Brazil 2014: A challenge to relish or fear?

Now over three weeks since the group stage draw took place for the World Cup in Brazil next year, there has been plenty of time to reflect and think about England’s chances of progression at next summer’s eagerly anticipated tournament.



Let's hope it is all smiles in Brazil.

Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica await the Three Lions in Group D and football supporters have mixed opinions over the national side’s chances of reaching the knockout stages. Optimism fills some, who view the group as a fitting challenge to see if England really deserve to go far in the World Cup, whereas others are much more negative. The view that England are already out, though it seems ludicrous, is not a sparse opinion by all means. Even Greg Dyke, the chairman of the Football Association, seems to sense that England will find it extremely difficult to get through after he made a cut-throat gesture following the Group D draw. It is hardly encouraging to see the most senior figure of English football’s national governing body act in such a way.

However, it seems that some supporters are picking out individual opponents to be afraid of rather than the whole teams themselves. Luis Suarez has been a more popular name than Uruguay, which is understandable based on his current form for Liverpool. The controversial striker has arguably been the club’s most consistent performer in the last few years, only seldom being criticised for his footballing performances, and is undeniably enjoying his best ever season so far. If it was not for such negative baggage from the past, Suarez would surely be one of the top three nominees for the Ballon d’Or award, which will be given to Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or Franck Ribéry in January, 2014.

Other notable performers for Uruguay include Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani, suggesting that England will have to deal with a powerful strike force. Those three players don’t make the entire team, though, and England are more than capable of defeating Uruguay. Italy look to be the most dangerous opponents but England competed with them for 120 minutes at Euro 2012 only to lose on penalties. Revenge would be sweet but England’s ambition will be winning for three points in the group, not for personal vengeance. That is merely a bonus.

Costa Rica should, realistically, be three points guaranteed but they are not in Brazil to make up the numbers. They will be as hungry and motivated as any of the other teams in that group so England must not become complacent. After the 2-0 friendly defeat at home to Chile in November, it is difficult to imagine that being a problem.

Yes, it is a tough group and, yes, it will be a challenge for England to get through. But is this not what England supporters want? Huge fixtures against fully competent teams on the international stage, providing stern challenges and, hopefully, thrilling entertainment. I for one eagerly anticipate our opening game against Italy. To win the World Cup you have to beat the best teams in the world, whether you face them in the group stages or later on in the competition. It is best to get on with the competition and play the strong teams from the very beginning. Playing games of this magnitude can only help the England side. They will surely be more determined to win because of the higher incentive value of success. There is a much stronger sense of achievement when the probability of success is reduced, which in this case, albeit to a small degree, is true.

If a top Premier League football club, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea, is playing against what is considered to be a much lower team, there isn’t as much interest or anticipation in the match compared to when they are playing against each other. Why should it be any different for England?

If England do go through, they, along with the supporters, will be filled with confidence and belief that they can go even further in the competition having overcome talented opposition. If they’re knocked out, it will confirm most people’s views that England are not yet capable of winning the World Cup.

Of course, any fan wants their side to go as far as possible because it means there are more games to look forward to. It is not just a match; it is an occasion, regardless of how stressful it can be watching England. Whether that is having friends round for a few drinks, or going up the local public house to get a sense of the atmosphere, it is an event to be excited about. Having said that, if we are going to endure misery, we may as well be put out of it early on. Otherwise, we can enjoy the tournament and relish the challenge that awaits our nation’s most gifted players.

England can't win

I’m not England’s most vehement supporter but recent events in the media have further encouraged a sense of injustice for the England national side. It seems negative stories about England are compulsory, regardless of how successful they are.

Having ensured qualification for the World Cup in Brazil next year, the British Press had every right to portray the England team with plenty of optimism.

All smiles for Hodgson

Failure to qualify would have been a wonderful outcome for the media, though. Stories of England’s demise and uncertainty over Hodgson’s position as manager would have undoubtedly dominated the back pages of newspapers and made for interesting reading.

