Farewell Fergie: thanks for the memories

One early November morning in 1986 I was sitting down having breakfast at the Beechwood, the hotel that my mother would look after every year for three weeks whilst the owners went on holiday to Australia, when I discovered, via the radio, that the team I supported would be having a new manager.

Following an embarrassing League Cup defeat at Southampton, the previous incumbent, Ron Atkinson, had been sacked and the club were about to embark on the most successful period in its history. Well, I say about to, we had to wait a few years for things to click into place but when they did, boy did they!

I remember the bad times during those early years, particularly the home cup defeat to Nottingham Forest in 1989. Even more painful was the that the league seemed even further away than it had done during Atkinson's tenure. This prompted the infamous message towards the end of 1989 that simply said:

At least Pete Molyneux accepts he was a little premature in unfurling this banner.

The first significant step towards success came at the County Ground, again Forest were the opponents, but this time with a very different result. Thanks to a Mark Robins header from an often forgotten sumptuous Mark Hughes pass (a part of Sparky's game that is frequently overlooked). We were on our way to Wembley. And what a road that was, including some memorable games against Oldham in the semis and Palace in the final.

Then came Rotterdam a year later and Barcelona were overcome in the European Cup Winners' Cup final, largely thanks to the inept goalkeeping of Carles Busquets, standing in for the injured Andoni Zubizararreta. Another slice of luck, admittedly, but Hughes took full advantage to win us our first European trophy since 1968.

Everything was beginning to look good until the culmination of the 1991/92 season. A 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on 26 April 1992 was, and still is, the most painful defeat in all my time as a United fan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfehJzVT7-w). Why oh why?! We'd blown it. Fergie still remembers the shouts of "fuck you" from the home dressing room and the most galling moment of all for a young Ryan Giggs: outside the ground a Liverpool fan asked for his autograph and then laughed as he tore it up in front of the Welshman's face.

The tears flowed and flowed as I went to bed that night. Once again, the title seemed as far away as ever. It is funny to think that back then I genuinely wasn't sure if I would ever see us win the league.

The next twist was to come once again whilst I was staying at the Beechwood Hotel, in November 1992. When I picked up one of the resident's newspapers to discover the signing of Eric Cantona for a mere £1.2 million.

This was the catalyst.

The first league title was secured following the Frenchman's arrival and then came the next objective. The European Cup. That was the thing with Fergie, once one goal had been achieved, there was always the next one.

A steep learning curve in Europe was to follow but, in 1999, the holy grail was achieved in spectacular style, in 'Fergie time'. "And Solskjaer has won it," screamed Clive Tyldsley incredulously as the Norwegian prodded home to complete a remarkable injury time turnaround.

More domestic success followed but then came the dark years, between 2003 and 2007, when more questions surfaced over whether Fergie was still up to it. He's lost the plot, he's over the hill, the critics claimed.

As a result, winning the title in 2007 was one of the sweetest.

Winning the Champions League in 2008 was monumental and one of the things that sticks in my head the most, as I stood there in the Luzhniki Stadium on that rainy night, is the image of Sir Bobby Charlton leading us up the steps to collect the trophy, 50 years after he survived the Munich air crash, unlike several of his less fortunate teammates. Once again I began to well up.

If there is anything that illustrates the difference between United and the beaten finalists it was seeing Peter Kenyon lead Chelsea up the steps to collect their runners up medals. United chose a legend who embodied the club like no other, Chelsea chose a Chief Executive and supposed lifelong Man United fan. Fake.

No more success on Europe's biggest stage. A couple of finals where we were well beaten by Barcelona and then there was this year's campaign.

Little did I know back in March when the pain of defeat at the hands of Real Madrid meant I had to go for a long walk, late at night, to try and clear my head. That shock and disappointment pales in comparison to the news of Ferguson's imminent departure. Once again tears were apparent. Especially during his speech at Old Trafford last Sunday, but I wasn't alone in doing this. Emotional.

It was hardly surprising that Ferguson's retirement has provoked such strong emotions. This man, after all, has been responsible for some of the best moments of my life, from the Nou Camp to Moscow, from the Stadio Delle Alpi to Old Trafford. This man has caused me to travel the continent at great expense. But it has been worth it. Every single penny. Thank you Sir Alex.

The Premier League as I see it

If Arsenal can keep their players fit they will comfortably qualify for the Champions League, and may even be closer to the top than many people expect. Cazorla looks like an excellent signing.

Kagawa looks like a decent signing for United, too, but it epitomises the Glazer era as Hazard is the real deal and I suspect he will have a similar effect on the Premier League as Henry or Ronaldo. Not so much in terms of goalscoring, though I still expect him to score 20 plus goals a season, but his overall effect in that he will be rated as the league's top performer year in year out. He is who wUmited should've signed this summer. With him and Van Persie they could've made a realistic challenge for the Champions League. As it is, Fergie's men are still a fair bit behind Real and Barca but, as Chelsea proved, it is a cup competition so you never know.

