Tis the season

Dear readers, a short update as we go into the Christmas holidays (posted at Abu Dhabi airport no less!)

As a Saints fan I have to be happy with my team sitting like a shining star right on top of the tree, however I do fear that the needles are about to start dropping off and the bulbs going on that particular tree. City meanwhile have every reason to think they can maintain their lofty position into 2012 and way beyond. Certainly there are plenty around here that think and hope they will!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that 2012 brings everything you are after - miraculous relegation escapes, cup glory, a win against your bitter rivals or even just a nice shiny new kit in the summer. As always thanks a million for reading, it makes it all very rewarding!

As a final word, I've recently been accepted onto the team of contributors for football blog State of the Game - www.stateofthegame.co.uk and you can see my first post on their site right now, entitled 'they all count, but some count more than others' - posted on the day the 20`000th Premier League goal was scored by the goal macine Marc Albrighton. Take a look at the site, they have a range of writers which makes for interesting opinions. I'll of course keep up the work on Sub Please but will contribute there too from time to time.

Merry Christmas, all the best,

Chris

Eurotrash

A couple of days ago, the 48 teams still competing on the European stage learned their reward for progressing through their group - or, in the case of 8 third place Champions League drop-out's, their penalty for failing to cut it at the highest level.

It's probably not too much of a stretch to say that the English teams can all consider themselves pretty hard done by. Not one of them received what could in any fashion be considered an easy draw, plenty of tricky looking fixtures which will surely result in less than 5 English representatives moving on to the next round in their respective competition.

In the big show, Chelsea drew dangerous (somewhat) surprise package Napoli, who of course qualified ahead of Man City. Arsenal got AC Milan out of the hat and vintage edition or not there is no doubting their pedigree in European Cup football. With the attacking threat posed by Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Pato and even Kevin Prince-Boateng they should be feared.

The Europa League did not hand either City or United the humiliating 'who are they' kind of tie that many would have been hoping for, a chance to gloat at the lesser status of this competition. Ajax and Porto are former European Cup winners both and neither can be taken as pushovers.

Finally, Stoke City - the one English club to make it through their Europa League group - get rewarded with a very tricky looking tie against Valencia. Again, we're not talking the finest ever Valencia side here (for my money that was the 2000/1/2 mob, Mendieta, Lopez et al) but it is fair to say Stoke have a challenge on their hands.

The one thing that really jumped out to me from all of this though and what I'd like to ruminate upon here, is the lucky bloody fans of all of these clubs.

That draw has served up 5 absolutely storming away trips for fans of any of the English contingent. All pretty much accessible within a 2.5 hour flight - no long slogs to the far reaches of Eastern Europe; and all in cities with a lot to offer besides the football - no industrial backwaters or glorified villages.

Years ago, 2003 or 4 I think it was, I was in Paris when Chelsea were in town to play PSG. I remember being so jealous of the Chelsea fans that we saw on the Champs Elysees or at the Eiffel Tower - what a great trip to be able to make, all with the purpose of supporting your team thrown in too. Their team won 3-0 as well, so I can imagine it was one hell of a couple of days for those Blues fans.

Southampton have only been in Europe once during my time as a supporter, qualifying for the 2003/4 UEFA Cup by virtue of losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal who of course were in the Champions League. This was before the group stage era, still straight knockout, and we were handed a tough draw against Steaua Bucharest. I was desperate to go, but the away fixture fell on precisely the day that I had to turn up at University for my first year, so it was not do-able. We narrowly lost the tie and that was it as far as our European exploits go.

Travelling as an England fan is something that I would consider doing more of if it wasn't for the fact that, as discussed previously, I find the team hard to love at the moment; plus a disappointingly large percentage of England fans are, how to put this, not quite my cup of tea. Scumbags, we'll call them.

To travel away supporting your own club though, that is surely the pinnacle. Away days domestically tend to bring out the 'best' fans, and they often throw up adventures and encounters that the routine of a home match day rarely will. Discovering a new pub in a town you've not been too, feeling that sense of danger and apprehension about being on the territory of another; but bound by the camaraderie and togetherness of your fellow supporters. Often you will meet some fans of the opposition and get an interesting take on their views of your club and vice versa - they can look at your team through more objective eyes than you or your fellow fans can. Yep, you can't beat a good away trip and I can only imagine how brilliant it must be to be able to extend that over a couple of days, and being in a foreign country also.