Instead, England were to be briefly glorified after coming through two difficult challenges against Montenegro and Poland to guarantee their presence at the most illustrious competition in the sport at the home of arguably the greatest nation to have embraced football.

The England team are highly unlikely to win the World Cup. Quite simply, they don’t have sufficient quality to compete consistently at the top level. Whilst there are a large number of particularly talented individuals, who have the potential to be exceptional players, it’s currently unrealistic to make a comparison with the likes of Spain, Germany and Brazil.

This doesn’t mean we can’t support our nation, however. In fact, this provokes an incentive to increase England’s backing. They’ll need to be able to rely on committed supporters who can provide extra inspiration.

Unfortunately, the British media sometimes fails to gather this concept. After emphasising the significance of making it to Brazil ahead of those final two qualifiers, England would have felt the media owed them some praise after intensifying the pressure placed on them to deliver.

At the Olympics last year, the media made a substantial contribution to the feel-good factor within the UK through the positive representation of British athletes, who were performing so magnificently in London and achieving far beyond expectations.

Admittedly, British athletes work much harder than footballers for much less money so their success deserves to be emphasised. It will be challenging to ever replicate the mood of Britain during those Olympics with so much enthusiasm and excitement widespread throughout the country.

One factor that can be guaranteed is that the enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. People become infected sub-consciously.

If the media generated similar levels of hype when it comes to the England football team, there could be a considerable impact on the positivity and potential of the squad and would encourage an influential contingency of football supporters.

Yes, they’re paid unjustified amounts of money and should feel honoured to don the England shirt. Yes, pressure is part of the sport, increasingly so at international level, but there’s nothing to say they don’t deserve praise when they are victorious. Whilst the newspapers did give credit to the England side afterwards, the stories that followed the Poland match quickly extinguished the success.

This is where I get to the point I’m referring to when I say ‘England can’t win’. You may see this title as a reflection of their chances at the World Cup. That, although it may be true, is not the case. What I mean is that, even when England are successful, the media has a tendency to find a way of overshadowing times of celebration.

Townsend- centre of attention

This was demonstrated in the aftermath of the Poland match, which England had won 2-0 to finish top of their group. Andros Townsend, who has been the focus of attention in the footballing world after producing remarkable performances in his first two England games, has now become the centre of an apparent ‘racist’ incident during the half-time team talk of the Poland game. Roy Hodgson, the man who deserves credit for bravely selecting the young Tottenham Hotspur winger, used the expression ‘feed the monkey’  from the punch line of an old joke when instructing his players to look for Townsend to create more opportunities.


Toure was the subject of racist abuse in Russia

The term ‘monkey’ has been used to direct racial abuse at black players in football. There have been several cases of monkey chants inside stadiums and such despicable behaviour was evident in the recent Champions League Group D game between CSKA Moscow and Manchester City, where Yaya Toure was the subject of monkey chants from CSKA supporters. One of the most unfortunate ironies about this is that CSKA have black players themselves. The Russian club have since denied the allegations made by Toure, insisting that no racist behaviour took place, despite clear video evidence showing the monkey chants from supporters.  UEFA have now officially punished CSKA for the incident by proposing to close one section of the stadium for their Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in late November. Further punishment will be issued if the behaviour is repeated, with full stadium closure being a serious threat from Europe's football governing body, along with additional fines. There’s a theory that this incident has been exaggerated because we are bitter about the fact that Russia won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of England. Of course we are bitter. Look at the level of racism and the standard of stadia in Russia compared to England. Why wouldn’t we be bitter?

Going back to the Townsend situation, any civilised football supporter will know Hodgson didn’t say the joke with any intention to cause offence racially. Surely the fact that Townsend has said Hodgson was paying him a compliment removes any suspicion of the England manager being a racist. A pressure group known as Race for Sport didn’t understand this, and decided that the apologies from Hodgson and the FA were unsatisfactory. Sending a complaint to the FA, they advised that all football managers should receive cultural intelligence on the matter. Up until this complaint, I didn’t think the matter could be taken further out of context. Up until this complaint, I had never heard of ‘Race for Sport’. Therefore, it seems that this was a desperate attempt to raise the awareness of an organisation that is in need of recognition and status.

