Game of the Month: Central Coast 3-0 Newcastle Jets
Overcoming all the odds, we took the Jets to piece in front of a packed Bluetongue after extra time.

Player of the Month: Danny Vukovic
Tried to deliver justice in the Grand Final, despite the best efforts of Mark Shield. We’re behind you!

Goal of the Month: Sash Petrovski v Newcastle Jets
His rifling effort into the top corner sent Central Coast to the Grand Final after a quick counter attack.

What started off as a promising month against all the odds quickly turned into despair, and all against Newcastle Jets.

Seemingly coming up against the impossible against a resilient Jets side, and needing a 3-0 win, the big players stepped up to the plate, and surprisingly delivered all that was needed.

Adam Kwasnik fired us into a first half lead after great trickery on the left, and maybe a little luck with his looping shot with surely took a deflection. Either way, Jets stopper Čović could do nothing about it as it landed in the goal.

It took until the 75th minute for our heavy pressure to count again, Sash Petrovski beating the offside trap (though it was very close) to stab home from 6 yards. As things stood, we were headed for extra time, and the Mariners were definitely on top.

And it showed. Just five minutes into extra time, our harrying forced a mistake from the Jets which opened an opportunity for Petrovski. He made no mistake in taking a touch past a single defender before lashing the ball into the top corner to send the fans mental.

Everything seemed to be set for a perfect Grand final. Tony Vidmar announced it would be his last ever match, and he clearly wanted to go out on a high. Newcastle Jets overcame Queensland Roar to ensure a repeat of the Major Semi-Final, and everyone was in full fitness…

And yet again, the team stalled. I firmly believe that everything (well, mainly the FFA) was against us that day.

Had the final been at Bluetongue, we could, and would, have won. Playing it at Sydney made it that little bit harder for us.

As is, is seems it just wasn’t to be. Even though I roused myself at 6:00 am on Sunday to watch it, it wasn’t enough. A dire first half was followed by a second almost as bad. Although Central Coast looked marginally better, it was outgoing Socceroo star Tony Vidmar who gifted Newcastle a goal.

Failing to deal with a pass, he fell over the ball, and allowed Mark Bridge a clean run at goal, which he carefully tucked around Vukovic.

Not great, admittedly, but not the end. Aloisi was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after seemingly being tugged back as he went for a diving header, but the real controversy came in the dying seconds.

With potentially the last kick of the game, a corner was swung in to the Jets area, and James Holland rose highest to flick the ball away with his forearm. Clear to everyone except referee Mark Shield, it was enough of a touch to put off anyone going for goal.

Naturally, a melee ensued, with culminated with Vukovic being sent off for what can best be described as giving Shield a ‘hi-5′. This has since been extended to a 15 month ban.

So, gutted as I am, I can take consolation from the fact that we didn’t lose to Newcastle – we lost to the FFA.

Sorry we couldn’t send you out with the Champions plate Tony.

Come on you Mariners!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Game of the Month: Central Coast 2-0 Wellington Phoenix

The match which finally decided the final A-League standings ended in success after a confident performance from Mariners.

Player of the Month: Adam Kwasnik
Two goals in four games ensured the midfielder returned to the starting line up.

Goal of the Month: Adam Kwasnik V Newcastle Jets
Outstanding finish from the young midfielder, cutting inside from the wing, past two defenders, and then drilling the ball home.

It was a peculiar month for the Mariners, one full of mixed emotions, and from it all, there was just a single meagre win for the yellow and navy.

Thankfully however, that single win made all the difference in the business end of the A-League title chase.

It kicked off with a Round 19 fixture away to Perth Glory – the A-League whipping boys for most of the season, and things started brightly for the Mariners.

With Vukovic, Hutchinson and Owens back from injury, and Ceccoli and O’Grady making their first appearances of the season, the lads looked comfortable during the first half, eventually taking the lead through old-fashioned route one football – Vukovic and Aloisi linking up well to allow Hutchinson to finish off a simple chance.

