2015/2016 Premier League Fixtures Announced: Invading The Continent (Champions League)

With the announcement of the Premier League fixtures, the rumour mills spins into overdrive about who is favourite for the big prizes - the title, the Champions League, and avoiding relegation. In my post yesterday, I outlined my opinion on who I believe is currently favourites for the Premier League title, based solely on the fixtures in the opening five games, the busy Christmas period, and the final five. This time, it's the turn of those sides competing for a place in the Champions League, namely Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton.

So, kicking off with the opening five fixtures of the new season, we see a clear winner. Southampton, after such an impressive opening to last season, have the opportunity to do the same, with a rather fortuitous run of fixtures to start this year. Beginning away at Newcastle to start Steve McClaren's reign at St James's Park, they then host Everton. However, after that potentially tricky opening couple of games, we see two games against newly promoted sides - away at Watford and at home to Norwich - before ending their first five with a trip to West Brom.

Compare that to the fixtures of their rivals. Liverpool start with a horrible trip to Stoke (remember the 6-1 mauling last year), before a home game against Bournemouth. They then face two of the title rivals in the next three games, with trips to Arsenal and Manchester United punctuated by a home game against West Ham. Meanwhile, Tottenham begin their season with a trip to Manchester United, before hosting Stoke. They then travel to Leicester, welcome Everton and round it off with a visit to the North East for a game against Sunderland. Therefore, I'd certainly put the difficulty of the opening fixtures in this order: Liverpool, Tottenham, Southampton.

Moving onto the busy Christmas period, we can see that roles are almost completely reversed. Southampton have a horrible set of fixtures, facing a tough trip to Crystal Palace before home games against both North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal. They then have another difficult trip to West Ham before finishing with Norwich away. In comparison, Liverpool have home ties against West Brom and Leicester, as well as winnable games away at Watford, Sunderland and West Ham. Spurs also have some good fixtures starting at home to Newcastle, before the crunch tie against Southampton. A double set of games against promoted sides follow, at home to Norwich and away to Watford, before a tricky tie away at Everton. So I'd put these fixtures in this order: Southampton, Tottenham, Liverpool.

So with a complete reversal of the first five in the Christmas period, it all comes down to the final five for me to select my favourite for the Champions League spot. Here, Liverpool again get the advantage. Their final five starts with a trip to Bournemouth, before hosting Newcastle, travelling to Swansea and entertaining Watford. The final day could be tricky, with a trip to West Brom, but these are all eminently winnable games.

So if Liverpool are favourites, who's got an uphill task? Spurs start with a trip to Stoke and a visit from West Brom, but the following couple are horrible - away at Chelsea and a crunch tie against Southampton. They then finish with a trip to Newcastle, which could see the race come down to the wire. Meanwhile, Southampton have four tricky fixtures out of five, with visits to Everton and Aston Villa followed up by a home tie against Manchester City. The possibly pivotal fixture against Spurs comes next, before they finish the season at home to Crystal Palace. In this crucial final five, the difficulty ratings are as follows: Southampton, Tottenham, Liverpool.

It's worth bearing in mind that this is all presuming that one of last season's big four fail to make the grade this year, otherwise this talk is entirely academic. We could end up arguing over the Europa League places! With this in mind, I'm saying that the order that I expect based on the fixtures alone is Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton, but this will not necessarily be the most interesting battle this season.

England Series: Harry Redknapp: The Jilted Lover

                            In the build-up to Tuesday's do-or-die fixture at home to Poland, I will be running an England mini-series, looking at the talking points that have haunted the England side's preparations, and looking at their chances going forward. A few weeks ago, I gave my opinion on Greg Dyke's comments that England should be looking to reach the semi-finals of the Euro 2020 competition, and win the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar. This assumes that the groundwork is already in place for England to become a viable winner of trophies, as Spain's 'Golden Age' really began a decade or so previously, with the change of several rules regarding training of youngsters. Using the State of the Game report, as well as evidence from the current England squad and the lower leagues, I will examine just how much creedence can be given to Dyke's claims. I dismissed them a few weeks ago-was I wrong to?

