EPL Talk » Aston Villa

Legends Of English Football: #10 Ted Drake

Paul Bestall — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:09:38 +0000

In the annals of Arsenal’s history, one name conjures images of a bygone era, baggy shorts and a dead eye for goal. In the record books, his name still stands alone for the most goals scored in one season, with 44 in the 1934-35 season. In the modern era, first Ian Wright and then Thierry Henry surpassed his overall record but that shouldn’t overshadow Drake’s achievements for Arsenal.

Drake was born in Southampton in 1912 and was an adept sportman through his schooldays excelling at cricket and football, though when he left school he became a gas meter reader. A chance to play regular non league football for Winchester Town came along, and Drake took the opportunity with both hands, whilst continuing the meter reading! After two goal filled seasons, in 1931 Southampton came calling and Drake returned to his home town team.

Drake’s first season saw him become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Second Division football but by the end of his first season, he’d got 7 goals and had established himself as Southampton’s main striker. The Saints were a poor side and even with Drake’s goalscoring prowess, the highest they finished whilst he was at the club was 12th, nowhere near promotion. Drake’s first season had caught the eye of the legendary Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman and he made an attempt to sign him in the summer of 1933 but Drake didn’t want to move that far north!

That first full season had seen him plunder 20 league goals and after turning down Arsenal’s advances, Drake hit the ground running in the 1933-34 season. He scored 8 goals in his first 5 games and continued in the same vein eventually getting 22 goals before Arsenal came back in for him in March 1934. This time, frustrated by the lack of progress Southampton were making and with the club facing financial difficulties, Drake moved to Highbury for £6,500.

Arsenal were top and Drake continued to score goals, hitting another 7 in the 10 games he played for the Gunners but missed out on a League Championship medal through lack of appearances. He was to get his hands on one the following season though and hit 42 league goals in 41 games, with 3 hatricks and 4 four goal hauls in his stats for the season setting a record that still stands today.

The following season Drake continued to hit the goals and on December 14th 1935 he set another record when he hit 7 against Aston Villa in a 7-1 rout. Incredibly, he also had another goal chalked off as it cannoned off the crossbar, bounced over the line and back out but the referee didn’t see it.

What makes Drake’s record for the Gunners even more remarkable was that he constantly battled injury problems throughout his career, especially a niggling back injury that would catch up with him at the end of his career. Yet Drake continued to push himself through the pain barrier to make Highbury his hunting ground and whilst Cliff Bastin mesmerised opponents with his wonderful ball skills, Drake would punish any lapses in the penalty area.

Drake was rewarded with his fine form with being called up for England and scored 6 goals in 5 appearances, injuries curtailing his opportunities to represent his country more than just a handful of times. He made his debut in the game that became known as the “Battle of Highbury” against Italy in November 1934, one of an incredible 7 Arsenal players to start the game. Typically, Drake scored the winner in a bad tempered 3-2 win.

As the decade continued, Drake finished as Arsenal’s top scorer in 5 consecutive seasons, as Arsenal continued to be the dominant force in English pre-war football. Between 1931 and 1939, Arsenal’s lowest position was 6th in the 1935-36 season, but they managed to win the F.A Cup with a 1-0 win over Sheffield United. Guess who scored the winning goal. Another League Championship medal came along in the 1937-38 season as Arsenal pipped Wolves by one point.

As with most of his contemparies, Drake’s career was stopped dead in its tracks with the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939 aged just 27. Drake went to serve in the RAF but continued to play for Arsenal in wartime fixtures. On the resumption of League football, Drake was injured against Reading and was forced to retire from playing. Despite this set back he took over as manager of non-league Hendon in 1946, moving to Reading in 1947 were after 5 seasons, Chelsea came calling.

Upon his arrival, he completely revamp the club, who were classed as London’s poorer side. Changing the badge, the motto, the kit and the club’s philosphy for big signings who continually failed to deliver, he used his knowledge of the lower leagues to sign the quality of player that Chelsea needed. As his team knitted, Chelsea became a force to be reckoned with and won the league in 1955 shocking the two titans, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. With it, Drake became the first person to win the league as a manager and a player.

It was as good as it got for Drake as Chelsea amazingly didn’t finish in the top ten again that decade and in 1961 he was removed from his position as manager. He continued to keep involved with football, having spells as Assistant Manager at Fulham and Barcelona under Vic Buckingham. He continued to love football and would often travel to all the clubs in London, for the simple pleasures of just enjoying watching football.

