to catch.
I’m pretty sure most of the country, bar a small part of another country were hoping that Blackpool would take their place as next season’s Premier League whipping boys on Saturday.
I quite like the Cardiff manager, Dave Jones, seems a decent type but who really wants Taffs in the league? No one that’s who. Now I also like Ian Holloway, there’s an honesty to him that’s quite refreshing in the game.
I also like the way he totally changed his outlook of the game when he was sacked from Leicester and had some time out watching in Spain and Italy. A move that saw him move from being a typical old fashioned English manager that instructed his player to hump it up the park as quickly as possible to one that wanted his team to play the game. A move that was helped by seeing current Wigan boss play do it with his previous club Swansea in the Championship. Though this may prove an indicator for Holloway in the top flight, you have to have the right players to do it at this level, or it can prove to be a bit it and miss. Though with Wigan it was hit against the “bigger” sides and miss against the rest.
It also led to a certain 9-1 scoreline that wasn’t in their favour. And when you look at Blackpool’s current squad – there ain’t many Armfileds, Mortensens, Mathews, Hughes or Balls amongst that lot – and think that if they are sensible they won’t go overboard on the spending so that squad won’t be vastly improved and they go out to play as they did in the first half of the Championship playoff. Then there could be a few spankings handed out on the way, even if Bloomfield Road might be a bit of a shock to a lot of the Premier League’s millionaire show ponies.
But for the rest of us it’ll be good, I mean who would you rather hear from in a post match interview Olly or that gollum ManUre put up because Fergie won’t talk to the Beeb? Though isn’t that changing this season and old Sir Ferguson of Pucenose will have to stump up after the game. They’ll be fun, one word answers won’t they.
I was also happy for the Blackpool captain last time they were in the top flight, Jimmy Armfield, best right back in the world and a great servant of the game.
They said about Wimbledon that we wouldn’t see the likes again, a small team rising fro the very depths to the top flight, well Blackpool have had a long way to come since they were last there. It’s funny to think that the playoff probably overshadowed the more prestigious game of the day. The Champions League final.
Now odd as it seems after saying why I like the previous two managers, I also like Jose. I like the way he winds certain people up. People like Pugwash and other Liverpool fanboys, Whinging Wenger and the scum that worship him. Hell I even agreed with him about Spurs parking the bus at Chelski’s ground under Santini – was it really 6 years ago?
So I was happy Inter won the trophy on Saturday night. For all the talk about about Mourinho’s negative “anti-football” tactics – well hell it is Inter Milan they invented and perfected the one nil win – the fact was that Munich were crap and and exceptionally poor team for a final. And they wouldn’t have been much better with Ribbery available. When the stats came up during the match stating the possession was 67% to 33% in favour of Munich I wondered how much of that 67% the ball spent at the feet of Robben, as all around him seasoned internationals hid.
Now some are questioning why Jose would leave Inter for the poisoned chalice of Madrid. They don’t seem to understand the man at all. He’s done it at Inter, won what they wanted the European Cup after 45 years, after that there’s nothing to prove there, it’s been done. Now Madrid is a challenge and he likes to challenge himself unlike those that don’t seem to understand.
Amazing to think that Jose and Olly have a bit in common, of course both very quotable but both very serious when it comes to the game and both have a belief in themselves that they pass onto their players. I mean Inter weren’t the best team in this years competition – I don’t go along with the thought he only wins with money – and they haven’t won it when they probably were previously and Blackpool, well they were favourites to be relegated at the start of the season not in the top flight for the first time since 1971.