tag:,2007:/114 2007-04-11T16:43:44Z A studs-up tackle on the football world Movable Type 3.31 tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.9993 2007-04-11T16:03:53Z 2007-04-11T16:43:44Z

It's no good, I've tried all day but I still cannot understand why Fulham sacked manager Chris Coleman last night. Cookie deserves a medal for the job he has done at Craven Cottage over the past four years not a...

Andy Rose Chris Coleman last night. Cookie deserves a medal for the job he has done at Craven Cottage over the past four years not a P45. His boss may have been Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, but he was never once given the kind of transfer kitty his predecessor Jean Tigana once enjoyed. Added to that Coleman lost star players virtually every season such as Louis Saha, Luis Boa Morte and Steed Malbranque and had to replace them on a fraction of what they were sold for. And yet he repeatedly kept Fulham in the Premiership against the odds. The side are currently four points clear of the relegation zone with five games to go and too close for Al Fayed's liking to missing out on upwards of £50m through the new television rights deal next season. So why has he opted to appoint a manager with no Premiership experience in Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez? Sanchez may have worked miracles with Northern Ireland but then wasn't Cookie already doing that every day he turned up for work at The Cottage? ]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.8100 2007-03-16T16:49:07Z 2007-03-16T16:54:14Z

Sometimes in this job you have to put your head on the block, say what you think and then wait for the inevitable moment when you are proved wrong. So here goes. I predict the following: 1. Cardiff City will...

Andy Rose Sometimes in this job you have to put your head on the block, say what you think and then wait for the inevitable moment when you are proved wrong. So here goes. I predict the following: 1. Cardiff City will fail to reach the Championship play-offs. 2. Swansea City will sneak into the League One play-offs on the final day of the season. 3. Wrexham will survive and avoid relegation with games to spare. 4. Wales will lose at Croke Park against Ireland next week. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.7330 2007-03-07T11:48:54Z 2007-03-07T12:06:30Z

Not many Cardiff City fans were too pleased with the comments of Birmingham City co-owner David Sullivan in last weekend's edition of Wales on Sunday. Here are a few alternative and unedited views from the unofficial Cardiff City messageboard....

Andy Rose unofficial Cardiff City messageboard.]]> Lawnmower said: "Just picked up my WOS and he's grabbing the headlines again, saying 'The Premiership don't want City.' "Now fair enough, they probably dont,but then he goes on to quote that 'after the Birmingham game they were half-rioing outside'. "Eh ? Whats that all about ? Our fans behaviour was FAR better than his louts who caused the worst violence seen inside NP for possibly 20 years ? I cant think of worse than that seat throwing injuring their own fans and stewards (before you quote the Leeds game, nobody got hurt then). "He then says there were running skirmishes in sloper oad with police. NO, the police just cleared the road, which they did, as usual, easily. Th practise of hanging around the ground afterwards is pointless and never gets the young hoolies anywhere, but it hardly compares with what we saw from the Birmingham fans inside the ground. "Sullivan goes on then about how THEY have cleared their act up and we had a long way to go. He obviously has not looked at our improved arrest figures - ironically more Brum fans arrested that day than CCFC fans arrested at NP all last season !! "Just proves, if you have no morals you can get rich without being particularly intelligent. "He also states that a final in the MS will be like a 'home' game for City. Wrong. It makes no difference. 74000 seats in the MS is likely to see us getting the smallest allocation if we play Wolves, Sunderland, Brum, WBA, Southampton or Derby ! The game is bound to be a sell out, and if I remember the allocation is based on average home gates, of which ours are clearly smaller than those above clubs. "He then ends up by saying he might still end up owning us!" Bloom Gloom said: "Total tosser!" Bluehutchie said: "Just read that article on IC Wales - Sullivan has no idea about the work this club and it's supporters have done to improve matters. I notice that WoS do not quote any figures to counteract his comments - just accept his words as fact - usual crap from an utterly rubbish rag. Andy Rose has to be one of the poorest journalists around." Auntie Andy said: "I blame the WOS for allowing him to spout his garbage. Why don't the WOS back us up with the truth? No that would be asking too much. I don't buy the comic." Lawnmower again: "Not helped by the fact that the journalist was Andy Rose, who is such a Jack bastad that he knows f-ck all about City. "He added fuel to it by saying there was trouble after the Spurs game. Thats rubbsih too." And finally Thornhillblue said: "I too have just picked up this rag and read this pile of sh1te!! Both Sullivan and WOS are guilty of painting us all as no good violent hooligans!!! "That's it for me-I am never buying another copy of this paper when they publish crap stories like this!!! "As for the content of the story Sullivan doesn't have a clue does he? "He should look on his own front door before he spouts crap like this!! "Premiership bosses are quaking in their boots because of the reputation of City fans?? Total rubbish. Perhaps they are quaking in their boots but it's more likely to be because a WELSH side could be in their Premiership!!! Surely this prospect is no worse than a unfashionable side like Reading, Portsmouth or Wigan being in the Premiership??? "Sullivan = Tosser, WOS = Tossers" As always thank you all for the feedback. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.7081 2007-03-03T11:52:47Z 2007-03-07T11:47:57Z

