HardingSport caught up with Matt McCourt, chairman of a local supporter's Trust for Chelsea FC.
link.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Triple-or-nothing for England cricket captaincy
The ECB has announced its decision to divide the national team captaincy between each form of the game. Following Andrew Strauss’s decision to retire from one-day cricket, the groundbreaking move has been made to introduce a three-pronged captaincy for the first time.
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| Test Captain: Strauss |
In principle it will allow each captain to focus solely on their form of the game, without splitting their concentration. On the other hand, it’s an undeniable prerequisite for split loyalties and dress-room bickering.
Alastair Cook,26, has been named 50-over skipper and Stuart Broad, 24, takes the T20 leadership. Both young players have been touted as future captains of the Test team but neither would be drawn on that issue, insisting that they are focussing on what they both describe as ‘exciting challenges.’
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| Beckham in 2006 |
34-year-old Strauss announced his decision in a close-to-tears press conference reminiscent of one David Beckham after a poor 2006 football World Cup. In that instance Beckham was cast aside by new management, but Strauss surely need not fear any backlash in this instance after announcing his decision to retain the Test captaincy.
“I’ve enjoyed my time as one-day captain immensely,” said the Middlesex opening batsman, “and I’m extremely proud of the strides we have made in limited-overs cricket in the last two years.”
Head coach Andy Flower, 43, called the move “exciting.” “We’re covering new ground,” he went on, “we don’t know 100% whether it will work and be the most effective and efficient system... but with the quality of the people we’ve got around us, I think we form a good leadership team.”
Flower himself recently signed a new deal to stay with England. The Zimbabwean had been approached by T20 world champions India, but chose to remain loyal to England and build on back-to-back Ashes honours by reaching top spot in the world Test rankings, a position currently held by India.
The world champions meanwhile have recruited Flower’s compatriot and England predecessor Duncan Fletcher to fill the vacant coach position. The 62-year-old will be under pressure to succeed with a team already at the top of the international game.
Kent make slow start to the County Championship season
April 30
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| batting form ... Sam Northeast |
Kent’s poor start to the new LV= County Championship continued this week with defeat at home to Gloucestershire. The result leaves the Canterbury side languishing in 8th place in the 9-team table with only one win from their first three games.
The new term had started brightly for Robert Key’s side, with narrow victory in their opening game away to Essex. The local rivals played a lot of cricket in the first two days, with Kent patting first and posting a first-innings total of 247 all out, thanks largely to Sam Northeast who scored an impressive 112 from 170 deliveries. The bowlers then ripped into the Essex line-up, leaving them 49 for 6 at the close of play.
Day two saw something of an Essex fight-back, with JS Foster showing remarkable resilience to score an unbeaten 88 from 161 balls. The Chelmsford outfit posted 201 all out, leaving Kent needing a second decent tally to close out the game. They responded well, ending day two 146/3 and in control. Van Jaarsvelt hit 63 and captain Key 61, Kent finishing 238 all out and leaving Essex needing 284 to take the game. They made good progress on day three, reaching 198/6, including 39 from England international Ravi Bopara, but ultimately fell short of the mark at 227 all out. Kent recorded a 57-run victory and took 20 points from the game. Darren Stevens impressed with ball, taking 9 wickets including 6-60 in the first innings.
Things started going wrong after this opening fixture, with a heavy innings-and-159 run defeat the Northamptonshire hitting hard on team morale. Kent posted 202 from their first innings but were left reeling after Northamptonshire’s massive reply of 480 runs. The home side didn’t even bat a second innings thanks to a magnificent 141 unbeaten from captain Marcus Hall, scoring the 12th ton of his first-class career. The follow-on saw something of a shambles from Kent’s top order with the first SEVEN batsmen combining for a meagre 41 runs and the team all out for 119 runs.
Things improved in the first home game against Gloucestershire, though not by much. The defeat was at least by a much narrower 45-run margin, with Kent’s 208 & 245 not enough to see off a solid Gloucestershire team 292 &206, despite a brilliant 70 runs from 162 by Azhar Mahmood in the second innings.
Kent’s next game is at home to Northamptonshire with the team needing a significant improvement against the team whose only win of the season has been against the Spitfires. The Canterbury boys also have the 40-over form of the game to look forward to, beginning at home to Worcestershire on May the 1st.
Canterbury HC's heartache at EHL Promotion tournament
02 May
English hockey’s flagship event came to a close today, with the England Hockey League promotion playoffs in Cannock. The annual 3-day hockey tournament to determine which teams are relegated from – and promoted to – the country’s top-flight league.