                             This post will be the last in my 'headline-makers' aspect to this England series, and has perhaps been the most damaging to English footballing stability. It concerns Roy Hodgson's appointment as England manager in the spring of 2012 was a surprise, as the front runner for the position from the start had been then Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp. The loveable Cockney Arry', best known for his transfer deadline day antics, most famously hanging out of his car window, and his odd resemblance to a bulldog, had proven himself to be one of the Premier League's top managers in the previous few seasons. Having taken Spurs from the relegation zone after 7 games of the 2008/2009 season, he transformed the North London club's fortunes, taking them to a league cup final in the same season, where they lost narrowly on penalties. The following year, he led Spurs to 4th place, and a Champions League spot for the first time in the club's history. A remarkable run in the competition took them to the quarter finals, where they had accept defeat against Real Madrid. Nevertheless, from the relegation zone to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in two years is a quite incredible run, and put the Spurs manager on the lips of many for the recently available post of England manager.

                              However, things took an unexpected turn for the Londoner. With all the distractions over his potential move, his Spurs side began to slide away from the title race in 2011/2012, even finishing behind local rivals Arsenal. This meant that they missed out on the automatic Champions League places, which would prove incredibly costly. With Chelsea winning the tournament, 4th was not enough to get them into the Champions League the following year. To make matters worse for media darling Arry', despite him being installed as overwhelming favourite to succeed Fabio Capello as England boss, the FA opted to go with Roy Hodgson, a decision met with derision by many in the footballing world. They say that bad things come in threes, and this was to be the case for Harry, as no sooner had the season concluded, with Spurs equalling their best ever finish to a Premier League season, he and Spurs parted ways, due to 'unresolved contract issues'. Since the dismissal, Redknapp's managerial career seems to have been in terminal decline. He quickly found employment in the form of struggling QPR last season, only to lead the club down, rock bottom of the Premier League. Since the speculation over the England job, he had not been the same successful Harry that football had known and come to love, and, underneath, there was developing a rather bitter edge to the Cockney manager that few had fully experienced.

                               This bitterness was suddenly thrust into the public eye with the release of his autobiography in October 2013. Here, he registers his disgust at the FA for the decision-making in the run-up to the announcement of Roy Hodgson as England manager. Whilst the former Spurs manager states that he never held anything against the former Fulham manager, the tone in which he wrote his words suggests exactly the opposite. Just read some of the words he (and by that I mean Martin Samuel) wrote: 'I wouldn't trust the FA to show me a good manager if their lives depended on it', 'Everyone says I was the people's choice, the only choice' and 'I got quite a few text messages at the time from players saying they would love me to manage England: Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry. But the FA went for Roy Hodgson-a man who is more their cup of tea.' All of these quotes have an undertone of bitterness to them, and will do little to further his career.

                                 These comments are also exactly what Roy Hodgson and England did not need in the build up to their two most critical World Cup Qualifiers for Brazil 2014. With England not guaranteed qualification, two performances (at home to firstly Montenegro, and then Poland) would be required to ensure their place in South America. Considering that Harry specifically says in his book that he wants England to do well, you have to question the release date of an autobiography that is so critical of the England manager and the FA. Surely it wouldn't have made any difference to Redknapp if he had waited to release his book for another week? Or perhaps that was his intention-especially if England did fail to qualify over the following two games. That way, he could point to the England performances as evidence of the FA's incompetence in appointing Hodgson over him, as predicted in his book. Had he released it a week later, he could be accused of acting in hindsight, when his claims would not have as much of an effect. Perhaps that is me being cynical, but they are certainly questions that can be levied at the former Spurs boss.

