Clark Left Perplexed at Exit

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

News broke on Tuesday that Huddersfield Town had decided to sack manager Lee Clark after three and a half years at the Helm. Clark leaves the Terriers forth in the League One table only four points behind Sheffield United. Clark’s fantastic record at the club has left fans angry and confused at his sacking.

Clark began his coaching career at his home town club Newcastle United before moving onto Norwich City as the assistant manager. He was appointed manager of Huddersfield on December 15, 2008 and lead the Terriers to a ninth place finish. Clark’s tenure at the Galpharm Stadium brought 87 wins from 177 matches and two playoff appearances.

The Former Huddersfield Manager was left rather shocked at his sudden exit form the club. “Needless to say I am extremely disappointed and shocked considering that, with just 16 games left, we are in a such great position to compete for automatic promotion.

“We built on last season’s momentum following the play-off final by creating history in the Football League record books for consecutive unbeaten games. This was an immense achievement by everybody connected with the club.

“I am massively proud of my record with Huddersfield and I enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the players, coaching staff, supporters and indeed everybody at the club. I now wish them all the very best for the future and hope they will ultimately achieve promotion this season.”

Terriers fans were also left dumbfounded at the clubs decision to let there popular manager go, many fans encouraging the Geordie to apply for the Leeds Utd job which remains vacant.

Huddersfield Academy boss Mark Lillis will take charge of first team affairs for the time being while the club search for a new manager.

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St. James’ Park to be Renamed

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

SkySports reported this morning that the home of Newcastle Utd will officially be renamed the Sports Direct Arena.

The Magpies are looking to sell the naming rights in order to “make the club self sufficient.”

Derek Llambias stated that “selling the naming rights offers a lucrative way to secure significant additional income.”

Also that “Our shirt sponsorship deal with Northern Rock will also expire at the end of this season, which presents would-be sponsors with the opportunity to acquire both the naming rights and shirt sponsorship deals.”

As a Newcastle fan I can definitely understand the way football is headed and we would be following an alarming tradition of selling our souls to the highest bidder. I do not agree with how this is being handled. If we are selling naming rights why are we renaming the stadium after Mike Ashley’s company, are they paying like any other sponsor. Why are they not waiting until we have a legitimate sponsor before they destroy a piece of Newcastle history.

Its rather convenient that this announcement comes when we are third, and most toon fans are distracted by our lofty position.

Well done Mr. Ashley you have eventually got what you wanted. Maybe we should also be called Sports Direct FC.

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FIFA Agrees Compromise with FA Over Poppies

Posted on November 9, 2011 by

The Football Association has reached a deal with FIFA over their request to wear poppies in their friendly against Spain. England will now wear a black armband with a poppy on it rather than on their shirts. Earlier in the week FIFA turned down the request for England players to wear poppies and PM David Cameron called the decision “Outrageous.”

FIFA explained that England’s match shirts could not have the poppy embroidered onto them because it would be classified as a political statement. They felt this would then open the door for “similar initiatives” across the world.

The FA had been on somewhat of a collision course with the worlds football governing body. The recent World Cup 2018 bidding process looked like it had brought the two groups to a crossroads. With FIFA taking a rather obvious, “lets give to anyone but England” approach everyone should be rather surprised they caved on this issue.

Careful With That Wrist Mr. Blatter

English football in general has been at the forefront of many spats with Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA. In recent years Blatter has been seen as an Anti-English supporter. He seemed extremely upset when English clubs dominated the knock-out stages of the Champions League and claimed La Liga was the best league in the world.

For the time being the Football Association seems to have claimed the fire. England face Spain at Wembley on Saturday, kickoff is scheduled for 5.15 p.m.

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Arsenal Gun Down Blues

Posted on October 31, 2011 by

Arsenal Celebrate Famous Win

Arsenal made their claim to be back among the top four after mauling Chelsea 5-3 at the Bridge on Saturday. The result leaves the Gunners seventh and only three point behind the Blues.

Arsene Wenger stated all week that people should not underestimate his team and he certainly seems to know what he is talking about. Despite being 2-1 down at half time Arsenal came out in the second half and give Cheslea a lesson in counter attacking football. Robin Van Persie had a huge game for the Gunners scoring a hatrick and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball.

The game began with end to end football and either team could have taken the lead. Frank Lampard opened the scoring with a well placed header after great work from Juan Mata down the right. Van Persie scored the first of his goals after 36 minutes, tapping in a pull back from Gervinho. Just before half time John Terry managed to bundle in a corner to make it 2-1 to the Blues.

It was all Arsenal after the break and some poor defending by Jose Bosingwa allowed Santos to side foot past Cech, who really should have done better. Arsenal were in front minutes later when Theo Walcott danced and slid his way through the Chelsea back line to fire past Cech at his near post.

Chelsea did show a little resilience and their best player made it 3-3, Juan Mata’s strike from 30 yards out beating Szczesny. However, not more than four minutes later a bad pass from Malouda and a slip from Terry let Van Perise in and he calmly rounded Cech to put the Gunners back in front. Chelsea looked defeated and that man Van Persie struck again on the counter attack to put the game beyond doubt.

Andre Villas-Boas will be shocked by the standard of defending his team showed but has claimed he will not change his attacking style. The Blues also have major problems with Fernando Torres who again looked lost and was largely ineffectual. Danny Sturridge also had an extremely poor game, losing possession on a number of occasions.

Next up for the Gunners is a home fixture against West Brom and Chelsea take on Blackburn at Ewood Park.

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Sunday Football Returns

Posted on September 11, 2011 by

It may well be the best day of the week for five months of the year. The NFL returns this weekend and I for one welcome it back with open arms.

In July, football season looked all but lost, men around the country were scratching their heads wondering what they were going to do with all that free time. Out of the blue the commissioner and the players came to an agreement and here we are.

The Packers have already shown their hand and it looks like a damn good one. Aaron Rodgers showed why he is considered one of the best Quarterbacks in the league with 3 TD’s, 312 yards. Drew Brees was not far behind Rodgers with 4TD’s, 419 yards but could not pick up the win going down 42-34.

A full day of football kick’s off with some very interesting games. The new look Philadelphia Eagles face off against Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams while the Pittsburgh Steelers meet divisional rivals Baltimore.

Later in the day the Dallas Cowboys open their season against Rex Ryan’s New York Jets . The Cowboys will be looking to rebound from a disappointing 2010 which saw them lose Tony Romo for the season.

With all the drama unfolding on Sunday one of the more interesting stories will be the Indianapolis Colts. With Peyton Manning out for most, if not all of the season, Kerry Collins will be in charge of running one of the most efficient offenses in football. Manning worked all of 2010 with a depleted wide receiver roster, still managing to throw for 4,700 yards and 33 TD’s. Collins will have Tight End threat Dallas Clark back after he was lost for half of 2010.

The week ends with an expected blowout in Miami where Tom Brady and the New England Patriots face off against the Dolphins. Starting Quarterback Chad Henne still has a lot to prove in 2011 and it is expected that if he does not step up, his time in Miami will quickly come to an end.

Two upsets that would not surprise me would be the Cowboys over the Jets and the Redskins over the Giants. I feel like Dallas has the potential to score 27 points but Mark Sanchez may struggle to find a rhythm against the Cowboys defense. The Giants’ biggest enemy may be their inconsistent offense, turnovers and a Redskins team with a big point to prove at FedEx Field.

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