2011: January to June

Another year of excitement, tears, happiness and emotion has passed by. 2011 saw the comings and goings of several managers, the return of King Kenny to Anfield as well as a new record transfer fee for an English striker.

2011 started with a bang as Roy Hodgson lost his job at Anfield just a week into the New Year, meaning the return of Kenny Dalglish to Anfield, twenty years after he originally departed the hot seat. It wasn’t to be the only headlines breaking from Merseyside that month as Dalglish later spent a staggering £35 Million Pound on Newcastle front man Andy Carroll. Luis Suarez seemed steel at a cost of £20 Million; however, it was the departure of Fernando Torres to Chelsea for £50 Million raised eyebrows across Europe and England.

Chris Hughton was outrageously axed by Newcastle despite their inspiring start to the Premier League Season, Alan Pardew eventually replacing the axed boss.

February saw the first Cup Final of the season as Birmingham and Arsenal met at Wembley with the Gunners looking to lift the first of the four possibly trophies that they could win. Unfortunately for the Gunners, Birmingham had other ideas as on loan Striker Obafemi Martins struck late on to gift the Blues the Carling Cup.

March started just as badly as February ended for Arsenal as they exited the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona while FIFA President Sepp Blatter banned the new craze of snoods. As March grew older, so did Arsenal’s hopes of any silverware as they crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Manchester United. England overcome a resilient Wales team at the Millennium stadium 2-0 to all but secure qualification to Euro 2012. Meanwhile Tottenham’s Champions League adventure ended with a resounding defeat to Real Madrid.

April saw Wayne Rooney land himself in trouble with the FA after his foul mouthed rant down a TV camera after his goal against West Ham, while former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was to suffer his first home defeat in nine years as Real Madrid lost 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijon.

May saw Manchester City win their first trophy under Roberto Mancini as they beat Stoke City to lift the FA Cup, however it was rivals Manchester United that lifter their 19^th Premier League. In an exciting survival Sunday, Wolves and Blackburn shared an entertaining 3-3 draw which meant Blackpool, West Ham and Carling Cup winners Birmingham City all suffered relegation.

Manchester United couldn’t gain revenge for their Champions League defeat in 2009 to Barcelona as yet again the Spanish side showed their dominance with a convincing 3-1 at Wembley in the Champions League Final. 

June started with England again looking over their shoulders for qualification to Euro 2012 after a disappointing 2-2 draw against Switzerland at Wembley left Capello’s side needing four points from their remaining two fixtures. Mark Hughes sensationally walked out of Fulham expecting to be named the new Villa boss, however Randy Lerner instead chose cross city rival boss Alex McLeish to take charge. In further manager merry go round antics, Chelsea paid a massive £13 Million to Porto for the services of their boss, 34 year old Andres Villas Boas.

That was the first half of 2011, I will post the second half tomorrow but while you wait for that why not share your best moment in football during 2011?

D-Day again for Margate FC

It’s been one of the longest saga’s running but this week Margate Football Club will seek to move one step closer to beginning work on their new community stadium. Nearly ten years have passed since the club began the process to redevelop their Hartsdown Park home, and on Thursday the club will host the council for a site visit as the Councils decision on the leases edge nearer.

Nothing but delay after delay due to many factors has affected the club both on and off the pitch; however, with a competitive squad and decent manager in charge in Chris Kinnear only the stadium seems to be holding the club back. At 2P.M on Thursday 22^nd December 2011, Margate FC will welcome the officials of the Thanet Council to Hartsdown Park and today urged all supporters to attend to show their support for the project.

A decision was due to be heard last week although a change in leadership at the Council meant the decision was delayed….again. The club has been at its lowest point ever in recent years as the stadium saga threatened to bring the club to its knees, however thanks to directors, players, management and most of all supporters that refused this situation to kill the club that they love, Margate FC are stood on the brink of what could be the biggest boost possible.

Not only the football club need this, anyone that has been to Margate in recent years will agree that empty shops, graffiti covered walls and shops, no theme park and a dying town is in a much needed boost and this decision could be the best thing to happen to the town in a long time.

I am in no doubt that the people of Margate want this and fans of other clubs that have enjoyed a ‘jolly outing’ to Margate to watch football want the stadium to be sorted and built. Many Christmases have passed with no stadium being built, yet this week fans of Margate FC could receive one of the best Christmas presents that they could have hoped for.