All of the things that make an away day great are surely increased when you are on a European away day, and the fact you could do a bit of sightseeing or spend a bit of time down at the beach just adds to the experience.

I'm sure some of the managers and directors of the English clubs are probably looking at their draw with a rueful eye, wishing that the fates had dealt them an easier hand. As for the fans though, they should be loving it. Easyjet, here we come...

A.V.B will be H.A.P (p.y.)

The biggest game in this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures saw Chelsea come from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, handing City their first league defeat of the season in the process. It's being regarded in some quarters as a seismic shock heralding the beginning of the end for City's title charge, which frankly I think is bollocks.

It's a great result for Andre Villas Boas, particularly coming off the back of a pair of 3-0 wins. First at Newcastle and then in the Champs League against Valencia to see them through as group winners; a make or break spell that although it has not won anything, you feel would be hard to come back from for the young manager if the results had not gone so well.

City remain top despite the loss, and for me remain the team to beat. They have such quality throughout their team and to be honest the level of celebration from Chelsea fans at the end spoke volumes, telling it's own tale about just where the power lies nowadays.

Similar premature and Neejurk style doom-mongery has been heard over on these shores of late, with the Brisbane Roar's 36 game unbeaten run coming to a crashing halt. First they were well beaten by an excellent all-round performance from Sydney FC, and then this weekend, even more incredibly, they were turned over at home by none other than Melbourne Heart. They, as City, remain top, and they, as City, remain the team to beat. The most remarkable thing arguably in this record breaking run that spanned over a year coming to an end, is the ridiculously fickle nature of the Roar fans.

2-0 down at half time, at home, and they booed. Seriously cobbers, are you having a flamin' laugh - or has the Castlemaine XXXX been served extra strong today? How fans think they can boo after a period of such dominance, where they have been treated to comfortably the best domestic football Australians have ever seen is beyond me. What great loyalty. Bloody idiots.

I fully expect both the Roar and Man City to get back on track and prove that their latest results are no more than what is to be expected from time to time. Indeed, if City had not made such a phenomenal start, and if the benchmark from Premier League excellence had not been set to a standard whereby every defat is a disaster, an away game at Chelsea would be one of the fixtures that Mancini would have marked down as 'be chuffed with a point'.

The one league topping team that I do not hold out quite so much hope for, sadly, is my own Southampton. Playing live on television last weekend at home to Blackpool, I had a bad feeling for a while before the game. Shoddy away results, a home record that was quite sensational but surely had to end, and a lifetime of being shit on TV all seemed to be pointing towards bad times.

The fact that regular keeper Kelvin Davis was out only added to my fears, and with Bartosz Bialkowski deputising in goal I knew things weren't going to go well (actual pre match conversation... my mate "is he decent" me "well he's always got one shocker in him per game")

If you've not seen what happened, two words: Massimo Taibi. Ironically Taibi's moment of infamy was against the Saints, maybe Bart was paying some kind of suicidal homage. Rickie Lambert rescued a point in injury time, and fortunately with West Ham showing poor reading skills, Southampton stay top, for now. I think this will not be the case for too much longer though, our away form will need to improve dramatically to sustain a title challenge.

Next game should be easy enough though, Portsmouth, at Fratton Park, on telly. Gulp.

European Financial Crisis hits Manchester

The Champions League group stage has reached it's climax today for another season, and after the dust has settled on a frantic and dramatic Match Day 6, there is an unfamiliar feeling.

The feeling is failure for the two Manchester clubs, who must now exit the swanky nightclub full of fit girls and instead make do with the scabby rejects in the grotty pub next door, AKA the Europa League. This feeling of failure is one that Manchester United have rarely had to contend with over the past 25 years. City will be much more used to it over that time, although their recent domestic dominance and embarrassment does make it a surprise nonetheless.

In a reversal of what is the case in the Premier League, London is lording it up with both Arsenal and Chelsea through as group winners, whilst top of the tree Mancs United and City find themselves coming to terms with the reality of what should be seen as a failed campaign.

