May Cause Offence

The views of a budding Sports Journalist on Football, nationally and internationally, with a healthier than most, dose of sarcasm and offence. Written by Jordan Florit. For more articles like this visit my website www.maycauseoffence.com/ or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Heart in Mouth Action as FCI Complete a Comeback

                                      Heartlands 2-3 FCI

                                                              (Rose, M.Lakeman, Saribiyik)

Venue: The Farlington Pitches Date: Saturday 28th September 2013

FCI Line-Up, Bookings & Substitutions 

Beardshaw P.Smith Draper (Saribiyik - 60) Neave Regular

Goddard (Draper) M.Lakeman J.Florit R.Lakeman Rose Willams (Whitfield - 45) Substitutes

Whitfield Saribiyik

FCI's unbeaten record against Heartlands and in their opening season in Division One looked to be as good as over at half-time, with the home side leading 2-0, but second half goals from Rose, M.Lakeman and Saribiyik ensured a momentous comeback.

Jazz Rose was enigmatic in the red and white midfield of FCI and instantly struck up an effective partnership with Matt Lakeman, who has, much like Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, stepped up his game as FCI advance through the divisions. 

The visitors dominated much of the opening stage without particularly threatening and their first clear cut chance of the game actually came through a defensive error. The well-pressured centre-back failed to effectively clear the ball and Ryan Lakeman pounced on his clearance and put through Williams, who could only slice his shot wide. 

Heartlands were soaking up the pressure well and spent much of the first half an hour with 8 men behind the ball, quickly countering up the other end within two passes. Beardshaw actively swept his box, keeping the home side at bay.

However, it was to be Heartlands that opened the scoring. A scrappy finish inside the box put the hosts ahead and FCI had been handed a sucker punch. Heartlands 1-0 FCI. 

Indie were sore and Heartlands were profiting, and with their next attack the Portsmouth side had doubled their lead. This time a much better goal - a well-struck shot from outside the box that left the 'keeper with little chance. Heartlands 2-0 FCI.

Half-time was a chance to reflect and despite Florit's downbeat mood, spirits were surprisingly high: "If we score I think we'll win this," was Matt Lakeman's prediction.

Whitfield came on for Williams and Florit shuffled the pack, pushing R.Lakeman upfront and Regular into the midfield, allowing Whitfield to adopt the right-back position.

Although FCI looked more threatening in the second half, with Jazz Rose now filling the #10 role behind R.Lakeman, the away side were being stifled effectively. With half an hour left, Florit made the second substitution of the game, bringing on Mitat Saribiyik for George Draper in a like for like swap at left-back.

With twenty minutes left and the kitchen sink firmly in Heartlands' half already, the visitors were out of ideas, but kept plugging away. Mitat Saribiyik, a natural battleaxe, epitomised the final twenty minutes of the game. 

Bursting down the left flank from defence, Saribiyik played R.Lakeman in with a through ball into the final third. R.Lakeman had pulled out wide, allowing Rose to drift into the centre forward position, so when the former drove in a low cross the latter was there to guide it home. Heartlands 2-1 FCI.

Belief was restored. The midfield was now at its most dynamic and innovative. Regular was coming in central, Rose was pulling out wide, R.Lakeman was dropping and M.Lakeman was commanding the centre circle with grit.

Perhaps most fittingly, it was Matt Lakeman that would equalise. Playing his last game before a two-week ban and against a Portsmouth side, M.Lakeman was in his element. As he does week-in-week-out, he found himself about 20 yards out with a yard of space in front of him. Regular pipped his marker to the ball to play M.Lakeman in and the centre midfielder unleashed a cannon, ricocheting off of a flailing defender and up & over the 'keeper. Heartlands 2-2 FCI.

There was to be one more turn, though. With two minutes on the clock, Florit returned Draper to the action in the heart of midfield, with one special instruction, "get the ball and drive with it to the box."

The script was written and Draper obliged with his role. Charging through Heartland's defence, Draper broke into the box, turned his man, heard Saribiyik's call and laid off his oncoming team-mate who hit a first time finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal. Heartlands 2-3 FCI. 

Full-time - Heartlands 2-3 FCI.

FCI’s dramatic comeback was a testament to their determination, perfectly exemplified by the entire match day squad. The win has put FCI top of Division One, two years after first leading Division Three. 

Paul Smith's unbeaten run in an FCI shirt continues, whilst Joel Whitfield has a mini run of his own forming: FCI are yet to score with Whitfield on the bench and haven't conceded with him playing.

The Man of the Match was Mitat Saribiyik with 10 Points.

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Three-scoring Indie continue Opening Day Trend

                                      FCI 3-0 Highfield                                                        (J.Florit, Williams x2)

Venue: King George V Date: Saturday 21st September 2013

FCI Line-Up, Bookings & Substitutions 

N.Hussey (Beardshaw - 45) P.Smith Draper (Whitfield - 45) Neave Preston

Regular (Pyle - 73) Goddard (Ford - 62) M.Lakeman (Sent Off - 80) J.Florit R.Lakeman Willams Substitutes

Beardshaw Whitfield Ford Pyle

FCI’s league campaign started win a strong victory this morning, brushing aside Highfield 3-0, who have now conceded 3 goals in all 3 of their opening fixtures.

A dynamic pairing of M.Lakeman & Regular provided the creative and energetic hub for the home side, whilst R.Lakeman and J.Florit provided width from the flanks. Indie were unchanged at the back and up top, with the only other change being Goddard in for Ford. 

Much like last week's encounter, the first half was far less memorable than the second. Despite an attacking dominant display, FCI failed to find their feet in the final third and Regular, J.Florit and M.Lakeman all went close without putting the home team into a first half lead.

J.Florit had a chance around the half-hour mark to fire his side into the lead, having cut in onto his stronger left foot from the right flank, but his tame shot was easy for the visiting goalkeeper. Florit was again involved when Regular's diving header couldn't find the target from the former's quick corner, but it was M.Lakeman that went closest, rattling the post from 20 yards. 

George Draper was again withdrawn at the break for the second week running as he continued to nurse a suspected broken toe, but his departure from the field of play provided Joel Whitfield with the chance to achieve his home debut for the second '45. Beardshaw was also handed his debut in goal, trading places with current #1 Nathan Hussey.

Defender Paul Smith summed it up well, post-match, when he retrospectively declared FCI as a "second-half team" and it was much the case in this encounter, as a quickfire double saw the game put to bed within ten minutes of the game restarting.

Pulling the attacking strings from the false 9 role, Arthur Goddard perfectly weighted a defence-splitting through ball to the right that winger Jordan Florit latched on to, before cutting inside his marker and drilling his shot across goal to open the scoring for the home side. FCI 1-0 Highfield.

Succeeding in not making the same mistake again, FCI quickly doubled their lead instead of sacrificing it, as Goddard, again, instigated another FCI attack. With a through ball to the right, the attacking midfielder, played in J.Florit, who was beaten to the ball by the oncoming 'keeper, who could only parry it back into Florit's path. The winger lined up a powerful shot at an empty goal and Ryan Williams was on hand to divert the shot into the net. FCI 2-0 Highfield.

Shortly after the lead was doubled, Goddard made way for Ford in a like for like swap, but a frustrating ten minutes ensued for the home team. Highfield did manage to get the ball into the net, but only through divine intervention. Rightly, the goal was disallowed for handball after a Maradona inspired finish.

