March 2013

It’s Oscar season and with the Pistorius tragedy still on everyone’s lips the temptation to drop a quip is almost overbearing, but for the sake of true sports fans I will restrain myself and confess that whilst the world is wondering who is going to win Best Film, who is going to scoop Best Actor, who will cause a stir on the red carpet, and of course will the “blade gunner” get off, my kind are sick to the core at Fergie’s genius, as begrudgingly predicted in my previous installments. The Red Devils have increased their lead to 12 points and, to add insult to injury, have held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu, placing them in an enviable position for the return leg in the Champions League. They also have qualified for the quarter finals of the F.A Cup ensuring that their dream of the treble stays alive. DRAT!!!

So for all of you non Red Devils out there here is what you have to look forward to: the only team to blow a 12 point lead is - Yes, you guessed it: Liverpool!! So all we can hope is Fergie has tea with Benitez and Roy Evans and they teach him a trick or two. In the F.A Cup it is not as bleak. Chelsea who are out of the running in the league are Man United’s likely opponents in the quarter finals and they could ruin the Stratford End’s hope for a treble. The blues need this trophy to have a decent season. As for the Champions League, I hope Ronaldo’s hairdressers give him enough hair gel to enable him to ease past his markers and turn the Theatre of Dreams into the site of a horrible nightmare! So, if the writer’s prediction/hopes are true, come next installment Man United shall be leading the League but will not be part of the F.A Cup and the Champions League.

The Citizens have been a letdown. They gotten rid of the enigmatic and entertaining Ballotelli (the EPL’s loss), and Mancini seems to be looking to blame everyone else but himself for the team’s woes. 12 points adrift there is no room for error in their remaining games which they clearly have the quality to win. Toure and Tevez will have to step up and lead as Mancini has revealed he lacks a “liver” that can be entrusted with the Project. They are also still in the F.A Cup and winning, which might be enough for the fans; after all Rome wasn’t built in a day, even if you have the money to do it in a day.

Arsenal’s woes continue. They are out of the F.A Cup and virtually out of the Champions League and have no title prospects. The Emirates need a change. They have changed stadiums, players and the only thing they have not changed is their manager for the past 16 years. So by a process of elimination, maybe it's time for Wenger to step down. What will be decisive is if Arsenal will make it to the top four; if they don’t, Wenger should do the right thing and give “change” a chance. Sound familiar??

As for Chelsea, as already mentioned I hope they will save face with the F.A Cup. Clearly, they are in a transition phase and this season is the price they pay for saying goodbye to the Terry’s, Lampard’s and Drogba’s: a group that won everything and defined the club. This season’s failures can be excused and hopefully their Russian owner will use this watershed moment to see how far Chelsea have come and put in place phase 2 i.e. how to stay at the top.

Lastly the Reds: out of everything and with an outside/slim chance of making the Top Four; this season has been hard for the fans. Liverpool has been inconsistent and to be honest, has sometimes looked directionless, seeming to have too many average players to make the grade in a demanding league. Brendan Rogers’s philosophy of passing football is not wrong but one has to question his competency when he claims that Allen is the British Xavi. So in a nutshell, like Arsenal Liverpool need to have long hard look in the mirror and stop looking back. It will be interesting to see what they do during the off season to beef up their squad.

Tottenham and Everton continue their growth and the run in could see them replace Arsenal and Liverpool in the “Big Boys Council”. The challenge will be their ability to finance and galvanize such a transition. Will Tottenham keep Bale? Will Everton continue to improve? All these questions will be answered by the off season's wheeling and dealing. Good luck Spurs and Toffees.

As for the Survivor Series, QPR are still at the bottom with Wigan, Reading and Aston Villa too close for comfort with 14 games to go and 1 suspect from Norwich down. It is too close to the sink hole and any of those teams could go down depending on their fixture list. So as you watch it unfold, dreams getting crushed and heroes being made spare a thought for the Nottingham Forests and Blackburn’s of this world and revel in all that the EPL is, till the next time.

Go Ronaldo!!!