EPL Talk » Peter Crouch

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.

Portsmouth Need To Sort The Takeover Out Quickly

Paul Bestall — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:50:04 +0000

The Premiership season begins on August 15th, just under four weeks away and for most clubs in the top flight, July has seen them scurrying about trying to strengthen their squads. At Fratton Park however, Portsmouth find themselves hampered by the current process of due diligence for Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proposed takeover to be completed. As such, no new players have come in and the board have allowed Glen Johnson to leave for £17 million.

The board have now accepted an offer of £12 million from Peter Crouch and it seems a simple matter of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. The only question is where Crouch will end up. Sunderland were in the driving seat but the player would like to remain in the south of England which would have put Fulham in the driving seat until Harry Redknapp threw his hat in ring. Having signed him twice before, Redknapp would now appear to be the favourite to see Crouch finally return the club where his professional career began.

Of course, this misses the bigger picture here, that of Portsmouth Football Club. The last few seasons have been eventful at Fratton Park, even by Pompey’s standards, but overall it has been a significant, if not a completely positive period in their history. Until Redknapp left for Tottenham, it had been a period of continual improvement and the F.A. Cup win was the icing on the cake for the whole project. The first team squad had the most quality it had seen in years sprinkled throughout it, with England internationals in every department.

That squad as of today looks threadbare even before Crouch’s departure. So far, 9 players have left the squad. Johnson, Davis, Djimi Traore, Lauren, Little, Thomas, Pamarot and the loan deals of Jermaine Pennant and Amand Traore have concluded. At the moment, the club have 15 professionals on their books. Kanu and Sol Campbell are currently considering new one year deals to extend their time at Pompey.

Now I know that takeover’s seem to take a matter of days when it comes to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City’s buy outs, but they did take time, we just weren’t so aware of the facts that we are when it comes to the Portsmouth deal. Yet the clubs fans need it resolving as soon as possible. The playing squad needs strengthening as a matter of urgency because if not, it could be too late to get a squad together before the kick off in August.

The news that the shirt manufacturers, Canterbury, have also gone in to administration has meant that Peter Storrie has been having to work hard to secure an alternative. Yet, when you’re the third highest paid executive in the Premier League, it shouldn’t take too much to bring in a new shirt manufacturer, with Umbro leading the charge to take over the contract.

By all accounts, the deal should be concluded in a matter of days, but with no manager, no shirt manufacturer and now the smallest first team squad in the Premiership, Sulaiman Al Fahim is going to need to hit the ground running to get the club ship shape. A new manager is paramount as a first decision to get the transfer targets already positioned; I’ll be amazed if Al Fayed hasn’t got a manager already on board to takeover. For all the good work that Paul Hart did to rescue the disaster that was Tony Adams’ reign, he has made it clear he wants to return to the academy.

I just hope everything get’s sorted soon for Portsmouth and their fans. It’s a terrific club, with some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever come across. They don’t deserve to get caught in the blocks once the season kicks off, three relegation scares in 5 years will be pushing their luck.

Switching On To English Football: An American Supporter Awakes… Part 2

Ethan Armstrong — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:00:12 +0000

In Part 1, I described how the 2006 World Cup drew me into football. With the World Cup finished, I was hungry for more. I turned to the English Premier League to slake my thirst…

Part 2: Inhaling the Premier League…

When the World Cup ended I went into withdrawel. I bought a Playstation2 and a used copy of FIFA 2006. I ordered the Review of the Season DVD 2005/06. I scoured Netflix for any and all football related films (not much to choose from… I think Bend It Like Beckham, the original Fever Pitch and Green Street Hooligans made up their entire football library at the time). And I read Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby’s fine book)… twice. I knew none of this was close to a substitute for the real thing. But it’s what I had.

I was eager to find a Premier League side to follow, but unsure how to choose one as an American. How I wished I had geography or genealogy on my side—was it too late in life to adopt an English grandfather?

Two problems arose in my search for a side…

1)Limited access to the matches:

I didn’t have cable and could only watch the FSC matches at the nearby British soccer pub (see Part 1). And while the Coat of Arms opened early for World Cup matches, by the fall they were back on their normal schedule. I couldn’t catch many of the matches live. I watched some replays there, but lining up my schedule with the pub’s schedule with FSC’s schedule was hit or miss to say the least. And Setanta USA was nowhere to be found. (The Coat got it right after I moved to Boston.)

I felt confident one or two SFMs (Spectacular Footballing Moments) could direct me toward the right club. A call for me to answer. Initially, I felt drawn to Liverpool. Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard stood out for me in the World Cup (see Part 1). And I’d been a childhoon Beatles fanatic, watching my father’s videos of Help and A Hard Day’s Night until the reels were worn down. Reading everything I could. So I was enthralled with the Scouse accents and the city of Liverpool from a young age. But in 2006, I wanted some kind of footballing sign to assure me. An awe-inspiring goal. A come-from-behind win. Some moment to capture me on an instinctual level like the countless SFMs that seduced me during the World Cup.