DAVID SULLIVAN has warned Cardiff City that the Premiership does not want them to win promotion. The flamboyant Birmingham City co-owner insists the Premiership’s top brass are quaking in their boots at the thought of his hometown club reaching the...

Andy Rose DAVID SULLIVAN has warned Cardiff City that the Premiership does not want them to win promotion. The flamboyant Birmingham City co-owner insists the Premiership’s top brass are quaking in their boots at the thought of his hometown club reaching the top flight for the first time in 45 years. Cardiff face Birmingham at St Andrew’s this morning in a game both sides desperately need to win to maintain their promotion pushes. But Sullivan reckons that the Bluebirds’ failure to tackle their hooligan problem sufficiently over the years means they face being given the cold shoulder, even if manager Dave Jones can lead the Bluebirds to glory on the pitch. “I would have to say the Premiership would be very nervous about the behaviour of the Cardiff supporters,” said Sullivan. “Everyone used to be frightened of the thought of Millwall going up. They don’t want bad behaviour in the Premiership and crowd trouble which is very, very bad for the image of the game. “I hope if they do go up they really do work on the crowd trouble. It would be fantastic for Cardiff and for Wales and the national side would benefit tremendously. “But the Premiership clubs see it as a club with a terrible ground and a hooligan element of supporters. “The Premiership wouldn’t be jumping for joy.” Penarth-born Sullivan admits it hurts him to acknowledge just how far Cardiff still have to go to rid themselves of the unwanted reputation. His own club face a season’s high police bill of around £27,000 for today’s match, which has an 11.30am kick-off on the insistence of the authorities. But he points the finger of blame at former owner Sam Hammam who appeared to court some of the hardcore elements at Ninian Park. “I don’t think Sam got on top of the hooligans,” said the multi-millionaire. “It isn’t good for a club to have a hooligan element. “Sam, I think, thought it was a little bit of fun and never really went in strong against them. “But you have to come out and say ‘this is not acceptable in this day and age and if you love the club please don’t do it’. “When we played in Cardiff earlier in the season they were half rioting outside, and that’s after they’d annihilated us on the pitch. “If I was with a big company looking to sponsor and came to that game I would have been euphoric at first then seen the trouble outside the main stand, where they took 30 minutes to clear the road because of running skirmishes with police on horseback. “It’s frightening to normal sane people. They are doing a tremendous disservice to the club. “It’s sad really. I wouldn’t say our supporters are the best behaved but they’ve got an awful lot better over the years and we’ve worked very hard to achieve that.” Sullivan is speaking from the heart, as well as from the experience of working against the hooligan element at St Andrew’s. But his comments are certain to enrage City supporters who claim they are more victims than aggressors and will remember how Birmingham fans tore up seats at Ninian Park and scuffled with police on their last visit in August. Chairman Peter Ridsdale insists the club is taking huge strides in a bid to clean up their reputation and make City more family-friendly, although he declined to comment when contacted by Wales on Sunday. Yet only recently, travelling fans were banned from Wolves after clashes between rival fans for the past two seasons while there were ugly scenes outside Ninian Park following the FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham in January. Yet for any Cardiff fan still dreaming of the Premiership, Sullivan insists there is no better time to reach there than now with the new £2.1bn broadcast deal set to kick in next season. “You get so much money, they would be flush with funds and in great shape,” said Sullivan, who saw his side relegated from the Premiership last year after four seasons of living the high life. “You are set up for three years, it’s absolutely fantastic and if you don’t spend all your money like Watford this year then you can stabilise the club for years and have every chance of coming straight back up. “Our parachute payment (for relegation) this year was £6.5m but from next year it will be £11m.” Birmingham resumed pole position during the week but manager Steve Bruce is still under pressure with performances, according to Sullivan and many fans still not up to scratch. But he believes Cardiff and Birmingham could both be celebrating by the end of the campaign. “I could see us both going up,” he said. “Our target is to go up automatically, a play-off place would be a disappointment and not to make the play-offs would be an unmitigated disaster. “If Cardiff make the play-offs they only have to win the semi and then the final is like a home game. You wouldn’t want to play Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium and I think there is a real possibility we could both go up. Then again there is the chance neither of us go up.” But win, lose or draw today, Sullivan admits he won’t be rushing to invest in Cardiff even after selling his minority stake in West Ham before Christmas. “One day I might end up at Cardiff but at the moment I’m doing no better than the people running them already,” he said. “It is possible one day I may end up there, I’ve always said that. I get criticised like mad but it is mentally more rewarding to do the job where you live or where you were born. I have a massive affinity with Birmingham but if I was born and bred there or lived there that affinity would be double.” tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.6945 2007-03-01T15:36:42Z 2007-03-01T16:22:55Z

