Bleacher Report - Articles by Dave Gooderham

Roy Keane Is Ipswich Town's Capello

Dave Gooderham — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 06:24:21 -0400

The managerial paths of Ipswich Town and England have often been intrinsically linked.

So often having to settle for a reputation of a nice, family-run club and the tag of neutral's favourite, one of the only boasts for Ipswich fans was the pivotal role the club has played in the careers of the two most successful England managers of all time.

Both Sir Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson cultivated their talents on the Portman Road turf before shining on the international stage.

Now I offer a third link between the national, and a very local, side.

To cap an amazing 24 hours, after a very dull nine months for Ipswich, Roy Keane has agreed to become the club’s new manager, after Jim Magilton was unsurprisingly sacked.

Doubt and controversy follow Keane whenever he resurfaces in the game. His shocking admission over that Alf-Inge Haaland tackle, the walk-out from the Irish team during the World Cup, the always-expected resignation from Sunderland.

Town fans have every reason to harbour slight doubts over what to expect when the fiery Irishman enters the genial Suffolk countryside.

But as Dylan said, "the times they are a changing." Where the club would once proudly have the sherry flowing in the Cobbold-run boardroom, in has come the mysterious Marcus Evans, a faceless financial backer who has pumped in millions and now expects results.

He was this week followed by Simon Clegg, six-time leader of the British Olympic team and all, as the new chief executive.

Magilton was given £12million and a one-year deadline to secure just one objective – promotion to the Premiership. He spectacularly failed with an abject mid-table finish and some of the poorest performances in recent memory.

The timing of his dismissal has surprised some, while others will raise eyebrows over the swiftness in appointing his successor.

But I, for one, am delighted by the decision coming with two games still to play.

This will give the new man ample time to look at the current squad, assess strengths and weaknesses, and decide on the dozen or so players whose futures are up in the air.

It would be strange if Magilton, a dead man walking, would be the person to determine whether the likes of Alex Bruce and Ivan Campo still have a future at the club next season.

The arrival of Keane has already brought much-needed excitement to sleepy Suffolk and could inject some life into struggling season ticket sales.

As the owner—whose identity still remains a secret—will testify, football has to be viewed from a business point of view at times.

Though Keane’s appointment will bring massive expectations, this will be nothing new for the former hardman. The ex-Sunderland boss could revolutionise Portman Road and bring about a sorely-needed change of direction.

It is here that I draw my comparison with the England side.

Jim Magilton is Steve McClaren, clearly having his favourites and being quite pally with particular players. While unsurprising considering he was once a teammate of many of them, this appeared to go against the grain of team unity.

This would cast Roy Keane as Fabio Capello. A new man with new rules, taking no rubbish from anyone.

Expect fireworks—on and off the pitch—and for Town fans, hopefully a similar impact to the Italian.

Roll on next season.

Didier Drogba Set To Return As Ipswich Town Dare To Dream The Impossible Dream

Dave Gooderham — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:09:12 -0500

From Ronnie Radford’s screamer to Dave Beasant’s penalty save, Keith Houchen’s diving header to Tim Buzaglo’s hat-trick, it has never been hard to fall in love with the FA Cup.

Never mind some of the big boys apparently demeaning the competition with reserve players, the likes of Barnsley last season and Histon this year will always ensure the “magic” of the world famous cup competition keeps coming back to enthrall and amaze in equal measure.

Probably because my team comes from outside the Premier League, I have always cheered on the underdog, screaming at the television or radio even if, in some cases, I don’t know half the players I am cheering on.

On any given day, I convince myself, any team can upset the odds and spark jubilant pitch invasions or champagne spraying in the dressing room.

On Saturday, the spotlight falls on my team, Ipswich Town, to see if they recreate the performance of lower-league Southend United and leave Stamford Bridge with at least a draw.

With any potential shock, you put aside your own team’s deficiencies while trying to ignore both the strengths of the opposition and those football tales that sometimes appear to have a mind of their own.

The strengths of Chelsea are obvious and one such story that could be playing out at just the wrong time concerns enigmatic striker Didier Drogba. Apparently out of favour, unloved compared to Nicolas Anelka, he is set to be named in the side as transfer overtures come, predictably, from the blue side of Manchester.

The temperamental forward has admitted he has barely got going this season and knows the spotlight will be on him in a fourth-round tie that might otherwise go unnoticed for most of the country.

Looking at it from a different way, Drogba has a chance to start over again, impress manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and endear himself to Chelsea fans in time for a potential Premiership and Champions League run-in.