However, a revitalised Perth had different ideas, and Ukrainian Rukavytsya slid home to level the scores in the second half.

We toiled for the rest of the game, but couldn’t find the killer blow to break down their resilience. It must be said though, the point did secure our return to the summit of the A-League.

Then disappointment struck in Round 20 as our rivals from up the F3 won a tense game in front of a record crowd for Bluetongue – 19,238.

Ironically, it was Central Coast graduate James Holland who struck first for the visitors, sliding the ball past Vukovic early on to score against his hometown club.

Still, not the kind of team to give up easily, Coast’s Adam Kwasnik showed some silky tricks on the wing, before finding the back of the net just three minutes after the opener.

It didn’t last though, and Joel Griffiths (A-League’s leading scorer) again took advantage of the Mariners ability to defend at the start of each half, and made it 2-1 within 10 minutes of the restart.

It wasn’t until Round 21 that the true spirit of the Mariners shone through, where a fantastic looping header from forward revelation John Aloisi, and a wonderfully placed finish from wing wonder Adam Kwasnik secured a 2-0 win over bottom placed Phoenix, which, with the right results from the other matches, secured the Mariners the well earned honour of being A-League Premiers.

Having secured the Premiership, and a guaranteed spot in next seasons ACL (Asian Champions League), we could now look forward to a what promised to be a scintilating Major semi-final against local rivals the Jets.

At which point the bubble burst.

Despite earning the right for the A-League Grand Final to be held at the ground of either us, or the Jets, the FFA have decided that it would be a better idea to host it in Sydney (read more here).

And then to the semi-final itself? Depsite controlling the game, and having countless chances, we couldn’t even find the back of the net as Newcastle romped to a much undeserved 2-0 victory in the first leg.

No need for despair regarding our performance though – if we play like we did against Newcastle again, we should easily make the Grand Final, and may even become Champions, whether our journey takes a detour throught the Preliminary Final or not.

What does cause despair however, is the fear of contracts running out for players in the coming months. As we told you here, fourteen (mostly unnamed) Mariners players are out of contract at the end of this season, the most notable being John Aloisi, who has been tremendous since he joined.

So come on Mariners, lets whup the Jets in the return leg, and lets get our best players secured to the club!

(Author update: The second leg did indeed finish 3-0 to Central Coast with goals from Adam Kwasnik and Sash Petrovski (2). Expect a more detailed report in the February review)

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

What a rollercoaster ride that was eh? Thankfully, we managed to avoid the upset the BBC were hoping for, but only just.

With Lee Dong Gook scoring only his second goal in two seasons for us, I actually began to feel sorry for Mansfield. There was nothing good about that goal – an average cross from Johnson, a mishit from Wheater, and a lucky strike from the Korean was all it took to put the Stags behind after 17 minutes.

It was strange… I really wanted us to either score a second very quickly, or Mansfield to equalise – losing solely to a Dong Gook goal would be embarrassing. Even winning by a Dong Gook goal wouldn’t be a particularly proud moment for us.

And then that incident with Huth… well, we already had bets as to who would be sent off first (I had my money on the fiery South American temper of Rochemback), but having looked at Huth’s challenge several times, it was horrendous. You couldn’t have argued if the referee had decided it was a red.

Fair enough, the German nutter did get the ball on the way, but he also got most of Michael Boulding’s lower intestine. To top it all, there was a certain element of ‘kung-fu’ about the whole thing.

I can’t wait until the day Huth partners Pogatetz in defence… I would doubt anyone will be safe from their wild challenges.

Mind, if Huth had managed to injure Boulding (who ironically almost joined Boro in 2002) with a good stud to his bladder, it might have made the game a bit easier. His first long range effort certainly wasn’t that of a League 2 striker, while his header from the resulting corner rolled back the years for Schwarzer, making a save reminiscent of how he performed in seasons past. Definitely a keeper who savours the cup matches.

