Worked at home most of the day and then set off for the FA Cup  Bristol Rovers  v Southampton at the Memorial Ground. Collected Damian and then met with his pal richard outside the ground where we collected our tickets.

We were in the away fans terrace section which was fine until a goal was scored , then all hell broke loose and I found myself 4 steps down towards the front from the celebrating fans jumping about !

A turgid first half was  only kept interesting by the several fireworks displays around the city!

A change of formation led to the Saints becoming much more effective in the second half and suddenly out of no where came 3 goals in 7 minutes! £-0 up and coasting we reverted to type and lost two goals albeit the second Rovers Goals was in the 92$$nd minute. Heavy rain fell int he last quarter of the match so we left in good spirits but very wet.

Well that was impressive. There’s no better way to respond to your first league defeat of the season than to go and trounce another top six side on their own ground within days. Any doubts that Leeds had the character to bounce back from their first reverse of the campaign were emphatically dispelled with what must rate as one of their best performances so far.

Simon Grayson kept faith with the starting eleven that had lost at Millwall on Saturday, with Alan Martin, recalled from loan at Accrington Stanley replacing Fielding on the bench. Leeds started brightly and after just 2 minutes Jermaine Beckford looked set to put us on the road to victory as he beat the right back and honed in on the goal only for the defender to cynically haul him down. Perhaps it was just that it was so early in the game but the referee seemed initially reluctant to award the foul, before yielding to the linesman’s flag but only brandishing a yellow card despite the fact Elliot was clearly the final man.

Given Leeds recent record against teams reduced to 10 men that may have been a blessing in disguise, and the fans didn’t have long to wait to be able to celebrate a goal. After just 9 minutes a pass from Doyle let in Beckford on the corner of the box and his perfectly placed shot beat the Rovers goalie to nestle in the net off his right hand post.

Beckford could have doubled the advantage almost immediately after but his shot hit the side netting, and Leeds continued to create the best chances. As the half wore on however they began to take their foot off the gas (excuse pun) and allow Bristol back into the game a bit.

Make no mistake this was a hugely impressive Leeds performance, but there was a period during the mid to late first half when it could easily have slipped away from us. A worrying spell in which the defence didn’t look as composed as one would have hoped, the midfield was invisible as balls tended to be just lumped into the Rovers half, regardless of whether one of our strikers was anywhere near it or not, and Casper contrived to make Bristol’s few tame efforts at goal seem far more alarming than they needed to be.

Indeed, when Stuart Campbell sent a weak looking shot his way from some 30 yards out it looked less threatening than an earlier back pass had. Yet the flight obviously deceived Casper and he could only touch it onto the bar, only for it to fortuitously bounce just the right side of the goal line, much to the chagrin of the Bristol fans at the far end, and the delight of the relieved Leeds faithful.

Thankfully as the half drew to a close Leeds began to reassert themselves and the lead lasted to half time. The second half however was a completely different level from Leeds. The Pirates had come into this game on the back of three straight defeats, and although they had not failed to score in any game so far this season, they were now up against the best defence in the League, so once Sam Vokes opened his Leeds account with a simple tap in following good work by Snodgrass just ten minutes into the second half they never looked like getting back into the game.

The kodak moment of the match came after 65 mins when Beckford ran onto a long pass some 20 yards out near the left  touchline and closed in on the box leaving the defender totally bamboozled by his footwork as he danced past him and threaded his shot past the Rovers keeper for his 2nd and Leeds third of the night.

The game well and truly won, Doyle, who had picked up a booking late in the first half was exhanged for Kilkenny, Beckford for the diminutive Gradel, and Vokes for Kandol, and yet, despite all those changes you could feel that there was another goal in the game yet. That goal came on 87mins when Tresor Kandol linked well with Gradel on the left to put a totally deserved gloss on an awesome performance worthy of the ‘you’re watching Champions‘ chants from the 1600 United fans in the canvas covered Becks Stand and the small terrace beside the main stand.

There is no point having a game in hand if you don’t win it. Winning it in such style, especially after the disappointment of Saturday was a real bonus though. We have won games this year without playing really well, but this was a result that probably still didn’t reflect just how well we played. Beckford could easily have had three or four more, Vokes is improving and looks like he’ll get more as his fitness reaches peak, and we looked a class apart from a team that, even after four sucessive defeats is still in one of the playoff places.

Four points clear atop of the league after a tricky October fixture list. 2nd highest scorers in the league, tightest defensive record, unbeaten at home since January, and really looking like we mean business. Its only a third of the way through the season, and they’ll be plenty of nervous moments to come, but this is as good a start as we could have hoped for. Long may it continue.

Not expecting much from this one, Rovers are flying high at the minute and we’re leaking goals again. A draw will be a fantastic result. Glenn  Murray returns from injury to earn a place on the bench today.