With the score at 2-0 and FCI in total control, Regular made way for Jon Pyle, who was making his first appearance since the last game of the previous season, following a prolonged ankle injury. This allowed Neave to step up into the midfield for an action packed advanced role.

Within 5 minutes of his role alongside M.Lakeman Neave had already given J.Florit a new lease of life down the right wing. It wasn't long before their link-up would start a goal-scoring move.

Winning the ball on the halfway line, Neave lofted a pass onto J.Florit who showed his marker down the line and then inverted his run to play a cross-field ball to Ryan Lakeman. R.Lakeman, brought the ball down and sought the run of his brother, who diverted his oncoming pass with the faintest of touches into the run of Williams, who struck the ball first time and found the opposite corner of the goal. Fluid, total football. FCI 3-0 Highfield.

There was to be one more slice of action, though. As Matt Lakeman turned back to his own goal, a needless challenge came in from the Highfield midfielder and in a pang of agony M.Lakeman released a torrent of expletives that led to his dismissal ten minutes from time.

The game was comfortably seen out by the home side, however, with Beardshaw and Whitfield both making impressive debuts in the second-half.

Full-time - FCI 3-0 Highfield

FCI’s season opener ensured they continued their trend of unbeaten starts to seasons, following a 1-1 draw to Heartlands on the opening day of last season and a 6-0 win the year before. 

Man of the Match - Jordan Florit - 14 points.

[footballinframes]

[may-cause-offence-blog]

http://www.forwarddrivecoaching.com/ Our coaching site has finally launched - give us a visit and reblog!

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Is Chelsea City's Biggest Threat to Back-to-Back Titles?

http://www.maycauseoffence.com/?p=1129 |Is Chelsea City's Biggest Title Rivals?| I back Chelsea to win the league and here's why - but do you?

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Private Equity Ownership or Corporate Investment: Does the former have a place in football?

http://www.maycauseoffence.com/2012/05/17/private-equity-ownership-or-corporate-investment-does-the-former-have-a-place-in-football/

[footballinframes]

[footballinframes]

[may-cause-offence-blog]

How did this man change the race for London dominance again? find on www.maycauseoffence.com/  

[may-cause-offence-blog]

MayCauseOffence is moving!

May Cause Offence tumblr account is moving to www.maycauseoffence.com/ Please join me here for the rest of my articles!

Thank you for following me and I appreciate your time and your follow!  

The new site Please reblog followers! 

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Who will win the npower Championship Player of the Year Award 2012?

As part of the annual Football League Awards hosted in March, this year containing 17 categories ranging from PFA Player in the Community Award, contested by Portsmouth’s Joel Ward, Noel Hunt of Reading and Millwall’s Tamika Mkandawire, to Best Matchday Programme, the three-man shortlist for the npower Championship Player of the Year Award has been put together.

Last year’s winner, Adel Taarabt, who was crowned on the back of Kevin Nolan’s 2010 successes and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s triumphant 2009, thanked voters – last year compromised of firstly fans voting online and then narrowed down to the top three and eventual winner by a select panel of judges: “I am really happy to be named the top player in the npower Championship. I had a difficult time at Spurs and going to QPR was a risk for me, but things have gone very well and hopefully, I will be back in the Premier League next season.”

With the winner being announced in March, Q.P.R’s fate was not yet confirmed: however, as Taarabt was wishing, Q.P.R won promotion, finishing as Champions, and the talented Moroccan is part of Mark Hughes’ plans to avoid relegation, having been inconsistently used by Neil Warnock prior to his dismissal.

This year, all three nominees will have similar expectations to those of Adel Taarabt. Shortlisted for the prestigious award, is: Cardiff City’s Peter Whittingham, Southampton’s Rickie Lambert and his Saints teammate Adam Lallana.

Cardiff City play in their second domestic cup final in four years on Sunday, having lost to Portsmouth in the F.A Cup Final in 2008: coincidentally the year in which Rickie Lambert finished top scorer in the competition. They take on Liverpool in the Carling Cup Final and the nomination of their hugely talented midfielder for the Award is a credit to their campaign. In Malky Mackay’s first season in charge of The Bluebirds, Cardiff have reached the Carling Cup Final and are still chasing promotion from where they currently sit at 5th, six points off of automatic promotion with 14 games left.

The achievements of Southampton under an ever-positive Nigel Adkins are equally admirable: coming up in second from the npower League One, Southampton quietly went about their summer transfer dealings, overshadowed by pseudo-rivals Brighton capturing League One’s top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith and Valencia’s Vicente, yet quickly established themselves at the top of the pack. To date, Southampton are yet to be positioned anywhere but the top two and led the pack for the majority of the campaign. Nominees, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana, will be hoping their strong performances can continue and ensure Premier League status next season.

However, who will win the npower Championship Player of the Year Award 2012?

Rickie Lambert

In League One, Rickie Lambert had all the plaudits: they were as plentiful and as vast as his goal-scoring portfolio. However, when Southampton made the step back up into the second tier of English football, many suddenly left the Scouser’s side. The Southampton faithful didn’t, though, and after many a lazy comparison to Grant Holt, Saints fans were left wondering if they were the only ones knowing just how good Rickie Lambert was, as he seemingly continued to go unnoticed in the Championship.

Yet, Rickie Lambert’s recognition, all the more valued as it is coming from opposition managers rather than the previous system of fan votes, which was easy to rig, is full confirmation – if currently being the league’s top scorer with sixteen and second in the assists chart with nine wasn’t – that Southampton’s no.7 has made the step up.

What is much-covered in the media is Rickie Lambert’s transition from a chunky League One target man to a much trimmer “Saints fit” centre forward: however, this understates just how talented Rickie Lambert is technically as well as physically. His hold-up play is noted, his ability to drop off his man and play the quick one-two is not; his aerial ability is credited, but his wing play and succulent deliveries are not; and whilst his free-kick’s and penalties are often lauded, his creativity and vision is not. At 6’2, Rickie Lambert is the not so subtle underdog.

 theseventytwo rating: 19th best player in the league

Peter Whittingham

Unlike last year, the voting system is open to only the votes of the 24 managers in the Championship. The three-man shortlist is a reflection of the most voted for players in each manager’s five-man submittal. Peter Whittingham’s inclusion in the final cut for the trophy pays homage to a season in which he has helped his team towards a League Cup Final, contributing with two goals, one of which became the decisive third penalty in a 3-1 semi-final penalty shootout win against Crystal Palace.

However, it is in the league where Whittingham, who made his debut for Cardiff City in 2007, since becoming a permanent fixture for The Bluebirds under Dave Jones and then Malky Mackay, has made the biggest impact: the midfielder has featured in all of Cardiff’s 32 league games so far this season and his return of nine goals means that the former England -21 international leads the scoring charts for Cardiff - along with Kenny Miller - a feat he carried out until the end of the season during the 09/10 campaign, securing the Championship Golden Boot with 22 goals. Add to that that Whittingham has the most assists in the league, and the case for Cardiff creator is strong.

