Sunday 15 May will go down as one of the darkest days in West Ham’s recent history. 2-0 up at half-time, Premier League salvation seemed possible. 45 minutes later and they were staring into the abyss following the concession of three soft goals to relegation rivals Wigan Athletic.
Owners David Gold and David Sullivan admitted to the Guardian prior to losing that game that the club was "in a worse financial position than any other club in the country".
This week in the same newspaper David Conn reported that ‘West Ham made a £21m loss last season and relegation will cause a crisis’.
The club have been in trouble since the ownership of the Icelandic group headed by Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, prior to the former Birmingham chairmen taking control. Pete May, author of Hammers in the Heart, said: "They (Gold and Sullivan) have been pretty crap but it’s not entirely their fault as they inherited huge debts from Gudmundsson. He owned an Icelandic bank which went bust following the ‘credit crunch’."
The signs are not good for the future as players will have to be sold to help trim the club’s £54 million annual wage bill and the loss of Scott Parker, the club’s talismanic skipper, will be sorely felt as the Hammers try to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Here are the key factors behind their demise, along with the thoughts of Hammers legend Tony Cottee and writer Pete May:
The appointment of Avram Grant
Gold and Sullivan sacked Grant in the immediate aftermath of the Wigan debacle. This was hardly a surprise as the former Portsmouth boss’s second relegation in a row should never have happened with the players at his disposal.
With experienced internationals like Parker, Robbie Keane, Wayne Bridge, Carlton Cole, Rob Green, Thomas Hitzelsperger and Matthew Upson, relegation should never have been on the agenda.
Stories of a rousing half-time speech from Parker in the 3-3 draw at West Bromwich Albion hardly did Grant any favours as the question that followed was: shouldn’t this kind of inspiration be coming from the manager, not the captain?
As for his tactics and selections, Grant came in for particular criticism for the way his side lost from winning positions. The capitulation at the hands of Manchester United, in a addition to the Wigan result, proved fatal.
His decision not to start with Parker, who was recovering from injury, or Cole against the Latics has also attracted criticism, particularly as he went for inexperience in the form of Jordan Spence, who made his debut at the DW Stadium.
With typical dignity, Grant told the Guardian: "Yes, I take responsibility. I am not a guy who gives responsibility to other people. It is my responsibility to pick the team and choose the tactics. The results were my responsibility. My job was to keep this team in the league and I failed."
Cottee: "Absolutely it was a mistake to appoint him. I’m not saying that now. I was saying that when he was appointed, it was a mistake. I think everyone in football knew it was a mistake but we can’t keep looking back and how bad the manager was. It’s over and done with now. We look forward."
Bad recruits
The purchase of in-form striker Demba Ba apart, the Hammers’ transfer record over the last 12-18 months has undoubtedly contributed to their downfall.
Winston Reid and Pablo Barrera, who both arrived for sizeable sums last summer, never looked like Premier League players.
In January the Upton Park outfit tried to rectify those mistakes but loan signings Wayne Bridge and Robbie Keane never had the desired effect.
Bridge’s debut against Arsenal included giving away two penalties and Keane, who arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, contributed just two goals and will be best remembered for missing a host of chances to secure victory against fellow relegation battlers Blackburn Rovers earlier this month.
May: "For £90,000 a week you expect more from Wayne Bridge. You would expect him to help organise the defence. If you saw the way N’Zogbia, for Wigan, turned him inside and out, you expected a bit more from someone who’s supposed to be almost as good as Ashley Cole. Benni McCarthy’s another one. He was a complete waste of time. They (Gold and Sullivan) wasted £5 million on him, but he was signed before Grant’s appointment so I guess he can be absolved of any blame for that one."
Gold and Sullivan
As bad as Grant was, Gold and Sullivan are the biggest cancer at Upton Park. For a start, they appointed the Israeli in the first place. To make matters worse, they made a right mess of trying to appoint Martin O’Neill back in January as Grant’s replacement, only for the ex-Aston Villa boss to turn the job down once the story was leaked to the press.
As a result, Grant was severely undermined. West Ham played Arsenal at Upton Park in the midst of the fiasco and the visiting fans heaped more embarrassment on the Israeli when they chanted "You’re getting sacked in an hour".
Since his dismissal, Grant has claimed that six people were offered his job during his tenure.
Cottee: "They’ve got to prove to the fans that they’ve got the interests of the club at heart. In my view, they’ve got to pay the wages for a proper manager to run the football club. We haven’t had a proper manager in the last year. It’s important, to get a proper manager, to pay the right wages and that’s what I would like them to do so we can entice a Martin O’Neill, a Sam Allardyce, or another big name to West Ham to put us back where we belong. If they do that, not too many people will be complaining. Obviously, they need to sort out the financial situation at the club as well."
Injuries
Players absent through injury happens at all clubs yet West Ham’s squad, especially after their January purchases, were top heavy on strikers and lacking in midfield replacements. Therefore, the loss of Thomas Hitzelsperger at the beginning of the season for seven months and Scott Parker, their inspirational captain and PFA Player of the Year, for the final weeks was seen as crucial as the Hammers struggled against the tide taking them towards the Championship.
May: "We were unlucky with Hitzelsperger and Parker but it’s been never-ending. Ilunga, the left-back, never really recovered from injury and was left out of the 25 man squad for the second half of the season. Noble getting injured against Chelsea a few weeks ago left our midfield threadbare. Upson’s had his usual fair share of injuries, as has Tomkins, who has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season. But we’ve had the squad to cover for injuries so it’s no excuse really."
Players under-performing
Ask any West Ham season ticket holder and they will air their disgruntlement regarding certain senior players.
