The Football tourist

Tuesday 15th August 2023: League One: The Valley: Charlton Athletic vs Bristol Rovers

Between watching this incredible spectacle yesterday and writing about it today my phone has gone haywire and is currently utterly unusable. Due to these untimely technical difficulties I had a look at the official statistics from the game to help refresh my memory of events. Never has a set of numbers caused me more confusion, the only things that tallies with my recollections are the final score and the timing of the goals.

From my vantage point in the home stands I saw Charlton dominate the full 98 minutes of play, from the first whistle to the last they played Bristol Rovers off the park the only problem they had was an inability to turn their glut of chances into goals. I thought the official possession stats would be at least 80-20 in the hosts favour but they came out at just 53%-47% to the hosts instead.

Charlton created a ton of chances in the first half thanks to their brilliant interplay down each flank that the Rovers full backs just couldn’t live with. Corey Blackett-Taylor, on the left, Nathan Asimwe and Karoy Anderson, both on the right, were turning their opposite numbers inside out at every opportunity and then laying on a sumptuous variety of balls for strikers Jack Payne and Alfie May in the centre.

How they failed to truly test Matthew Cox in the visitor’s goal only they will know, but even when the wingers took on the task themselves they failed to beat the Brentford loannee.

Even though Rovers had managed to limp to half-time with the match all square at 0-0 it felt like only a matter of time till Charlton took the lead they deserved. With the amount of chances Alfie May in particular was getting, and his form at previous club Cheltenham Town, I would have bet my house on him being the man to break the deadlock.

It was not to be however, as Scott Sinclair fired the visitors into the lead completely against the run of play in the 58th minute. Rovers had barely threatened the home goal up to this point but when a free-kick from the left was parried into his path by Charlton keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer he made no mistake in firing it home to give the Gas a lead they scarcely deserved.

When substitute Daniel Kanu finally restored a well-deserved parity to proceedings in the 72nd minute it felt, once again, like it was only a matter of time before Charlton secured the 3 points their performance deserved. It was not to be….

The ultimate sucker punch would be delivered by another substitute, Luke McCormick, deep into injury time at the end of the 90. However, before it arrived it looked like Alfie May would provide me, and all the home fans, with the goal we all expected him to provide.

Twice teammates put him clear through on goal with just Cox standing in the way of the winner. On the first occasion he was cynically chopped down by recovering defender Josh Grant, a tackle for which he was extremely luckily to be shown only a yellow card.

On the second he held off all defenders and even managed to slide the ball past the onrushing Cox… only to see it cannon off the post.

Having seen both these chances added to all the others that went begging for the hosts it should have come as little surprise when McCormick punished the hosts with a clinical finish of his own minutes later.

To see a Rovers team who had been completely absent for large periods of the match walk off at the final whistle with all 3 points left me utterly shell-shocked.

It felt like a travesty to see the hosts dominate the whole match and yet come away with nothing, but I spose that’s what can happen when you don’t take your chances; someone else will take theirs and you end up leaving empty handed.

Whilst there are many positives for the hosts to take from the manner of the performance, but without goals to back up those performances they will struggle to secure the points they require to reach the heights they look capable of hitting.

Sunday 13th August 2023: Gtech Community Stadium: Premier League: Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur

My 2023/24 football season began where everything good always does, back home. Returning to church for the third season, after taking an extended summer break away from all things football (Women’s World Cup excepted), felt unsettling though as so much has changed since May.

My break has coincided with a serious drop in my passion for the game. All the drama around the newly minted Saudi league has added to my push to find a new angle to take this blog to reignite my passion for the game.

It seems that a lot of players at both Spurs and my beloved Bees have had similar summer struggles pulling them to pastures new.

Obviously Kane’s move to Bavaria is the big one that springs immediately to mind, but since their last showdown, in their penultimate match of last season, both teams have also had enforced changes between the sticks.

Lloris’ departure had been telegraphed for months beforehand, but Raya’s move was still mid saga as this game kicked off (he has since completed a season long loan to Arsenal). Without these stalwarts both teams would have to adapt and improvise, which is never the best way to start a season, and the team that could adapt quickest would win today’s showdown.