As expected, lots of Rovers’ chances on our goal in the first 20 minutes, Elphick and Kuipers doing most of the desperate defending. Now Player has crashed on me again. Adam Virgo has been sent off – fuck knows what for as I can’t get a thing on Player. Half-time 0-0. Don’t expect that result at full-time. Bollocks. Jake Wright is on for Dickinson after the sending off, to shore up what’s going to be a very hammered defence second half.

Looks like I’ve lost coverage for this game completely, fucking Afghan server!!! So, I’ll not be scoring this game unless it comes back online soon. I now have the shameful experience of watching the text updates on the BBC website, and that is shite too. I can’t wait to come home next month and go to the game itself. Being a long distance cyber-fan is fucking useless.

I don’t need commentary to know the Seagulls have a discipline problem this season – too many red and yellow cards for stupid shite.

Erm second half, James Tunnicliffe (central defender) has just scored!!! 1-0 to the Albion, WTF? Leave it – Rovers have equalised, all hands to the pump, we went up to 11th in the table then back into the relegation zone in two goals. Crazy football. Hanging on, I’m flitting between Yahoo, the Beeb and North Stand Chat trying to follow this one, come on lads two minutes to go. Rovers hit the woodwork twice.

We hung on, Jesus that was close, rode our luck for a jammy point. Maybe it was better I didn’t get this game on Player, would’ve given me a heart attack. Tunnicliffe gets Man of the Match for his goal and what the NSC has been saying. Phew!

The Hovian’s Albion Man of the Match : James Tunnicliffe

Albion Team (goalscorers in bold):

(4-4-2) Kuipers; Virgo, Elphick, Tunnicliffe, El-Abd; Bennett, Crofts, Dicker, Davies (Cox 75); Forster (Hart 80), Dickinson (Wright 44)

Subs: G Smith, Cox, Hart, Thornhill, Livermore, Wright, Murray

League One Table

26 Sep 2009 17:07 UK

Brentford’s winless run extended to six games as a good Bristol Rovers won 3-1 at Griffin Park.

We named the same side that drew away at Huddersfield last Saturday, meaning that Marcus Bean, Danny Foster and Sam Saunders had to be content with a place on the bench, while Ryan Dickson and Carl Cort were not fit enough to even make the matchday squad.

It was the Dickson who was available to play, striker Chris who had joined Rovers on loan from Charlton this week, who made the difference early on. His pace and power was too much at first for Brentford’s defence, and when a long ball went towards the Brentford penalty area with only Dickson and Alan Bennett in pursuit, Bennett dallied on the ball, made a mess of an attempted clearance/tackle and Dickson barged past him and fired past Lewis Price. Perhaps Bennett should have cleared it earlier, or perhaps Price could have come out and helped his defender, but it should have been dealt with. It wasn’t a great goal to concede.

If the first goal was partly due to Dickson’s power getting him past Bennett, it was his pace that helped him score his second. Another ball was played forward, this time between Bennett and Mark Phillips, and Dickson was simply too quick for them. It didn’t help matters that Price came racing out, changed his mind and then ended up getting lobbed while stuck in no man’s land, but credit to Dickson for an excellent finish.

The third goal was the best of the lot however. A Brentford move broke down on the right, and Aaron Lescott burst forward to spring a counter attack. He played a one-two with a team-mate, pointed to where he wanted the ball as he continued his run, and when he got the ball back he was in acres of space in the area and slotted past Price, although I think the keeper at least got a touch to it this time.

This sparked an immediate response from Andy Scott as, to be honest, his team hadn’t been good enough. We still seemed to be hoofing long balls forward which might work with Carl Cort in the side, but when you’ve got Charlie MacDonald and Steve Kabba up front it’s not the best tactic. Knocking the ball forward was probably better than going through central midfield as, although Kevin O’Connor got a few tackles in and actually tried, David Hunt probably put his worst performance of the season so far in. Don’t get me started on his long throws today either. The wide men weren’t a great deal better as Myles Weston never ever got into the game and Cleveland Taylor let Lescott go away from him far too easily for their third goal.

To try and rectify this, we brought Sam Saunders and Marcus Bean on for Weston and Hunt with just 40 minutes on the clock. Given the scoreline you can’t really say that this tactic “worked”, but we were better after the break. Taylor switched to the left and got a few crosses in, doing fairly well on his left foot as well so definitely potential for him to play there again, and Bean actually passed the ball a couple of times and made some tackles, which puts him way above Hunt on this performance. We huffed and puffed a bit, and Rovers started to ease off a bit, but we didn’t really look like overhauling the three goal deficit.