Matthew Upson seems to have continued his downward spiral ever since his lamentable display against Germany in last year’s World Cup.
Carlton Cole’s performances have ranged from disappointing to woeful and Robert Green has withstood a lot of what opponents have had to throw at him but even he was culpable in that defeat at Wigan.
Cottee: "The players under-performed. The players need to have a real good look at themselves because they just didn’t perform. You can blame the manager all you like, which I have done, but they’re the ones that go out onto the field and they didn’t perform."
The next managerial appointment is crucial
Former striker Cottee is in no doubt that the next guy to come in as manager has a huge task on his hands and the club, unlike last time, need to get the decision right.
He said: "I think it’s now a situation where everyone’s got to look forward to next season and the club needs to re-build. The most important thing is to get the right manager in. Once that’s done then the next manager will have to get rid of all the players that are either out of contract or don’t want to stay. Try and keep all the good, young players. And then just re-build the squad in time for August, next season."
Cottee knows who he would most like to see take the reins. He said emphatically: "I’d love to see Martin O’Neill. He’d be my first choice."
And if the Northern Irishman turned it down? "I would have no problems with Sam Allardyce," he said. "Slaven Bilic, I wouldn’t have a problem with but I would’ve thought most of those guys that I’ve mentioned are going to want pretty big wages to come to the club so if they’re not given big wages, then you’re not going to attract a big name manager. Then if it is a cheaper option, it could be anyone really."
The problem many West Ham fans would have with Allardyce would be the likelihood of an uncompromising, direct style of football but Cottee believes the former Blackburn Rovers gaffer could adapt his managerial style to suit the Hammers’ traditions.
"You’ve got to get the club back up but obviously there’s a tradition at West Ham and there’s a style of play, a football ethos, if you like, that the fans want to see," Cottee added. "Listen, Sam Allardyce is no-one’s fool. He knows how to play football. He normally works with the tools that he’s got and if he did come to West Ham he would know, more than anyone, that West Ham have got a certain style of football to play and I’m sure he would adjust accordingly. He would make sure you’ve got the right players in the club but the fans also want to get back into the Premier League so it would have to be a combination of both - winning football with playing football the right way."
And West Ham fans would settle for that as they have not seen much of either commodity for quite some time.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Senna mystery lives on
With the Ayrton Senna movie hitting our screens at cinemas around the globe, seventeen years on from his untimely death, the accident from which he perished is still shrouded in mystery.
Senna was arguably the fastest driver over one lap Formula One has ever seen. Sure he won three world titles but probably the most impressive statistic was his 65 pole positions from just 162 grand prix, an average of a pole position every 2.5 races, easily the best ratio of all the leading drivers in the sport's recent history (Michael Schumacher's average is a pole every 3.66 races).
However, controversy always seemed to stalk the triple world champion. Collisions with nemesis Alain Prost decided two world titles, one in the Brazilian's favour, and there was the occasional disagreement with other fellow drivers. Not least when he punched Eddie Irvine for having the temerity of un-lapping himself by overtaking Senna.
The Guardian’s Formula One correspondent, Paul Weaver, said the Brazilian was much more than just a racing driver. He explained: "He gripped the imagination like no other driver, before or since. F1 is often criticised for not being a spectacle, a bit predictable, but Senna was somebody who showed motor sport at its best. He was an out and out racer and it is no wonder Lewis Hamilton reveres him."
Throughout his career Senna drove with his heart on his sleeve, as well as by the seat of his pants, and it was no different on the day he died.
Perhaps we should look a little further back to determine the cause of the accident, though. Senna was leading the race just ahead of Michael Schumacher but in the championship the Brazilian was 20 points adrift of the German following two DNFs (Did Not Finishes) in the opening two races.
At Imola Senna's desperation was palpable. He was supposed to win that year's championship following his move from McLaren to the widely recognised best team/car/chassis combination in the paddock - Williams Renault. He was hot favourite to become world champion for a fourth time but his title hopes were beginning to disappear before the season had truly got going.
Could the pressure have got to Senna whilst he was being pursued by Schumacher? This appears unlikely. The triple world champion's car control skills were much admired throughout the paddock and the Tamburello bend, though fast with little run off area, was not difficult to negotiate. It was comfortably flat out at 200mph with no braking required.
So if it was not driver error, why did Senna's Williams car inexplicably head straight on, into the wall?
Ex-Formula One driver Michele Alboreto confirmed to National Geographic in the documentary series ‘Seismic Seconds’: "It (Tamburello) is a dangerous corner because if you have a failure in the car the wall was very close in a high speed part of the track but I am sure, because I know, I had the same crash that Ayrton had, in the same place. I know that you can go out in this corner only if you have a mechanical failure on the car."
Just hours after Senna was pronounced dead speculation was rife. Former F1 driver and commentator Jonathan Palmer told the BBC at the time: "It is a very hazardous area trying to speculate (so soon after the incident) but a failure of some sort, a mechanical failure, a problem with the mechanics of the car, a problem with the tyre, all of these kind of things, possibly something on the road surface – oil or whatever. All of these things could play a part."
Tragically, Senna was not the only driver to suffer in what has been described as the darkest weekend in the sport's history. Austrian Roland Ratzenberger died in Saturday's qualifying. This followed a terrible crash that hospitalised Rubens Barrichello, Senna's compatriot, on the Friday.
Senna visited Barrichello in hospital later on the Friday and was be shaken by the events of the weekend.
Formula One's chief doctor, Sid Watkins, urged Senna not to race on the Sunday morning. Senna, as was his wont, ignored the protestations of his friend.
