EPL Talk » Wigan Athletic

Hull City’s Signing of Amr Zaki Sends the Wrong Message

Eric Truog — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:43:42 +0000

Egyptian international striker Amr Zaki has officially signed on a loan deal to Hull City from Egyptian side El Zamelek. The deal, which holds until the end of the season, looks like a shrewd signing for the Tigers. At just a measly 20 league goals, Hull city are the fourth lowest scoring team in the premiership, narrowly edging out Stoke City, Portsmouth and Wolves. Their league position reflects their inability to score, as they sit in the 18th spot, entrenched in what appears to be a long, arduous relegation battle.

Zaki is a proven goal scorer, netting 10 in 29 league appearances for Wigan in the 2008-09 season, and this could be exactly what Phil Brown needs to get his team out of drop zone and save his managerial position. Additionally, Hull City could be losing some of their strikers this January window, as chairman of the club Adam Pearson has asked Brown to shed nine million pounds from the wage bill. Brown has admitted this likely means allowing strikers Caleb Folan and Daniel Cousin to leave.

However, all this ignores his myriad of disgusting off the field issues. Zaki has proved from his spell at Wigan he has no commitment to the team. On four separate occasions, he failed to return to Wigan by the scheduled deadline after an international break , infuriating then Wigan boss Steve Bruce. Not only does this violate team rules, but, as Zaki had no connection with the club, he violated the FA’s doping policy that requires players to state their whereabouts one hour each day. Moreover, international and club teammate Mido returned to England in time for the deadline.

Zaki then complained that he was getting treatment for a hamstring injury. When asked to provide a note from Egyptian team doctors, he refused. When asked to show up to the club’s doctors for a scan and assessment, he refused again.

All this prompted Bruce is to say, “I really am at the end of my tether with him. Before this latest incident, Zaki had already been fined considerably more than the average person in Britain earns in a year and he will now face another heavy fine.” He continues, “I just feel it’s time that we went public on just what a nightmare he has been to deal with because I can honestly say that in all my time in football I have never worked with someone as unprofessional.”

Unfortunately, this is the least worrisome of his issues.

After Bruce understandably ruled out extending the deal, Zaki turned elsewhere for loans. Portsmouth was the first and most appealing option to reveal interest over the summer. Much like the Hull, Pompey struggles to find the back of the net and, on paper, a deal made sense. After a brief courtship, the player refused a transfer on the sickening grounds that he could not play with Pompey’s Jewish and Algerian players, Tal Ben Haim and Nadir Belhadj.

He is quoted as saying, “I refused their offer before, but now joining Portsmouth is no longer an option for me. After Portsmouth signed an Israeli player and also hired an Israeli football director [Avram Grant], a possible move was ruled out. On top of that, no way could I play at Portsmouth with an Algerian within their ranks.” Since the quote, Portsmouth have added another Algerian, Hassan Yebda, and promoted Avram Grant to gaffer, so one can only imagine what Zaki has to say about it now.

The most disappointing aspect of this whole thing, beyond the discouraging realization that prejudice, discrimination, and antisemitism are still so prevalent in society today, is that it completely undermines FIFA and the FA’s Football Against Racism in Europe campaign, launched back in Vienna in 1999. Plastered around the premiership grounds are billboards bearing FIFA’s slogan of ”Say no to Racism.” It is such a cornerstone of FIFA policy that the EA Sports crew have even included it in their FIFA video games.

This is the same slogan that Zaki himself held up before every single international match with his Egyptian side. What kind of message does that send? How can anyone watching a Hull City game take that billboard seriously when they see as bigoted a human being as Amr Zaki playing on the pitch in front of the slogan? How can anyone take it seriously when one of the top flight teams in England vigorously pursues this player, knowing full well his prejudiced views? How are we supposed to look at the FA’s attempts to quell racism with supporters when they turn a blind eye towards racism in players?

It’s a depressing situation and one that hopefully the FA addresses head on one way or another, rather than beating around the bush. While it may be unfair to root against Hull, I’ll certainly be rooting against Amr Zaki.

Burnley Have To Make The Right Choice

Paul Bestall — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

So it’s official then, Owen Coyle will be the new manager of Bolton Wanderers and Burnley now have to find the right man to replace him as they look to continue the good work this season has produced. It is crucial that the chairman, Barry Kilby, makes the right decision in who to appoint as Coyle’s successor at Turf Moor.

Without wanting to state the obvious, it is paramount to Burnley’s continued success this season that the right man is given the job. That means the chairman has to avoid being star struck when the same old names come calling for the vacancy. Get it right and Burnley’s home form should see them stay up. Make the wrong decision and the club could spiral to the foot of the table in weeks.

Whilst Kilby should be rightly lauded for appointing Coyle in the first place, I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how much of an effect he would have on the sleeping giant. Stabilising the club by keeping them in the Championship and slowly building, improving the side year on year would have been a wonderful achievement. He surpassed all that when they won the play off final with their highest finish to a season since 1976.

Yet, you only have to look back to the mid nineties to see the age old disease that afflicts certain chairman. They get star struck and with the tenures of Adrian Heath and Chris Waddle still in the minds of Burnley fans, the last thing the club needs is a ex-footballer who thinks he can manage in the Premiership. They need someone who knows the demands of Premiership football and what the club means to the fans. It is not an easy decision for the club to make but they have to keep their eye on the prize.

It also means avoiding such arch self publicists as Graham Souness, Ruud Guillit, Bryan Robson and Gianluca Vialli. Men who’s reputations are fanned by the hero worship dished out to them as pundits on Sky Sports. Ignore their failings as managers, they’ve won countless trophies as players, men such as Tony Cottee who took over a Barnet side flying high only to completely destroy them in less than 5 months. Star struck chairman should be banned.

So I had a look on the League Managers Association Website earlier, to see who was available on their list. Oddly, Souness, Vialli and Guillit are still touting their wares, but a couple of oddities appeared. Burnley’s two previous managers before Coyle, the overrated Steve Cotterill and the universally detested Stan Ternent are still on there. In fact most of the list reads as a who not to give the job too, with John Barnes and Tony Adams still refusing to realise their limitations and the ever popular Gary Megson available if you want to alienate your entire fan base.

Yet there are some stand out candidates, firstly Alan Curbishley is there, as is Mark Hughes and Steve Coppell. Former Scotland manager George Burley and Paul Jewell are still available. For me, those are the 5 top options of unemployed managers that the LMA are offering. Curbishley wouldn’t probably want to move so far North and probably Coppell is wrestling with the idea of returning to Reading no doubt.

It may be too soon for Mark Hughes to return to the game so quickly after his ignomious exit from Manchester City which leaves Burley and Jewell. Burley proved at Ipswich that he could work on a tight budget, play effective and attractive football and earn promotion whilst at Ipswich. What he has against him is his failure to deal with bigger name players and keep sides in the Premiership. Jewell also has proved an ability to make a purse out of a sows ear, as his spells at Bradford City and Wigan Athletic showed.

Jewell though is still tainted by his awful spell at Derby County and Burley proved in his third Premiership season with Ipswich and during his time as Scotland manager, he just can’t handle big name players. He was also tainted with a torrid spell at Pride Park, which begs the question, what happens to managers at Derby County?? So would going after a manager currently employed be the answer?

Looking outside the Premiership though only seems to point to one candidate who could cope with the job and the pressure of Premier League football. He’s managed an international side and took a team from non league to the cusp of promotion to the Championship. He then took over another sleeping giant and took them up before almost taking them to the Premiership in 2008. That man is Gary Johnson at Bristol City and I believe he’s the only man out there for the job at Burnley.

Now, don’t laugh but I honestly feel he’d be perfect for the job and would keep Burnley up. The only downside is that potentially, Bristol City are a bigger club, with a larger fan base. This season, they’re averaging 14,553 fans a game, whilst Burnley are almost at capacity with 20,344. Promotion for Bristol City would be a massive boost for the area, and with plans to move the club to a 30,000 seater stadium by 2011, with option to increase it to 42,000, would Johnson give all that up for a crack at the Premiership? It’d be a tough ask, but if they could get him, then they should bite his hand off. Just don’t give it to one of the usual suspects, it’d be curtains for Burnley.

Time For Capello To Restore Paul Robinson As Englands No.1

Paul Bestall — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:50:32 +0000

For me, there is only one English goalkeeper that can be England’s number one for South Africa next summer and that man is Paul Robinson. After being so badly treated at Tottenham under Juande Ramos and unfairly blamed for giving away a soft goal for England against Croatia, Robinson has finally got back to his best. He was hung out to dry by Steve Mclaren after Gary Neville’s wayward back pass bobbled over his foot.

Everyone conveniently forgot the string of saves Robinson had made to keep England in a game they were a poor second best in that night. Right now, he is playing better than any of his counterparts, with probably the exception of Steve Harper at Newcastle United and Joe Hart at Birmingham City. Forget the Robert Green argument, he’s nowhere near good enough.

Of the goalkeepers available to Capello, Robinson is head and shoulders above all others and has been for the best part of a year. David James is injured and playing for a team in free-fall, both on and off the pitch. Robert Green is bang out of form and consistently makes mistake after mistake. He also has a tendency to try and deliberately foul players whenever possible.For all his bravado and wearing “England’s number 6″ on his gloves, he’s not good enough. He’s always been poor coming off his line and his aerial ability is not the best.

Poor old Ben Foster has suffered from some rather unnecessary criticism but still can’t shift the dreadful Thomas Kuszczak from between the sticks at Old Trafford.There is no doubt that the lad can go a long way in the game, but he’s suffering from a crisis in confidence at the moment, but he’s still a better goalkeeper than Kuszczak.

Scott Carson still suffers from a lack of concentration at West Bromwich Albion and still seems to bear the scars from the defeat to Croatia in November 2007 at Wembley. For all his shot stopping ability, Carson can still make some all mighty howlers from out of nowhere and seems to have fallen away from anywhere near the England team.

Poor old Chris Kirkland simply can’t keep fit, whenever he gets on a great run of form, his long standing back injury seems to flare up and take out of the side. Despite the 9 goal mauling Wigan Athletic suffered at White Hart Lane, it’s no exaggeration to say it could have been twenty if it wasn’t for Kirkland. He showed such promise at Coventry but injuries blighted his time at Anfield and he’s never been able to shake the tag of being injury prone.

Other than Robinson and Hart, the other stand out candidate for the three places in South Africa for me is Steve Harper at Newcastle. He’s now getting the opportunity to show just how good a goalkeeper he actually is week in week out after Shay Given left last January for Manchester City. Whilst most people would have been itching for a move, Harper has shown incredible loyalty to Newcastle over the years.

After 16 years service, with 12 of those as Given’s back up, he’s incredibly only played 151 games for Newcastle, with 86 of those appearances coming in the last four seasons. He has constantly served the club with pride and is now in the form of his life. Whilst others may have viewed Given’s depature as a real blow, having a player of the ability of Harper would certainly soften the blow.

Whilst some people seem to point out that you need a great goalkeeper to win the World Cup, with the exception of Buffon in 2006, you have to go all the way back to 1982 to find a team with a world class goalkeeper that won the World Cup. Every other winner since then has had good, and in some cases distinctly average custodians between the sticks. Paul Robinson is far better than average and Capello would do well to welcome him back into the fold. With Harper and Hart, that would be a dependable and quality set of goalkeepers to choose from.

Sunderland’s Defeat Sets Up Sensational Sunday Showdown

Paul Bestall — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:52:07 +0000

All they needed was a win to make sure they were free of being dragged in to the final day relegation battle against a side guaranteed Premiership Football for next season but Portsmouth proved a bridge too far for Sunderland. They will now go in to Sunday’s final round of matches knowing whatever happens they have to match Newcastle United and Hull City’s results come 6pm to have any chance of survival. It sets up a tremendous day that gives us a parallel with the final day of the 2006-2007 season when Shefffield United, West Ham United or Wigan Athletic were set to be relegated depending on the results.

Thankfully as far as I’m aware we won’t be having any legal challenges after the final whistle this season but I won’t be counting my chickens just yet. Whilst we will miss anything like the titanic clash between Sheffield United and Wigan on the final day, we know now that 3 matches will have a direct effect on the Premiership relegation issues. Someone will go down to join West Bromwich and Middlesbrough, unless Middlesbrough put 4 past West Ham at Upton Park and Hull and Newcastle United lose.

The interesting thing here now is that we could face the fact that the powers that be will be now be faced with showing 3 games simultaneously as events unfold in Hull, Birmingham and Sunderland. God knows what they’ll do if Middlesbough do go 2 goals up against the Hammers.

The permutations that could effect the final day seem to be most I’ve seen since the Premiership started back in 1992 and I can’t honestly say who will stay up. I’m going to try and work out who needs what for Sunday.

So Middlesbrough will survive if Hull and Newcastle lose and they win as well as making up the 4 goals they need on Hull City.

Newcastle will stay up if they win or draw and Hull City lose.If Hull draw, they need to win.

Hull will stay up if they match Newcastle and Middlesbrough’s results, regardless of the score.

Sunderland will stay up if they match Newcastle and Hull’s result.They will be relegated if they lose or draw and Newcastle United and Hull City win.

Ok, so have we got that then? Form wise it’s hard to separate the 4 teams above West Bromich either.Based on the each of the 4 sides last ten games, it’s tough to see any of them winning on the final day, but ironically, Sunderland and Middlesbrough’s only win in the last ten was against Hull City. Newcastle’s only win in the last ten games was against Middlesbrough and Hull’s only win was away at Fulham.

Newcastle United Last 10. W1 D3 L6 F 7 A15 7 Points
Middlesbrough Last 10. W1 D3 L6 F7 A19 7 Points
Hull City Last 10. W1 D2 L7 F5 A13 6 Points
Sunderland Last 10. W1 D2 L7 F4 A 16 6 Points

Going on that form you’d have to say that it wouldn’t beyond the realms of imagination to see all 4 sides lose on the final day and stay exactly where they are. Whilst I doubt that scenario could happen, days like this are what keeps us coming back for more. I wish the fans of all 4 sides the very best of luck and may the best, or least worse side stay up.

Keep your radio’s at your ears, get the mobile phone fully juiced and make sure if you’re at the game you’ve a reliable friend sat at home who can tell you exactly what’s happening at any ground at any given time.For the rest of us lucky enough not to be involved, I just hope we have a cracking day and we’ll see exactly who will be playing Premiership football next season at 6pm Sunday.

Wigan Pass On Amr Zaki

Ethan Armstrong — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:16:05 +0000

I admit it. I was fully dazzled by Amr Zaki when he first came to play in England. The stunning goals came so quickly. And they were gorgeous. Wigan Athletic’s unknown striker just needed half a second on the ball to make miracles happen and it seemed like the goals were going to stream from his thirsty feet all season.

In late September Wigan manager Steve Bruce couldn’t bubble forth enough shining praise of Amr Zaki. Awesome. Fantastic. A real future. Fan favourite. Power. Pace. Gives everything he’s got. At the time Zaki was top scorer in the Premier League and there was no sign of the unprofessionalism that would vex Bruce and Wigan later in the season. “I can’t question his attitude,” said Bruce in admiration.

Zaki was one of the most exciting players to come out of last summer’s transfer window. Loaned from Egypt’s El Zamalek for the season, Zaki’s influence was immediate and exceptional. By the end of September, Zaki had scored six goals in eight appearances, helping the Lactics secure three league wins, two draws and a cup win against Notts County. Wigan’s quick eight points put them 10th in the table. A great start for a club that sat just four points from safety at the end of last season.

The inevitable question arose: Could Zaki continue this amazing form throughout the long season? But no one thought to ask: Would Zaki continue showing up to practice throughout the long season?

In April, reports surfaced that Bruce fined Zaki for failing to return on time after international duty. This was the fourth incident of Zaki absenteeism. Bruce said Zaki had already been fined “considerably more than the average person in Britain earns in a year.”

His unprofessionalism has seen him fail to meet anything close to the potential he showed early on. He’s been a player with a foot out the door since midyear, and while Steve Bruce may have been cursing himself in the early winter for not buying Zaki outright, he is now ready to help the 26-year-old pack his bags.

Bruce complained Zaki has been distracted by supposed interest from other clubs like Real Madrid. This was the cause in the change in the player. Wigan was just to small for him. He was ready to move on.

But shouldn’t this interest have sparked Zaki’s form rather than cause him to switch it off? Shouldn’t the prospect of playing for a larger club have been a call for Zaki to step up the professionalism rather than abandon it?

His agent claims that Zaki has offers from four other Premier League clubs, so maybe the mid-season sulking hasn’t jeapordized his ambitions. But the sad display should be a warning to prospective clubs.

Any club that goes for him risks all the primadonna baggage that he can bring. If he goes to a bigger club, what happens when he’s benched for the star strikers already there? He’s not going to start over proven talents like Torres, Anelka, or Rooney. If he goes to a top four club, he’ll have to compete for spots with established strikers who have been plying their trade successfully for the best teams in England. If Zaki’s late season antics are an indicator, I can see him reacting childishly to any significant amount of time spent on the bench. Remember Craig Bellamy at Liverpool? The pouting. The dirty looks when subbed off. I don’t see Zaki breaking out the golf clubs, but the point is professionalism. It’s one thing to be a proven goalscorer. It’s another thing to be a part of a team. Zaki doesn’t seem to have that second, all-important part down.

If he doesn’t grow up, he’s not going to make it at a bigger club. There’s no room for such childishness at the top.

Bolton Wanderers Push For Two Tier Premiership

Paul Bestall — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:20:38 +0000

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside’s has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside cites a wider audience with the addition of Scottish clubs, fresher players as 4 games a season would be cut from the league campaign and the old chestnut of benefiting the England national side. You know, the reason that the Premiership was set up for in the first place. The amount of International trophies that England have won since 1992 is simply staggering isn’t it?

Firstly, the addition of Rangers and Celtic to the Premier League has long been mooted as a situation of when rather than how but to get there they need the permission of the Scottish FA, The Football League, The Premier League and the biggest obstacle, UEFA. Now UEFA, when they’re not attacking the Premier League in thinly veiled xenophobic attacks, claim that no club should be able to play in a league outside their own country. That would be fine if the precedent wasn’t already in place.

With Platini being a Frenchmen, you’d think he’d know that his arguement is flawed, or can he not remember where Monaco is? What about Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport County and Methyr Tydfil, all members of the English pyramid system but all Welsh clubs. Technically, Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia play in the Spanish League but are based in Catalonia and Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao represent the Basque region. UEFA may push the point but they’re argument is already flawed by the teams mentioned above.

To get the motion passed, 14 clubs need to vote in agreement on the proposal, which is where I think the issue may fall down. Can we honestly see The Premierships big four, plus Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City voting for less money? Whilst the games would reduce, so would the money, but then again, for teams that drop out of the Premiership or face the real possibility of relegation, would you rather get £30 million a year than the current two year parachute payments of £11.5 million that clubs currently get.

The other worrying issue is how would the remaining 14 places be decided? Would it be a straight situation of the top 14 sides out of the Championship? What if some of the larger sides miss out due to league position when the cut off is made. If it happened tomorrow there would be some famous names missing out again, but then again what about Leicester City and Leeds United?

When the Premier League began, way back in the 1992-1993 season, Notts County and Luton Town, both missed out due to relegation but had resigned their memberships from the Football League in 1991 when the plan was concluded. Ironically, neither has ever returned to the top tier since, Luton Town in fact have just been relegated out of the Football League, due to a draconian points deduction that didn’t penalise the perpetrators, just the club.

What would happen if clubs resigned their membership from the Football League, only to finish outside the 14 team cut off. Or worryingly, would the Premier League court the 14 biggest clubs not in the Premiership to make up the new league? What would happen to the Football League and the Football Conference? Why only have Rangers and Celtic, when you could argue Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen could therotically add more to the mix than Burnley?

That would be a worrying event, which could lead to a dangerous precedent. Why not simply block clubs from promotion if they weren’t “big” enough? If they didn’t sell enough merchandise or their viewing figures deemed not large enough. Would the Premier League finally become the monster that some people always feared it would and simply banish relegation from it and have caveats for promotion. When I first read about the proposal this morning, I was sure it would fail. Now, I’m not so sure, in football, nothing surprises me when money is involved.

Chelsea Win Late but Far From Impressive

Johnathan Starling — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:06:45 +0000

You may have scored, but the goal should have been disallowed.

[/caption]

On Friday, during my game previews, Sam wondered how Wigan could score? Today, Chelsea gave us an answer, complacency. For much of Wigan’s trip to Stamford Bridge, it was Chelsea on the back foot.

Completely against the run of play, John Terry put Chelsea ahead twenty-five minutes in. Before that, Chelsea saw Wigan have five near misses and two saved off the line. It was definitely not the opening twenty minutes Chelsea were looking for, but it did serve as a reminder that it hasn’t been easy for the Blues since Hiddink was appointed temporary manager.

After Terry’s opener, Chelsea had plenty of first half chances to put the game away but simply didn’t do the job. The second half saw Wigan return to the ascendancy but doing very little to get the equalizer. However it was after Michael Mancienne’s substitution for Ricardo Quaresma that Wigan found an equalizer they deserved. It certainly helped that Olivier Kapo had to get past Anelka and that the space Mancienne was covering from his left back roll was the location Kapo ended up in, a slow roller all that was required to beat Petr Cech. It may have been the first goal Chelsea have allowed under Guus Hiddink, but Chelsea’s second half performance only matched those of the previous two outings.

Now to the big point of contention, Chelsea’s game winner. Michael Ballack’s flick on just inside the penalty area was a weak one, Lampard’s header didn’t exactly have that much pace on it. However the looking effort had just enough on it to be Chris Kirkland and the Chelsea celebrations ensued. But live something didn’t look right to the situation, replay confirmed how jobbed out Wigan can feel.

Getting a closer view of the game winner, look carefully at Frank Lampard and former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot. There was just enough of a push to take Melchiot out of the play, and to have the goal disallowed. Yes you may argue that it was a weak push and that Melchiot should have went up stronger to head the ball clear, I’m having none of that. Letter of the law states that goal should be disallowed and Steve Bruce has every right to be upset about it.

Wigan deserved at least a share of the spoils and would have got them had Lampard’s goal been correctly disallowed. While Chelsea got three points out of this, Wigan again exposed Chelsea’s lack of a killer attitude in the second half, and it was only after Wigan equalized did they wake up and get a game winner. While all Chelsea is doing is fighting for second place, and are currently in second place, they have to start playing better football in the second half. Yes Guus has ‘just got the result’, but if Wigan could crack Chelsea’s complacency, just about anyone could.

Other Thoughts From Today’s Action
Two jinxes couldn’t be broken today.
1) Wenger can’t do any complaining about Fulham ‘not playing football’ because Fulham out played Arsenal full stop. Until Arsenal prove otherwise, my predictions for their games will simply be 0-0.
2) As for Liverpool, make it eight years now they haven’t won at the Riverside. Despite the open Liverpool had, once Alonso’s own goal on the half hour they simply gave up the ghost. It was sad to see what happened to Liverpool in the second half. That said, that was a much needed three points Gareth Southgate needed and for the evening gets them out of the relegation zone.

I was simply wrong about the fight West Brom would have against Everton. However they just don’t have the class in front of goal to scare anyone. Sure Tim Howard had to do a little bit of work in the early kickoff, but he didn’t have much difficulty doing his job.

Hull City’s U.S. Charm Offensive Will Pay Dividends

Matthew Semisch — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:48:10 +0000

EPL Talk’s ex-pat and Anglophile readers familiar with the classic British sitcom Only Fools and Horses will likely remember the program’s 1985 Christmas special, “To Hull and Back,” in which Del Boy and Rodney unwittingly end up in the northern English city of Hull on their way to picking up smuggled diamonds in Holland. When it dawns on Del Boy that he’s ended up in Humberside, though, he angrily demands that his brother rush him back to London as “otherwise I’ll be saying ‘Hey-up’ and breeding whippets before I’m very much older.”

Now, Yorkshire accents, sighthound-breeding and shipping ports as far as the eye can see are all well and good, but OFAH’s depiction of Hull doesn’t give the impression that there’s much else going on in the town. It’s a picture that many North American soccer fans following the English game probably presumed out of ignorance up until Dean Windass’ volley in last season’s Coca-Cola Championship promotion play-off final against Bristol City brought England’s largest city previously without having ever tasted top-flight football into the Premier League.

Now that Hull City A.F.C. is finally in the limelight, however, the Tigers are milking it for all its worth, and that apparently includes making inroads on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Following the lead of Oldham Athletic chairman Simon Blitz, Hull have launched a publicity campaign in North America in an apparent bid to build the Tigers’ name recognition abroad and, with any luck, also bring in potential new supporters. The bulk of the campaign so far seems to be emanating from Los Angeles, where, in recent days, both manager Phil Brown and club chairman Paul Duffen have been interviewed at length on World Soccer Daily, a popular caller-driven satellite radio program that is also downloaded by approximately 290,000 listeners worldwide each weekday.

Bringing Brown and Duffen onto the show has been a major coup for WSD – which in recent months has been unveiling increasingly high-profile regular guests such as Robbie Earle, Tim Vickery and Andy Brassell – but it also stands to pay dividends for Hull City, a club vying for fans’ attention on two fronts: Not just abroad, but also even in its own stadium.

In terms of support, the Tigers face the same problem that Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic have been made to endure: They play in a city that is crazy about rugby league. It is perhaps not such a big surprise, given that rugby league originated in Yorkshire, but have fun telling that to Hull City, who share the Kingston Communications Stadium with Hull F.C., the city’s Super League rugby side. Both the Tigers and Latics play in multi-purpose stadia, which theoretically keep the football teams on par with their rugby league counterparts where facilities are concerned, but when it’s butts in seats that means more to the clubs financially – which is where the football clubs are getting the short end of the stick – it’s hard to blame either for branching out to recruit new supporters wherever they can.

Bearing that in mind, what Hull City have done in building bridges over the Pennines, across the Atlantic and into North America is perhaps as wise a PR move as we have seen from any Premier League side in a good while, and they stand to add to their fan base because of it. They probably would have had a little more luck with the campaign had they launched it earlier in the season when their place in the Premiership table indicated more feast than (the current) famine, but nevertheless, given the club’s apparent enthusiasm to embrace the North American market, new fans to the game on this side of the pond could do much worse than to hop onto the black and amber bandwagon.

Liverpools Title Challenge Is Slipping Away

Paul Bestall — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:20:06 +0000

What is Rafa Benitez playing at? Liverpool have had a nightmare January and from being out in front, now find themselves back amongst their rivals in third place, having dropped 6 points in the last 3 league games. Comparing their performances in the Premiership since their emphatic win at Newcastle on December 28th, they seem like a different team. Gone is the attacking zest and vigour we saw in the game at St James’ Park, replaced with a caution and fear of losing that is destroying their attempt to win a first league title in 18 seasons. Just what is the manager playing at? Now I know that tactically, Benitez is in essence, a cautious manager but the performance against Wigan Athletic looked like a team treading water. Sure, Gerrard and Benayoun had chance to put the game out of Wigan’s reach but they didn’t stick the chances away and left Wigan with a fighting chance. The challenge made by Lucas was suicidal, desperately chasing back to cover his defenders who had gone walkabout, fooled in to sticking a leg in when the ball was away and past him, with Koumas selling him a lovely feint and allowing Mido to score on his debut from the penalty spot. There’s no argument it was a cast iron penalty, but then to compound the issue, the manager takes Gerrard off and replaces him with Robbie Keane. Do you want to win the league or not Rafa?

You’ve just conceded a late equaliser, Manchester United have smashed W.B.A the night before 5-0, all your rivals are closing in and you take your best player off? Why on earth not keep him on to try and push on for the win, United would never take off Ronaldo in the same situation, neither would Chelsea with Lampard. After the game, Benitez said Gerrard was tired, but there was only 7 minutes left, was it to save him for Sundays clash against Chelsea? Lampard played the full game for Chelsea and Scolari had more of a case for saving his legs, with the game won againt Middlesbrough but he kept him on until the final whistle.

The post match press conference seems to compound Benitez’s problems, Liverpool are playing badly but it’s nothing to do with him. “It was a crazy half”, what was crazy about it? “I don’t wan’t to say”. “It has happened in the last three games and they have something in common that I don’t like.” What on earth is he going on about? Opponents tactics? Referee’s not giving them as many dodgy decisions as they’re used to? The idea of the game is to beat your opponents using skill and tactical nous, not bore them to death and diving around to win free kicks and penalties. I’m sorry Rafa, but it’s everything to do with you and the side and tactics you choose. Taking Torres off and replacing him with a left winger to play up front with Babel was a nonsense decision, to then take Gerrard off and replace him with Keane was another. Scared to over commit but chasing the game, Liverpool could have easily lost it had Rodallega’s free kick been a couple of inches lower. Dreadful against Stoke, poor against “small club” Everton and then another inept display yesterday has seen the advantage in the Premiership race move away from Liverpool and over to Manchester United, even Chelsea and Aston Villa could all push Liverpool down to 4th.

Liverpool have played 7 Premiership games from December 13th:

Won 2 and Drawn 5 (11 points)
Scored 13 goals and conceded 6 (8 of their goals scored came in the two wins against Bolton and Newcastle United)
2 Additional matches in the FA Cup so far, scoring 3 and conceding 1, with a replay to come at Goodison next week

Manchester United have also played 7 Premier League games in the same period

Won 6 and drawn 1 (19pts)
Scored 12 goals and conceded 0
Played 6 additional matches in 3 other competitions in the same period, 2 League Cup Semi Finals, A Semi Final and Final in the World Club Cup and 2 matches in the FA Cup.

Now if that doesn’t tell you that the power has reverted back to Manchester United nothing else will. United also still have the game in hand and if Liverpool lose on Sunday against Chelsea, they can forget any title aspirations for another year and will have wasted their best chance in over a decade. But in Benitez’s mind it won’t be his fault, it’ll be Manchester United’s, the referee’s, small clubs, Halley’s Comet, Rick Parry’s and Liverpool’s owners and that’s why the title challenge is crumbling. Benitez refuses to believe it is anything to do with him. Negative tactics, unneccessary squad rotation and stupid substitions are the reason United and Chelsea have overtook Liverpool, Aston Villa are now a point behind them. Earlier this month I commented that Ferguson had no need to fire his players up in the aftermath of the Benitez’s comments to the press about the bias shown towards United, clearly forgetting the shocking decisions Liverpool get in their favour, especially at Anfield. On current form, Liverpool will do well to finish the season in 4th and the only person to blame will be Benitez.

Mike Pollitt Costs Wigan Three Points Against Liverpool

Johnathan Starling — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:21:56 +0000

You never commit too soon.

Mike Pollitt did just that towards the end of the first half of Wigan’s home tie with Liverpool and paid the price. While Mido equalize late in the match, this was a game where Wigan seriously had a chance at getting all three points.

Yes it’s harsh to blame one person with regards to points lost, but on a night where Liverpool were far from their best this was a golden opportunity to get all three points. The game wasn’t all that entertaining, Wigan had huge stretches where they were on the ball. However, they didn’t do a thing with it.

Let’s be honest about Liverpool as well, they weren’t all that convincing as well. The goal in the forty-first minute came completely out of the blue. Pollitt’s decision to commit so soon left Yossi Benayoun an empty net to shoot at. Benayoun to his credit though, had the tightest of angles after nearly running the ball out for a goal kick and did well to turn the ball in at the far post.

Liverpool though ended up shooting themselves in the foot and gave up their lead thanks to a ridiculous penalty that should see Lucas benched for the next match. Just giving Jason Koumas a right old kick in the penalty area has to go down as one of the candidates of dumb move of the season. Mido’s equalizer was deserved but it makes me wonder what would have happened had Pollitt not jumped the gun on Benayoun’s opener? Would Wigan have won it? They nearly did on their own merit at the end when Hugo Rodallega hit the wood work. I am just convinced that Wigan would have won it had Pollitt been wiser and stayed on his line.

Other Thoughts From Today’s Action
* Salamon Kalou’s two goals today were a welcomed sight as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough. However when you have 24 shots on goal, you should be scoring more than 2 goals. With all the time Boro spent in their own half, they should feel fortunate they only lost 2-0 and not by more.

* Fair play to Manchester City for beating Newcastle United at home. However the story to this one are the injuries to Michael Owen and Joey Barton. This is the last thing Joe Kinnear needs as they are only 2 points above the danger zone.

* Everton were robbed by Robin Van Persie’s injury time equalizer. However Arsenal have bigger problems on their hands as three of the top four got three points and there is a gap starting to widen between the Champions League spots. What ace does Wenger have up his sleeve to get his side back in the top four? I’m curious to find out what it is.

* How soon is it before we are talking about Hull City as relegation fodder? They look a side that right now are out of ideas. Phil Brown has a bigger job on his hands keeping this side safe than I think he will want to admit.

* Lucky for Sam Allardyce that Benni McCarthy made up for missing from the spot with grabbing a late equalizer. However, there’s still plenty of work to be done by both sides if they want to get out of the relegation mire.

* Numbers just for my own benefit. 1-4 are separated by just 3 points. The number of teams within three points of relegation, that number is 8.