Or should it? I would argue that in the case of Manchester City, this is not necessarily a failure. Certainly not a disaster.

The fact is, City finished with a haul of 10 points, a respectable total which would have taken them through in 6 of the other 7 groups. They faced Bayern Munich, a European superpower; Napoli, an effervescent and dangerous Italian club on the rise; and Villarreal who this time around were a shadow of their previously sparkling best, but a qualifier from the Spanish La Liga nonetheless. They could without doubt have been handed an easier draw, and their results, losing away at Bayern and Napoli, were nothing to be ashamed of. Ultimately the home draw with Napoli looks to have cost them, but in a debut season for the club, I would suggest this can be taken as a significant step in the right direction.

Spurs set the world alight last year in their first stab at the big show, qualifying from a tricky group and dispatching both Milan clubs in the process. They did not however repeat their feat, missing out on Europe altogether in fact. Only a lunatic would bet against City finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season, and any season for the foreseeable future, so I think this first campaign is all a part of the process.

Money, in the obscene volumes that it has been spent at City, demands success, which breeds impatience. I'm sure even the most stoic grounded City fans, (memories of League One still haunting their nightmares) even they would have dared to dream about going all the way straight off the bat. This was never likely though and they did not disgrace themselves at all.

Now, to United. Compared to Bayern, Napoli and Villarreal; the opposition consisting of Benfica, Basel and Otelul Galati looked to be an absolute piece of cake.

The record of 3 draws, two wins and only one defeat may on paper look reasonable, but not for a club of United's stature. The wins came against whipping boy supreme, Galati, and even those wins weren't demolitions. Make no mistake, this is an extremely poor outcome for Manchester United, and one which should and could easily have been avoided. Only three times in 17 years have United failed to progress from the group - it remains to be seen what this may mean in terms of a legacy (Ferguson's teams have been written off too many times for anyone to think such a thing is a good idea, they'll be back) but for right now it means the Europa League.

Thursday nights, playing against some lesser lights, with significantly less fanfare and - crucially - revenue. Travelling close to the weekend, having to juggle your squad, faced with an obligation to compete but perhaps a desire to dismiss.

City would look to be the better equipped of the two to make a serious assault on the silver medal (if it's even that). They have a squad without equal across Europe and can easily play a reserve team in this tournament and still put out a better 11 than the majority of the teams they will face. United's first team is suffering from injuries, loss of form and - most damaging of all - a fundamental lack of quality. To compare to the famed midfield of Beckham-Keane-Scholes-Giggs, not to mention some of the terrifying attacking options they have possessed in the past (Kanchelskis-Hughes-Cantona; Yorke-Cole-Sheringham-Solskjaer; Ronaldo-Rooney-Tevez) it becomes sorely apparent that the squad at the moment is nowhere near that level.

Of course, it may be that I'm falling into the classic 'United pre-Christmas' trap, and many times before they have been written off only to come back all guns blazing in the new year and end up on top as so often before. Indeed, the most interesting thing to come out of this shock Champions League exit for England's two currently leading clubs may well be the impact on the domestic title race.

City could arguably afford now to focus on the league and cups, play reserves in the Europa and see what happens there, but do so without the pressure they would face if in the Champions League latter stages. Lose and you can say it's the league you're focussing on, get far and you can add another trophy to the cabinet and market it as part of the 'project'.

Arsenal have proven time and again over recent years that they struggle to compete on multiple fronts when it comes down to it; Chelsea are rebuilding but still shaken from a tricky start. Both of them might find that this progression actually harms their chances of launching a serious threat to the top end of the table.

United seem ill equipped to challenge, but a 3rd round exit from the FA Cup at the hands of the noisy neighbours, and an early Steve Kean style 'forfeiture' of the Europa League, might just allow them to plough it all into the title race. They will surely apply significant pressure in chasing down City - as will on current evidence Tottenham, without any distraction.

Ultimately I'm inclined to see this as far from a disaster for City and indeed it may well be a key step in allowing them to claim their first Premier League title. Whether it's quite a disaster for United is not so clear. Ferguson won't be happy, that's an understatement, but you know he'll be plotting how to get his team back where they belong. Europe, beware...

