The FA Cup is for lower league football fans

Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford lit up a dull FA Cup weekend

The only romance of the third round of the FA Cup came in former giants Leeds United knocking out current Premiership holders Manchester United on their home turf.

Otherwise depleted teams, poor attendances and match postponements undermined the oldest domestic football competition in the world.

A lowly 5335 people turned up to Wigan’s DW Stadium for the all Premier League clash against Hull City.

BBC journalist Paul Rowley was among the few attending and on BBC London yesterday he put this poor turn-out down to the extra cost of the tickets to season ticket holders, the managers putting out second string sides and icy roads.

The so-called ‘magic of the cup’ was left to lower league fans to embrace. 2,000 more Barrow fans attended their away game against Sunderland than the whole of the turn out at the DW Stadium.

A mighty 6,000 Swindon Town fans packed out Fulham’s away stand and 8,000 Leeds United fans witnessed their historic victory at Old Trafford.

Fourth-round fixtures

The issue of a congested fixture list is set to influence the quality of the fourth round ties too.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was left fuming yesterday after ITV scheduled the Gunners away tie to Stoke City for Sunday 24th January, three days before their difficult Premier League away game at Aston Villa.

Perhaps it is time for the FA to re-consider the idea of a Christmas break, like they practice in Spain, Italy and Germany to allow managers and fans to take these Cup games more seriously.

Where have all the good goalkeepers gone?

Chelsea's Petr Cech has failed to reproduce his amazing form since his head injury in 2006

The so-called traditional ‘big four’ teams in the Premiership – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all conceded more goals so far this season than at the same stage last year.

This statistic perhaps comes as no surprise when you consider those horror defensive moments from normally stalwart defences.

Take, for example, United’s Rio Ferdinand’s weak challenge on Liverpool striker Fernando Torres as he goes in on goal last Sunday or the freakish moment at the Stadium of Light with the much reported ‘beach ball incident’.

These incidents, along with Arsenal’s record Premiership goal tally for this stage in the season has made for an exciting watch but it begs the question,

What has happened to those top quality defenders and keepers that have made that top four so impenetrable in the past?

Let’s have a quick glance at the goalkeeping situation of the ‘Big Four’ so far this season:

• Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation, or lack thereof, is the most laughable. The Gunners have come to rely on a 21-year-old Italian, Vito Mannone, who after an impressive display at Craven Cottage in late September has kept the No 1 position despite some shaky performances thereafter.

Since Arsenal’s preferred No 1, Manuel Almunia was brought down with a rather convenient “chest infection” after a less than convincing start to the season he has been unable to wrestle back his first team place from the Italian rooky. Despite his horror moments, most notably at Old Trafford when he brought down Wayne Rooney in the penalty area, Almunia is the best experienced option the Gunners have and therefore the most reliable option in my opinion for the forthcoming game with old derby foes Tottenham Hotspur.

• Manchester United and Chelsea’s international goalkeepers, Edwin Van der Sar and Petr Cech respectively, are two very experienced goalkeepers and have a collection of European and home cups between them. But arguably neither of them have that invincibility that they once had.

Van der Sar was sidelined for two months at the start of the 2009/10 season with a broken finger and a flappable yet promising Ben Foster took his place.

Cech is yet to re-produce that form since his horrific head injury in 2006 that made him one of the contenders for best goalkeeper on the planet. A low point so far this season came with his sending off at Wigan Athletic after he brought down Wigan attacker Hugo Rodallega in the box - a game Chelsea went on to lose 3-1.

• Liverpool’s Pepe Reina is perhaps the only goalkeeper in the ‘Big Four’ so far immune from criticism. Apart from the beach ball incident, he continues to be reliable and alert and the way in which he ran the length of Anfield’s pitch last Sunday when the home side clinched their win against Manchester United, indicates his level of commitment to the team. If anything, the thirteen goals Liverpool have conceded so far would be in part down to the legendary, yet ageing legs of Jamie Carragher and the lack of a stable central defensive pairing.

ITV at odds with Sunderland Manager

England midfielder, David Beckham
(Courtesy of soccergoalx1)

ITV will not be best pleased with Sunderland manager and ITV football pundit, Steve Bruce, this evening as he conceded that England's international game against Belarus last Wednesday was "a pretty dull affair until David Beckham entered the arena".

Bruce was defending his decision to hand the man-of-the-match award to Beckham, despite the fact that he only played half the game and England striker Peter Crouch scored two goals.

The Sunderland manager has clearly forgotten the primary role of the modern day sports pundit: to exaggerate the importance of every pass, throw-in, substitution, even if the game is boring you to tears.

Antagonising ITV bosses

As well as perhaps antagonising ITV bosses with this comment, Bruce also failed to produce any tactical awareness in his analysis of what was largely an uncompetitive affair.

England had already secured qualification to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and Belarus had no chance.

With nothing at stake, the game lacked tempo and aggression as it was a chance for England's fringe players like Ben Foster, Shaun Wright-Philips and Gabriel Agbonlahor to claim a place in the World Cup Finals squad.

So Bruce was right. The game was dull. But perhaps he could have cast off the mediocre punditry for once and explained as to why.

