Rants – Legendary Football Grounds

VAR Gets Worse

LFGAdmin — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 20:53:12 +0000

My comments an VAR were miles off the mark: I didn’t foresee the real problem with it’s introduction being the rabble off the field screaming “CONSPIRACY” when things don’t go their way under review. During the Women’s World Cup and the Copa America we saw straight forward decisions covered by black and white regulations decried as biased. A player takes a swan dive in stride over an outstretched leg, VAR shows there was no contact and yet the lack of a call causes outrage. Perhaps the diver was breathed upon or the defender used a Force Push but one set of supporters refused to accept multiple angles showing air between the defender and the floppier.

A goalkeeper doesn’t position herself legally for a spot kick, something crystal clear in every replay, and it is retaken to howls of outrage. The outraged proclaim the unfairness of it all, apparently players aren’t expected to actually know the rules under which they play…at least by their supporters. That idea is absurd even at the lowest levels of the organized game, let alone the World Cup, and yet some people actually believe such idiocy. Many supporters are so blinded by their loyalty they argue against enforcing rules when it suits them.

I support VAR for rules governing offside, ball out of play, and other such black and white issues. Unfortunately rather than making such decisions clear cut and accepted by both sides we are going to end up with even more whining about bias. Before they could blame the referee as the agent of their failure but now VAR adds another layer to the conspiracy where “obvious” missed calls for fouls that didn’t actually occur are ignored by multiple levels of review. There are some countries and clubs with a perpetual persecution complex and VAR will reinforce their sense of unjust officially enforced inferiority.

Bob Bradley has the wrong accent

LFGAdmin — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 18:07:27 +0000

Bob Bradley has the wrong accent. That’s not why he was fired, Swansea’s woeful showing ensured that, but from when he was hired there were mutterings in the English media about how Bradley sounded. They didn’t like his use of the word “soccer,” apparently under the mistaken belief that the word is foreign to their shores when it is as English as “football.” They didn’t like his Americanisms like PK or other minor differences in terminology: admittedly some of the American terminology hurts my ears as well but that doesn’t make the speaker’s opinions invalid. Ultimately they just didn’t like the sound of a North American talking knowledgeably about soccer.

You might not like Bob Bradley or have believed he was the wrong appointment. Personally I thought Bradley had done a good job as US manager trying to handle absurdly high expectations from folks unfamiliar with the broader international game. Since then I was aware he was working in France but didn’t expect him to be in the frame for a Premier League job when the Swansea job opened. It is a big step from Le Havre in Ligue 2 to the Premier League, particularly when inheriting a squad weakened at the end of the last transfer window with months before any changes can be made.

I think Bradley was doomed to failure but most managers would be in the same position inheriting such a weakened squad. Some managers would have been given more time to sort things out but for Bradley his lack of top flight experience played against him. New managers always need time to determine their best XI, or rather their different best XIs for the variables in opposition and injuries. Bradley had eleven matches in addition to training sessions but still hadn’t found a settled team and there was seemingly no system in place, no light at the end of the tunnel. The board, still trying to recover from the missteps of the summer and the flak for hiring an American, decided they needed another change before the transfer window opened and Bradley was shown the door.

Bob Bradley might have been out of his depth, eleven games with a weak squad in a very competitive league isn’t really a fair test, but there is no doubting his knowledge of the game…except for those who decide that he has the wrong accent to discuss football. I had a similar experiences in England simply because I speak with a North American accent. I never had that problem in Italy no matter how poorly I was able to communicate my thoughts of soccer in Italian there weren’t issues over my accent. England, indeed Britain, was different: if I suggested something to the coach he’d dismiss it, if I asked my strike partner Martin to suggest it the idea would be considered. Martin wasn’t a Brit, he was from the Netherlands and had a Dutch accent which gave him more credibility than my west coast Canadian accent.

The funny thing is that it happens here and here it isn’t just the Brits who believe they have some special grasp of the game but almost anyone who identifies as something besides “Canadian.” A referee missing a call is decried because a “real” ref, meaning one from the plaintiff’s country or region of origin, would have made the call. The accent of the victim and perpetrator of a foul, or their parents, determines if either player has “no idea” about football or if the contact was a “bodycheck” or harmless shoulder to shoulder. There is still an element that fantasizes if you speak English with a North American accent and refer to the sport as soccer you can’t possibly understand football. The more amazing thing is how many of those folks are sports journalists in the U.K.