There was heartache for Canterbury as their relegation misery was compounded by poor results.
Canterbury, who finished 9th in the 10-team EHL, were fighting to stay up (with 10th-place Brooklands MU automatically relegated). They were joined by the winners from the East, North, and West conference leagues, Southgate, Durham, and Exeter.
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| Christchurch student Huw Stephens |
The format was a round-robin tournament with each team playing each other once, with the top two qualifying for next season’s EHL with the bottom two relegated back to the conference.
Canterbury went into the tournament with momentum, having already pulled off the great escape to get themselves out of bottom spot in the league. Our boys needed to win their final two games, against Loughborough and second-bottom Brooklands. Having beaten Loughborough, Canterbury completed their impossible turnaround thanks to a Michael Farrer penalty corner conversion with the final touch of the game.
Player/coach Kwan Browne has seen it all, and was once considered the best player on the planet. He had this to say: “It was an unbelievable finish,” he said “to do it when it was all-or-nothing was incredible ... you can never replicate the pressure.”
Canterbury now have the playoff tournament to contend with.
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| Leader ... Kwan Browne |
“It is going to be even tougher this year than it was last year,” he said, referring to last season’s tournament which saw Canterbury into the EHL, “we faced Exeter and Southgate last year and we beat them, they are tough games but confidence is high.”
HardingSport was there to follow local city side Canterbury as they looked to stay at the top level of club hockey. Their unforgiving schedule saw them play 3 games in 3 days to defend their EHL status.
Game 1 versus Exeter was a closer game than the scoreline suggests, and a game of two distinct halves. Exeter were 2-0 up at half time and looking supremely dominant, going on to make it 3-0 early in the second half. Canterbury rallied after this, Michael Farrer scoring a consolation penalty corner on 52 minutes. The Devon side withstood the Canterbury barrage that followed, but ultimately held on to the 3 points. Canterbury were left frustrated, and unable to find a way past the impressive Tom Millington in the Exeter goal.
Game 2 was a must-win for the Kent side against local rivals Southgate, as 2 opening defeats would spell disaster and all but end their hopes of retaining their EHL status. Canterbury opened the scoring with a second penalty corner goal, this time from Mickell Pierre after 8 minutes. The green-and-whites were left shell-shocked, however, as Southgate came back to score 3 goals with less than 17 minutes played. Michael Farrer scored his second of the tournament just before the half-hour mark to reduce the deficit to one goal. This was short-lived as Southgate scored again to make it 4-2 at half time to set up a dramatic second half. Ten minutes after the interval, Farrer converted two more PCs to complete his hat-trick and level the scores at 4-4, with Canterbury in the ascendency. Despite Southgate’s 7 yellow cards in the match, Canterbury couldn’t hold on for the point and Southgate stole the game in the dying minutes to leave Canterbury at the bottom of the pile.
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| Dejected ... Ferrer looks on |
Canterbury’s final game against Durham was just as eventful. Canterbury University student Liam Foster opened to scoring, before Durham found an equaliser. Tom Butt restored Canterbury’s advantage at 2-1. The second half saw something of a Canterbury collapse, with Southgate finding renewed energy to score 4 goals without reply. Both teams had a player red-carded in the feisty few minutes. The game finished 5-2, but this wasn’t enough for Durham who missed out on second place by a goal difference of 2.
It was a thrilling end to a terrific weekend that the top 3 teams were separated only on goal difference. Exeter deservedly topped the group, returning to the EHL at the first attempt following last season’s relegation. The players have shown their EHL pedigree all season, winning the Western conference by 8 points, winning 16 out of 18 games, with a goal difference of 48.
Canterbury, on the other hand, despite boasting Kwan Browne in their ranks, are back to the drawing board for a thorough re-think as they look to bounce back up next season.
Results:
Canterbury | 1 | 3 | Exeter University |
University of Durham | 0 | 4 | Southgate |
Exeter University | 4 | 5 | University of Durham |
Southgate | 5 | 4 | Canterbury |
Exeter University | 5 | 2 | Southgate |
Canterbury | 2 | 5 | University of Durham |
Table:
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
Exeter | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
Southgate | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
Durham | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
Canterbury | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 0 |
The race is on: Premier League blown wide open
Following the weekend’s dramatic twist in the race for the Premier League title, the pendulum of public opinion has been quick to swing. Manchester United’s disastrous 1-0 defeat away to third-placed Arsenal means that the Red Devils have no margin for error in their three remaining games, including a crunch tie against rivals Chelsea next weekend. Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was quickest to take advantage of the media frenzy surrounding the game’s aftermath, with the message to Sir Alex: “We’re coming to get you.”
