World Cup blues

A 1-1 draw in Poland when we should have won and a rather tame defeat at home to Slovakia have pretty much put an end to Northern Ireland’s World Cup hopes. Slovenia are level on points, but with a game in hand. That game is away to Slovakia, but even if they lose that, their last game is at home to San Marino which they’re pretty sure to win. All this means that Northern Ireland have to hope Slovakia beat Slovenia (which sounds like a bit of a commentator’s nightmare) and then beat the Czechs in Prague by a ridiculous margin to finish second. Not going to happen.

However, there is cause for optimism. In Euro 2008 we were two stupid defeats against Iceland away from qualifying, and this time we’ve been in the pack until the second-to-last match of the campaign. This is a vast improvement from the goal-less Euro 2004 campaign, and the 2006 World Cup where we only managed wins against Azerbaijan and (albeit, a very good one) England. David Healy not scoring goals isn’t really a positive (he’s only scored one, and that was against San Marino), but at least others like Lafferty, Feeney and McCann are now getting in on the act. The home record is still decent and the fans remain magnificent. I remain hopeful that we can address the poor away record (in the last two campaigns, we’ve only beaten Liechtenstein and San Marino away) and maybe, finally qualify for something like the 2012 Euros (or maybe even 2016, when it expands to 24 teams).

So now the question is, who to support in South Africa? Ten teams have made it so far: South Africa, Japan, Australia, North Korea, South Korea, Brazil, Ghana, England and Spain, with Ivory Coast, Serbia and Slovakia likely to follow suit soon enough.

In times gone by, I would have supported Scotland, but it seems they have fallen on just as hard times as we have. Last time, they were undone by a bad refereering decision in the last game after doing pretty well over the twelve games (calamitous defeat in Georgia aside), but for this, injuries, suspensions, poor discipline, bad refereeing, V-signs and an interesting (read: rather strange) fixture list led to their downfall. I am not alone in being baffled by choosing to play in Macedonia at high noon in a Balkan summer, or in Norway before the SPL has even started (and halfway through the Norwegian season). Anyway, I suspect that the poor manager will be the scapegoat and won’t be in charge for next month’s game with Japan. Might see him round Marchmont a bit more though.

But really, I guess it’s too early to pick a team to follow. If Ireland get through, it’ll be them, but if not, then there will be 32 teams to choose from. Except will it really be worth having a soft spot for North Korea, Bahrain or New Zealand, Algeria, Tunisia, Honduras, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Japan or any other bastions of mediocrity that look like they could qualify? I guess that’s the problem with a 32-team World Cup. Oh well, the next round’s in October, so we’ll see who qualifies then!

Classic game: Ireland v Holland

Not the 1994World Cup Packie Bonner-inspired defeat, but the World Cup Qualifier on September 1st, 2001.

Ok “classic” is perhaps pushing it, but you can’t deny it was a match full of tension and intrigue. I actually missed this match originally because I was on a boat in Zeebrugge, but I caught it when I got home.

Background

Group 2 of European Qualifying contained Euro 2000 semi-finalists Holland and Portugal, Ireland and makeweights Estonia (who have got worse since then), Cyprus (who have got better) and Andorra (who are reliably rubbish). The group winners qualified for the World Cup and the runners-up got a playoff against the Fifth-placed Asian side (which turned out to be Iran). Since every game against the bottom three sides resulted in a win for the top three, it was the games between the “big three” that made all the difference.

Previously, Holland had come back from 2 goals down to draw with Ireland in Amsterdam, Portugal and Ireland shared two 1-1 draws (the second for the Irish somewhat fortunate), while Portugal had won 2-0 in Rotterdam and shared a 2-2 draw with the Dutch in Lisbon. The table looked thus:

P    W    D    L    F    A    Pt    GD
Ireland    8    5    3    0    18    5    18    13
Portugal  7    4    3    0    18    5    15    13
Holland   7    4    2    1    21    8    14    13
Estonia    8    2    2    4    10    16    8    -6
Cyprus     8    2    2    4    12    24    8    -12
Andorra  8    0    0    8    4    25    0    -21

Another bit of added interest was that Jaap Stam had just been sold by Man U to Lazio, while everybody wanted to see Man U’s relatively new signing (delayed by a year after an unfortunate injury in a training session) in action. Saipan-gate had not yet unfolded, so Roy Keane was still very much in the setup. Holland were very much favourites to win.

