Ed- this piece was written by James Harrower, a new writer for the site.

The English premier league is widely regarded to be the best league in the world so it brings the best players to it, but is the influx of foreign players a good thing or is it seriously detrimental to the future of English football? It’s disgusting to think that Arsenal, a successful club based in North London regularly field a starting 11 with not one British, let alone English player.

Perhaps it’s not Steve McLaren we should be worried about with the state of the current National side; maybe we should be worried for the manager when the World Cup could possibly be hosted in England in 2018.  How many good English players will we have then, with the majority of the premier league taken up with foreign names?

It’s not just foreign players either, along with foreign managers we now have foreign owners in the league, to which all their funds have only secured lucrative contracts for foreign stars.  Since Roman Abramovich has bought Chelsea he has bought 8 English players and 21 foreign players, for huge exorbitant sums (£268m) who don’t always play.

Admittedly, the premier league would be a duller place without the likes of Ronaldo, Essien, Fabregas, Torres and Berbatov but we need to know how far down the list we need to go before we find an abundance of British talent.  Sepp Blatter’s foreign quote plan of 5 foreign players per team, per game could end up pushing the premier league behind La Liga and Serie A; however this could be a good thing, in the long term.  Although this would force a complete reshuffle of the Arsenal and Chelsea sides and major changes to many other sides, the National team would benefit profusely from the English players being played week in and week out, the majority of which would come from club academies.

It is time to decide whether we hold our league or our National team in higher regard as we seemingly don’t be able to succeed in both.

Posted on November 4th, 2007 | No Comments »
Filed under: England

Apparently, Owen plays for two clubs; England FC and England national team. Reason to this? All pundits, commentators and the press ever seem to talk about when talking about Owen is England, not Newcastle. Every week Big Sam is asked ‘How is Owen’s chances of recovering for the England matches,’ every week newspaper headlines are ‘Owen On Road To Recovery For England’, if I was Sam, I’d say ‘Feck England we pay his wages!’, then walk off, ring Garth Crooks’ missus and shag her to get revenge for being asked about England every week! 

I feel sorry for Newcastle fans. Over the years they have been let down season after season, but let’s stop being negative. Newcastle are on the way up, it won’t happen quickly, but it will happen. Newcastle will be a top 6 team by 2010. How do I know? Because I’m a fortune teller and today I caressed my crystal ball and I saw ‘

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Posted on October 3rd, 2007 | 232 Comments »
Filed under: England, Newcastle, article

Talksport: ‘Talksport speaking how can I help?’

Me: ‘I’d like to be put on air to speak to Adrian about England’s performances’

Talksport: ‘Have you rung before?’

Me: ‘Yes I rang him about 2 months ago when Arsenal signed Bacari Sagna and Adrian was ripping Wenger apart for spending £7.5m on a foreigner’ And before I knew it…

Adrian: ‘Ramin from London… I seem to remember your name from a couple of weeks ago, what would you like to talk about this time?’

Me: ‘I’ve sat here and listened to you talk crap about England and how crap they are, but it’s time people like you realised the national team won’t get anywhere until the press and media ease the pressure off them. I know you say what you do because you’re second favourite to Five Live and you need listeners but….. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP’

That was the end. He cut me off.I was just about to tell him how he was a pleasant young chap and one of the best presenters in the radio industry… bollocks was I.

Steve has come under severe criticism in the last few months, but in my opinion it’s not all his fault. It’s not his fault the F.A appointed him when they needed someone who the players respect and listen to, it’s not his fault England players are lazy and overhyped, but hey that’s life. Read more »

Posted on September 22nd, 2007 | No Comments »
Filed under: England, Mourinho, article

Three seasons ago Jose Mourinho had just completed one of the hardest feats of the modern game- surprising the world after helping Portuguese club FC Porto win the Champions League; today he is without a job. Despite winning two Premier League titles, two Carling Cup trophies and an FA Cup trophy in his time with Chelsea Football Club, there was always speculation that Mourinho would leave one way or another eventually- his relationship with Abramovich was rocky, to say the least. Although Mourinho had won the trophies Abramovich craved, he did not do it in the style the owner wanted. Envious eyes were cast over London neighbours Arsenal after their glorious unbeaten season, but it seemed that Abramovich was happy to allow Mourinho to stay at the helm as long as the trophies came in- although those close to the Russian businessman hinted that he wanted the Champions League most of all.

