I’m taking a break, back soon.

The more eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that this place has been quiet again this week, and I do apologise if you’ve missed your daily fill of football talk because of it. The truth is that I’m struggling to motivate myself to write here at the moment, and so I’m going to give myself a little time off from this and hopefully come back refreshed in a week or two. There are a few reasons for this…

Firstly, I’ve not long clocked my third year of university and am currently having a (well-earned) rest back home in Nelson and to be honest, my brain is enjoying just being able to relax for a while, and trying to force myself to engage in writing articles of the standard that I try and maintain on this site is just not that appealing at present.

On top of that, real life is getting in the way a bit too, as though I’m currently neither studying or working I’ve a lot on my mind given that my family is gearing up for a change of cities which involves big move so I’m also trying to make the most of spending time with friends in the Nelson region before we head off to pastures new and so I’m finding it hard to devote time to this site.

Finally, and perhaps most of all, I’m not enjoying football as much as usual at present. Everton’s season is turning into a bit of a nightmare with injuries pretty much destroying our ambitions and threatening a scrap in the lower echelons of the Premier League. Given the strength of my obsession with my beloved club, it often seems more sensible not to dwell too much on football at present, because it only ever seems to darken my mood!

So in all, I think I just need a bit of time away from They Think It’s All Over… to recharge my football-writing batteries. I’m not sure how long that will take, but I’m sure I’ll be back in action sooner rather than later and certainly before the busy festive season. I hope you’ll continue to check back occasionally to keep up with my progress and I’ll see you all soon. All the best, Adam.

Premiership Predictions

It seems wherever I look on the internet at the moment, everyone is busy discussing the old ‘Hand of Henry’ incident and of course They Think It’s All Over… is no exception, international weeks can be slow old things after all. However, today we interrupt a two-part replay special to bring you our usual batch of predictions for this weekend’s Premier League action. There are plenty of tasty looking ties for our viewing pleasure, and there’s bound to be more controversy too, it wouldn’t be football if there wasn’t after all!

Saturday Fixtures; all kick-offs 3pm unless stated.
Liverpool vs. Manchester City (12.45pm)
It’s probably fair to say that the international break came at the perfect time for Rafa Benitez who has come under overwhelming pressure as they continue to struggle, a 2-2 draw with Birmingham the last result to enrage the Anfield faithful. Man City are quietly struggling too though, they haven’t won a game since September and have drawn their last five matches – hardly the form of a top four side. A trip to Anfield is never easy though, especially with Liverpool likely to see the return of talisman Steven Gerrard, but City seem to raise their games against the big boys and I think this’ll be a close one. Maybe another draw.
Prediction: 1-1.

Do we need replays in football? (Part One)

Will a replay get Shay Given back on his feet?

In light of the massive controversy over the goal dubbed variously as the ‘Hand of God II’, ‘Hand of Henry and, most brilliantly and in a rare and surprising moment of genius in The Sun, the ‘Hand of Frog’, the football world is engaged in various discussions regarding replays. Firstly, after an Irish FA appeal should the match itself be replayed in light of the referee’s error? And second, does this incident provide us with a watershed moment that demands the introduction of video replays in football matches?

Today’s post forms the first of a two parter (the second will follow either tomorrow or on Sunday) and looks at the first question; whether or not Ireland have a chance of getting the game replayed and whether or not it would be good for football if it were. I must admit, when sitting down to write this post I thought they had no chance and were being wildly optimistic, but the precedent that they’ve cited makes a reasonably compelling case for them. Any rematch between the sides would be a brutal and viscious affair, but could it and should it happen?

France 2-1 Ireland (AET): A Crying Shame.

The Irish players distraught at the final whistle.

Who else is bitterly disappointed by this morning’s World Cup qualifiers? I know I certainly am, there were no real upsets, indeed the only team who suffered a shock defeat were Russia, a team who I was looking forward to watching at the World Cup because they play a nice brand of hard-working football, and hell, it’s always a pleasure to watch Andrey Arshavin play football. It has to be said though, the biggest disappointment of all occurred, unsurprisingly, in Paris.

Few gave the Irish a chance when they conceded an away goal in the first leg, but I thought they’d go there and cause the French problems and so they did, probably doing more than enough to win the game. Yet despite being outplayed, despite being over-confident, despite having a ludicrously poor manager and despite scoring a goal that featured two offside players and two separate hand-balls, the French will be at the World Cup.

