Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Dempsey behind Seattle Sounders' decline
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| (c) Author's collection |
Rumours persist that Seattle
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid needs at least an appearance in the MLS Cup Final to
retain his job.
He won’t get it.
Despite boasting – on paper – the best forward line in the seventeen-year
history of MLS, the team has almost completely failed to gel and enters the
playoffs with form that can only be described as calamitous.
The downturn can be traced to
what seemed the Sounders’ zenith, the capture
of USMNT talisman Clint Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur and his presentation
to the throng as all-conquering Caesar.
The crowd thrummed as “The Deuce” emerged onto CenturyLink field to his rather overstated rap,
all expectant that the best-credentialled outfield player in American soccer would
complete Seattle’s reformation from inertia-bound locomotive into filthy, filthy
machine. Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Eddie
Johnson and Mauro Rosales? Heaven help Real
Salt Lake and the Galaxy.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Ian Holloway: Don't you think he looks tired?
“Six little words that
could bring down a government … don’t you think she looks tired?”
Those words and a couple of questionable decisions ousted
the fictional Harriet Jones from the Prime Ministership of Great Britain. So powerful is one’s
appearance that all it takes is speculative criticism and fading appearance
to lose a grip on authority.
In related news, everyone’s
favourite jumble-a-quote man Ian Holloway has left Crystal Palace by mutual
consent after winning only one of his team’s eight Premier League games so far
this season. Former Bristol City manager
Keith Millen will take over as interim boss as the club investigates possible
new blood; names mentioned so far have included former Stoke City manager Tony
Pulis, a re-hired Neil Warnock and Western
Sydney Wanderers manager Tony Popovic.
This may genuinely be one of those rare situations in
football where the term mutual consent
isn’t simply a kinder synonym for sacked. A man whose straightforward nature and
Worzel-type accent sometimes drew attention away
from a keen football mind, Holloway was visibly exhausted only three months
into the season and as he failed to balance a squad that boasted plenty of
players but only a few of even an average level. His flowing,
offensive tactics have plenty of merit in the Championship but have now
failed twice to transport to Premier League standard.
The travails of managing a club unprepared for life at the
top level were apparent on his usually smiling features. Recent pictures – including this one, usually a bog-standard "manager shot" – show
a defeated man, albeit one who hadn’t yet surrendered. When even the involuntary parts of body language
betray a manager so quickly, doubts build about his ability to make effective
decisions; as the stress increased, it became increasingly apparent that Ian
Holloway’s future lay away from Selhurst Park.
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