Short FUSE...?

The draw for next June's European Championships have taken place, and my instant reaction from an England fan's point of view was something of a murmur.

I'm still trying to decipher precisely what kind of a murmur it was, and what it meant.

It is not the most glamorous or exciting of groups, which as I have written about before, is what I really want from this tournament. England's WC group campaigns in 2006 and 2010 were notable only for the fact that nothing much of note occurred - I'd love us to have drawn an exciting Group of Death (more on that later) when at least you know the games are more likely to be exciting and dramatic.

France, the first team that England will face, pose the biggest threat from Pot 4 without a doubt; but they were only minutes away from the play-off's after a qualifying campaign in which they were matched almost right to the wire by Bosnia-Herzegovina. Their WC2010 ordeal was probably unmatched by another team in it's farcical ineptitude and failure to perform to capability. Laurent Blanc has since come in however and revitalised the set up, and with top quality young attacking talent such as Samir Nasri and Yann M'Vila, and a resurgent Karim Benzema up front, they are a threat. England can think back to two friendly defeats under Capello to know why they should take this Pot 4 team very seriously.

The Euro 2004 opener against the French, which England ultimately lost despite leading 1-0 on 89 mins, was a case in point that you probably want to get the best team played ASAP. England won their final two group games that year (with 7 goals and the international emergence of a young Wayne Rooney) to render the initial defeat less damaging. I would argue that, despite their coefficient, France are the strongest opponent in Group D and so England should be pleased at getting them out of the way first.

Up next is Sweden, and without doubt the murmur in this context was one of over familiarity. England have faced Sweden so many times in qualifying campaigns or tournaments over the time I have been watching them that this game holds no novelty factor, moreover with the dismal record (recent friendly win notwithstanding) these are another opponent that England would do well to prepare thoroughly for. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is clearly the outstanding talent in this team, yet has often flattered to deceive on the biggest stage. He memorably scored a ridiculous acrobatic back-heel lob against the Italians in 04; but in general his best displays over his career have been in a Milan shirt of one form or another.

The final opponent is joint host, Ukraine. Compared to Spain or Netherlands, and arguably perhaps even Poland, this would look to be clearly the plum draw from Pot One. The third-lowest ranked side going to the tournament (only Poland and Ireland have a lower coefficient) they also have a poor run of form and a lack of competitive tournament football since 2006 (and none at all before that). All of that being said however, the simple truth is that you should never underestimate the host nation. Austria and Switzerland put up more of a fight in 2008 than their results suggested (only 1 win and a draw between them) and Ukraine and Poland will surely offer some resistance to those around them. The fact that England play Ukraine last could be all the more reason to fear the host nation factor - if the locals go into this game with hopes of progression intact, Capello's men will have one hell of a fight on their hands to get through.

On reflection, I think the murmur was borne out of frustration that we didn't get a more glamorous group, but tempered with the consolation that comes with the knowledge that this group does offer a chance of escape into the quarter finals.

Fans of teams in Groups B and C might be forgiven for having slightly less optimism about their chances. Indeed, Irish fans probably felt less of a murmur more an outburst of profanity at drawing both tournament experts Italy, peerless Spain and always dangerous Croatia. Even that quartet is not the most fearsome in my opinion however.

Group B contains Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Portugal. There is not a single fixture in that group upon which I would happily place $100 on the winner. When every game is likely to be so tight, it becomes just as difficult to state with any real assertion who will progress - one team from Netherlands, Germany or Portugal will be out at the group stage.

Finally, saving the dullest and least inspiring for last, we have the nerd convention that is Group A. Poland, Greece, Czech Republic and Russia. Eurgh. For what it is worth, I had a feeling prior to the draw that one of the hosts would be a dark horse and progress further than rankings might suggest they should - after this result I'd say Poland will be that horse. It could be that with the high stakes and pressure in the more high profile games, these ugly sisters actually end up putting on the best entertainment, but I really can't relish the prospect of a 3am start to watch Greece v Russia.

Ultimately, I don't think this draw changes a great deal for England. With a tournament of such few teams, the quality throughout is intimidating. Getting through our group is certainly a possibility, more so with FrUkSwe than if we'd drawn the Spanish or Dutch. It's not going to be easy however and I could certainly see England finishing on 3 or 5 points and exiting the tournament without losing a game a la New Zealand in 2010.