-GP

Millwall and The Den

LFGAdmin — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 00:02:34 +0000

Millwall. I don’t recall when I first heard about the club’s reputation for hooliganism but I know when I lived in London going to The Den to see Arsenal at Millwall, it was never a consideration during the Lions time in the First Division. My friend John is a lifelong West Ham supporter who made the same trip and he remembers those trips for the wrong reasons: the battles between West Ham’s Inter City Firm and the Millwall Bushwackers were some of the worst violence around English football.

Hooligans aside, the atmosphere at The (old) Den was threatening to opponents. Facilities were minimal, one footballer called the visiting changing room a “dungeon,” and the abuse from the terraces was constant. When the ground was replaced in the 90’s with a new stadium, English football lost perhaps its most intimidating and unique venue. The move to the new ground kept the club in the community but the Millwall Roar isn’t quite the same.

Why Millwall? Why now? They aren’t a big club and their history leads many people to automatically dismiss the club and its supporters. Because they aren’t a big club, they have come under threat from folks on Lewisham Council, controlled by Labour, and a developer eager to “fix” the area around The Den. This scheme would see the forced sale of land currently rented by Millwall FC for parking and facilities used by club and the Millwall Community Trust. Right now things are on hold as some councilors finally stepped up and delayed voting on the CPO but, at some point, a decision will be made and Millwall have a lot to lose.

Rather than continue on, here are some pieces regarding the situation:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/sep/09/lewisham-millwall-the-den

http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/qa–millwall-grounds-anger-11888996

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/25/millwall-goal-ultimate-home-win-lewisham-council-the-den-renewal-property-developer

We’ve just uploaded eleven new pictures of The Den from the 80s and 90s and you can check them out here:

https://legendaryfootballgrounds.com/shop/

(Make sure to click the Galleries dropdown and select Millwall after clicking the link!)

The club and supporters’ fight against their local government is an important one, especially for the smaller clubs in cities where property values continue to climb. When I was a kid, my dad and I spent some time going from ground to ground in London and there are far fewer big clubs than small ones. If Millwall lose this battle, how would clubs like Charlton Athletic or Leyton Orient fare if they face a similar battle? Even if you hate Millwall I hope you can see that this could set a bad precedent and a similar problem might crop up in the future for other small clubs as a result.

-GP

FIFA Isn’t Soccer

LFGAdmin — Sat, 30 May 2015 18:51:39 +0000

FIFA is a bureaucracy with direct access to funding and a largely compliant array of subsidiary bureaucracies running regional associations like CONCACAF and UEFA that in turn have their own subsidiaries in the national associations. Outside of governments there are very few large bureaucracies like FIFA that have so much control and little de facto oversight. Unless there is consistent outside analysis & review by truly independent & non-bureaucratized bodies, bureaucracies measure themselves solely by their own standards. Over time, these standards tend towards serving the bureaucracy itself – rather than serving the supposed mission of the organization.

“Serving the bureaucracy” begins at the top, as the salaries, benefits, expenses and perks of senior personnel grow. Accruing power for FIFA means making friends in the regional organizations, sometimes playing kingmaker and earning a friend for life. Functionaries in national associations dream of being noticed by regional groups or FIFA because once you are at that trough, there have traditionally been few limits. Being considered a person who may have influence within FIFA has been a very rewarding image but not as rewarding as being one of the folks who votes on where the World Cup will be held.

Jack Warner has been involved with the bureaucratic side of soccer for decades, and his corruption is legendary. He has profited personally (in addition to making sure family and friends make money as well), but his master stroke was using his leverage to get a new national soccer centre for Trinidad and Tobago. Chuck Blazer, apparently the FBI’s mole in FIFA after he was threatened with arrest, is another individual who profited from his contacts but also made sure to pursue actions that benefited his own association in the United States.

The accusations appear outrageous only to those unfamiliar with FIFA, but to be honest I expect there is much more to come. There are a lot of scared bureaucrats out there who have carried briefcases between senior officials and wonder what was inside. People will start talking and, when they do, more people will talk and things will only get uglier. This could be Blatter’s Watergate.

