I feel like I have written countless words about Harry Kewell over the years. Certainly it’s fair to say that as good as Kewell was, he wasn’t always loved and has been vexed by more than a few, but the truth, in my opinion – Kewell is our greatest contribution to world football.

Sure, Tim Cahill may be the one the kids adore, the one they all want to emulate, but that’s because many of the current generation simply don’t remember Kewell at his peak.

At his peak, he was a glorious footballing talent who played on the biggest stages. The fact he is an FA Cup and UEFA Champions League winner speaks volumes.

Now 18 years after he made his Socceroos debut he is hanging up the boots and Australian football will be poorer for it, but greater for his contribution.

The fitting farewell would have been a World Cup appearance in Brazil, but it hasn’t eventuated.

Sad, given the national jersey, despite what some would consider his aversion to it at times is where some of his greatest moments came, indeed it’s where Australia came to know a fresh-faced 17-year-old with a mop-top, as he made his debut against Chile and later on scored two of Australia’s three goals in a soul-destroying away goals loss to Iran as the Socceroos fell at the final hurdle before France 98.

Sadly that two-legged shock would be remembered more for the efforts of serial pest Peter Hoare for tearing down the net, but something else was apparent.

Harry Kewell had arrived.

It was years before we went and qualified for the World Cup and we would falter again at the final hurdle to Uruguay in Montevideo before redemption came four years later and Kewell took centre stage in the match before calmly slotting a crucial penalty in the winning shoot out as Australia celebrated.

During that period he had taken the English Premier League by storm, part of a young and to those new to the game now shockingly solvent Leeds United took on all comers.

His teammates Mark Viduka, Lee Bowyer and Alan Smith would all become household names but all bar Viduka would succumb to crippling injuries or off-field issues later in their careers.

Also Leeds teammates of Kewell’s were former England keeper Paul Robinson, Dutch star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and England defenders Jonathan Woodgate and a young Rio Ferdinand, but for the most part Kewell was the star and one of the goals he scored there still fills EPL highlight reels.

From there it was to Liverpool where he experienced the highest of highs (Champions League and FA Cup triumphs) and the lowest of lows, the constant and allegedly mismanaged injuries to his hamstring and groin.

The time at Anfield was hard, but he was picked up by Turkish giants Galatasaray in a move that saw scorn heaped upon him by Leeds fans who were irate he could sign with them, after two Leeds fans were killed in riots involving Galatasaray supporters while Kewell was a Leeds player.

Kewell would later state his wearing of the 19 jersey at Galatasaray (his original Leeds squad number) was his way of trying to start the healing process.

Back on the national front Kewell continued to be a regular and enjoyed a stellar World Cup in 2006 scoring the goal that put the Socceroos into the Round of 16, with a draw against Croatia. It was arguably his most memorable moment in the green and gold and a far better way to finish a World Cup than he did in 2010 when controversially sent off against Ghana for ‘handling’ the ball on the goal line.

For Kewell it was a career of immense highs and some miserable lows inflicted upon him by a deteriorating body and the poor decisions of others, including now former Socceroos manager Holger Osieck, whose double standard selection policy saw Lucas Neill play in his team but not Kewell.

It’s sad to see him finish a glittering career in a Melbourne Heart side who aren’t even destined to play A-League finals, but for those who can get there I urge you to, if not at least take a look at some of his finer moments ranked below.

As I once wrote about Kewell – “Form is temporary, class is permanent. And in that regard Harry has always been our greatest.”

5. The penalty v Uruguay: Kewell steps up and calmly slots his goal

4. Screamer for Leeds United: Watch the goal, it’s a cracker

3. Kewell v Iran: A teenage Harry lights up the world with his skills.

2. European Champion: Kewell lifts the Cup with Liverpool

1. Hello Rd of 16: Kewell sends Australia through to play Italy

The post Thank You Harry appeared first on Something Clever.

Parent company, Burnden Leisure PLC, have released a statement containing its figures for the year that ended in June 2013.

In the club’s first season in the Championship (after being relegated from the Premier League) the group made a loss of £50.7m (AUD$94.2m), that seen their net debt rise to £136.5m (AUD$253.6m).

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has told English press “This year’s results show the difficulties faced in the football business when a club has enjoyed a sustained and successful period in the Premier League, in our case 11 years, then suffers relegation back to the Football League Championship.”

Bolton were supplied with the £16m (AUD$29.7m) Parachute Payment that relegated Premier League clubs receive for financial aid.

This seems like a generous offer to help support clubs but those who are relegated have their Broadcast revenue cut from £42m (AUD$78m) to just £19 (AUD$35.3m).

The reduction in Broadcast revenue alone can see clubs that have spent long periods of time in the top flight plummet even lower trying to foot bills and wages.

The supporters have also effected the negative financial downturn that comes with the downgrade from top flight football with gate takings dropping from £5.7m (AUD$10.46m) to £3.8m (AUD$6.97m). That’s an attendance decrease of 24% for home fixtures.

Sponsorship and Corporate sales have also plummeted to add insult into injury.

We extend our warm wishes to the Bolton Wanderers Football Club and its supporters and all the very best in rebuilding the club in these difficult times.

The post The Debt-Ache of the Bolton Wanderers appeared first on Something Clever.

Arsenal and Liverpool, despite still being two of the biggest clubs in the league, have not won anything in a long time and had become much more associated with just trying to qualify for European football than actually winning the league.

Obviously there is a lot of season still to play and it’s entirely possible they end up exactly where they usually do, anywhere from third to about seventh, but 15 games into the season both clubs look like legitimate contenders, especially Arsenal.