Veteran Gerhard Berger had a serious crash at the same corner as Senna's fatal accident five years earlier. Berger's Ferrari was destroyed and soon became engulfed in flames. Miraculously, the likeable Austrian escaped unharmed.
The Imola track, however, was quickly dismissed as being culpable for these events. In the immediate aftermath commentator Murray Walker told BBC News: "Motor racing is dangerous. I don't agree with the suggestions that the Imola circuit is dangerous. We've had turbo-powered cars here in the past which went faster than the cars he have today. I honestly think this is just a hideous chain of circumstances, coincidences, which have all come together."
Subsequent to the events of that Spring weekend in 1994, the Tamburello bend was reshaped to become, by Formula One standards, a pedestrian-like chicane but this alteration owed as much to the memory of Senna's passing than it did to any danger posed by the track.
With human error ruled out, the mechanical aspects of Senna's FW16 car and other aspects of the race soon came under scrutiny.
The initial prognosis was that there was a problem with the steering on the Adrian Newey designed Williams. This would explain why the car veered straight on, without any motion to the left. Senna, no matter how talented, would be powerless to prevent an accident without any steering.
Newey recently claimed that Senna’s loss of car control was probably caused by a puncture picked up from debris on the track but this argument is contradicted by the evidence given in court following the loss of the triple world champion.
Due to Italian law, whereby any un-natural death should be investigated with someone, or something, held accountable, a trial was held to determine the cause of Senna’s crash. (N.B San Marino is a principality within Italy)
Mauro Forghieri, former technical director at Ferrari, was called in as an expert investigator at the trial. He was in no doubt as to the cause of the accident. He told National Geographic: "In my opinion the crash was caused by the steering. Something was strange in his driving because the steering wheel was moving too much."
What Foghieri was referring to was that the steering wheel, as shown by the on-board camera, was coming away from its socket towards the driver, even by just a few centimetres, just seconds before the car went off the circuit. This unexpected movement indicated the steering column had broken.
"So he (Senna) realised something strange was going on," Forghieri continued. "So he decided to stop the car. If you are driving in your car and you feel that your steering wheel is moving (he gestures with his hands on an imaginary wheel, moving all around and towards himself) what do you believe? That something is broken. And what do you do? You stop the car. Of course he was stopping a car from 320kmph (200 mph)."
The column links the steering wheel and the front wheels of the car. It was made of steel and had recently been modified, at Senna's request, to make it longer. This extra length was grafted and welded in by the Williams team.
In the wreckage of Senna's car the column had snapped.
This, however, could have been caused upon impact with the wall. After all, that impact was calculated to be at around 130mph.
The second theory was that the Williams had a dramatic loss of downforce as it entered the corner.
An F1 car's key component as it corners is downforce. This is where the car is forced into the track by the airflow that goes through its wings. Much like an aeroplane takes off due to the air flow above the wing being greater than that below, in Formula One they simply reverse the process, sucking the car onto the track.
The car's downforce is so great that it could stick to a ceiling upside down at 200mph and any sudden loss of such a force could have disastrous consequences.
At the start of the San Marino Grand Prix a multiple pile-up occurred, leaving debris strewn across the road. Inevitably, the safety car was deployed.
This vehicle led the cars round as it lapped but at a fraction of the speed of an F1 car. As a result, Senna's tyre pressures dropped significantly.
The car 'bottomed out' (scraped the ground), caused by the tyre pressure loss, as it navigated its way round Tamburello on Senna's penultimate lap. This, the documentary concluded, was clear evidence that the Williams FW16 was losing downforce as it cornered. One lap later, this loss of grip caused the car to head off the track and into the wall.
However, this does not explain why many other cars in the race had similar scrapes with the road and still maintained their trajectory. Also, why did Senna not go off on lap six when his tyres would have been colder, with lower air pressure, instead of lap seven when they would have been nearer 'racing temperature' with greater pressure?
Furthermore, even accounting for a loss of downforce, why did Senna not attempt to steer the car away from the wall, thus lessening the impact?
At the trial the Williams team declared that the steering column had not broken and that the car had been designed in a manner where the steering wheel could come towards the driver from its centre point. Yet the footage from morning practice on the 1st of May did not indicate that to be the case.
Furthermore, Adrian Newey, Williams’ Technical Director in 1994, recently admitted to the Guardian that the steering column "had fatigue cracks in it" and "would have failed at some point". He also confessed its design was "very poor".
To thicken the plot further, the car had been tampered with by Williams team officials before being properly scrutinised by the authorities. This contravened the rules of the FIA, the sport's governing body.
In 1997 the News of the World reported that Fabrizio Nosco, a Regional technical commissioner who had worked at the Imola track for 10 years, told the trial: "The wreckage of Senna's car was brought into the Parc Fermé and put into the garage. Then, ten minutes later, two Williams mechanics came and asked to see the car. We politely told them this was impossible because of FIA rules.
"However, Nosco claimed that the FIA's race director, Charlie Whiting, arrived soon after with two more Williams mechanics and ordered him to remove the vehicle's black boxes.
Nosco added: "Whiting told me to open up the garage and that he had permission from John Corsmit, the FIA security chief that day. Whiting told me to remove the black boxes."
The Renault engine box was situated behind the cockpit. I removed it with a pair of large pliers. The Williams chassis box was behind the radiator near the back wheel on the right wing of the car.
"I have seen thousands of these devices and removed them for checks. The two boxes were intact, even though they had some scratches. The Williams chassis box looked to have survived the crash."
The boxes were eventually given to the authorities one month after the race. They were unreadable.
As for the steering column, during the Senna trial experts showed how it had cracked with metal fatigue by as much as 60-70 per cent prior to impact.
