So many aspects of modern football are nonsensical. The vast web of ethical and logistical issues surrounding the inherently flawed decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar is a topical example. So, too, the negligence of so many directors in steering their clubs headlong into financial catastrophe, despite fully understanding the risk they take in offering players wages that far exceed their clubs’ ability to generate revenue. To those of us observing from afar, it’s the inevitability of some of the game’s woes that is so frustrating to witness. Elsewhere, certain flawed elements of the football sphere exist…
All posts tagged Premier League
David Beckham and Oasis: a Tale of Career Decline
They won’t like this but David Beckham’s retirement from football this week put me in mind of a bunch more readily associated with the other half of Manchester, Britpoppers Oasis. Both came to prominence in the mid to early 90s; Oasis at Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and Beckham at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground. Initially, the characteristic that united them can be broadly defined as swagger. Beckham would hurtle down the right flank on buccaneering runs before angling in impossibly delicious crosses while Oasis would brandish their guitars like totems; Liam Gallagher’s snarled vocals and Noel’s lofty hauteur…
Paul Lambert is Unquestionably the Right Man for Aston Villa
It’s been a torrid 2012-13 so far for Aston Villa and from the moment Robbie Savage pronounced that the club would most definitely be relegated last August, media pundits and fans of other clubs have been forming an orderly queue to have a bash. Meanwhile, Villa fans themselves have been lying low, largely defending manager Paul Lambert, but with their patience stretched to levels of high tautness and doubt creeping in by the week. Only the travails of neighbours Birmingham City have provided light relief. In recent weeks, however, an impression of a dosage of tough medicine has begun to…
When Should a Football Manager be Sacked?
Football is renowned for its kneejerk analysis and a debate on yesterday evening’s Monday Night Club on Radio Five Live plumbed new depths in speculating over the relationship between Steve Bould and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, with opinions scattered around like so much confetti and little evidence to back the arguments up. It’s good, therefore, when a serious minded, analytical study emerges to throw light on an important issue and today, we are pleased to highlight a newly published paper that brings sophisticated statistical methods to bear on a key issue. The journal Economics & Finance Research is available open…
Ups and downs
Two months into the new campaign, and we’re in a position to assess how things are starting to shape up for the six teams either promoted from or relegated to the Championship. Let’s begin with last season’s champions Reading. Lanterne Rouge’s side have recently been the primary subject of an excellent discussion post examining Premier League survival prospects on this very site. For that reason, I’ll focus my attention on specific observations in the light of having seen them in the flesh at the Madejski on Saturday, when they were unfortunate not to claim all three points from the encounter…
Kieran: Good article and an interesting topic for debate although if introduce...
Lanterne Rouge: Of course Lita would be well known to McDermott given his long spell b...
Ellie: As a Swindon fan, I feel it necessary to point out that Paolo may have...