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| Ramsey scores the winner |
United had been sitting pretty at the top of the table, with a chance to go six points clear of second-place Chelsea. The game away to Arsenal had always looked tricky, but with the Gunners boasting just 2 wins their last 10 games in all competitions, European semi-finalists Man Utd surely needed only to see the game out as a formality.
Arsenal showed all the attacking verve that has become the hallmark of their football in recent years, and deservedly took the lead early in the second half. The goal came from 21 year-old Aaron Ramsey, who netted a cool side-foot finish – his performance gave no hint of his 9-month injury lay-off with a broken leg. He started the game only because skipper Cesc Fabregas couldn’t overcome a thigh injury, and called the goal “a special moment.” Ramsey’s strike proved to be the winner, leaving United’s assistant manager Mike Phelan to bemoan his team’s lack of spirit in the first half. “I’m very disappointed,” he said after the game, “in the first half our lads were sluggish, didn’t get into gear quickly.” When asked about the Chealsea tie next Sunday, he “We put ourselves in a good position before this game and now we go home back to Old Trafford and I’m sure we’ll be ready for a performance against Chelsea.”
It’s yet another exciting twist in this season’s Premier League storyline, leaving football fans of all teams with an undeniable spectacle to repay their faith. Chelsea now have a chance to go top with two games remaining, and a win would see their goal difference edge out United’s.
Chelsea had themselves been in the driving seat for much of the season, but suffered something of a batting collapse in November following a confidence crisis at Stamford Bridge. After losing 2-0 to Liverpool on Novermber 7th, the Blues went on to win just 2 of their next 12 games. Now though, they threaten a remarkable pantomime-villain comeback after United’s uncharacteristic slip -up. Ancelotti’s men will be hungry for some payback against the Red Devils, who have not only stolen the inititative in the league, but also knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League.
If Chelsea can achieve the unthinkable and take all three points at Old Trafford, it would set up the most memorable Premiership finale to date. United however won’t accept that their campaign has been de-railed, although the impetus has undeniably shifted now; They’ll no longer be leaving their competitors behind in the Premier League, but instead – weary and bruised – will be thankful just to stumble over that finish line.
Chelsea will claim that recent results will re-invigorate them, and blow the title race open. United on the other hand will look to render this latest set-back an irrelevant hiccough in the crusade for their personal Holy Grail: a record 19th league championship.
British talent rife at the top of football
With this season’s Premier League season building to an explosive climax, it’s important not to overlook the home-grown talent helping to make the greatest show on Earth such a scintillating spectacle.
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| Wayne Rooney |
Of this home-grown talent, the up-and-coming players seem to be making a big impact at an earlier age every season. Wayne Rooney made his England debut aged 17, a record broken by Theo Walcott by 36 days a few years later.
Most recently Jack Wilshere has been the teen sensation to inspire the watching nation. The 19-year-old Arsenal playmaker made his England name aged 18, and has been widely tipped as an England captain of the future. Tenacious and creative, he has established himself as a mainstay in the heart of the Arsenal midfield this season with a series of consistent performances.
Since making his club debut aged 16, Wilshere has gone on to accumulate 48 Premier League appearances, with performances belaying his tender age. Equally adept when deployed as a pacey winger or in a deeper central role, his ability to read the game and dictate the tempo remains his strongest asset.
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| Exciting: Wilshere |
He’s not adverse to publicity or controversy, however. In the past he’s gotten into trouble over allegations of assault, and most recently he’s been embroiled in a club vs country row. His passion to play for England has led to a call-up for the U21 European Cup campaign in the summer, and he has promised to honour the nod despite Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s concerns.
Wenger is worried that Wilshere could ‘burn out’ and succumb to fatigue, ruining his preparations for next season. “Why do you produce a youth system?” Wenger asks. “it is to get them [players] ready for the first team. Once they play in the first team, your job has been done, so you can promote other players.”
Wilshere, who has 4 senior caps, is joined in the team selection by £35 million striker Andy Carroll, who recently scored his first international goal.
“If I’m selected, I’ll play for the under-21s... I will never say no to my country.”-Wilshere.
Promising talent that he is, Wilshere has collected many accolades in his short career to date. This season he has been named in the Premier League Team of the Year, and is the PFA Young Player of the Year.