Kick Racism out of Football, the established campaign committed to ending discrimination in British football, haven’t responded to the issue, reiterating the idea that Hodgson wasn’t being racist.

It will be interesting to see how the next 8 months go for England on and off the field.

Friendlies against Chile and Germany await them in November, marking the beginning of preparation for the 2014 World Cup.

Shrewsbury Town 2-2 Carlisle United

Three goals in 10 minutes provided an unexpectedly entertaining end to what had been a frustrating afternoon for Shrewsbury Town, who continued their winless run with a 2-2 draw against Carlisle United, and they were close to taking no points at all.

Town goal scorer Bradshaw

Tom Bradshaw gave Shrewsbury supporters something to cheer about in the first half with a goal in the 40^th minute. It seemed to come from nothing. Carlisle cleared the ball from a Town corner only for it to fall to Paul Parry, who managed to hook it back in to the opposite direction, finding Bradshaw clear and, crucially, onside. The Welshman executed the finish neatly to grab his second goal in as many games.

Carlisle had started brightly, whereas Town seemed to be  lacklustre and slightly off the pace at the beginning of the game. Amoo, in particular, looked a threat for the visitors. However, despite demonstrating good control, footwork and pace, his deliveries were frequently blocked by Joe Jacobson and the winger struggled to create opportunities for Carlisle’s attackers. On one rare occasion, Amoo found Matty Robson in the box, but he could only glance his header wide of the post.

Town enjoyed long periods of possession but, for the majority of the time, it was meaningless and the home side seemed to lack ambition to go forward and cause problems for their opponents. Jon Taylor looked promising on his return from suspension, and occasionally made darting runs on the left hand-side, leaving Carlisle’s comparatively slow defenders far behind. Adam Reach enjoyed similar success when running down the left and, like Taylor, managed to get in to good positions, allowing him to cross the ball in dangerously. It was pleasing to the eye, and there were some genuinely impressive movements of play, but Salop lacked a cutting edge, failing to create any clear cut chances.

Carlisle had a number of chances themselves. They struggled to utilise the height of striker Mark Beck to their full potential. Although Beck presented physical prowess and physique, the Carlisle attacker did not make as significant an impact as expected.

Bradshaw’s solitary goal separated the two sides going in to half-time. Though leading the game, Town had not been convincing and appeared to be reluctant to go for a more direct approach.

‘Frustrated’ best describes Shrewsbury supporters in the second half. Winning 1-0, the expectation was that Shrewsbury would attempt to kill the game off, particularly with them being at home. With all due respect to the visiting team, they were up against a Carlisle side that, for most of the first half, had looked average. There were no doubts that this was a winnable game.  Carlisle hadn’t threatened Shrewsbury as much as they would have hoped to.

Despite this, Shrewsbury came out and displayed a performance that implied they were playing for statistics instead of three points. Credit to them, they managed to play some close and tidy football at times, which was encouraging. Frequently, the defence and midfield used the wingers as outlets, finding Taylor and Reach in ideal positions to deliver the ball in to the box. Did they deliver though? No. Almost every time they were in these positions, the wingers decided to play it back to the defenders. The defenders would then often opt for goalkeeper Weale, taking the ball further back.

Having worked hard to get in to these productive areas, where they could cause Carlisle serious problems, they let the visitors off the hook. Not only did this largely negative style of play lead to a severe breakdown in momentum when they managed to gather some, it invited Carlisle to attack and pressure them.
Carlisle had already had a couple of chances in the second half. There wasn’t necessarily a need for an invitation. Amoo had come close 10 minutes in when his header was cleared by Aaron Wildig on the line. Just five minutes earlier, Dave Symington looked to have created a certain goal, but Robson volleyed Symington’s cross straight over the bar from close range.

Jon Taylor nearly doubled Town’s lead when his 25 yard drive was superbly saved by Gillespie on 71 minutes and Adam Reach should have given the Carlisle goalkeeper more to do when he cut in on to his left foot, 16 minutes from time, to release what proved to be a tame effort.

