Shambolic

 

Also "gutless." "Pathetic." "Unorganized." "Shameful."  Lee Ryder of The Chronicle forgot to include "undisciplined" in his account of Newcastle's disturbing 0-3 loss to Leicester.  Two easy goals on set pieces and a silly foul in the box were more than enough for the Foxes as Newcastle generated very little offense.  It was such an awful performance I almost felt like I needed to hide my Newcastle paraphernalia and maybe take shower. Combined with Sunderland's win over Southampton, Newcastle now sit just two points about the relegation zone. 

This sad state of affairs was not inevitable but it was foreseeable.  Let us take a quick look at the responsible parties.

1. Mike Ashley - The strategy of spending just enough to stay up is always risky but two major miscalculations this past January made the threat all too real.  First, he decided that Newcastle had accumulated enough points that there was no need to address two obvious deficiencies (the back line and striker) in the squad.  Injuries and, ahem, player indiscretions on the field have forced Newcastle to field a makeshift line up for nearly every match since January.  Second, he believed that Newcastle could survive with a "caretaker" manager until the end of the season.  I think we've seen enough at this point to realize John Carver is not up to the task.

2. The aforementioned John Carver - Yes he 's had to deal with injuries and suspensions but he doesn't seem to be able to adjust at all in matches.  The players are unmotivated.  And his views about Williamson and Janmaat possibly taking red cards to get out of playing - whether accurate or not - should not be aired in public but should be between the manager and the players.

3. The aforementioned players - You can't fault players for not being talented enough to do what they are asked.  You can fault them for lack of effort.  But what's most disappointing is the breakdown of discipline.  Cisse's spitting. Sissoko, Williamson and Janmaat getting suspended for two yellows in a match.  No wonder the fans are up in arms.

4. The aforementioned fans - Pardew's realization that Ashley wasn't going to spend in the January transfer window was obviously a factor in his departure to Crystal Palace, but the fans actively sought his ouster and made it clear he would never be accepted by the Geordies.  Oh, and do you know of any other club where opposing managers try to use the home fans against their own side?  As in, "we hope to score early and get the Newcastle fans to turn on the team."

I don't think Pardew is a genius but I do believe he would have guided Newcastle to safety by this point; his ability to adjust had made Newcastle the best second half team when he left. 

So now we will sweat it out.


Three Points from Heaven

Watching Aston Villa's match might have been the perfect antidote to the Newcastle debacle but I chose Liverpool-QPR instead.  But Dennis will be more than happy to describe the joy of watching your side come through in unexpected ways.

Benteke has been doing a lot of this lately.

Now this is the team that I have become accustomed to under Sherwood (except for the benching of Brad Guzan for his questionable decisions from last week).  Villa came out firing on all cylinders and looked threatening early and often - Benteke netted yet another header after just 10 minutes and doubled the lead right before half time.  Villa could have had 2 or 3 others in the half and the score line would not have been unwarranted.  Vlaar gave Everton a path back in game, conceding a penalty with a desperate challenge after several Villa miscues.  He has done this more than once this season but I think that just comes with the territory of being a center back.  Only 5 minutes later, Bacuna shredded the Everton back line with a single pass and Tom Cleverly (of all people!) ripped a shot past Howard to restore the two goal cushion.  


Villa just can't make things easy on themselves and conceded in the 92nd minute.  I think I need a homer check on this play.  I tend to think that fouls are called on keepers much too easily and don't think they need to be protected quite as much as they are.  In this instance, it really appeared as though one of Given's arms was being held to his side by Seamus Coleman, not allowing him to make what should have been an easy catch.  After the play. Coleman clearly walks away sheepishly because he know he got away with one.  The goal ended up not mattering (for now - keep an eye on goal differential in the relegation battle), but it was incredibly frustrating given what generally passes for a foul on a keeper.  Help me out - was that a foul or am I just mad because the call went against my team? [Doesn't look awful from this video but I found another view looking down the goal line in which it looks like Coleman did interfere with Givens.]

This win puts Villa firmly in the driver's seat to avoid relegation, with 6 teams in their rear view mirror.  It's hard to believe they are one of the three worst teams in the league and equally hard to believe they won't get any more points this season.  It could certainly happen, but even I am feeling positive about their current position.


Chelsea Clinches

The view at the top is mostly boring at this point.  Chelsea clinched the title with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.  Tottenham (0-1 to Man City) and Southampton (1-2 to Sunderland) effectively ended their chances for the last Champions League spot.  Liverpool, with a 1-0 win over QPR edged to within four points of slumping Man United, which lost 0-1 to West Brom; with three matches left, and given the Red Devils recent form, that last spot may still be in play.