If I’d been in Boston then, I would have had plenty of Irish pubs with all the right channels and been surrounded by loads of supporters. The live feed and the lively atmosphere I craved.

With that kind of access I would have seen Crouch’s 80th min header in the Community Sheild. Daniel Agger’s 25-yard blast against West Ham. Xabi Alonso’s goal-from-his-own-half(!!) against Newcastle. John Arne Riise’s long scorcher against Tottenham. Seeing these shots from distance in match context could have pushed my Liverpool curiosity into a full-blown seduction. (Any shot from outside the box that went in seemed completely earthshattering to this newbie. I still long for a 25-yard+ blast when Gerrard or Alonso run onto the ball in promising spots.)

But then there was my other problem:

2) I overthought the decision too much:

Given little access to the matches, I compromised my desire for spontaneous matchday inspiration by working too much logic into my search. I should follow a London side, I thought. I had friends in London. There’d be places to stay when I travelled over to watch matches. I knew the city. I loved the city. I’d find a London side. The fact the Simmon’s article agreed with this thinking reinforced my attempt at process.

That season London had six clubs in the Premier League. Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, Fulham, Charlton and Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea was out. I’d read up on Roman Abramovich sinking his own money into the club to buy up the best talent, essentially dropping all business pragmatism for instant success. No thank you.

Arsenal was tempting after reading the brilliant Fever Pitch. But I was seeking a club in the English Premier League after watching England play in the World Cup from an English pub in New Hampshire surrounded by raucaus English folks. While I enjoyed their style of football, Arsenal didn’t appear to have any English starters. Thus, I couldn’t get excited about supporting the Gunners.

West Ham had an allure, but Green Street Hooligans put me off them, as it did for Simmons. I blame Elijah Wood.

Fulham didn’t do anything for me at that point. They didn’t have Clint Dempsey yet. Dempsey was the only American to score during the World Cup and he was a standout player for the New England Revolution, my local side. He would debut for Fulham in late January, but by then I was already falling for Liverpool. Dempsey would thank me by scoring his first Premier League goal against Liverpool. If he’d gone to Fulham in the previous summer, it might have been a different story.

Charlton. Ah, Charlton. A solid mid-table side for years, but in 06/07 they were known to me as the side who are slightly better than Watford. Charlton were relegated in May.

And so, plagued by logic and overthinking the matter, I briefly flirted with Tottenham Hotspur. I didn’t witness any magical moments to draw me to the club. I liked Robbie Keane and they played in London. That was about it. I hadn’t found that SFM. I think I was getting tired of looking. I just wanted a club.

Thankfully, around this time, I got access to just about all the matches on Setanta and Fox. My Irish co-worker Noel (a Manchester United supporter) took pity on me and my co-worker Tim (another American seeking Premier League action) and started taping the Fox matches. An Mancunian regular named George (City supporter) started taping the Setanta fixtures for us. I cleared my head. I could finally watch every match aired in the States.

The tapes weren’t as good as watching live, but it was easy enough to avoid the scorelines in New Hampshire. So on the 2nd of January, I sat down to watch Liverpool v. Bolton Wanderers from the day before. It was scoreless until the 61st minute when Jermaine Pennant ran onto Dirk Kuyt’s pass and lauched in a screaming intercontinental ballistic missile into the box. There was Crouchie. Waiting and hungry—he’d been goalless in 11 league matches.

I’d seen YouTube clips of bicycle kicks. But I didn’t imagine Peter Crouch in all his 6-foot-7-inches of awkward-looking glory could pull one off. (He’d already scored one against Galatasary in September, but I didn’t know about it yet.) Now, he launched himself at Pennant’s ball, which was about to streak behind him. His body twisted in the air like a convulsing stork and he met the ball in mid-air, launching it past Juusi Jääskelainen. One-nil.

In no time at all, Liverpool were on the attack again. Kuyt launched his own cross into the area. As two defenders converged on the ball, Steven Gerrard steamed in, jumped, parted the white sea, and volleyed it home with the side of his foot. I was in heaven. Two SFMs in 60 seconds!

Later, Dirk Kuyt would run onto Luis García’s through-ball and, under pressure, finish from the tightest of angles. Across the face of goal and in. Brilliant.

I said goodbye to the practical reasoning of following a London club and returned to the call of my initial instincts. I watched the next few Liverpool matches with greedy abandon. Sadly, Arsenal knocked Liverpool out of the FA and Carling Cups in succesive matches, but then there were wins against Watford, Chelsea and West Ham with Crouch scoring three more times. My first ninety minutes of Derby Day action was a let-down, with neither Liverpool nor Everton finding the net.

And then I watched the 2-1 loss to Newcastle away…

Strangely enough, it was the Newcastle loss that sealed it for me. That bitter result in the rain. So much Liverpool dominance but not enough finishing. Bellamy’s early goal made me sure Liverpool would have the day, but the Magpies pulled it out with a goal from Martins and a converted penalty from Solano. But I was with Liverpool all the way. I was as mesmerized by their loss as any of the recent wins. It was feeling the true sting of the dissapointing result that made me realize Liverpool were the side for me. I was invested. Watching them grit it out in the rain in the Northeast, squandering chances somehow pushed me over the edge. Right reasons or not. I’d be for Liverpool from then on.