The “turning point”, although it didn’t really change the outcome of the match, was when Steve Kabba burst onto a through ball on around the hour mark. Rovers’ keeper Mikkel Andersen came racing out, Kabba put the ball past him, Andersen brought Kabba down and the referee gave a free kick just outside the area. The question now was what happened to Andersen. If it were just Kabba and Andersen involved then it’d be a simple red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, but there were two defenders alongside Kabba and they could have got a block in or a tackle, so were they providing enough cover to save the Danish keeper’s bacon? The referee decided that they were, and showed a yellow card instead, much to the anger of the majority of the home fans.

After this we had a spell of real pressure, with the resulting free kick deflected behind and the corner resulting in a massive scramble before Andersen eventually claimed the ball. Kabba made a couple more dangerous runs but it was his strike partner who got the consolation goal for the home side, flicking a long ball on for himself, controlled on his chest and fired in from outside the area. It was a great goal, and it was nice to see one of our strikers actually put the ball in the back of the net. No coincidence that it was probably our best striker either.

After that we had a couple more opportunities, with a low ball from the right squeezing through to MacDonald at the far post but he was stretching for it and put it wide with the defender in close attendance, and the ball fell to Taylor in the area from a corner but the bounce made his half volley a bit too tricky and he put it over the bar. Rovers also had a couple of opportunities on the break, but they were happy with the goals they’d scored in the first half and were well deserved winners.

Although a 3-1 home defeat is always a disappointment, at least it should do us some good. Marcus Bean simply must start in central midfield, probably in the place of Hunt. Not because Hunt’s a bad player, but because Bean is simply better, and we shouldn’t be wasting his talents on the bench. Saunders is probably worth a starting place, but whether it’s at the expense of Taylor or Weston I’m not sure, as both can be threatening. Either would be a good substitute to bring on in the second half though.

The defence is probably the hardest part of the side to sort out. James Wilson is better at centre back, and Alan Bennett wasn’t at his best, but can you see Scott dropping Bennett? Me neither. Ideally he’d probably like to pair those two up, but Mark Phillips has been excellent this season and was probably our man of the match yesterday, winning pretty much every header and tackle that he attempted. The only criticism you could have of him was that he was too slow to keep up with Dickson for their second goal, but we know he’s not the quickest and there’s not much he can really do about that, save for getting some sprinting lessons from Usain Bolt. To drop Phillips now would be spectacularly harsh, and therein lies the dilemma.

I wonder if we’ve considered playing three at the back at any point this season, as Bennett, Wilson and Phillips could do well there, play O’Connor in front of them in the holding role, have Bean and Hunt ahead of them, Saunders and Wood wide and whoever up front. If this were Football Manager I’d probably give it a go, but an overhaul of our formation probably isn’t the way to go a few matches into the season.

Anyway, there’s the usual match report on the Brentford website, and you can see the goals on the Football League Show. We’re on at the 44:50 mark.

Next up is Yeovil Town away, and the potential to face yet another of our former strikers in the shape of former loanees Sam Williams and Dean Bowditch. If we defend like we did today, they might be very happy to see us again.

Brentford face Bristol Rovers at Griffin Park today as the two teams face each other for the first time in over eight years, as we look to get back to winning ways after five matches without a win.

Despite being mainstays of the lower leagues, we have been in a different division from Rovers for much of the last few years, as they were relegated to League Two in 2001, and finished second bottom the following season. However, after a few years of consolidation Rovers were promoted to League One via the play-offs in 2006/07, the season we were relegated to League Two, and only now have we managed to catch back up with them.

Perhaps looking back isn’t too good an idea really, as the last time Bristol Rovers came to visit we lost 6-2. I’m sure Andy Scott, one of Brentford’s goalscorers that day, will remember the match well, and will be hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself. Another bad omen from the past is our record against teams from Bristol. As previously mentioned we haven’t played Rovers for 8 years, and haven’t beaten them since 1994 when a Nicky Forster brace helped us to a 3-0 home win, but we’ve also struggled against their rivals Bristol City in recent years, not beating them in our last four attempts. To be fair they have been in a higher division than us for the last couple of matches, including this season’s League Cup clash at Griffin Park, but it’d be nice if we could actually beat one of these two for a change.

However, the league table suggests that this is going to be yet another tough match for us. Bristol Rovers are third, behind Charlton and Leeds but ahead of last week’s opponents Huddersfield, and their top scorer should be familiar to many at Griffin Park as Jo Kuffour scored 14 goals for us in the ill-fated 2006/07 season. With former star striker Rickie Lambert now with Southampton, Rovers will be looking to rely more heavily on Jo this season, and so far he’s done alright, scoring three goals in nine starts. Hopefully he won’t be adding to that tally today.

Another former Bee who will hopefully not excel on his return to Griffin Park is Mikkel Andersen. When Ben Hamer was sent off at Barrow last season it left us without a keeper for the following match, so Reading helpfully loaned Mikkel to us for a game, and the Danish youngster helped us to a 2-1 win over Bradford before going on a fairly unsuccessful loan period at Brighton at the back end of last season. So far this year he’s played two games on loan at the Memorial Stadium, and has kept a clean sheet in both, keeping both Millwall and Oldham at bay. Again, hopefully he won’t be adding to that tally today either.