It may have taken a few years but there could be a thaw developing in the Cold War between Leeds United fans and former chairman Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale may be seen as the saviour of Cardiff City right now but...

Andy Rose Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale may be seen as the saviour of Cardiff City right now but he remains the chief culprit in many people's eyes for the financial collapse of Leeds a few years ago and everything that has gone wrong at Elland Road ever since. But that could be changing even though Leeds are on the verge of being relegated to League One level for the first time in their history. "We got to the play-off final (last season), seemed settled and were looking forward to a couple of additions but it hasn't developed and you can't blame Ridsdale for that," said Ray Fell, the chairman of the Leeds United supporters' club. "We have got over that stage. The finances, whether they are right or wrong, is not what's keeping us at the bottom." That is not to say that Ken Bates is about to let him back into the Leeds boardroom though. ]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.6521 2007-02-23T17:12:58Z 2007-02-23T17:18:25Z

I've heard all sorts of drivel spewing from the mouths of football chairman over the years but nothing quite like this from Hearts supremo Vladimir Romanov Make of this what you will. PS the monkeys are the media.......apparently....

Andy Rose Vladimir Romanov Make of this what you will. PS the monkeys are the media.......apparently.]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.6105 2007-02-18T12:13:16Z 2007-02-18T12:16:02Z

Who, why, when and where are the key questions in any investigation when a crime has been committed. But while the last two are the easy pieces to fit into the jigsaw of Kenny Jackett's surprise demise at Swansea City,...

