Emmo’s Blog

Anyone think that the Champions League needs a revamp?

The group stages are nothing short of a boring farce and fans are now letting the empty seats do the talking.
Liverpool and Chelsea’s games this week were well short of selling out. The “official” attendance of Liverpool’s game with Debrecen was just over 41000 but judging by what I saw on the TV that figure was way too high.

For Champions League games the home team has to keep empty the first two rows of seats all the way around the stadium. They then have to have a few rows of seats separating the home and away fans. I also noticed last night at Anfield that the side of the stadium that you see due to camera placing was nearly a quarter empty. The Kop also had a few spaces.

The reason for this? Liverpool were playing Debrecen.
Who?
Exactly.

For those that don’t know they are the Hungarian Champions. But they are a poor opposition for a top European side.

Liverpool laboured to a 1-0 win. The crown couldn’t be bothered to cheer (or turn up) and the team couldn’t be bothered to break sweat. This resulted in a dull game with no atmosphere. This happened not just at Anfield but in most of the Champions League games played this week.

The fact is that fans don’t want to shell out hard earned money to watch teams like Debrecen. There is a common myth that Anfield rocks on a European night. It does but only from the knockout stages. Teams in the group stages have chance after chance to still get through so there is no excitement. What’s a draw or defeat matter when there’s another 5 games to come?

Last season Liverpool lost 2 and drew 1 of their first 3 games. They still got through by winning the final 3 games. There is no excitement in the group stages until maybe the final game where a team has to win to go through. It’s all about getting to the last 16 where the real football starts as one error and you could be out.

So why don’t UEFA turn the Champions League back into a knock out competition like the old days? The answer of course is money. But eventually these group stage games will see stadiums become even more emptier than they are now. There are 32 teams in the competition. Why not just chuck all the names in the hat and have an exciting 2 legged match?

Imagine if Barcelona drew Real Madrid? Surly that’s better than Barcelona and someone like Debrecen (which could still happen of course). It would be down to the luck of the draw. But again UEFA bigwigs won’t do this. They seed teams so that the big guns miss each other. UEFA would hate their showcase final to be AZ v Olympiakos for example. By seeding teams it guarantees at least 1 of the top 10 teams in Europe will be in the final.

Last Night Inter Milan put 11 men behind the ball at home so they didn’t lose. Why? Because they have another 5 games in which to qualify. They wouldn’t have done that if it was a two legged affair. The biggest Champions League attendance of the week 83000 left the stadium bored out of their brains as they watched what was in reality a training match of attack versus defence.

Eventually the Champions League will turn into the European Super League and will be played in midweek running alongside each countries own league. Top sides from Europe’s strongest teams will play in a league that will have a better standard of games each week and most importantly generate millions from TV rights and sponsorship.

People will want to watch AC Milan versus Valencia or Arsenal versus Real Madrid as its far more exciting than the Group D match which took place this week of Altetico Madrid and Apoel Nicosia. But for now we have to put up with 5 more rounds of dull football.

Wake me up in March when it gets exciting.

Stan Collymore, Daily Mirror, June 2009….

‘Chelsea are the new FA Cup holders but their fans should be worried as Carlo Ancelotti becomes the new manager of their ageing team,

Chelsea need rejuvenating and a better balance throughout the squad…To become Premier League champions, the Stamford Bridge outfit spent a lot of money over several seasons. And they still couldn’t become European champions. But to renew their challenge now, they need more considerable investment. And that’s why I question whether Ancelotti is the man to perform this job.’

‘If Chelsea fail to shake-up their squad this summer, I see them struggling to finish in the top four. In Serie A you can get away with the old guard. But that will get found out in the Prem. “

So let’s fast forward 2 months and with Chelsea having only added Ross Turnbull (a third choice keeper), Daniel Sturridge (a third choice striker) and Zhirkov who will more than likely be 2nd choice if Bosingwa is fit, what does Collymore now make of Chelsea’s title chances?

‘Move over United, your time as champions is up. A year ago I had no hesitation in plumping for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men for the title because they looked by far the strongest of the Big Four. This time around, though, I fear they will be found wanting – and Chelsea are the side I’ll be backing to take advantage.’

What a moron.

April fool’s day normally brings out a few tricks on the radio and newspapers but in the early hours of April 1st I thought Talksport had played the best one in years.
A few moments into Ian Collins’s late show the breaking news was that Alan Shearer was to become what seemed like Newcastle’s 37th manager this season.  It may have been April 1st but amazingly this was no wind up.

