An Educated Right Foot

WHEN THE WINDOW SHUT

2011-09-01T13:47:00.001-07:00

What a transfer window. Hargreaves and his dodgy knees went to City. Crouch and his capable knees went to Stoke. Arteta went to Arsenal. And Gary Cahill stayed at home. Jim White played a blinder as usual. I can't wait until the window opens in January. Such great entertainment!

Tevez vs Aguero: An Argentinian Rumble

2011-08-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Carlos Tevez out. Sergio Aguero in. One Argentine bulldog for another. It was almost such a neatly done deal. But Tevez's transfer to Corinthians fell through, and with reports today that David Silva and team-mates plan to welcome Tevez back into the fold, it looks like the two Argentines will have to battle against each other for a place in the team. As a Manchester City fan, this is a good problem to have. But for gamblers, it poses an interesting dilemma: who will be City's top league scorer next season? The bookies favour Aguero at 5/6. But now that Tevez looks likely to stay, 2/1 looks a very good price for the man who won joint-topscorer in the league overall last season. Of course, there's always a chance Baliotelli could surprise us!

Check out this Pokerclock.

Berbatov to join Pastore?

2011-08-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

Dimitar Berbatov has had a frustrating few years. The Bulgarian left Tottenham for Man United in 2008. Despite occasional spells of good form, he has failed to claim a permanent spot in the team and his form has suffered accordingly.

If you are a big football fan, you should check out football scores for today.

Paris St-Germain, who have just signed former Palermo star Javier Pastore for £37 million, are reportedly interested in signing Berbatov. Alex Ferguson is said to have no problem with the possibility of Berbatov exiting the club. There's always been something Gallic about the way Berbatov plays his football that would suit to French style and temperament. If he were to recover his form, a partnership with Pastore could set not only the French Ligue 1 alight, but also the Champions League in years to come.

One thing is for certain: French football is on the up.

Free-ee Joey Barton

2011-08-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Joey Barton was Newcastle's undoubted player-of-the-season last year. The pinpoint accuracy of his crosses ensured Andy Carroll scored bags of goals in the first half of the season, and ultimately led to Newcastle's securing an outrageous £35 million for the big lad. Not subject to the chance of the roulette-wheel, Barton's crosses made the ball land on the number nine every time.

Perhaps it is for this reason that roulette-loving Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley, has decided that Barton is no longer welcome at the club. The troubled midfielder is being offered to clubs on a free transfer, and was today told to train alone. Though at 29, Barton is bust by the terms of blackjack, he is by no means bust on the pitch. He remains one of the liveliest midfielders in the game and, having displayed real signs of maturing on and off the pitch, Barton is playing the best football of his life. Manchester United are said to be interested him. Arsenal could do with him, too. Where do you think he will end up?

Sergio Aguero Signs

2011-07-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Argentine hotshot Sergio Aguero has signed for Man City in a deal believed to be worth £38 million. He's regarded as one of the most promising players in the world. Could he be the final piece in the moneyed jigsaw that is Manchester City? Comments please.

Robinho: The Thorn in My Side

2010-03-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Robinho was influential in Brazil's 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland. How it pains me, an Irish Man City fan, to see Robinho, a man who couldn't score a goal to save his life at City, score one and set up another against Ireland. He's been having a go at Mancini in the press, so unless the Italian is gone by the time Robinho's loan spell at Santos runs out, I can't imagine him playing another game at City. I wonder if his return to form will yield bigger money for the Blues than would have been possible before he was let go on loan?

There's Only One Jimmy Grimble

2009-09-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's Irish Times, Andrew Fifield lamented the relative dearth of quality films about football. And he's right: when compared to Field of Dreams, The Full Nine Yards, even Friday Night Lights, football can't really compete with traditional American sports. The Firm, Green Street, Bend It Like Beckham, each one worse than the next. The Damned United, he argues, is just about the only decent film about football. And still, he's right.

Only he forgot one, an all-time classic in my household. There's Only One Jimmy Grimble has everything you want in a family film: high farce, Manchester City, adversity overcome, dreams realised and Robert Carlyle. And, more than most films about football, it feels rather authentic. If you haven't seen it already, you should.

In Defence of Money

2009-08-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

As far as football news goes, I tend to read the Guardian. The other day they quoted Noel Gallagher saying something to the effect that, before the billionaires rolled it to Eastlands, Man City were everybody's favourite team. No more, though. Now, City are just another potential scalp.

Today, after a chasing the England defender tirelessly and, it seems, illegally, City have signed Joleon Lescott, adding yet more fuel to the fire. Fantasy Football should be left to the supporters, say many. Keep it off the pitch.