Both managers will have taken a lot of positives from an enthralling first-half, during which both teams adapted well to their new realities. Flowing attacking play was the order of the day in the first half and this meant goals for the fans to enjoy, once play finally got underway.

Yeah, kick-off was delayed by around 10 minutes without any explanation (at half-time a water flow issue would be announced over the tannoy), but this delay failed to unsettle either team.

Honours even at 2-2 as the teams sprinted in for the break was a fair reflection of a half where neither team could be said to have gained a decisive upper hand. Though Thomas Frank, in the home dugout, has reason to be slightly unhappy at half-time though as the free-kick James Maddison won that lead to Spurs’ opener was unbelievably soft.

Once it was whipped into the back post Christian Romero made no mistake smashing it home to fire Spurs ahead, after an indeterminately long VAR check to confirm he wasn’t offside.

What happened in the aftermath was a clear sign of progress made over the summer. Romero was summarily whipped off the pitch as a precaution against a presumed concussion he picked up whilst scoring. He was apoplectic to be hooked in the midst of his crowning moment, but it’s great to see Ange Postecoglou setting out his store early as the new Spurs boss. He will not take chances with player’s health.

Brentford adapted well to going behind and after Bryan Mbeumo equalised from the penalty spot, Mathias Jensen having been felled by Heung-Min-Son, Yoane Wissa fired the Bees into the lead 8 minutes before the break.

All the VAR checks had added up to a ridiculous eleven minutes of added time at the end of the half Emerson Royal drew the visitors level with a delicious finish from 20 yards out.

Having conceded so late at the end of the half the Bees utterly failed to adapt to this body blow and came out for the second half as shells of their first half buzzing selves.

Throughout the second half they dropped deeper and deeper into their defensive third and invited the expansive attacking Spurs to crash in a 3rd goal that would have secured the full 3 points for the North Londoners.

Thankfully for the hosts and their multitude of devoted fans Spurs had also failed to adapt to their new circumstances. They created a glut of incredible chances, helped by a Bees back line missing the calming forces of both the departed Pontus Jansson and injured Ben Mee, but had no-one with the capability to finish them off.

Son was stuck out wide creating a heaping helping of the chances and with the creation of new boy James Maddison in midfield they served up plenty on a plate for ex-toffee Richarlison, now charged with filling Kane’s huge boots, but he lacked the quality and composure to gobble up the gifts.

If Spurs had held onto Kane they would have run riot in the second half against their extremely lacklustre hosts and I could have seen the final score running up to easily 7 or 8-2. As it was though I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief at the full time whistle as Spurs ineptitude in the final third without their record Premier League goal-scorer eclipsed Brentford’s inability to adapt to the gaping hole left in their defence without three of last season’s stalwarts.

Both managers will have left this match knowing they have a lot to work on to ensure their team has a successful season. Thomas Frank will hope both new keeper Mark Flekken and new defender Nathan Collins can adapt quickly to life in the Premier League and that Ben Mee is fit to return to first team duty as soon as possible. He also has to find a way to keep his team mentally focused on the task at hand no matter what body blows come their way.

For new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou the task is even simpler, just find a new 20 to 30 goal a season forward to replace the world class attacker who now plays his domestic football in Bavaria…easy

Success for both teams this season will hinge on how quick the answers to these problems can be found.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to get moving to South London for a midweek game between two League One teams adapting to life under new ownership.

So the Women’s World Cup Group Stage and a few things happened in it that I fancied writing about.

The sheer humiliation of the double-defending champions, The United States, limping into the knockouts and the brilliance of England finally kicking their campaign into top gear with a 6-1 drubbing of China to fire themselves through will be the big stories in most of the media.

The Lionesses’ Lauren James inspired victory that saw them waltz into the round of 16 as one of just 3 teams with a 100% record, the other 2 being Japan and Sweden, was a huge improvement in performance on the stuttering wins over Haiti and Denmark. It was also a sign of a team hitting their stride at just the right time.