And what better place, or match, to do that than against Ipswich Town, predictably unpredictable, with bookmakers giving odds of just 14/1 for a 4-1 victory?

Striking fear into the heart of every Ipswich fan, Drogba told French newspaper La Provence, “If you look back to last May, I've been out for four to six months and it has been very difficult for me. But now I feel in top form. I know what I am capable of doing and the real satisfaction for me is that my knee is completely right.”

Presuming he is not sold or rested in preparation for a sale, the task of stopping Drogba will probably fall on a mix of captain Gareth McAuley, who has only recently started winning over Town fans, Alex Bruce, just deemed worthy enough of a new contract, and rookie Pim Balkestein, who was signed from a Heerenveen side where he never even played a single game.

It doesn’t exactly fill even the most optimistic of Town fans with hope, and even deploying the typical opposition tactic of packing the midfield and defence is unlikely to reap rewards.

In matches like this, the underdog hopes for at least a morale-boosting performance. It would be nice to think that the likes of Owen Garvan and David Norris in midfield could shine on a bigger stage.

With ten wins and nine defeats this season, who knows what Ipswich Town side will turn up, even if Chelsea does not start its supposed best eleven.

Giant-killings and David versus Goliath clashes have made the FA Cup's reputation so special, ably assisted by sloped pitches and treacherous conditions, but at Stamford Bridge, nothing but a resounding victory is expected.

My worst football moment was strangely at Layer Road, Colchester, when I had home fans laughing at me as, 250 miles away, an Andy Cole-led Manchester United put nine goals past a hapless Ipswich.

After experiencing that, nothing can be any worse. Can it?

Darren Bent Can Get Over Horror Miss and Prove the Doubters Wrong

Dave Gooderham — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:51:06 -0500

Signing Darren Bent could improve the majority of Premiership clubs.

This is not a misprint, typo, or sign that I need to be locked up in a mental institute. But before I go on, I should declare a vested interest as a lifelong fan of Ipswich Town, where Bent first rose to prominence.

That said, I sincerely believe that the much-maligned Tottenham striker would be a huge hit at the likes of Everton, Newcastle, West Ham, and countless others.

True, his confidence is currently at rock-bottom and will not be helped by reading today’s back pages after his horror miss denied Spurs a precious three points over Portsmouth. Harry Redknapp’s declaration that even his wife could have scored the simple header, not to mention his raging expletives in the immediate aftermath of the miss, could spell the end of Bent’s short-lived career at White Hart Lane.

Like with many goalkeepers, a striker needs to have confidence in abundance. Michael Owen—especially this season—has missed countless good chances but he is always in the right position waiting for the next opening. Bent, rightly or wrongly, has never felt loved at Tottenham and his fragile confidence is now there for all to see.

He spent pretty much all of the last campaign warming the bench while Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane lit up the Premier League. When the pair were both sold, in addition to the prior departure of Jermain Defoe, the former Suffolk man must have thought his time was now.

Then Juande Ramos and Gus Poyet told the world that Bent and new signing Roman Pavlyuchenko could not play together, despite both offering different attributes. It has since got worse for Bent with new boss Redknapp quickly bringing Defoe back in and the likes of Adriano and Craig Bellamy sought after, despite Tottenham’s obvious deficiencies elsewhere on the park.

Bent is, and has always been, a sideshow figure in North London. The fans have never warmed to him and apparently nor has his two managers.

I personally wonder why this is. He was always going to play second fiddle to Berbatov and Keane and no one can argue with that. But once they departed, and Bent was given an extended run in the team, the goals started to flow and at one stage he headed the Premiership’s top scorer charts with 12 goals currently to his name.

And this wasn’t by accident. For Charlton, he scored an amazing 32 goals in 68 games and was the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League in the 2005-06 season.

While for Ipswich, the love felt for the local lad at Portman Road was completely poles apart from the current emotions shown by the Tottenham faithful. Bent was one of our own so he was always on to a winner. And with confidence in his own performance matched by the terraces, he scored 49 goals in 121 games.

Those halcyon days must today seem like a lifetime ago for Bent, culminating in yesterday's horror miss in front of the SKY cameras. There comes a time for many players when they realise they have to leave or risk their career going nowhere.

That time has come for Darren Bent if he wants to have any chance of restoring his reputation and maybe even staking another claim for a place in Fabio Capello’s England squad.

I maintain that with an extended run in many Premier League teams, and with the right backing from a different manager and new fans, the boy will once again come good.

Manchester City's Pursuit of Kaka Raises Thorny Issue of a Wage Cap

Dave Gooderham — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:28:19 -0500

In the small Suffolk town where I work, 150 people lost their jobs within 24 hours.