Shrewsbury paid the consequences of trying to close the game out at 1-0 when Amoo found his way in the box.  He managed to score on his second attempt when a neat cut back led him to smash it in to the roof of the net.

Carlisle weren’t finished there. In the space of five minutes, the game had completely turned around as Sean O’Hanlon rose from a corner to head Carlisle in to the lead in the 90^th minute.

Suddenly, Shrewsbury had gone from looking likely victors for the first time in over a month, to fighting for a draw.

Salop did fight back to rescue a point, bringing the temporarily delirious Carlisle supporters back to normality. A breakdown in Carlisle’s defence and concentration, probably due to the euphoria of taking the lead so dramatically, allowed Paul Parry through on goal to calmly slot home an equaliser.

Graham Turner had mixed feelings about Shrewsbury’s result after the match, saying "I don't think it was a bad performance by any means but overall it's two points lost and certainly not one that deserved a defeat.

"We have a reputation of conceding late goals and we need to stop that. But, when you go 2-1 down, you have to think it's a point gained.”

Turner’s side will look to bounce back from their recent disappointment with another crucial home match on Saturday, this time against 16^th placed Gillingham. The Gills are one place behind Shrewsbury and are currently on the same amount of points so this has the makings of a highly competitive League One fixture with large significance for both sides.

Bradford City 2-1 Shrewsbury Town

Newly promoted Bradford City came from a goal behind to clinch a 2-1 victory against Graham Turner’s Shrewsbury Town thanks to a last minute winner from James Hanson.  Victory for the Bantams sees them climb up to 5^th place in the League One table whilst Shrewsbury drop to 15^th after a second successive defeat.

Defeat was hard to imagine for Town after such a positive start to the game, with an early goal inside the opening two minutes. Tom Bradshaw gave the visitors the lead, meeting a Ryan Woods cross to head Town in front. However, as is said on so many occasions, it can be dangerous to score so early on, which is due to the fact that there is such a long time for the team to defend that lead.

Despite this, Shrewsbury managed to sustain their 1-0 advantage for the rest of the first half.

Although Salop started the second half resiliently, Bradford equalised with half an hour left of the match. Mark Yeates delivered an impressive cross and winger Kyel Reid equalised, intensifying the atmosphere at the Valley Parade Stadium, which has enjoyed a significant increase in match day attendance since the home side’s promotion to League One.

For the second game in a row, Shrewsbury were reduced to 10 men. After Jon Taylor’s dismissal against Wolverhampton Wanderers a week earlier, Dave Winfield received his marching orders with just three minutes of normal time remaining. Having already received a yellow card earlier in the game, which was for an incident in the 62^nd minute , Winfield was given a second yellow card for handball. He had actually taken Bradford striker Nahki Wells out of the game in the first half with a late challenge, forcing the player to be substituted. Winfield managed to escape with no punishment on that occasion.

With an extra man, the hosts gathered momentum and James Hanson picked up a loose ball on his way to executing a powerful strike with his right foot, that went past Shrewsbury goalkeeper Chris Weale, to grab victory in the 90^th minute.

Town manager Graham Turner said "It was a harsh red card for David Winfield. To pick out the incident and send him off is beyond my comprehension.

"But we should have been capable of holding on to 1-1. We are lacking the knowhow and mental toughness required to win these games - and find that second goal. We need to look at ourselves and ask the question of why we are losing games like this.”

Shrewsbury have two consecutive home games to look forward to as they look to bounce back from two disappointing league defeats and return to winning ways. Carlisle United travel to the Greenhous Meadow this Saturday and Town host Gillingham a week later.

Bradford City vs. Shrewsbury Town Preview

Nahki Wells

Graham Turner’s side travel to the Valley Parade Stadium to face newly promoted Bradford City in League One this afternoon. Shrewsbury will be looking to recover from their unfortunate 1-0 loss to Wolves last weekend by claiming a first win since defeating Swindon 2-0 in August.