                                  Timing aside, the way in which Redknapp has criticised the FA will do nothing to aid the England side as they prepare for the game against Poland. Any negative comments about the squad, manager and FA will inevitably destabilise the side, potentially even causing the seed of doubt into the minds of the England players. If the Montenegro game is anything to go by, we shouldn't worry too much about the mental effect, but nevertheless, it is hardly the ideal preparation. Redknapp has inherently criticised all three of those groups, claiming that recent performances at World Cups have not been acceptable, that the manager is not the right man, and as we have heard, aimed several shots across the bows of the FA. How much of this is influenced by the ludicrous expectations placed upon our national side by the media and the FA, I am unsure. However, we have been shown that our national team needs little excuse to implode, and these comments could certainly have been the catalyst.

                                   In my opinion, Harry Redknapp has acted very much like a jilted lover. His bitter comments to the press are broadly similar to telling your friends embarrassing secrets about your ex after they have broken up with you. How malicious the intent of both the comments, and the timing of them, are cannot be proven, but my cynical mind tends to suspect that there is a very good reason for releasing his comments when he has. Such has his recent conduct been, I would almost expect him to have a rebound one-night stand managing another national side to try and make England jealous! His managerial failure with QPR has left him wildly blaming others for his decline, with the FA the prime recipients of his bile. If nothing else, this episode has illustrated precisely why the FA made the right decision to go with Hodgson. If a manager deals with disappointment by bitching about others to the press, he is hardly the professional you need. His media darling image has well and truly gone now, and I expect him to become the managerial equivalent of a spinster, with his only supporters his loyal bulldogs.

Tottenham Hotspur: Last Day European Heartbreak Once More

2012/2013 Season Review:

                With Harry Redknapp’s departure at the end of the previous season, Tottenham were left in a state of uncertainty, as the Englishman was widely considered to be the best man for the job. The chairman, Daniel Levy, decided to take a risk on Chelsea reject Andre Villas Boas. Considering that Chelsea paid £12 million to get AVB out of his contract at Porto, to get him on a free is a significant saving. AVB quickly got to work in the transfer market, bringing in Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen, Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Lyon’s Hugo Lloris before the start of the campaign. However, these additions failed to get Spurs off to a good start, losing their first league game 2-1 away at Newcastle, and only drawing their opening two home league games against weaker opposition.

                With these poor early performances, AVB secured two further signings, with Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele tasked with creating and scoring more goals. Tottenham’s league form then began to improve, with three consecutive league wins in September, the last of which being their first win at Old Trafford in 23 years. Unfortunately, Tottenham’s European form failed to match their good domestic performances, drawing their opening three games and leaving the Londoners in danger of exiting the competition in the group stages. Their league form then began to dip, as defeats at home to Chelsea and, more alarmingly, Wigan, left Spurs a way behind the league leaders. During the poor run, Tottenham also exited the Capital One Cup, with a Fourth Round defeat away at Norwich. Further controversy over the destination of the goalkeeper’s jersey dominated this period, as Brad Friedel’s early season form was keeping big money summer signing Hugo Lloris out of the side. A poor defeat away at Manchester City and then a horror show at rivals Arsenal seemingly made AVB’s mind up, as Lloris became ever more preferred as the season went on.

                After the disastrous Arsenal result, Tottenham were shaken into life, and their league form gradually began to improve. Three successive league victories, including an important win over Liverpool, followed the derby aberration, and they ensured progression in the Europa League, beating Panathinaikos 3-1 in the final group stage game. During December, Spurs’ flying winger, Gareth Bale, really began to come to the fore, with excellent performances either side of Christmas, and a habit for scoring spectacular goals. By the turn of the year, Tottenham sat just below the Champions League spaces, and with a very good chance of qualifying for the competition automatically. Bales’ fantastic form continued after the New Year, where, apart from a poor performance in the FA Cup against Leeds United, Tottenham remained unbeaten for the whole of January, including a heartening performance against runaway leaders Manchester United.