On a national scale, the economic turmoil has left everyone on a knife-edge, wondering if within a moment's notice they could be joining the millions desperately looking for a new job or struggling to pay their mortgage.

Barely a day goes by without news of popular high street chains closing and unemployment levels rising.

But those employed within the English Premier League have so far seemed immune to this crisis. Club bosses might have spoken about the credit crunch and warned fans not to expect the same big money transfers as in past years. But the financial crisis plaguing the world does not seem to be affecting your everyday Premiership footballer.

Sure, some are said to be considering an enforced pay cut but most have earned so much in the last few money-driven seasons, it will make little difference to their lifestyles.

If rumours are to be believed, Manchester City actually have a chance of signing Brazilian ace Kaka for £100million-plus after offering a salary of somewhere in the region of £200,000 to £500,000 a week, depending on who you read and believe.

The proposed acquisition would dwarf both the previous world record transfer fee and be beyond the dreams for most Premiership managers, let alone the cash-strapped lower tiers of the English game.

But it also raises the perennial question of should salaries or maybe even transfer fees be capped, with Kaka hardly alone in securing astronomical figures.

This thorny issue has been raised time and time again but surely it is more pertinent at a time when the average fan in the street worries about his job and home more than his local football team. Supporters are being priced out of watching their side at the same time as their affinity with star names becomes weaker by the day.

One wonders what the typical Manchester City fan makes of the Kaka transfer. A tantalising glimpse of the future, or a sign that the beautiful game has lost its attraction given the financial events happening away from football?

How a wage cap would work is open to interpretation and a logistical and legal nightmare. One hope would be for voluntary action on the parts of the clubs but that is highly unlikely. It is has been described as a “complete non-starter” by some but others are keeping their minds open to the possibility.

At the back end of last year, Football Association chairman Lord Triesman warned that desperate measures might be needed in order to prevent spiralling costs in English football—and it was good to see the likes of Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher support his views.

And in December, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge urged Michel Platini, UEFA President, to impose a salary cap on clubs competing in the competition to protect European football from the current financial crisis.

So it is not just your typical hard-up fan who believes football’s greed is spiralling out of control. Bolton boss Gary Megson said he would welcome the introduction of the salary cap to try and make the Premier League more balanced. One could accuse Megson of jealously but surely a gulf developing between two or three teams and the rest would surely not help the world’s richest, but most exciting, league.

Megson is not alone in thinking that the kind of wages thrown at Kaka and others could be detrimental to the game as he calls for football’s authorities to clamp down. Never silent on football’s hot topics, Arsene Wenger criticised City for acting away from the real world while Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was even more frank describing the offer as “totally barmy”.

But one person unsurprisingly detached from the real world is City boss Mark Hughes, who described paying a footballer up to £2million a month as making good football and business sense.

I guess he would see it like that.

Manchester City In Talks Over Signing Kaka From AC Milan

Dave Gooderham — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:17:56 -0500

On September 1st last year, Manchester City rocked world football by signing Robinho for £32.5million.

The takeover of the club by the Abu Dhabi United Group allowed for wild rumours that they would poach Fernando Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo, but the actual transfer of the diminutive Brazilian on the last day of the summer transfer window was pretty sensational.

The months following saw City linked with all manner of greats on the pitch, their current side spectacularly failed to live up to the billing of the world’s richest club. A year on and January 13, 2009, could be the day when the perceived second club of Manchester stepped out of the shadows and on to the world platform.

It has been reported that they have begun talks with AC Milan in an audacious bid to sign Kaka.

Robinho was desperate to leave Real Madrid so his signing made sense even if one assumes he was tempted as much by the money as the Eastlands. But Kaka’s is a little difficult to fathom. Here is a 26-year-old in the peak of his playing career who allegedly has already turned down the advances, and big bucks, of Chelsea.

He is said to earn something in the region of £150,000 a week, but that is obviously no problem for City’s new owners. Whether talks materialise into something more concrete remains to be seen although Kaka has said in the past that he would like to experience the Premier League at some stage of his career and he could be lured by City's Brazilian contingent.

One wonders whether the club’s loyal fans had been slightly disappointed with the early transfer activity this month. They were promised glittering names, but had been given Wayne Bridge and possibly Craig Bellamy. Both will definitely strengthen a fragile side, Bridge especially is a fantastic signing. But it was not quite what they were eagerly waiting for in the month of January.

I admit that I could be forced to eat humble pie on this one. Just an hour before the news broke that City executive director Garry Cook had flown to Milan, I was telling my West Ham pal that City would have to build their side slowly and consistently win football matches before attracting the big guns.