Olympic hopeful Rachel Tullett lands award

Rachel Tullett, Prize winner

Trampolinist Rachel Tullett won the Junior Disabled Prize at last night's Kingston Borough Sports Awards capping off a very successful debut year within the sport, having reached the British Trampoline Finals in July.

Despite suffering from cystic fibrosis, the 17-year-old gymnast trains at least three times a week at Kingston College’s Trampoline Academy.

Tullett has experienced a great start to her trampolining career, which has been further boosted by the news that she has been selected for the 2009/10 Great Britain GMPD TRA National Development Squad.

Here two experienced national squad coaches, Paul Coates and Justine Abraham, will be challenging Tullett to fight for a place in the 2012 Olympic squad.

Tullett was delighted:

"This is my ultimate dream and I now have the chance to train alongside 15 other gymnasts who are the very best in my discipline."

Arsenal and Everton Ladies set the bar once again

Arsenal Ladies' summer signing, defender Jennifer Beattie, was among the goals at the weekend in the North London team’s 8-1 annihilation of Doncaster Belles.

It was the Scottish defender’s third goal of the campaign and she has been equally useful at the back, helping the defence to concede just two goals so far this season.

The ease with which the Gunners tore apart Belles’ defence does again raise concerns of the disparity in quality between teams within the Premier League.

Looks like another two-horse race between Arsenal and Everton Ladies

(Courtesy of Matt Stringberd)

Of the 17 English internationals who were awarded FA central contracts in May, 10 of them play for either Arsenal or Everton Ladies.

The Toffees, who were close runners up last season, also enjoyed a comfortable victory, putting five past the current leaders Millwall Lionesses.

The 2008/09 Premier League title was settled on goal difference, with the Gunners edging the Toffees by 12 goals.

Arsenal's last season Player’s Player of the year, Kim Little, looks on target to amass a record goal tally for her side, already notching up 13 so far.

The long awaited English Women’s Super League might finally take off

The FA have finally initiated the start of the new Women’s Super League in England by inviting clubs to apply for membership this month.

The Super League will run over the summer months and it promises women footballers the chance to play semi-professionally in an initial eight club competition. This number is expected to grow to a maximum of 12 clubs by 2014.

The FA will invest up to £70,000 to each club per season, with the aim of making women’s teams self-sufficient rather than reliant on their male counterparts.

Delayed start

The new women’s league was originally meant to start in March 2010, until the FA deferred its start date to summer 2011 earlier this year citing “the current global financial downturn” as a primary reason for the delay.

The fact that the FA didn’t see their investment in a Women’s Super League as “the most appropriate and meaningful” area to spend their budget, came as no surprise to the English women’s game, who have been waiting for a professional league for nearly 40 years.

The delay came as a huge disappointment nonetheless and some working in the industry doubted it would ever take off.

"I personally believe it's been shelved indefinitely," said Vic Akers, former manager of Arsenal Ladies, back in April.

"It's sad that the girls' game always seems to take the mallet over the head. We've already lost five national players to the United States, including the iconic Kelly Smith. We'll lose more, and that can't be good for the game in England."

So the FA’s latest announcement will come as a relief to the English women’s game, but whether it will stop the migration of our finest players to the United States’ Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS) is doubtful.

WPS

• The WPS firstly pay their players so they are not forced to work 40-hour weeks along with vigorous training in their free time.

• They boast many of the world’s best female stars, most notably the Brazilian star Marta (pictured below) who was awarded the 2009 Michelle Akers Player of the Year Award in August.

Brazilian star Marta is a great attraction in the MPS

• Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español air weekly Sunday night matches and the WPS All-Star Game with Fox Sports Net will air the semi-final and league championship contests.

By contrast, the Women’s FA Cup final in May each year is the only women's game broadcasted on national television.

The creation of the Women’s Super League aims to raise the profile of the women’s game in England and indeed to secure more sponsorship and media coverage.

The fact that the league’s schedule will coincide with the men’s game’s summer break will hopefully draw in the football starved fans.

The FA’s most promising move to date had been the awarding of central contracts to 17 English international women players in May. This decision aimed to allow the players the time to concentrate on helping England to qualify for major tournaments.

And these international sportswomen more than proved their worth by reaching the finals of the European Championships in Finland for the first time in September.

As the FA invite applications to the Women’s Super League, 2009 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in English women’s football.

Is Women's Boxing ready for the 2012 Olympics?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will announce later this week whether or not women's boxing will be included for the first time at London 2012.

In the lead up to this decision, the IOC have been considering a number of key issues, among them are:

• Is women's boxing a global sport?
  
• Does it have sufficient strength and depth so safety and competitiveness are not an issue?
• How best can we integrate women's boxing into the already crowded men's programme?
• Are there any ramifications for men’s boxing if a women's competition went ahead?
• Would reducing the weight classes for men and women compromise the safety of the sport?

I decided to go out and find a coach and take to the ring myself in order to learn more about the safety regulations, training and basic skills within the sport.

Below is an extract of my 30 minute radio documentary on the debate surrounding women boxing at the Olympics.