It is that time of the year again when all 92 league managers are able to re-jig their squad, shipping out the players who are failing to shape up and bringing in replacements who are going to make their squads stronger. Ipswich boss Jim Magilton and his scouting team are busy eyeing up signings that will revitalise the Blues for the second half of the season after an inconsistent first period.

There are a handful of players who are being linked away from the club, largely players who are currently on the fringes of the first team and some being youngsters who are looking unlikely to make an impact at first team level. With finances still incredibly tight at Portman Road any signings Town make will need to be balanced out with a player departure.

Youngster Darryl Knights looks likely to leave his hometown club after a successful trial spell with Scottish Premier League side Falkirk before Christmas. The England Youth international is likely to move permanently to the club with the striker likely to command a nominal fee for his services. Another Academy youngster Oscar Petursson has returned to his native Iceland after a difficult time in Suffolk. His two-year spell has been riddled with wrist problems that have hampered his progress.

More senior players could be on the move in the near future as well with Magilton keen on continuing the shake-up of players that he started at the beginning of the season. The future of Darren Currie is unclear at present with the ‘slow winger’ seemingly set for a permanent move to Coventry City who he had spent time with on loan, but the sacking of Sky Blues boss Micky Adams has put this move into doubt. Long-serving Dutchman Fabian Wilnis appeared to be leaving for a loan spell away from the club in the January window but a broken toe for Jason De Vos has left Magilton with no choice but to keep the veteran on as an able squad player.
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Or so the not at all money orientated Lucas Neill would have us believe. Best of all it isn’t only the dearly departed and much lamented Bobby Moore who it insults, just for good measure (and to show he’s been reading the Short History of West Ham United 1966-2007 before his press conference) Lucas tells us that it also makes Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst and Billy Bonds cry as well.

Cor blimey guvnor! Whatever line will modern day professional footballers feed us next?

Everyone knows exactly why Lucas Neill signed for West Ham over Liverpool and it’s all to do with around a reputed 50,000 Queen’s finest finding their way into his bank account each and every week. Well, until West Ham are relegated that is by which time he’ll have decided that leaving with no dignity and a large payoff will also please the 1966 World Cup triumvirate (and Mr. Bonds) and disappear off to whichever other club offers him the largest wedge.

Tell us you grew up on Bondi Beach wearing the claret and blue and pretending to be Alan Devonshire if you must Lucas but don’t go dragging the memory of players fans from all clubs and nationalities can quite rightly hold fond memories of to try and make out like it’s all about the heritage for you. We aren’t mugs and you’re treating West Ham fans especially like they are.

Keep them up and they’ll celebrate you, step in for a few quid and a Lee Bowyer like escape clause a few years ago and they’ll let you know exactly what Bobby Moore would have thought of you.

Working on the internet as I do I’m well used to overuse of the phrase “bubble” and the scaremongering tactics that go with it as those with memories that run back to 1999 cower in fear of another financial meltdown based on over exuberant acquisitions at ridiculously inflated prices.

Watching football as I also do is becoming eerily similar especially as the January transfer window gets into full swing and silly season is well and truly under way.

I wrote a post a few days ago about Arsenal’s lack of English players and Arsene Wenger’s long list of excuses for why he doesn’t buy British and one which I glossed over a little was the fact that transfer prices in England are exorbitant. I don’t think anyone can argue with that logic when we’ve seen players with only a year or two’s first team experience such as Glen Johnson and Shaun Wright Phillips move for astronomical sums and then fail to even make the bench for the purchasing club although the Chelsea / Abramovich factor certainly hasn’t helped matters.
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It is difficult to comprehend the way that Ipswich Town have plummeted in recent years. Having watched my beloved Blues for the last ten years it feels like we as a club have drifted completely full circle. After a period of development under a relatively young and unknown boss in George Burley, the Scot made himself a hero around these parts leading Town to 5th position in our first season back in the Premiership. European football beckoned once again on the hallowed turf of Portman Road. But a change in mentality, with an influx of foreign ‘fancy dans’ who were merely in it for the money meant the players took their eye off the ball and suddenly we found ourselves out of Europe and in a relegation scrap, which we inevitably lost.

Ipswich used to be a club that many sides used to model themselves on. Plymouth Argyle in particular were keen on using Town’s blueprint of development over a period of time to reach the promised land. But soon Ipswich became a blueprint that no-one would wish to model themselves against, with spiralling debt and a club still reeling from its spell in administration.

The task of rebuilding the clubs’ fortunes rested on the experienced shoulders of one Joe Royle. The former Manchester City and Everton boss had achieved a decent amount of success throughout his time as a manager and it was hoped that with minor modifications to the Town squad they could bounce back to the top flight. In Royle’s first full season in charge, his side fell foul of West Ham in the Playoffs leading him back to the drawing board.
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Can you cast your mind back to the 19th September 2005? Rupert Murdoch was moaning in the press (which he owns) about China strengthening their resolve to limit foreign media intrusion in their country and the Pussycat Dolls were enjoying a breakout number one single with Don’t Cha (featuring Busta Rhymes). Not the most exciting of times it has to be said looking back but for Arsenal fans it was a milestone that over the next nearly sixteen months became more of a millstone around their necks. Or rather it should have for one simple reason: S*l Campbell scored twice to defeat Everton at Highbury and until the 3rd of January he was the last Englishman to score for the Gunners in Premiership football.