The Williams team was entangled for many years in a court case with the Italian prosecutors over manslaughter charges, ending in a guilty verdict for Patrick Head, the team's technical director. The Italian Court of Appeal, on April 13, 2007, stated this verdict: "It has been determined that the accident was caused by a steering column failure. This failure was caused by badly designed and badly executed modifications. The responsibility of this falls on Patrick Head, culpable of omitted control". Despite being found guilty, Head was not arrested. In Italy the statute of limitation for manslaughter is seven years and six months, and the final verdict was pronounced 13 years after the accident.
A spokesperson for Williams F1, said recently: "Due to the sensitive nature of the subject and legalities surrounding the case, this isn't something we would be able to comment on."
The loss of Senna was sorely felt. His ability and will to win were unrivalled at the time of his death. Even away from the circuit the Brazilian would want to be first. Michele Alboreto describes an example: "He always wanted to be the best. He showed, all the time, a competitive edge. He showed, all the time, that he wanted to win. Even on the way to the airport with a rental car he wanted to be there first."
Before Senna's death motor sport's premier racing series had grown complacent having not witnessed a death for 12 years. It had been lucky, not safe.
Subsequent to the tragic of events at Imola, F1's safety improved dramatically. Circuits were closely analysed, the Grand Prix Driver's Association was reformed and the protection of a driver's head was given far greater protection. Senna's legacy lives on.
Had he lived one wonders just how many titles Senna would have accumulated. The cause of his untimely death, like much of his career, is surrounded in mystery and controversy still to this day.
 |
| Aftermath: The wreckage of Senna's Williams |
It's May 1st 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. Ayrton Senna is about to embark on what will be the final lap of his career - and his life. What happened over the next 90 seconds and, more specifically, the corner at which he fatally crashed, Tamburello, shook the Formula One world and is still the subject of much debate 17 years on from that fateful day.
Senna was arguably the fastest driver over one lap Formula One has ever seen. Sure he won three world titles but probably the most impressive statistic was his 65 pole positions from just 162 grand prix, an average of a pole position every 2.5 races, easily the best ratio of all the leading drivers in the sport's recent history (Michael Schumacher's average is a pole every 3.66 races).
However, controversy always seemed to stalk the triple world champion. Collisions with nemesis Alain Prost decided two world titles, one in the Brazilian's favour, and there was the occasional disagreement with other fellow drivers. Not least when he punched Eddie Irvine for having the temerity of un-lapping himself by overtaking Senna.
The Guardian’s Formula One correspondent, Paul Weaver, said the Brazilian was much more than just a racing driver. He explained: "He gripped the imagination like no other driver, before or since. F1 is often criticised for not being a spectacle, a bit predictable, but Senna was somebody who showed motor sport at its best. He was an out and out racer and it is no wonder Lewis Hamilton reveres him."
Throughout his career Senna drove with his heart on his sleeve, as well as by the seat of his pants, and it was no different on the day he died.
Perhaps we should look a little further back to determine the cause of the accident, though. Senna was leading the race just ahead of Michael Schumacher but in the championship the Brazilian was 20 points adrift of the German following two DNFs (Did Not Finishes) in the opening two races.
At Imola Senna's desperation was palpable. He was supposed to win that year's championship following his move from McLaren to the widely recognised best team/car/chassis combination in the paddock - Williams Renault. He was hot favourite to become world champion for a fourth time but his title hopes were beginning to disappear before the season had truly got going.
Could the pressure have got to Senna whilst he was being pursued by Schumacher? This appears unlikely. The triple world champion's car control skills were much admired throughout the paddock and the Tamburello bend, though fast with little run off area, was not difficult to negotiate. It was comfortably flat out at 200mph with no braking required.
So if it was not driver error, why did Senna's Williams car inexplicably head straight on, into the wall?
Ex-Formula One driver Michele Alboreto confirmed to National Geographic in the documentary series ‘Seismic Seconds’: "It (Tamburello) is a dangerous corner because if you have a failure in the car the wall was very close in a high speed part of the track but I am sure, because I know, I had the same crash that Ayrton had, in the same place. I know that you can go out in this corner only if you have a mechanical failure on the car."
Just hours after Senna was pronounced dead speculation was rife. Former F1 driver and commentator Jonathan Palmer told the BBC at the time: "It is a very hazardous area trying to speculate (so soon after the incident) but a failure of some sort, a mechanical failure, a problem with the mechanics of the car, a problem with the tyre, all of these kind of things, possibly something on the road surface – oil or whatever. All of these things could play a part."
Tragically, Senna was not the only driver to suffer in what has been described as the darkest weekend in the sport's history. Austrian Roland Ratzenberger died in Saturday's qualifying. This followed a terrible crash that hospitalised Rubens Barrichello, Senna's compatriot, on the Friday.
Senna visited Barrichello in hospital later on the Friday and was be shaken by the events of the weekend.
Formula One's chief doctor, Sid Watkins, urged Senna not to race on the Sunday morning. Senna, as was his wont, ignored the protestations of his friend.
Veteran Gerhard Berger had a serious crash at the same corner as Senna's fatal accident five years earlier. Berger's Ferrari was destroyed and soon became engulfed in flames. Miraculously, the likeable Austrian escaped unharmed.
The Imola track, however, was quickly dismissed as being culpable for these events. In the immediate aftermath commentator Murray Walker told BBC News: "Motor racing is dangerous. I don't agree with the suggestions that the Imola circuit is dangerous. We've had turbo-powered cars here in the past which went faster than the cars he have today. I honestly think this is just a hideous chain of circumstances, coincidences, which have all come together."
