The Pieman has to eat humble pie this week. I have not changed my mind about International friendlies because although we stuck it up the Germans it doesn't mean pie-all until we beat them in competition. No, where I got it wrong was that Fabio Capello, our beloved Italian now Head Coach of England, actually got the national team pressurising, closing down, playing at a high tempo and at long last using the Aston Villa youngsters in form, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young. Gabby, as his club call him, has terrific pace and was a good addition. Young came on late.
The result was excellent, the performance pretty good, but the Pieman thinks everyone has gone too much overboard. There was nothing at stake.
Can't argue about Capello's excellent 100% start and you can only beat the opposition you are drawn against. There will be such a relief when England qualify but the real test comes in South Africa. The £6 million a year salary will only be worth it if England do the business then. What Capello has done is seize control, instil discipline and create competition for places. No one can assume anything under this geezer and about time too.
Did goalie Scott Carson call for the ball in the defensive mix-up with skipper John Terry that led to the German goal in the second half? That is the question I have not seen asked or answered. Has the Pieman missed that? It was very noble of Terry to take the blame. He has just scored the winner and his spot is pretty secure. Not so Carson. Two blips. Will Capello give him a third chance? You would like to think so, but..............
What sort of captain is William Gallas at Arsenal? What will his manager Arsene Wenger do now?
This is the basis of the Pie! Gallas launched a savage questioning of his team-mates stomach for a battle revealing rows on and off the pitch. Gallas spilt the beans while on International duty with France claiming that he had to calm things down in the dressing room at half-time in the 4-4 draw with Spurs and mentioned another Premier League game when two team-mates fell out. The problem is that Gallas has undermined Wenger's position as manager, lost the trust surely of his team-mates and should have warned his club that he was intending to go public. Since becoming captain of this famous Club, he has sulked, kicked advertising boards and staged a sit down on the Birmingham City pitch. Is Arsene bothered? We will find out soon.....Fair play mate!...What do you think? Let me know by email or text, details on the website..............
Sven-Goran Eriksson we hear is facing calls to be sacked as Mexico manager. The Mexican sports daily newspaper RECORD writes it will only cost $4 million to pay him off and they say they will pay the first dollar. The Swede must be laughing through the credit crunch. Pay off by England, Manchester City and now probably Mexico. No wonder he keeps smiling! Fair play mate!...............
Andy Anson is the new chief executive of the FA's 2018 World Cup bid. Do you care? About Andy I mean, not the World Cup! Mind you, after the farce of the rising costs of the London Olympics should we even be going down that path again? The Olympics costs are becoming a joke. Even the Minister in charge says if they had known then what was going to happen to the economy now they probably would not have backed it! Great, but now they want to stage a World Cup. Do we really need it or is it the only way we will win the World Cup again? In that case, fair play mate!
What do you think? Should we stage the 2018 World Cup? Please send me your thoughts.
Aston Villa versus Manchester United this Saturday is a cracker. A real meat and veg pie/United 3rd in the Premier League. They are 8 points behind the joint leaders Chelsea and Liverpool with a game in hand. Could be more by the time United-Villa kick off at 5.30 p.m. because Chelsea will have played and probably beaten Newcastle at home and the same can be said for Liverpool who play Fulham at Anfield. United usually win at Villa Park but Aston Villa are making huge strides under manager Martin O'Neill. Villa have recently won at Arsenal who had beaten Manchester United there the previous week. It might be that type of season. Villa are currently fifth - one point behind United!........
The result was excellent, the performance pretty good, but the Pieman thinks everyone has gone too much overboard. There was nothing at stake.
Can't argue about Capello's excellent 100% start and you can only beat the opposition you are drawn against. There will be such a relief when England qualify but the real test comes in South Africa. The £6 million a year salary will only be worth it if England do the business then. What Capello has done is seize control, instil discipline and create competition for places. No one can assume anything under this geezer and about time too.
Did goalie Scott Carson call for the ball in the defensive mix-up with skipper John Terry that led to the German goal in the second half? That is the question I have not seen asked or answered. Has the Pieman missed that? It was very noble of Terry to take the blame. He has just scored the winner and his spot is pretty secure. Not so Carson. Two blips. Will Capello give him a third chance? You would like to think so, but..............
What sort of captain is William Gallas at Arsenal? What will his manager Arsene Wenger do now?
This is the basis of the Pie! Gallas launched a savage questioning of his team-mates stomach for a battle revealing rows on and off the pitch. Gallas spilt the beans while on International duty with France claiming that he had to calm things down in the dressing room at half-time in the 4-4 draw with Spurs and mentioned another Premier League game when two team-mates fell out. The problem is that Gallas has undermined Wenger's position as manager, lost the trust surely of his team-mates and should have warned his club that he was intending to go public. Since becoming captain of this famous Club, he has sulked, kicked advertising boards and staged a sit down on the Birmingham City pitch. Is Arsene bothered? We will find out soon.....Fair play mate!...What do you think? Let me know by email or text, details on the website..............
Sven-Goran Eriksson we hear is facing calls to be sacked as Mexico manager. The Mexican sports daily newspaper RECORD writes it will only cost $4 million to pay him off and they say they will pay the first dollar. The Swede must be laughing through the credit crunch. Pay off by England, Manchester City and now probably Mexico. No wonder he keeps smiling! Fair play mate!...............
Andy Anson is the new chief executive of the FA's 2018 World Cup bid. Do you care? About Andy I mean, not the World Cup! Mind you, after the farce of the rising costs of the London Olympics should we even be going down that path again? The Olympics costs are becoming a joke. Even the Minister in charge says if they had known then what was going to happen to the economy now they probably would not have backed it! Great, but now they want to stage a World Cup. Do we really need it or is it the only way we will win the World Cup again? In that case, fair play mate!
What do you think? Should we stage the 2018 World Cup? Please send me your thoughts.
Aston Villa versus Manchester United this Saturday is a cracker. A real meat and veg pie/United 3rd in the Premier League. They are 8 points behind the joint leaders Chelsea and Liverpool with a game in hand. Could be more by the time United-Villa kick off at 5.30 p.m. because Chelsea will have played and probably beaten Newcastle at home and the same can be said for Liverpool who play Fulham at Anfield. United usually win at Villa Park but Aston Villa are making huge strides under manager Martin O'Neill. Villa have recently won at Arsenal who had beaten Manchester United there the previous week. It might be that type of season. Villa are currently fifth - one point behind United!........
The Pieman loves a laugh and in these blogs I will be recalling past and present stories that have made me laugh!
This time it’s Tommy Docherty - one of football's great wits who managed so many different clubs - he joked, "I've had more clubs than Jack Nichlaus (USA golfer)!" ......When he got sacked from Rotherham, Doc declared, "I cannot understand it. I promised the chairman I would take the club out of the second division. I kept my word, we have just been relegated to the third!"...... When he was under pressure job-wise at Aston Villa the chairman Doug Ellis called the press together and stated, "I just want you gentlemen to know that I am right behind our manager Tommy Docherty", to which the Doc said, "With all due respect Mr Chairman, I would rather have you in front of me where I can see you!"... A few days later Mr Ellis sacked him!...........Then when Tommy Docherty was about to go to court on a perjury charge he answered a media question as to whether he was worried about a possible prison sentence. "Not really, the way I look at it is that they are bound to make me manager of the football team and after four bad results they would throw me out!"...... A great character, the Doc!
Thank for being with the Pieman. My next show will be on the website soon. The exact date will be posted!
No comments:
Post a Comment