I have just been informed by Ian that Sepp Blatter has been re-elected President of FIFA, not a shock but still outrageous. There appears to be a disconnect between the various associations and the wave of outrage in the footballing world, aside from a small pocket in Russia and Qatar that sees conspiracies everywhere and thinks FIFA is perfect. I told Ian that I am mildly pleased Blatter is back because that this will be his downfall. He needs to stay in to control the fallout, he likely knows his defense won’t stand scrutiny if a reform minded successor takes his place. Ultimately he won’t be able to control the leaks and eventually something somewhere will be the smoking gun…is there a FIFA taping system besides Chuck Blazer?

Internally FIFA officials must be in a tizzy. Demanding IT delete everything, put in new drives and dump the old ones into the lake along with the backups. If Chuck Blazer could be flipped then anyone could be flipped: what FIFA executive can stand the thought of jail time? Apparently Jack Warner couldn’t, as he was taken from prison in an ambulance yesterday, but to home rather than hospital. If there is an official close to Blatter who has been turned, things could get even more interesting as the rats leave the sinking ship.

Then what? FIFA is going to continue and the bidding process will be corrupt no matter what rules are made – because the structure in place is flawed. Expecting FIFA to operate with the interests of the sport as their primary focus is naive because the organization sees itself as the sport, and so do many casual observers. FIFA isn’t soccer, it is a corrupt governing body with monopoly power and unless there is a greater will amongst the people with the power to force change the corruption will continue.

Is there a model that could work and, if not eliminate corruption, at least reduce the opportunity for it? Doubtful at this point, because, as many governments have discovered to their chagrin, bureaucracies are resilient especially when they have access to cash and assets in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The only organizations that have some leverage over FIFA are the sponsors of the game, the corporations who pour their millions into “exclusive” deals, and regional associations. The problem is that these groups know exactly how FIFA does things and did not care as along as the shenanigans remained largely hidden from public scrutiny. Now they need action.

Sepp Blatter must resign. His reelection isn’t a good sign for FIFA as they circle the wagons when the main threats are VISA, Coke and other sponsors who are already inside and demanding change. Unless their strategy is to be angry until the media attention dies down the only action that will give sponsors the chance to be “the good guys” is for Blatter to resign and to do so “for the good of the game.” That would require a complete change of mindset for Blatter – after all, he is inherently good for the sport as revenues and popularity have increased under his watch: things for which he is apparently happy to claim responsibility. The alleged criminality at FIFA that occurred under his watch is something over which he had no control but we all know success is the child of the boss while failure is the fault of the cleaners.

Sponsors aside the regional and national associations could play a role in restructuring FIFA but they are run by people who like the structure already and the only change they wish to see is who is in charge. Soccer administration is a money making venture with sponsorships and friendly matches and regional tournaments. The regional associations don’t want to be investigated themselves but they do want to have more say over how FIFA is run so they want as little investigation as possible that could lead people down to the regions or even national associations.

FIFA doesn’t care about public perception because they have a monopoly and people aren’t going to boycott their primary product. The sponsors and regional associates care more about FIFA corruption because they will either be linked with it directly or suspected of a role in it themselves. The non-FIFA parties need an immediate sign from FIFA that something will change that will allow the day to day workings of the bureaucracy to go on unhindered and the sponsors and members to say “look things are changing.” Realistically, the only choice for FIFA and Blatter is for Blatter to resign and the only people to whom he will listen control some of the purse strings.

Football Matches Without Goals?!

LFGAdmin — Fri, 01 May 2015 23:47:50 +0000

Imagine the scenario.

The beautiful game being played on a field with no goals, the objective being to keep hold of the ball and pass it around more than the other team! Possession of the ball wins! No goals! No Assists! Imagine how full the football stadiums around the world would be with this as the objective of playing the game!

Jose Mourinho – Chelsea’s maestro Manager – was interviewed today poking fun at the media and football pundits who have labeled Chelsea as boring after their recent 0-0 draw in a top of the able clash with Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium, which pretty much confirmed Chelsea as the 2014/15 Premier League Champions.Watch the interview here.

I get it though. Jose played the game – not to lose. One point was enough to keep Arsenal at bay – they currently sit 2nd in the table so a loss would have given them hope. So Jose played a masterclass at ensuring Chelsea kept focused towards their goal of winning the Premier League title. And it worked – much to the derision of the English media and Arsene Wenger (there is no love lost between Mourinho and Wenger either!)

For me – Jose’s comments brought forward an even more important concept I have had to deal with since coaching youth soccer (U6 to U13 age groups) in Vancouver Canada over the past 12 years.

