Matt Williams's Recent Posts

Aston Villa are the benchmark for Premiership rivals

Matt Williams — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:13:19 +0000

Football FanCast Columist Matt Williams discusses all Englad Aston Villa and his views on the tabloids and why this can only be good news for England football.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand about the British tabloid press, it’s the way that they make such a big deal out of absolutely everything. A bit of rain and suddenly ‘Britain is about drown’, a bit of sun and we’re facing ‘the worst heat-wave ever and will all melt’.

Even the back-pages suffer from it. A player says that he’d quite like to win the next game and all of a sudden he’s sending out a ‘rallying call’ ahead of a ‘must-win encounter‘.

These days a footballer can’t even talk about a possible transfer without his words being taken all out of proportion.

But in amongst their usual drivel today, The Sun has actually sensationalised something that I think is worth sensationalising.

It read: “You’re never gonna believe this... but our foreigner-filled Premier League actually contains a club that can field an All-England XI!”

That’s right, after the signings of Luke Young and Nicky Shorey, Martin O’Neill can field an Aston Villa side that reads: Stuart Taylor, Luke Young, Zat Kinght, Curtis Davies, Nicky Shorey, Wayne Routledge, Nigel Reo-Coker, Craig Gardner, Steve Sidwell, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor .

All good players, all with some sort of International experience, and for once, not just us a newspaper scraping the barrel in order to find a story. And whilst I’ll admit the influence of some of Villa’s foreign imports is huge (the importance of John Carew and Martin Laursen last season cannot go unnoticed), this can only be a good thing for English football.

So maybe before we go on moaning about foreigners ruining the game, and introducing some kind of quota system, let us look at teams like Aston Villa and Manchester United (who fielded six British players in the Champions League final) and realise that with a good management system in place, Premiership teams can be part of the best league in the world AND have a number of British players, rather than having to choose between one or the other.

Newcastle's Given should expect to reclaim the No1 jersey now he's returned to full fitness?

Matt Williams — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:58:19 +0000

Football FanCast's columnist Matt William's looks at this pivotol point in Given's career and thinks he deserves to be first choice.

Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given has today told the Times newspaper of his injury frustrations that he’s suffered in the past few seasons. “I was known as ‘Lazarus' before,” the Irish goalkeeper said. “They call me 'Sicknote' now.”

Given’s injury problems were not nice to see. A top class goalkeeper, he also seems like a thoroughly nice chap, one of those rare cases in football in which a player is liked by fans of all clubs, not just the fans of the club he’s contracted to.

Pre-injury, it could even be argued that Given was the best in the league. At times he single-handedly kept Newcastle in matches, and if it wasn’t for his stopping to compliment Shearer’s scoring, who knows where thewould be today?

But thanks to Steve Harper, the Magpie’s reserve keeper, Given wasn’t missed perhaps quite as much as we all thought he would be. Harper, all credit to him, took his chance with aplomb and can rightfully consider himself one of the Premiership’s best goalkeepers now as well.

His loyalty to his club, not to mention his own talent, means Newcastle have two goalkeepers that they can be proud of. But with both players coming to pivotal stages in their careers (Given is 32, Harper is 33), can the player who doesn’t get the nod by Kevin Keegan next week against Man Utd really see himself spending a campaign on the substitutes bench?

Given will want to play after such a long lay-off, whilst Harper will feel he’s played the understudy for long enough and more than justified his place in the first team. That’s the problem with the goalkeeping position, having two players of equal quality very rarely works.

A first-choice is a first-choice, whilst the back-up, whether it’s down to talent, experience or age, knows his place as reserve.

Manchester City for example, could no longer work last year with Isaksson, Hart and Schmeichel all vying for the same spot. They ended up having to get rid of a very talented young (in keeper terms) international goalkeeper in Isaksson as a result of it.