What irks me, as a City fan, is when these sort of reactions come from Chelsea, Man United, Blackburn, Liverpool or even Aston Villa fans. "Oh, you're buying your way to glory," some refrain. Sure we are, but isn't that exactly what their teams have done, if only in a (sometimes) slightly less brazen, and possibly less successful, manner.

Chelsea built their team from scratch when Abramovich took over in 2003. United have consistently splashed out on £30 million players over the last 5 or 10 years. Blackburn bought their way to Premiership success in 1995, when Alan Walker flooded the club with cash. Liverpool have spent overall £200 million since Rafa Benitez took over. And even Aston Villa have used relative clout in the transfer market to have the team pushing for a top four spot.

Some might say it's disgraceful that money can buy success in the best football league in the world, but it's a sad fact that, by buying into the whole spectacle, by watching Sky Sports and eagerly reading about the latest big money signings, by partipating in football betting, we are all responsible for the corporatisation of football. I personally think money has made football enormously entertaining. It's the reason the Premier League is the best in the world. Let's just be thankful, I think, that the money is attracted the league we all follow closest.

City of China

2009-08-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Man City let their fans sit biting their nails for the the lion's share of the game, scoring early once again and, instead of putting the game to bed, let it stay up late to jump around near the good china. Being a City fan this season might be more enjoyable, but it certainly doesn't look like it will be more relaxing than before.

City 1 - 0 Wolves

Owen Goal

2009-08-22T10:33:00.001-07:00

Just as Liverpool answered their critics midweek by crushing Stoke, Man United have silenced the naysayers this afternoon by scoring 5 away to Wigan - and all within the space of forty-five minutes. Always a man to rise the occasion, Michael Owen scored when it mattered most to put United 4-0 up in the 85th minute.

Wigan 0 - 5 United.

Signing of the Summer: Gareth Barry

2009-08-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

During this, a summer with my (educated right) feet up, I've had some time to think about the transfers that have taken place. I've come to the conclusion that Gareth Barry, at only £12 million, will prove an absolute steal for Man City.

True, I say this as a City fan. But I say it with a level, impartial head. I think we've wasted a lot of our money this summer, buying Class B players at Class A prices. But at only £12 million, Barry is a Class A player for a Class B price. Pittance, really, when you consider we spent almost £20 million on Brazilian flop Jo, whose name spelt backwards seems to almost make OG.

Gareth Barry has consistently proved himself to be one of the best five midfielders in the Premiership, and will provide the leadership that City, I had feared, would sorely lack. An absolute certainty for any Fantasy Football Leagues this season, that's for sure.

While we're on the subject, why not join the Fantasy League over at Football Corner, and be in with a chance of winning a prize.

On the Lescott Transfer Request

2009-08-11T03:51:00.001-07:00

So Joleon Lescott has at last expressed an unwillingness to stay at Everton, after City have yet another bid for the 27-year old rejected. I was listening to the emails that were sent into Sky Sports News this morning, almost all of which had come from Everton fans. A few said thatt David Moyes should take the 22 million that City have offered and go out and by another defender worth 20 million.

The only problem with that, as I see it, is that City have spent the summer looking to sign some big money defenders, and they just don't seem to be able to find any of them available. So, if Everton got rid of Lescott, how do the fans imagine they would find it easier to find another big money defender?

That said, I think that at this stage, with the player now having requested a transfer, Everton have little option but to let the star centre-back go.

As I Was Saying

2009-08-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

After a long and, I confess, unannounced recess for the summer, An Educated Right Foot returns just in time for the start of the season. Chelsea won the Community Shield last weekend, and already, we have scores of column inches arguing to and fro about refereeing inconsistencies. Add at An Educated Right Foot to your list of daily visits to read our balanced analysis on the controversies that will no doubt unfold this season.

For the record, I think Chelsea let themselves down, and not for the first time, by not kicking the ball out of play, especially considering the tournament it took place in, the virtual friendly that is the Communitee Shield.

Check back all this week to read our predictions for the new season, and our take on the signings and sightings of the summer.

United No More

2009-06-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

It has for years been the axis around which Man United have flourished, but it looks like the end is nigh for the stars of 1992 FA Youth Cup. David Beckham left for Real Madrid in 2003, while Nicky Butt went the other way, to Newcastle in 2004. Meanwhile, with lesser clubs interested in their aged legs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville look set to follow this summer. That leaves Ryan Giggs, who somehow won Player of the Year this season, but whose performance in the Champions League final, more or less, made him look better suited to the Welsh team than ever, and essentially epitomised his form over the last few years: slow and wasteful. I wouldn't expect him to play much of a role in next season's campaign.

Goodbye, then, lads. We hardly knew ye.

Lost Car Tevez

2009-05-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

Tevez missed the bus home today. Very ifficul.