This is what Toon Army fans have wanted since the fiasco of Kevin Keegan, Dennis wise, Joe Kinnear and Chris Houghton. OK so Dennis Wise hasn’t had a go on the Newcastle management merry go round ride but his appointment caused King Kev to walk so ill include him. I just can’t understand why this (Shearer) appointment is so welcomed by the Toon.

I truly do not know what Newcastle United’s chairman Mike Ashley is doing in appointing sofa pundit Shearer as manager. Just because you appoint a legendry player as manager doesn’t mean success. The failures of players as managers far outweigh the success’s.

Ashley only needs to cast his eye over the North East to see that Middlesbrough and Sunderland are fighting relegation after employing ex-players as managers. Keane didn’t play for Sunderland but it was his first managerial job. He did excellently in his first season getting them promotion from the Championship but struggled in his 2nd season, his first in the Premiership and was sacked in his 3rd.

Gareth Southgate, the man who for some reason didn’t have to take his coaching badges to get the job has constantly seen his side flirt with the drop since his appointment. This season it looks as if that flirting will turn into a full blown affair with the Championship. Borough have won only 1 in 13 games (against Liverpool no less) and that is relegation form.

It’s no surprise that the top 4 teams in England have managers that have learnt their trade in the lower leagues. Only Ferguson was a successful player but he cut his cloth in Scotland. He did wonders at Aberdeen and eventually after 5 poor seasons turned it round at United. Both Benitez and Wenger were never good footballers and knowing this studied the game for years managing teams out of the top flight before being ready to take a job with a top club.

Due to his dicky ticker it was obvious that Kinnear could never carry but what does Alan Shearer bring  to the Newcastle table other than his popularity among supporters? Not a lot. Shearer hasn’t even been coaching a youth or reserve team. I doubt half the players at Newcastle have never even met Shearer. Some, especially the foreign players, may not even know who he is. The players Shearer played with have long gone as Newcastle have brought in expensive flop after flop in the last few seasons.

To confirm this totally bizarre arrangement it’s also been announced that Shearer is bringing football expert and coach Rob Lee to assist him!!!  Lee is Shearers golfing budding and just because they are best mates doesn’t get you 3 points on a Saturday afternoon. Like Shearer, Lee has spent most of his time since retirement as a pundit. Shearer can’t bring in any players due to the window now being shut and has 8 games to save them from the drop. He has to use the same players that the other managers had to use and all with no expertise in football management. He has his work cut out.

Of course Shearer has nothing to lose. He will always be a legend for Toon fans and they won’t be relegated due to these remaining 8 games. They are already in the bottom 3 on the strength of the 30 previous awful performances. The only strength Shearer may have is getting the best out of the forgotten man Michael Owen. But he still has to work with Martins and Amoebi and that’s a lot of training and time they don’t have to get them firing on all cylinders.

I really feel that Newcastle have a chance of being relegated. Shearers first game is against Chelsea (home) and they still have to play Liverpool, Spurs and Villa all away. The vital games if they are to survive are the home games against Middlesbrough & Portsmouth. If they are still struggling then the away game at Stoke will be their biggest game of the season.  You just can’t see where a run of form is going to kick in for them. They have been awful on the road this season and have taken some beatings at home as well so every game looks difficult for them.

I think Mike Ashley has to take a lot of blame to take for the state of the club. Hiring and firing at will causes no stability at the club. Players all always coming and going and I can’t remember Newcastle’s last good signing?
Ashley is certain to go at the end of the season but if the club is relegated then he won’t get a good price for the club. But the damage will have already been done by then. The “Cockney Mafia” will have bled the club and supporters dry leaving them facing trying to get back into the big time and that’s not easy. Just ask Charlton and Southampton supporters who are facing a 2nd relegation in 3 years.

As a Liverpool fan some of you may wonder why I have done this piece on Newcastle. The reason is that they contributed to 2 of the greatest games I have ever seen. The two 4-3 games in the 1990s are amazing and Newcastle played their part in that. Also I think every neutral football fan wanted them to beat Utd to the title in 1996. They were 12 points clear and blew it. I don’t think the club has ever truly recovered from that. Who knows where they would be now if they were Champions that year? Would they have been a Blackburn, one season wonders or would they have gone on to greater things? No one will ever know but even as a massive LFC fan I would have “loved it, loved it” if they had won the title that year.

