TFT Podcast Ep 61

The Premier League season finally got underway last weekend and there were plenty of goals and one or two surprises at which to marvel.

Chelsea continued an emerging habit and switched up a gear to turn a 2-0 game against lesser opponents into a 6-0 without breaking sweat. Manchester United were just as comfortable, if a little less ruthless, against Newcastle United on Monday. Aston Villa beat West Ham United 3-0 at Villa Park in their first competitive game without Martin O'Neill.

Blackpool perhaps shocked us most, not with the fact that they beat Wigan at the DW but the sheer scale of the scoreline at 4-0. Wolves banked a deserved three points after a noteworthy victory over Stoke, while Everton once again bombed on opening day with a 1-0 defeat at Blackburn that will live long in the memory of Tim Howard.

Manchester City, as always, have been in the news this week. They have Joe Hart to thank for a goalless draw against Tottenham, and TFT favourite Mario Balotelli (it's not like an O'Neill favourite - we like other players too) for a win in Europe. In between, the exit door has been swinging at the City of Manchester Stadium. Craig Bellamy has headed for Cardiff after being frozen out by Roberto Mancini's squad list, and Stephen Ireland, the man many City fans will have hoped might survive the billionaire cull, signed for Villa.

While the door was open to let out Ireland, Villa's James Milner snuck in to complete a deal between the two clubs which, if Ireland demonstrates his form of two seasons ago, is almost ludicrously weighted in Villa's favour.

Chris Nee and Gary Andrews are joined in the studio by journalist, pie appreciator and City supporter Will Dean to discuss the first weekend of the Premier League, all the comings and goings at the club and, more importantly, their prospects for the season ahead.

In amongst all the Premier League bluster on Saturday, another competition clattered into action. The FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round began on Friday, with a huge fixture list on Saturday and replays earlier this week. I'm sad to say that Wembley were knocked out. Elsewhere, Gary watched Bethnal Green United take apart Basildon United and our second guest this week, Simon Barnett of The Real FA Cup took in two matches. You'll find out which ones in the show (it wasn't the 10-2).

Also on the agenda this week are the first leg of the Champions League qualifiers, Arsenal Fanshare and - of course - Major League Soccer.

Please leave your comments below, follow us on Twitter, be our fan on Facebook and send your questions and comments to twofootedtackle[at]googlemail[dot]com - we also want audio contributions to the show, so feel free to get in touch about that.

You can listen to the latest episode below:
Download link (mp3, 53mb, 77 mins)

Read more

Joyless football and the Age of Information Overload

How's this for nerdy? On my journey home last night, my mind began wandering and eventually settled on a lengthy consideration of the Age of Information Overload in football. Something that's been bothering me lately, both in football and in other areas of life, is supply outstripping demand. Or, more specifically, suppliers creating demand. Take 3D TV. Nobody asked for it, barely anyone really wants it. There was certainly no desperate mass clamour and the technology itself doesn't feel like a natural evolution in the same way as high-definition did.

And yet, here we are, with plotless movies being launched left, right and centre just because they look pretty, 3D TV sets being forced down our throats and - unfortunately - 3D being the next great technological development in the displaying and viewing of the beautiful game. Fine, if we'd all been champing at the bit to have El-Hadji Diouf gob at us. But we hadn't. It's being pushed, not pulled.

Sometimes, a PR person really thinks they've got a story, and approach bloggers in exactly the right way, but something about what they're selling just doesn't quite sit right. I'm going to pick on an outfit that I've got a lot of time for here, somewhat unfairly. Before the World Cup, ITV launched ITV Live. I'm a defender of ITV. They haven't got quite their TV football offering right and seem prone to serious error, but the football people there are genuine football people who I like a lot. They get it.

ITV Live itself is a stunning piece of technology and worked well, give or take an iffy opening night. It provides instant replays, chat functions, stats and facts - all sorts, and all at the click of a mouse while you watch the match live on your laptop or your TV, something they initially tested in another form for the 2009 FA Cup Final. It's brilliant. I didn't use it.

