Introducing - The Men Who Have Ruined Football

So Roman has got bored again and we all  know what that means... The man who is almost single handedly responsible for football becoming detached from reality has forked out another few million in compensation. He also seems deluded enough to think that Pep Guardiola will consider ruining his reputation by managing a club whose owner will sack you if you lose 2 games.. 3 recent managers of Chelsea have failed to last a year in charge..

Plank 

The majority of Chelsea fans will accept the decision.. The older fans, because they still remember the days of John Bumstead, Doug Rougvie and relegation, will always look on these times as a golden age. The younger fans, because they know no different, will accept whatever decision Abramovich makes, as long as a ready supply of silverware continues to flow into the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet . It leads to the question, have Chelsea lost the plot, or is it football in general?

It's fairly obvious from the first paragraph that I am not a fan of Abramovich. I dislike him for what he has done to football (as well as other things that are easy to find online if you search well enough). I don't mind footballers being well paid, as part of the entertainment business market forces will dictate their earnings. Players should be able to take what they can from the game. If a club is prepared to pay £200,000 a week we shouldn't castigate the players for accepting it. I'm fairly sure that if anyone came and offered us a well paid job we'd all take it. The problem comes when rich people with no understanding of sport or the sport industry get to make the big decisions. One fact though is undeniable - Chelsea are Roman's club and he can do what he wants with them. If he wants Chelsea to have 3 managers a season he can do it. If he wants Chelsea to wear pink and purple shirts, he can do that too. If he chooses to leave, he can, and he can ruin the club in the process.

Here is the real problem. These people who come in and buy clubs often have no understanding of the culture and history of the club. It's just a plaything. The bad news is, that these people are not unique to the Premier League.  There are plenty of examples to show how one man can ruin the proud history of a club. The sad thing is that there is nothing that the supporters can do about it. One of the clubs that is local to me, a club that has been well run and punching above its weight for years is currently having it's soul ripped out by a wealthy moron.

For most of their history Forest Green Rovers have been found rummaging amongst the dregs of  the West of England's clubs. I remember them usually in the bottom 4 of the Southern League (Midland Division). Then, in the mid 90's they found themselves a decent manager and board and rapidly rose up to the Conference, where they still sit today, and to the FA Trophy final twice. Add to that a decent new stadium and you could argue that FGR were a club that all non league clubs could look at for good practice.

The problem is that they come from a small town (Nailsworth) and so have small crowds.. (Small crowds, not bad crowds because as a % of local population attending, FGR must rate quite highly). To be able to compete against Wrexham, Newport and Luton, and ultimately to become a fully professional club,  Forest Green Rovers needed a rich benefactor. Without someone chucking money in they would never finish outside the bottom 8.

Would you trust this man?

Step forward Mr Dale Vince. A man who has made his millions through the green electricity company Ecotricity and who was prepared to become the major shareholder of the club. Sadly the vegan new age traveller turned business tycoon has inflicted the club with his own ideas. Some good (Solar panels for electricity and pitch equipment), some bad (changing the club badge), some laughable (banning players from eating red meat) and some moronic (banning the sale of meat in the stadium - no burgers and pies people).

Then he committed one of the greatest crimes a club owner can possibly commit. He messed with the kit. After years of playing in black and white stripes, Vince decided that FGR should wear green shirts. Green to show how environmentally friendly the club is. Sadly, to most people it just looks like a stupid joke based on the fact that a colour is mentioned in the clubs name.

The supporters protested, but it fell on deaf ears. At home games banners still show resentment. But, and it's a big but, the club are having their best season ever. They are challenging for promotion to the Football League, and playing some decent stuff. Their performances this season would not be possible without Mr Vince's money. Like Chelsea, FGR could not compete without a rich man's money.

What is more important? The clubs history or success? To most supporters success is irrelevant. It's nice, but it's usually for supporters of other clubs. One thing is for sure, when Mr Vince or Mr Abramovich get bored, the supporters of their clubs will still be there. Whatever league it's in, I hope the good people of Nailsworth are watching their team playing in black and white stripes, and stuffing a meat pie into their mouths.

Overpaid players aren't the problem football has to cure. It's the rich businessmen who haven't got a clue who need sorting out.

So Close Spurs, So Close

Logging onto social media at the end of a match is always entertaining, especially when your club isn't playing! I checked various timelines roughly 5 minutes after Edin Dzeko won the game for Manchester City against Spurs.

Pressure already

The general consensus was that Villas-Boas was the wrong man for the job and that his tactics had cost Spurs the game.. There were several calls for a return of the popularity 'cult of Harry' to the Lane. It made me think about how Spurs, a fine club with a rich history, littered with trophies, have (over the last 25 years) been the ultimate 'almost' club. Almost, in that they almost get the decisions right.