The npower Championship Player of the Year Award isn’t the only gong the Cardiff City hit man is up for either: due to his audacious attempt from 25-yards, caught on the volley, the free-scoring midfield maestro finds himself up against Darren Ambrose, Peter Leven, Kári Árnason and Paul Coutts for the Mitre Goal of the Year, something Barnsley ‘keeper Luke Steele wouldn’t begrudge him.

theseventytwo rating: 4th best player in the league

  Adam Lallana

“For me he is the best player in the league,” said Nigel Adkins, “Lallana oozes class; it's as simple as that.” For anyone that has seen this prodigious talent twist and turn opposition defenders inside out, his ability in undoubted: his feinting hips and dipping shoulders left John Paintsil on his bum when Saints suffered their first defeat of the season at the King Power Stadium. Now, as the final fourteen games approach, Adam Lallana has hit his brilliant best once more.

His performance against Derby, his second faultless home display on the trot, was scintillating. In the early stages of the season, David Connolly had provided the class on par with Lallana to enable an unstoppable partnership to form, but his dip in performances has seen the aging Irishman feature less, as competition for attacking places increases and on Saturday, it was January Japanese signing Tadanari Lee that made Adam Lallana spark even brighter once more. The relationship was telepathic and the one touch passing between the two was the catalyst for Southampton’s third goal, which was beautifully finished on the volley from Adam Lallana himself.

With five assists, Southampton’s 5th highest assister, and eight goals, Adam Lallana has proved himself as one of many sources of goals in a freely-attacking Saints side. However, the 23-year old one-club man is all about the team, “It's obviously nice to get recognised but we just want to achieve promotion now because that's our main goal for the season. If we get promoted then it'll be brilliant.” Saints fans will be hoping the momentum gathered between now and the final run-in will be gathered at pace and such an award could only spur on their best player.

theseventytwo rating: the best in the league

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Arsenal and Chelsea’s fight for fourth will be settled in defence

If it wasn’t for Andre Villas-Boas’ failure to make an immediate impact at Chelsea, something that he undoubtedly intended to do given his insistence that “there is no calling this a year of transition,” earlier in the season, despite evidently being in a year of transition - something that has become painstakingly obvious to the rest of the world who hadn’t already realised it was underway, thanks to Villas-Boas all but admitting the transition by stating, “we have a three-year project to change, not only the team but, the culture and structure of the club” - Arsenal’s season would be dead right now. Luckily for Arsene Wenger, they still have the much-coveted “trophy” of fourth place to cling on to. 

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s season has taken a rather different path to Chelsea’s, yet both teams are still going into the last thirteen games on level points (43) and the same goal difference (13). The only thing that currently keeps Arsenal in the top four over Chelsea, a position Arsene Wenger has never finished below during his Arsenal career, is the 22-goal Robin van Persie, rather than a 2-goal Fernando Torres.

Chelsea’s defence has been marginally tighter than Arsenal’s (I emphasize marginally) and whilst both teams have suffered defensively this season, with Chelsea’s Mourinho-instilled focus on strong foundations at the back finally all but fading out as Villas-Boas adopts a risk-taking and attacking defence, and Arsenal’s back four providing all but stability or consistency, with a total of eleven plays being used across the back, if The Blues were going to pip The Gunners to fourth place, it would be won at the back.

However, news that John Terry - who was set to be risked by the Portuguese boss against Napoli, a clear indication of just how important Terry is to Chelsea, despite not being quite the player he was a few years ago - is out for two months, could scupper Villas-Boas’ chances of Chelsea finishing in a Champions League spot and mount further pressure on the 34-year old.

John Terry suffered a blow to his knee in a collision with the goalpost in Chelsea’s F.A. Cup victory over Championship Portsmouth on January 7th: an injury he played through for two more games. Since then, The Blues have failed to keep a clean sheet and have slipped from 4th place and just four points off of 3rd and six clear of seventh, to 5th place, where 3rd seems unreachable at 10 points away and 7th placed Liverpool have closed the gap by two.

The reading doesn’t get much better for Chelsea fans as not only are Chelsea without a clean sheet in a Terry-less side so far this season, but in addition, last season Chelsea kept just one of their 15 clean sheets without Terry, in a season in which the centre-back missed 5 games. Last campaign, Chelsea kept a clean sheet with Terry 42% of the time and without him, just 20% of the time. This season, Chelsea have kept a clean sheet 27% of the time in which John Terry has played and without him, it currently stands at 0%.

Chelsea’s defensive woes are further encapsulated by the fact that they’ve only won two of their last ten games, one of them against relegation zone dwellers Wolves. And whilst they may’ve only lost two, both were bottom half at the time and their six draws have been score draws five times, with their only goalless draw coming against Norwich, a game fans would’ve hoped Chelsea would’ve won. Their 3-0 lead against Manchester United could’ve galvanised Chelsea’s season, but even that was carelessly thrown away, to add to their other two score draws that saw Chelsea lead.

Chelsea fans may take some hope from January signing Gary Cahill: however, the centre-back is stepping into the shoes of a Chelsea hero in an extremely frail Chelsea team that, simply put, is lacking leadership, belief and confidence. He’s stepped out of the fire, in the form of Bolton, who have only kept one clean sheet since the opening fixture, and into the fire at Chelsea.

So, can Chelsea turn to last season’s Player of the Year Petr Cech for help? Seemingly not. This season, you could make a claim for Petr Cech being the worst shot stopper in the league, although much blame should be put down to a defence lacking in organisation, something further hindered with the absence of Terry: this season, Cech’s saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League is 65% and therefore the worst in the league.

Turn to Arsenal and in a season in which the Premier League’s top four has been more hotly-contested than Miss Universe and saw The Gunners seventeenth after an embarrassing 8-2 defeat at the hands of a ruthless Manchester United, their current position of fourth place is rather admirable. Yet, the past ten days has seen The Gunners lose everything they were fighting for but fourth place, crashing out of the F.A. Cup in a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland and their Champions League adventure all but over after a 4-0 first leg loss at the San Siro.

Yet, news that Laurent Koscielny should be back for Arsenal’s next Premier League game – the North London derby with Tottenham – has given a cloudy Arsenal week a much-welcomed silver lining. With Bacary Sagna firing on all cylinders again and Thomas Vermaelen at the heart of defence with the Frenchman, Arsenal fans have the right to celebrate.

The ever-changing back line, eluded to in the opening of this article, has finally mustered up some strength and stability: a blend of leadership, provided by Vermaelen, experience, courtesy of Sagna and ability, supplied in heaps from the much-improved Kosclieny, may well prove to secure fourth place in a season where defence has been far from Arsenal’s strong point.

It would be careless to rule out Newcastle or Liverpool sneaking in and snatching the last Champions League spot, especially with the momentum Liverpool are gathering and the focus Alan Pardew has on the league campaign: but, ultimately, if Arsenal or Chelsea do indeed finish fourth,  the fight will be settled in defence.

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Time to give Twitter the red card – or is it a crowd pleaser?

The social network site, home to 300 million users, created in 2006, has allowed a closeness to the footballing world never experienced before: at least, not with such synchronicity. The quick, instant and concise characteristics of Twitter quickly attracted the attention of businesses, and football clubs rapidly followed, with many branching out to a global audience to promote themselves during recessionary times through this free method of communication, marketing and, most importantly and most valued, interaction.

The growth Twitter has experienced is undoubtedly down to, in large, the intimacy it provides the everyday person with its less everyday users, such as Piers Morgan, Rihanna and Rio Ferdinand: in its market, it is unrivalled on this selling point.