Before the season started I wrote that Arsenal could take a backwards step this year as pressure on Arsene Wenger grew and they had failed in their bid to sign Luis Suarez. Of course shortly after I wrote that, they went and signed Mesut Ozil and everything changed.

Now obviously Ozil isn’t the only thing that has gone right with them this season, but I honestly believe the other things don’t fall into place without that feel-good, last minute signing. Credit has to be given to them for pulling it off after failing so publicly in trying to sign Suarez.

Along with Ozil, Arsenal’s midfield has been fantastic. Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are now living up to every bit of hype they received when they broke through and Ramsey especially has now silenced a lot of people questioning how good he really was or could be. He had the potential to be one of those highly talented youngsters that fizzles out and ends up just being OK. Instead he has gone the other way and is now a player opponents needs to be very scared of and is in fact Arsenal’s leading scorer so far.

When you add guys like Cazorla and Arteta along with the return of Flamini, Arsenal’s midfield is to be envied.

Up front Giroud is very good too, but clearly their biggest risk is if he gets hurt or runs into bad form as they don’t have much behind him. They are built heavily around him at the pointy end and they need him to stay there, unless they go shopping in January.

Liverpool are a fascinating case. Their top end players are fantastic, especially Suarez obviously. The season he is having is bordering on the ridiculous. Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and of course Steven Gerrard are superb as well. Guy like Lucas and Glen Johnson are also very good and would make almost every other starting 11 in the league. Mignolet has been solid in goal too. But the step down to everyone else is extremely steep. The defence has looked horrid and Brendan Rodgers still cannot figure out the best pairing. Skrtel has become a massive liability and John Flanagan has been getting minutes out of position at left back.

This situation leads to not knowing if the team will win 4-1 or lose 3-1 like they did at Hull.

With Gerrard and Sturridge now hurt for a while, it will be very interesting to see how this depth issue impacts them before they can buy more players in January, which Rodgers has been vocal about doing.

The biggest story this season however has to be the fall of Manchester United. David Moyes has been getting a lot of blame and is under increasing pressure for how poorly the team has done and some of it is warranted, but honestly some of it isn’t. Even though they won the title last season, I genuinely don’t think he inherited that good of a playing roster. They are built around Rooney and van Persie and with RVP injured they simply don’t have that many players of that quality. They also have an aging defence that is starting to struggle and some of their younger players coming through are either not fully ready or don’t have the upside at all.

Guys like Tom Cleverley just aren’t that good.

The one major criticism that can be levelled at Moyes in my opinion is that he spent the offseason trying to raid his former club in Everton, only ended up getting Fellaini and to say he has been a failure so far would be an insult to the word failure. Fellaini has been HORRIBLE.

Man U fans hate him already and if he doesn’t turn it around soon he could well be forced to leave the club after just one season.

Moyes needs to rebuild the squad and in van Persie asks to leave, it makes it that much harder. He too might be looking to buy in January, but I suspect he will mostly have to overhaul the squad next off season and just do what he can to at least try qualify for Europe this season. Right now they are seven points behind fourth, which they can certainly make up if they can turn it around, but that is a very big if.

It almost feels like Liverpool and Man U have swapped roles in the league this year.
Meanwhile, a stat I think is the most interesting to this point of the season is the Man City goal difference. After 15 games and despite being in fourth place (although only one point behind second), Man City have an incredible +26 goal difference. That means in 15 games and despite four losses and two draws, they have score 26 more goals than their opponents. When Man City are in form, they don’t just win, they demolish.

They beat Norwich 7-0 and the Tottenham 6-0, but in between those wins they lost to the struggling Sunderland. That basically sums up Man City. Their best is clearly better than anyone else, but they still have a few too many games where they just don’t click. If they can find that consistency, they will win the title without much problem, but until then, they are team of champions rather than a championship team, to use the old cliché.

I also haven’t even mentioned Chelsea yet, but that basically just goes to show the fact that they have been going about their business, have a solid structure and are going to be right there at the end of the season, despite not having a single goal scorer doing it consistently. They really must be regretting loaning out Lukaku to Everton right now and yet, they are still right there and can win the title. But that’s Mourinho for you.

Going forward the Man U saga will remain the season’s biggest talking point along with whether we will see a team win the title that hasn’t won it for a while. We are really entering the dog days of the season now and with the January transfer window opening up, teams will get a chance to change their fortunes.

But either way, it has already been one of the closest and most interesting EPL seasons I can remember and I think fans are the biggest winners of all.

The post Changing of the Guard appeared first on Something Clever.

Once it was confirmed they were hiring an Australian and then more specifically hiring Ange, I got on board with that, because clearly Ange has been successful in the A-League and also demands his team play a style which every football lover appreciates. Postecoglou teams always play to win and think they can control the ball regardless of opposition.

Tuesday night against a half strength Costa Rica was the first chance we would get to see what impact Ange had already had on the squad. I was very concerned when Lucas Neill was allowed to keep the captaincy and named to start. As I’ve said numerous times, Neill should no longer be anywhere near the Socceroos. His play at all levels has declined to the point where his name value should not hold enough value to keep him in the team.

I also don’t believe we should continue to play Bresciano, but I knew Postecoglou loves him and I also know that if the team is able to execute the game plan, Bresc does fit in with that style, so his selection wasn’t a surprise to me.

But with a four month suspension hanging over his head for an illegal transfer that might be the last we see of Bresciano for a while.

I was desperate to see Tom Rogic start, but given his lack of game time at Celtic I understand why he came off the bench.

Besides that I was quite content with the team Ange chose. It was a lot of youth mixed in with just a couple of veterans and whilst I am a huge advocate of playing the kids, you do want some veterans around them.