It wasn’t until late on in the game that we finally showed some Premiership credentials, a decent run from Downing, a clever little pass from Rocky, and a great cross-shot from Boateng (who seems to be the new right winger – we really need some cover for O’Neil) saw Buxton turn the ball into his own net.

It would have been nice if we could have scored it – although no angle was conclusive, Boateng’s ball may have crossed the line by itself, and even if it hadn’t, top scorer Downing was loitering with intent.

And he needs the goals to hang on to his title of top scorer seeing as how David Wheater, on the brink of signing a new deal, has very nearly caught up.

That new contract for Wheater almost certainly spells the end of the road for Jonathan Woodgate. He has been out of sorts this season, shown up by Wheater, Huth and Pogatetz, so if we can make a profit, fantastic business. Spurs are the most likely destination as Keegan’s week worsens – being rejected first by Toon legend Shearer, and now missing out on a fans favourite defender who could possibly fill a gap in his shite defence.

So, a perfect win for us. A moderately controlling performance, 2 goals, a clean sheet, and no major injury worries. Perfect preparation for the important Premiership tie against the Latics next week.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Nicklas Bendtner scored an own goal and argued with his strike partner last night as if to further compound his Arsenal misery, so is it time Arsene Wenger cut him loose?

Last season, he spent a year in the Championship with Birmingham City, scoring a moderately impressive 11 league goals to guide them to a second place finish, and automatic promotion to the Premiership. However, what is less impressive is that it took him 42 appearances to reach this tally, leaving him with a less than prolific 0.26 goals per game average, even less impressive bearing in mind that this is at Championship level.

This season, he finds himself back at Arsenal, and I must admit, I’ve not been impressed by what I’ve seen. I haven’t watched every game he’s played in, but the ones I have seen, he looks out of ideas, and more of a hindrance than an asset to Arsenal’s attractive, attacking, footballing style.

With one goal and one red card in the Premier League, plus another four strikes from Cup competitions, he hardly looks the part. With Eduardo and Adebayor looking good value for the top two spots this season, and Robin van Persie getting closer and closer to fitness, does he really have a place?

For me, the decision was made after last nights debacle against Tottenham Hotspur. Having scored an own goal, and then getting involved in an argument with Adebayor, it’s clear to me that there is a lack of unity in the team. After they’ve fought once, I feel that either Ade or Bendtner is going to have to leave Arsenal to stop it from happening again, and allow the team to move on. And for me, Bendtner is the one to sell.

He has performed well internationally, and would no doubt command a healthy transfer fee if he were to move to the Continent, but in my eyes, there is no place for him in the Premiership.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Welcome back to the 1990′s seems to be the message at the moment in the world of football.

Welcome back to a time where Kevin Keegan manages Newcastle, where the G14 doesn’t exist, and where Middlesbrough are closing in on Brazillian strikers they really shouldn’t stand a chance of signing.

Welcome back to a time where Chelsea are not top of the Premier League, Havant & Waterlooville are only just making themselves known, and Manchester United are top of the Premiership.

Now, it could just be because I’m currently mid-exam season (anyone in the same boat as me will know I’ve just finished Core 3), but I feel I need to rant about things. Nothing particularly specific, but just the world of football. And definitely those who comment on it.

For example, I know Setanta Sports News are new, they’ll take a while to be running as smoothly as Sky Sports News, but the presenters seem to struggle with words. And the geography of the whole thing.

In just an hour of watching, not only did they struggle with the name ‘Kevin Keegan’ and basic sentences about him, but they seem confused as to the whereabouts of Motherwell. If you’ve just presented a report on Motherwell, and now want to talk about the Scotland managers job (which is presumably why they were at Motherwell in the first place), you cannot ‘move on from Motherwell into Scotland’.

Motherwell is IN SCOTLAND. I may just be pedantic, but if you’re going from Motherwell TO Scotland, you’re going to have to either go via England or the North Sea.