There is no way Kaka would go there yet, I insisted. Why would a former winner of the Ballon d'Or and Fifa World Player of the Year swap a possible Champions League and Serie A title medal for mid-table obscurity, at best, or a relegation dogfight at worst?

Answers on a postcard please.

Tim Cahill Slips Under the Transfer Window Radar: to the Relief of Everton Fans

Dave Gooderham — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:56:50 -0500

Jermain Defoe, Stewart Downing, and Andrei Arshavin have all helped to ensure that this January transfer window is full of signings, transfer requests and ludicrous agents' fees.

Loathed by the likes of Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce but loved with a mixture of hope and expectation among every Manchester City fan, the New Year is now a time where rumour and speculation goes into overdrive.

The next four weeks will not disappoint with Arsenal craving a defensive midfielder, Chelsea said to be on the look-out for a cheaper forward and City desperately searching for, well just about anybody who can improve a fragile starting eleven.

One name that continually escapes under the transfer window radar is Everton attacking midfielder Tim Cahill.

This mystifying omission, one alluded to by pundits on Sky Sports on Saturday, can perhaps be related to one of several things.

The Australian midfielder is clearly loyal to Everton, as he was to his former club Millwall who he only left because of the trappings of the Premier League. He recently suggested he might leave Everton at the end of 2011-12 season, but even then it was only to return to his homeland and end his career playing in the A-league.

It is also testimony to the success of his current employers who continue to punch above their weight, knocking on the door of more illustrious names in a way that the likes of Newcastle and Tottenham can only look on with envy.

Mikel Arteta is rightly attracting all the media speculation with the Spaniard one of the bargain buys of the last few seasons. But many would argue that Cahill’s scoring prowess from midfield, bettered only by Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, perhaps deserves an even bigger stage than Goodison Park.

It is not beyond belief that he could fulfil a vital role in Manchester United’s squad rotation, with comparisons to how Paul Scholes used to play, while I am baffled why certain top European sides seem more interested in Jermaine Pennant than Cahill.

In the last three seasons, he has averaged a goal in every three games in a side not known for possessing a prolific strike rate. This has allowed the astute David Moyes to continue with a solid 4-5-1 formation which ensures Everton are always difficult to beat.

But Cahill has this season managed to increase his excellent reputation by playing the lone striker role to partly solve the club’s attacking crisis. Injuries to

Ayegbeni Yakubu, Andy Johnson and, naturally, Louis Saha left Moyes with little choice but to turn to Cahill.

The stereotype of a lone frontman is someone who can hold the ball up and bring others into play—you could say someone like Peter Crouch at Portsmouth. Nicknamed “Tiny Tim” by Evertonians, Cahill is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Crouch but has still helped the Merseysiders sit pretty in sixth place.

Recent winning goals against Manchester City and Middlesbrough proves how important Cahill is to Everton and how grateful Moyes must be that his pocket midfielder continues to show such loyalty during the nerve-wracking month of January.

Could Emile Heskey Help Decide The Destiny Of The Premier League?

Dave Gooderham — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:06:02 -0500

Emile Heskey was once the butt of all England football fans’ jokes.

The national side usually have someone fans can mock and deem not fit to wear the Three Lions, from the obvious in Carlton Palmer to the unfortunately maligned Frank Lampard.

For years, baffled fans questioned what Heskey would bring to club or country. It was certainly not goals, as five in 50 games for England testifies. His one salvation was a leading part in the 5-1 demolition of Germany on home soil but even then he was eclipsed by Michael Owen.

Then, slowly but surely, the attraction of Heskey became clear. He won’t be among the top scorers every season, I am sure even he'd admit that after a career that has seen less than one goal in every four games.

But his quiet, often off-the-ball performances allow other more naturally gifted players to shine. It is said that England players believe Heskey is an integral part of the squad and recently he has become a perfect foil to Wayne Rooney. I am sure his teammates at Wigan would say the same.

Now the once-mocked is on the verge of playing an equally important role in the destiny of the title race this season.

Depending on who you read and believe, Heskey could help Aston Villa in their attempt to finally break into that coveted top four spot or he could be pushing for something even higher.

National and regional newspapers today stated that Liverpool were keen on re-signing the big frontman. The fact that he barely sparkled at Anfield the first time around—59 goals in 219 games—proves Heskey’s amazing turnaround if nothing else.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce has repeatedly said Heskey, and any number of his teammates, would not be sold in the transfer window, but reports suggest he has signed Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega for £4.5million as a possible replacement.