The performance itself was impressive. Whilst the opposition clearly weren’t at their best, they still are no joke and at full strength are a better side than we have. The team took a few minutes to settle but then started playing “Ange-ball”. There were patches where the accuracy of the passes fell away, but the fact that they kept trying to pass and move and attack is all that matters to me.

I would rather go to Brazil and get smashed trying to win and create chances than to lose anyway whilst trying to minimise the damage. I am confident now that Postecoglou agrees with that.

Jason Davidson was impressive at left back and he looks to be the answer to one of the biggest question mark positions in the squad. Rhys Williams also seems to have cemented himself a spot in the centre of defence. I personally would play him with Sasa Ognenovski but we will see what Ange does with Lucas Neill long term, especially after Neill got into it with the crowd during the game.

The game changed when Rogic and Oar (The Tommy Guns?) were introduced and that comes as no surprise. The Tommys and Timmy are critical to the team and I would be starting them all. I would have Kruse on the right, Oar on the left, Rogic in the middle and Cahill up top unless they go with Kennedy.

Milligan and Jedinak do their job in midfield and I would keep them there to do that dirty work. James Holland shouldn’t go anywhere near the starting team and Matt McKay at this stage of his career shouldn’t be in the squad, even if he is an Ange favourite.

I imagine several defenders will be given a chance to earn the starting job in Brazil, but at least Davidson and Williams look good enough to hold their spots.

Ryan and Langerak have a great battle going to be the keeper and I am fine with either option. They both have great futures and we are in safe hands at the back.

What was more impressive though was that in such a limited time the team were able to implement the system we will be playing going forward. Sure there were hiccups, as there will be, but the team played hard and played in a manner that represents what Australian sport is. We play to beat you and believe we can.

I still don’t expect to do that much in Brazil, but I am more confident that it won’t be embarrassing. If we can be competitive in Brazil, win or go close in the Asian Cup and then start looking towards Russia 2018, then Postecoglou will have been a huge success as manager.

We have the young talent to be optimistic about the future of the team and we have a manager willing to play a style that can utilise that talent. The gap between the Osieck team and the Postecoglou team was noticeable from minute 1 (or maybe minute 5) and that alone speaks volumes.

I hope guys like Rogic and Oar can get real playing time the rest of this season to earn a starting spot and keep their form up, because in this system, guys with that talent are dangerous.

At the end of the day though, we scored with good Ol’ Faithful. Timmy Cahill on a header from a corner. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The post Socceroos: The New Era appeared first on Something Clever.

Funny, last time I checked Bosnich is a respected football analyst, he may be Neill’s friend but when it comes to his job that shouldn’t be a consideration for him when giving the opinion and analysis he is paid for.

One of the biggest problems with the national setup is that it is and always has been a bit of an old boys club and right now the aging players, all bar Harry Kewell it would seem, hold sway.

Simply put, Neill along with a few of his cohorts have overstayed their welcome and have done so at the peril of the development of the game and the development of the next generation, who were never given a fair crack under Holger Osieck.

Prickly to the media throughout the qualifying campaign, Osieck hardly won any admirers for a number of reasons and his focus it would seem was simply to qualify for Brazil 2014 rather than to build a squad capable of challenging now and into the future, how else could the insistence on age and experience be explained otherwise?

It’s well and good for Neill to say the young players must step up, but when has he stepped up to the plate and actually played well in the last five years? The answer is rarely ever and he is now tarnishing a legacy that already had him most remembered for bringing down Fabio Grosso in the box in Germany 06’. A sad indictment on him, but it’s true.

It’s not that I dislike Lucas Neill the person, I don’t, but as a footballer he shouldn’t be saying ‘I will leave when the coach asks me to’.

He should be saying I want to see my country do its best and right now he can’t really believe he is the way for Australia to do that. Not based on results or performance as the controversial case may be. The results haven’t been there and he has not performed. Not that he is alone, throw in David Carney, Matt McKay, James Holland, Jade North, Michael Thwaite and as good as he has been for Crystal Palace Mile Jedinak, who simply hasn’t fired for his country.

As for Neill, he’s the worst of a bad bunch. A case in point in his ‘stint’ (and I use that in the loosest possible way) in the A-League; his own team had to sit deeper in defence when he played so as not to expose his lack of pace.

If you want a prime example of that, in the rout against Brazil he was ten metres off his man as he scored a goal and stood there looking at his teammates with his hands in the air. Hardly the actions of a leader.

A dose of reality is this quote:“No one outruns father time,” that comment was made by ESPN’s Bill Simmons last year when Kevin Garnett missed a dunk. That’s NBA star Kevin Garnett who has way more world sport cred than Neill ever had, but do compare the two is firstly a slight on Garnett and secondly off topic.

What is true right now is that the Socceroos or if you want ‘Shockeroos’ have been appalling of late, the coach paid with his job, someone had to and he was culpable.

Osieck was culpable of not blooding youth and culpable of playing a squad who struggled time and time again in Asia of all places – anyone who thinks the win over Iraq at Stadium Australia was a success is either blind, ignorant or both.

The result, yeah we got it, but ironically enough the performance was poor and ever since then we have been struggling.

Now there are precious few games left between Australia and what could potentially one of the most embarrassing World Cup campaigns ever and a new manager has to come in take over a sinking ship and make some changes.

As for who that man may be, well, all and sundry know Ange Postecoglou is the front runner due to the cost of paying out Osieck’s contract, if not him maybe the tactically astute Graham Arnold, who certainly has similar traits to Ricki Herbert, the man who took New Zealand’s All Whites to an undefeated FIFA World Cup campaign. Both have relationships with some of Australia’s best up and coming players through the A-League and neither are beholden to any of the old firm, but Postecoglou might bring Harry Kewell back, which if he can show some of the flair he had at the end of his Victory stay won’t be a bad thing.