The Guardian created a Fans' Network for South Africa 2010, pulling in tweets from fans all over the world, including me. Again, the intention was to create greater interaction, particularly during matches. Again, it was excellent, save for my non-football tweet that contained both a naughty word and the name of a participating country and the stern talking-to that resulted. Again, I didn't touch it.

These two media firms are not the only ones to target football supporters. Countless companies I shan't name have created tools targeted (that's an important word) at fans that we just don't need. Some of them are impressive in isolation from their objectives, some of them are total bollocks. But almost all of them seem to be feeding this apparent need football supporters have for more information, more interaction.

I've been asked about this kind of thing at work and it always amazes me that people think that supporters (a) need to be told how to watch football and (b) are incapable of dictating and creating their own interaction during a match.

The question of supply and demand applies here, because I truly don't believe that anybody wanted or needs any of the above. Except, that is, the people who created them on the back of a fan engagement brief.

What football supporters want online is evident elsewhere. Take Zonal Marking, for example. Jonathan Wilson, given an amazing level of insight, a noteworthy book and a platform to voice his knowledge, helped fuel a fashion for molecular tactical analysis. ZM, blessed with a similar eye, is meeting that demand. Wilson helped whet the appetite and create demand, and the site that best meets it is now riding the crest of a wave. I wonder how a certain company's "pub-finder" website is getting on.

And finally, the straw the broke the camel's back. This week, a brand I won't name because they did everything right except for having a product, or rather an experience, that makes me want to punch football in the face, approached me to try out their in-game football information overload offering. Like ITV Live and all these other "making football more interactive" products, this particular set-up is designed to bombard football supporters with information about the game they're watching.

I finally cracked, but I'm pleased to say I was very polite to the PR in question. This wave of information, this constant industry-created desire for interaction, it's all guff. It's no way to watch football. I'm not a luddite. I'm a complete Twitter evangelist, and I credit it with the continuing existence of this very site. I watch games online like it's going out of fashion.

But I can arrange all that for myself, do my own statistical research, talk to the people I choose to talk to. I don't need a big brand to create some kind of interactive web cocoon for me and then plaster ads all over it.

My broader concern, though, is not one of push marketing, but of the joyless way people are beginning to watch the game. Given the choice between having my brain jammed full of passing percentages and historical results by a big brand-sponsored piece of dazzling technology or sitting in the rain drinking Bovril, there's no contest. Get out of the internet, people. Enjoy football, analyse but don't over-analyse it. It's supposed to be a game, remember?

Read more

Match Report: Bethnal Green United 4-0 Basildon United

Aficionados of Britpop may remember Blur's iconic Mile End Stadium gig in 1995, but while there's precious little evidence of music in the air in East London today the venue is seeing another small piece of history.

Bethnal Green United were only formed in 2000 as a community club designed to give young men from the impoverished borough of Tower Hamlets a chance to stay away from gangs and use football as a force for something positive. They've been slowly building small milestones since then and today sees their first ever FA Cup tie at Extra Preliminary Round level.

While Bethnal Green are a team very much on the up, their opponents, Basildon United, have seen better days. The Bees were formed in the late 60s and made it as high as the Isthmian Division One in the 80s but have been kicking around the Essex Senior League since and show little sign of reclaiming past glories.

It's unlikely too many teams at this level have their turnstile in the reception of a leisure centre, but Mile End Stadium is a decent enough home for Bethnal Green, even if there's no hut for half-time teas. Spectators in need of refreshment have to make do with vending machines instead.

Fans also have to contend with the dreaded athletics track, although compared with the Withdean and Don Valley, Mile End is positively cosy and there's a small amount of atmosphere made by a group of women and their children in one corner of the rustic wooden slat seated stand. How many of them are wives, friends or relatives is a moot point but it adds to the atmosphere.