Anyway, onto the big news of the week – Kevin Keegan back at Newcastle. The man who loves his expensive (though admittedly good) signings, and to throw away almost guaranteed league titles. Watching the reports regarding his appointment, I sometimes wonder if Allardyce was forced out because his name didn’t fit into the same generic chant that ‘Keegan!’ or ‘Shearer!’ does. They do love a good scream / song in Newcastle.

As for how he’ll do, well, I don’t think he’ll be able to deliver. At least not in a Newcastle time-scale anyway. They’re a long term job to get back to where the Mags want them, and with the time to prove yourself at Newcastle about 8-12 months, I can’t see him doing well enough.

Especially with a man possibly more arrogant than Alex Ferguson in charge of them in the form of Mike Ashley. Having announced that he is going back to the boardroom to make the changes that will turn Newcastle into a fantastic, winning team, and will base these purely on his intincts because he is brilliant, he has only managed to copy what someone else has already done in appointing Keegan.

But anyway, moving on to their local (and better) neighbours Middlesbrough, Afonso Alves’ possible move appears to have been thrown into jeopardy because of an agreement between AZ and Heerenveen. Despite the fact that Heerenveen have signed none of the transfer papers relating to this, the Dutch FA seem set to confirm that Alves is now an AZ player.

Ah well, there’s always Rob Hulse.

And while we’re at Middlesbrough, Gareth Southgate has yet again confirmed that Stewart Downing is going nowhere, and rightly too. He’s a Middlesbrough lad, with no intention of going anywhere. With no bids received, and Middlesbrough not in a position where they need to sell, why does anyone think he’s on the move? Its about as likely as Ronaldo to Real Madrid right now.

And, for a quick word about the Manchester United cheater (or winger as most people call him), I see he’s been advertising his new bright orange boots on Youtube in a shuttle race against a Bugatti Veyron. Now, I’m not doubting for a moment that Ronaldo’s fast, but I would bet money that the Bugatti driver must be over 60? It was such poor driving. Could they not have just gotten a car that Ronaldo was genuinely faster than (anything made by Citroen maybe?), and put it just a little closer to its limit?

Anyway, enjoy the 90′s mk II.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With Premier League teams Middlesbrough and Manchester City apparently competing to sign Brazilian wonder-striker Afonso Alves, AZ Alkmaar could be ready to throw a spanner in the works after they announced Alves had signed for them.

They believe Heerenveen gave them permission to speak to the forward, and they have a transfer agreement in place with both the club and the player to allow Alves his move.

However, as rival bids came in for Alves, the deal failed to materialise, but in new evidence, the case is going to the KNVB (Dutch FA) to settle the rights of who owns the player.

AZ claim to have documents signed by Afonso Alves agreeing a contract to start on January 1st 2008, and a written transfer deal with Heerenveen, although crucially, this is not fully signed.

Infuriated by the arrival of Afonso Alves on Teesside, apparently to discuss a move, AZ are seeking legal action, in order to decide who owns the forward.

A statement from AZ announced that: “There is a signed transfer agreement between AZ and SC Heerenveen about the transfer of Afonso Alves to AZ. Also there has been an agreement about the share, which Alves gets with a possible transfer according to his contract with Heerenveen, between all parties.”

It continues: “There is a signed transfer document by AZ and Alves which is handled by the KNVB. However, Heerenveen refuses to sign this document. Because of this AZ has requested court action by KNVB to force Heerenveen to sign the documents.”

However, even if AZ do get their man, Alves seems set on a move away from Holland, with Middlesbrough likely to come back in for the striker whether he is at AZ or Heerenveen.

More recently, the Dutch FA does seem to be confirming that Alves will become an AZ player, despite the fact (which baffles me) that Heerenveen have not signed an agreement allowing the sale.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

In a move rarely made by Premiership clubs, where making money and appeasing the sponsors takes priority over all else, Middlesbrough have gone one step further in involving the fans in how they want the team to look.

Having ditched the short-term revival of the white chest band at the Riverside as part of the ‘re-branding Middlesbrough FC’ and bringing along a flash new badge, it seems that someone listened to the general cries of outrage from the fans.