Of the international options Guus Hiddink and Sir Alex ferguson are some of the more fanciful names being thrown around, neither of them will do it, and nor should they. The risk to their legacies are too great and neither man needs the job.

Some other names are Roberto di matteo, martin O’neill, Frank Rijkaard and Marcelo Bielsa. I’d also like to say Paul le Guen, who did an amazing job with the Omani team, but is probably considered too low profile after a string of failures in Pim Verbeek and Osieck.

So what do the Socceroos need? Simply put a coach with a strong personality capable of changing things and quickly implementing a style that works. As such it’s why Arnold or Ange would be good choices, they know Australian football and would hopefully have the guts to make changes to our side.

There are players right now who are asking for a call up at home and abroad and it’s a shame Mitch Langerak had to have his name associated with a 6-0 thumping. Without him the score would have been over ten and non-football people are wondering if the kid is any good.

Truth is, he is very good. You don’t play for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, arguably the home of some of the best keepers ever without being excellent, so are many of our other youngsters.

Tom Rogic is more than ready for a consistent role and Tommy Oar is as well. Robbie Kruse is there now and while James Holland hasn’t been great you can’t deny the much maligned Brett Holman’s ability to score a goal when it is needed.

Of the older brigade keep Tim Cahill, Mark Schwarzer as a back up and Josh Kennedy as a target-man and sure take Kewell because he has class but it’s time for a change and that change starts at the back.

Trent Sainsbury is more than ready. He has shown it for more than two seasons now and deserves his chance. Matt Spiranovic if fit is an ok pick as is Robbie Cornthwaite. The real issue is still left back, especially after Adama Traore was denied his citizenship, but picking these players is a start and one a new coach should look to make immediately.

We simply need a coach who isn’t afraid and doesn’t rely on the reputations of those who have been there and done it before, because with the exception of Cahill and Schwarzer the rest can’t get it done anymore.

For the record my preferred Australian XI: 4-4-2

Mitch Langerak, Matthew Spiranovic, Robbie Cornthwaite, Trent Sainsbury, Chris Herd, Tom Rogic, Mark Milligan, Brett Holman, Tommy Oar, Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse

The post Looking Forward the Only Way for Socceroos appeared first on Something Clever.

The combination of the marquee signings around the league being a hit as well as the development of a number of Australian (and NZ) players led to the league being more interesting and certainly more watchable than ever before.

This season is the season after the breakout and in a lot of ways it is as important as last year. The league needs to show that it actually turned a corner and became the league it is going to be, as opposed to a one off year that will simply be remembered fondly when looking back. If this coming season is much the same as last year, or potentially even better, the A-League will really have arrived as a league to be taken seriously on the world football stage, as well as a league to be taken seriously as a football code here in Australia.

The A-League is never going to be the EPL. It is never going to be truly elite and will never be the place for Australian players looking to develop into top players to stay. But it can certainly be an entertaining league where young Aussie players showcase themselves, older Aussie players return and foreign players take seriously.

It can definitely be what the MLS has become in the US. There are plenty of bigger names who head there later in their career, players looking for a break and of course the development of local talent. The MLS also has developed a very sustainable and hardcore fan base and now isn’t really considered a bit of a joke as it once was.

So with this year being a year to capitalise and push on from last year’s success, let’s take a look at the 2013/14 A-League Season.

Fox Sports have handily provided a page detailing the changes to the playing rosters so we can see just who looks to have headed in which direction.

A lot of reports suggest that many consider Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar to be the highest rated teams this year, suggesting the West Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners may have slipped a little.

In terms of the Wanderers I tend to agree. That is not to say the Wanderers won’t be good, but I think a lot of what they managed last year will be very difficult to replicate and therefore I expect them to regress purely because they overachieved last year. They have brought in Tomi Juric and Dean Heffernan who will add value, but I think the loss of Joey Gibbs hurts as he is a real prospect up front and is a very good signing for Newcastle. It will also do Gibbs the world of good to learn from Emile Heskey. Matthew Spiranovic just recently signed up and he is a huge signing for the Wanderers, so their defence will be interesting to watch as Spiranovic attempts to push for a World Cup spot.

The Wanderers will still rely a lot on Shinji Ono and Aaron Mooy to create, but there’s no reason to think they won’t do the job expected of them.

The Mariners have lost a lot of players as you can see on the link earlier. The question is whether the players who have joined can pick up that slack. Marcos Flores certainly fits that bill as he is a legitimate star of the league. Matt Simon also returns to the A-League and is a proven performer. The Mariners will also be reliant on new defensive signing Marcel Seip doing the job previously done by stalwart Patrick Zwaanswijk.

The hype around the Victory and Roar makes sense too. Whilst the Victory have lost stars in Flores and Rojas, as well as the solid Billy Celeski, coach Ange Postecoglou has recruited very well. Mitch Nicholls re-joins his old coach from Brisbane and after an Italian experience to forget James Troisi is a big coup, as he also looks to secure a spot in the Socceroos side in Brazil. Pablo Contreras is also a big signing if he has much left at 35.

The Roar haven’t lost too much after a disappointing season last year. The signing of Liam Miller is big and a team including Miller, Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha is always going to be dangerous. But with everyone expecting a bounce back year from the former champs, the pressure and eyes will be on them to deliver.

Sydney FC are also expected to improve this year after just scraping into the finals last year. With this probably the final year that Del Piero will play for the Sky Blues they will need to make the most of the opportunity. They have signed pretty well and have quite a deep team now. A case can be made for several different line-up options being their best 11, but one thing that matters is that Terry McFlynn needs to be nowhere near the first team.