Yesterday I asked the question has football gone mad? This was a question posed after Manchester City offered AC Milan £107 million for Kaka and offered the player a reported wage of around £500,000 per WEEK. I said in my piece that if Kaka had decided to join City then it would be for purely financial gain and nothing else.
I wouldn’t blame a man for getting his head turned at the thought of a 400% weekly wage increase. We would all like that to happen to us.

I was delighted to read and hear this morning that Kaka has turned down the move claiming he didn’t even speak to City as he wasn’t interested.
This is a great result for football. It goes to show that some players still have morals and do love their club.
Milan accepted the £107 million offer and would have been mad not to but they left it to the player to decide. His decision is the correct one.
Kaka is a deeply religious person and does not play football for financial gain. He gives 10% of his £6 million yearly salary to his church whom stood to gain an extra £2 million a year if Kaka did go to City.
But Kaka has come out and said he listened to his heart and fans. He has always said he would only move for football reasons.
As posted yesterday City can’t offer anything to Kaka other than money and unluckily for them it’s the one thing Kaka is not that interested in.
To make matters worse for City fans this news came just after the club had announced that they had signed the poisoned dwarf Craig “8 clubs” Bellamy. Blue Monday indeed!!!

£100m for 1 player? Has the world gone mad? It would seem so.

Before I start I am not jealous of City. If they can sign Kaka then good luck to them. They need all the luck they can get at the moment while struggling to survive in the Premier League. It would also benefit Liverpool as Kaka won’t do half as much damage playing for City as he can for Chelsea, Man U or Arsenal.

With City facing a relegation battle do they need a playmaker for £100m?
City have the second highest goal tally this year but at the same time also have one of the worst defensive records.
City at the moment need 2 goals just to be certain of a draw.

You could buy a new team for £100m and City do need to start again. For £100m they could sign players with Premier league experience such as Given, Heskey, Owen, Downing, Lescott, Parker & Alex to name a few. They would still have a chunk of money left over.

At this moment Kaka isn’t the player that City need and Mark Hughes knows it. He tells us that it’s his choice but does he expect us to believe he sat down and said “right, I want to sign Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy and…..Kaka.”
Not a chance.

The new owners want a “Marquee” signing and seem intent on bringing in Kaka regardless of the fact that he is a square peg in a round hole at this moment. He is also cup tied for the UEFA cup. I don’t think Kaka has ever been in a relegation battle but if he joins City that’s exactly what he will be in. Also he would have to do without European football for at least 2 years (unless City win the UEFA cup this year, unlikely) and Champions league football for a further 3 years.

I suppose that now City look like signing Craig Bellamy Kaka will be chomping at the bit to play for City!!!

Now to the player. Kaka is a deeply religious person and very loyal. If he does end up at City I think they will be signing a player who doesn’t want to be there. Everyone is saying Kaka is not interested in money and if that’s the case and AC Milan accept the £100 million bid (they would be mad not to) Kaka should turn around and say that he is disappointed in the club for taking the money and he will leave but to a club of his choice. If it’s all about football for Kaka then City cannot offer him anything that Milan, Madrid or any other top club can apart from more money.

Milan & Kaka turned down 2 bids from Real Madrid last year but if Kaka were to choose his next club it would Madrid and not City. Of course deep down Kaka is human and if offered £250k a week to play for an less than average team then why not take it? With so many clauses that he would have inserted into his contract then he could be out of Eastland’s by June this year if things go badly wrong.

City’s owners are hoping that by capturing Kaka this will lead to all world class players wanting to play for City. I don’t think this will happen. Torres, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Cassilas, Terry, Lampard, and Rooney have all said they would never play for City as its about medals and not money. At City they would be paid silly money but have nothing to show for it. After a while even a footballer can’t want any more money. There can only be a certain amount you earn before you get bored with it. Yes it’s a short career but 10 years of earning £100k a week is more than enough.

For football reasons alone I hope that Milan either turns down the money offered by City or that Kaka turns down the move himself. If Kaka does go to City he would have been pushed because as per before City cannot offer him anything football related that at least 10 world class teams can other than money. Milan would have sold their souls to the € signs. They would have lost a world class player and for me it would be the day that football died.