I urge anyone that supports/cares about Margate as a football club and as a town attend the visit this Thursday to show their support to this much needed project.

City to stay top while Wigan's problems will deepen

With the busy Christmas schedule well and truly upon us, this weekend’s fixtures could prove crucial at both ends of the Premier League table. Below is a small match preview for all Premier League fixtures along with my predictions.

Blackburn v West Brom

Struggling Blackburn welcome West Brom to Ewood Park on Saturday with pressure on manager Steve Kean mounting. Blackburn let a 1-0 lead slip when they visited Sunderland last Sunday. West Brom suffered another defeat last week at home to Wigan leaving the Baggies 15^th just three points clear of the relegation zone. Expect a close game with the visitors snatching victory.

Verdict: Blackburn 0-1 West Brom

Everton v Norwich

David Moyes will be looking for his side to bounce back when they host newly promoted Norwich at Goodison Park. The Toffee’s suffered two defeats in a row without scoring. This week will be the 10^th anniversary of the appointment of David Moyes. Norwich have enjoyed their return to the top flight and a 4-2 win against Newcastle last week saw the Canaries move up to tenth. Everton have struggled with goals and that could cost them all three points this week and may have to settle for a bore draw.

Verdict: Everton 0-0 West Brom

Fulham v Bolton

A Europa League exit on Thursday evening might have been a blessing in disguise for Fulham and Martin Jol as they look to bounce back from last week’s 1-0 defeat away to Swansea. On the other hand it has been a nightmare start for Bolton and their boss Owen Coyle. Defeat at home to Aston Villa last week turned up the heat on Coyle who could find himself sitting a little bit more uncomfortable with a defeat in this game.

Verdict: Fulham 2-0 Bolton

Newcastle v Swansea

No win in three for Newcastle has perhaps brought the expectations back to reality at St James Park after a superb start to the season. With an injury crisis at the back and constant rumours of Cheick Tiote’s future at the club manager Alan Pardew will be desperate to win this fixture. The visitors to Newcastle this week have had a solid start to their first ever season in the Premier League. A 1-0 win last week against Fulham has set Brendan Rodger’s side up to earn something this weekend.

Verdict: Newcastle 1-1 Swansea

Wolverhampton v Stoke

Wolves find themselves sitting just two points clear of the relegation zone after last week’s 4-1 hammering against Manchester United. Mick McCarthy will look to Steven Fletcher to continue his fine goal scoring form after he has netted 16 times in his last 23 games. Stoke progressed through to the final 16 of the Europa League and will look to bring that form to the Premier League and will claim three more points.

Verdict: Wolves 1-3 Stoke

Wigan v Chelsea

Roberto Martinez grabbed a vital win last week at West Brom although they shouldn’t expect much from this game. Andres Villas Boas has begun to turn it round at Stamford Bridge after a poor start to the season. Monday night’s 2-1 victory over Man City moved Chelsea to fourth in the table. They should claim an easy victory at the DW stadium.

Verdict: Wigan 0-4 Chelsea

Sunday

QPR v Manchester United

Being in the Europa draw isn’t something that Manchester United fans have become accustomed to in recent times but after being handed a last 16 tie against Ajax in Fridays draw it is back to the bread and butter of the league on Sunday as they travel to Loftus Road. QPR lost narrowly at Anfield last week and that should offer them some hope of beating the reigning Champions, however, United should claim a victory.

Verdict: QPR 0-2 Manchester United

Aston Villa v Liverpool

Villa could move up to eighth if they can beat Liverpool this weekend. Last week a 2-1 victory at Bolton ended their miserable form of late. Liverpool have started to pick up of late, bar a 1-0 defeat at Fulham two weeks ago. Luis Suarez is in fine form and will look to trouble a disjointed Villa back line.

Verdict: Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool

Tottenham v Sunderland

Tottenham ended their Europa League adventure this week with a 4-0 thumping of Shamrock Rovers. Harry Redknapp will be delighted with Spurs so far as they currently find themselves positioned fourth in the division. Times of late have been tough for Sunderland, however, after appointing Martin O’Neill last week the Black Cats beat Blackburn 2-1 although this will be a much tougher test.

Verdict: Tottenham 3-1 Sunderland

Manchester City v Arsenal

No doubt the game of the weekend comes from the Etihad stadium as top of the table Manchester City welcome a resurgent Arsenal. City lost their unbeaten run against Chelsea last Monday so will look to bounce back. Arsenal have the inform Robin Van Persie in attack as they look for a victory that could add to their growing title challenge.