Andy Rose Who, why, when and where are the key questions in any investigation when a crime has been committed. But while the last two are the easy pieces to fit into the jigsaw of Kenny Jackett's surprise demise at Swansea City, the who and the why parts are far more difficult to explain. In the immediate aftermath of Jackett's decision to walk away from the club on Wednesday after three seasons in charge, the main suspects were to be found pointing the finger at one another. The chairman, Huw Jenkins, blamed the media while the fourth estate repaid the compliment. The players have stayed silent either through confusion, guilt or a combination of the two, while their former leader and the only man with all the answers has so far kept his own counsel evading all attempts to track him down. Twenty-four hours after he quit, Jackett had been due to attend a meeting of the League Managers' Association at Wycombe Wanderers. When the reason for Jackett's absence was announced to the 15 other Premiership and Football League managers present there was an audible gasp of surprise. Even in a game where those involved constantly stress that nothing surprises them, Jackett's departure still had the ability to shock. His crime was that despite an outlay of around £2m Swansea City were still not automatic promotion candidates despite coming within a penalty shoot-out of reaching the Championship last term. He was winning - just not often enough. Money helps but it certainly never guarantees success in sport. But while some of Jackett's signings have been highly questionable when weighed against their impact, the manager deserved better than the half-hearted vote of confidence delivered by Jenkins at the start of the week. It was less a ringing endorsement, more a stay of execution. That was obvious to everyone, not least Jackett himself. And when taken along with the repeated and sometimes veiled criticism of his manager in the chairman's often provocative programme notes and interviews, Jackett must now feel as if he has suffered death by a thousand paper cuts. A manager can always live with criticism from the fans and press, it goes with the territory. What he always needs, though, is the whole-hearted backing of his chairman and the players. The players don't have to like him, but they do have to play for him. Could this be one of the reasons then? Jenkins certainly hinted that some of the players could have blood on their hands, once he had stopped blaming the media and started talking to them. "I think sometimes he found it hard to lift them, we can't hide from that," said Jenkins of the dressing-room atmosphere. "I think he's found that hard from day one. It's part of the overall picture. "I'm not saying they didn't take to Kenny but it's a fact he didn't get out of them what he wanted. "You'd have to ask Kenny why. "They haven't hit the heights we would have liked them to reach considering the investment we've made. "We were very happy with the squad but you have got to produce the goods and Kenny felt they weren't producing it for him." Jackett is a proud, private man and has every right to be with a record of achievement at Swansea which reads promotion from League Two, Football League Trophy winners, League One play-off finalists and twice FAW Premier Cup winners. Along the way there have been dressing-room casualties with fans' favourites Roger Freestone, Roberto Martinez, Alan Curtis and, most recently, Leon Knight among those shown the door. Most, but not all, of those decisions have been proved correct even if the reason for them hasn't always been clear. But now Jackett has become the biggest casualty of the lot. With him at the helm promotion was still a possibility. Without him, and with the Swans now searching for their 14th manager in 16 years, the Championship dream seems as far away as when he arrived. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.5848 2007-02-13T13:29:59Z 2007-02-13T13:51:57Z

It didn't take Cardiff City very long to get Michael Chopra back on message following a radio interview on Monday night. Speaking on Radio Five Live the Bluebirds striker said: "My main aim this season is to get promoted with...

Andy Rose interview on Monday night. Speaking on Radio Five Live the Bluebirds striker said: "My main aim this season is to get promoted with Cardiff. "And hopefully I can." So far so good. But then he added: "If I don't get promoted with Cardiff, hopefully I can be in the Premiership next season with someone else." D'oh. ]]> "clarification". "I think what I've said has been misunderstood a touch last night," said Chopra practically moonwalking away from his comments. But that begs the question. How exactly do you misinterpret "If I don't get promoted with Cardiff, hopefully I can be in the Premiership next season with someone else"? In these situations it is always more convenient to blame the journalist for either mis-quoting or mis-interpreting even when the words are heard coming out of the mouth of the man himself. Isn't it better sometimes to just admit Chopra was being honest about his ambitions and meant what he said. ]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.5398 2007-02-07T14:29:21Z 2007-02-07T14:59:26Z

So what did we learn from Wales' 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night? Not a lot is the honest answer, but here goes anyway. 1. Craig Bellamy is not a lone striker, especially when the balls are pumped...