In terms of Brentford’s lineup, I’m not entirely sure how many changes we’ll make. The team seemed to do well last week, and with Carl Cort and Ryan Dickson still doubtful, the only potential changes are to bring two of the Dagenham Three back to the side. Danny Foster lost his place in the side as we looked to accommodate Alan Bennett, James Wilson and Mark Phillips in the same defensive unit, and a midfield reshuffle saw Sam Saunders relegated to the bench as well. Neither player had done anything wrong really, but I’m not sure whether either will walk straight back into the side today. Wilson isn’t a natural right back, but I can see us going with the same back four as last week, which means Foster won’t get a look-in, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Saunders come in for Cleveland Taylor so that Taylor can be used as a substitute against a hopefully tiring Rovers defence.

Either way, I feel fairly confident that we will win today. Not an easy win by any means, maybe a bit of a topsy-turvy game, but I will go for a 2-1 win for the home side. Should be a good match regardless though.

Photo courtesy Ben Sutherland's Flickr account

Tactical discussion is a subject that’s heavily discussed at the higher levels of both club and international football, ranging from the tactical proficiency of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool in Europe to the possession-based football of the great Italian sides.

It’s something that dominates the daily newsprint and blogs of the world: Debates on whether to attack or defend, whether to play Lampard or Gerrard for the England team, you name it. The debates are numerous in this high end of football, but for lower levels of the game like in the Coca-Cola Football League, there is not as much tactical analysis coming from the media.

For newcomers to this football format, therefore, and given the benefit of my own experience of watching a lot of League One so far this season as I live in Milton Keynes, this article will seek to offer some insight into the tactics and styles of play that can be seen this season in the Coca-Cola Football League One.

One key thing that I’ve noticed about League One football is a problem with width, and it’s especially evident in teams such as Huddersfield Town and Tranmere  Rovers, both of which have in their ranks decent wingers such as Daniel Drinkwater at Huddersfield (on loan from Manchester United) and Chris Shuker at Tranmere. Many League One teams show tactical naïveté, however, by having a lot of their players clustering around the ball and failing to get into space. This flies in the face of the role of traditional wingers, which were known to hug the byline.

This is a strange pattern in this level of football, as with having decent wingers like Drinkwater and Shuker ought to give their teams more of a tactical edge over their opponents. Wide runs from players with pace are effective on counter-attacks, but the sort of natural tendency of some players like those at  Norwich City to centre around the ball leads to more work being needed to gain possession.

Wide movements are proven to be effective when counter-attacks end in goals, with most goals in these situations coming from crosses from the byline; crosses which, with luck, will hit the central striker in a more open position, with many defenders occupied with the wide space unable to take on the striker in the box.

Many teams in League One resort to long ball tactics as teams like Hartlepool Town have been specialising in in recent weeks. The problem with such a tactic, though, is the resulting  need for a skilled striker to capitalise on such direct passing movements. Hartlepool benefit from having the superior ability of a James Brown to carry such a move out. In League One, teams’ tactics depend on their resources, so, as in Brown and Hartlepool’s case, this style of play is  based on having a skilled striker.

Other teams try to play a rigid 4-4-2 formation like Colchester United in recent games, as the U’s have tried to play a rigid style of play, thus providing a sort of relative tactical stability before  bringing on more creative players with raw talent in the second half of matches. Many teams at this level have that certain someone that they can bring in off the bench in an attempt to give their team space to exert a creative influence.

Teams like Milton Keynes Dons try to play more of a passing game, relying on their left-back Dean Lewington for much of their play moving up the pitch. They rely on him in a Beckenbauer-esque way to carry the ball out of the defence, which offers a platform to drive their attacks forward.

Unlike your traditional surging run from a left back, say an Ashley Cole, Lewington carries the ball out in a slower movement and picks out incisive passes into midfield so his side can build up attacks.

Certain innovative tactics such as this at a lower level provides teams with an edge over their opponents, and teams that can employ greater tactical sophistication can find themselves climbing up the league ladder with greater ease. Mid-standard teams under such tactical form can in League One make the playoffs as teams like Scunthorpe United managed to do last season.

It can also expose gaps in the larger teams in the league, such as what teams were able to do against the Leeds United teams of Gary McAllister and Dennis Wise.  Bristol Rovers and Huddersfield Town have managed to do that so far this season, and with any luck, they and teams like them will continue to do so.

Ross Andrew Gallacher

Photo courtesy dave_7's Flickr account

Rude though it may be, ‘Sing when you’re farming’ was one of the many chants that Milton Keynes Dons fans showered upon their Norwich City counterparts at stadium:mk during the hosts’ 2-1 win on Monday night.