The initial ten minutes see both teams sussing each other out but it quickly becomes clear that Basildon's tactic is to hoof it long and hope to muscle the Bethnal Green defenders out of it. Sadly, the hoofing is of poor quality and Basildon are leaving gaping holes between midfield and attack, meaning the home side can easily mop up loose balls.

Bethnal Green soon have the measure of their opponents and dispense with balls over the top in favour of a slick passing game, which the well-kept pitch allows and wouldn't be out of place at a higher level.

With so much possession, an opening goal for the home side is somewhat inevitable and it's impressive stuff when it arrives. The midfield engage in a spot of one-touch football before sliding the ball to the left winger, who beats a couple of men, cuts inside and squares the ball to the number 10 who finishes crisply beyond the Basildon goalkeeper.

A second soon follows after Bethnal Green's number 10, who's causing the defence all sorts of problems with his movement, break free down the right-hand side. From the byline, he cuts back an impressive ball for the onrushing Bethnal Green player to slam home emphatically.

Basildon briefly rouse with a few hopeful balls off the pitch and a succession of corners, which are cleared less than convincingly by the home side, but the attacks lack conviction and the half time whistle can't come quick enough.

The anger from the Basildon players can audibly be heard by anybody who heads to the toilets at half time. The facilities are next door to the dressing rooms and many variations of the word "f*ck" can be heard echoing down the corridor.

This shouting lasts about seven minutes which is when @flashboy, occasional TFT pod contributor and one of two companions to the game, heads to the bathroom. Instead he bumps into Bethnal Green's number 7 at the urinals.

Any hope Basildon had of getting back into the game quickly fades when Bethnal Green add a slickly-worked third soon after the break, and the contest is as good as over.

Nobody seems to have told Bethnal Green though, who continue to press, harry, tackle and attack as if they're one-nil down with five minutes to go, and even with their foot off the gas, the ball spends much of the time in the away half.

Basildon, meanwhile, are showing the effects of fielding a team who look the wrong side of thirty and don't get down the gym as regularly as they should. Balls are regularly lost on the centre of the park, with the offending player stopping for a breather rather than tackling back.

Indeed, the whole side has the air of a Sunday veterans team who've been on the receiving end of a hammering by a bunch of kids and can't wait to get down the pub for a post-match pint. Their only respite is when shots miss the target and the goalkeepers have to run over the athletics track and to the edge of the stadium to retrieve the ball.

Eventually Bethnal Green add a fourth late in the second half and the game is all over, although neither side stays on the pitch that long due to the heavy rain that's been on and off during the game.

On the way out of the stadium, what appears to be the mother of one of the home players asks about the final score and there's visible shock on her face when she's told just how empathic the victory has been.

It is, then, a day for celebrating in East London. The team that are billing themselves as Tower Hamlets' premier side have achieved a historic first FA Cup victory and will face either Kentish Town or Stanstead FC in the Preliminary Qualifying Round.

There's no doubt the club is going places - in the programme notes, the chairman talks about gaining promotion to the Conference within ten years.

This may be a touch ambitious, especially given the work that would need to be done to the stadium, but there's a real community vibe, in keeping with the club's aims, and, unusually for a match at this level, nearly half the crowd (and by far and away the most vocal section) is female.

The football is certainly good enough to grace a higher level though, and Bethnal Green's main priority will be climbing up from the Essex Senior leagues. If their opposition is anything like Basildon, they may just achieve it.

[Apologies for lack of names - I couldn't find a teamsheet for love nor money. Photo via flashboy @ Twitgoo]

Read more

The twofootedtackle season preview: The Conference

It's non-league Jim, but not as we know it. Gone are the days when most Conference teams could be relied on to field at least one postman in their side. Today's Conference, or Blue Square Bet Premier if you will, feels much more like a version of League Two from the 1980s.

Yes, there are some resolutely non-league clubs, led by Forest Green Rovers, currently the side with the longest unbroken spell in the division (just), but there's a lot of big ex-league clubs who've fallen on lean times and are champing at the bit to escape back to the League. As Exeter, Oxford and Torquay will tell you, this is no easy feat.