It has blessed the world of football kindly, too. In recent times, we’ve had: the overnight phenomenon that is @AnfieldCat, which has, since its creation in the immediate aftermath of a cat stopping play at Anfield during Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham, racked up over 60,000 followers; the ability to get instant access to England player’s views over the next England manager and captain, in such tweets as “Gutted capello has quit. Good guy and top coach. Got to be english to replace him. Harry redknapp for me (sp.)” and “For everyone asking i would love to be england captain. But thats upto new manager to decide. Gerrard is perfect choice for me (sp),” both from Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney; and lastly, but only indirectly strictly football related, are the parody accounts created on Twitter, which amass thousands of followers, look on the lighter side of what is sometimes a grim game and provide endless topical humour on the footballing world.

However, for all its positives, Twitter has a vile side when it comes to the relationships forged between the followers and the following: Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson slammed the social network site back in May, saying, "I don't understand it…I don't know why anybody can be bothered with …It is a waste of time,” having seen then Red Devils midfielder Darron Gibson axe his account having received numerous abusive Tweets from users of the site. Since May 2011, his views haven’t swayed too much, yet Rio Ferdinand’s following as well as Wayne Rooney’s, has since doubled: “I don’t know how to do these things….I’m not into that kind of stuff.”

Unfortunately, however, Darron Gibson wasn’t to be the first and last footballer to have to quit Twitter thanks to abuse. Although Newcastle striker Demba Ba wasn’t the direct recipient of racist Tweets, Peter Copeland, a 29-year old unemployed man living with his parents, still posted racist remarks concerning the Senegalese international: “With the number of darkies in your f**king team, you should be called the Coon Army." Fortunately, for Ba’s 75,507 followers (myself included), Copeland’s case was adjourned for sentencing under breach of the Malicious Communications Act and the former West Ham striker has kept his Twitter account.

Yet, for Micah Richards, after three months of continual racist abuse, he did feel the need to close his account: “I did enjoy Twitter and the banter with the fans, but I didn’t like the abuse you get on it. Sometimes you want to retaliate, but you have to be the bigger man and not.” It’s a sentiment wisely expressed by a player that hasn’t always been the wisest and highlighted just how intimate Twitter can be: following a string of offensive Tweets in May 2011, Wayne Rooney threatened a respondent, seemingly unable to be “the bigger man,” but Rooney insists it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.

It’s a sad case that racism is still so prevalent in society, let alone football: however, when there have been numerous cases of racism in football itself, such as the on-going John Terry case and the Evra-Suarez saga, it is hardly surprising that the same behaviour is being replicated by so-called fans of the game. But, that is no excuse for such behaviour: so surely, some sort of moderation should be put in place to prevent such Tweets from ever being posted?

Take the recent Twitter abuse inflicted on Southampton’s January signing Billy Sharp for example: whilst Sharp was playing for Saints in their 1-1 away draw to West Ham on Valentine’s Day, a user who has since closed his account, like Copeland did, tweeted despicable and hateful comments directly to Billy Sharp. On October 29th 2011, Luey Jacob Sharp, Billy’s two-day year old son passed away due to Gastroschisis. @ChrisDRFCBoyd used this sad fact to taunt the Southampton striker with taunting jibes and sick comments. Surely moderation to prevent such comments from ever reaching users should be in place?

However, moderation takes time and, sadly, time is money and that is the selling point of Twitter: it is a free to use social networking site, valued by businesses for the service it provides in which companies can efficiently and instantaneously interact with the public and the same is said for footballers and their employees. Thisisfutbol editor, Harry Cloke says that for his website, Twitter is "pretty vital. In terms of creating a sense of community, creating discussion and controlling traffic it's essential."

The free promotion it provides has seen numerous football clubs rapidly take advantage to increase their social media presence and since it went big, English clubs have quickly dominated the scene with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United coming in at #5, #4 & #3 respectively, in the most followed clubs according to Facebook and Twitter: however, Real Madrid and Barcelona, in second and first place, is a harsh reminder that La Liga threatens to overshadow the Premier League.

So if moderation seems like an implausible possibility, surely Twitter can use a form of word filter, such as the ones utilised on forums, to prevent such offensive Tweets from being published?

Only time will tell. However, to challenge a concept favoured by one of Twitter’s more liberal users, Joey Barton, who’s love of freedom is clear in his posts, describing The F.A. as an “Orwellian institution,” when they requested he didn’t offer his predictions for Premier League games on Twitter, and stating he’d “gladly go to jail for a month, in the name of free speech,” I leave you with this:

Twitter allows the quick and easy access to a public domain in which freedom of speech is allowed: however, how long will it be before that freedom will inhibit others in their numbers, like it already has done to Micah Richards?

Is it time for football to give Twitter the red card, or is it too much of a crowd pleaser?

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

The Top Five reasons why Southampton F.C. will be in the Premier League next season

The Saints are now unbeaten in five, conceding just two during that spell and keeping three clean sheets: the most recent came against Nigel Clough’s Derby County side in an emphatic 4-0 win in which January signing Tadanari Lee scored his first goal for the club, with a thunderous effort from just inside the box.

The blip is well and truly over:  it concerned a few Saints fans, as Southampton went nine games with only two wins and their impenetrable home record came to an end, first stumbling to Blackpool in a 2-2 draw and then losing to Bristol City in the last game of 2011. However, a timely return of form has steadied the ship and Southampton are back at the top of the table: even if it is only till Tuesday, when one of West Ham’s two games in hand present a chance for The Hammers to return to the top. Still, independent of the games in hand for other sides, Saints will remain in the automatic promotion places, where they have been all season.

With a reinforced squad, thanks to some astute January signings in the form of free transfer Tadanari Lee, a Japanese international from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Spanish winger Iago Falque on loan from Tottenham and 10-goal Billy Sharp from Doncaster Rovers, and construction of the new Football Development & Support Centre at the Staplewood training ground underway, as the club continue to pride themselves on high quality graduates such as Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, the South Coast club looks destined for the Premier League.

MayCauseOffence’s Jordan Florit looks at the top five reasons why Southampton F.C. will be in the Premier League next season:

Nigel Adkins and Andy Crosby

By Brighton, Portsmouth and most recently West Ham fans, Nigel Adkins is detested. His ever positive demeanour and his extensive use of clichés and metaphors can frustrate opposition fans and is confused for pseudo-arrogance: however, the management duo is far from arrogant. For them, preparation is key and a painfully long process, but one well worth undergoing.

For all the importance of Nigel Adkins’ tactical nous, it would be worthless without Andy Crosby’s clever set plays and his ability on the training ground to get players “Saints fit,” and both have been invaluable in the set up at St. Mary’s: along with Dean Wilkins, Andy Crosby runs the fitness programme at Staplewood, and Adkins has commended it for the turnaround Rickie Lambert has experienced in his fitness and expects the same to happen for Billy Sharp. For the value of Crosby’s set plays, which Adkins describes as “massively important,” look no further than the weekend’s result in which two of Southampton’s four goals came from set plays.

Adam Lallana

Considered by TheSeventyTwo as the best player in the Championship, Adam Lallana’s form will be pivotal in determining whether Southampton F.C. finish in the automatic promotion places or not. Utilising one of his most used catchphrases, Nigel Adkins summed up Lallana’s influence on Saints post-match, describing him as a player who “oozes class, it’s as simple as that.”