At Newcastle it’s worked a little differently before. Harper and Given do work well together, they both appreciate the club they’re at and have an affinity with the fans. But now Harper has had a taste of first team football, and now Given is at an age where a starting spot is absolutely vital, can the marriage continue?

Arsenal have been repeatedly linked with Given before, whilst any number of clubs will be queuing up just dying to offer a player of his quality their Number 1 shirt.

Keegan has a real dilemma in front of him before next weeks opener at Old Trafford. But will his decision have even more important long-term affects?

A new Championship - an exciting season awaits

Matt Williams — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:25:33 +0000

Football FanCast columnist Matt Williams reviews the start of the Championship

Take it from me, when you witness your side getting relegated from the Premiership, you scrape for every last ounce of optimism that’s available. “It’ll be cheaper” you reassure yourself, “and who wants to watch players like Ronaldo, Gerrard and Terry when you can see Odejayi, Naysmith and Hume?”

However much you try and convince yourself that this is the case, you know the words are pretty redundant. But one thing that does stand up and that Championship fans can take heart from, is that, this year especially, it really is one of the most exciting leagues around.
Take last season for instance, just 18 points separated play off placed

Watford and relegated Leicester City. Just one extra win and teams like Coventry, Ipswich and Barnsley could have ended up as many as sixth places higher than they eventually finished. Anyone really could beat anyone, as bottom-placed Colchester’s win over Champions West Brom showed.

Last season in the Premiership Derby were chuffed just to keep Man Utd at bay for 60 minutes, whilst the top four places were rarely threatened, even with all the talk coming out of Goodison Park. And with it all kicking off this weekend, this Championship season is just as likely to be closer than ever.

Reading, Birmingham City and Derby can’t expect an free and easy ride back up, they join a whole host of ex-Premier League clubs with aspirations of a top-flight return.

So who will be in those promotion spots come May? Despite what’s just been said, Birmingham and Reading are the two favourites. Birmingham have made some great signings and have the firepower needed in this league.

Reading have only lost a couple of players who have proved that in fact they really are good enough for the Premiership, even if they didn’t show it last year. Getting a winning mentality early on, and keeping hold of Marek Matejovsky in midfield (the best player in the Championship in this writers opinion) may be enough to haul themselves back to the top flight.

But then there’s QPR, the leagues new moneybags, and there’s Crystal Palace, with a great set of youngsters.

And there’s Wolves, always on the verge of something great. And there’s Charlton, who are still set-up for Premiership life.

Not forgetting Bristol City and Watford, who came so close last time round. And Derby, who have made some astute signings.

Nottingham Forest and Swansea, the two clubs from League One who look quite good. There’s Sheffield United, and Ipswich, and Cardiff, and Burnley….. Basically, barring the odd four or five Championship sides (sorry Blackpool and Doncaster fans, that includes you) anyone can win this league.

Put all the names into a hat and draw two out, and you’ve got just as much chance of being right as the fans who’ve spent the last few weeks agonising over who finishes where.

So whilst we keep hearing every single day from the press that the Premiership is the place to be, I can think of a few excited Championship fans this opening weekend who may disagree.

Can this season's Community shield takes on more relevance than normal?

Matt Williams — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:58:52 +0000

Football FanCast's columnist Matt Wiliams looks at today's Charity Shield.

Here’s a question that is probably a little harder than it actually should be. What was the score and who were the scorers in last seasons Community Shield? Considering most people that visit this site would be considered die-hard football fans, you may well know the answer, (for the record, it was Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea, Utd win 3-0 on penalties, Malouda and Giggs the scorers) but the point is that the question really shouldn’t be as hard as it actually is.

In recent seasons, the Community Shield has lost all the little relevance that it had held in the first place. Teams have never treated it like a regular competitive match, but now you’d struggle to see any player get out of first gear. It’s little more than a pre-season friendly, albeit played at Wembley and with a trophy for the winners.

