Phill Gartside's Plan To Scrap Relegations Picks Up Support..

Premier League chief executives have proposed plans to ensure that there is no relegation from the Premier League.

Every season promotions and relegations are to be left to a panel who will judge a club's welfare and right to compete in the world's best and most watched league, according to the plans.

Ludicrous.

The model of the English Football league system, including the much watched and renowned across the world Premier League, has been the cornerstone of world football since its creation in 1888. It's ability to have clubs, under brilliant guidance and management, rising through the leagues to reach the promised land has created legacies.

Clubs do get relegated and clubs who are not correctly managed and so naive that they cannot plan for relegation do suffer.

Clubs who over spend in the Championship, formerly Division One, in an attempt to bounce back in their first season after relegation and do not achieve their aims, place themselves in a bad position. But that's their call. They are in control of their own budgets and if they do not balance the books, it's the risk that they take.

But to use this as the definitive reasoning for a franchise, American styled, applying for Premier League status each year would completely negate the romance and attraction of the league.

Supporters of this proposal would argue that it safeguards the league's most lucrative teams. It is, however, entirely up to those clubs who wish to be and remain Premier League outfits to make sure that they compete at that level.

Who has the right to decide whether your club, who may only have a 10,000 stadium capacity, but have played fantastic football to earn the right to compete in the Premier League, can achieve Premier League status?

What happens when a club wins the Championship but is a subsidiary club to the larger clubs in the area, i.e. Tranmere Rovers F.C and cannot get a bigger fan-base without playing at the top level?

What's the next step? A rigged FA Cup, ensuring that the bigger teams get byes into the next round because that's “What people want to watch”?

No, people want the romance that football can bring and that's the attraction. That's how the English Football League system has become the best watched league in the world. And that's why the second tier of English football ranks as the 4^th most watched league in the world.

Mancini Backed Into Corner

Mancini Backed Into Corner.

Watching Andrew Neil's interview with the Home Secretary Theresa May on Today At Conference left me agonising about a politician's inability to answer a straight question, but also in admiration of the savvy, media-trained approach that all these people in public-speaking authority have at never answering a straight question with an straight answer.

Andrew Neil: “Will London Metropolitian Police endure cuts, contrary to what Boris Johnson has said

                         has said about the policing numbers remaining the same?”
Theresa May: “Each police constabulary decides their own budget.”

There is never definitive answers. Definitives back people into a corner with little room for change and they can then be quoted later as contradicting themselves at a later date.

So why has Roberto Mancini completely backed himself into a corner by saying, ceremoniously, that Carlos Tevez will never play for Manchester City again? It's an absolute. It's definitive. There is no room for maneuver within that statement.

Now, with gossip rife about a poor translation, and I believe that the translator should be 'definitively' sacked if he has managed to create this controversy because of poor skills, Mancini has nowhere to go. He has to back down and appear weak, which will create dissolution within his dressing room, or he has to keep to his word.

The enigma: Carlos Tevez.

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur Chairman, previously held a similar stance over Luka Modric's self imposed transfer earlier in the season. He remained to his word, creating a great, feel-good factor in the game and around contract negotiations. One – nil to the regular people over the money-hungry footballers; one – nil to honouring contracts; in truth probably 89 – 1 in favour of the players, but it was a cutting blow to powerful players everywhere.

Mancini has left himself a miniscule amount of paths to pursue with Tevez. Maybe the most obvious way to proceed is to announce that in fact Tevez was misquoted and that it was all a misunderstanding, as Man City's injury list is compounding with news that Mario Balotelli is now injured, too.

Obviously, Mancini was reacting initially to the situation and must have been quite peeved with the scenario, how he saw it unfold. Maybe a step back and announcing nothing would have been the more prudent course until all the facts had come out, failing that a Theresa May-esque dodging session may have been in order.

Right now, Mancini is in an awkward position over the want-away hit-man. He has a £ 40M striker who only plays when he wants to – not the greatest asset in a football squad.

The 'Little Tests'.

As Alex Ferguson was quoted saying before the Chelsea game, “I don't care if we loose against Chelsea. It's other games that will decide this title.” Of course, he was lying to the media and would not of liked anything less than a loss at home to Chelsea. However, he has a point.