Drake passed away on May 30th 1995, aged 82.

Scored 139 goals in 186 full appearances for Arsenal from 1934 – 1939
Two League Championship medals 1934-35 & 1937-38
One F.A. Cup Winners medal 1935-36
5 Appearances for England, scoring 6 goals
First man to win League title as a player and manager
Scored 7 goals in one match against Aston Villa on December 14th 1935
Arsenals top scorer in every season from 1934-1935 until 1938-39
Became Life President of Fulham
Played County Cricket for Hampshire from 1931 until 1937

Lethargic and Disjointed But Liverpool Can’t Panic

Paul Bestall — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:58:19 +0000

The unfortunate downside of modern technology means that any armchair fan can now comment on any team without actually seeing the game. As I type this, I’m listening to Radio 5 and Liverpool “fans” are calling for the head of Benitez. “The worst display I’ve ever seen from a Liverpool team” shouts one fan who obviously missed the F.A. Cup defeat to Barnsley and league defeats to Bradford, Barnsley and Watford too.

“We’d have won the League last season if it wasn’t for Benitez, sack him now” shouts another fan who seems to have forgotten Liverpool broke the record for the most points by a runner up in the Premiership last year. “We need a world class midfielder to replace Alonso, Rafa spend the money!!” So much for the reports Liverpool are skint eh? It reminds me of a time listening to a football phone in here in Sheffield, Wednesday had just lost, caller rings up. “Wednesday are rubbish, sack the manager.” “Have you been to the game?” asks the host. “No” comes the reply, “I’ve just seen the score on Sky Sports News”.

I’m stunned by the level of ire I’m hearing being aimed towards him, I never thought I’d get to a point where I’d be defending Rafa Benitez but seriously who really wants the manager sacked 3 games in to a season? Did I miss something or are Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa the worst teams the Premiership has ever seen? No, didn’t think so. Liverpool have lost to two very good teams. I know they only lost two games last season, but come on let’s be reasonable here. They’ve not lost to Scunthorpe and Norwich City have they?

It’s interesting to note that on the day of the Stoke City game last week, the rumours returned regarding Benitez’s position at Anfield and the fact he was contemplating walking away from the club. This is a story that will not go away and has dogged him since 2007. Someone keeps fanning the rumours and it certainly can’t have a stabilising effect on the team or the club.

Tonight Liverpool were poor, the first 20 minutes apart but Aston Villa were superb. They got a goal and never let Liverpool settle, typical of how Martin O’Neill likes to set his teams up away from home. They like to soak up pressure and attack on the break, using the pace they’ve got in the team. With Carragher and Skrtel still struggling with head injuries, Lucas showing a lack of invention. Mascherano oddly was then forced to push forward, leaving the back four exposed.

It played straight into Villa’s hands. Young and Agbonlahor looked someway back to the form that pushed Villa up the table last season. Reo-Coker was immense, chasing, harassing and fighting for every 50-50 ball. Friedel seemed unpassable. Villa deserved the win.

The thing with knee jerk reactions like this is that people simply go “Sack the manager” without considering who’d replace them. So sack Benitez, who do you replace him with? Would anyone come with the financial situation as seemingly dire as it is behind the scenes? Clearly there is no money to spend, the signing of Kyrgiakos smacks of bargain hunting, especially after all the speculation linking Liverpool with Hull’s Michael Turner.

Benitez hasn’t become a bad manager in 3 months and Liverpool haven’t become a bad team. They’re just trying to find some form with key personnel struggling with injuries, nothing more, nothing less. They need to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and concentrate on Saturdays match at Bolton.Liverpool could have stolen a win on the opening day, but should have been 3-0 down by half time. Stoke were ripped apart time and again.

I don’t think anyone is going to run away with the league this season and Liverpool’s key situation could be the lack of African players come January. Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all have big players that will be going to Angola and that will be a tough month for those three teams, regardless of squad size and financial muscle. The Premiership is never won in August and the kneejerk fans need to remember that.

Why Does No-One Love Peter Crouch?

Paul Bestall — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:18:20 +0000

How is it that an international striker with 16 goals in 34 games for his country and a Premiership strike rate of one goal in under every 3 games simply keeps being moved on? Now I could understand it if the player in question was a boorish, thuggish hooligan who whines about not being treated fairly and then beats up team mates in training, attacks children in hotels and puts lit cigars out in youth players eyes.