McFlynn is now no longer captain and if he is prominently involved then Farina will have gotten a lot wrong. They simply have too much depth now to be playing the worst player in the entire league in such a crucial midfield role.

Melbourne Heart have signed Harry Kewell, which is the big news, but their other signings could end up being much more important. Orlando Engelaar unfortunately broke his leg already but the club have now signed Malta captain Michael Mifsud. I remember watching him back in his Coventry days and it will be interesting to see how he goes for the Heart.

Newcastle have a team I love watching. Their attack involving Heskey, Virgili and Goodwin is brilliant to watch and now they also have Nathan Burns and Joey Gibbs. Their chances will rely heavily on whether new signing Kew Jaliens will improve their defence, but I’ll be watching a lot of their games. I love Craig Goodwin.

Perth have made a lot of changes, but the main thing I’ll be watching is young gun Daniel De Silva. This kid could be anything and has the potential to be our best prospect since Cahill and Kewell. I just hope he gets enough playing time to showcase his talent and maybe even be recruited by a big European club.

Wellington have signed Carlos Hernandez who will be a big recruit for them. The only question is whether the big in the previous sentence ends up relating to his performance or his actual weight. If he is fit and ready to go he is capable of anything. Also of interest is Ernie Merrick taking over the coaching job from All Whites coach Ricki Herbert.

I finish with Adelaide and honestly I’m not particularly excited by them. Bringing in Michael Zullo could be good for them and for his chances at making the Socceroos, but most of their other signings are ones that we need to judge on performance as I simply know nothing about them. I don’t expect that much from Adelaide this year, but if their signings prove to be master strokes, that certainly could change.

At the end of the day all that matters is that the quality of the matches lives up to last year as opposed to who is winning those matches. As a Sydney FC fan I am hopeful the Sky Blues send ADP off with a fairy tale finish, but overall for the A-League what is important is capitalising on last year and cementing themselves as a high quality league worthy of the interest of the Australian public.

I can’t wait until kick off.

The post A Season to Capitalise appeared first on Something Clever.

For some fans this is very difficult, as perhaps they don’t love cricket like they used to and historically cricket was the main way to get through the summer as a sports fan. Nowadays the summer months are about so much more, although it certainly helps if you have Foxtel.

Of course there is one football code that is only just hitting its stride, with the A-League returning next week and the European football season over a month in. The A-League finally gets some Free to Air TV coverage this year with SBS signing on to show one live game a week as well. It will be interesting to see what impact that has on the league in terms of crowd numbers and such.

After a breakout season last year in what was a make or break year for the A-League, it will be fun to see how the league capitalises on that momentum, especially as a few of the young guns of last season moving on to European and Asian football. The Wanderers have sold out of memberships already and if Sydney FC can have a better season too it will do wonders to capture the imagination of the biggest city and TV market in Australia.

Another interesting development for football in Australia is this week’s announcement that Fox Sports have bought the rights to show Serie A and La Liga as well as always showing the Premier League and occasional Championship match. Whilst there are obviously more people interested in the EPL, there are still plenty of fans who want to watch the Spanish and Italian leagues, even more so in a World Cup year so they can see all the big names we will be watching in Brazil.

If football (soccer if that confused you) isn’t your thing though, it’s time to turn our attention to the USA. The NFL is four weeks in and given how short their season is they do a great job of making it feel like every week is so important, especially in December and obviously the playoffs in January. We are also just about to start the baseball playoffs. It has been a fascinating year in baseball where the Red Sox and Dodgers trade ended up being beneficial for both, the Yankees needing to rebuild and Detroit looking like a juggernaut, along with the continued growth of some of the best young players I can remember such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig.

The baseball season is difficult to watch and follow because there are just so many games and each one doesn’t matter that much, which is the reverse of the NFL. But playoff baseball is incredible as instead of whole games feeling meaningless, each pitch seems like it means the world. As a Red Sox fan I’m super excited to see my team back in the playoffs as October isn’t the same without your team still alive.
Of course the baseball playoffs also mean we are a month away from the start of the NBA and NHL seasons. Even though my Celtics aren’t going to be competitive this year I am still super excited for the return of my favourite sport. There are so many big storylines with a lot of players moving around this season as well as a lot of teams deliberately rebuilding to make a run at the amazing upcoming draft pool, headed by Canadian Andrew Wiggins, but also featuring Aussie young gun Dante Exum.

Of course the Miami Heat will be right there once again to attempt a Threepeat (Trademark Pat Riley), but Derrick Rose is back for the Bulls, the Pacers will be right there again and in the West the Rockets could be amazing if Dwight Howard returns to his form of a few years ago.

The return of the NBA also means my favourite day of the year is fast approaching. That’s right it is Fantasy NBA Draft Day. It has been going for over a decade now and you wouldn’t believe the level of preparation the guys in my league put in before draft day. Microsoft Excel should probably use us in an ad.

I run my team with fellow Something Clever contributor the Piscean Blogger and after an admittedly terrible season last year where everything went against us, we have everything to prove this year. The only concern is my girlfriend having to experience my NBA Fantasy obsession for the first time.

Of course domestically there is the NBL as well if that is something that interests you. It used to interest me greatly but nowadays I am completely out on the domestic basketball league. But that is a story for another time.

Finally ice hockey returns as well. A heavily underrated sport and one that is much easier to follow nowadays due to the quality of TV available. Back in the day it was so hard to watch as you couldn’t see what was going on without big screen or HD, but in 2013 it looks great and Fox Sports actually has half decent coverage. If you haven’t ever really watched the NHL before, I strongly urge you to watch a game and give it a go. You just might find yourself addicted to one of the most fast paced, skilful and physical sports around.