After the sensational news emerged last night that Mourinho had left the club by mutual consent, many football fans were not surprised. It seemed as if this moment had been coming for quite some time, ever since Abramovich apparently refused the signing of Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim in January- a decision that may well have cost them the title. Since then, it appears that Abramovich’s extravagant transfer spending has ended, with Chelsea’s sole big buy in this transfer window being Florent Malouda from Lyon for around £13.5 million. The club were in for Daniel Alves, but Abramovich refused to shell out the fee that Sevilla wanted- meaning that Mourinho got Barcelona fringe player Julio Belletti instead; hardly a like-for-like swap.

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Posted on September 21st, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Filed under: Chelsea, England, Mourinho, Premiership, football

Two contrasting styles faced each other in Seoul with a powerful Nigeria full of enthusiasm, up against the more technical and patient Spanish style; the result? An open attacking game, with plenty of chances but in the end, Spain lost in a shoot-out, which followed history, with most Spanish national teams being knocked out in the latter stages of a competition, perhaps due to an unseen mental block.

Nigeria’s adventurous style created a number of chances, with a plethora of dribbles, past a number of Spanish players, shooting as soon as the opportunity rose. Naturally, this eccentric style resulted in a number of efforts unsuccessfully off target. Spain too, missing the striker’s instinct and cutting edge provided by Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic, who was suspended, and so adopted this method of shooting on site, with the link up play with the strikers erased by the disciplined Nigerian defence, whose quick release of possession allowed the Super Eagles to embark on quick counter attacks, to unsettle the Spaniards.

Quick passing and strength allowed Yemi Tella’s side to keep the ball well and the dangerous Rafeal amongst others provided a predatory threat to De Gea’s goal, with long shots, to mazy dribbles and good positioning making him a constant threat. But don’t forget luck. When a cross evaded all and reached the far post (30’), he cut inside his marker to create space, and having done the hard part, the shot rifled the net from five yards (the side netting that is).

What followed was constant Nigerian pressure, with the Spaniards unable to cope with the speed and strength, which was clearly evident, of the African side. When Spain attempted to break up the run of play, they were unsuccessful, with Fran Merida and co. being pressed into making errors. In one occasion, Spain did nearly score (35’) but at the far post from a corner, the Spanish player side-footed against the post, in what was one of the game’s best chances.

The end to end action petered out, as the tempo slowed and both sides over-hit simple passes or tried the unnecessarily complex pass. Any attempts to break the deadlock were becoming more desperate, with the best chances coming from set pieces. In a jagged second period Spain, had few opportunities, but decision making was poor, even by the normally reliable Merida, who opted to shoot (high and wide), when a pass was better option.

Nigeria discovered a late sense of urgency and attacked in numbers with substitute Isa forced a great save from the Spanish keeper after he controlled a pass over the top of the Spanish defence, cut inside his marker and fired towards the opposite corner, with De Gea tipping the ball over at full stretch (90+2’). The game could have been over earlier if Nigeria used their counter attacks to good effect, with a number of their players guilty of perhaps overplaying and losing the opportunity to create a scoring chance.

Extra time beckoned and both sides hit the woodwork, with Iago Falque, who has interested Chelsea cutting in from the right wing, firing in a powerful drive (116’). The look on his face presumed defeat, as the penalty shoot-out loomed. Both sides received bookings as the flow broke up, and both Merida and Abdulkarim being booked for unnecessary challenges.

Ajiboye was to be Nigeria’s hero saving two spot kicks and seeing another wide, with his large presence. The final penalty was slightly delayed due the ball being in the wrong position and with the added pressure of the necessity to score; Iago Falque struck a poor penalty straight at Ajiboye and sealed the Super Eaglets’ win in Seoul.

No doubt the number of scouts would have been impressed by the talent displayed in South Korea, with eyes pointing towards, Toni Kroos, the German playmaker, Chrisantus, the top-scoring Nigerian, and naturally Bojan Krkic, who is set to break into Barcelona’s first team, while his team mate Dani Aquino has already been interesting Real Madrid. It is natural to expect that in a few years time, these same names will be showing their talents on a much greater stage.

Posted on September 9th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Filed under: football, international, penalties, tactics