Verdict: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

As always let me know what you think. Do you agree? Send me your predictions. 

Depression: A worrying rise

It has always been recognised that woman were twice as likely to become depressed, however since the economic struggle the number of suicides from men has risen and is likely to continue to do so according to the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Depression has no particular cause; however it is believed that marriage problems, unemployment, money worries and divorce are all considered to be major factors behind a man becoming depressed.

So what makes a footballer depressed? For the majority of us the life of a footballer is seen as the ‘perfect’ job, a huge salary, playing football for a living, celebrity lifestyle and ladies falling at your feet, sounds perfect right? So what caused the likes of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts and Gary Speed all to take their own lives?

Research has shown that men are three times likely to take their own lives when suffering with depression. The world of football was rocked again last week when 42 year old Wales manager Gary Speed was found hanging at his Cheshire home. It is still unclear what drove to Speed to deciding that his life was no longer worth living. Last year Rushden and Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts was found in his home hanging after his fiancé’s affair with John Terry’s brother was publicised. The ‘embarrassment’ of the affair and an on-going leg injury drove Roberts to committing the act that brought his life to a premature end.

The first footballer to commit suicide though was German goalkeeper Robert Enke who in 2009 threw his body in front of a fast moving train as he looked to escape the struggle that he had battled with for so long. Recently a book titled ‘A life too short- The tragedy of Robert Enke’ tells the compelling and emotional stories of Enke and how he struggled with the fear of making mistakes, avoiding public ridicule and fear of job security as he was constantly linked with moves to other sides across Europe.

Throughout my research for this blog I found that the media were becoming more compassionate towards male suicide and more understanding, so I was surprised to come across Jeremy Clarkson’s comments this week saying that people that commit suicide are ‘selfish’. Here is a man that earns millions from a contract with the BBC with the money that we pay them with our T.V licences, here is a man that is able to voice his opinion to millions of people through whichever media platforms are stupid enough to give the moron airtime. I hope Jeremy Clarkson never has to deal with anything that the families of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts, Gary Speed and the thousands of other suicide victims go through.

What makes the stories of these high profile cases and in fact any suicide attempt is that the victim sees ending their life as the only way out when the reality is that there are lots of people that would love to be able to help their loved ones. Whatever it was that drove Gary Speed to kill himself last week, finally male depression is getting the awareness it now deserves. There are men out their suffering and the Speed case highlights how it could literally be anyone, even your loved one.

Suicide isn’t ‘selfish’ or ‘cowardly’ and depression is nothing to be ashamed of. Any one that is feeling depressed or struggling to cope with life should seek advice immediately.

Here is a website for people that are finding it difficult to cope- http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/problems/depression/mendepression.aspx 

England will have to leave at the 'Krakow' dawn if they don't want to miss out on the Quarters.

Group D but not the group of death for England seemed to be the reaction yesterday as the 16 teams that have qualified for next year’s 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine learned their fate for next summer’s event.

With the possibility of facing Spain, Portugal and Netherlands, Fabio Capello would have been pleased to avoid all of them as England were drawn alongside France, Ukraine and Sweden. Although still a tough group, England and Capello will be expecting to progress from the group and set up a quarter final against Spain, Italy, Croatia or possibly the Republic of Ireland.

Group A would have been a dream for Capello as that sees Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Russia all face each other for a place in the quarter finals. England must overcome a logistical problem of facing all their games in Ukraine which entails a 930 mile trip to Donetsk while the trip to Kiev will be a 535 mile from their Krakow base in Poland. Capello said yesterday that England won’t change their base for the competition as the facilities in Krakow were superb and he will be looking to avoid any controversy that followed his decision to base his side hidden away in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup.

Capello this week underlined the fact that this would be his last tournament in charge of England despite suggestions from Trevor Brooking earlier in the week that the FA could offer Capello an extension to his contract.

The draw yesterday will offer hope to England and Capello that finally they can end their long wait for a trophy. Capello would love to end his international management career on a high and what a way it would be to end by lifting a trophy for England.  Should England avoid defeat against France in their opening game on the 11^th June then I would fully expect them to progress from the group and reach the quarter finals.

We will find out this week if Wayne Rooney’s suspension will be reduced from three games which would give England a massive boost ahead of the tournament.

What did you make of the draw? Will England progress? Should Capello take Rooney if his suspension isn’t reduced?

As always let me know.