Saints fans cheekily sing that he overshadows Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, but whilst Southampton fans do so with a tongue firmly placed in cheek, to say he is this generation’s Matthew Le Tissier to the Southampton faithful, is no understatement. His boisterous flair, his jinking turns and twists and his measured confidence is what makes Saints tick and his good health will be vital in Southampton’s 14-game run in until the end of the season.

At current, Lallana has five assists and is therefore Southampton’s fifth highest assister and yesterday’s volleyed goal, a scintillating finish, which saw the talented attacking midfielder finish the moved he started on the half-way line with a one-two with Tadanari Lee, was his eighth goal of the season.

Rickie Lambert

Southampton’s current #7, a shirt never really done justice at St. Mary’s since Matthew Le Tissier until now, has made the step up to the Championship effortlessly and for all that doubted whether he would, his name at the top of the scoring charts in England’s second tier is proof enough that he has done so. With sixteen goals to his name and twenty in all competitions, Rickie Lambert has been Southampton’s Grant Holt if Saints are set to “do a Norwich.”

However, that lazy comparison to Grant Holt, Lambert’s former striking partner from his days at Rochdale, is wide of the mark. Hopefully, Rickie Lambert, who turned thirty last week, will get his chance to shine in the Premier League: until then, he can only continue to prove himself as the best striker outside of the top flight, a sentiment expressed by the masses on Twitter in response to Crawley Town’s Steve Evans claiming Tyrone Barnett is the best striker in the Football League.

Goals all over the park

With an average of 1.81 goals scored per game, the best goal difference in the league by six at +26 and the most goals scored in the league with 58, Southampton F.C are rather flush with goals. Add to that impressive goal-scoring display of facts, top goal-scorer Rickie Lambert hasn’t scored in the league for four games now, yet Southampton have still scored seven picking up eight points, beating Burnley and Derby and drawing to then top-of-the table West Ham and unbeaten at home Birmingham.

Although £1.8m Billy Sharp is yet to score for Southampton (properly, anyway), his teammates have produced goals from all over the park: Saints have 14 different goal-scorers, two players in double figures (three including Sharp) and a further two with more than five. Southampton’s knack for goal-scoring is undoubtedly aided by the fact that seemingly any player can create a goal at Saints: out of the top fifteen assisters in the league, four are Southampton players, whilst overall the South Coast side have 12 assisters, five of which have at least five assists to their name. Frazer Richardson and Rickie Lambert both have nine assists, whilst Danny Fox’s weekend hat-trick of assists takes his total to eight.

Competition for places

“We’ve got such a good squad here. The gaffer could change the whole team and we've still got a team that can play exactly how we always play.” Building a team in League One that would be ready for the Championship and doing the same this season in preparation from the Premier League has led to the scenario that Aaron Martin describes here. Undoubtedly, the financial backing the club has, has allowed Southampton to build such a competitive squad and as the last fourteen games approach, it is this competition that will give Southampton an edge in the race for promotion.

For Danny Fox, there is Dan Harding; for Billy Sharp there is David Connolly; for Morgan Schneiderlin there is Dean Hammond and for Guly Do Prado there is Steve de Ridder. For many teams, balancing such a strong squad with individual player happiness is a tough gig: however, as highlighted by Jason Puncheon, Nigel Adkins has developed a togetherness among the team and a shared attitude is at play: “Promotion is not just going to be about what 11 players can do but about what 19 or 20 can do. And wherever you look at this club, there are at least 19 or 20 players good enough to play. So no-one has a divine right to be in the team. You have to be there on merit."

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Family Affair but the Points were to Share

FCI haven't played since January 21st now and the eagerness to play has been evident throughout many of the first team players. Matt Lakeman, who has rejoined FCI on a permanent basis alongside older brother Ryan Lakeman, told manager Jordan Florit, through a text message, that he "really wants to play," before adding that, "playing footy is about the only thing [he] looks forward to all week." Ryan Breen and Jim Neave added similar sentiments more akin to Jim Neave, stating that they were "buzzing" to be back to playing football. 

At current, FCI sit in 1st place, with a seven-point cushion on second placed FC Waterside A, and today's opposition are closer to the bottom than the top, sitting in the bottom half of the table at 5th place. Romsey Saints haven't won since November 19th now and that result saw them smash 5 past Cosham, with just a one-goal reply from the opposition: furthermore, Romsey Saints enjoy their best football away from home, with just one win coming at the Hunts Farm ground that plays host to today's game.

FCI's management team have been buoyed by the permanent signings of Matt Lakeman, who spent preseason with Indie before joining Winchester, and Ryan Lakeman who has featured for FCI on a number of occasions but has previously been otherwise engaged with Winchester City likewise. Both additions, who have featured infrequently up until now, will be valued additions for the second half of the season in which Jamie Ross will miss the majority of as he settles in in his new house in Kent.

February 18th 2012                     FCI 1-1 Romsey Saints  FC Independence (4-3-3): N. Hussey, Broadway, Hannides, M.Florit, Redhead, J.Florit, M.Lakeman, J.Hussey, Ely, Saribiyik, Neave Subs: B.Redhead, Goddard,

 Attendance: 7

FCI 1-1 Romsey Saints

FCI's unbeaten run stretched into it's seventeenth game today, with a 1-1 draw at Hunts Farm. Although it is now two games without a win, Florit's men will take heart from the performance in which seven first team players were missing and the back four, which performed admirably, limiting the opposition to shooting from distance, was rather makeshift.

FCI were patched up with the Redheads, with Paul Redhead, FCI's second choice shot stopper, slotting in comfortably at right-back and his older brother, Ben, coming off the bench to turn home a Jordan Florit cross to send FCI into the lead just before the break. Both performed to a high standard, with Paul Redhead part of a strong defensive unit and up the other end, talismanic Ben led the line well, feeding Jack Hussey and J.Florit into the channels well.

The game started brightly for FCI, with Jack Hussey particularly shining throughout the first forty-five: however, much of FCI's initial spark fizzled out within the first fifteen minutes and Romsey were allowed to dictate the play through the middle, on a boggy pitch suiting their five man midfield in which the play was slowed down and channeled to their solo striker. 

Jack Hussey continued to trouble the opposition's defence, whilst his older brother kept the back tight, and feeding off of Jim Neave and later Ben Redhead, much of FCI's play, when not centred, was through the left flank of Hussey's. His best chance was typical of his performance: latching on to a long ball forward, Hussey chased down the ball, pacing past the defender and was only stopped by the oncoming 'keeper, who collided with Hussey just inside the box.

However, it was a family affair that brought the goal about: with a ball-playing defence in possession of the ball, Mike Florit played it across the back line to stand in centre back and captain Hannides, who continued the horizontal passing to Paul Red head, who fed J.Florit, who then battled past his marker, knocked it past the oncoming defender and burst into the final third of the pitch with time spare to get the right side of the ball to turn in a cross on his stronger left foot, which Ben Redhead guided home, just before the half-time whistle. 1-0 FCI.

The second half was a constant reminder that the game wasn't won yet: having come off at the 20-minute mark, Matt Lakeman replaced Mitat Saribiyik at half-time and shortly after, J.Hussey made way for Jim Neave to return to the play. The second half was much more creative and chances were spurred by both sides, with Nathan Hussey making the odd routine save from afar. 