Subsequent to the events of that Spring weekend in 1994, the Tamburello bend was reshaped to become, by Formula One standards, a pedestrian-like chicane but this alteration owed as much to the memory of Senna's passing than it did to any danger posed by the track.
With human error ruled out, the mechanical aspects of Senna's FW16 car and other aspects of the race soon came under scrutiny.
The initial prognosis was that there was a problem with the steering on the Adrian Newey designed Williams. This would explain why the car veered straight on, without any motion to the left. Senna, no matter how talented, would be powerless to prevent an accident without any steering.
Newey recently claimed that Senna’s loss of car control was probably caused by a puncture picked up from debris on the track but this argument is contradicted by the evidence given in court following the loss of the triple world champion.
Due to Italian law, whereby any un-natural death should be investigated with someone, or something, held accountable, a trial was held to determine the cause of Senna’s crash. (N.B San Marino is a principality within Italy)
Mauro Forghieri, former technical director at Ferrari, was called in as an expert investigator at the trial. He was in no doubt as to the cause of the accident. He told National Geographic: "In my opinion the crash was caused by the steering. Something was strange in his driving because the steering wheel was moving too much."
What Foghieri was referring to was that the steering wheel, as shown by the on-board camera, was coming away from its socket towards the driver, even by just a few centimetres, just seconds before the car went off the circuit. This unexpected movement indicated the steering column had broken.
"So he (Senna) realised something strange was going on," Forghieri continued. "So he decided to stop the car. If you are driving in your car and you feel that your steering wheel is moving (he gestures with his hands on an imaginary wheel, moving all around and towards himself) what do you believe? That something is broken. And what do you do? You stop the car. Of course he was stopping a car from 320kmph (200 mph)."
The column links the steering wheel and the front wheels of the car. It was made of steel and had recently been modified, at Senna's request, to make it longer. This extra length was grafted and welded in by the Williams team.
In the wreckage of Senna's car the column had snapped.
This, however, could have been caused upon impact with the wall. After all, that impact was calculated to be at around 130mph.
The second theory was that the Williams had a dramatic loss of downforce as it entered the corner.
An F1 car's key component as it corners is downforce. This is where the car is forced into the track by the airflow that goes through its wings. Much like an aeroplane takes off due to the air flow above the wing being greater than that below, in Formula One they simply reverse the process, sucking the car onto the track.
The car's downforce is so great that it could stick to a ceiling upside down at 200mph and any sudden loss of such a force could have disastrous consequences.
At the start of the San Marino Grand Prix a multiple pile-up occurred, leaving debris strewn across the road. Inevitably, the safety car was deployed.
This vehicle led the cars round as it lapped but at a fraction of the speed of an F1 car. As a result, Senna's tyre pressures dropped significantly.
The car 'bottomed out' (scraped the ground), caused by the tyre pressure loss, as it navigated its way round Tamburello on Senna's penultimate lap. This, the documentary concluded, was clear evidence that the Williams FW16 was losing downforce as it cornered. One lap later, this loss of grip caused the car to head off the track and into the wall.
However, this does not explain why many other cars in the race had similar scrapes with the road and still maintained their trajectory. Also, why did Senna not go off on lap six when his tyres would have been colder, with lower air pressure, instead of lap seven when they would have been nearer 'racing temperature' with greater pressure?
Furthermore, even accounting for a loss of downforce, why did Senna not attempt to steer the car away from the wall, thus lessening the impact?
At the trial the Williams team declared that the steering column had not broken and that the car had been designed in a manner where the steering wheel could come towards the driver from its centre point. Yet the footage from morning practice on the 1st of May did not indicate that to be the case.
Furthermore, Adrian Newey, Williams’ Technical Director in 1994, recently admitted to the Guardian that the steering column "had fatigue cracks in it" and "would have failed at some point". He also confessed its design was "very poor".
To thicken the plot further, the car had been tampered with by Williams team officials before being properly scrutinised by the authorities. This contravened the rules of the FIA, the sport's governing body.
In 1997 the News of the World reported that Fabrizio Nosco, a Regional technical commissioner who had worked at the Imola track for 10 years, told the trial: "The wreckage of Senna's car was brought into the Parc Fermé and put into the garage. Then, ten minutes later, two Williams mechanics came and asked to see the car. We politely told them this was impossible because of FIA rules.
"However, Nosco claimed that the FIA's race director, Charlie Whiting, arrived soon after with two more Williams mechanics and ordered him to remove the vehicle's black boxes.
Nosco added: "Whiting told me to open up the garage and that he had permission from John Corsmit, the FIA security chief that day. Whiting told me to remove the black boxes."
The Renault engine box was situated behind the cockpit. I removed it with a pair of large pliers. The Williams chassis box was behind the radiator near the back wheel on the right wing of the car.
"I have seen thousands of these devices and removed them for checks. The two boxes were intact, even though they had some scratches. The Williams chassis box looked to have survived the crash."
The boxes were eventually given to the authorities one month after the race. They were unreadable.
As for the steering column, during the Senna trial experts showed how it had cracked with metal fatigue by as much as 60-70 per cent prior to impact.
The Williams team was entangled for many years in a court case with the Italian prosecutors over manslaughter charges, ending in a guilty verdict for Patrick Head, the team's technical director. The Italian Court of Appeal, on April 13, 2007, stated this verdict: "It has been determined that the accident was caused by a steering column failure. This failure was caused by badly designed and badly executed modifications. The responsibility of this falls on Patrick Head, culpable of omitted control". Despite being found guilty, Head was not arrested. In Italy the statute of limitation for manslaughter is seven years and six months, and the final verdict was pronounced 13 years after the accident.