Action

It didn’t start so well for Ireland, with Marc Overmars being as troublesome as ever with his pace on the left wing, creating an early chance for Kluivert (who would later suffer a career-ending bout of Newcastle-itis) which he managed to miss. Both he and van Nistelrooy missed another chance created by a delightful Zenden free-kick.

At the other end, Robbie Keane missed a header and claims he was pushed were (correctly) waved away by the referee. Hofland made friends with McAteer’s forearm and missed a couple of minutes to receive treatment. Zenden got booked and could have been sent off two minutes later for a poor challenge on Ian Harte. Overmars’ pace frustrated right-back Kelly who was booked for a poor challenge.

After half-time, Harte gave the ball to van Nistelrooy, but he shot straight at Shay Given. Another careless challenge by Kelly on Overmars saw him sent off and Ireland were down to ten men and up against it. Staunton carelessly back-passed to Given and the keeper was lucky not to concede a penalty for bringing down van Nistelrooy when he intercepted it.

By now, Holland had van Hooijdonk and Hasselbaink on, desperately seeking the goal they needed. A goal came, but for Ireland.

McAteer was left unmarked at the back post from Finnan’s cross and rifled in as Ireland took the lead. It was backs-to-the wall stuff after that, and all four strikers missed decent chances to level the game. After three minutes of injury time, the whistle blew, and Ireland got themselves a playoff place at least. Holland could still techincally qualify, but the chances of Portugal losing in Cyprus and home to Estonia were remote, and so the 2002 World Cup was likely to be without the famous Orange shirt (although Belgium’s shirt was, almost cheekily, not too far away from it..).

Fallout

Louis van Gaal resigned as Dutch manager at the end of the campaign (or jumped before he was pushed, probably) and Dick Advocaat took over for the successful Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.

Ireland finished second on goal difference and beat Iran 2-1 on aggregate in the playoff to make it to the 2002 World Cup, where they made it to the second round only to lose on penalties to Spain, despite Roy Keane’s withdrawal.

Unfortunately, another game took place that day which would overshadow it: South Britain beat eventual runners-up Germany 5-1 in Munich. Still, being overshadowed doesn’t mean it wasn’t great.

The start is nigh..

..and Sky Sports wants you to know. A lot.

The Stothman Prophecies

It’s that time of year again when I attempt to predict what will happen in the football world this season, and get it hopelessly wrong. Like last year.

But still, it’s fun to try, no? Here goes..

Barclays Premier League: My my my this is a hard one to call. Until a couple of weeks ago I would have said Liverpool, but the sale of Alonso has made me reconsider, but then Man U have lost key players and replaced them with others who are either unproven (Obertan), injury prone (Owen) or just a bit “meh” (Valencia). Chelsea have only made one significant signing (Zhirkov, who has competition for places) and Thomas Vermaelen is decent, but unlikely to propel Arsenal (who’ve been significantly raided by Man City) to a title challenge, although they do have Eduardo back for a full season. All things considered, I’m going to say.. Man U. Again. Sorry.

On other fronts, Man City will want to get into the top four, but signing endless strikers is unlikely to promote squad harmony and cohesion, so a Europa League spot will have to do, for which they will probably be competing with Spurs, Everton (Lescott depending) or Villa.

It’s fairly easy to say that Burnley will go down, but it’s even easier to suggest that perma-tanned loon Phil Brown’s Hull are going to have a strong case of “second-season syndrome”  and go into the Football League with them. Less easy to predict is the third team to face the chop. Let’s go for.. Portsmouth. I just have a feeling..

Best summer signing (so far): Yuri Zhirkov for Chelsea. If he plays.

