The bigger they are, the harder they fall…

These Wolves fans live the dream of every Championship fan; will it soon be Newcastle's dream too?

This weekend sees the final round of fixtures in what has been a truly thrilling season of Championship football. Though I don’t get to watch any of it here in New Zealand, following the table and listening to BBC’s 606 Football Phone-In is enough to know just how many ups and downs there have been. However, going into the final matches, the bottom five teams in the Championship are teams that have featured in the Premier League in the last eleven years.

Charlton and Southampton are already relegated to League One, and the final relegation place will go to either Norwich or Barnsley, with Nottingham Forest having just about secured their safety. It is amazing to see just how far these clubs have fallen, and indeed to see that Leicester City and Leeds United have also just spent a season in English football’s third tier, though both may soon return to the Championship. This should come as a heavy warning to fans of Newcastle United, because it just goes to show that no club is too good to go down.

Everton 1-2 Manchester City: Match Reaction

I reckon Jags was feeling even worse than me after Saturday's game.

After watching Manchester City overcome my beloved but fatigued Everton side yesterday morning and, even worse, seeing Phil Jagielka stretchered out of our season to join Mikel Arteta, Yakubu and Victor Anichebe on the ‘out for the season’ list, I had plotted to write an article about the injustice of it all. Unfortunately I spent all day yesterday travelling back to Wellington and all day today doing Uni work slash being at Uni, and the bitterness that fuelled my intentions has now decayed to a miserable acceptance that we couldn’t go on forever with so many games and such a slim squad (four season ending injuries – FOUR!).

So instead of the inevitable fiery and angry post that would have appeared had I written it yesterday, click through below to see a short summary of my main reactions to Everton’s defeat at Manchester City, and a really amusing football related web-comic that I stumbled across before. It actually made me laugh despite the rather disgusting living conditions to which I am now returned (there are numerous things growing in the kitchen) and the fact that it has been raining for two days straight.

The FA Cup Final: A Three-Way Divide

An ideal Wembley, but surely it should be filled with real fans?

The joy of seeing Everton reach the FA Cup Final for the first time in fourteen years still hasn’t worn off, but even in the face of such a great achievement, I still have to marvel at the incredible stupidity of the English FA. Seeing the ticket allocations for the Final on the 30th of May was a sobering moment, as even though I almost certainly can’t attend, marooned in New Zealand as I am, I feel it is only just that the hardcore season ticket holders of both clubs should have the privilege of watching their teams play at Wembley in the final of the world’s most prestigious domestic competition.

However, because the FA have allocated each team just 25,000 tickets each for the Final in May, that is not going to happen. Despite Wembley having a capacity of about 90,000, the FA has decided that only just over half of the supporters in the stadium should have any emotional involvement with the teams on the pitch. The others will be made up of representatives from ‘regional associations’ and basically, old pals of the bigwigs.

Premiership Predictions

Bolton Wanderers vs. Aston Villa
Bolton, sitting in 13th in the table, are still not safe from relegation in this, the most all-inclusive relegation scrap we have seen for many years. But all being well for Megson’s men, they shouldn’t be relegated, and they may fancy this home fixture against a Villa side who are still struggling to re-discover the blistering form that saw them through the majority of the season. Bolton are a big strong side and against Villa’s nippier players should be able to out muscle them, and this may be a draw.
Prediction: 2-2.

Everton vs. Manchester City
After a fantastic week last week that saw them reach the FA Cup final and take a draw from Chelsea (that should really have been a win) Everton are flying high. They will be without Jo who is cup tied, but with Vaughan and Saha returning from injury their squad is looking as full as it has been all season, and Moyes may again rest a few players who have slight niggles. City have really struggled away from home and struggle for firepower themselves, so I think Everton should be too much for them today.
Prediction: 3-1.

Moving the Fortress

I sit writing this post in an empty room, that used to be mine. Now it is empty but for me, the dents in the carpet that my stuff has left behind and quite a few memories. We’re halfway through the second day of moving house (which explains my not-posting yesterday) and in many ways, my memories of our time in this house will be enclosed between two penalty shoot-outs.

When we built it, we had to move in slightly earlier than we would have liked, and so were watching England’s 2006 World Cup campaign in a house with no carpet, just dustsheets and tarpaulin on the floor and the TV the only amenity that we had brought in from the garage, which resembled Aladdin’s Cave.

Unfortunately of course, England eventually succumbed on penalties as Portugal, as seems to be becoming almost a tradition when any match involving England eventuates in that most cruelest of deciders. It wasn’t a great start to life in the new house, lying in a cold room on a camp bed facing four more years of hurt.