                As the season ticked into February, it was becoming more and more obvious that the battle for the final two Champions League places would be between Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs, with all hitting good form as the season moved towards its climax. As a result, we saw more and more dramatic results and finishes to games, with none of the three teams able to slip up. February saw a continuation of the good form of the previous month, and ended with a stunning Bale goal away at West Ham to win the game 3-2. Having also claimed a two leg victory over Lyon in the Europa League Last 32, Spurs were drawn against old foes Inter Milan in the Round of 16. Firstly though, they had to negotiate a crunch derby game at home to Arsenal, and one that could have a significant impact on the top 4 places. A tight first half exploded into life with two Spurs goals in the space of three minutes, as firstly Bale and then Aaron Lennon put the Lily Whites in a commanding position. Per Mertesacker headed in from a corner to reduce the arrears for the Gunners, and precipitated a grandstand finish, in which Arsenal poured forward in search of an equaliser. It never came, and Spurs held on to strengthen their grip on 4^th place.

                After a brilliant 3-0 victory over Inter at home, Spurs travelled to Milan knowing that only exceptional circumstances would see them eliminated from the Europa League. Unfortunately, without the injured Gareth Bale, Spurs were poor throughout, ending up being fortunate to make it to extra time. An Emmanuel Adebayor goal gave Spurs a priceless away goal, leaving Inter unable to respond. Nevertheless, a shock for AVB and his side, reminding them that they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas. April turned into a very damaging month for the Lily Whites, going out of the Europa League at the hands of FC Basle, and dropping valuable points in the race for fourth, handing momentum back to Arsenal. Three wins out of their four remaining games was not sufficient to see Spurs into the Champions League, missing out once again on the final day to their great rivals. Reminiscent of the end of the 2006 season, where Spurs were unable to field a full side due to a mysterious intestinal illness, leaving Arsenal clear to take the final Champions League spot.

                Overall, a successful but disappointing season. AVB has clearly continued when Redknapp left off, only narrowly missing out on Champions League competition. Whilst they had a good chance to win the Europa League, their league form has been encouraging, and in Gareth Bale, they have arguably the third best footballer on the planet.

 

Player of the Season: Gareth Bale – The Welshman’s most successful season to date. His pace, dribbling and ability to score truly outstanding goals has made him an incredibly valuable asset to the Spurs side. This season in particular, he has at times carried this side, picking up points almost single-handedly. Having failed to deliver Champions League football, I fear for Tottenham attempting to keep the winger, as there are many that are looking for his signature.

 

Game of the Season: West Ham 2-3 Tottenham – An enthralling game, which swayed first one way, then the other, as Tottenham took an early lead through Bale, before a clumsy Scott Parker challenge gave Andy Carroll the chance to level the scores from the spot. A chance he took, and momentum swung wholly in the Hammers favour when Joe Cole drilled a shot past Lloris to turn the game on its head. A valiant Tottenham fighback ensued, with Gylfi Sigurdsson levelling with quarter of an hour to play. This led to an incredibly open final ten minutes, with both sides going for the victory. With time running out, Gareth Bale received the ball a full 30 yards from goal, and unleashed an unstoppable drive to beat the helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen and keep Spurs in the hunt for the Champions League.

 

Summer Transfer Targets (What I Think They Need): Inevitably, the talk this summer will be all about whether they can keep hold of Bale. If not, I fear that he will be irreplaceable. If they do manage to keep him, only minor changes will be required to push Spurs that couple of points forward next year. A top quality striker and left back may be reasonable transfer targets, with David Villa and Ignazio Abate possible signings.

 

Transfer Gossip Links:

In:

Leandro Damiao (Internacional, ST), Thomas Ince (Blackpool, RW), Roberto Soldado (Valencia, ST), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid, ST), Heung Min Son (Hamburg, ST), Abdelaziz Barrada (Getafe, LM), Sergi Roberto (Barcelona, LB), Miralem Pjanic (Roma, CM), David Villa (Barcelona, ST), Alberto Botia (Sevilla, LB), Joao Moutinho (Porto, CM)

Out:

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, LM), Danny Rose (Sunderland, RB), Emmanuel Adebayor (AS Monaco, ST), Aaron Lennon (Inter Milan, RW)