Whether its possible return has been instigated by Gibson, Errea, Garmin or the Twe12th Man, the white band, so synonymous with the club since its inception in 1973 (although the 1912 kit is arguably close) is being put to vote on the official site, and so far, it seems set for a comeback next season.

That one piece of individuality which lasted just a short while, but which quickly became synonymous with the club could soon be back to set us apart from Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Barnsley, Charlton, or even our upcoming cup opponents Bristol City. Not to mention Crewe, Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest, Swindon, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe or Rotherham, who all play in red shirts.

On the other hand, the only other relatively successful clubs using a chest band regularly are VfB Stuttgart and Boca Juniors. We may have only spent 16 years of our long history wearing the band, but it is very strongly associated with us.

According to the online poll, about 75% of the voters want it back, and they’re backed by some pretty impressive names.

Geoff Richardson (Middlesbrough Official Supporters Club), John Donovan and Geoff Thomas (both Twe12th Man), Bob Fischer (BBC Tees presenter), Paul Armstrong (Match of the Day), Robert Nichols (Fly Me to the Moon) and Andy Walker and Geoff Vickers (both Middlesbrough Supporters South) all back the idea.

Jeff Winter, the former Premier League referee echoes the thoughts of many Boro fans in calling for the return of not only the white band, but also the ‘Inter Milan style’ away kit of blue and black stripes.

And according to Alistair Brownlee; ‘The white band is unique to the Boro and is essential as a good parmo!’

All of that without even taking into account that some of our most spectacular football has come with the white band – successive promotions after almost certain liquidation, and more recently, European football.

So surely Middlesbrough must bow down to fan pressure? There are some people against the band still: namely Dave Parnaby (youth coach), and Alex Smith, the kitman.

But hey, when Robbie Mustoe, Alan Peacock and Eric Paylor are supporting the band, who can argue?

And lets be honest, its showing a real ‘bouncebackabality’, which is exactly what we need.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

5th January sees the clash of the two richest clubs in England as Chelsea welcome local rivals Queens Park Rangers to Stamford Bridge for the first time in over 10 years.

Unfortunately, this most intriguing local rivalry, coupled with the rare sight of seeing someone richer than Roman sitting in the Directors box hasn’t quite captured the heart of the BBC, who have bizarrely decided that watching Manchester United take on Aston Villa (a fixture we can already watch twice every year) is the better choice for live television.

There is a real clash of similarities between these sides though – the relatively unknown managers: Avram Grant and Luigi de Canio, both of whom were suddenly entrusted with the job by their clubs, without anyone actually knowing who they were.

And surprisingly, they’ve done quite well. I mean, not fantastic – Jose Mourinho was probably a better manager for Chelsea, and you know, de Canio has suffered some shocking defeats against teams he really should be beating, but both are settling into a more successful pattern, and they’ll both be looking for a good cup run to boost their credentials.

Then you have the free-spending mentality, Chelsea have already splashed the cash on most players across the world in a bid to become the world’s first ‘superclub’, while QPR have been amassing the right players to go up – Ákos Buzsáky, Hogan Ephraim, Kieran Lee, Gavin Mahon, Matthew Connolly, Patrick Agyemang and Fitz Hall in this January transfer window alone, and all could feature against Chelsea. The one possible loss for the game will be Michael Mancienne, as it is hugely doubtful that Chelsea would allow their youngster to play against them.

But again, its a signal of intent that both sides have that interest in developing young, local talent.

With Chelsea arguably having something of an ‘off-season’, and QPR well on form to move up, and motivated to battle to a victory in the London derby, this could well be the tie of the round. Anyone else hoping to see that upset?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

According to Wikipedia, Steve Gibson, the chairman of Middlesbrough Football Club (or the ‘King of Teesside’ if you prefer), has never rowed with any of his managers.

And to me, that is totally believable. Another piece of trivia is that Steve Gibson is quite possibly the longest serving Chairman that has never brought himself to sack a manager. From the appointment of Bryan Robson, he has always supported his manager. Even when it all started to go wrong, he stuck by Robson, and it paid off. Sort of. A bit.