A spokesperson for Williams F1, said recently: "Due to the sensitive nature of the subject and legalities surrounding the case, this isn't something we would be able to comment on."
The loss of Senna was sorely felt. His ability and will to win were unrivalled at the time of his death. Even away from the circuit the Brazilian would want to be first. Michele Alboreto describes an example: "He always wanted to be the best. He showed, all the time, a competitive edge. He showed, all the time, that he wanted to win. Even on the way to the airport with a rental car he wanted to be there first."
Before Senna's death motor sport's premier racing series had grown complacent having not witnessed a death for 12 years. It had been lucky, not safe.
Subsequent to the tragic of events at Imola, F1's safety improved dramatically. Circuits were closely analysed, the Grand Prix Driver's Association was reformed and the protection of a driver's head was given far greater protection. Senna's legacy lives on.
Had he lived one wonders just how many titles Senna would have accumulated. The cause of his untimely death, like much of his career, is surrounded in mystery and controversy still to this day.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
When footballers switch Edam for English cheddar
As Uruguayan international Luis Suarez seems set to switch the Eredivisie for the Premier League the Guardian takes a look at others who have made a similar switch...
Mateja Kezman
PSV Eindhoven to Chelsea £5m
Eredivisie record: 105 goals in 123 games
Premier League record: 4 goals in 24 games
Jose Mourinho enjoyed undoubted success during his time at Stamford Bridge but even he could drop a clanger. Kezman was one of the Special One's first signings when he arrived having scored a hatful of goals for in the Eredivisie. It was not one of the former Chelsea manager's better decisions, though, as the player nicknamed Batman was more a case of scraping the barrel than Caped Crusader. Nevertheless, Mourinho showed he was still a genius when he managed to sell the Serbian for a small profit to Atletico Madrid.
Alfonso Alves
Heerenveen to Middlesbrough £12m
Eredivisie record: 39 goals in 45 games
Premier League record: 4 goals in 31 games
Managers can often by defined by a transfer. Fergie and Cantona, Wenger and Henry, possibly even Redknapp and Van der Vaart. Sadly for Gareth Southgate it is Alfonso Alves. The Brazilian arrived on Teeside amid a blaze of glory following an impressive goalscoring record for Dutch side Heerenveen. Sadly, the move soon turned sour and he is currently plying his trade for Qatar side Al Rayyan Sports Club.
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Heerneveen to Newcastle United £2.2m
Eredivisie record: 37 goals in 78 games
Premier League record: 3 goals in 23 games
With the purchase of Suarez a distinct possibility you have to wonder if John W Henry studied Dalglish's track record in purchasing prolific forwards from the Dutch league. If he did he would find the name of Jon Dahl Tomasson. His spell on Tyneside was not a fruitful one, scoring just three times in his only season in England's top flight. Like many players before and since, the Dane's career had an upward trend after leaving the Magpies.
Before tearing up Suarez's contract...
Ruud van Nistelrooy
PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United £19m
Eredivisie record: 70 goals in 98 games
Premier League record: 95 goals in 150 games
Fergie waited a year to sign Van the man following a serious knee injury picked up on the eve of his proposed move but it was worth the wait as the Dutch international striker plundered an astonishing 95 Premier League goals in 150 games.
Mateja Kezman
PSV Eindhoven to Chelsea £5m
Eredivisie record: 105 goals in 123 games
Premier League record: 4 goals in 24 games
Jose Mourinho enjoyed undoubted success during his time at Stamford Bridge but even he could drop a clanger. Kezman was one of the Special One's first signings when he arrived having scored a hatful of goals for in the Eredivisie. It was not one of the former Chelsea manager's better decisions, though, as the player nicknamed Batman was more a case of scraping the barrel than Caped Crusader. Nevertheless, Mourinho showed he was still a genius when he managed to sell the Serbian for a small profit to Atletico Madrid.
Alfonso Alves
Heerenveen to Middlesbrough £12m
Eredivisie record: 39 goals in 45 games
Premier League record: 4 goals in 31 games
Managers can often by defined by a transfer. Fergie and Cantona, Wenger and Henry, possibly even Redknapp and Van der Vaart. Sadly for Gareth Southgate it is Alfonso Alves. The Brazilian arrived on Teeside amid a blaze of glory following an impressive goalscoring record for Dutch side Heerenveen. Sadly, the move soon turned sour and he is currently plying his trade for Qatar side Al Rayyan Sports Club.
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Heerneveen to Newcastle United £2.2m
Eredivisie record: 37 goals in 78 games
Premier League record: 3 goals in 23 games
With the purchase of Suarez a distinct possibility you have to wonder if John W Henry studied Dalglish's track record in purchasing prolific forwards from the Dutch league. If he did he would find the name of Jon Dahl Tomasson. His spell on Tyneside was not a fruitful one, scoring just three times in his only season in England's top flight. Like many players before and since, the Dane's career had an upward trend after leaving the Magpies.
Before tearing up Suarez's contract...
Ruud van Nistelrooy
PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United £19m
Eredivisie record: 70 goals in 98 games
Premier League record: 95 goals in 150 games
Fergie waited a year to sign Van the man following a serious knee injury picked up on the eve of his proposed move but it was worth the wait as the Dutch international striker plundered an astonishing 95 Premier League goals in 150 games.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
What do Gullit, Gregory, Robson, Adams and O'Leary have in common?
Ruud Gullit has taken over at Russian Premier League club Terek Grozny but he is not the first former English top flight manager to take a step into the unknown. Here are a few others who have gone where no-one dare go before...
