Did common sense prevail?

This week the cast of The Apprentice were doing the rounds on Sky Sports News. Unfortunately, it wasn't some task for the contestants to try and run and manage a football club (although a Stuart Baggs half time team talk would be unmissable); it was the Olympic Stadium decision. With Lord Sir Alan Sugar of Hackney distraught at the decision to award the stadium to West Ham; whilst his trusted boardroom associate Karen Brady was delighted at the decision. But is it the right decision?


West Ham fans have complained at being ignored by the hierarchy at Upton Park (although the hierarchy at West Ham is hardly the most coherent or logical board ever seen in football), they could be seen as having a point. Football stadia with running tracks are often criticised for lacking atmosphere and moving the spectator further away from the action. Maybe the best (or worst) example of this is Juventus' old home of Stadi delle Alpi. Constructed for the 1990 World Cup, it was designed to be a flagship development for Turin and Italy, but was flawed from the start. The distance between the spectators and the pitch was great, reducing visibility for those in the cheapest seats; for those in the pricier pitchside seats often found their view obscured by advertisements. This, tied with it's out of town location and high ticket prices led to some awful attendances, with only 237 spectators at a Coppa Italia match between Juventus and Sampdoria in the 01/02 season. This lead to the stadium being demolished in 2009, with a new, smaller stadium without a running track being built in its place. And to add insult to injury; the stadium never hosted a major athletics event, as the architects forgot to add room for a warm up track. *Annoyed Grunt*

West Ham fans sell out Olympic Stadium in a game against Scunthorpe United.

Although the move for West Ham to the Olympic Stadium may not be the best choice for the club, it was undoubtedly the right choice for London. To have allowed Spurs to demolish the stadium, built the New White Hart Lane in a completely different part of the city, and to have chucked money at a half-arsed attempt to renovate the ageing Crystal Palace athletics stadium (which, co-incidentally, was wanted by Crystal Palace FC to convert back to being a football stadium...). To have selected Spurs and demolished the stadium would have been two fingers up at the IOC and the 2012 legacy; leaving the UK's reputation as a nation that doesn't care about any other sports other than football. And for Spurs to move from one area to another of London has overtones of Wimbledon - when teams like Derby move to a new stadium, they are still the only team within that area. If Spurs were to move, then all of a sudden, could they be accused of moving into a new area to try and capture more support away from the teams traditionally based there?


In my mind here, the real winners are Spurs fans, West Ham's board and the UK as a whole. Just a shame it may be the West Ham fans who may be the sacrificial lamb to maintain national dignity.

The SPL: is professional football north of the border doomed?

Yesterday, Celtic were drawn against their old rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup. I'm sure this had the SFA and cup sponsors rubbing their hands in glee, an Old Firm derby is always guaranteed to bring in large viewing figures. Although, on the other hand, it also means that only one of the two biggest clubs in Scotland will progress, losing a significant number of viewers for the other rounds. And that's the crux of the problem - Scottish football (especially the Scottish Premier League) is overly dependent on both Celtic and Rangers. And, to make matters worse, both clubs are very keen on leaving, either to the Premier League or a new super-duper pan-European league. But, if the clubs moved, how would they fare, and how would the other clubs in the league do?

Kelvin Wilson: A horizontal move?

Forest's Kelvin Wilson recently signed a pre-contract arrangement with Celtic, and he recently stated that he wanted to move to Celtic in January. He also paid tribute to the club as being massive, and very well placed to win the SPL. But, could this move be considered a horizontal move? Although Celtic are a massive club with a proud history, and are involved in European competition and are regular cup winners, they do so in a league that could be considered uncompetitive. The Championship also allows the chance for a team to enter the largest league in the world, whereas the SPL is only the biggest league in Scotland. And whilst there is a gulf in the quality of teams in the (English) Premier League, it is no-where near as wide as the gulf in the teams in the SPL. Casting an eye at recent transfers at the Old Firm pair, Celtic have signed Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley, Kelvin Wilson, Olivier Kapo and Freddie Ljungberg amongst others, with Ranger's first signing in two years being James Beattie. Admittedly I haven't included all Celtic's transfers for this season, but a general pattern emerges of both clubs playing host to players who are 'Upper Championship' to 'Mid Premiership' standard. Of course, if they were to join the  Premier League south of Hadrian's Wall, it would be easy to assume that they'd struggle. This is nothing to say of the problem the other SPL clubs would have. Without the Old Firm pair, the SPL are stripped of their main attraction, leading to a massive loss in TV income, which could lead to a similar situation as the Football League found itself in during ITV Digital's collapse.

We've got all the football...but none of the funds to pay for it

It may not be all doom and gloom, however. Both Old Firm clubs have massive fanbases, and if they were to join the (E)PL, the boost of the TV finance could see Rangers and Celtic begin to push to become two of the larger sides in the (E)PL, or the two largest sides in a Super-Euro-Mega-Fantastical League. But whether the Premier League, and the 72 clubs in the Football League would allow Celtic or Rangers in anytime soon is another question entirely.

For the other Scottish teams, they better hope that neither Rangers nor Celtic ever leave, unless they wish to see a return to a much simpler age of football. Because although they may find themselves in a league where they stand a much greater chance of winning, they will also stand a much greater chance of being wound up...

Dr No-Love, or: How the Media and the Kop learned to Start Worrying and Hate Woy

Roy Hodgson can speak 5 languages fluently, was a well known P.E. teacher, and  has managed 19 football sides. He can turn water into wine, and if that's still too downmarket, wine into Champagne. And yet, he is the most hated man in football at the moment. In 'The Times', Tony Cascarino screamed for his head, the usually reserved (if not totally biased) Alan Hansen came the closest he's ever come to publicly declaring that a manager should leave. But I think some clarity is needed on the issue.

Roy Hodgson has won many fans in Liverpool, albeit mostly Evertonians

The Sun was delighted when Roy was appointed, with Ian Wright declaring he'd rather see someone like Roy appointed rather than a foreign boss such as Mancini. At least Wright has the good grace to state he empathises with the beleaguered Liverpool boss in this later article, but the treatment from some of the media, and the fans towards Roy is disgraceful. The Times today stated that Roy wasn't qualified to take a job at such a big club. I'd hate to argue, but if you could find a more decorated CV for a current English manager, with success with continental teams, then I'd be very surprised. And although the fans have a right to be discontent with current performances, Liverpool fans have to realise they are no longer the same team that finished 2nd in the 2008-2009 season. They are sluggish, without ideas, a team without a consistent striker, or players who care about the club. The spine of the club (Reina, Gerrard and Torres) are shadows of their former selves, with only the talismanic Gerrard putting in a real shift. And it's not all Hodgson's fault - this is the same squad that were putting in below-par performances last season which cost the club their Champions League spot. With Torres proving to be Mr Biscuit-legs again, an entire overhaul of players is needed for the club to become competitive again. 

Fernando Torres, during one of his brief and sporadic periods where he wasn't injured

I doubt that New England Sport ventures could stomach the cost of such a rebuilding project, and what manager would be tempted to a football club where the majority of fans seemingly want to be managed by a man who hasn't managed a club since 2000. 


For the neutral, it'll certainly be a fun few months to watch the actions at Anfield. And I suspect Mr Hodgson will certainly enjoy it from his armchair than the dugout...