In a simple game of “Spot The Englishman” in Arsenal’s ranks it was obviously youngster Justin Hoyte who finally ended the sequence which managed to stretch over the whole of 2006 and beyond the post-New Year’s Eve hangovers into 2007. Most worryingly of all has been the complete lack of fanfare from within the club about this horrendous statistic and what it’s implications are for the English game and Arsenal’s future post-Wenger.

Wenger has always claimed that the lack of English blood in Arsenal shirts is a double edged sword based on lack of available quality and overpricing on behalf of selling clubs. The first point is a mystery as the rest of English football have been telling us for the past five years that this is the “Golden Generation” of English football and although the international performances have shown this to be more media glammer than hard truth, it’s hard to deny that this generation of English players isn’t a step up from that of the early and mid 1990s overall.

High transfer fees would be a suitable concern if Wenger wasn’t so happy to dip heavily into the Arsenal coffers when the need arises and send English money to foreign clubs. It’s hard to believe that poor little Arsenal can’t compete in the English transfer market when they are splashing £20m+ on Jose Antonio Reyes who was hardly proven international quality at the time of signing (or departure come to that).

The Arsenal youth system which in the past produced players like Tony Adams and Paul Merson (and by that I mean international footballers, not just alcoholics and drug addicts) now focuses on raping and pillaging foreign talent from all around Europe to the detriment of any potential young local talent. They may say that not enough local lads are off a high enough quality to make it into the Arsenal first team but there are wider implications. Many youth team players obviously don’t make the grade at the top clubs and move down the divisions to find their real level. In some cases they build on their early potential down there and return to find their place at the top table again. Peter Crouch is an England international case in point but with the falling number of young English players coming from clubs like Arsenal there is little or no chance of this happening. Arsenal don’t exist in a vacuum, English football at all levels needs them to be bringing on the skills of young English players and their short sighted approach is pure short term selfishness of the highest order.

Look through the list of the next England squad when Steve McLaren announces it and see where the players come from. Manchester United and Chelsea make up a large proportion, as do Tottenham with their well publicised “Buy Young British Players” policy to add to players like Ledley King who have came up through their ranks. How many Arsenal players would you expect to see and, before you answer, remember that it took a teenage reserve team fullback to score the first English goal in the Premiership in 16 months for them against a woeful Charlton side.

Another English goalscorer? See you in 2009.

Flicking through the Sun this morning I suddenly realised that Chelsea are the new Manchester United. Remember in the 1990’s when if you didn’t support Man Utd then you hated them. Basically you didn’t mind who beat them as long as someone did. Now most football fans think the same of Chelsea and I’m left wondering what exactly has brought this sea change in opinion.

I personally believe that it all started when the Russian tycoon took over thereby changing the face of the club. Suddenly Chelsea had money and were willing to spend it. Ranieri began to piece a squad together and the team started to progress in quality and support. The media jumped on the band wagon and started to promise that big things lay in Chelsea’s future and as a club they were really going somewhere. All that excitement and optimism and the Stamford Bridge faithful couldn’t believe their luck, all those years of support had finally paid off and they even dared to dream of a premiership title.

Where did it all go wrong? Fast forward a number of years and Chelsea are on everyone’s most hated list. The manager is unlikable, arrogant and cocky, the never ending money tree that is Roman Abramovich has got tiring and even top class players in the team can’t change the fact that Man Utd are simply in better form this season. When I pondered this situation I began to wonder what exactly caused this to happen? Is it simply jealousy as Chelsea fans would have you believe, is it the media who continually focus on Chelsea and any shortcomings there maybe or is it that people are disappointed in the modern game which Chelsea encompass.

I have said before that if a rich sugar daddy approached my team I would be gutted as I believe they draw the very lifeblood out of the game and for me personally thats why I don’t like Chelsea at the moment. The media may cling to something Mourinho says and blow it all out of proportion as they have done in the past but is this the only reason why people don’t like the man. Or is his aloof attitude? The problem is Mourinho is a character and a character will always draw attention from the media and if he didn’t want it that way then he shouldn’t play up to them so often with his outbursts. Last week I wrote an article in which I believe Jose would walk after this season if he didn’t lift the title and I stick to that. I also affirm my belief that he has been one of the main components in making Chelsea everyones love to hate club in the premiership.

Although I may be being too tough on the special one and it could just be that sucess in a team brings criticism from the masses. I remember back to the late 1990’s when I worked in a Sports Shop and you couldn’t have found a Chelsea top if you tried and now when I walk in its wall to wall Chelsea from training tops to tracksuits. Therefore Chelsea could be hated for the fact that their success has meant that many have jumped on the blues bandwagon and most Chelsea fans are now viewed as glory hunters. This must sting the loyal support who were pre-Abramovich but its something that they must accept as along with money and success there are always those who want a piece of the glory.