All is not lost with footy going away and players embarking on end of year trips. You just need to embrace all the other sports that occupy October through to March (or beyond). If you are one of those types that haven’t really given a chance to the American games, maybe make this the year to try something new as all these sports are great as long as you learn what is going on and give them a chance.

Here at Something Clever we don’t do Off Seasons.

The post There is No Off Season for Sports Fans appeared first on Something Clever.

Daniel Sturridge has started the season in blistering goal scoring form, but besides him the team never really looked that fantastic from an attacking perspective.

When midfield star and playmaker Philippe Coutinho went off with a shoulder injury an hour into the Swansea match last week, Liverpool’s luck ran out. With Suarez suspended until the end of last night’s fixture against Southampton and with Glen Johnson also injured, an injury to Coutinho was basically a death knell to the attacking prowess of the Reds until Suarez returns.

See the thing about Liverpool at present is that it’s best 11 can rival the top teams and definitely put them in with a chance of Champions League qualification, but as soon as you take away two or three of those first choice players the rest of the squad aren’t quite at a level to pick up the slack.

Coutinho plays the role many consider to be the most important to the attacking structure of a team, the “Number 10” role behind the striker and ahead of the other midfielders and he has been a revelation in that role since Rodgers brought him to the club from Inter, although he also has been known to be used in the wider role of an attacking trio. He is young, skinny and relatively small so teams are going to bring him down a lot, leading to situations like last week where he took a nasty fall on his shoulder, had the crowd boo him for “staying down” and then finding out he needed surgery on it.

With Coutinho sidelined it falls on other players to pick up the slack. Suarez will obviously do his part when he returns, but without him there is a massive hole. Victor Moses has looked good since joining the team on deadline day, but he is a winger and he plays in a way that is quite individualistic, which isn’t an insult, just means he isn’t the type to bring overall structure to the attack.

Sturridge does all he can, but as the striker he needs to sit higher and worry about scoring the goals. Last night I felt like he was dropping deeper to do what he could to help create, but then wasn’t in position to be on the receiving end and do what he is there to do, which I can’t blame him for.

Steven Gerrard is obviously crucial to the team and had a really poor game last night, but his role is no longer to be that attacking midfielder he was for years, but rather to sit a bit deeper and control things. I trust him to do that role but he was completely off against Southampton. Whereas Jordan Henderson, who admittedly had a strong start to the season, is never going to be the player that creates the attack or brings dynamism to the team. At his best Hendo will give it 100% and be involved wherever he can as a box to box midfielder type, but he needs players like Coutinho to be around him to allow him to only do that.

This then brings us to the man who took Coutinho’s place when he went off at Swansea and then started against Southampton, Iago Aspas.

Look, Aspas might be getting played out of position in that role as he seems to be an out and out goal poaching striker, but he has been really poor since his Liverpool career started. Obviously it takes time for players to adjust to their new team and new league, but Aspas has been wasting the ball more often than using it well and done very little to endear himself to Liverpool fans so far.

With Suarez returning, Aspas is likely to move back to the bench and after being dragged by Rodgers at halftime against Southampton one would imagine we won’t be seeing all that much of him in the near future. Aspas still has time to figure things out and not become another Liverpool bust, but if he doesn’t do it soon he probably won’t be given that much of a chance to turn it around.

Luis Alberto is another youngster and he did come on for the backend of the game last night, but I would have liked to have seen him given the starting role to see what he was really capable of. Along with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe, he makes up the trio of youngsters that sit on the bench of Liverpool and all three are clearly talented, but are any of them ready to start for a team chasing a Champions League spot, the way Coutinho is?

One player I have been impressed with in his two appearances is Mamadou Sakho. He played left back for most of the last game and then went back to his natural central position, but I have been happy to see him be the player I’d heard about for the last few years. He obviously didn’t provide the attacking full back spark when playing left back, but that’s what you get when you play a centre half at full back. Defensively however I think he has been very impressive and I can see him being a long term solution for the Reds in the middle.

But with these attacking depth issues already showing, I think Rodgers needs to get his shopping list ready for the minute the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve and the transfer window opens again.

Christian Eriksen turned them down and would have been a perfect fit had he chosen to come, but they need to be looking for more players of that ilk. Hopefully Rodgers can pull another Coutinho transfer gem and give Liverpool the depth of the second half of the season required if the dream of reaching the Champions League is to be realised. With Arsenal and Tottenham looking improved with their shiny new toys, Liverpool cannot afford to drop more points as they did last night at home.

But hey, at least Suarez is back right?

The post Life Without Philippe appeared first on Something Clever.

In the world of football alone we have just had the end of the transfer window in European football along with the Socceroos in action (or at least their opposition were in action), the final round of the NRL and confirmation of finals match ups, the first round of AFL finals, the Wallabies horrendous Rugby Championships continuing and the start of the NFL season over in the States.

That doesn’t even include other events like the US Open.

But that’s always what it is like at the end of August and beginning of September because as the seasons change literally, they also are changing in the sports world. So today I will discuss the goings on in football (or soccer if that’s less confusing to you) and a quick point on the Wallabies. Later in the week I will share some thoughts on the NRL and AFL finals.

Firstly to the round ball code where much went down over the past few days. The Socceroos had a friendly with World Cup hosts Brazil and were soundly beaten 6-0. Obviously it’s a terrible result but seriously, what did you expect? We struggled mightily to qualify for the tournament at all and the good teams are going to do that to us. The only potential positive is that perhaps the added pressure on Holger Osieck could lead to a groundswell for them to consider a change as coach. Many articles are already being written about that possibility and whilst he did enough to get us to the tournament, the uninspiring play along with some frustrating team selections and tactics have put a lot of fans off. To be honest, whilst I would love to replace him if they can get a good candidate, I can’t see the performance at the 2014 World Cup improving all that much.