Andy Rose So what did we learn from Wales' 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night? Not a lot is the honest answer, but here goes anyway. 1. Craig Bellamy is not a lone striker, especially when the balls are pumped aimlessly into the opposition penalty area. 2. Jason Koumas will be missed when he is suspended for the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland next month although he was nowhere near as good in the game as the BBC would have you believe. 3. Without Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale, Wales are a far less attractive and attacking proposition. 4. Wales struggle in defence without Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Bale in the side. 5. The BBC's Matt Jones should copy from colleague Rob Phillips if he ever wants to conduct a meaningful touchline interview. 6. Oli Hides still gets over excited whenever Wales play. 7. Oli Hides wants to form, if he hasn't already, the Jason Koumas fan club with the motto "he really is special you know". 8. Oli Hides cannot help but exaggerate (see above, “he really is special you know!”) 9. Leighton James should at least remember what he said in the first half about Koumas when he changed his tune in the second. 10. Duffel coats are back in fashion. Actually that's quite a lot isn't it. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.5105 2007-01-31T11:52:01Z 2007-01-31T12:01:59Z

A new study has found that football fans travel nine BILLION miles supporting their teams each season. Any Swansea supporter making the roadwork interrupted nine-hour round trip to Ipswich last weekend in the FA Cup must have felt like they...

Andy Rose BILLION miles supporting their teams each season. Any Swansea supporter making the roadwork interrupted nine-hour round trip to Ipswich last weekend in the FA Cup must have felt like they were doing it all in one go! ]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.4356 2007-01-12T17:11:11Z 2007-01-12T17:16:32Z

In their dire league position Wrexham need an experienced manager, used to scrapping it out in the lower divisions, able to work on a shoe-string budget and someone who is 100 per cent committed to the cause. Sounds like Denis...

Andy Rose In their dire league position Wrexham need an experienced manager, used to scrapping it out in the lower divisions, able to work on a shoe-string budget and someone who is 100 per cent committed to the cause. Sounds like Denis Smith to me. Shame they sacked him on Thursday. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.4155 2007-01-05T16:42:35Z 2007-01-05T16:46:54Z

Transfer windows come and go these days, but the wheeling and dealing to be done over the next three weeks could have huge consequences for Welsh football. By the end of this season Wales could have a Premiership club to...