It wasn’t until we seemed doomed to another relegation that he finally called in Terry Venables to steady the ship as ‘head coach’, and we parted ways with Bryan Robson in the most subtle of ways… Gradually removing all responsibility and sticking colourful things to doorways I would imagine. Thanks to those nifty guys who keep Wikipedia up to date, I can tell you that he managed a 40.4% win ratio during his stay, before the ‘mutual termination’ of his contract.

And onto Steve McClaren. Well, I won’t dwell on what he achieved, but it wasn’t too shabby. A trophy, and European football essentially, before we cunningly convinced the FA that he was a good manager. It seems they didn’t appreciate the irony with which we sang ‘McClaren for England’, in much the same way that our Northern barcoded friends are now calling for Allardyce to go the same way.

Although never made public, its speculated that we received a little over 1 million pounds for a manager with a win rate of 38.8%, only slightly lower than that of his predecessor. However, I have no doubt that had England not come calling, McClaren would still be at the Riverside now, probably trying to secure a move for Scott Carson.

And now, onto Gareth Southgate. Currently winning a measly 27.1% of his games, playing uninspiring football, and driving more fans away from the Riverside despite his promises of ‘beautiful attacking football’, he would be a cert to go at any other club.

However, Middlesbrough is not just ‘any other club’. We’re a club with faith in our managers and our backroom staff. Or whats left of it at least. Steve Gibson’s reasoning behind not appointing an external manager is that everyone he talked to wanted their own backroom staff, and I agree fully. For what people like Colin Cooper, Malcolm Crosby, Dave Parnaby and the like have done, they do not deserve to be forced out of the club.

But some of them are walking of their own accord. Bill Beswick left with McClaren, Paul Barron presumably left because he felt so ashamed of the performances of Mark Schwarzer and Brad Jones while Steve Round fell out with Southgate over philosophy. You can’t even say they just fancied a real change of scenery as two of them are now just up the road at Newcastle.

Perhaps now we should appoint a new manager, a proven manager, someone who will finally realise Steve Gibson’s dream of Middlesbrough in the Champions League. We might have to shuffle the backroom staff, but surely its better to sort the problem now than to wait for everyone to leave? I’m sure no manager could say no to keeping Coops anyway.

Gibson is a clever man, and I’m sure he’s confident of his decisions, but please, we’re getting tired of these absymal performances. We’ve given Southgate almost 50 matches now, more than double than England gave McClaren, and it still hasn’t worked.

Perhaps it is time to abandon the experiment, and get a proper manager in before it’s too late…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It’s all over. After 18 matches, 1620 minutes of football and 457 days of management, Steve McClaren has been hounded out of his cushty job as England manager, and he’s taking a fancy paycheck with him. Did he need more guidance? Maybe. A leaflet or something with some basic pointers should have covered it.

All through his time as coach, he has had his doubters, but there were plenty more to back him up. The Director of Football Management, Sir Trevor Brooking for one, one of the most revered managers in Britain, Sir Alex Ferguson was another. Heck, even eternal pessimist Alan Hansen thought it was a good appointment. Mind you, he is Scottish.

Though let’s look where we started the ‘McClaren rollercoaster’, all the way back on the 16th August 2006, in a friendly match against EURO 2004 winners – Greece. Things looked good – John Terry, Frank Lampard and a Peter Crouch double before half-time was fantastic, Stewart Downing gave an inspired performance which was strangely overlooked by the media, and all without Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney. Even without David Beckham.

And then our first qualifier – a 5-0 thumping of Andorra, despite the fact that Wes Brown and Phil Neville played! Paul Robinson kept a clean sheet, Crouch and Defoe both got a double, and Stevie G justified his role on the right wing with a goal. What could go wrong? Well, leaving Phil Neville in the team for longer than necessary probably didn’t help, but we did manage a thrid successive victory – a lone Peter Crouch goal giving us a 1-0 win away to Macedonia.