Both sets of fans knew that banter and so-called ‘terrace choirs’ make up a key component of lower league football in the United Kingdom, and for those of you that are new to that side of the game, this article will explore that favourite pastime in which the fans of clubs in the Coca-Cola Football League and Scottish Football League seem to be particularly adept.

Sometimes the banter can be better than the actual game you’re at, with home and away fans trying to outdo each other in the singing stakes that make up this tactical battle of wits. If fans are really dedicated to their side, they will try to crank up noise levels as to try and out-sing and silence the opposition. Sometimes this works if the opposing crowd has a small capacity and hasn’t filled its allocation, or, as experienced with the traveling Norwich fans on Monday night, you can have an away crowd remaining mostly quiet despite filling its allocation and watching their team take an early lead.

Next, there is the insult-trading, with many chants particularly in the Football League designed to mock the opposing crowd for something that is commonly known about either their town or their team.

For instance, many opposing fans sing to ‘franchise’ club MK Dons that ‘You’ve got no history,’ and others tell Walsall supporters that ‘You’re just a small town in Poland,’ a play on ‘Walsall’ sounding like ‘Warsaw’.  I could go on, but the chants and songs all become increasingly crude the further you delve into what fans say to each other.

That, and this is a family blog.

There’s an unofficial ratings system of sorts for these songs and chants, with many submissions popping-up post-mortem on the various message boards created for and used by football fans of specific teams. Some songs and chants will  fall flat on their faces due to apathy from fellow supporters, but others will gain cult followings and get trotted out every so often.  Very rarely, though, will one of those songs or chants take on a life of its on and become the a signature of a club and its supporters.

Some fans’ songs modify folk or pop music tunes and the finished articles end up define the clubs those fans support. Both Liverpool and Glasgow Celtic have Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, and many lower league sides around the U.K. have lower-profile but equally legendary songs, such as Bristol Rovers supporters’ rendition of Leadbelly’s  “Goodnight, Irene.”

In Scotland, Kilmarnock fans will give it a bit of “Paper Roses,” a song recorded by both Anita Bryant and Marie Osmond and a bizarre one for football fans to pick up on,  but somehow it still works brilliantly for Killie supporters. Elsewhere, Greenock Morton and countless other football clubs claim the oft-recorded “You Are My Sunshine” as their own, but the truth is that it’s used by supporters of more football clubs than it’s worth counting.

Finally, you have an endless amount of player-based chants, with the most common being take-offs on “Winter Wonderland” and the patriotic Cuban anthem “Guantanamera.”  Some sets of supporters are more creative, though, such as the improvised Happy Days theme for a certain Aston Villa defender.  “Sunday, Monday, Habib Beye,” the chant goes. “Tuesday, Wednesday, Habib Beye…”  You get the idea.

If as a football fan you want to add to the atmosphere in the stands or in the pub or wherever you’re watching the game, all you need to do is think of a song that is not only relevant to what’s going on at the time, but also one that people will find funny for one reason or another. You also have to make it catchy so that people can be taken up by the tune, and the tune also needs to be easily accessible. Everyone needs to be able to join in, thus creating a domino effect as the chant becomes part of the tribal rhythm of the terrace (or bar). Adding clapping and banging a drum is incredibly useful to keeping this going and keeping it easy for others to grasp and latch onto.

There you have it, then: A rough guide to becoming an active part of a terrace.  Hopefully this serves as a sort of explanation of football fan culture for you, and also a how-to on how you can get in on the fun!

Ross Andrew Gallacher

A new signing emerges from the ashes to lift Albion's season?

It’s the last day of English Football transfer deals people, Judgement Day. Will Russell Slade sign a steely new defender, or will he procure a liquid fast new striker? Will the club offload the seemingly disinterested Dean Cox to Southampton, the duty rumour doing the rounds?

We have until 5pm this afternoon to save the worl…er….our season, or we are stuck with our current squad until January 2010. Will The Lizard dip into his poker pot and deal us a couple of aces?

We’ll see.

Update: Slade has signed ANOTHER winger on loan until 31st December, but has let Mark Wright go into the bargain. So, after all the hype, the expectation, we seem to have gained a player – Arron Davies - in a position where we’re not exactly short of talent, hey ho. Glenn Murray stays, so does Colin Hawkins and Coxy. Bit of a let down really.

Wright goes to Bristol Rovers, we got him on a free, so how much his “undisclosed fee” was is anybody’s guess, but a profit nonetheless. Good luck to the lad.

It’s gonna be a big season for Ryan Jarvis down the O’s this season. After exploding onto the scene in the 06/07 season, most notably for his hat-trick vs Millwall, his career has seemingly fizzled out.

Ryan Jarvis celebrates his Millwall hattrick

Not getting much of a look in under Martin Ling in the 2007/08 season, the former England U19 star didn’t manage a single goal all season from 16 starts and 18 cameo appearances as a sub, he looked a dead cert to follow Ling out the door at the O’s during the close season.