But for all that, the Conference is a reasonably competitive league where a few of the smaller teams can, with a bit of nous, punch above their weight. There's also the obligatory financial collapse, although with the departure of Chester, Grays and Ebbsfleet, non-league's top flight is looking a little less insolvent. Only a little, mind.

Winners

This could be the exact same wording from last year, as Luton Town, the biggest team in the League, make a second go at trying to get out of the Conference. Widely tipped as favourites last season, the Hatters discovered what many an ex-league team before them had painfully found out: The Conference is a hard league to get out of.

Luton go into this campaign with the wise head of Richard Money in charge and a very strong squad. Inspirational midfielder Keith Keane will pull the strings while there's plenty of league experience. In honesty, this team is good enough for League Two. In reality, it'll be a tight fight.

Play-offs

Crawley Town used to be a solid mid-table Conference team always on the verge of a financial crisis, but last season's takeover at the Broadfield has seen them flashing the cash and then some. Matt Tubbs has arrived from Salisbury for £70,000 and Sergio Torres from Peterborough for £100,000. Yes, you read those sums correctly. They've also had six figure bids for Lee Tomlin and Danny Kedwell turned down. The Red Devils are like the Manchester City of non-league, only, with Steve Evans in charge, infinitely less popular. If the squad gel, they'll be pushing hard for the title.

Grimsby Town are preparing for life in the Conference after a rapid decline that saw them drop out of the League despite a late rally. The Mariners have kept faith with Neil Woods and have the advantge of not being in financial turmoil. Captain Lee Peacock has stayed with the club and Grimsby have a decent defence. An immediate return may be beyond them but the Mariners are a good bet for the play-offs.

York City were beaten play-off finalists last time around but crucially have so far kept hold of star striker Richard Brodie, while Alex Lawless and Neil Barrett provide the creativity in the centre of the park. Martin Foyle has created a great team spirit around the Minstermen and providing them can avoid a play-off hangover a top five place once again beckons.

In the Conference, money often talks and new boys Fleetwood Town have plenty to say. Last season's Blue Square North play-off winner have cash to burn thanks to chairman Andy Pilley while manager Mickey Mellon has made one of the signings of the summer in former title winner with Accrington, Ian Craney. Brazilian Magno Viera will provide muscle up front as The Cod Army chase a second successive promotion.

Fighting chance

Darlington's preparation for the season has been far from ideal. First manager Simon Davey resigned, went incommunicado, and turned up at Hereford. Then Davey's replacement, Ryan Kidd, resigned just eleven days into the job. But chairman Raj Singh's appointment of former Kettering and Peterborough boss Mark Cooper is a sensible one and he'll be out to prove he deserves a chance to manage at a higher level.

Paul terry should prove a decent signing at this level, while teenager striker Curtis Main is generating no small amount of excitement. For all that, though, the Quakers may have to rattle around in their giant stadium at this level for at least another season.

Cambridge United endured a frustrating season under Martin Ling last season, not helped by boardroom instability and a big rebuilding job following two unsuccessful play-off finals. This season should see progress made but the strength of the league means they may have to settle for flirting with the play-offs. Poaching goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt from Histon was a masterstroke and should shore up a back line, although Ling has taken somewhat of a gamble with Conference legend Daryl Clare and fellow forward Wayne Gray. On paper, the front line should have goals in it, but this is by no means guaranteed.

Relegation

This will be the season when Histon's meteroic rise catches up with them. After stunning Leeds and making the playoffs two seasons ago, the Stutes slid down the league amid turmoul in the boardroom and on the pitch, with rumours of cash flow problems floating around. Former assistant boss John Beck is back and in charge but he has one of the smallest budgets in the division and has lost the majority of Histon's best players. Lanre Obyebanjo and Antonio Murray may be at the Glassworld but the squad looks weak and the village team look set to tumble back down the pyramid.