What I wish to write about today is the 3 major teams, who everyone had as bankers to advance, that missed out on progression into the knockouts.

Lets start in Group B with reigning Olympic Champions Canada, the team that never got out of the starting blocks. It took them until the 53rd minute of their second match, against debutants the Republic of Ireland, for them to score their only goal of the whole tournament from their own boots.

The Irish had already opened the scoring for the match with an own goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Fans of the Canucks will have been filled with relief when those goals bulged the net, having seen their team miss a penalty in their opener against Nigeria.

Unfortunately, this was not the herald of the arrival of a Canadian team ready to push on and take the tournament by storm. In their final group game they collapsed at the first sign of aggression from their opponents, an Australian team fighting for their own survival, and ended up being destroyed 4-0.

At least their fans weren’t given the false hope of a swashbuckling opening victory before seeing their team fade into ignominy. Fans of Brazil and beaten Euro 2022 finalists Germany were not so lucky.

Brazil started their tournament by pummelling debutants Panama 4-0 in a exhibition of attacking football that few teams could have lived with. Despite this brilliant beginning they followed it up with a narrow 2-1 loss to the French in their next game, before failing to secure the win they needed against a Jamaican team that have scored once in 3 games.

The disappointing 0-0 draw was enough for the Reggae Girlz to sneak through at As Canarinhas’ expense.

German fans had the worst experience of the lot though. Starting off by obliterating debutants Morocco 6-0 was a tremendous start for one of the tournament favourites but it was all downhill from there.

Next up was the big test against a Colombian team that had started with an excellent 2-0 win over South Korea. Sure, that was a brilliant result for the South Americans but no-one really gave them a hope in hell of overcoming the Germans.

Proving people wrong seems to be the Colombian’s favourite past time though as a 97th minute Vanegas winner saw them pull of the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

No worries for the Germans really though as they just had to get a better result against pointless South Korea than the Moroccans they had trounced could get against their conquerors Colombia. Easy right?

Wrong, very wrong… the Germans could only manage a comeback 1-1 draw, despite creating a hatful of chances, which wasn’t enough to stop the Lionesses of Atlas securing the final knockout place with a 1-0 win over Colombia.

With the Americans in disarray, Germany, Canada and Brazil all out of the tournament and Sweden or the USA falling to the other in the round of 16 the tournament looks far more open than it did just a few short days ago.

The Lionesses are hitting top form at just the right time and, with Nigeria next up, I’m starting to tentatively believe that they could be about to add the World title to the European one they won so brilliantly at Wembley just over a year ago.

Bring on the knockouts and GO ON LIONESSES, bring football home again.

Saturday 25th February 2023: EFL League One: Montgomery Waters Meadow: Shrewsbury Town vs Wycombe Wanderers

In the wilds of Shropshire sits the quaint town of Shrewsbury. It was here that I was to witness a heavyweight bout, with the winners claiming the prize of a position on the edge of the playoff places at the end of the day.

Wycombe Wanderers travelled north in 7th place, just 3 points from the prize, and in fearsome form. They had yet to lose in 2023 and had lost just twice in the league since the start of November.

Gareth Ainsworth had been the man at the helm for them during this imperious run but, with QPR having tempted him to London to try and save their Championship status, it was down to new man Matt Bloomfield to keep this run going. Bloomfield had been in the post for just 3 full days before kick-off.

Steve Cotterill’s Shrews would be trying to end that run and close the gap to their visitors to just 5 points. The playoffs were within their reach before season’s end and a statement of intent here would go a long way towards achieving that goal.

The opening salvos of the match were encouraging fort the blue and gold Shrews as the chair boys looked to tip themselves over. Twice in the opening 5 minutes comical defensive errors from the visitors gave glimpses of goal to the hosts. The second of them was a back pass to thin air that the visitors scrambled clear at the last moment.

Further encouragement for the home fans could be taken from the early inability of Wycombe to coordinate their attacking play. Brandon Hanlan did great work to get free on the wing in the 9th minute, but he was forced to take on the shot alone when he looked up to see the box devoid of teammates. Marko Marosi, in the home net, was able to sit back and relax as the shot went soaring over the bar.