After that, I think anything beyond the quarter finals is a bonus - we would face most likely Italy or Spain, at which stage I think we will come up against a superior team. My aim is to prevent the usual excitement/hysteria from creeping in (probably easier to do from Sydney than London) and ensure that, when we do go out at the QF stage, I don't get drunk and depressed, having convinced myself that this was our year. Easier said than done.

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In the build up to the tournament, Sub Please will of course bring all the good stuff, team profiles, ones to watch, tips for triumph and disaster, etc. For now though we'll turn attentions back to the domestic scene; where City, Arsenal and Spurs continue to impress, Martin O'Neiil has a job on his hands at Sunderland, and time is ticking for the Lancashire bottom-dwellers.

Oh yeah, and Southampton are starting to wobble...

Carlsberg don't do quarter finals. (Carling do)

The Carling Cup has over the years been known by many names. It went through a phase of being regarded by many managers as the ginger stepchild of the footballing calendar; an annoying inconvenience that had to be tolerated, couldn't be avoided, but was best given as little attention as possible.

Lately however, it has blossomed. Maybe the ginger stepchild could grow up to be a Paul Scholes, a Boris Becker or an Isla Fisher (all ranga kids once of course, and look at what they achieved). Some cracking ties, a healthy dose of fresh faces eager to impress at the big clubs sprinkled with upsets aplenty from lower division teams ready to pounce on Premier League complacency.

For fans of Cardiff City, to whom cup success is of course no stranger, having reached the FA Cup final of 2008 only to be denied by Tax Dodging scummy bunch of Cheats FC, the quarter final win over Blackburn surely provided the highlight of this season so far.

The fun had by the Bluebirds fans on Tuesday night is nothing however to the carnage that, as I type, is presumably* being unleashed in Manchester City Centre. Crystal Palace, conquerors of my own Saints in the previous round, went up to Old Trafford far more in hope than expectation. Alex Ferguson made 10 changes to his weekend line-up, as is his wont and as most Premier League managers do in this competition - but was still fielding a team with experience and quality throughout.

Palace took full advantage of the absence of the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Nani McPhee, Ashley Young, Little Pea and (wow, United are lacking in stars these days) other first team regulars. A 2-1 win after extra time is by all accounts no more than the Selhurst Park outfit deserved. Having initially taken the lead through a Darren Ambrose wonder goal (he does love the cameras, Ambrose, always one for the big games: let's see him do it on a wet Tuesday in Stoke etc etc) but then been pegged back through a Macheda penalty, Palace deserve immense credit for this result.

The semi final draw, which I imagine will be welcomed by neutrals, then gave further reason to be cheerful for the fans of the two remaining Championship clubs. Liverpool's reward for putting more misery onto the young shoulders of AVB is to try and stop the Man City juggernaut, no easy task given that City have arguably the strongest squad in world football. What the City Liverpool tie does mean of course (and those sharper ones of you might just have deduced this, crafty Sherlocks that you are) is the other tie drawn out the hat is Palace Cardiff.

One Championship team will be going to the final, meaning potentially a first trip to the new Wembley for Palace, and potentially a European spot for either team regardless of the final outcome. For me this is precisely the beauty of cup competition and I'll be rooting for whichever of the two underdogs makes it through. Carling may have preferred a semi final line up of Chelsea, United, City and (ahem) Blackburn but for most of us, the combination of underdogs and big guns is what cup football is all about.

Carlsberg don't do football tournaments, but if they did, they could do a lot worse than the Carling Cup

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* I say presumably...there is no presume about it. Half my old football team travelled up to Manchester for the game: a ragtag bunch of die hard Palace supporters, those with a soft spot for the Eagles, or simply those who enjoy a bit of carnage. Through some exclamation mark riddled text messages from the other side of the world this morning, I could sense a certain level of excitement. It's going to be one hell of a night, if you're in the Manchester area on Wednesday morning and you see a tall fellow on crutches, talk quietly around him, he's probably got a sore head. Although you'll not know it from the smile that will still be on his face...