The “Canadian rules” of Youth coaching revolve around minimizing winning games on game day at the very young age groups. “It is not about winning,” we get told at our coaching meetings and we then told to focus on “coaching and training” as “games are not important”, to ensure that boys’ and girls’ feelings are not hurt if scores get run up in games and so on. And in my experience as a “good coach” in the eyes of the parents that have had me as their child’s footie coach, this is a terrible way to prepare players for when they are older.

And for as long as I stay in this system, I simply do not buy into the “cushioning” we continue put out there for the youth of today that “winning is not important” (until they hit the U13 age group when winning becomes the only point at the higher level – go figure!)

So my question is simple and highlighted by Jose Mourihnos comments:

The game of soccer invented back in the 1800s was simple.

To put the ball into the opposition team’s goal. and stop the opposition from putting the ball into your goal!

The game actually could not be any more simple! And with this simple objective – it is up to us as coaches and the system that is set up to set up to focus on the objectives of the game so we can continue to help the youth of today get better at the game!

Sure, it is really important to “teach” the boys and girls at the young ages, the skills and techniques required to play the game. But as equally important it is essential to allow them to play as a team and learn the game in real life with as many game time experiences as possible.

You do not train a sales person for hours to then not allow them to go out and sell and achieve success. Similarly with an accountant, a lawyer, doctor and so on you would not expect to invest tons of time and money learning only for you to go be bad at your trade? So why are we so resistant to teaching this concept of winning, when the lessons to be learned far outweigh the denial we are preaching to the kids on the field of play?

So why not use adult lessons we give ourselves when we are older to the youth we are coaching football to in a way that helps them succeed at the game, as an individual and as a team?

In my experience, all teams I have coached have won and lost (the majority have won way more than lost and in some cases my teams have gone unbeaten for 2 years or more!)

This is not down to the fact I am a self-centered coach who does whatever it takes to win at all costs. My methodology is simple. I focus on the key objectives of what the game is all about. To score and to defend! And I do it in a way that is pleasing to the eye to watch through controlling the ball and working space to create opportunities to score. And when defending, defend as a team and get back behind the ball. Simple principles that are easy for a young boy or girl to understand and easily implement. And every kid involved gets to be part of this success.

I do not coach my teams to cheat. I do not coach my teams to be rough. I teach players to be good sportsmen and women and to acknowledge when you play against a better team – be humble if you are on the wrong end of a bad result.

Make the coaching fun. Make it engaging, Ensure all boys and girls touch the ball as many times as possible. And do it in a positive way yet put in place boundaries that, if they cross, will produce consequences. And when it comes to games, they are the MOST important part of football. To score or to stop the other team scoring! It is about the team, and you win, lose, or draw as a team. Every game you go play should reflect these same values.

So yes, Jose. You are dead right. Let’s ensure that football continues to be about who wins by scoring the most goals. It does not have to be fancy at times. It has to be about being the best on that day and it is up to the players, young or old, to do this. And as role models as experienced coaches on the field of play it is up to us to ensure that every boy and girl involved who plays the game learn the valuable lesson of playing as a team to go out there and be as good as you can be to achieve the objective as set out back in the 1800’s!

Those that play the game regularly at whatever level know full well there is no such thing as a friendly game! Football and soccer is about 2 goals and a ball and it is your only objective when stepping onto the field of play to get that ball in the opponents net more than he does yours!!!

Good one Jose!!!!!

While we’re at it, take a look at this funny piece that aired on the CBC show This is That, where they pretended that in one Canadian town, they had taken this no-goal phenomenon even further to the point of outlawing the actual ball! The outraged response from the fooled public was even funnier until the joke got cleared up – but it shows that I’m not the only one worked up about the degradation of my favourite game!

That’s all for now –

Coach Ian

The Fan vs The Supporter

LFGAdmin — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 21:35:53 +0000

We now interrupt our regular programming for a small note on terminology:

I use the terms fan and supporter interchangeably, mostly for variety, but I do believe that there is a difference. The supporter is there when the club fails, coming back the next match, the next season and so on hoping for success but knowing their support isn’t predicated upon silverware. The fan is epitomized by a gentleman I met last summer who informed me he “used to be” a Manchester United fan but after the trophy-less 2013-2014 season he was going to support another team. The fan stands up and is ready to walk away when things go badly while the supporter stands up and sings louder.

Which one are you? Let me know by leaving a comment in the space below…