Unfortunately, the hosts weren’t doing much better with coordinating their attacks. Five minutes later Tom Flanagan played a tempting cross through the corridor of uncertainty that none of his teammates had gambled on. It would have been the simplest tap-in to open the host’s account, but with both teams playing it safe the score remained at 0-0.

In this atmosphere laced with caution it took until the 21st minute for the game to provide it’s first shot on target. It went to the visitors after great work from Hanlan picked out Garath McCleary on the edge of the box who lashed his shot on target, only to be denied by the keeper’s delicious dive.

Despite some dreadful distribution from Marosi and disastrously disjointed attacking play from the hosts early on they were the ones to open the scoring in the 31st minute. Christian Saydee forged space for himself on the right and his cross was flicked home at the near post. Stadium announcements credited the goal to Shrews number 9 Ryan Bowman, but it has gone down on records as a Jordan Willis own goal.

None of the home fans cared who had scored it though. All that mattered was that they had conjured a goal from nothing and now they had the lead they were determined to hold onto it.

Saydee once again poured forward on the wing and this time he had three willing runners to hit in the centre. Faced with so much unexpected choice he hit the wrong one, going for a marked man at the near post when a dink to an unmarked teammate at the back post seemed the smarter option.

The game became a 100mph end to end feast for the eyes, a welcome change from the morass of mediocrity so far, but neither team was able to add to the scoresheet.

Wycombe had shaded the game in all areas of the first half except the one that mattered, as the Shrews heading into their half-time den a goal to the good.

Less than a minute after the second kick-off the Shrews had come perilously close to deleting their advantage and it would have been all their own fault. They conceded a corner thanks to a shanked clearance with all the time in the world to get it right.

Wycombe smashed the ball across the keeper to level the scores, until the ref pulled them back for a dubious foul in the box.

The hosts failed to learn from that huge let-off and should’ve conceded moments later. This time they had Brandon Hanlon to thank for nipping the ball off the toes of the much better placed Joe Jacobson and ballooning the ball over the bar from close range.

With this opening excitement out of the way things settled down into a midfield snooze fest, filled with mediocrity and a ton of mistakes from both sides. The most interesting things to happen over the next 30 minutes of play were: Jacobsen being replaced by Jason McCarthy and a heaping helping of glorious drop goals from almost every Wycombe player, bar the keeper.

The flow of the half was not helped by the hosts liberal use of time-wasting tactics, or Steve Cotterill’s refusal to inject fresh legs off the bench. It took until the 84th minute for Cotterill to final turn to his bench for inspiration, thanks to seeing his attackers throw away a 3 against 1 showdown with the keeper. Just 2 minutes after the ensuing double substitution one of the new men had doubled the Shrews lead and secured the 3 points.

Max Stryjek could only palm a cross from the left into the path of Rekeil Pyke in the centre of the box. He took full advantage of this gracious gift by stroking home into the waiting net.

Doubling the Salop score was enough for them to secure the double over their visitors for the season.

It was also enough to move them just 6 points away from the playoff places as they reached the most crucial part of the season, the run-in.

Despite this win it was the level of performance that proved the most durable thing the Shrews would take from the match.

They managed a paltry haul of just 8 points from their final 13 games of the season to finish in a distant 12th place; A cavernous 28 points from the play-offs they had been threatening to gate-crash.

Last Thursday morning at 09:00 hours, the Premier League fixtures for the 2023/24 season were released.

As I checked them in a service station on the A3 the first thing I realised was that my boss is giving me the first week of the season off. He is not getting any say in the matter because Bees start our 3rd EPL season at home to Spurs (Sunday 13th August), a sure-fire victory, before heading down river for the derby at Craven Cottage just 6 days later.

Fans of newly promoted Burnley will be making sure they have Friday 11th off as their heroes have the honour of hosting the first game of the new season, against the reigning champions. Taking on his old club, and current treble winners, will be a baptism of fire for Clarets manager Vincent Kompany on his first season as a Premier League manager.