With the Manchester clubs setting the league's pace, two quintessential battling tests have been placed in-front of the clubs thus far: Bolton away and Fulham away for Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively. These matches are the games where a title is truly earned throughout the course of a season.

A lot of people foresaw a proverbial banana skin at Bolton for Ferguson's men at The Reebok, with Kevin Davies uttering that their game plan was to bombard the young, and understrength, compared to season's past, Manchester United back line. Pre-game, the whole build up was that this could be one of those games where a team can become undone thanks to a dogged performance. 5 goals later, and all talk of an up-set was diminished.

Manchester City played Fulham this weekend, at Craven Cottage. After getting a comprehensive 2-0 lead over The Cottagers, they let it slip and gifted Fulham a draw from a position of no return. City's two goals were a declaration of their adaptability. The first a wonderfully intricate move, the second a long ball, knock-down, fine finish maneuver. That's the first 'little test' that Manchester City have failed in. Turning games of domination, consistently, into three points. Fulham's second half performance was fully deserving off the point, too.

The 'Big Tests'.

The match of the season so far, Manchester United vs Chelsea at Old Trafford, was as intriguing as it was a spectacle of the English game: pace, passion, mistakes. The most intriguing dilemma proposed from the match was the fact that, although losing the game, Chelsea really announced themselves as title contenders themselves at Old Trafford.

With two goals being, simply, offside. (Smalling, Nani.) And the fact that Chelsea created 21 openings against United at their home, some of them guilt-edge one on ones, and the sublime football that brought about Ramirez's two misses, Chelsea could have been considered the better side, only that was shrouded by Man United's ruthlessness in-front of goal. 3 chances, 3 goals in the first half – and sometimes that's all it takes when you're competing at the top of the game. United hit the post, missed a penalty and had one cleared off the line, but Chelsea had opportunities spurned in an almost frivolous manner.

Torres doing the classic look at the turf when you've missed routine.

It was a match depicting a battle of two Spaniards. A befitting sub-plot to two much maligned characters since the start of this campaign. Torres, once the darling of the Premier League, against his young, potential-filled international goal-keeping counterpart, David Da Gea. Torres was mesmerizing at times, but constantly, De Gea stepped up, announcing himself as a true, top class goalkeeper. The football that Chelsea played to open the second half, culminating in Torres' delightful, instinctive finish at the near post, denoted true class and underlined a team who might be a surprise, particularly in the shadow of the Manchester teams.

In creating chances, Torres' performance was at an optimum, finishing of those were poor. The final chance, where he ran off the shoulder of Evans, dummied past De Gea and shot wide was the epitome of his form. Class build up, woeful finish. His shot wasn't even close, either. It was well wide. A Torres of old would have got something out of the match for Chelsea, simple as that.

Black Country Prophet Says: No side will win the Premier League with Joleon Lescott at Centre Back. Mark my words.

Manchester City: No Longer Just The Pretenders.

Manchester City have took to the 2011/12 season like a freight train, loosened from the shackled version of yester-season. Their ascendancy has been a stunted one, agonizing the city fans who have seen their transition from European-place contenders, to, ultimately, contenders for the best team in the league over a few seasons.

They've had to evolve in slow revolutions starting with Sven Goran Eriksson's Elano inspired team. Without Champions League football, Manchester City's appeal has been diluted against Europe's elite teams. They have originally had to pay a premium for what could be considered a “B-class” of players, in the ilk of Emmanuel Adebeyour, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge; players who would form a very good Premier League side, but would never be in contention for winning the league title.

Now, with Champions League football achieved after finishing joint second – behind Chelsea on only goal difference – they can attract the greatest talent that the world has to offer, however all the time still having very expensive “B-class” players waiting in the wings (reserves) for their chance or move. But, being on such high wages, and thinking that they are worth their premium sheik-endorsed wages - in excess of £100,000 a week - to the other Premiership clubs, who simply don't have that money and don't value them for that money, it doesn't appear feasible to sign them.

The building project has left City with thirty players who are on extortionate wages, many of whom City have no intention of playing in the first team, and many of whom have no real desire to leave having been on these premium wages which they aren't likely to get anywhere else. (Craig Bellamy has actually said as much quite literally before his deadline-day move to Liverpool.)