World Cup Playoff Predictions

I had initially planned to make some predictions before the first legs of these playoff matches at the weekend, but what with my busy schedule I didn’t have chance to. Intriguingly though, each and every tie is delicately poised and could easily go either way when all is said and done later on tonight. Playoffs are always hard to call, they’re essentially like Cup Finals and form goes out the window but I had NZ down to beat Bahrain by one goal (though I’ll admit, I’d picked 2-1) so let’s see what I can do…

European Qualifying Playoffs
Bosnia-Hercegovina vs. Portugal (agg. 0-1)
Portugal were certainly the favourites going into this playoff tie despite a stuttering qualification campaign that saw them limp into second place, they have enough quality in their side to be a real force if they make it to the World Cup. Bosnia are looking to make it to their first World Cup and as is so often the case with nations recently affected by civil war, the national side carries the hopes of the nation with them. They’re also quite technically gifted though and if the home fans can provide a threatening atmosphere they’ll trouble a fragile Portuguese outfit. I think Portugal will probably get a crucial away goal though and make it to South Africa.
Prediction: 1-1 (agg. 1-2).

Kiwis: Don’t fly too high too soon.

Rory Fallon's goal sees the Kiwis take flight...

Saturday night saw over 35000 people pile in to Westpac Stadium in Wellington to see New Zealand overcome Bahrain by one goal to nil and in doing so qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This is a feat that the All Whites have only achieved once before – back in ‘82 – and so naturally, the football fans of New Zealand (myself included) are on a massive high right about now, it was a fantastic night for all involved.

However, sights will now inevitably turn to the World Cup itself and while of course not even the most optimistic fans will expect a New Zealand victory or even qualification from the group stages, there’s still a danger that sights could be set too high. Ricki Herbert acknowledged that he has no designs on winning the competition but did suggest in one of his many post-match interviews (I can’t find a source I’m afraid) that they would cause a few upsets along the way. It’s great to see him in such confident spirits, but a reality check could be prudent.

Back, after a short absence…

Good news everyone, it’s now been over a week since my last post (officially the longest period of inactivity in They Think It’s All Over… history) but having now finished my exams (and thus my undergrad degree), had an interview for a postgrad course, had a big weekend of football during which I saw the All Whites qualify for only their second ever World Cup Finals and now returned to Nelson for a brief respite, I can now breathe some life back into this place.

Hopefully not everyone has abandoned ship during my absence and those readers that remain will bare with me – it might take a few days to get back up to speed (I’m still trying to shake off all of the hastily learned knowledge that I crammed into my head for my exams) but sooner rather than later we should be back into the old post-per-day routine and again filling up these pages with some worthwhile writing and discussion. It’s good to be back, big thanks for anyone who waited patiently for my return!

Premiership Predictions

The big clash of this weekend sees league leaders Chelsea host Manchester United at the soon-to-be-called-something-else-Stamford Bridge but there are plenty of other interesting fixtures too: two clubs who have started well, Spurs and Sunderland will do battle, while Everton and West Ham will both be trying to kick-start their seasons and of course, Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from another disastrous week on Monday evening. So how will it play out? Read on…

Saturday Fixtures; kick-offs 3pm unless stated.
Aston Villa vs. Bolton Wanderers
Aston Villa struggled to impose themselves against an injury hit Everton at Goodison last weekend, and after succumbing to a last gasp goal against West Ham in midweek, Martin O’Neill will desperately want to get his side back to winning ways. Bolton though, will not make it easy for them. Yes, Chelsea rolled them over with consummate ease last time out, but that was a combination of Bolton’s own self-destruction and Chelsea’s brilliance. No, I think this will be a close game, though I still think Villa may sneak it.
Prediction: 2-1.

Exam Tomorrow: Studying Hard (Honest!)

Shame there's not much in my fridge...

I have an exam tomorrow (wish me luck!) which I’ve actually studied reasonably hard for over the past few days (these are the final assessments of my degree after all) and although today has largely been spent perfecting the art of procrastination (see above comic strip) I would have felt incredibly guilty had I spent an hour or so of it thinking deeply and writing in depth about football rather than The Great Gatsby, Allen Ginsberg and the Beats and other stalwarts of American Literature.

As such, there’ll be no post today and it doesn’t look good for tomorrow either. I’ll write my predictions on Saturday morning as usual but next week may be a total write off as I have exams on Wednesday and Friday as well as an interview for a postgrad journalism course to prepare for on Wednesday – busy times. I will try and get something written, but I’m not making any promises: consider it a ‘winter break’. Still, do check back every now and then, and I’ll be back before you know it.

All the best everyone. Now, back to that study…

‘Silly Season’ is here: Who’s for the sack?

Who is the odd one out? And who will go first?

Well everyone, November is upon us which means that that most wonderful time of year when we all revert to the young children inside of us, put up lots of flashing lights and eat and drink far too much is nearly upon us. However, though Christmas may still be fifty days away (doesn’t sound like much does it?), football’s very own silly season is already here. November will be a month that will have a lasting effect on the outcome of this season’s Premier League.

I call this football’s ’silly season’ because for some reason everyone involved in the game places a lot of emphasis on where their club is at Christmas. If you’re bottom of the league at Christmas you’re all but down, whereas if you’re in touch with the leaders, you’re in with a shout for a winner’s medal. This means that if things aren’t going quite to plan by mid-late November, heads will almost certainly role, giving the new man just enough time to rectify things ahead of the Christmas snapshot. So, who will be the first casualty this year?