Quashie - Crap

Spurs were right to dispense with Harry if they seriously harboured ambitions of winning major trophies. Harry gets players motivated, and knows a good player when he sees one, but tactically he is weak. He generally has one plan and sticks with it. Spurs fell away badly last year and Harry did nothing to change this.  At Portsmouth and West Ham he never nailed the away from home tactics and at Southampton he did nothing to change a rapidly declining squad, (well apart from singing Nigel Quashie which obviously helped massively!). Harry will generally improve a squad, but I have severe doubts that he would ever be able to consistently come up with the tactics needed to win the Premier League. The Cup semi final defeats to Chelsea and Portsmouth suggested that when the big games come, Harry gets it wrong. As a Spurs fan said to me, "When Plan A works it is brilliant, but there is no Plan B."

Having made what must have been a fairly difficult decision to get rid of a popular and relatively successful manager, Daniel Levy was smart enough to know what Spurs needed. A manager with a deep tactical understanding of the game. Seemingly they have been suckered by AVB's talk.


There is a difference between being tactically astute and having tactics for the sake of it. AVB gives the impression to me of a man who needs to prove how much he understands the game. "I know, we are 1-0 down to Wigan. Martinez will be expecting me to throw an extra striker on, so what I'll do is take Defoe off, then I will have completely out thought him..." All this comes down to the fact that AVB has had too much, too soon. One successful season at Porto does not make a brilliant manager. Any of us would be able to finish in the top 3 of the Portuguese league with 7 or 8 Brazilians in the team! Call me old fashioned but I like to see a manager serve an apprenticeship. At the age of 35 you shouldn't have managed 3 massive clubs.
You should be at a small club learning your trade.

Ossie - It should have been perfect

It's not the first time Spurs have so nearly got it right. After Alan Sugar and Terry Venables fell out, appointing Ossie Ardiles and buying a load of attacking players should have been brilliant, but someone forgot to ask Ossie if he understood anything about defending.

In 1997, Spurs decided that they needed a European coach. I maintain to this day that this was absolutely the right decision. If, in 1997, they had appointed the right man, Spurs could have made the massive leap forward that Arsenal did. Instead of going for someone with experience in a major European league though, they went for Christian Gross. Undoubtably a good manager, but without the necessary weight of achievement behind him to gain respect from big name players.

Then there was Juande Ramos............

Villas-Boas seems like a decent bloke, and I hope he is given some time to prove himself. It was not his fault that Modric had his heart set on Madrid or that Scott Parker has been injured. The problem is that he is already seen as a man who makes baffling decisions. Supporters are already on his back. It seems to me  that this has all the makings of another great 'So close to perfect' moment for Spurs.

First Round Fever

I've come down with a serious case of First Round Fever! I've always loved the Cup, and particularly rounds 1-3, but the presence of my local club in the First Round proper (for the first time since 1989) has made this year a bit special. Then throw into the mix the fact that they have a home tie against the club I used to work for, and you begin to understand why I am looking forward to Sunday as much as any game that I can remember!

Towner celebrates at Ninian - 1989

Having read the match reports about Gloucester City's valiant draw at Ninian Park in 1989 in the local paper, (Towner pulled the Bluebirds defence all over the place!!), I remember not being allowed to go to the replay. My dad probably (rightly) assumed there would be trouble. After a narrow home defeat, I remember thinking that it wouldn't be long until City were back in the First Round.  I guess in the long term I was right.. 23 years isn't that long a time!

The fact the tie is against Orient is great for me. I spent 3 largely happy years working for the Orient Community department, coinciding with a successful promotion campaign, ground expansion and a decent cup run. They day after I went to Craven Cottage to see the O's knock Fulham out of the cup, I was able to have a chat with Martin Ling in the Brisbane Road reception! Whilst at Orient I was able to get a real insight into just how a lower division club works.

Money is everything, and with a core fan base of about 5000, home games at best cover expenses and will quite often make a loss. I remember a Johnstone Paints tie against Yeovil when there were only 800 people inside the stadium, meaning the club will have lost a hatful of cash staging the game. With a businessman like Barry Hearn at the helm though, the stadium could be put to decent revenue earning use on weekdays. As well as the more usual business meetings etc, several televised poker tournaments took place beneath the South Stand.  My favourite day at work took place just before the 2006 World Cup, when I happened to wander into the West Stand Gallery to be met by 20 page 3 models shooting pictures! Added to this, Leyton Orient were probably the first sports club in history to rent out space in the stadium to the NHS.

Craig Easton celebrates his goal v Fulham in 2006. (I was there!)

Things were always slightly unique. The Community Programme is bigger than those at Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham and something that the club should be rightly proud to be associated with. The youth section taught children to play football in the right way, and had a very strict policy regarding overly aggressive parents, something that a lot of other clubs should look at. A lot of what the club did was incredibly professional, but when the chief executive left he was replaced by the media guy, who's only qualification for the job was that he was Mr Hearn's pal!

If this game had happened in 2010 I would still have been slightly torn between who to support, I have still seen Orient play more times this century than I have Gloucester City. Sadly though,  not a single player or member of the 1st team coaching staff remains from my time there. Proof positive of the perils of being a lower division player. Think about that the next time you are hurling abuse at a guy in March / April. He might be coming to the end of his contract and panicking somewhat.

I am grateful to the O's, and I still look out for their results, but I really hope Gloucester City stick it to them on Sunday.