2014 is a transitional period for the Socceroos and as I’ve said for years, it is 2018 where we actually might be able to turn some heads.

Onto the transfer window where a lot of big business went down on an exciting deadline day. First and foremost Gareth Bale officially completed his transfer from Tottenham to Real Madrid for a record transfer fee. Whilst he is obviously a huge loss for Spurs, they have already spent a lot of the fee received on bringing in new players and it seems to be agreed by most that the money has been spent wisely. They had already brought in guys like Soldado and Chadli, but now they have added the likes of Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela to replace the attacking prowess of Bale and whilst results remain to be seen, those are two of the highest rated younger players in the game.

They already had a squad in the hunt for the top four, but if they stay healthy I can genuinely see Tottenham competing for higher honours than just scraping into the Champions League.

Their bitter rivals Arsenal also did a big piece of deadline day business by finally bringing in the big name attacking player they spent the off season searching for. Mesut Ozil of Real Madrid and Germany comes to the Premier League and to prove how highly thought of he is, he went fifth in my Premier League fantasy draft this past weekend (to a Spurs fan no less) before he ever plays a game in England. He has the potential to be one of the top players in the league and whilst the Arsenal squad still has holes, he definitely improves their chances of making the top four.

Ironically, Arsenal can thank Spurs for selling Bale to Real Madrid as that made Ozil more available for them to get their man. Real Madrid also then sold Kaka back to AC Milan, but it remains to be seen how much the former star man has left. Perhaps going back to a club where he is loved will reinvigorate his career.

Champions Manchester United secured the signing of major target Marouane Fellaini from David Moyes former club Everton and he fills the biggest need they had in their squad as a goal scoring midfielder. It is a role that hadn’t been properly filled since Paul Scholes got old and then retired and Fellaini is a proven player in the league. However, United did fail in their attempts to sign Leighton Baines along with him, but they will be there or thereabouts again this season.

Liverpool made three deadline day deals with the signings of Mamadou Sakho from PSG and Tiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon, along with the loan signing of Victor Moses from Chelsea. All three are young to go along with the young squad Liverpool already have, but their talent is unquestioned. Liverpool needed more depth and it will be interesting to see how quickly any of the three break into the regular starting 11. They also loaned out Fabio Borini to Sunderland to give him a chance to play and show if he can make it in the Premier League.

Man City signed Martin Demichelis to add defensive depth, especially with captain Vincent Kompany injured, but having seen Demichelis play in person and on TV over the years leads me to question this signing. Straight up I think he has never been good. He look like he should be awesome but he makes so many questionable decisions and mistakes. In fact if I were to write a Ben Roberts All Stars type piece for the EPL, he would definitely make it, whether he gets on the field for City or not.

Everton may have lost Fellaini, but along with hanging onto Baines they also made some moves of their own. They signed Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea, Gareth Barry on loan from Man City, James McCarthy from Wigan and then sent Victor Anichebe to West Brom.

West Brom themselves were active by bringing in not only Anichebe, but also Stephane Sessegnon from Sunderland. They also got rid of trouble maker Peter Odemwingie.

Stoke signed Marko Arnautović from Werder Bremen and while I admit I haven’t seen much of him, he is supposed to be pretty good.

Obviously there were many other movements but at this stage they don’t seem to be interesting or relevant enough to comment on. Chelsea had already signed Samuel Eto’o but the rest of their deadline was about loaning players out, but the rest of the top clubs all made some waves at the deadline. How it shakes out and who did the best business remains to be seen, but it’s only four months until the transfer window opens again in January.

Onto more depressing matters where the Wallabies were smashed by the Springboks in Brisbane 38-12. The Wallabies may have a new coach but even the tune up of playing the British Lions hasn’t helped their cause to get over the ‘Boks or All Blacks. If they lose to the Pumas next and let’s face it, it is entirely possible, it would probably signal the worst era for the Wallabies I can remember in my lifetime.

There has been a lot of chopping and changing in the backline to try to find a cure, but in my mind we simply don’t have the forwards to win the arm wrestle against the better sides and we don’t then utilise our talented backline and get the ball out to them to take advantage of one area we can match it. We also need to play much more attacking minded because playing safe and conservative and taking the three points when on offer simply isn’t getting it done. They need to throw caution to the wind and start doing everything in their power to score tries.

What’s the worst that can happen? They lose badly? They are doing that already so why not try something new and get it out to the backs, try some tricks, kick for the corner on penalties and see if that helps. Again, at this stage, with the players available for selection, what is there to lose?

I don’t know how long it will take until the Wallabies once again become truly competitive, but with both rugby and cricket in flux right now it is not a great time for our once dominant national sporting teams.

Oh well, at least the NFL is starting up to distract me.

The post So Much Football, So Little Time appeared first on Something Clever.

The English lower divisions are already back in action and this weekend they are joined by the top flight, with the season kicking off with Liverpool taking on Stoke City at 9:45pm Saturday night AEST. So in the spirit of the season, I felt it was my duty to prepare you for the upcoming season, although this won’t be a full on club by club guide with details on transfers and predictions for everyone, but rather just an overview of major changes and points of interest.

So for the first time in 27 years, Manchester United will not be managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. He has been replaced by former Everton manager and fellow Scot David Moyes. Now to give credit where it is due, Moyes is a good manager who had some pretty successful years with Everton with limited resources. Overall I think it is a pretty sound hire by United, as Moyes is likely to try and carry on Ferguson’s vision and structure and not completely tear it down and do it his own way the way someone like Jose Mourinho might have.