They then get an easy first home game against fellow debutants Luton Town, before heading off on the road again to Villa Park to take on last seasons surprise packages.

I say easy, but Luton will also hoping that game is the easy one of their opening triplet, road trips to Brighton and Chelsea sandwich it. It’s a crying shame that Burnley will be first to experience the away end at Kenilworth Road in the Premier League, they already know what it’s like from their visit last season. The Europa Conference League champions, West Ham United, will be the first newbies to experience that joy. Brentford fans, like me, will have to wait till run-in for their trip to the road. Easy run-in for bees, final five Luton (A), Everton (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A) and finish up by hosting Newcastle United.

Good to see we have 9 points guaranteed from the away trips in unlikely event of trouble.

Sheffield United fans that their team start by cutting the eagles to shreds at Bramall Lane before taking the pain to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, on the glorious banks of the Trent, because if they haven’t got points on the board by then they’re gonna be bottom by the end of August. They finish their opening triplet by hosting the treble winners to the Lane.

Even with the early season boost that most newly promoted teams experience it is difficult for me to envision them getting a positive result out of that match. But the good news for Blades fans is that many past team has overcome a bad start to end comfortably mid-season. What many teams can’t counter is a dreadful run in performance, as everyone else around them is fighting for their lives.

There is further good news for Blades fans here as their run-in has some games that look very winnable on paper. Sure their final 6 involves visits to the G-tech, St. James’ Park and their penultimate game is away at Goodison Park, but their final 2 home games are eminently winnable. Neither Nottingham Forest nor a final day showdown with Spurs(y) will strike fear into Yorkshire hearts should they require points to stay up.

Luton have a similarly decent final 6, once you get past the trip to the Etihad that starts it off. They start their final 5 with a home battle against the swarming Bees before heading to the Wolves den, hosting the Toffees (who are notoriously awful travellers), heading out east to the Hammers home and finishing up by hosting the Cottage lot (Fulham).
So really not a bad run-in all things considered.

Unfortunately for Claret’s fans the same cannot be said of their run-in. They start by hosting a Brighton team that qualified for the Europa League this season, then face back to back away games.

The first of which is the huge 6 pointer at Bramall Lane, as mentioned above, swiftly followed by a trip to Old Trafford to face Erin Ten-Haag’s reinvigorated top-4 team.

If that end to March wasn’t daunting enough they then start April by heading home to take on Eddie Howe’s high flying Tyne-siders.

Their last 2 matches of the season look winnable enough, but even 3 points from their visit to the Spursy stadium followed by a final day victory over Forest at Turf Moor may not be enough to save them if they find themselves in a late season battle for survival.

Given how brilliantly they wiped the floor with the Championship last season, 101 points is no small feat in that division, and the togetherness evident within the group of players I fully expect them to secure survival far before the run-in rears it’s ugly head.

Come the end of the season Sheffield United will probably be safe as well, but just Luton Town’s size alone gives me cause for concern about their survival.

Town fans can take solace in the achievements of both Bournemouth and Brentford, to survive and thrive respectively, at the level to suggest that their Premier League existence may yet last longer than the one season, flash-in-the-pan, visit that many expect it to be.

The Cherries have just sacked manager Gary O’Neil as I was finishing writing this post though.

*Editor’s note: Whilst I’ve been double checking/editing the Cherries have now appointed Ex Rayo Vallecano Manager Andoni Iraola to fill their dugout role. He comes in on an initial 2-season deal as the team’s new Head Coach.



*I’m the same person both writing and editing these posts…

Even the torrential rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands of Manchester City fans lining the parade route to welcome their Treble winning heroes home.

It was whilst I was witnessing this outpouring of joy, from the shelter underneath the Arndale centre on Market Street, that it dawned on me that 2 of the 3 European trophies available this season will be spending their summer on our island.

Whilst Man City becoming the 2nd English team ever, and first this century, to complete the treble is truly historic it is the other story of continental success that is the most remarkable achievement of the season.