Enter new manager Geraint Williams in early 2009 and several striking options too. Scott McGleish arrived from Reading, Simon Church from Reading, Adam Boyd and Dean Morgan were already in situ. A low on confidence Jarvis didn’t get a sniff of first team action.

Fast-forward to August 2009, the Memorial Ground in Bristol, and possibly the best player in pre-season has managed to get himself inside the Gaffers good books and has found himself the choice striker at the O’s. No mean feet when you think that Williams splashed the cash on a whole new front-line for this season. McGleish was brought in permanently, Adrian Patulea who the Lincoln fans adored and last but not least, James Scowcroft from Crystal Palace.

Now i’m not sure if Jarvis won the man of the match award at Bristol Rovers but I just can’t think of anyone more deserving of it. Pace, power, hold-up play, linking up with team-mates, even a couple of attempts on goal. The only thing missing was a goal. And boy did he deserve one. I’d like to see his workrate on a pro-zone system if such things exists in league one.

Jarvis makes an impact at Bristol Rovers

Both strikers having been dropped for the midweek victory at Colchester, Jarvis and McGleish were chosen to start at home vs Oldham. Oldham had a game plan, stuck to it, and somehow won a game that had no actual goalmouth action apart from the 3 goals. That’s not a moan. Both teams were as bad as each other, so i suppose Oldham deserved it.

The O’s were a goal down when fat-boy Sean Gregan decided to leave a tame JJ Melligan cross for his keeper. With all the instinct of a natural goalscorer, Ryan Jarvis appeared to nip the ball past the watching Oldham goalie.

Jarvis nips in front of Oldham's Dean Brill

Words can’t describe how pleased I was for Jarvis. Well done son. Let’s hope this is the start of a riches to rags and back to riches story.

Jarvis gets off the mark for the 2009/10 season

Drawn Live on Soccer AM today, Strangely Rochdale are in the North West Section

North West Section
Oldham Athletic Vs Accrington Stanley (who are they….Exactly)
Crewe Alexandra Vs Stockport County
Walsall vs Bury
Morecambe vs Carlisle United

North East Section
Darlington Vs Lincoln City
Rochdale (North East?) vs Bradford City
Rotherham United Vs Huddersfield Town
Burton Albion Vs Chesterfield

South East Section
Barnet Vs Millwall
Norwich City Vs Brentford
MK Dons Vs Dagenham & Redbridge
Gillingham Vs Colchester United

South West Section
Wycombe Wanderers Vs Northampton Town
Cheltenham Town Vs Torquay United
Hereford United Vs Bristol Rovers
AFC Bournemouth Vs Yeovil Town

Rest of the teams recieve a bye

Discuss the Draw Here

The football season began last weekend so we all got to have a good look at the new kits on the BBC’s disappointing Football League show. Filmed in a dimly-lit studio, reminiscent of late 90s Channel Five baseball coverage, they included horrible features such as “Lizzie” reading out tiresome fan e-mails or tweets. I should think very few fans care about what “1000 professional appearances” Steve Claridge has to say, never mind some “loyal” Newcastle United fan.

This banality was followed by some excellent factual errors during the Cardiff vs Scunthorpe highlights, Lee McCormack (instead of Ross McCormack), Ian Morris fouled in the box (You mean Chris Burke, Morris plays for Scunthorpe). Ah well, at least all the goals are available live on the IPlayer, and we’ll be having some live games on terrestrial TV on a Saturday evening.

So, onto more important matters, kits!, and specifically those of League One sides. Yeovil Town turn out in their now traditional green and white hoops, their kit decided by a fan vote with about as much choice as a Zimbabwean election (see kit above). In fariness there’s not much you can do with hoops, perhaps allowing the fans to select the change kit would have been more sensible. However, it does strike me as the now familar, “make the fans feel involved without giving them real power” angle, much loved by football chairmen.

Sponsorships are an interesting aspect of this year’s division with Exeter City and Southampton sporting the same sponsor on their kits (the airline flybe). In fact both sides have a very similar red and white shirt (Saints have more stripes, Exeter City have all red sleeves), whilst Southampton wear black shorts and socks, Exeter City wear all white shirts and socks.

Another pair of clubs who are sharing a sponsor this season are Kent club Gillingham and South-East London side Charlton Athletic. There has been very little love lost between the two sides as Charlton are often suspected of  attempting to lure fans from within Gillingham’s traditional catchment area to the Valley. I doubt these accusations will continue now that the allure of Premier League football is no longer there. Both sides are sponsored by KRBS (Kent Reliance Building Society – and nothing to do with Charlton attempting to lure a former manager back to their club).