Backseat Divers

2009-05-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

Funny, isn't it, how the words sportsmanship and gamesmanship have two completely opposing meanings.

There's an interesting piece over at The Football Blog (who, I noticed, have kindly linked to An Educated Right Foot) about diving in the game. How, he asks, can we stamp this disgraceful act of cheating out of our beautiful game? A straight red card for a certain dive? Financial penalties on the diver's club? Decent ideas, I think, which would go some way towards eliminating the act of simulation. But ideas, all the same, which I ultimately disagree with.

Much less a blight on football, I think diving has become part of our beautiful game. Going down in or around the penalty area to benefit your team. Why, it's a skill, is it not? That is, if you can get away with it. The act of simulation might sooner be called the art of simulation, not disimilar to the art of bluffing in a game of poker.

Of course, anyone caught diving by the referee should be punished, just as anyone whose bluff is called is inevitably punished. A yellow card is fine, I think, and the occasional red card might make things more interesting. But punishment in retrospect is out of the question, the same as asking for the pot back when a card player shows he was bluffing all along.

Football is beautiful regardless, but diving seasons the game, gives it that added nuance, and, ultimately, gives men on barstools another thing to argue about.

On a slightly related note, the photograph above, taken by one Robert Capa, purported to show the moment that this solider, fighting in the Spanish Civil War, was killed. Controversy surrounds the photograph, however, as many people maintain that it was staged, and that the soldier didn't die at all. He took a dive, in other words. In my mind, the dispute does nothing to harm the photograph's reputation and, if anything, makes it more interesting.

Tony Yeboah Tuesday

2009-05-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, our first weekly feature.

Personalities Exposed

2009-05-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Strange what football tells you about yourself and others. Today Sheffield United lost to Burnley in the play-off final, thereby missing out on a place in the Premiership next season. My brother's reaction as we watched the match conclude? "Oh, keep this on. I want to see people crying."

And me? Well, I left the it on, naturally.

Royle Blue

2009-05-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

I still hate that bias cheating Manchester-based w****r of a referee Halsey, who cheated us out of our victory. What really rubbs insult into injury was he was elected to the Premier League the next season and is still stitching teams up today!

Gillingham face Shrewsbury today in the League 2 play-off final. It's only the second time I've seen Gillingham play ball. The first time was in another play-off, the 1999 Division 2 final against my team, Man City. Not yet a teenager, I flew over to London with my Dad. We had no tickets, but expected to find a scalp outside Wembley with ease. No such luck. In contrast to today's final, where empty seats stare down at the action, the Division 2 play-off final was a sell-out, and I ended up watching the match in an empty restaurant in central London.

Two-nil down with all of one minute left to play, Joe Royle's City got one back. It looked like a consolation goal until the fourth official held up his board which signalled 5 minutes injury time. Needless to say, we got another one back, and won the penalty shoot-out. Nicky Weaver went nuts. The drizzle cleared. The day, which for a while had looked like being the worst of my life, had quickly transformed into the best of my life. It was the beginning of the end of City's spell in the lower leagues.

Referee Mark Halsey was later seen boozing with the victorious City fans. True blue!

"I am not a man. I am Vinnie Jones."

2009-05-21T02:28:00.001-07:00

Eric Cantona was in Cannes yesterday for the premiere of Ken Loach's new film Looking for Eric, in which the former United player stars. “I am not a man,” he says at one point, “I am Cantona.” The line seems equally suited to the other footballer turned film star, Vinnie Jones, but for entirely different reasons.

A Modest Proposal

2009-05-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

There's just one week of football left to play this season, and still neither Middlesbrough, Newcastle or even Sunderland are safe yet. What is it about clubs from the North-East? They're all big clubs, and yet they languish at the in the bottom half of the table year in year out.

In yesterday's Irish Times, Tom Humphries suggested that Celtic and Rangers be allowed to leave the SPL and join the Premiership. Not a bad idea, and Humphries argues his case very well. But how about a mini-league instead? I imagine that the Old Firm clubs play at roughly the same level as the teams from the North-East. And geographically, they're close enough as well.

Wouldn't it be easier for all concerned if they were all thrown into a mini-league, sponsored by NTL of course, where mediocrity could truly flourish?

Torre Andre Flo, Nil Point

2009-05-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Torre Andre Flo, football's tallest ever player, missed the MK Dons' eight penalty kick tonight to crush the club's hopes for promotion this season. Disaffected Dons fans later suggested that the former Norway international was overly preoccupied by the 8/11 price tag the bookies have placed on him to win the Eurovision singing for his country tomorrow evening.

Sometimes the pressure just gets too much.

Atonement on Teeside

2009-05-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Moments after coming off the bench to replace an ineffective Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins slotted home to put Newcastle in front against Middlebrough on Monday night. Alan Shearer has had praise heaped on him ever since. "A masterstroke," said the Daily Mail.