Yet Peter Crouch comes across as a genuinely nice lad, pleasant, well spoken, always gives 100% wherever he plays and has a zero reputation for assaulting members of the British public. Crouch looks set to leave Portsmouth for a second time and seemingly has a straight choice between Fulham or re-joining Harry Redknapp for a third time at Tottenham.

With a transfer price of £12 million being already accepted form Sunderland, which Crouch has turned down due to geographical location, Crouch looks set to move for the 7th time on a permanent deal. His career has seen him sold by Spurs, QPR, Pompey, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Southampton. He’s had loan spells at Norwich City, Dulwich Hamlets and IFK Hässleholm making 9 different clubs he’s turned out for in just 9 years.

Why does no-one rely on the likeable striker? His longest spell at one club was the 3 seasons at Liverpool he spent from 2005 until 2008, even finishing as top scorer one season but deemed not as good as Andrie Voronin or David Ngog. Here’s a lad that is never late for training or has his picture taken falling out of nightclubs every night of the week. Surely something else must be going amiss?

Crouch is one of those players, in football terms anyway, who stands out simply through his physical characteristics. At 6′ 7″, he’d hardly be noticed on a basketball court, but on the pitch he’s a giant. The popular misconception about Crouch is that because he’s tall, he must be good in the air. Whilst he’s no slouch, it’s certainly not the strongest part of his game but surely everyone knows that now don’t they?

He’s a good footballer, you don’t score over 100 goals in your career by luck, or hit a hat trick against Arsenal which was deemed as one of the perfect hat tricks * and not be skilful. Crouch can play football; he’s just a lot taller than a lot of people that also play the game. As is the current state of the world we live in, anyone who’s slightly different suffers from bad press. Now I’m not saying that Crouch is the world’s best striker, but he will always try for the team he plays for.

It seems he now faces a straight choice between two of England’s best club managers for where he wants to take his career. Does he take a risk with someone he’s never worked with before in Roy Hodgson or go with the familiar manager in Harry Redknapp. I’m a massive fan of Hodgson, he’s easily the most under rated manager in the Premiership by some distance but Redknapp may have the upper hand here. Some Spurs fans think he’s garbage and shouldn’t be brought back to Tottenham. That’s the problem with being a Spurs supporter; we’ve too many fans who still think it’s 1962 or 1984.Crouch would be a great signing. No arguement.

Anyone who thinks Peter Crouch isn’t good enough for Tottenham needs to take a reality check. These are the same fans that never gave Darren Bent a chance and if he chooses Fulham over Spurs then it’s Tottenham’s loss. Personally I’d love to see him back at White Hart Lane and if he goes to Fulham then they have a player that will always give his all.

* A perfect hat trick is deemed to be one when a player scores one with his left foot, one with the right foot and with a header.

Gareth Barry Proves He’s A Hypocrite

Paul Bestall — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:23:20 +0000

When we had to put up with the on/off Gareth Barry transfer saga all last season, one of the key facts throughout the drama was that Barry wanted to play Champions League football. It was a purely football based decision to want to leave Aston Villa, though the fact that his best mate Steven Gerrard was at Anfield would certainly have increased the pull to Liverpool. Ultimately though, Liverpool couldn’t get the money together and Barry stayed at Villa Park.

So imagine my surprise when I heard Manchester City had put in a £12 million bid today which was accepted and Barry has announced that he’s joined them. So I checked the league table again, saw Manchester City were still tenth and hadn’t even qualified for Europe. Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that all Gareth Barry cares about is money. What a hypocrite, proving once again that some footballers talk utter rubbish when they want to move.

How is moving from Aston Villa a better footballing move? It smacks purely of lining his pocket over any “footballing reasons” Barry can offer as an excuse. He’s apparently excited about the prospect of what City can achieve next season, but honestly, are they even going to brush the top 7 never mind the top 4? Villa fans must be utterly perplexed by Barry’s decision to leave them for a less successful club. By all means, they didn’t want him to leave but they’d understand if he went to Liverpool or Arsenal, hell even Spurs as he’s fan of Tottenham but Manchester City?