And with Heskey’s contract up in the summer, the Latics might be understandably keen to cash in on one of their prized assets with £4million muted as a possible fee.

But which club would most benefit from his signature? I firmly believe that Aston Villa could finally achieve their own holy grail and nab the final Champions League position from Arsenal this season.

Under Martin O’Neill, the club has signed wisely, creating much more strength-in-depth and are now competing and beating the top four.

Quite rightly, the likes of Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor are attracting the headlines but the 4-5-1 formation deployed offers little scope for change. Without the increasingly injured John Carew, their only other striking options are the cumbersome Marlon Harewood and the potential of Nathan Delfouneso.

Enter Emile Heskey. He would be the perfect foil for the pacy youngsters and give the side an attacking dimension they currently do not possess.

Sadly for Villa fans, the same could be said for Liverpool. Whether Robbie Keane comes good or not, and he surely will in time, the squad is currently made up of two real strikers—the Irishman Keane and Fernando Torres.

Presuming the majestic Spaniard now remains fit, it is an ominous and awesome front two, ably supported by Steven Gerrard. But most Premiership champions need a third or indeed fourth true striker—you only have to look at Old Trafford to see that. Put Heskey into the Liverpool mix and you have an unbelievable mix of guile, power, pace and finishing ability.

Manager Rafael Benitez yesterday played down talk about transfer activity this month, but a swap deal involving out-of-favour winger Jermaine Pennant, has been mentioned and would represent excellent business for the current league leaders.

In a rollercoaster career, it seems incredible that Emile Heskey could finally help end Liverpool’s painful quest for the title. But with rumours that the player himself has his heart set on a return to Merseyside—and talks that Villa might switch their attention to Sunderlandstriker Kenwyne Jones—one wonders whether Heskey could cap a remarkable turnaround with a Premiership winners’ medal.

In Search Of The Perfect Goal: A Tribute To Pele

Dave Gooderham — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:46:02 -0500

The last book I purchased was Pele - My Life In Pictures and for me it brought my love of football full circle.

Never mind that the £30 book, full to the rafters with rare photographs and memorabilia, was a credit crunch-busting £7.50. Who said the pound was flagging?

It was Edson Arantes do Nascimento who first really attracted me to what he once described as “the beautiful game”.

As an impressionable youngster, it wasn’t the personal accolades nor the fact that he won three World Cup winning medals—even if one of those was just as a bit part player in Chile. For me, it was his mystical love of scoring that one perfect goal by a player who was as close to perfection as the game has seen.

Like a scene from The Wonder Years, I can close my eyes and have childhood flashbacks to his shot from the halfway line or the way he mesmerised an opposition goalkeeper by allowing the ball to go one way while he darted another.

Perhaps the fact that, on both occasions, the ball sailed agonisingly wide strangely made the moment even more special.

Lovers of Diego Maradona will argue that he was as good as Pele and that he managed to score that illusive special goal.

But at the time of Pele‘s peak, there was barely anyone who had the audacity and skill to shoot from the halfway line, let alone dream of actually beating a baffled keeper. The likes of David Beckham and Xabi Alonso might never have dared to shoot from such distance had they not seen Pele’s performances in the 1970 World Cup.

The entire Brazilian side, led by their talisman, set a benchmark that others would dream of following in years to come. Some players have got close - Maradona and George Best spring to mind—but as a complete package, and a darn nice person to boot, none have matched Pele's achievements.

Pele obviously came to the world’s attention 12 years previous in 1958 but the grainy images from Sweden do little to justify his youthful talents. What you couldn’t always see on archive footage was clearly witnessed by opponents who brutally ensured Brazil’s No. 10 would make little impact in the 1962 tournament and then again in England in 1966—though that obviously turned out quite well for the home nation.

It was left to the blistering heat in Mexico for Pele to shine as bright as the sun alongside such glittering team mates as Jairzinho, Tostao and Rivelino.

The culmination of these talents came in the final when Brazil demolished Italy 4-1—a perfect performance fittingly capped by Carlos Alberto’s final goal, coming from a spellbinding team move and Pele’s final cushioned pass.

This devotion to Pele saw me ignore his occasional temperamental flash of petulance and buy every book and video about the great man—even the one, I’m embarrassed to admit, where he attempted to make you become a better player against a cheesy musical backdrop.

All these memories and many more came flooding back as I opened the sturdy cardboard casing of his latest literature, revelling in the dozens of rare photographs.

Pele had his flaws but in football, where many current stars are more likely to exit prison or enter rehab, there is a lot to be said for such heroic status.