QPR - The Journeymen Galacticos?

 The panic that seems to be building up over Loftus Road may ensure that yet more faces arrive in West London before the end of the transfer window. The desperate European wide phonecall has been answered this time by Ricardo Carvalho. He'll probably do a job for a season, and if Rangers stay up at the end of the season Mark Hughes will say it was a decision well made. Personally, I'm not sure that bringing in journeymen old pros is the answer. I wonder if Yakubu will turn up at Loftus Road in January?

There is another way. I have long since held the belief that the difference between a low end Premier League player and a League 1 / 2 player is very very small. In fact, the only real difference between someone playing for Wigan or QPR and someone playing for Northampton is luck. We all wanted to be footballers, and  lets face it,  the reason why we write blogs is because we weren't good enough. Players playing in the Football League have an extraordinary amount of ability. They have to to be where they are. The only real difference between an ineffective Premier League player (lets say, for example, the recently sold Wigan man Connor Sammon) and a League 2 player (eg. Shaun Harrad) is their bank balance.

This weekend, various Premiership squads will contain players who have turned out for Rotherham United, Rochdale, Barnet, Bristol Rovers, Lincoln City,  Bromley, Southend United and Queen of the South.  Grant Holt scored goals in League 2, League 1 and the Championship. Guess what - he scored in the Premier League too, and I would imagine that Roy Hodgson gave him quite a bit of thought too. I fully expect Adam Le Fondre and Rickie Lambert to score in the Premier League. Their track record says they have scored wherever they have been.

Lower end Premier League clubs need to look at the lower divisions. Not all of the answers are there, but there are a lot of good players who could thrive in the Premier League environment. What's more, players who have worked their way up through the leagues will never lack effort. Does Djibril Cisse really care about QPR? Maybe he does, but probably not as much as Shaun Derry or Jamie Mackie, who have finally made it to the top.

Cisse - 'The Money's Good!'

The clubs have got lazy. It is too easy to bring an established player in on a free. They don't require coaching. They might not have elements of their technique that need a little bit of work. But they won't be hungry. Supporters will soon moan that so and so doesn't work hard enough, and the players know, that if the team is relegated they can move on a free to someone else. Lower division players might take a few months of coaching, but if you put the effort in they will give everything for their club. You just need to invest time. Time in your scouting to find the right player and time in your coaching of the player.

Swansea and Norwich were great to watch last season, Blackpool the season before that. Southampton and Reading will play good stuff this season. Squads made of players who have served their time in the lower leagues, will entertain crowds and get results. I bet you don't hear their fans moaning either. They might get relegated, but from each squad 4 or 5 players will prove themselves to be more than capable of playing in the Premier League.

If it comes down to it, I would fancy Reading or Southampton to beat QPR in a relegation run in. Squads with togetherness, with players who have worked for their entire careers to get where they are are going to find the extra grit required. Will QPR's squad really be able to grind out results?

Put it this way:

Rickie Lambert or Djibril Cisse to score more goals this season? I know who my money would be on.

5 Funniest Premier League Goals

I'm not a massive fan of the Premier League. These days I prefer to find my entertainment deep in the underworld of British football. It wasn't always the case though.  There was a time that I used to watch everything that happened in the top division. With the new season just underway, I have decided to list the Top 5 goals that made me laugh. No flowing moves here. No 30 yard thunderbolts. No technique, no skill, no style. Just humour!

5: Jason Cundy - Ipswich v Spurs 1993

Jason Cundy, moments before his goal at Portman Road

Jason Cundy is a player who I can admire. Most players, outside the top few clubs, have one defining moment in their career. One moment that they are remembered by. One winners medal, one crucial goal, one mistake, or, in the case of Steve Morrow, one ill advised trip on Tony Adams' shoulders. Jason Cundy's moment was at Portman Road. With the ball bobbling about somewhere near the half way line Cundy slid in to win a 50/50, only to find that the Ipswich player hadn't committed himself to the challenge. As our man smashed into the empty space the ball left his right boot and flew 50 yards into the top corner of the net, over Craig Forrest who had been stood 5 yards from his line.  Jason Cundy was a very good footballer, he must have been to have played for Spurs and Chelsea, but I love the fact that the only thing anyone can remember about his career was a complete fluke of a goal! I wish I could remember who the Ipswich player was, because I bet he got one hell of a rocket from John Lyall.

4: Tomas Brolin - Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds Utd 1995

Tomas Brolin - Running?