I think the signing of Maicon is sound business on City's behalf, though a centre half like Agger would've been even more help as I still see Lescott as their weak link in an otherwise impressive line up.

Talking of weak links, I see Di Matteo as Chelsea's. I think he's a good manager but is he capable of winning a Premier League? I have my doubts. Plus, Chelsea have an impressive squad up until you look at their striking options. If Torres gets injured, and he has a tendency to do so, they will struggle.

Tottenham should end up fifth with Everton nearby but neither will be troubling the top four.

As for the bottom of the table, I fear for Norwich, second season syndrome and all that, aligned with the loss of their manager, Paul Lambert.

Reading will struggle too, unlike the other promoted sides who have invested heavily.

The final relegation place is much more difficult to predict but I am going to go for one really left-field: Stoke. Just not sure how much longer Tony Pulis's magic can continue to work at the Britannia Stadium.

A belated set of predictions, I realise, but I am just putting it out there.

1st: Manchester City
2nd: Manchester United
3rd: Chelsea
4th: Arsenal
5th: Tottenham Hotspur
6th: Everton
7th: Liverpool
8th: Newcastle United
9th: Sunderland
10th: Aston Villa
11th: Fulham
12th: Wigan Athletic
13th: Queens Park Rangers
14th: West Bromwich Albion
15th: Swansea
16th: West Ham United
17th: Southampton
18th: Stoke City
19th: Norwich City
20th: Reading

Disclaimer: from tenth downwards is a bit of a lottery

John Terry does it again

Just when I thought John Terry couldn't be any more ridiculous the story of last week emerged. No, I don't mean his stupid dismissal in the Camp Nou that nearly cost his team so dearly but the proposal that, should Chelsea be successful in the final against Bayer, he should be allowed to lift the trophy.

How arrogant. How stupid. If Bayern need any extra motivation in front of their home crowd they should pin up on the wall a report of how Chelsea are discussing who they would like to lift the trophy.

If nothing else, their marketing/communications team, yet again, have dropped a clanger that is only rivalled by their decision to elect Peter Kenyon to lead up the team up the steps in Moscow in their only other Champions League appearance. The decision to elect a former employee of Manchester United, let alone a supposed devoted fan of the Red Devils, to take Chelsea to collect their medals following a penalty shoot out defeat was made more embarrassing by his opposite number: Sir Bobby Charlton. Old Trafford legend and Munich air crash disaster survivor on the 50th anniversary of the aforementioned tragedy against charlatan and soon to be dismissed employee. No contest.

For Peter Kenyon, read John Terry. I don't recall there being such a debate about Roy Keane's enforced absence from the 1999 final. The Irishman would have dismissed it out of hand straight away, and rightly so. He has even admitted some embarrassment  at receiving a medal, never mind lifting the trophy. In addition, his contribution in getting United to that final was in stark contrast to Terry's. The Chelsea centre back was deservedly sent off for a moment's stupidity whilst Keane was on the receiving end of a rather unfortunate yellow card, his second of the competition, ruling him out of the showpiece event. Keane then dragged his team into the final with one of the most selfless performances seen from a United player, scoring the goal that got his team back into the game to boot.

If John Terry has an ounce of dignity left in him, he will refuse the option to lift the trophy and hand over the task to stand in captain Frank Lampard. The fact that he has yet to put out a statement to say so suggests he is at least deliberating the possibility. I guess it is too much to expect of a guy that drives over people's feet in car parks, uses disabled car parking spaces at Tesco's and undermines managers at every available opportunity (even stabbing Jose Mourinho in the back).

8. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

And now?

Spanish football is in turmoil. In March 2011 six clubs threatened strike action due to a dispute with the government over free-to-air television matches, in addition to the dissatisfaction with the widespread broadcasting deal dispute. The latest vice-president of the LFP resigned as a result.

The current president, Jose Luis Astiazaran, is under pressure to quit and Javier Tebas, the former vice-president, described him as “lacking leadership”.

Though Tebas says he has enough on his plate, he is not ruling out the possibility of one day taking over from Astiazaran as the head of the LFP: “I have enough problems, this is not on my agenda. (But) It is an option. You cannot throw these options away.”

Tebas believes no other country in world football has as much political in-fighting as Spain and that he sees no end to this. He said: “There will always be conflict between the clubs and the governing body and these problems are unique to Spain.”

The problem lies mainly in that all the power lies with Barcelona and Real Madrid. The rest are nowhere. Not just the other clubs, but the governing bodies too.