However, as far as our house has come over these three years, becoming a warm and comfortable place with carpets and everything; and as complete as the transformation as the garden, from gorse covered wilderness to a mature and flowery jungle, so has been the transformation in our footballing fortunes.

Yep, England missed out on the Euros last year, but since then Capello has led a mini revolution, all the while Moyes has been gradually building a genuinely top class squad and a winning mentality at Everton, leading us to successive European finishes in the Premier League, and culminating on Monday morning (NZ time), almost inevitably, in a penalty shoot out.

This time though, my side emerged victorious, overcoming Manchester united and setting up our first chance of silverware since 1995, a match that I watched from the other side of the world. Leaving this house today I don’t really know where I will be when I watch the FA Cup Final on the 30th May, but I know I will never forget this house, my time here, and the footballing experiences I’ve had here.

Further proof, if it were needed, that football will permeate all facets of life if you let it, and that I am probably far too obsessed with the beautiful game. But oh well, I’m not changing, and tomorrow They Think It’s All Over… should return to normal service from a new fortress. See you there.

Review: England Home Shirt 09/10 (Umbro)

England's new shirt is the first to come under my reviewing eye.

Today marks the launch of a new venture on They Think It’s All Over… as I try my hand at reviewing. It is an avenue I have been considering for a while and now I have finally gotten under way with a review of England’s new home shirt, thanks to a partnership with SoccerPro.com.

I’m looking to continue reviews of any and all sorts of football products and merchandise, so if you manufacture or sell any type of football gear and would be interested in having an unbiased review written and published, please get in touch.

For now, please head over to the ‘Reviews’ page and have a read of my first review! Feedback and suggestions are welcomed as always, but I hope that my evaluation of the shirt is useful for some of my readers.
Thanks for reading.

Click through to read my first review…

Everton 0-0 Manchester United; Everton win 4-2 on Penalties

FA Cup Semi-Final Reaction

I have now been awake for almost 24 hours straight. In New Zealand the semi-final kicked off at 3am on Monday morning and I could not go to bed due to nervous excitement before the match. Now I can’t go to bed because of the adrenaline coursing through my body after that dramatic win. So I will attempt to channel some of that out into this blog and give my reaction to a nerve-wracking FA Cup Semi-Final. As always, bias may sneak in because my heart is as blue as blue, but I have tried to be objective and fair. At the end of the day though, Everton are in the final and that’s what counts!!!

FA Cup Semi-Final Previews

This weekend sees the attention of the nation swivel to Wembley to witness the two FA Cup Semi-Finals of 2009. Last season’s FA Cup fixtures seemed to epitomise the phrase ‘the magic of the Cup’ and eventually Portesmouth emerged the victors in the first final I can remember that didn’t feature one of the so called ‘big four’.

This year though has seen a return to the typical dominance of the bigger clubs and the semi-finals see Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal joined by Everton, who eliminated both Liverpool and Aston Villa en route to the final and are steadily closing the gap between themselves and the ‘big four’. So we should have some really cracking semi-finals to watch this weekend, but which two sides will earn the right to return to Wembley and contest the oldest Cup final in football?

Premiership Predictions

Aston Villa vs. West Ham United
Villa’s decline in recent weeks has been well documented but after an early collapse against Everton last week, they were helped back into the match by Howard Webb and will have taken confidence from the thrilling draw. With the season drawing to and end they need to finish strongly to cling on to 5th spot but the Hammers will give them a stern test. Unfortunately for Zola’s men they are really feeling the effects of the season with niggling injuries plaguing the side and with safety assured, they may have lost the steam needed to beat Villa.
Prediction: 2-1.

Middlesbrough vs. Fulham
‘Boro maintained their slim survival chances with a good win over Hull last weekend and Southgate will hope that his side will be spurred on by that result, they have to keep winning. Fulham have been playing well of late after a slight blip though they aren’t fantastic away from home. If ‘Boro can get up for the game with their home fans behind them I think they can put some serious pressure on the sides above them.
Prediction: 2-0.

PFA Player of the Year Awards

Are these your players of the season?

There has been a fair bit of grumbling since the nominees for the PFA Player of the Year award were announced, with the list comprising:

Edwin Van Der Saar, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Manchester United) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool).

So that’s five Manchester United players and Gerrard; I have to admit, I too have misgivings. Yes, the nominees have all had really good seasons, but I would argue that playing in a team full of such talented players, you would expect them too. I would also suggest that there are players who have performed to a similar standard as those nominated but in, shall we say, less comfortable surroundings.

Thus I bring you the list of players that I would have nominated for the award. I will say briefly that I do intend on publishing some awards of my own, come the end of the season (when awards should be given out) and these are not nominees for that, but these players will probably be involved.