Tomas Brolin is destined to forever be shown on the BBC whenever England play Sweden. He was an excellent player, but his reputation amongst fans in Britain is severely tarnished by his little spell at Elland Road. During one of the, seemingly few, moments when he wasn't gorging himself on fast food he managed to produce one of my all time favourite goals. With the ball bouncing around inside the 6 yard box, Brolin and Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman challenge for the ball. Pressman punches it onto the Swede who is knocked over and ends up lying on the floor in the 6 yard box. The ball trickles towards the net, but, luckily for The Owls, the centre half has seen the danger and is in a great position to save the day. Unfortunately the defender chose to smash the ball straight into Brolin's head (as he lay on the floor) and then had to watch as it rebounded straight into the unguarded net. For me, that goal is the equal to anything Lionel Messi has ever done. Glorious.

3: Peter Reid (OG) - Manchester City v Middlesbrough 1992

Garry Flitcroft

For those of us of a certain age, (generally between 26 and 50) watching Manchester City win every week is still a strange phenomenon. We were brought up with City being the team to watch to see other people getting put through it. No greater example of this than in the very first season of the Premier League, when a particularly poor relegation destined Middlesbrough took all three points from Maine Road. The crucial moment of the game followed some brilliant last ditch defending by Terry Phelan. This is what makes the goal so brilliant and so typically early 90's Manchester City. They'd got themselves out of trouble and conceded a corner. A chance to regroup and put into practice their training. Middlesbrough overhit the corner, to the extent that it is probably going out for a goal kick, in an area where there isn't a single Boro body. Probably panicking as he was a young player, Flitcroft decides not to let the ball go out but instead he chooses to wallop the ball as far away as possible.  Sadly he sliced his clearance and ended up smashing it into Peter Reid stood about  2 metres away from him, with the ball bouncing inevitably into the net. The lesson for all youngsters became clear from the fuming look Reid threw at Flitcroft. If you are going to make an arse out of yourself infront of thousands of people, don't involve the player manager!

2. Gary Ablett (OG) - Everton v Wimbledon 1994

Ablett mobs 2 goal Graham Stuart at fulltime

The funniest moments are nearly always linked with great drama and tension. So a comical goal in a stadium racked with anxiety is always brilliant to the rest of us. Unlike Jason Cundy, the late Gary Ablett had plenty of moments of fame. Infact only a year after this goal he was collecting another winners medal, becoming the only man to win the FA Cup with Liverpool and Everton. It doesn't make this goal any less amusing though!  Being the seasoned pro that he was, Ablett didn't pick a meaningless mid season game, he chose the last game of the season when all eyes were on Goodison. Everton were a mess in 1994, but had somehow managed to not be relegated. Victory against Wimbledon could save them, if Sheffield Utd lost at Stamford Bridge. Starting like a Sunday League team who had suddenly been thrown into the Premier League,  Everton were behind after 4 minutes when Dean Holdsworth scored a penalty. 40,000 people (and 32 in the away end) sensed relegation. Then came the moment that is etched in my memory. Unsurprisingly a long ball caused havoc. Unsworth and Watson collided with each other, Big Nev came flying off his line and Andy Clarke mis hit a shot across the six yard box. Ablett in attempting to clear (under no pressure) sliced the ball viciously into his own goal and then fell over ending up as a crumpled mess in the net.  20 minutes in. 0-2 down. Relegation seemed a certainty. Maybe if Graham Stuart and Barry Horne hadn't mounted the great comeback this goal wouldn't have been so funny. Thankfully they did.

1. Olaf Mellberg & PeterEnkleman - Birmingham City v Aston Villa - 2002

Enkleman contemplates his mistake, whilst thousands of Blues fans tell him not to worry!

There's a reason why certain players play in goal. It's so they can use their hands. Peter Enkleman chose the Birmingham derby, infront of thousands of pumped up Blues fans, as the perfect place to prove that keepers have no touch! 10 seconds of utter joy for anyone who doesn't support the Villa. Ball thrown back to him, no control, 5000 Birmingham fans making gestures behind his head! Perfection. That's why I love football. Made even better by the fact that the goal probably shouldn't have stood, but the ref understood that this goal was too beautiful to chalk off.

Like anything, this is a personal list. There have been hundreds of funny goals. Think about it yourself for a while. Forget the skill and embrace the humour!

A Season of Soul Searching

It's time for the smell of paint to waft across the pitch and all those other cliches as the new season is finally here. For me though, this is genuinely more exciting than normal as I look forward to spending the next 10 months watching the Welsh Premier League. I am searching for the soul of football.

Back in the day when the sport first captivated me football was a simple game. Top players could tackle. Goalkeepers didn't fall over if someone breathed on them. Chants from the terraces had an element of wit about them. The radio wasn't full of idiots spouting their non sensical opinions. (How long after Saturday's game until we hear a fan calling in to a radio station and calling for the manager to go? I reckon it will be the third caller!) In fact the wall to wall football coverage is damaging the game in my opinion, as more and more people sit on their sofas watching 'The Best League in the World' instead of playing themselves, or actually going to watch a match.