City now possess a Premier League squad of 25 players who are more than capable of winning the Premier League and, maybe, even the Champions League. Genuine world class is littered throughout their team having hen-pecked the best players throughout the Premier League from lesser teams (Gareth Barry, James Milner, Adam Johnson) and from across Europe (Dzeko, Aguero, Silva, De Jong) as well as some top class teams, too (Yaya Toure). They have formed a lucid and expansive team. Strong in defence, crucifying in attack.

The jewel in City's crown.

Tonight, they start their first ever Champions League campaign against Napoli. They are in the hardest group to qualify for the knockout championships. But, their ascendancy was marked by the camera shot of Frank Ribery holding his head in his hands once it was announced that Bayern Munich, one of Europe's most decorated teams in European competition. Nasri, Tevez, Dzeko, Aguero, Silva, Johnson, Balotelli: a frightening attack.

The blue half of Manchester now has a serious team, in serious risk of winning trophies. All to the Barclays Premier League's benefit.

West Bromwich Albion Record First Victory Over Self-destructing Norwich.

It could be the first big relegation six-pointer of the season. Victory for West Bromwich Albion, and their beleaguered team, battered from three grueling opening fixtures, has relieved the early pressure from boss Roy Hodgson.

They were three games which any manager in the league could have lost and most wouldn't have lost in such an admirable fashion, but, it is simple to say, in the Barclays Premier League, losing three and then four and so-on matches would put any manager under severe pressure. Never mind one who is respected as Roy Hodgson is throughout the league.

The defining moment of the match emerged in the opening minutes of the game, and with West Brom's unenviable record of only one clean sheet in thirty nine Premier League appearances, non thought that 3 minutes into the game Peter Odemwingie's opener would have been the pivotal factor in this precursor relegation battle.

Ritchie De Laet's third minute mistake, tamely heading the ball into Odemwingie's path, sealed his side's fate during the preliminary rounds of the match. This should have been a cagey affair by two teams who were vying for their first wins of the campaign. However, a rudimentary long ball from West Brom left back Nicky Shorey and the most basic run by Odemwingie, towards the ball, unlocked the frail, slow, naïve Canaries defence. This creating the lucid, end to end match that unfolded at Carrow Road.

What followed was a frantic encounter which could be considered either a vindication of two sides' attacking intent or, more simply, two sides whose defensive abilities are questionable.

Norwich created chances and, like Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers' mantra: “If we weren't creating chances, I'd be worried”, Paul Lambert is sticking to the same tune. Scoring them would help too, Brendan.

Andrew Surman simply ran off his marker in the first half and found himself with a five yard diameter of space inside the Baggies' penalty area before the ball rebounded to club captain Grant Holt, who slammed the ball out of play. Graham Dorrans smashed the post and Odemwingie's hopes of a brace were nullified by goalkeeper Declan Rudd after a stiff-breeze had blown Steven Reid to the ground, with referee Mark Halsey pointing to the spot.

Tamas' flailing right elbow on James Vaughan.

Gabriel Tamas marred what was to be one of his better West Bromwich Albion performances with a blatant elbow on James Vaughan in a maneuver gone from the Albion side since Darren Purse's departure.

It was a much needed win for West Brom and asked a few questions of the plucky Norwich team early on in the season. An invaluable 3 points for Roy Hodgson but it was a game that seemed to ask more questions than it answered.

The Carroll Conundrum

It's fair to say that Liverpool's capture of Andy Carroll from Newcastle on the last day of the January transfer window has been shrouded by football fans' polar opposite views about the promise of the young England international.

Carroll doing what he does best: powering a header.

Carroll, before the extortionate £35m transfer to Liverpool FC, was proving a prominent striker in the Premier League after making the step up from Championship, winning the title with his Newcastle side along the way. No one doubts his abilities as a battering-ram striker, but there are people who would doubt the price-tag against his potential.

Carroll has made two professional senior appearances for England, scoring one goal in the process. Hardly a renown and proven set of statistics but the striker, who is uneasy on the eye and very unfashionable in today's Catalan induced market of small, technical players. However, with the arrival of Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge, in a £20m capture, it proves that strikers who can upset defenders with sheer presence are still valuable commodities in today's game.