However, with 10 minutes left, a free-kick was conceded by Mitat Saribiyik, who had returned to the action five minutes previous, replacing the in-form Scott Ely, and following a failure to clear their lines, FCI conceded the equaliser to a well struck bending shot from outside the box.

With two subs left to be made, the goal changed things and FCI headed towards the final whistle with the current eleven, having to leave Ely and Hussey on the bench. The equaliser had given FCI a second wind: however, a foul, deemed inside the box by the majority, but "bottled" by the ref, stopped J.Florit from going through clean on goal. As he latched on to a through ball, he lobbed the defender with his first touch, but was prevented from bursting into the box by the left-back who hugged Florit to the spot. A free-kick was earned and a yellow card given much to the bemusement of Mike Florit and Paul Redhead, and the free-kick nearly provided the winning goal, with Ben Redhead nearly grabbing his second. One last chance presented itself with Jordan Florit striking a long free-kick goalbound: the keeper was unable to deal with it and his parry was close to conversion by Paul Redhead, who's acrobatic effort was cleared off the line. FT 1-1.

The man of the match goes to Dan Broadway, for his terrific performance at left-back, despite having the squits. Unfortunately, he is unavailable for next week's cup clash with Division One's MVC. Mikey Hannides gets a special mention for his admirable performance at centre-back in which he remained composed and handled himself superbly.

[may-cause-offence-blog]

A clear-out is imminent at Arsenal: But who should leave?

In a stinging attack on an Arsenal side that is not, according to World Cup and European Championships winner Emmanuel Petit, “the team that I knew,” the former Gunners midfielder, who won the Premier League and F.A. Cup double with the 97-98 Arsenal side, which included free-scoring Dennis Bergkamp, an ever present Patrick Vieira and a young Nicolas Anelka, stated that Arsene Wenger should “send out a strong signal” and “say to Arshavin and Rosicky: 'Gentlemen, thank you, but goodbye.’”

The midfielder’s criticism comes in the wake of Arsenal’s hammering at the hands of an impressively potent AC Milan side, which scored with its first four shots on target, but enjoyed less of the possession than Arsenal’s spineless eleven on the night. According to a poll on The Telegraph’s website, 52.85% of the fans believe that it is too late for Arsene Wenger to build another trophy winning Arsenal side: but, considering The Gunners haven’t won a major trophy in seven years, the difference in opinion is barely noticeable with the remaining 47.15% of voters still believing the Frenchman can mould another winning side.

In a strong core eleven in the form of Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Kocielny, Kieran Gibbs, Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott, Arsenal have a side capable of a top four finish: however, with depth lacking, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie both within 18 months of contract expiry and a few names failing repeatedly to step up and provide what Arsene Wenger promised of them, a top four finish, something Arsene Wenger has always delivered, isn’t the guarantee it used to be, leaving Gunners fans on tenterhooks.

Theo Walcott is one name that is being more and more strongly linked with a move away from The Emirates with each passing week, as is Tomas Rosicky and Andrei Arshavin, only helped further by the scathing condemnation of Emmanuel Petit: however, with van Persie into the last 16 months of his contract and turning 29 this summer, should Wenger be looking to offload the Dutchman and secure the future of Theo Walcott, who the Frenchman believes is destined to one day play as a centre forward?

On explaining the difference between Theo Walcott and Arsenal’s other Southampton Academy product, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wenger stated “Oxlade-Chamberlain could be a central midfielder one day and Walcott a central striker.” Although selling a striker responsible for 46% of Arsenal’s Premier League goals this season and 28 goals in all competitions, a mammoth 22 goals ahead of their second top scorer in Theo Walcott, who before the Swansea game last month hadn’t scored since October 29th’s 5-3 victory over Chelsea, seems ridiculous on face value, Arsenal’s ability to keep hold of van Persie is suffering a major blow with every missed opportunity of success. Selling him, on top of expected announced profits of £55m last year, aided by the sales of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, would provide the war chest for Wenger to build a trophy winning side that 47.15% of fans still believe he can.

Despite the criticism Theo Walcott gets week-in-week-out, slating him if he plays poorly or condemning him to inconsistency even if he plays well, I cannot help but think that if he leaves, it will be on to better things than Arsenal and a move up rather than down. With a strong core, and seven years of trophy chastity anyway, the best bet for Arsene Wenger achieving success, before his contract expires in 2014, would be to cash in on Robin van Persie before his contract expires, play Walcott in the centre forward role, before his career is ruined and judged to have not delivered by the age of 22, and play the exciting and skilful Chamberlain one side of him and the unorthodox Gervinho the other.

The selling of Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, have not been adequately replaced and with the money there, just a reluctance to spend from an ever-stringent Arsene Wenger, it is not too late for the Frenchman to turn the fortunes around at Arsenal. His targets are very clear in Lukas Podolski, Mario Gotze and Eden Hazard: the execution of these transfers is all that is needed now.

The departures of several other players may well be on the cards and most will be welcomed: however, for all his goals and brilliance, a selling of Robin van Persie, when the chances of him staying beyond his contract are slim anyway, would provide not only the money to reinvest, but the removal of a reliance on him that has become so prevalent this season in the absence of other key players from last year.

For Arsenal fans, it is a case of the same questions, just a different season: however, there are foundations for a title-winning side in their ranks. All that is needed now is a decisive summer transfer window and a change in mentality at the club. Look forward not back; pass forward and not sideways and buy for success now and not in the future that never comes.

A culture change must arise, a mentality where winning becomes the precedent. For too long, Wenger has been investing in youth, when the current bunch of youth-turned-first-teamers isn’t delivering. Success breeds success and Arsene Wenger is seven years dry of it and only two away from never seeing it again. A clear out may well be needed, but not an overhaul and certainly not another failed transition from the old to the young: what Arsenal need is experience, players with an experience of success itself and, most importantly, readiness.

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Arsenal: 4 things we learned from their 4-0 Loss

Going into the game at the San Siro, bar Arsene Wenger’s pre-match excuse that suggested that AC Milan may’ve relayed the wings of the pitch to stunt Arsenal’s ability to express themselves with width and not because it had already endured thirty-five games this season and not because the Frenchman is still trying to flog the dead horse that is Theo Walcott as the real deal either, the stats were casting the tie in a positive light for The Gunners.

Against the traditionally defensive and slow-moving Italian set-ups, which may’ve been expected when The Gunners took on an aging AC Milan side, Arsenal have a strong track record: over two-legged clashes, Arsene Wenger’s side have never been sent home by Italian sides and furthermore, English clubs as a whole have been responsible for eliminating AC Milan in the past three Champions League knock-out stages. Having beaten Arsenal 4-0 on Wednesday night, that trend looks unlikely to continue, at least not for another round or two if at all: but, what did we learn from Arsenal’s humiliation?

Wenger keeps buckling under pressure

Always buying for the future and always investing in youth, that is what has come to be expected from Arsene Wenger: however, on a night where the latest kid on the block looked ready to play, physically and mentally, Arsene Wenger bottled it. Despite his emphasis on youth, the Frenchman went for experience over excitement, safety over skill and, ultimately, sideways passing over speedy direct wing play. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started on the bench, whilst Aaron Ramsey, fresh from striking his fourth deadly goal, started in his place.