Bath City manager Adie Britton admitted the club was about a year ahead of schedule with promotion and that may show on the pitch. Ken Loach's favourite team will be delighted to have made it to the Conference and, in Scott Murray and Lee Phillips, have two proven performers at this level, but the Romans shouldn't expect anything other than a season of struggle. 20th place would be an excellent finish for them.

Hayes and Yeading impressed many observers with with 17th place finished last season and United are now a full-time club in all but name, but they've lost some excellent players along the way and summer signings have been sluggish. Garry Haylock's team were written off last season as well only to escape the job, but they'll have their work cut out to achieve the same feat again.

Gateshead have also made the step to full time which, depending on your viewpoint, is either ambitious of foolhardy, considering they play in front of some of the smallest crowds in the division. Manager Ian Bogie has had to do plenty of wheeling and dealing to replace players who couldn't commit to full time. Johnny Allan, a summer signing from Northwich, knows what it's like to score goals in a struggling team and that's probably what he'll have to do if the Heed's on the pitch performances are to match the ambition off it.

Waving, but not drowning

Forest Green Rovers were nailed on for the drop a few weeks ago but energy millionaire Dale Vince has confirmed he will be investing in the club and manager Dave Hockaday has followed this up by seven signings. Reprieved after Salisbury were expelled last season,Vince's investment may just have come in time to save the Nailsworth team from relegation and possible adminstration. They will be struggling though.

Tamworth had a solid first season back in the Conference under Gary Mills but the squad currently looks very bare. Ex-Leicester midfielder Stefan Oakes can still cut it as this level and the Lambs will need every inch of his experience if they're not to suffer a second season hangover. Injuries could severely hurt Mills' team.

Eastbourne Borough continue to defy the odds and yet again will be favourites for the drop, but long-serving boss Garry Wilson has a strong central pairing of Gary Elphick and Matt Langston while well-travelled striker Richard Pacquette will be leading the line. The Sports are never going to be challenging at the top of the table but have a strong enough squad to stay out of trouble.

And the rest...

Rushden and Diamonds did a fantastic job to reach the play-offs last season but the loss of Lee Tomlin to Peterborough on the eve of the season is a blow for Justin Edinburgh's team. Rushden are a solid side but it's tight up the top and there may be no room for them to squeeze into the play-offs.

AFC Wimbledon have gone full-time over the summer but have the same budget as last year, which has meant somewhat of a clearout. Andre Blackman could be one of the signings of the season and expect the Dons to be strong, although they may have to settle for a season of consolidating in the top half of the table.

Mansfield Town impressed in fits and starts last season and David Holdsworth's tem look set for more of the same. Not strong enough for the play-offs and too good for relegation.

Wrexham need to push on under coach Dean Saunders having underachieved for the past two seasons. Dragons fans are optimistic, but Saunders still doesn't seem to know his best team or even have confidence in his signings. There may be an improvement at the Racecourse ground, but it'll be a gradual one.

Newport County won the Conference South in style and are dark horses for a run at the play-offs this season. Chris Todd will lend experience to Dean Holdsworth's defence and the Exiles should have a comfortable first season in the Blue Square Premier.

Kettering's good finish last season owed much to the form under former boss Mark Cooper. Lee Harper now faces a tough season as the Poppies may struggle to replicate their top half finish. Having an unpredictable chairman in Imraam Ladak doesn't help either.

Southport are back in the Conference after a three year absence, although top scorer Ciaran Kilheeney has left the Soundgrounders as he was unable to commit to Conference football. Liam Watson is a sensible manager and it should be an uneventful season at Haig Avenue.

Altrincham have ridigly refused to break thier budget and this stability is slowly leading to process for the Manchester club. Graham Heatcote's men will be hard to beat, although losing striker Colin Little means the Robins will need goals. Mid-table.

The Barrow rollercoaster will continue this season with unpredictability the name of the game. Last season the FA Trophy victory proved the Bluebirds could beat anybody over one game but couldn't put a run together. A bottom half finish is likely but don't rule out more cup heroics, especially a few teams will relish the long trip north.

