Premiership plea is a weak excuse
WITH almost a full programme of Barclays Premier League matches tonight I wonder how many managers will be contemplating putting out weakened teams.
None, I suspect. Membership of football’s most elite society is everything.
Seventeenth position in the Premiership has become more vital than winning a Cup, and I think that is a sad indictment on the game today.
I’m a big fan of Martin O’Neill’s but he was out of order in forfeiting Aston Villa's chance of winning the UEFA Cup, just as Sam Allardyce was disrespectful to the FA Cup with his team selection at Coventry.
Villa should be barred from qualifying for Europe next season even if they do finish in a Champions League winning spot.
What was the point of them entering the InterToto whatsit, then jetting off to Iceland, Bulgaria, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Germany, only to throw in their hand in Russia?
Martin’s obvious reasoning was that he had to protect his best players for Sunday’s league clash with Stoke.
And what did that achieve? A 2-2 draw. Great!
Having won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest, Martin knows the euphoria that goes with such an achievement. He won’t have too many medals to show for finishing fourth in the Premier League and simply qualifying for another qualifier.
Similarly how will Sam Allardyce feel if Blackburn go down and Coventry reach the FA Cup final?
A representative from UEFA condemned Villa’s attitude and said they have the power to impose sanctions on clubs fielding weakened teams.
So why, in God’s name don’t they apply those sanctions? At least it would make clubs think twice before acting so disrespectfully.
As a side issue I’m baffled why it’s considered too arduous for fit young men to play two games of football in a week.
When Leeds and Liverpool were pre-eminent in Europe and at home, they regularly fulfilled 60 fixtures a season.
Burnley aren’t complaining about playing that many because of their commendable exploits in two cup competitions, so why are Premier League clubs trying to wrap their players up in cotton wool ?
Bolton Wanderers, knocked out at the first stage of both Carling and FA Cups will play a mere 40 games this season – and they’re craving for a return to the UEFA Cup.
Europe looking good
THE performances of Paul Casey, Ross Fisher, Oliver Wilson et al at the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship in Arizona augured well for our Ryder Cup prospects.
Not even the long awaited return of Tiger Woods could obscure the fact that British players enhanced their reputations considerably among the cacti.
Matchplay golf is so different to anything else offered up by the sport, and it is perhaps not insignificant that a single-minded Australian Geoff Ogilvy has won the event three times.
Casey is similar in many respects, so too Colin Montgomerie who thrives in bullish, one-on-one confrontations and if those are attributes required to prevail so be it.
Fisher hits the ball a million miles and I was intrigued to hear Ewan Murray comment that one tee shot had been clattered 388 yards!
Rory McIlroy is another prodigious talent who may bring America’s best to their knees at Celtic Manor next year and with the likes of Garcia, Poulter, Kaymer and Larrazabal coming through to augment Westwood, Clarke, Karlsson, Harrington and Co. the European team is already looking formidable.
Union blues
I HAVE long held the view that rugby union internationals are won by the team with the best kicker.
My old pal Ian Robertson goes into orbit on Five Live every time a penalty is awarded – which on average is every three-and-a-bit minutes.
There were 24 penalties at Croke Park on Saturday, England have conceded 42 in three matches.
How on earth do they expect to win matches with such an appalling disciplinary record ?
The other nations penalty kickers must be licking their lips as England rack up the yellow cards.
It makes for repetitive viewing as kick after kick sails through the posts – but it keeps Robbo happy!