The early travesty that was Arsenal’s start to the season saw Arsene Wenger quite literally lose it: his head in his hands, his hands grasping at his wet hair, was symbolic of The Gunners’ start to the campaign and a highly accurate depiction of what some people believed to be the start of the demise of Arsene Wenger. The season finally looked like it was taking shape for The Gunners during January, despite an underwhelming transfer window, and they overtook Chelsea to push into the top four as February hit its halfway point.  However, although Alex Chamberlain’s introduction has had quite an impact on Arsenal’s performances, faced with AC Milan at the San Siro, Wenger buckled under pressure once more and went with experience over youth, irrelevant of talent, in an Arsenal season so far defined by rash and random decisions by the Frenchman.

Whilst on the topic of Age and Experience……………

On the day that it was announced that the average age of retirement had risen to 65, it was the side with even more experience than the one Arsene Wenger fielded in the belief that it had more experience than what was probably the better choice of a starting line-up, including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, that won and won convincingly: in fact, it was so convincing, it was Arsenal’s worst ever Champions League proper defeat.

AC Milan’s side is in fact the oldest on average, at 30-years old, out of the top 500 clubs in the best 33 leagues of Europe (the Premier League’s oldest average team is Stoke at 29.08-years old): however, the eleven Massimiliano Allegri sent out to do battle with Arsenal, which included 34-year old Mark Van Bommel, 35-year old Clarence Seedorf, although he only last 12-minutes, and 34-year old Christian Abbiati, was one with countless trophies between it, numerous successful internationals and bundles of experience. It was a case of age versus amateurs, but most importantly, a team with a winning mentality versus a team without a title in seven-years.

It’s not how much – It’s what you do with it

This is nothing to do with Kevin Price Boateng’s rampant sex-life, which often hinders his playing time and apparently is part of the reason why he’s often laying down at work too – on the treatment table – according to his model girlfriend Melissa Satta; it is the hard fact that, whilst Arsenal left the field of play having had possession 57% of the time (I purposely avoided the use of the word “enjoy”), AC Milan were the most productive with it, scoring with their first four shots on target.

During the group stages of the Champions League, despite being the first English team to qualify for the last sixteen, Arsenal had the second least amount of shots at 56: only Greek side Apoel Nicosia, coincidentally the second oldest side in Europe, had fewer with 36. It’s no surprise that both sides were completely out-attacked last night then: whilst Arsenal lost 4-0, recording only half the attempts at goal that AC Milan did, Apoel had only one shot all game, compared to Lyon’s 16 – the same amount of shots that Arsenal’s victors had.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic can cut it against English opposition

He was voted the best player in Italy recently by his fellow professionals: however, there was still some doubt, now eradicated, over his ability to deliver against English opposition. He once nearly ended up playing his football in England, for Southampton F.C., before his move to Juventus: yet, it wasn’t to be and playing time for Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and A.C. Milan was yet to convince the harshest of critics that the big Swede could make an impact against English sides.

However, Wednesday night, constantly proving troublesome for Arsenal’s back four, Ibrahimovic assisted the second and scored the last, in an impressive display that saw the towering ponytail donning striker become the first since Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh to score in five consecutive Champions League games. His assist saw him exert a quick burst of pace past his man, rolling his foot over the ball as he burst into the box, before poking in a cross for ex-Manchester City Brazilian Robinho to nod in from close range.  His goal, celebrated Balotelli-esque, was a well struck penalty to the ‘keepers’ right, which Wojciech Szczesny, or Sir Chesney if you are Clive Tyldesley, was a well-earned cap to a stellar performance.

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

What Saints can learn from the team that “used to play football”

As I sat and stood in interchanging fashion, rather like a Russian Kozachok dancer, in row E, seat 24, of the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand and looked up to my left to see the rather large and, unlike our own, perfectly working and crystal clear screen showing the game and match entertainment, in between self-promoting adverts and the worthy cause of Richard House Children’s Hospice, I was made aware, once again, that West Ham still consider themselves “The Academy of Football,” as they advertised membership to “The Academy.”

Whilst three of the starting eleven for West Ham on Tuesday, in their top of the table 1-1 draw with Southampton, were graduates of “the Academy” (Mark Noble – captain and scorer on the night; Jack Collison – substituted after 21 minutes, having seen teammate Matty Taylor sent off for violent conduct; and James Tomkins – freely chucking his elbows into the ribs of Dean Hammond like some kind of Inbetweeners dance tribute act,) the football was far from what West Ham had become traditionally associated with. But, according to Sam Allardyce, it’s ok because “all this team did before was lose” before him.

From where I was positioned, busy practising my own traditions of standing, sitting and kicking out – something that wasn’t considered dancing when I tried to re-enact it in a nightclub the same night, but is in Eastern Europe – when the Southampton faithful, myself excitingly and appreciatively included, began to sing “you used to play football” to the group of fans situated in the corner of the East Stand, it seemed well-received.

Of course, it is a chant that no football fan ever wants to hear about their club, but the fans were accepting of the fact that Sam Allardyce has changed that style West Ham have strived to maintain (instilling it as an ethos in the academy so it can grow through and into the first team) and duly clapped our satirical efforts that took the shape of a reply to their “we’ve only got ten men” chorus.

Lost in the tribalism that is the away stand, deindividualised by anthemic chanting and the quick dissemination of one man’s opinion into a whole stand’s worth, I quickly found myself shouting “hoof” regularly and singing a line that reassured any doubters over how many teams called Bolton Wanderers there were. Yet, for all the mocking that can be served in a 90-minute spell, to opposition fans that, in majority, agree with you anyway, West Ham are still at the top of the table with sixteen games left to play.

Unlike Big Sam, I can understand fans’ criticism of their style of play, described by one as “sterile 1-0 wins.”  Anyone that knows football would’ve expected such route one directedness to be witnessed at The Boleyn Ground when Allardyce took over: it was a style that, until recently, had become synonymous with the Reebok Stadium dwellers, Bolton Wanderers; Zat Knight even called for Owen Coyle to revert to such tactics.

However, being the disinterested and often tired football fan I am by the time The Football League Show starts, I hadn’t seen West Ham’s football first-hand all season – bar their John Carew headed appearance at St. Mary’s earlier in this campaign – and thus, I hadn’t fully engaged on a wholehearted opinion on West Ham’s football this season, and still haven’t.

Yet, the Sam stereotype was something further enforced by the pre-game entertainment in which a montage of five recent Hammers goals were shown: three were penalties  - two of them being described by the BBC as “controversial”; another was struck home by Winston Reid whilst David Forde laid motionless on the floor, having been floored by Julien Faubert, a goal that Millwall manager Kenny Jackett felt shouldn’t have stood; and the last of the five-goal highlights was a headed effort by Carlton Cole following a lofted ball into the box from deep.

Whilst the football isn’t pretty and the results, although victorious 56.67% of the time, aren’t always attractive, I can’t help admiring the relentless waves of attack that The Hammers led with in the opening stages, irrelevant of how direct they were or were not. They were like salmon swimming up water: they leaped up strong and regularly in attack and defence to head the ball clear and nod it down to runners gliding through the channels to meet the waiting balls and like salmon they didn’t give up when the tide was against them, like it was once Matty Taylor had been sent off.

When watching Southampton this season, despite the fact we’re the league’s top scorers, I have been hit with twinges of frustration when the neat, slick football isn’t paying off and a quick switch to something more direct isn’t adopted: it pangs me. We’re second and I can’t complain with that position, but having led the race for four months, not winning it or finishing second would pain me and if there is one thing we can learn from a team that aren’t admired for their style of play this season, it is their grit and determination to get the ball forward relentlessly.

