The Real Meaning of Respect

In an era where the empty gesture is deemed eminently newsworthy in the absence of anything of note actually occurring, perhaps the most vacuous of the lot is the pre-match football handshake. Presumably cooked up by a coven of hacks to lighten their workload, how they must rub their hands together greedily (and ironically, last weekend, given the dearth of hand-to-hand contact) every time Chelsea play QPR or Liverpool and Manchester United reactivate rivalries.

What If? #5 Everton in the 80s

The fifth installment of our What If? series sees Spongers' own Adam Bushby look at the impact the five-year European ban had on the great Everton side.

After convening for an emergency session in Switzerland on June 2 1985, Uefa chiefs issued a statement that would have immediate and lasting consequences: English clubs were banned from Europe, indefinitely. At Goodison Park in particular, home as it was of reigning First Division champions Everton, the news was greeted with anger and dismay. Following the tragic events a few days earlier at the crumbling Heysel Stadium in Brussels, the sentiment was pretty much universal; enough was enough. Thirty nine Juventus fans went to a football match that day and never came back. The European showpiece between Liverpool and the Bianconeri will forever be remembered for events that happened in the stands, rather than on the pitch, and set in motion much-needed introspection as an English disease threatened to become a Europe-engulfing epidemic.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

His eyes are more powerful than you can ever imagine

It’s been said that David Moyes’s icy stare can see into your soul*. Were he to look into the fibres of most Everton fans, he might find they were trying to keep faith with the man who led the club to Champions League qualifiers in 2005, an FA Cup final in 2009 and is a three-time LMA Manager of the Year to boot. Were he to turn this totally fictional ability onto himself, however, one suspects these past accolades count for little without Moyes feeling that he is achieving more tangible success as his tenure on Merseyside lengthens.

Good Times At Goodison?

Mikel Arteta – Spanish or English? Well let’s be honest, he’s about as English as Manuel Almunia; who is as English as Antonio Banderas playing a Spanish waiter in a Spanish re-make of Fawlty Towers.

England captain Steven Gerrard said recently of the Everton midfielder, “I'd certainly love nothing better than to see Mikel Arteta available for England. You want to play with the best players, and if it makes the England squad better, of course I'd like to see it”. As an Englishman, extremely disappointed in my national team, I would find it hard to argue against his inclusion in the next squad; something we have already fore-fronted on the blog. And you have only to ask any Everton fan what the guile of their number 8 means to them. Now fully fit, he could make the difference to Everton’s season.

Songs for Unsung Heroes

As Wayne Rooney walks off with a hat-trick of domestic awards and Didier Drogba tries to squeeze his foot into his golden boot a la Cinderella’s ugly sisters, there were a couple of managerial awards as well. Obviously, not everyone can win ‘manager of the year’ and while there’s no doubt that ‘Arry and Woy were thoroughly deserving, there are a few more who deserve a share of the plaudits.

At the top end of the table, Carlo Ancelotti unearthed a ruthlessness in Chelsea that may overflow on Saturday against Portsmouth. Credit to the Italian for a title (and potentially a double) in his first season in charge and for finally appearing to deliver what Abramovich lusts after, in the form of performances if not the ultimate European prize.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Chelsea were helped by United’s relative weakness compared with previous seasons, although I’ve also explained why Sir Alex Ferguson deserves a lot of credit – not many managers could shear two prongs off his striking fork and somehow pick up more peas – just ask Rafa Benitez, who had to watch his replacements scrabble for goals in light of injuries to Fernando Torres.

But to the unsung heroes. If the season had started at Christmas, Everton would be third. But if spurious statistics like that were relevant, the Lib Dems would have a quarter of all the seats in Parliament and we wouldn’t have a man [PARTISAN ALERT] with no relevant experience in charge of one of the most fragile economies in history.

However, David Moyes deserves some recognition, as he does each year, for his Everton side, particularly since those dark days at the start of the season. They began with a 6-1 pummelling at Arsenal and had won only five league matches coming into 2010. Unbeaten in the league in January, Moyes – assisted by a slight, but not total alleviation of the injury crisis surrounding the club which had left him with no strikers and perhaps more importantly, no Mikel Arteta – then oversaw victories over Man City, Chelsea and United in February. Following defeat away at Spurs on February 28, Everton went unbeaten for the rest of the season, clocking up six wins in the process. Should a fully-fit squad report for pre-season training, Everton should be relishing 2010/11.

Everton top a group of three who all deserve plaudits for their seasons. Ninth in the league , Birmingham fans are still pinching themselves while also daring to believe that further improvement is possible should Carson Yeung’s war chest be opened. The Blues are currently believed to be monitoring Bobby Zamora, who won’t be cheap.

Interest in Zamora and Kris Boyd, strikers both, isn’t a surprise given the manner of the performances which elevated Birmingham to their nose-bleedy heights for most of the season. Success has been built on a particularly obdurate defence. The now famous 12-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, spanning October to January, included six clean sheets with only eight conceded overall. It also included seven wins, five of them back-to-back in December/January. For all the praise lavished on him as Scotland manager, Alex McLeish could well cite his work at St Andrews for the last two years as the finest of his career so far.

If any criticism can be levelled at Birmingham this year, it’s that they weren’t necessarily easy on the eye each week. If you need any further proof that sometimes, the desire for results outweighs the pleasure of the aesthetic, just look at Jose Mourinho. And Sam Allardyce.