Some improvements are on the way as Tebas confirmed: “Right now they (Barcelona and Real Madrid) are getting 49% of the overall money from television.” The other eighteen clubs share the remaining 51%. “But there’s an agreement in place with them (Barca and Real) to reduce that 49% share to 34%. The smaller clubs have signed this with Barcelona and Real Madrid.” Nevertheless, this new arrangement is still three years away from taking hold.

Moreover, Spanish football writer Sid Lowe is not convinced it is a done deal. He said: “It's a proposal at the moment, not yet tied as I understand it.“

The Premier League offer ‘parachute’ payments to relegated clubs as a way of softening the financial blow that comes from not being in the top division. Tebas’ latest work has been arranging a similar proposition in Spain, using the 15% of television money generated from the newly devised deal.

This, Tebas says, is vital for those clubs as without it they could go out of business. “This is important as the money will help prevent them from disappearing.”

But it is not enough. Currently in England the top clubs, like Manchester United and Chelsea, enjoy approximately an 11% share (between them) from the Premier League’s television deal with Sky, ESPN the BBC. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool, for example, enjoy the same percentage from that deal.

The Bundesliga operates in a similar way to the Premier League where the governing body deal with the television companies, rather than the clubs on an individual basis.

Tebas is hopeful that this will one day be the case in Spain.

However, if the status quo remains, and clubs such as Barca and Real can negotiate their own deal, then there could be big trouble for the other clubs in Spain, and we are not just talking about your Malagas and Real Sociedads. Valencia, Spain’s third most successful club since the turn of the millennium, are in dire straits due to the financial downturn and an inability to move to a new stadium.

Imagine Arsenal, England’s third most successful club, facing a similar fate and it gives Valencia’s plight some context.

Tebas would not commit to naming Valencia as a club he feared for but clearly they were at the forefront of his mind when asked about the next five years. “I’m not going to identify a particular club but there are certain clubs that could disappear.”

So, not necessarily Valencia, but a team of similar ilk could cease to exist? “Yes, yes, yes,” came the unequivocal response. “That level of team, there is the possibility it could disappear,” Tebas added.

These are harrowing words, not least because they come from someone in such an esteemed position, but also because there are so few who have such a vantage point with which to judge.

There are more clubs in administration in Spain than there are in England. Sid Lowe expanded upon this: “Over the last few years a huge number of clubs have ended up in administration. Real Sociedad, Celta Vigo, Real Vallecano.”

La Liga has to change, and it has to change soon, before it finds itself, and some of its member clubs, staring into the abyss.

Taking the biscuit

You’re having a laugh - as professional footballers go, Carlo Cudicini has pushed the boundaries more than most as a cruise and collector.

When people talk of greed, laziness and a lack of ambition, many names and ideas are suggested but here is one for you. Would you please give a warm welcome to... Carlo Cudicini.

Let’s take a look shall we.

After initially being brought in on loan, by the then Chelsea coach Gianluca Vialli, in 1999 the deal was made permanent in the year 2000 for a mere £160,000 and
he soon made the No.1 goalkeeping jersey his own with a string of imperious displays.

Cudicini gained a reputation for being one of the Premier League’s finest shot stoppers and was much admired throughout Europe. Several of Europe’s top clubs were linked with him but Chelsea stood firm and Cudicini appreciated the feeling of being wanted.

Son of a former AC Milan goalkeeper he finally appeared to be stepping out of his father’s shadow after a stop start career seemed to be heading nowhere back in his homeland.

However, in the summer of 2004, after the appointment of Jose Mourinho, Petr Cech was bought for £7 million and soon assumed first-choice goalkeeper status. Cudicini’s Chelsea career appeared doomed. It was especially disappointing after performing so well for the club he had never let down.

He was at a crossroads- either become the Premierships best reserve and pick up the occasional medal for which he had contributed little or seek pastures new and a new challenge, perhaps a few international caps too. Unfortunately, he chose the former.

The Italian has to be the epitome of lacking ambition. Possibly you could excuse the first year as an under study and to try to challenge Cech, after all he appeared to have the ability. However, it soon became clear that Cech was in an impregnable position.

Ultimately, Cudicini decided he would rather warm a bench than play football.

His decision to play second fiddle is a massive sign of insecurity. He clearly never believed in his talents enough to prosper elsewhere and that would explain his more inconsistent performances on the odd occasion he was called upon by Chelsea.

Who knows, maybe Mourinho sensed this lack of confidence. One of the special one’s first big decisions he had to make was to drop Cudicini. He seemed in little doubt and never looked back as Cech became arguably the world’s best goalkeeper (although that belief has deteriorated since Mourinho’s departure).

After five years of being little more than a Carling Cup player Cudicini has finally moved on but at 36 he has just a few years left in the game and what was a burgeoning career has petered out into something that Winston Bogarde would have been proud of.