Football statisticians would tell you that Peter Crouch is a much more proven striker at international level. He has scored 22 goals in a a miserly 42 appearances, which is, obviously, 1 goal in 2 games. Andy Carroll did, in fact, score his international goal against a very apt, up-and-coming Ghana side at Wembley, where Crouch's goals have been against the minnows of the world football game. Crouch has only scored 4 of his 22 goals against competitive, top 20 opponents. (Mexico, France, Uraguay and Croatia.)

Comparatively, Peter Crouch is a heady 6ft 7' tall, while Carroll is a shorter 6ft 3'. Crouch, however, poses a slender stature, weighing 11 stones and a few pounds, while Carroll is a more imposing 12 stones, since wearing a Liverpool shirt. Aerial ability is a culmination of height, jumping height, strength, power and anticipation. In the combination of these attributes, Crouch's superior 4 inches do not beat Carroll's rounded superiority. When comparing Carroll against Crouch's effectiveness in a football team, it would be reasonable to say that Carroll is a much more effective player.

In my opinion, Andy Carroll, aged only 21, is a great purchase for Liverpool FC. He has a five-year contract and, although, for a largely unproven striker at Premier League level, with the transfer fee being very high, Liverpool's potential ten years of investment in a promising striker for the fee works out at only £3.5m a year. If Carroll scores only ten Premier League goals a year, any side would pay that fee for a season's service. That's not to mention how many goals he is likely to score in a good Liverpool side, plus the added build-up play he contributes which is invaluable in a side's tactics. Added to that, if Kenny Dalglish, a Scotsman, can mold Carroll into a formidable striker it would be greatly to England's benefit. Since Alan Shearer, England has not had a striker who can score goals as well as contributing to the team's goals.

Is Rooney World Class?

The debate rages on as feverously as ever. Is the jewel in England's crown, the scouse-wizard Wayne Rooney, world class and comparable with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and a few other of the world's finest, most mercurial talents?

The term world class is rather misleading. What someone determines as world class could quite easily be completely different from another person's opinion. To call someone generally world class, surely there has to be a definitive definition. One person means 'world class' to mean a top 10 player, whereas another person means top 100. The most obvious explanation of world class is: if a team was formed, comprising of the world's best players in all of their positions from all corners of the globe, and that player would demand a starting place, then they would, and can be called, 'world class'.

If we use this system, then Wayne Rooney is on the border line – depending on the discernment of the selection panel. Namely, would Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi be the chosen front two, or would they feature elsewhere, say on the wings. Nobody seems to be doubting that, indeed, those two players are the two best players in the world, and, largely, that Messi is the better player of the two.

So, under those jurisdictions, Rooney would probably not be considered as world class. However, in a world where it seems that only forward players are ever considered as the best players in the world, which is baffling in itself as it is a team game and Messi cannot score without somebody, somewhere passing him the ball at one time or another, defenders are never considered which leads to a completely convoluted list of forward players as the best players, who, normally, are only vying for one or two positions.

What has to be the defining factor, in my opinion, is form. Nobody is trying to say that Ronaldinho is the world's best player. He is still playing, and at one point he was 'world class', and the world's best. So, on form, is Rooney world class?

Certainly in the 09/10 season, where Manchester United reached the semi finals of the FA cup, final of the Champions League and won the league, with Rooney as their talisman, he was world class. And, judging by his start to this season, he is on target to reach those career heights once again. Rooney hit 34 goals in 44 appearances during the 09/10 season. He hasn't since, or prior to that, reached anywhere near those goal ratios before but, it is fair to say, he was never the focal point of the team before that season.

On top of that, assists and overall influence have to be considered and United's record with Rooney in the team is far superior to the record without him.

If, at the end of all this debate, we decide that to be 'world class' your reputation has to make you one of the top 10 most coveted players in world football, then Rooney would certainly make that list. The simple fact of the matter is, Rooney is the best player that England have, can win games on his own at times and is a joy to watch.

It's just a little disheartening as an ardent England fan that it seems the main preoccupation of England fans is to belittle and desecrate our best players, of which, Rooney is certainly the best. He may not be Messi but he's certainly within that class of players, and isn't that good enough?