Kidderminster Harriers should be where they always are in the Conference, mid-table looking up at the play-offs. Steve Burr may need another season before he can get the Harriers challenging for a return to the league.

And that is the entirity of England's top five divisions previewed. twofootedtackle will continue to give non-league as much coverage as we can and we strongly urge you to get along to support your local club at some point this season. On Saturday the Premier Lague is back and non-league is back and, for very different reasons, we've missed them both. Bring it on.

Read more

The first rule of FA Club...

Back when tickets first went on sale for the rebuilt Wembley Stadium the idea of splashing out for ten years' worth of Club Wembley access horrified me, not just because of the expense but because I'm no advocate of football's commercialisation and I certainly don't favour anything that treats the action on offer as some primitive, dumbed down form of theatre.

I swore there and then that I'd never set foot inside Club Wembley. I'm a football traditionalist and a football traditionalist I shall remain. To this day, I've been true to my word. Er...sort of.

On Wednesday night, thanks to our friends at Umbro, I leapfrogged Club Wembley and headed straight into another world, a world where football is a mere sideshow and leggy blonde teenagers are paid to smile at and hold doors open for the great and the good. And, for one night only, a couple of sarcastic and cynical football bloggers. The FA Club (pictured) is a phenomenon I had no idea existed within our national stadium. Despite an enjoyable evening in wonderful company, I wish I still didn't.

The FA Club experience is one so surreal that I'm certain I'll look back on it in weeks to come and convince myself that the free booze came from a not-free hotel minibar and I'd actually spent the evening hallucinating in a pool of gravy and urine about tiny food and Martin Keown's strangely polished and yet slightly awkward stage manner.

After going through a good three or four levels of security, we were handed a bottle of a well-known lager on the way into the grand room; this was a trend that continued throughout the evening. Pool, table football and air hockey were all on offer (and on the FA, of course) along with an impressive selection of what can only be described as pick-and-mix food. Sweet chilli chicken noodles and miniature bangers and mash do not a tasty partnership make, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Bizarrely, The FA Club clientele doubles up for the majority of the evening as a live studio audience for another odd FA enterprise, namely the television football experience in person. Jake Humphrey ably anchored the night, squeezing the occasional bit of useful punditry from BBC colleague Martin Keown and nothing at all from Sky's Chris Kamara except another seamless plug for that oil company that paid him to change his name in the summer.

Add in an insightful couple of minutes from ITV's Clive Tyldesley pitchside and we'd been treated to a heady supergroup of football punditry that left me unsure about my feelings towards these men being in the FA's employ. I'm pretty sure Toby Anstis recorded the public announcements in there too.

The serious point, of course, is that the Football Association has to do this kind of thing because without it, Wembley simply can't exist. North-west London's white elephant has caused the FA to embark upon a desperate scramble for money. Why does the FA Club exist? In part, it's so that Trevor Brooking, Peter Ridsdale and unbearable TV twat Ben Shepherd have somewhere to be before the game, although I think Sir Trev slinked off in a dignified way before proceedings really began.

But really, it's the same reason we have to put up with mind-bogglingly expensive tickets and FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley: our governing body needs to pay for a truly disastrous project. Still, at least the pitch looked decent.

There was a football match too, of course. I faintly remember it happening between a brief interview with Connor Wickham and a phenomenal pie so small that I'd have pretended to be a giant were I not in sophisticated company.

The game itself has been analysed to death elsewhere, so I'll be brief: the performance was as disjointed as you'd expect from a side with new players after a bad tournament, but I'm glad I was there for two breath-taking goals and good individual performances from Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and, in flashes, Theo Walcott and Ashley Young. Adam Johnson and Kieran Gibbs looked comfortable too.

As for the FA Club, I had fun and I'll probably do it again, but it's no way to watch football on a regular basis, especially if you care deeply about the outcome. I may have had a great time, but I'm itching for the Ryman Premier to start so I can get back to gritty, balls-out reality. This is the dichotomy that will come to dominate modern football.

Read more