Expect Swindon Town to feature quite often in Four Four Two magazine this season and to be unbeatable in FIFA 2010 (as these are their home and away kit sponsors this season). Quite an interesting set of change kits in the division as John Barnes’ Tranmere have a garish lime green change kit  and Bristol Rovers risk their very survival by choosing a yellow and green change strip – not a particularly successful colour combination going by opening day’s results. Stockport County’s change strip is a brave attempt at a Heston-Blumental-style fusion of tangerine and silver.

Yay! A victory to start the season! Jimmy Smith scored an absolute belter! In all fairness Rovers had the better chances but the O’s took theirs. Jones kicking was a bit pony, although he made a wonder save from Lambert’s free kick, the back four looked pretty solid but still a bit hesitant. Deme a tad anonymous as was JJ, Smith and Thornton a very good midfield pairing. McGleish didn’t have the best of days whilst Jarvis was quality. Man of the Match goes to Jarvis.

1 all. Fair result so far, O’s should have 2, so should Rovers. Jarvis is playing a blinder. Deme should have scored from a Daniels free kick. All things in.. So good so far

Paddington to Bristol Parkway seems quite uneventful. The highlight being a young mum who has an amazing amount of control over the three 5 year olds she’s travelling with. She barks. They listen. Glad i’m getting off at Parkway though! Only see one O at Paddington, this doesn’t bode well! Touchdown Memorial! Plenty of O’s here. Football is back!

Got away from Kaplan at the Angel around half 10. Albeit £1700 knicker lighter A nice walk down Pentonvile Road to Kings Cross took me 15 minutes. Kings Cross looks too clean these days. I wasn’t even offered sex. Gutted. I did take a nice picture of the international terminal though at St Pancras. Hammersmith and City to Paddington now. Should be bumping into some O’s soon

Not going from SE16 direct to The Memorial today. Need to pop to The Angel first to enrol on a course. Journey not bad so far, 381 from Salter Road to London Bridge, 43 from London Bridge to Angel. Bumped into a few Millwall on the bus to London Bridge. They’re on their way to the St Mary’s down on the coast for their season opener against Southampton. They were in good spirits as we wished each other well and went on our way. Currently in a Starbucks at Angel waiting for Kaplan to open. Hope i’m not in there for ages. Need to catch that 12.30 from Paddington!

Is the backdrop for sponsorship changing?

There is a lot of talk in both the marketing and sports arenas that the climate for sponsorship is changing.  Sponsorship in football isn’t new.  During the 1920s Lillywhites negotiated exclusive rights to publish FA fixture lists.  In the 30s the top players of the time such as Sir Stanley Matthews, were seen to endorse and advertise a range of products from cigarettes to mens cosmetics.  So David Beckham was beaten in his endorsements by some 70 years.

In the 70s football was in the midst of a mini economic crisis, crowds were falling and players’ wages increasing.  The Football League decided to create some (short-lived) tournaments such as the Texaco Cup and the Watney Cup (won by Bristol Rovers).  However it was the Football League Cup that secured the first major sponsorship deal in 1982, the Milk Cup was formed.  Most of the major tournaments have since secured sponsorship deals, either associate or title sponsorship.

The combined factors of the economic downturn and the rise of online for more than just purely acquisitional methods of promoting your brand, has helped to create this perception.  Examples of the changing commercial climate in football were cited, when the likes of Setanta failed to make their rights to major football pay.  The collapse of Setanta in the UK despite rights to Premier League football and Scottish Premiership and several other high profile sporting occassions could be perceived as the end of the commercial euphoria that has changed the English game.

Never has the English game been under this kinf of pressure since ITV Digital collapse put a number of English clubs at risk.  The increase of clubs entering administration in the game at the lower levels also adds fuel to the fire.  The current decline of the pound against  the Euro (combined with 50% tax rate) is also resulting in some top players such as Ronaldo moving abroad or considering the move.

All doom and gloom?

However, there is still an influx of cash from (in the main) overseas backers, meaning football at all levels is still getting investment.  This isn’t just top flight any more, the likes of Southampton and Notts County are also being pushed.  The fact that Setanta had their rights replaced so promptly by the likes of ESPN also helped ease some of the concerns.

There are also some key sponsorship deals that have been signed recently including Chelsea’s deal with Samsung.

A new approach

Obviously it isn’t always possible to rely on investment from overseas billionaires.  For every Chelsea and Abrahmovic there are 50 not so fortunate clubs.  So how do they survive?  Well frankly, some don’t, however others have discovered more creative approaches to their sponsorship.

Some of the clubs have benefited from giving away naming rights.  For example when Arsenal moved from their long-term Highbury home to their new stadium, Emirates Airways secured a reported 10 year muli-million pound deal to create the Emirates Stadium.   A number of traditional supporters think this is a step too far, however most accept that this is the current trend and the only way to stay competitive.  So stadiums have been sponsored, shirts don logos, individual players have become commodities, the only thing left is the club itself, steeped in tradition and part of the community.  Not for too long.  Whilst accepted overseas with the likes of Eindhoven being name PSV (Philips) and Salzburg (FC Red Bull Salzburg) bringing corporate life to the centre of their existence.  Now financially troubled Stirling Albion are looking to go the same route and offer naming rights on a five year deal.  Whilst it will undoubtedly annoy the real traditional football followers it is better to keep the club going.