Everyone saw City’s victories coming from the second Arsenal decided to go all spursy in the title race, but no-one envisioned success coming West Ham United’s way this season.

The Hammers are a team that had been hovering around the relegation zone and came close to kicking David Moyes out of the dugout on several occasions this season. Despite all their league turmoil they have pulled a successful season out of this raging fire by securing their first major European trophy since 1965.

When Jarred Bowen’s 90th minute winner got them over the line in Prague he not only secured the Iron’s first major European success since their European Cup Winner’s cup win in 1965, but also their trophy of any kind since victory in the 1980 FA Cup final.

The fact that David Moyes keeping his job for next season is big news this evening shows just how incredible this victory is for the Iron.

“Fortune’s always hiding, I’ve looked everywhere” is one of the most famous refrains of their club anthem ‘ I’m forever blowing bubbles’ but this week it was found.

The completion of City’s treble just over 48 hours ago makes this week the time when Europe became English.

With the 2022/23 season now behind us the time is nigh to look forward to the new season in August.

As a new season dawns the 92 teams in the league system gets shuffled around a bit. The most eye-catching of these shuffles being Luton Town being promoted to the Premier League.

Burnley’s Turf Moor (21,944) and Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane (32,050) will be joining the 10,358 capacity Kenilworth Road in replacing Southampton’s St. Marys’ (32,384), Leeds United’s Elland Road (37,890) and ex-champions Leicester City’s King Power Stadium (32,261) in the top division.

So whilst away fans in the top tiers find their allocations reduced at the new stadiums they will frequent next season, it’s good news for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle. Not that they didn’t have enough to celebrate with their promotions to the Championship anyway.

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light (49,000) will be a far cry from their Home Park (17,900) for the Devonians, but at least Hillsborough (39,732) and Portman Road (29,673) will be familiar from their visits last season.

Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road (16,616), Reading’s Select Car Leasing Stadium (24,161) and Wigan’s DW (25,138) will not be on the Argyle fans travel list though as they dropped down into League one. Their grounds will instead play host to fans of Leyton Orient, Stevenage, Northampton Town and Carlisle United who have jumped up from the bottom tier of the 92.

As Brisbane Road (9,271), Broadhall Way (7,800), Sixfields (7,798) and Brunton Park (17,949) move up out of League 2, Wrexham’s incredible fans will be visiting Milton Keynes’ Stadium MK (30,500), Morecambe’s Mazuma Stadium (6,476), The Crown Stadium of Accrington Stanley (5,450) and Forest Green’s New Lawn (5,414) instead.

The fans of Notts County will be back in the 92 as well next season, following the oldest league club in the world from the 19,841 County Ground.

Fans of both the Magpies and the Red Dragons will doubtless enjoy themselves on their return to the 92, but for them to return others must of course drop out. The unfortunate ones looking enviously up at the 92 again next season will be Harrogate Town and Rochdale AFC, who return to non-league after 102 years away from those levels.

This is how the 92 shuffle has shaken out this summer and soon, but not soon enough the battle to avoid dropping down in the next 92 summer shuffle will commence once more.

Roll on the 2023/24 season

Just wanted to take a minute to congratulate Manchester City on their victory at Wembley over the weekend and their upcoming treble that they will rubber stamp with victory over Internationale Milano in Istanbul this coming Saturday evening. After all this is Man City and Inter finished a distant 3rd in Serie A this season, so there can only be one winner right?

Wrong, very wrong indeed.

When I hear other make the assumption I have stated above I am reminded of similar declarations I heard back in 2005 in the build up to another final in Istanbul.

On that occasion though it was the red side of Milan that was involved and back then the Italians were the ones destined to prevail over a plucky little team from the English North-West. We all know how that one turned out; it’s not called the Miracle of Istanbul for no reason.

When that happened, 18 years ago, the underdogs had beaten bitter domestic rivals in the semi-finals. This season that has happened again and with the final taking place at the Ataturk once again could we another miracle be in store??

Probably not, but in football as in life… it would be unwise to count the chickens before they hatch.