No, the bottom part of the table is where all the "fun" is.  Off their weekend losses, QPR and especially Burnley, at 27 and 26 points respectively, are pretty much toast; losses this weekend would sew up relegation for both (even a draw would end things for Burnley).  But from there, things get quite interesting.
The scenarios are numerous but I'll highlight three to give a flavor for how wide open this is.

1.West Brom gets relegated with 40 points - highly unlikely given the string of upsets that would be required but I missed this possibility last week (West Brom, QPR and Burnley would be out)
2. Newcastle and Aston Villa both do not get another point but do not get relegated - not as crazy as it sounds but Burnley has to beat Hull City this weekend or this possibility vanishes (Burnley, QPR and one of Leicester/Sunderland/Hull would be out)
3.  Newcastle and Aston Villa both get relegated - also not as crazy as it sounds but if both QPR and Burnley don't win this weekend, that scenario is gone too.


Union Toronto In Person

In contrast to Newcastle, at least this was a contest.  Not to say the Union prevailed but they played pretty much even with Toronto, surrendering the only goal on a free kick that maybe McCarthy should have gotten to.  But Maidana hit the post late in the first half and Aristiguieta scored an Aston Villa goal (in the net but called back for offside).  The PPL faithful went nuts on the offside call but I thought Aristiguieta had broken too quickly and even as I rose to celebrate I was looking to the AR for confirmation of what I feared.  Didn't see a replay but others who did say he was indeed offside.  Despite the 0-1 loss, this was a decent way to spend a warm Saturday afternoon.

But like my favorite English side, there's a bit of a soap opera atmosphere hovering in the Chester air.  Recall our riches to rags situation at keeper in which, despite the dubious accomplishment of having three No. 1 keepers, injuries, loans and overall suckiness reduced us to none and we signed a USL player - McCarthy.  Well now he's hurt (concussion in practice) and the injured keeper - Blake - was back in training and possibly ready for action except he's hurt again (tore the other meniscus, also in practice on Tuesday, minutes before McCarthy got hurt).  Fortunately, Mbohli had already returned from exile in France, so maybe he's back, except coach Jim Curtin's statements to the press don't inspire confidence that he's ready to play.  Dave Zeitlin at mlssoccer.com noted that "When asked what he’s looking for in a backup or potential starter, Curtin joked: “Any goalkeeper in the good ol’ U.S. of A right now.”"  Meanwhile, there is a match vs Vancouver on Saturday and, by rule, they must have a keeper on the field.  Hey Chris K, how soon can you be here?


Cyber Raise!

The board of Chester, in its infinite wisdom, has offered me a raise from $2,600 per week to $20,000 per week.  Woo-woo, I'm a cyber millionaire!  Seems fair enough for managing the 6th best team in all of English football.  Even better news, they have set our transfer budget at $38 million.  As I write, scouts are furiously compiling reports and assessing which players we will pursue in the summer transfer window.

Courtesy of Michael B, this link discusses whether addiction to Football Manager is a medical problem.  Excerpt:

Dr Is it a problem? Or is it just something you enjoy? Is it negatively impacting anything in your life?
Me Well, sometimes my wife gets offended if she’s watching a Jennifer Aniston movie and I play it on my laptop on the sofa next to her.
Dr Well, you’ve got a problem.
Me I have?
Dr Yes, Jennifer Aniston movies are almost exclusively awful.
Me It’s not just me, is it?
Dr Nope.



Nerve-wracking Weekends Ahead

Hey Everton!  Wake up and take care of Sunderland at Goodison Park this Saturday.  Thank you.  Ditto for you Southampton in your travels to Leicester City and Manchester City as you host QPR.  Hull City vs Burnley is not so obvious, but I'm going to hope for a Burnley win because that would keep Hull below Newcastle, regardless of what the Magpies do on Saturday against West Brom.  Ooh, NBCSN has made that the 10 am match for Saturday; parental advisory for that telecast from St. James Park.   Aston Villa is already ahead of us and it's Dennis's team so we'll be pulling for them against West Ham.

Back in August, the Chelsea-Liverpool might have been projected as a critical contest in the title chase but now it only matters to Liverpool in their quest for the Champions League.  Man United faces a Crystal Palace side that has fallen off in the last few weeks, which may be a good thing for their Champions League aspirations.  Tottenham, playing like a side trying to avoid the Europa League travels to Stoke.  And Arsenal hosts Swansea in a match, that as far as we can tell, is of little consequence except possibly the amount of prize money each will receive at year end.

Also, second legs of Champions League semis.  Juventus up 2-1 on Real Madrid heading to Spain and Barcelona up 3-0 on Bayern Munich heading to Germany.

That sound you hear is the gnashing of teeth...