Allardyce was brought in to save Blackburn from relegation last season and did just that. When Mark Hughes finally got his wealthy hands on Roque Santa Cruz, Stephen Warnock went to Villa, Matt Derbyshire to Olympiakos and stalwarts Ooijer and Tugay were lost to Eindhoven and retirement respectively. A top-ten finish (albeit in tenth) with that considerable exodus and the arrival of a £6mn centre forward who has scored two league goals all season, deserves massive respect.

If strident defence, long-ball tactics, having Kevin Davies elbow centre backs in the face for 90 minutes and keeping 10 men behind the ball all game can be considered successful measures this season, so too can be exchanging all of them for a completely new team if you think you’re going to be on the receiving end of a shoeing at Old Trafford. Step forward Mick McCarthy.

Ask any promoted team what they want to achieve at the advent of a new season and the reply will be ‘survival’. Criticism of McCarthy, unfounded in the first place – it is the manager’s prerogative to rest his players ahead of big fixtures – ended up being especially sweet for Wolves as they beat the drop with something to spare. An away victory against Burnley in March heralded a ten-game run in during which Wolves also won away at West Ham and only lost twice. Wolves look more likely than Birmingham to suffer second-season syndrome, but McCarthy has proved as astute a manager as the one who drove Wolves to the Championship title in 2009.

Admittedly, the plaudits in this reflection are rewarded for those who have favoured substance over style (with the possible exception of Moyes). On a sanguine note, this approach appears to favour mid-table teams for whom the focus inherently remains below their feet rather than above their heads (honourable mention here for Stoke and Tony Pulis). ‘Footballing sides’ are yet to make waves in the Premier League unless, at the start of the ‘Champions League revenue/Big Four era’ they were already blessed with resources and talent to indulge such fancies. For those allowed to talk about football in terms of Europe, titles and trophies, it remains a world of hyperbole and cliché. Though it may be about as enjoyable to watch as shutting your fingers in a car door, for those always aware of resources and finance it is about finding ways to get the result you need in the game you need it in. It’s more business-like than ever in this part of the league and messrs Moyes, McLeish, Allardyce and McCarthy certainly earned their corn this year. Hats off. Rob MacDonald

Welcome Return of the Derby Match

Blood. Thunder. Hammers. Tongs. Kitchen sinks. This season, verve and fervency have returned to Premier League derbies and, if anything, have been its only saving grace. The year as a whole has provided upsets as the rule rather than the exception and the title will certainly not go to a team that has played consistently fantastic football, regardless of who finishes top in May.

The Manchester derby at Old Trafford last September was probably the game of the season so far, though the Carling Cup semi-final encounters didn’t disappoint either. An influx of money and quality players has started to turn Ferguson’s Sauron-esque gaze away from Anfield and back towards Eastlands. Even under Sven, City were still the Premier League’s wry smile. Get some money, achieve a bit, but get thumped 8-1 by Boro’ on the last day. Beat United, home and away, but not cause too many ripples because United win the title and all is well with the world. ‘You enjoy your little victories, City’, gloated United fans, ‘because we will win the war’.

This time, however, the whole war will be condensed into 90 minutes and City have the monopoly on weapons. Ferguson reserves plenty of ire for his city rivals at the best of times, but will feel it all the more intensely now United’s season could meet its end at the hands of a club dormant for so long and a striker he chose not to retain. What probably nags at Ferguson is that deep down, he expected this to be his most glorious of years, the year in which he finally eclipsed Liverpool’s haul of titles; the year he won a league even without Cristiano Ronaldo. What he won’t have entertained is the locals not only getting ideas above their station, but finishing the season there too. This was never supposed to be City’s season of self-affirmation and their increasing belief will only be boosted by the evaporation of United’s, who have plenty to prove. With three classics already this season, my money is definitely on a fourth. Manchester derbies are back with a vengeance.

The North London equivalent between Arsenal and Spurs offered another notable encounter this week. While Harry Redknapp’s expensively-assembled side would ordinarily expect to dismantle a team worth £40m less, the importance of psychological hoodoos in football are not to be underestimated. They are certainly not to be discounted on the back of a dispiriting FA Cup semi-final defeat to the Premier League’s bottom club. Nevertheless, Tottenham roused themselves and ended Arsenal’s 11-year run as well as the Gunners’ title hopes. What’s more, it was a good game of football. Good games are not normally synonymous with local derbies (just ask the Old Firm), as pundits tend to prefer allusions to ‘commitment’ and ‘passion’ as bywords for players diving into challenges because they know the fans are really into it. For reference, see the first North London derby of the season which, aside from two Arsenal goals in eleven seconds, didn’t offer much.

Merseyside derbies, too, while not benefiting from a shot in the arm like those down the M62, or from a record finally coming to an end like in the capital, still boast two top-half teams. This season’s incarnations are notable for Liverpool delivering two performances the likes of which most people expected to see on a more frequent basis when tipping them for the title. A fairly dour performance nevertheless ground out a 2-0 win at Goodison, while a significantly more inspiring display saw Liverpool win the Anfield return 1-0, despite being reduced to 10 after half an hour. In the latter game, challenges were flying in all over the pitch, much to Andy Gray’s delight.

Derbies involving the league’s more successful clubs are starting to stand out on the fixture list again, even for those of us that strive to resist the pull of the often-lukewarm ‘Super Sunday’. City and Tottenham are closer than ever to the league’s biggest four and though their traditional city rivals continue to cling to Chelsea’s coat tails at the top, local bragging rights might be the only prize left on offer. Expect the word ‘pulsating’ to be overused this Saturday lunchtime; Hope for more of the same next season. Rob MacDonald

*This article was originally posted on Friday April 16, before the Manchester derby