But then, all of a sudden… we cocked-up. And you can pinpoint it directly to the ego’s of two Manchester United players – Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney. They returned for the home tie with Macedonia, and did abdolutely naff all. And this unusual curse of Manchester United players continued as Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Kieran Richardson and Wayne Rooney all played some part in the shambolic loss to Croatia, in which Robinson conceded that goal. Mind, the situation probably wasn’t helped by the wacky and wonderful 5-3-2 we employed for that match.

A 1-1 friendly draw away to Holland was alright – they’re a good team, and then… well… A 1-0 loss to Spain wasn’t great – poor preparation for the upcoming qualifier, but it was a weak team, including Ben Foster, both the Neville’s, and a 4-5-1 formation with no left winger, despite Downing being fit and on form.

The confidence (or lack of) showed in the match against Israel. Phil Neville retained his place, Carra was once again played out of position, and Macca decided we didn’t need a left winger, and we suffered – 0-0. It was all change for the Andorra match, a game we couldn’t lose with the fans well and truly on McClaren’s back, and all of a sudden, he had a plan. No Neville’s, two strikers, a left winger and three goals. Can’t argue with that.

It didn’t last long. Beckham was brought back. That Gerrard-Lamps problem was back. Alan Smith was back, and Joe Cole was back despite doing naff all. A 1-1 draw with Brazil to christen the new Wembley ensued, which at least steadied his job.

Sandwiching in a demoralising 2-1 defeat to the old enemy, between two inexplicable 3-0 wins against Estonia and Israel,we were back on form. Plus the emergence of Gareth Barry as a talented player, and then bringing Heskey back in the squad we beat Russia 3-0, and qualification looked sorted. Tactical genius from McClaren? Well, no probably not. He just struck lucky with everyone else being injured.

Cue the plastic pitch, everything seemingly going wrong, and McClaren losing it. Again. Sol and Lescott were poor, Owen and Rooney didn’t work, Joe Cole played AGAIN (although the late cameo from Downing offered more than Cole had in 80 minutes), and there was even time for the kiss of death – Gerrard and Lampard alongside each other.

How to save it? Our hopes lay on Israel as we struggled to a pointless 1-0 win in Austria, losing our best striker.

But everything would be fine. McClaren had a brainwave! 4-5-1 was the way forward! It didn’t matter than we hadn’t won with that formation since the 70′s, this must-win qualifier was the game to try it. Along with the totally untested Carson, despite Robinson being one of the best keepers in the tournament so far. And lets be honest, they were all dire, bar perhaps Peter Crouch and David Beckham, who produced our only moment of attacking magic. Oddly enough, this was the first game in which no Manchester United players featured.

Cue his sacking. He had 18 matches, and won only 9 of them. You can blame the players till the cows come home, but once you’ve learnt that something doesn’t work, you shouldn’t try it again.

I mentioned a leaflet that should come with the England job. I think whoever takes it should remember these 10 points, and they’ll head their way to success.

• Don’t replace one of the best keepers in the tournament with a total unknown in a must win, high-stakes game.
• Don’t play defenders with no experience (Lescott) alongside someone who can’t run (Sol). Especially when people like Woodgate or Richards could have played there instead.
• Never, ever, EVER, play Wes Brown or Wayne Bridge. Both wish to grant the opposition gilt edged chances to score.
• Left-wingers are important. It helps if they have experience of playing on the left, can use their left foot, and can cross the ball.
• Right-wingers should also be able to cross the ball.
• Gerrard+Lampard doesn’t add up, no matter how many times you try it.
• Neither does a 4-5-1 system. Or a 5-3-2 system.
• Nor does Owen and Rooney upfront. We need a target man.
• It’s fine playing Crouch as a target man, but you need people who can kick the ball to him, or latch onto his knockdowns. All 5 midfielders failed to do that against Croatia.
• If you’re ginger, balding, wear glasses, and have a poor record in management, don’t take the England job. That’s just fuelling the fire.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News