John Gregory
Israel
FC Ashdod
May 2010
John Gregory named an entire side of English players during his time at Aston Villa but that hasn't meant he knows nothing about football abroad – after all, he did purchase Bosko Balaban for the Villains. He's currently expanding his knowledge as coach of FC Ashdod and they are 8th in the Israeli top flight.
Bryan Robson
Thailand
Thailand Head Coach
September 2009
England's Captain Marvel replaced Peter Reid as Thailand's head coach 18 months ago with the remit of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Robson is also a global ambassador for Manchester United in his spare time, which he has plenty of at the moment as Thailand failed to qualify for the Asian Cup.
Tony Adams
Azerbaijan
Galaba FC
May 2010
The man cruelly nicknamed the donkey is now plying his trade as manager of Azerbaijan side Galaba following unsuccessful stints with Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth. Adams is riding high as Galaba lie sixth in the Premier League.
David O'Leary
Ali-Ahli
Dubai
July 2010
The Irishman is another former Arsenal centre-half who has looked for an alternative managerial experience. Italian World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro forms a a part of O'Leary's squad.
John Gregory
Israel
FC Ashdod
May 2010
John Gregory named an entire side of English players during his time at Aston Villa but that hasn't meant he knows nothing about football abroad – after all, he did purchase Bosko Balaban for the Villains. He's currently expanding his knowledge as coach of FC Ashdod and they are 8th in the Israeli top flight.
Bryan Robson
Thailand
Thailand Head Coach
September 2009
England's Captain Marvel replaced Peter Reid as Thailand's head coach 18 months ago with the remit of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Robson is also a global ambassador for Manchester United in his spare time, which he has plenty of at the moment as Thailand failed to qualify for the Asian Cup.
Tony Adams
Azerbaijan
Galaba FC
May 2010
The man cruelly nicknamed the donkey is now plying his trade as manager of Azerbaijan side Galaba following unsuccessful stints with Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth. Adams is riding high as Galaba lie sixth in the Premier League.
David O'Leary
Ali-Ahli
Dubai
July 2010
The Irishman is another former Arsenal centre-half who has looked for an alternative managerial experience. Italian World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro forms a a part of O'Leary's squad.
Monday, October 18, 2010
One small step for man, one giant leap for a footballer
With the Wayne Rooney saga taking another, possibly decisive, twist, is it really conceivable that the boy from Croxteth really could wind up plying his trade away from these shores?
'Una mas cerveza y uno vino tinto, por favor,' he uttered to the bar-person, according to the Observer.
This was not an expert linguist flexing his oral muscles but a footballer. A Scouser, no less.
Steve McManaman moved to Real Madrid and acclimatised well enough to the lifestyle there and, though not fluent, managed to attain a decent level of Spanish.
McManaman was nominated by ESPN as Britain’s must successful footballer abroad after a trophy laden stint with Los Blancos at the beginning of the 21st century.
According to some newspaper reports, Wayne Rooney will soon be following in the footsteps of McManaman by making the bold move to La Liga.
The Manchester United striker has been linked with a record breaking transfer to Barcelona and this rumour follows hot on the heels of Christiano Ronaldo's plea of "come and join me" at Real Madrid.
So will the England international make the ambitious move abroad? Can you really imagine him lapping up the delicacies that another European country can offer?
Some may find this hard to believe and would more likely imagine Rooney to be more at home as a typical English tourist in the Catalan capital, wandering down La Rambla wearing a vest and shorts, donning a pink tan, rather than enjoying the local tapas and learning the language.
However, few would have predicted Jermaine Pennant upping sticks and moving to Spain but that is exactly what the former Liverpool winger did this summer when he moved to Real Zaragoza. He is enjoying a modicum of success there, too, though the different taxation laws in Spain mean that he is on the equivalent of £80,000 per week and that probably aids his satisfaction.
Of course, it is not always plain sailing for our footballers abroad. Take, poor old Darius Vassell's plight since moving to Turkish outfit Ankaragucu earlier this year.
The club have encountered financial difficulties since the former Aston Villa and Manchester City striker arrived at the club and subsequently are unable to foot the bill for the player's hotel. As a result, our Darius could well be consigned to the streets of the Turkish capital in seek of accommodation.
However, sometimes our Brits abroad deserve less sympathy. For example, Ian Rush made a multi-million pound move to Italian side Juventus in the mid-eighties but the move proved unsuccessful for the Welshman where he failed to find the back as frequently as he had done for Liverpool.
Rush allegedly complained that his Italian experience was "like living in a foreign country." Unsurprisingly, he returned to Anfield after just one season with Juve’ with his tail well and truly between his legs.
Some other players have adapted far better to their surroundings in Serie A.
David Platt found success with Bari, Juventus and Sampdoria throughout the nineties, scoring goals aplenty from his favoured midfield position.
He enjoyed his time there and succeeded where many of his British predecessors failed — he managed to learn the language.
This would appear to be a crucial aspect to any footballers life when living abroad. Gary Lineker sampled life in Spain with FC Barcelona and then Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight and he felt it was imperative to learn the lingo.
Lineker explained to cilt.org.uk: “My wife and I learnt Spanish and Japanese when I played at Barcelona and Nagoya. We spent hours and hours in tuition – yet we could have learnt either language at school. Modern languages prepare you for modern life.
He added: “I've really enjoyed learning Spanish and Japanese. Getting to grips with a new language can be great fun, and you learn so much about other people and what makes them tick.
“Immersing yourself in the culture is critical to making it work abroad.”
Former Scotland manager was in agreement. He oversaw the international careers of Paul Lambert. who enjoyed Champions League success with Borussia Dortmund, and John Collins, who starred for Monaco.