The praise managers often get when a substitution pays off is not something I'm necessarily comfortable with. Why didn't they just start the player who inevitably comes on to play a critical role?

Let me offer an example. Take Shearer's friend here, the priest in the picture above. He's clearly gone to the wrong place of work: a building site, not his parish church. To make things worse, he's put on the wrong uniform as well. He's made a error, in other words, a grievous error. To give him his due, he probably realised this after a few minutes, and duly remedied the situation. By 10am, he was most likely back at the church, just an hour late for work. His fellow priests are glad to see him, but the fact remains he made a mistake, missed the mass he was supposed to say, and he won't be winning any Priest of the Month awards just because he realised it.

Michael Owen has managed just four shots in the six games Shearer has been charged with. He's not match fit, and shouldn't have been on the pitch in the first place, not in such a massively important game. This was a blip of his manager's part. In taking him off and throwing Martins on, his manager made no masterstroke, he simply made a mends for his earlier miscalculation. The fans should be pleased, but they shouldn't start thinking that their manager's a tactical genius.

Ye like dags?

2009-05-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Mark Hughes has always had the faint air of a tinker about him, hasn't he? Take a look at him there, and then remember what they called him: Sparky. I mean, for God's sake. He's been given a good scrub since, of course, but if you were ever to end up at a party back in his house, you wouldn't be completely shocked if every room in the place reeked of old dog shit, or at the very least, old dog food. Well, the City manager has been true to those suspected roots this week, wingeing about the flak he gets from the press.

His club, the richest in the world, currently languish in mid-table. With a trip to White Hart Lane, one of the Premiership's most formible grounds this season, a European position looks unlikely for the club which has managed just 11 points on the road this season. On the face of it, most would probably argue that the media's criticism is justly delivered.

In fairness to Hughes though, it's not as if he's been able to exploit the club's great and newfound fortune. An attempt made to land Kaka in the last tranfer window failed and, apart for the signing of Robinho at the start of the season, the club has been unable to lure any more superstars to the City of Manchester Stadium. Hughes manages the richest squad in the world, but has an only slightly above average squad to choose from.

But this is the whole point, I feel: his inability to exploit the club's wealth. Hughes is more than qualified to manage mid-table squads and finish mid-table. But with money in the bank, City fans (myself included) expect that the team will move beyond that next season. As the last transfer window showed, Hughes hasn't got the renown which will be needed next season to bring big names to a relatively small club.

To attract big name players, we need a big name manager.

All in All: Just Another Kick at the Wall

2009-05-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

After Jens Lehmann claimed that the modern football can actually pick up speed mid-air, the good guardians over at The Knowledge were asked if Lehmann's argument was scientifically sound. They asked a few physicists, who all replied doubtfully.

In principle a spinning ball can be made to speed up by transferring energy from spin to linear speed – but only under the right conditions, eg when a tennis ball with top-spin hits the ground. It's difficult to see how this could happen to a football in normal air.

Ronaldo has scored a over half dozen free kicks this year. An impressive record to be sure; one to match the impressive technique he employs. But, against Wigan on Wednesday night, he had three free kicks within shooting distance, and each one careered straight into the wall. It wasn't just a off-night. Ronaldo's free kicks, I would guess, hit the wall more often than not.

I would suggest (only half-jokingly) that, although the ball doesn't actually gather any further speed in flight, it seems as if does to everyone watching; because, consciously or otherwise, aren't we all expecting the ball to come to an immediate halt tens yards from where the free kick is taken?

Caged Tigers

2009-05-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Things don't look great for Hull City, and this evening's Sky Sports piece does little to improve the reputation of Britain's least popular tourist destination. Newcastle's win against Middlebrough on Monday night pushed the Tigers behind the bars of the drop line for the first time this season, and the city's residents are not hopeful of escape.

They braved an inevitably blustery day to meet the press and assert a pessimism, embodied in their every rain mac, which even the city's most famous librarian, Philip Larkin, might have balked at. "We're going down quicker than the Titanic," said one fan of the seaside club. At 1/3 to go down, the bookies are inclined to agree.

A Delayed Kick-Off

2009-05-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

We're at the butt end of the season, I'm afraid to say. Just two weeks of Premiership action remain, and there's precious little international football in store this summer. And so it seems a strange time, I admit, to begin this football blog. It's a little late, for sure. But the smoker's last drags are often the sweetest. Just ask Dimitar.

United look like they've got the title tied up now. But it wasn't always so. An Educated Right Foot intends, for the moment, to retrace the key movements in this Premiership season, while at the same time anticipating the next. And then there's always the final drags of the present. We wouldn't just flick that away.