The senior award meanwhile was presented to Tottenham winger Gareth Bale. The 21-year-old has been in tremendous form, as recognised by the prestigious award previously handed out to Premier League luminaries such as Ryan Giggs, Alan Shearer, and Thierry Henry. Bale and Wilshere were the youngest players to be named in this season’s Team of the Year.
While pondering the next generation of Britain’s best footballers, HardingSports have put together our own team of Under-23 British talent for you to savour.
GK Joe Lewis - 23, Peterborough United
RB Micah Richards - 22, Man City, English
CB Chris Smalling - 21, Man Utd, English
CB Danny Wilson - 19, Liverpool, Scotland 3 caps/ 1 goal
LB Kieran Gibbs - 21, Arsenal, England 2 caps
CM Jack Wilshere - 19, Arsenal, England 4 caps
CM Aaron Ramsey - 20, Arsenal, Wales Captain, 12 caps/ 2 goals,
CAM John Fleck - 19, Rangers, Scottish
LW Gareth Bale - 21, Tottenham Hotspur, Wales 27 caps/ 3 goals
RW Alex Chamberlain - 17, Southampton, English
CF Theo Walcott - 22, Arsenal, England 16 caps/ 3 goals
The QPR Conundrum
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| Controversial ... Alejandro Faurlin |
Queens Park Rangers Football Club celebrated promotion to the top flight of English football this week following an unprecedented turnaround in their fortunes over the last 13 months, but their eagerly-awaited Premier League return could be foiled by an FA enquiry. Two words, QPR fans: Alejandro Faurlin.
The London club could be charged for fielding an ineligible player if the FA find that the circumstances surrounding Faurlin’s transfer from Argentine club Cordoba are not within the rules. Speculation is mounting that QPR could suffer a points deduction, possibly as many as 15 points, which would see them lose their status as champions and leave them needing to go through the play-offs in order to play Premiership football next season.
The mire of innuendo and conjecture is easy to get lost in, but the fact seems to be that Faurlin’s contract was owned by a third party rather than a club. He was on loan at Cordoba, but the third party retained the rights to him as a player. A similar situation arose in 2003 when Carlos Tevez moved to West Ham from a third-party ownership. In fact it isn’t uncommon in South America for clubs to employ players in this way without actually ‘owning’ them as is convention in Europe. The players are essentially ‘loaned’ to the club as an English club might loan a young player to a team in the division below.
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| Tevez arrives in England |
In the case of Tevez, he single-handedly rescued West Ham from relegation at the business end of that season, meaning that Sheffield United went down instead. Blades manager Neil Warnock is now, ironically, the head coach of QPR and is on the other end of a similar situation. The outcome of that farce was that West Ham were ordered to pay compensation to the Premier League and to West Ham. They weren’t docked points because they hadn’t broken any rules; the situation was unprecedented. West Ham also made compensatory payments to Sheffield United.
Since then, the FA has imposed new rules governing the payment by clubs to third parties. Third-party ownership of players has been unequivocally banned. The problem is not so much with transferring players from third-parties; the FA are more concerned that a third-party still owned Faurlin’s playing rights after the move.
Faurlin’s transfer to QPR in July 2009 is rumoured to be worth around £3.5 million including clauses. Inter Milan reportedly had a first-option clause for his services, but Faurlin didn’t want to join Inter because he couldn’t be sure of first-team action. The FA hearing is set to determine whether that transfer fee was paid to a third party, or if a third party had legal ownership over the player while he played in England.
The situation is more serious than the Tevez affair, as the FA took no part in that. The Premier League itself conducted the investigation on that occasion. For the FA to step in, they must be convinced that something sinister is amiss. The details are still pretty sketchy at this point, with the FA hearing set to be conducted behind closed doors. If the case isn’t closed before the play-offs, though, they could be put on hold. Football fans will dread to think what the repercussions could be if the case continues all summer, without uncertainty looming over which league the top 8 Championship clubs will be playing in. It could be a logistical nightmare to say the least.
Following the QPR controversies, NAMEOFWEBSITE have compiled a profile on 26-year-old Alejandro Faurlin, the player at the heart of the affair, who will be little-known to a lot of readers.
Full name | Alejandro Damián Faurlín |
Nationality | Argentine |
Place of Birth | Rosario Argentina |
Date of Birth | 9 August 1986 |
Career to date (clubs) | Rosario Central, Atlético de Rafaela, Instituto de Cordoba |
Position | Midfield |
Shirt number | 11 |
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