However, David Moyes is still no Alex Ferguson and I can’t for the life of me think that losing Fergie won’t cost United some points during the season. If Alex Ferguson isn’t worth a few wins a season then no manager is. For that reason alone I think Manchester United will struggle to retain their title. Then on top of that you have the issue of Wayne Rooney potentially leaving or at least wanting to. At this point in time United are quite a top heavy team in that they are quite reliant on their star players more than they used to be. Should Robin van Persie get injured then I think they are in a lot of trouble, which can be said for most teams, but it is something that rarely has been the case for the Red Devils in the past. It would be unlikely they finish outside the top four, but I’m not totally ruling it out depending on what happens with Rooney and if van Persie has a similar season to last year.

Crosstown rivals Manchester City on the other hand are poised to once again challenge for the title. Their squad is fantastic, as it should be with the money they have spent on it, but they too have a new manager in Manuel Pellegrini so it will be interesting to see what impact that has on their season. As always they have brought in some great players to strengthen their squad and of those leaving only Carlos Tevez would probably still be pushing for a first team place. As long as Pellegrini isn’t an abject failure, I can’t see City finishing outside the top 2.

The other team I think will be in the top 2 with Man City is Chelsea. First and foremost they are welcoming back ‘The Special One’ in the aforementioned Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is a writer’s dream for all his antic and quotes, but he is also a fantastic manager. Their squad is solid and I think Mourinho will get the best out of them. It is pretty amazing to think that the three teams I just discussed all have new managers though, isn’t it?

In the next three are North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham as well as my beloved Liverpool. If I had to pick today which club finishes highest out of those three sides I would say Tottenham, but it is close and anyone’s guess, especially with all three teams still in the transfer market.

Tottenham have a super talented squad and added to it with the signing of Roberto Soldado and Paulinho. I really like their team and as long as they hold on to Gareth Bale they are in for a very competitive season. Unfortunately for Spurs fans, that is a big ‘if’ and I don’t think anyone really knows which white jersey Bale will be pulling on by the end of the season, Tottenham’s or Real Madrid’s.

In a similar boat is Luis Suarez at Liverpool. The Reds are still in their rebuild mode but with a bunch of good young players and some interesting new signings, Brendan Rodgers is finally starting to build a side that can once again compete and push for a top 4 place. Whether it is this year or not remains to be seen and the Suarez situation changes everything if he leaves on the eve of the season. At the time of writing however it appears as though he is going to stay and certainly not be sold to rivals Arsenal.

The fact that Arsenal look unlikely to sign Suarez, as well as missing out on most of their other main targets, leaves them in a tough spot. They have a good team as always but that’s about it. There is a growing group of fans calling for Arsene Wenger’s head and if they fail to bring in any of the gun signings they were after that unrest will grow further. I can’t see them slipping below 6th, but it is also entirely possible they finish 6th if they can’t improve their squad. Then again, they also could finish as high as 3rd if everything comes together.

The new teams in the EPL this year are Cardiff, Hull City and Crystal Palace replacing QPR, Reading and Wigan. Hull have made a number of interesting and solid signings and will hope it will be enough to stay up. It will be tough for them but they are capable. Palace adds yet another London club to the EPL, but I’d be surprised if they can hold their place. They would need Marouane Chamakh to become what Arsenal thought he was when they first bought him, but to be honest I can’t see it. It’s not impossible, but if I had to bet on a team going down it would be Crystal Palace.

Cardiff on the other hand are a fascinating case. For years they were on the cusp of being promoted and becoming the first Welsh team into the EPL, when all of a sudden their nemesis Swansea got promoted and have become a solid EPL team. Now Cardiff join them for the first time in what is sure to be an epic battle for supremacy of Wales. I can’t wait for their derby matches. Cardiff already had a team that I considered Premier League competitive and added a few solid signings, so I can definitely see them being able to stay up, but they need some luck as all promoted teams do. But it would be great if they could stay up a while and we could see a few years of Swansea and Cardiff doing battle in the top flight.

What about the other sides?

Aston Villa I think might struggle mightily this year, which would be a very big name club to be relegated if that were to happen.

Everton start the Roberto Martinez and could really go either way. Fulham have replaced Schwarzer with the very good Maarten Stekelenburg in goals, but need a better season than last year.

Newcastle also need a better year than last year and have signed Loic Remy to try fill the hole created when Demba Ba left for Chelsea.

Their local rival Sunderland just missed out on relegation last year and have overhauled their squad, hoping to survive this year.

Norwich have also made a number of changes, but all they really want at this stage is to solidify their Premier League status.

Southampton haven’t made many waves this off season but like Norwich will be looking to just stay solid in the middle of the pack.

Stoke have ended the Tony Pulis era and replaced him with Mark Hughes. Will they no longer play their much maligned but successful, physical style? If so, will it cost them?

West Brom had a great season last year and have brought in some old veterans to try improve on that. Anelka, Lugano and Gera? That’s a bit of a retirement village, but West Brom look to be doing well.

West Ham also had a decent season last year and just added Stewart Downing to go along with Andy Carroll and Joe Cole as part of the ‘Failed Liverpool Squad’. They could go either way depending on injury as they aren’t deep, but could be dangerous if they can keep their best side on the field.

I’m sure I left out plenty of talking points and you are welcome to comment with what you are looking forward to. Overall though I’m just excited to have the EPL back and look forward to many late nights on the weekend once again, especially if my jinx of watching Liverpool games is over and I am no longer sent to bed by fellow Liverpool fans.

Enjoy kick off.

The post English Premier League Season Preview appeared first on Something Clever.