(That was meant to be a 500-700 word piece. Inevitably, it got away from me there. If you’re still with me at the end… thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments how you came to follow your own club. Next week: What Makes A Classic Match?)

Portsmouth’s Fans Don’t Deserve Being Messed Around

Paul Bestall — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:53:31 +0000

Ah, isn’t buying a football club the easiest thing in the world. Look how quickly Abramovich bought Chelsea, the Glazers bought Manchester United and the Abu Dhabi group picked up City. Compared to the protracted nature of the proposed takeover of Portsmouth, even buying Newcastle United may be easier.

When Sulaiman Al-Fahim reappeared in May to announce he was to buy Portsmouth, I wasn’t surprised, just perplexed. I’d forgotten that the buyers of Manchester City had quickly jettisoned him last autumn when he started making wild statements to the press about transfer targets and wages. Well, now here he is again and it seems another can of worms has been opened over the takeover.

The English press, well known for its balance and refusal to use knee jerk headlines, has been all over the Pompey takeover this weekend. From the Guardian, to the Sun to the, erm, Daily Star, rumours abounded about who was actually involved in the deal. First we had Premier League Chairman Dave Richards getting embroiled in the takeover before going on a media blitz to say he had no involvement or had set the deal up.

Then amazingly, international fugitive and former owner of Manchester City, Thaksin Shinawatra then came out claiming he was not involved at all after he was reported to be involved. Finally, expecting Adolf Hitler to be involved in some freak time machine/cryogenically frozen worm hole scandal, disappointingly it then seemed that Al-Fahim’s Hydra Group was owned by the brother of Manchester City’s owner, Sheikh Mansoor.

Ok, have you followed this so far? Good. Now after all that, what must the Portsmouth fans think of it all? The Fratton Park faithful, who have seen more than their fair share’s of ups and downs over the years, must have thought they’d seen most things, but even this little pot-boiler must be an unusual set of events even in Portsmouths history.

With no manager with Paul Hart’s temporary contract now having run its course, Glen Johnson tipped to leave very soon and now Peter Crouch coming out in the press to admit his disappointment and frustration at events, it could hardly be duller. Add to that Chief Executive Peter Storrie’s annoyance at the wild speculation surrounding the Al-Fahim’s bid and Crouch’s comments and you have a situation that will have the Pompey fans wondering if Godzilla may turn up coming out of the Solent next and stomp his way through Fareham on the way to the cricket ground.

When the dust finally settles, I truly hope that Al-Fahim is as good as his word, the Portsmouth fans deserve it. The last 10 years have been like a day out at Southsea fairground for the loyal fans of Pompey. This is a club that deserves and needs some investment on a continual basis, as great a ground for atmosphere Fratton Park is, it looks well past it sell by date. The new proposal for the ground that came out last year looked fantastic; it’s such a relief to see a ground so different to the normal identikit shoeboxes that seem to pop up these days and let’s hope the new owners agree to it.

New investment is crucial though for Portsmouth to compete both on and off the field and the sooner Al-Fayims due diligence is completed, the better for the fans. After all, they’ve a certain other clubs recent relegations to warn them of the promise of good times that are always around the corner but never arrive.

The Relegation Rumble: Portsmouth

tyduffy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:22:45 +0000

Until late October, Portsmouth seemed destined for a mid-table season. After a rough August start against Chelsea and Man United, the trophy-winning club won four out of seven matches, looking frisky once again. Then Harry Redknapp left for the Tottenham and the seam exploded. Tony Adams had no perceivable managerial skill. Financial problems forced the sale of Defoe and Diarra. Fortune followed the clubs geography and they currently sit in 15^th place, just three points above water.

Form: Portsmouth have not played particularly well, winning just two out of eight and losing four. Though, all of the losses were to clubs in the top half of the table, and Pompey did hang with Liverpool and Chelsea. Had they been lucky they could have picked up a few more points. They scored a big victory over Everton. Jumping back on track isn’t inconceivable.

Schedule: Pompey have a rather benign squeaky bum journey ahead. They host Arsenal and travel away to Old Trafford, but the rest of the matches are winnable. West Brom, Bolton and Sunderland come to Fratton Park. Portsmouth play Hull City, Newcastle, Blackburn and Wigan away. They also have the game in hand, although it will be against a Manchester United team probably sorted by that point, so it will be irrelevant. If Portsmouth can pull things together, their schedule won’t stop them.

Injuries: Health could hinder Portsmouth a little bit. They need Crouch’s thigh injury to heal completely. He has 11 goals. No one else on the team has more than three. He’s essential. They also need Pennant and Traore back fit as well to provide some creativity in midfield.

Prognosis: Based on their ability, Portsmouth should not be in this position. On paper, they have decent, often above average, talent at every position. They have experience. Many of those players tasted success in the FA Cup last season. The team’s performance should reflect that. Tony Adams deserves the blame. Portsmouth has presumed leaders like Sol Campbell and David James. They should stay up.