Whilst other lower league clubs continue to grapple with the current climate not all are going down the extreme route of auctioning their identity.  Bristol Rovers took the creative route to gain revenue by raffling its shirt sponsorship.  The club claim to have come up with the idea as they feared their sponsorship revenue would decrease if they managed to secure one at all.  The raffle is estimated to have generated double the revenue that they would have expected for sponsorship in a growing economy.  It also created a lot of buzz around the community and generated some good PR.

Whatever happens to the economy overall, the British game will continue and will without a shadow of doubt continue to generate revenue, either from wealthy investors, major sponsorship tie-ups or the inventive methods shown by smaller clubs such as Stirling Albion and Bristol Rovers.

What about the sponsors?

Never has the need for sponsors to connect to the recipients of their sponsorships been so great.  With the growing consumpion of alternative media, people are now driving the news and owning the media agenda.  With the likes of Twitter or Facebook, users can endorse or undemine a sponsorship within mintues of its announcement or perhaps more importantly within minutes of being exposed to it.

Any organisation that sponsors any property, whether it is a football club, event or a broadcast property such as Big Brother, needs to have a reason to be associated.  When I was at Nationwide we developed a whole campaign that enveloped our sponsorship properties (primarily the England Football Team).  Our “Sponsored by You” campaign put all the perks of being a corporate sponsor back in the hands of our members and the average fan.  Members of Nationwide could win VIP tickets to see England, get a player to a local school or get signed merchandise.  It also encourage winners to post videos or photos of their experience.  This kind of approach allows the organisation a place within the recipients passion, and makes them feel welcomed. 

Sponsors need to move away from thinking about sponsorships as merely a means to get their name out to a mass audience.  They really need to make them work or face a waste of marketing spend that could have been utilised to a far greater degree elsewhere.

Greetings Punters,

It has been a few days since I have posted, mainly due to the lack of interest in the betting world.  Games have been thin now that we are in World Cup Qualifier mode.

Today’s betting slip has a few good games that are worth the punt.

Millwall v Colchester

We are going to start off with this match in the English League 1.  This is a match between recent power house Millwall and average at best Colchester.

This match is truly one sided as Millwall is the only one chasing something here.  They are currently in third place in the tables and five points behind second place with one game less.  Tonight, they have the chance to cut the difference all the way down to only two points.  The difference is huge between second and third place as second place gets directly promoted and third place will be in the promotion playoffs against the 4th-6th place teams.

Colchester lies dead in the middle of the tables and is not going anywhere.  They have no fear at this point of the regulation zone and no hopes I must add of promotion.

Lately, Millwall has been playing great ball, with 5 wins in there last 6 games.  There only loss coming from the top ranked team Leicester.  Besides the loss to Leicester they have won every other game in there last 6 matches. On the other hand, Colchester is 2-2-2 in there last 6 games and I don’t see them picking up any points tonight.

Taking into consideration that Millwall is playing for a true reason here and Colchester could care less if they win or lose, this game is definitely my strongest punt of the day.

Millwall is in great form and is burning to pick up the three points tonight to cut there difference with 2nd place Peterborough down to only two points.

MY BET MILLWALL HOME WIN @ 1.75

Bristol Rovers v Huddersfield

I usually don’t take punts on teams that are in the middle of the tables towards the end of the season, but Bristol Rovers are two games behind the rest of the teams and have been in great form lately.  The odds here on the home win are just to good to pass up @ 2.2 so we are going to go for the home win here.

Bristol Rovers have played good ball lately and are showing passion in their games to win.  They have been 3-1-1 in there last five games as opposed to 1-2-2 Huddersfield.

Bristol have a decent home record of 8-4-6 and Huddersfield are not so bad away either with a 6-5-8 record.

We are going to go with a double chance punt here on Home Win/Draw @ 1.3 and parlay it with Millwall Home Win to increase our odds.

MY PARLAY

Millwall Home Win @ 1.75

Bristol Rovers Double Chance Home Win/Draw @ 1.3

Two game parlay pays out 2.2

Good luck & Happy Punting!!!

More W.I. than I.D., to be honest.

PS Actually this double date might be Rovers, but they were in the thick of the Norverners being ‘escorted’ through Stokes Croft earlier, so I’m assuming they are of an out-of-town variety rather than home-grown meatheads (plus they did not seem to know their way around St. Paul’s).

Further clarification gratefully received!

ETA:

Evening Post: ‘Police got Bristol Rovers crowd control wrong’