But this theory could be altered this season, and for a number of intriguing reasons. First up you just have to look at one of the teams involved. It’s not Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal who this year stroll out to face Manchester United, it’s Portsmouth. Now without wanting to belittle Pompey fans, this is surely going to add a little bit of an edge to proceedings. Relevant game or not, a win will still be considered an upset and a shock to the system of one of the Premiership’s big four.

It’s also a chance for the strike pairing of Crouch and Defoe to put out a statement of intent - taking your chances at Wembley against a Champions League winning defence is surely going to get Cappello’s attention.

It’s an opportunity that Crouch has already admitted he’s recognised, and ready and willing to take.

“The Community Shield holds good memories for me,” Crouch told ESPN.

“Playing at Wembley lifts everybody. It's a fantastic occasion - just like a cup final and with all the new signings turning out.''

With those new signings on both sides - and of course the fact it’s a fantastic opportunity for players like Frazier Campbell and Darren Gibson to make a name for themselves - this years Community Shield may just be a game worth keeping an eye on.

Surely the strangest transfer unveiling in years!

Matt Williams — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:58:53 +0000

Football FanCast columnist Matt Williams looks at the most bizarre transfer unveiling in years.

Journalists have been known to get their transfer rumours from absolutely anywhere possible. From training ground cleaners to fan message boards, they seem to have exhausted every source possible. Until now that is.

Crystal Palace's Ashley-Paul Robinson brought transfer rumours into the post-modern age this week when declaring his impending trial with Premiership club Fulham on Facebook.

In the Queen's best English, midfielder Robinson told the 2.9 million users belonging to the ‘London group' that "Ashley-Paul is goin Fulham on Monday. If I pull dis off im on dis ting." He added the following day; "Ashley-Paul is travling 2 Bath with Fulham fingers crossed."

Palace manager Neil Warnock was understandably furious with Robinson's remarks, as any manager would be when betrayed so publicly by one of their players. The incident leaves a sour taste in the mouth of Palace fans, and raises a number of questions about young player's conduct in the modern age.

Players like Robinson should be aware that they are in a very privileged position to still be part of a football club as they enter adult life. They should realise though that having this privilege also brings with it some pretty big responsibilities. As a professional footballer for example, broadcasting your impending move on one of the world's largest social networking sites should be way down on your agenda.

People will argue that these guys are still young, and deserve to lead a normal life like their peers. I'm sure all us ‘normal' people have advertised the fact we've got a new job or are planning on making a change at some point on the site. But footballers aren't in a normal position. Their talent and enormous career potential means they must be prepared to mature well beyond their years and accept simple sacrifices like not being able to share impending personal moves.

The problem seems to stem from the fact that these young British players think that by 18 they have the world at their feet. Robinson didn't apologise publicly for his mistake, merely boasting on his Facebook page that "Ashley-Paul has been very naughty lol!" Somehow you can't see Cesc Fabregas doing the same thing.

To make things even more ironic, Robinson has barely even broken into the Crystal Palace first team. His Facebook comments about ‘bein on dis ting' by simply joining Fulham is another sad admission that any young British player will believe they've made it before actually doing anything of note. Time and time again foreign players come over to England and talking about how they plan to get their head down and work hard day after day, never taking what they have for granted.

British footballers on the other hand, will embrace the adulation that they get from their peers after simply making the bench for an LDV Vans tie away at Barnet. Rather than appreciate their gift and work hard to provide a role-model to fellow aspiring youngsters, they refuse to show their clubs any sort of respect and reject the idea that they have any responsibility.

Fulham's stance on the matter is not yet known. However you wouldn't blame them for feeling more than a little embarrassed about the whole situation. Sure they'll be getting a talented player, but have they got more than they bargained for when it comes to Robinson's attitude? Either way, we'll be able to follow it all on Robinson's Facebook page. Strangely enough, I can't see the same thing being true for Fabregas. "Cesc is a Euro Champ, bring on da Prem lolz!"