Andy Rose Transfer windows come and go these days, but the wheeling and dealing to be done over the next three weeks could have huge consequences for Welsh football. By the end of this season Wales could have a Premiership club to call its own for the very first time, another in its highest league position for more than 20 years and see the other drop out of the league altogether. This looks set to be a make or break period for each of the ‘big three’ of Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham. And if you don’t think it is as serious as all that then it’s time to think again. The Bluebirds have fallen badly off the promotion race in the past two months but are still in there with a fighters’ chance due to their record breaking burst out of the blocks. In recent weeks the side have looked as if they are running on empty in terms of both energy and ideas and manager Dave Jones is determined to take action. But having worked miracles during the summer with some of his transfer coups, Jones has given himself something of a tough act to follow. Fans now expect him to conjure up another Michael Chopra, Kerrea Gilbert or Kevin McNaughton out of nowhere. But if he can pull off the same trick again then who would back against Cardiff at least reaching the play-offs in a season where mid-table would have been seen as a wholly acceptable achievement back in August. A cup win against today’s illustrious opponents Tottenham would do no harm either as Jones admits the club is a tough sell to prospective recruits. He and all of his purchases to date have bought into the dream of what the club could be in the future. But it takes a massive leap of faith for all concerned when you have no training ground to call your own and a dilapidated home like Ninian Park with which to lure, or more likely deter, players. Mid-season recruits do not always do the trick though. Steve Thompson and Riccy Scimeca arrived this time last year. And while Scimeca in particular has been outstanding for much of this season there were many fans unsure about the signings in the final few months of the last campaign. Jones may be determined to bring in two or three new faces to pep up his squad but his eagerness to move in the market pales beside that of an increasingly desperate Wrexham boss Denis Smith right now. This season was supposed to be all sweetness and roses after Wales’ oldest professional side emerged from the financial uncertainty of administration just in time to kick off the new campaign. Unfortunately what started as a tremendous season has imploded to the point where Wrexham now occupy a perilous position just two points above the relegation zone. This was not how the story was supposed to unfold and Smith is still talking optimistically of the play-offs. For the time being though he is just struggling to put a side of any description out on the pitch and even tried to have last Saturday’s clash with Hereford postponed due to a lack of fit bodies. Smith needs to find a solution and quickly. He has always had a eye for a player, just ask City skipper Darren Purse who he nurtured at Oxford along with future Premiership defender Matt Elliott. But then Smith will always insist that it is not hard to spot a ‘player’. The trick is often being in the right place at the right time as Jones’ capture of Chopra from Newcastle illustrated in the summer. Another day or two and Michael Owen’s World Cup ending injury in Germany would have put paid to the deal. Two seasons ago Smith himself plucked unknown goalkeeper Ben Foster out of Stoke’s reserves. A few months later he was a Manchester United player and last summer was on standby for England’s World Cup squad. More recently Matt Derbyshire banged in the goals for Smith during a highly successful loan spell. Last weekend he scored his first Premiership goal for Blackburn Rovers. The one manager out of the Welsh musketeers who appears to have struggled the most when it comes to transfers is Swansea’s Kenny Jackett. Compared to Jones and Smith he is still a managerial pup but with enough financial clout to out muscle most of his League One rivals and probably plenty of Championship ones as well. The impressive 20,000 Liberty Stadium certainly aids his cause as well but even after splashing out close on £1m last January, Jackett proved that money does not always buy happiness, or in this case promotion. The Swans missed out in the end only by a penalty shoot-out at the Millennium Stadium but of Jackett’s five signings this time last year, four have still to prove themselves and the one success on the field, Leon Knight, is on his way out of the club for what he does off it. Managers at all levels eventually live and die in the job according to what they do in the transfer market. It’s just that some transfer windows are more important than others. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2007://114.4132 2007-01-04T17:20:21Z 2007-01-04T17:34:28Z

The one thing that the sacking of Rangers boss Paul Le Guen has proved today is that certain players, in this case, Barry Ferguson are untouchable. The moment that a manager realises this, is the time he should start packing...

Andy Rose Paul Le Guen has proved today is that certain players, in this case, Barry Ferguson are untouchable. The moment that a manager realises this, is the time he should start packing his bags. Unfortunately Le Guen realised too late to save his own Gallic bacon. At least Swansea City boss Kenny Jackett is holding firm over Leon Knight, who he insists will never play for the club again despite returning from a loan spell at Barnsley. Knight is no Ferguson but the sudden expulsion of any player has the capacity to lose a manager his dressing room and eventually his job, especially when that player is - or was - his top scorer. Kenny this blog salutes you. ]]> tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2006://114.4000 2006-12-30T13:24:59Z 2006-12-30T13:33:31Z

"I really hate managers talking about other managers' players. Peter Crouch is a Liverpool player and I do not think Rafael Benitez would appreciate me talking about him when he is not a Newcastle player," said Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder...

Andy Rose "I really hate managers talking about other managers' players. Peter Crouch is a Liverpool player and I do not think Rafael Benitez would appreciate me talking about him when he is not a Newcastle player," said Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder on Friday. Clearly not the same guy then who said this about Wales starlet Gareth Bale just six days earlier. "The only two players I am interested in from the Championship are Giles Barnes and Gareth Bale. They are two outstanding talents and the sort of players we should be looking at – and by admitting our interest, were are not giving away any secrets because a lot of top clubs fancy them. “It would not surprise me if Gareth Bale went on to play 100 games for Wales.” And there was me thinking Bale was contracted to Southampton for another 18 months. tag:rattlingthebar.welshblogs.co.uk,2006://114.3984 2006-12-28T15:02:54Z 2006-12-28T15:07:53Z

Why oh why has it taken so long to work out who Wales and West Ham defender James Collins looks like? Thanks to football365.com for that one....

Andy Rose Thanks to football365.com for that one. ]]>