I’d dislike for us to resort to that method as the norm for the rest of the season, but lately the goals are not being scored as frequent as they were for the first four months of the season – 2.2 per game – and they’re currently only coming at a rate of 0.9 goals per game and the ability to switch from the pretty to the necessary when needed, in order to get a result, could be the factor that ensures us back-to-back promotions.

West Ham “used to play football” as the chant went, but not playing it is serving them well at the moment: whilst some may like to believe we are Brazil or Barcelona, we’re not and sometimes the brutality of the game is as effective as the beauty.

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit

[may-cause-offence-blog]

Who were the best performers in the weekend’s Premier League fixtures?

After most game weeks, the performance given by Wayne Rooney would’ve been more than enough to seal his place in the team of the week: in a fiercely contested derby match between the red half of Manchester and the red half of Merseyside, it was the former Evertonian that fired United to glory with a three-minute quick fire salvo that saw the England striker finish a Ryan Giggs cross, with a smart half-volley into the roof of the net and an Antonio Valencia through ball.

However, as was the performance of one England manager candidate’s team and the performance of another candidate for the same job’s team nearly matching that, Wayne Rooney didn’t make the cut and instead, the team is dominated by Tottenham, West Brom and Everton players: two of the players represent good value for money from the January transfer window.

Tim Howard

Keeping a clean sheet against Chelsea could be seen as an easier task nowadays, especially considering Fernando Torres plays upfront week-in-week-out and Didier Drogba was on Africa Cup of Nations duty: however, their top scorer, Frank Lampard, was starting again and midweek visits from Russian owner Roman Abramovich, cranked up the pressure for The Blues to get a result. Unluckily, for Andre Villas-Boas, Everton hit two goals without reply and it is now three games since Chelsea’s last clean sheet and their ‘keeper has the worst shots to saves ratio in the Premier League. Contrastingly, Tim Howard kept his net empty, made three vital saves to deny Chelsea a way back into the game and has now kept as many clean sheets as Petr Cech, with six.

Joleon Lescott

As part of the best defence in the Premier League so far this season, conceding only nineteen goals, thirteen of them coming away from home, Joleon Lescott has been a mainstay at the heart of the Manchester City back-four for most of this season, missing only 374 minutes of football up to the 25th game of the season. Yesterday’s 1-0 away win against Aston Villa came in Lescott’s 8th clean sheet performance for Manchester City and was earned through his 62nd minute goal from close range. His man of the match performance is enough to earn himself a place in this week’s team of the week.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Mr. “I don’t like football – it is just a job” is probably enjoying his football this season: the Tottenham left-back, signed for just £3.5m, had scored just two goals before this season, and only one for Tottenham: however, this weekend, saw him double his tally after his second goal in a month started off Spurs’ demolition of Newcastle United. Unlike his previous two long-range screamers, this strike was neatly put away from 10-yards as the French-born Cameroonian international latched on to an Emmanuel Adebayor cross. His performance contributed to Tottenham’s second clean sheet of the week and earns him a place in the best XI.

Jonas Olsson

As well as Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham hitting five past Newcastle United, fellow England candidate Roy Hodgson, saw his West Brom side smash Wolves for five, subsequently costing Mick McCarthy his job. In amongst the goals was defender Jonas Olsson: having scored the goal to put West Brom back into the lead over their Black Country rivals, the scorer turned provider just over ten minutes later, to help Peter Odemwingie towards his hat-trick. Although the 6’6 Swede didn’t keep a clean sheet, a goal and assist in a performance that saw him hail his boss as the “best coach in England,” was enough to earn him his place in the XI.

Gary Caldwell

In a fairly abysmal Wigan defence, this is one man that can hold his head fairly high: missing just two games all season and having only been subbed once, the Scot has become an ever-present in the Latics’ defence since signing from Celtic in 2010. In a rare win, in fact only their fourth, for Wigan, the defender earned the man of the match award for the away side and his goal and strong defensive display at the back capped and signified a resilient Wigan performance that will be needed if they are indeed, “ready to fight” as Roberto Martinez has stated.

Steven N’Zonzi

N’Zonzi, even with the return of sharp-shooting Yakubu, was Blackburn’s best performer in their Saturday 3-2 victory over Q.P.R: getting on the end of a clever Junior Holiett ball, following a mazy run through the Rangers’ defence, the Frenchman scored his first goal of the season, rifling in from just inside the box. Just eight minutes beforehand, N’Zonzi had set up the returning Yakubu to open the scoring fifteen minutes into the game. If Blackburn are to stay up, the performances of the aforementioned trio will be largely responsible.

Steven Pienaar

Returning to Everton a year after leaving for Tottenham Hotspur, where he has been criminally underused (just 17 minutes this season, with 14 of them against Everton), Steven Pienaar, according to club captain Phil Neville, is “back doing what he does best at a club he enjoys playing at.” His two performances have been described by the captain as man-of-the-match worthy, and the 2-0 victory over Chelsea was “driven by the classy Pienaar,” according to BBC’s Owen Phillips, with him scoring the first and linking up well with Leighton Baines throughout the game, until he left the pitch on 74-minutes to a standing ovation.

James McArthur

The Wigan midfielder is enjoying a purple patch at the moment: game time was fairly limited for the 24-year old Scot, but the New Year has brought a new lease of life in the first team and the 5’10 central midfielder has now scored two goals in three games and his strike fifteen minutes from time, getting on the end of a parried Victor Moses shot, won Wigan their first game in twelve. Their last was a 2-1 victory over West Brom in early December.

Louis Saha

Along with Steven Pienaar, it seems the players swapping allegiances between North London and the blue half of Merseyside, are wholly benefiting: before joining Harry Redknapp’s freely attacking Spurs side, Saha had only scored once all season, but with his first start for Tottenham, the former Manchester United striker has already doubled his Everton tally, with two deft finishes against the first side he played for in England. His brace, wholly assisted by Emmanuel Adebayor, has seen an instant partnership flair up, which will further hinder Jermaine Defoe’s playing time.

Peter Odemwingie

Back in December, the Nigerian said he was losing sleep over his goal drought: at the time, he hadn’t scored for eight games, stretching back into October, and even then he’d only scored two all season. It was far from the performances of last year in which he scored 15 times and summer interest from Arsenal and Wigan saw West Brom slap an £8m price tag on him. West Brom fans will be hoping his weekend hat-trick will mark a turn in form for the 30-year old forward.

Emmanuel Adebayor

At the beginning of the season I read Tottenham fans’ views that stated Adebayor would offer nothing different to Peter Crouch and that he wouldn’t improve the team: one fan said their two marquee signings, Adebayor and Parker, didn’t match up to Aguero and Silva and unless Chelsea challenged it would be a two horse race between the Manchester sides with Spurs scrapping for the remains with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. However, Redknapp has taken Spurs from strength to strength and they are only five points off of second, eight from the top and ten points clear of fourth. The Togolese striker has either scored or assisted 45% of Tottenham’s goal this season and his unselfish play at the weekend saw him assist four, before rounding off the scoring with a goal of his own. He is now the Premier League’s seventh top scorer, Tottenham’s top, and only David Silva has more assists: 12 to his 11.

Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit