficult team to beat this term.
Blackpool, although having sold a lot of their stars from last season, including Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell, have brought in a lot of players and experience, including the likes of Kevin Phillips and Barry Ferguson. I believe they certainly could make a big charge on the playoffs this year and with Ian Holloway in Charge, you just never know.
Nottingham Forest could really build well with an experienced manager in the hot seat in Steve Mcclaren looking to bring the glory days back to the City Ground and this season could be one to watch.
Ipswich Town have made a couple of promising signings in ex Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Michael Chopra and Lee Bowyer, and look to push on with a good manager leading the way in Paul Jewell.
Brighton are my outside shot for the playoffs after coming up from League 1 last year. A new stadium and an enthusiastic talented young manager in Gus Poyet could surprise a lot this year.

THE BOTTOM

The bottom of the table could be as close as the playoff positions this year and I'm sure there will be a couple of surprises hanging round the bottom of the table this year. Sheffield United we lost last year and this year maybe the same, but some teams hanging round the bottom last season maybe there again this year.

Crystal Palace, Peterborough United, Doncaster Rovers, Coventry City and Barnsley are my predictions to be struggling this season. Unfortunately all these teams look set for a long struggle this season, some with big financial problems like Crystal Palace and others may just struggle with the demands of the Championship, such as Doncaster and Peterborough. Coventry have a lot of work to do this term as well.

As with any Championship season, it is very difficult to predict the eventual positions, and who will go down. We have had so many surprises in recent years, notably Blackpool reaching the playoffs and winning them in 2010. But the league is guaranteed to excite us all this forthcoming season.

Cesc Fabregas - When will this saga end!

This story has been going on for now a couple of years and seriously needs to end either way now. Enough is enough for the long suffering Arsenal fan's to deal with and this whole situation needs closure

A month a go I wrote about Arsenal's prospects this year and in this section I talked about the Fabregas saga. I cannot believe that a month later and the situation still hasn't changed. Arsenal not willing to sell him for anything lower than £40 million. Barcelona not willing to pay that. Fabregas wanting to go to Barcelona. And Arsenal fan's not knowing what is going on with their "club captain".

With Arsene Wenger coming out and saying that Fabregas is "not focused on the club", this for me is a total lack of respect from Fabregas and he has gone back on his word about always focusing on his club despite any speculation linking him to other clubs. For me, as an Arsenal fan, I believe he needs to go now and we as a club need to move on from him, just like we had to do with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Players like Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey are the future and a fit Robin Van Persie can seriously lead Arsenal to some success. It's time for a new re-building stage as we all know the last 6 years have resulted in no trophies and the crop of players unfortunately haven't been good enough to win the title.

Arsenal need a focused team to be able to challenge this year, and players like Fabregas staying at the club could be detrimental to the future teams efforts.

But let's see in another month if this saga ever ends.

Comments please

Pre Season - why is it so important

Many people in and out of football have views on pre season tours, games and results and the importance of all of them. Some people worry about all the games the players are playing throughout a season that they think they shouldn't play so many during the season. Some believe that with all the travelling in European competition, that players shouldn't be touring these far away places in the world as part of their preparations. Some have the belief that results mean nothing in pre season games. Ah the joys of opinions! This is why I love football and love to talk about it, because so many people seem to have so many different views on the game. Here are my views on pre season.

I was asked a question recently, is pre season important? As you can imagine it didn't take me long to say, YES! Every single part of pre season is vitally important to the clubs involved, whether the manager, the players, the back room staff and the club as a whole.

THE PLAYER
For the players it is vital to be up to speed, physically and mentally, to be ready for the new season and the demands that a season can have on a player. After time off during the summer, the mental state of a player is so important, as they need to become focused on their task ahead. Games are crucial for players to gel together as a unit and for new players to gel with the existing players both on and off the field.
If you asked players whether pre season results are important, what do you think the answer would be?......YES. Players want to win games and they hate losing. I have been playing myself for 25 years and never once enjoyed losing, whether at lunch time at school or a pre season friendly. Players like to win and get that locked into their mental state. It is vital to continue that winning feeling into a full competitive season.

For the manager
Hugely important preparation for his team. The manager needs to make sure his players are ready to go, that he has a preferred formation in mind for the season ahead and that he knows who his strongest players are in all the positions across the team. For newer managers coming into clubs, this is of course even more important. AVB at Cheksea, McLeish at Villa and Martin Jol at Fulham, this greatly applies to them. Yes managers know of players, have seen them play and know full well their abilities and reputations, but players can make a huge impact on a new manager of a team, especially the fringe players. Tours are crucial to help the manager gel his team off the field to ensure there is a strong harmony around his squad, which makes the job as manager that little bit easier.

For the Club
With the huge importance of money now a days in the game, Pre Season tours are a huge part of raising more funds for the running of the club. Tours of Asia, which is an increasingly popular destination amongst clubs in the premiership, help increase merchandise sales, build the club profile in a different part of the world, which all can ultimately lead to big financial benefits from TV deals and sponsorships from these countries. Clubs want to be known throughout the world, and pre season is a perfect opportunity to achieve this.

Negatives of pre season
There are always going to be negatives and my view they are outweighed heavily by the positives. The main negative for me is the risk of injury and exhaustion. Pre season tours can often mean a lot of travelling, jet lag for players and playing on uneven surfaces, which can lead to injuries. For managers, this is just a risk they have to live with and of course is a risk whenever a player steps on to a football field.

If you have any views on pre season that I may have missed or that you have then feel free to comment on my post.

The summer so far - Sunderland

Sunderland have been one of the most active clubs in this summers transfer window, making some heavy strides forward and picking up some very experienced players. Finishing 10Th last season was probably a bit under par for the Black Cats as they faded away towards the end of the season. This was certainly hugely to do with the injury problems the club was having, so a much deeper squad was certainly prime on the list for manager Steve Bruce. Bruce has certainly started to achieve this with his summer spree so far, acquiring the likes of Seb Larsson from Birmingham and Manchester United duo Wes Brown and John O'Shea.



I believe the start Bruce has made this summer has been fantastic and he has done a great job to prize the 2 experienced players above from United. They will really help to stern up the team and give a winning mentality to the rest of the squad with a huge amount of experience too. Seb Larsson is also a great acquisition from relegated Birmingham. Since leaving Arsenal, Larsson has performed consistently well for Birmingham and possesses a huge amount of ability in being a creative force in a team. The one thing he will do is to replace the departed Jordan Henderson who left to Liverpool for a huge transfer fee. He is ready made to play on the right side of midfield and he has so much ability from a dead ball situation as well.

The Black Cats have also acquired David Vaughan from relegated Blackpool. Vaughan had a very good season for Blackpool and plays with a very workman like attitude and helped inspire Blackpool's exciting season, despite there final day drop. These players are important for Sunderland next season, but I do not believe that will be the end of it.
Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn have worked hard to bring in Connor Wickham from Ipswich, one of the most sort after young talents in the country. It will be very exciting to see how he gets on competing week in week out in the Premier League.



Sunderland should have plenty of money to spend after the January sale of Darren Bent and Hendersons departure to Liverpool this summer combining a total close to £40 million. The 5 main signings that have come into the club this summer have all come at a very low price and have not made hardly a dent in the £40 million figure. I am expecting a couple of big signings still to come in, but the question is, who? What big names can Bruce attract to the Stadium of Light, considering there is no European football on offer at all? N'Zogbia is one that has been mentioned, which would be a good signing. The main area that needs to improve for me is the forwards. With no Darren Bent and also no Danny Welbeck this year, that leaves a huge void at the top of the field that needs filling. A lot of weight and pressure on the shoulders of Asamoah Gyan and new signing Connor Wickham, but their needs to be depth in the squad at the top of the field.

Sunderland fan's who do you think should be brought to the club? Are you thinking like me that your team will be competing further up the table next year and hopefully challenging for a Europa League place? Let me know your views