I'll always love football, but I honestly think that I can cope without seeing the megastars. Top level football is beginning to resemble WWE wrestling to me. It's skilful, entertaining and extremely popular, but it doesn't resemble real life. The players live in a bubble. They don't care about the team. Last season Adebayor may have kissed the cockerel, but he's already kissed the Cannon and the Eagle. When Graham Roberts or Steve Perryman played, they did it for the club as well as themselves. They cared.  It's also often extraordinarily predictable. Would there be less of a crowd at Old Trafford if it was actually decided beforehand that Utd would win 4-1? I doubt it.

I'm not knocking people who like watching the Premiership, I'm just saying it's not for me anymore. I'm more of a Greco-Roman Wrestling man rather than WWE. I like my sport a bit grittier, and less predictable. Normally I find my interest satisfied by the lower levels of the football league, but news of players in League 1 on 15 / 20k per week has ruined that. Certain negative memories of my time working for a then League 2 club also come flooding back. At least the players in the English Premier League are really 'big time'!!

Ronnie Corbett Launches the WPL.

I was meant to pick a WPL team to support for the season, but, in one of the greatest cop outs of all time, I will be following both Bala Town and Carmarthen Town. The 2 clubs could not have been more friendly. Both have printed me in their matchday programmes, even though I am just a random stranger! They reply to tweets and e-mails too, which is great, and helps me to keep intouch with what is going on. They league itself  showed an extraordinary sense of humour by getting Ronnie Corbett to help with the launch. (Corbett Sports Welsh Premier League in case you were wondering) I have underlying reasons for picking the WPL, but I imagine the same is true for all non league clubs, especially those below the Conference.

I urge you all to give a non league club a go. I'm not saying stop supporting your team, but why not pick a local non league team and give them a chance? You won't be being unfaithful. It's like following a completely different sport. It's like football used to be. For alot of you, that may not be a good thing, but for me it's perfect!

Bring on the season!

Aaarrrggghhh - It's not difficult.

I'm not one of those Welsh people who hate England. I can't really. England has given me a home, an education, a load of friends, a job and a wife! I don't have an inclination towards hatred.  Don't get me wrong, I love good old fashioned banter and in sport, beating England is always better than beating anyone else. I was at Twickenham this year when we won the Triple Crown. Even at the age of 32, I still found it necessary to leap around like an idiot and passionately hug a man I have never seen before or since!!

During the Olympics we are all supposed to come together as British to support our athletes. I have always found this relatively easy. I love the British Lions tours in rugby. I care not that Bradley Wiggins is English, Dai Greene is Welsh or Heather Stanning is Scottish. The important thing is they are not American or Australian! The GB football team is a different matter though.

Divisions are being caused that need not be caused. We all know that the FAW did not support the team, but the 5 Welsh players in the squad individually chose to take part. I don't have a problem with this. The FAW have done what they think they have to do to maintain their position within FIFA. The players, not being blessed with the knowledge of certain qualification for any tournament, have done what they feel is right for them. Many Welsh people don't support the team, but sensibly most of them just pay no attention to the games.

Joe Allen - Welsh and British BBC!

Divisions are being caused by the media. The obsession about the Welsh players not singing God Save The Queen is ridiculous. Yes, God Save The Queen is the official anthem of Great Britain, but all of the time that it is used as the anthem for English sporting teams, no Welsh / Scot / Northern Irishman / woman will sing it. It is not the end of the world! According to certain journalists though, the Welsh players are a disgrace. This is pathetic, weak journalism. Save your anger for the convicted drugs cheats who will be running in the 100m, not for players who are representing their team with skill and passion. What makes the whole thing all the more laughable is that the England football team don't all sing their anthem, and the players who are being vilified, with the exception of Joe Allen, don't even sing the Welsh anthem. Singing is a personal thing. Some players use it to motivate themselves, others don't. It doesn't matter.

I have watched the games, more out of curiosity than of any great passion for the team. On each occasion at least one member of the BBC commentary / presenting team has referred to the team as England. So, that is the British Broadcasting Corporation forgetting that this team represents Great Britain. It is bad enough when the Americans get this wrong, but it is unforgivable for the BBC. This is the broadcasting equivalent of the people who go to Spain on holiday and shout English slowly to communicate with the locals. It is embarrassing.

Why does football have this problem? The swimming / athletics / hockey commentators have no problem in differentiating between GB teams and separate home nation teams. The problem comes from the fact that BBC football offers 'jobs for the boys'. Employment is based on who you are or who you know, not how good you are. There is no other reason for the continual presence of Crooks and Jonathan Pearce. We pay for these clowns through our licence fee. Can some of that money please be spent on sending them to Geography and History lessons.

Education. You can't knock it.