It seems that the answer has to come to me as a write this article as Abramovich seems to be in the centre of any reason I can think of for why Chelsea have become so disliked with football fans all over the country. Fans feel that Chelsea have bought the title and bought their recent run of success and therefore everyone wants to see them fail to prove that teams can beat them without the financial backing of a tycoon. There are many reasons which culminate in Chelsea being the most hated club in the premiership but it seems that Mr Abramovich is the catalyst for them all.

It seems that Chelsea’s relationship with the FA has become somewhat strained over the past few seasons due to dramas such as the Ashley Cole saga and Mourinho’s outbursts. Now it cannot be said that I am a fan of many of the decisions taken by the FA in the past and they have not failed to disappoint me again concerning the John Terry incident.

For those of you who don’t remember John Terry was sent off in the match against Spurs on the 5th November but the Chelsea and England Captain claimed that Graham Poll had given conflicting reasons for sending him off. In the wake of the match there were alleged reports that Poll had made certain remarks suggesting that Chelsea need to be taught a lesson. Terry at the time was extremely vexed and indeed was adamant that Poll had made these comments.

Its now a mere two months on and here we are with Terry now having pleaded guilty to a charge of improper conduct and receiving his sentence. This is where I start to laugh as the FA have simply fined the player £10,000.00 and despite having the authority to suspend him they have decided that the fine is enough. Now how can the governing body seriously believe that this paltry fine represents enough of a deterrent from the same situation occurring in the future. This decision proves that players who publicly condemn the decisions of officials and in this case fabricate stories against them can escape with a light rap on the knuckles. £10,000.00 to these modern day footballers means nothing.

A disciplinary representative has issued a statement which reads “Whilst noting the excellent previous disciplinary record of John Terry, we were extremely disappointed that the integrity of the referee Graham Poll had been called into question, and that no public apology had been forthcoming”. It seems that John Terry’s previous good conduct is the main reason behind escaping a suspension in this matter. Maybe the threat of receiving a heftier fine and a possible suspension in the future will go some way in ensuring that the Blues Captain does not lead the charge around the referee when a decision doesn’t go his way as has become the case with Chelsea.

Yes I know the site was down for most of the morning (database problems and a powercut just as I was fixing it) and i know there are some dodgy characters (? etc.) showing up where pound signs and ampersands should be but give me a few hours and it’ll be sorted.

Cathy’s article about Julian Alsop and Banana-gate isn’t showing on the main page either which is strange but for those interested in dressing room / anal / banana style antics take a look here: Alsop Banana Incident for the story.

Bloody websites.

Julian Alsop may well be remembered for sending shock waves through the footballing world in the Autumn of 2004. I hear you ask was it his silky skills? Was it his cunning ability to outwit the opposition? Or was it his tireless performances which inspired many a youngster to put down their playstation control and take up the beautiful game? Unfortunately Alsop will not be remembered for any of the above but for an incident which has gone down in football history as “Bananagate”.

Julian Alsop at age 31 was playing for Oxford United in the Autumn of 2004 when he allegedly attempted to shove a banana up the rear end of a youth team player in a prank that went too far. It was reported that a play fight which had occurred on the training pitch had irked Alsop and in revenge he had grabbed the 16 year old youth, stripped him naked and whipped him with a towel. That not being enough of a punishment in Alsop’s eyes he then reportedly got another player to hold the lad down and then allegedly tried to ram a banana up his back side.

Now everyone knows that a football changing room can be full of jokers and high jinks are to be expected but this story shocked fans across the country as a prank that simply crossed over the line. The incident was not reported to the police at the time as according to the Sun the youth was afraid “it may affect his future at the club”. Despite the lack of police intervention manager Graham Rix (who by the way was a previous feature in our sex scandals anthology) didn’t escape an ear ache as the boy’s concerned parents demanded action be taken for what they regarded a serious assault on their son. An investigation was carried out and Alsop was duly sacked from the club following the incident. Three other Oxford youth team stars also were disciplined in the wake of the incident.

This story never seems to amaze fans as many questions remain unanswered such as where did the banana come from? Who fetched the banana? Why did no-one intervene? The incident is still clouded in an air of mystery as thankfully the youth’s name was never revealed thereby saving him from a life full of taunts from the terraces. You can just hear the away fans at Oxford now “Bend over for the half time show, bend over for the half time show, etc, etc” following by a fabulous rendition of “Does he take up the arse?”. Thank the Lord for small mercies son!

The clamour for ?real Rangers men? like Ally McCoist and Walter Smith to take over the reigns at Ibrox got louder following an utterly dismal display against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup this weekend.

To lose 3 goals in 46 minutes to a team who hadn?t scored in 9 games and had won just one of their last fifteen tells the whole sorry story for Rangers.

Rangers man though he is, Ian Durrant couldn?t field a side capable of beating the weakest side in the SPL. Not because there wasn?t enough commitment in the dressing room, not because of fancy, foreign formations the players couldn?t understand. We lost for a simple reason. The vast majority of the Rangers first team squad is shit, not worthy of the shirt.
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