Barry has simply shown that he’s got an ego the size of an elephant by joining a side that are going to pay him £80,000 a week and guarantee him a starting place. The only motivations here are greed and ego stroking for poor little Gareth Barry, clearly underpaid and not loved at Aston Villa obviously. The Holte End will be scratching their collective heads over this transfer that simply doesn’t make logical sense after his whining all last summer that almost topped the Ronaldo saga for sheer boredom.

City fans will be delighted to have captured his signing, but the warning signs are there for the type of player that Hughes will be attracting to Eastlands now. Money talks, but when a player turns down Champions League football for an extra 20 grand a week, you finally see the real man hiding behind the facade that the fans are presented with. With a decision like this, Barry has made himself look rather stupid and only interested in money. With Newcastle now leaving the market for overpaid mercenaries, it seems like Manchester City can fill the gap.

If, and it’s highly unlikely that they will, City qualify for the Champions League, then of course we can all hold our hands up and say Gareth Barry is obviously psychic. The reality is that it’s doubtful that they will crack it within 3 years never mind the next 12 months, it’s just a decision that I find frankly astounding. I’ve nothing against Manchester City, if anything, through friends who support them, I’ve always had a soft spot for them but even the most optimistic fan has to question if they can sign any of the top 50 players in the world over this summer.

Don’t bore me with tales of Robinho being one of the world’s best, he clearly isn’t anywhere near the level of Ronaldo, Rooney, Messi, Eto’o, Ribery etc etc. He is only motivated by money, nothing more, nothing less and earns thousands to not play top level European football. Barry is the same, by turning his back on European football to count his cash and he was hardly struggling on the £52,000 a week, plus a new offer of £65,000, he was on at Villa, he’s shown that common sense and trophies mean nothing to players whose ego is all that matters when cash is involved.

Barry’s mantra all through last summer was about wanting to play Champions League football and win trophies, but it turned out to be a hollow statement. At least he’ll have lots of money to make up for the lack of trophies he’ll have when he retires.

What Next For Michael Owen?

Michael Timbury — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:04:21 +0000

With Newcastle teetering over the relegation trap door, skipper Michael Owen will lead a mass exodus at the club, should they fall through it into the Championship on Sunday. With Owen out of contract it is likely that he will leave the club in the summer regardless. The question is where will he go? A number of clubs have reportedly shown interest and being that he is available on a free reduces the risk for anyone willing to take a punt on a striker who is injury prone, but also proven class.

Of the Premiership clubs, Owen has been linked with moves to Aston Villa, Everton, Man City, Tottenham, Arsenal and a return to Liverpool. Rumours emerged last week of a pay as you play deal from Celtic that included massive goal bonuses and then there have been a few smaller cries of offers and interest from abroad. Personally I think moving north of the border at this stage of Owen’s career would be suicide, especially on a pay as you play deal. Owen is too good for the SPL right now and can still achieve a lot at a higher level. Of course the prospect of Champions League football might appeal but it’s not like he’d ever win that particular competition with Celtic.

Aston Villa is a potential destination which may be favourable to Owen as he would have the opportunity to link up with Emile Heskey once more, something that Owen has always prospered from. John Carew is also of the Heskey mould and could provide a similar foil for Owen. Everton may not be the most popular club for Owen to align himself with given his history but could be what it needed to push the Toffees to the next level. These two seem the most likely of choices as Spurs have already got three strikers in the form of Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Darren Bent that can offer what Owen does. Man City are being linked with every Tom, Dick and Jose so their name was destined to crop up on the list of suitors but the actual chances of them signing Owen are slim. Mainly because he wouldn’t cost an outrageous transfer fee and it seems that City don’t deal in the bargain bin anymore.

Arsenal and Liverpool aren’t likely to be interested either. Owen isn’t really the kind of player Arsene Wenger likes (i.e. English), and would rather blood someone like Carlos Vela who, given Arsenal’s tight budget, wouldn’t cost the club anywhere near the amount Owen’s wages would. As for Liverpool, Rafa Benitez is hardly likely to re-sign a player who was shown the door almost immediately after Rafa took over at Anfield. I would like to see Owen try again abroad, although I can understand the player’s reluctance given his stint on the Real Madrid bench in 2004/05. Perhaps Italy would be a more viable option should Owen’s prospects be limited domestically as the Italian style may just suit his game more. Newcastle still remains an option if they stay up and it wouldn’t surprise me if Alan Shearer was to remain as manager, then Owen might just be inclined to stay put.