Brown said to the same website: I am happy to confirm that international players such as Paul Lambert and John Collins learned the required German and French languages very quickly.
“As a consequence, their children are bilingual and the players settled easily into their environments.”
John Charles proved to be the perfect export where he plundered goal after goal for Juventus in the sixties, assisting the Turin-based club to three Serie A titles.
Then, of course, there is the case of David Beckham, arguably England’s most famous footballer of all time.
Becks has endured mixed fortunes during his spells with Real Madrid, LA Galaxy and AC Milan, but no-one can complain he has not tried and having Real and AC on your CV is a pretty admirable achievement.
Trying hard is not something that would be associated with Paul Gascoigne during his spell with Lazio.
He spent large amounts of time out injured and showed occasional flashes of his undoubted talent, but he did cause great offence to the Italian public with some of his outlandish behaviour, notably belching proudly in front of the cameras in a post-match interview.
Whether Rooney will join this select band of footballers who ply there trade on the Continent is not yet clear but what is apparent is that if you make the effort to familiarise yourself with your surroundings, you can definitely reap the benefits and improve as a footballer.
Perhaps England, as well as Rooney, would prosper from such a career move.
'Una mas cerveza y uno vino tinto, por favor,' he uttered to the bar-person, according to the Observer.
This was not an expert linguist flexing his oral muscles but a footballer. A Scouser, no less.
Steve McManaman moved to Real Madrid and acclimatised well enough to the lifestyle there and, though not fluent, managed to attain a decent level of Spanish.
McManaman was nominated by ESPN as Britain’s must successful footballer abroad after a trophy laden stint with Los Blancos at the beginning of the 21st century.
According to some newspaper reports, Wayne Rooney will soon be following in the footsteps of McManaman by making the bold move to La Liga.
The Manchester United striker has been linked with a record breaking transfer to Barcelona and this rumour follows hot on the heels of Christiano Ronaldo's plea of "come and join me" at Real Madrid.
So will the England international make the ambitious move abroad? Can you really imagine him lapping up the delicacies that another European country can offer?
Some may find this hard to believe and would more likely imagine Rooney to be more at home as a typical English tourist in the Catalan capital, wandering down La Rambla wearing a vest and shorts, donning a pink tan, rather than enjoying the local tapas and learning the language.
However, few would have predicted Jermaine Pennant upping sticks and moving to Spain but that is exactly what the former Liverpool winger did this summer when he moved to Real Zaragoza. He is enjoying a modicum of success there, too, though the different taxation laws in Spain mean that he is on the equivalent of £80,000 per week and that probably aids his satisfaction.
Of course, it is not always plain sailing for our footballers abroad. Take, poor old Darius Vassell's plight since moving to Turkish outfit Ankaragucu earlier this year.
The club have encountered financial difficulties since the former Aston Villa and Manchester City striker arrived at the club and subsequently are unable to foot the bill for the player's hotel. As a result, our Darius could well be consigned to the streets of the Turkish capital in seek of accommodation.
However, sometimes our Brits abroad deserve less sympathy. For example, Ian Rush made a multi-million pound move to Italian side Juventus in the mid-eighties but the move proved unsuccessful for the Welshman where he failed to find the back as frequently as he had done for Liverpool.
Rush allegedly complained that his Italian experience was "like living in a foreign country." Unsurprisingly, he returned to Anfield after just one season with Juve’ with his tail well and truly between his legs.
Some other players have adapted far better to their surroundings in Serie A.
David Platt found success with Bari, Juventus and Sampdoria throughout the nineties, scoring goals aplenty from his favoured midfield position.
He enjoyed his time there and succeeded where many of his British predecessors failed — he managed to learn the language.
This would appear to be a crucial aspect to any footballers life when living abroad. Gary Lineker sampled life in Spain with FC Barcelona and then Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight and he felt it was imperative to learn the lingo.
Lineker explained to cilt.org.uk: “My wife and I learnt Spanish and Japanese when I played at Barcelona and Nagoya. We spent hours and hours in tuition – yet we could have learnt either language at school. Modern languages prepare you for modern life.
He added: “I've really enjoyed learning Spanish and Japanese. Getting to grips with a new language can be great fun, and you learn so much about other people and what makes them tick.
“Immersing yourself in the culture is critical to making it work abroad.”
Former Scotland manager was in agreement. He oversaw the international careers of Paul Lambert. who enjoyed Champions League success with Borussia Dortmund, and John Collins, who starred for Monaco.
Brown said to the same website: I am happy to confirm that international players such as Paul Lambert and John Collins learned the required German and French languages very quickly.
“As a consequence, their children are bilingual and the players settled easily into their environments.”
John Charles proved to be the perfect export where he plundered goal after goal for Juventus in the sixties, assisting the Turin-based club to three Serie A titles.
Then, of course, there is the case of David Beckham, arguably England’s most famous footballer of all time.
Becks has endured mixed fortunes during his spells with Real Madrid, LA Galaxy and AC Milan, but no-one can complain he has not tried and having Real and AC on your CV is a pretty admirable achievement.
Trying hard is not something that would be associated with Paul Gascoigne during his spell with Lazio.
He spent large amounts of time out injured and showed occasional flashes of his undoubted talent, but he did cause great offence to the Italian public with some of his outlandish behaviour, notably belching proudly in front of the cameras in a post-match interview.
Whether Rooney will join this select band of footballers who ply there trade on the Continent is not yet clear but what is apparent is that if you make the effort to familiarise yourself with your surroundings, you can definitely reap the benefits and improve as a footballer.
Perhaps England, as well as Rooney, would prosper from such a career move.
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