Most questionable signing: Roque Santa Cruz for Man City. He’s injury-prone, he doesn’t score many goals, and City have more strikers than a 1980’s coal mine. But I suppose the money’s just a drop in the ocean for them.

Newcastle United special: Will they go up again? Probably not, unless they get a permanent manager and some stability. But since football league is on the BBC these days, they won’t be able to suffer privately.

Champions League: Real Madrid haven’t been close to a final since the last “Galacticos” era ended around 2002. Whether or not that changes depends on whether the ludicrous signings can gel, if Barcelona somehow make Zlatan not choke in vital games or if they turn up when they play an English club.  This could well be their year, but if we get a Chelsea-Liverpool 4-4, or a hilarious last minute winner for Barcelona against Chelsea, I won’t complain.

Europa League: Changing the name and adding  more games and mediocre teams won’t make the UEFA Cup any better. Who’ll win? Don’t know. If they got rid of the third place Champions League teams dropping into it I could tell you, and I’d have a lot more respect for it.

SPL: Whatever. Toss a coin. Heads for Celtic, tails for Rangers.

Irish League: Linfield, but that’s more than a desire than an expectation. Crusaders might ruffle a few feathers.

Any other business?: Men in white coats appear at Hull’s boxing day game and Phil Brown mysteriously disappears; Arsene Wenger signs exclusive sponsorship deal with Specsavers and finally sees an incident; Alan Green slips up and refers to Liverpool as “we”; England qualify for the World Cup easily, prompting FIFA to cancel it and award them the trophy;  scientists confirm that the FA Cup is, in fact, magic, but cannot come up with an explanation as to why the Carling Cup needs three handles;  mysterious goings in Milan as Silvio Berlusconi signs a 19-year-old centre forward. Who is female; Sven gets Notts County promoted to League One, but ends up at Newcastle when he realises he needs more comedy in his life.

Will any of this happen? Probably not. What do you think?

Fantasy Football: Pre-Season 1

It’s pre-season, and Fantasy Football is now up and running. Obviously, there won’t be any action until August 15th when the season starts, but there’s plenty activity with people joining the leagues and selecting provisional teams. But Unsporting Conduct asks if there is any virtue in impatience as far as FF is concerned.

Many players at this point will simply pick a team using the “autoselect” feature, to edit later, so what worth is there in spending weeks deliberating how you are going to pick your first team of the season? Little, probably, but picking your first team, along with playing the wildcard, is the most important decision to be made in the whole season. This year is an interesting one, as many managers in the past would pick Ronaldo (worth a whopping 14 points last year) and build their team around him, but he is no longer there, so the choice, it seems, is between Gerrard and Lampard (both 12.5, the prospect of doing bird doesn’t seem to have lowered the latter’s value) in the “super player” stakes. Unsporting Conduct, however, believes this to be a false dichotomy, and strongly recommends a bit more thought than this.

Midfield is by far the most important part of the team, points-wise, as the players there get goals, assists, a point for a clean sheet, and are more likely to get best player bonuses, and there are some slightly less obvious choices than the big two who will score big. It may even be more advantageous to pick two not-so pricey players, who can combine to score higher. Naturally, we won’t be divulging our highly secret team selection here.

The biggest danger in picking your first week team is if you only pick with the first week in mind- do this and you’ll get a nasty surprise come week two…

How do you decide who to pick in week one?

Welcome!

Welcome to Unsporting Conduct, the new blog devoted exclusively to the wonders of football!

This is a bit of a trial at this point to be honest, but covered here will (hopefully) be “real life” football, Fantasy Premier League and Exclusive Coverage of PES tournaments!

But I don’t want it to be just me contributing, I’d really love other people’s contributions! If you have something to say, about anything to do with football, leave a comment or email me and I’ll put whatever you’re saying as a blog post (crediting you, of course!) or if you have a wordpress account, I’ll put you as a contributor so you can contribute whenever you want.

Season starts on 8th August (if you’re a Football League or Irish League fan), so hopefully things will be up and running by then.

Thank you!