Last year’s Capital One Cup finalists, Bradford, have made an impressive start to their campaign in League One. Currently, they occupy the final play-off place in the table whilst Shrewsbury are placed in 14^th position,  7 points behind the home side.

The Bantams are unbeaten in their last five league matches, enjoying three victories and two draws. Adding to these rather concerning statistics for Shrewsbury is the fact that Bradford are unbeaten at home so far and have kept three clean sheets in the process of maintaining this successful home record.

Two teams, Brentford and Carlisle, have been hit for 4 at the Valley Parade so the visitors will have to demonstrate strong resilience at the back to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

On a more positive note for Town, they have won on two of their last three visits to Bradford meaning that this fixture is an ideal opportunity to earn their first away victory of the season.

Having performed to a high standard against Wolves, Salop were unlucky to endure such a late goal as Bakary Sako converted an 84^th minute penalty in last week’s match. However, aesthetically pleasing performances will not satisfy Shrewsbury supporters unless they’re gaining results and, therefore, victories need to come quickly.

Shrewsbury will be without suspended Jon Taylor. His alleged handball on the line, which led to Wolves’ late penalty at the Greenhous Meadow, led to a red card.

Bradford have no injuries or suspensions to worry about ahead of the visit of Shrewsbury, and Nahki Wells will be looking to increase his goal tally after scoring six goals in four home matches.

Altogether, this should be a competitive fixture with Bradford looking to close the gap on the automatic promotion places and Shrewsbury in search of three points that could potentially take them back in to the top half of the table. Town have drawn all but one of their away league games this season and the only exception was the 3-0 defeat to Leyton Orient, who are the only side to still have a 100% record in England.

Prediction: Bradford City 1-1 Shrewsbury Town.

Crawley held by Shrewsbury

Crawley Town earned a point against Shrewsbury thanks to a 64^th minute equaliser from Andy Drury but the home side could have won the game had Chris Weale not saved Billy Clarke’s penalty early in the game.

Andy Drury

Shrewsbury defender Darren Jones was the villain after bringing Nicky Adams down in the box. Billy Clarke stepped up but Salop goalkeeper Chris Weale denied him the chance to give Crawley the lead leaping superbly to his left.

However, it was Shrewsbury who had the first chance to score when, inside the first 10 minutes, Jon Taylor struck powerfully from 25 yards forcing goalkeeper Paul Jones to parry in to the path of Tom Bradshaw, who couldn’t quite position himself quickly enough to make a clean connection, and his short range effort went wide of the post.

Crawley’s first chance of the afternoon came just after the 15 minute mark when Connor Goldson managed to block Billy Clarke’s effort on target after some impressive play from Adams on the left.

The home side should have really been in front as Proctor’s clever lay-off sent Adams free on the right hand side but his shot, despite being a powerful one, went wide of the post by a yard.

Luke Summerfield almost grabbed his first goal of the season with a well executed 25 yard drive that went just wide.

It looked as though Clarke, and Crawley, would rue that missed penalty when Aaron Wildig put the visitors 1-0 up just two minutes in to the second half. Ryan Woods, who has hugely impressed in recent weeks, supplied the cross for Wildig to volley from 15 yards out.

Crawley did pull level though and, after applying so much pressure on their opponents, this was a thoroughly deserved goal. Andy Drury equalised after Jamie Proctor flicked on a testing delivery from Adams.

The game suddenly became increasingly competitive in the aftermath of Crawley’s equaliser.

Shrewsbury’s best opportunity to regain the lead came from on loan Middlesbrough striker Curtis Main. Paul Parry delivered a cross from the right hand side and Main failed to aim his header on target.

Then, with eight minutes to go, Graham Turner’s side had their own appeal for a penalty after Tom Bradshaw went down in the area only for match official Ward to ignore the protests.

It’s fair to say that Crawley finished the game in a stronger position but Shrewsbury’s resilience proved to be successful as they extended their impressive unbeaten run to four games.

After the match, Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner said "I think I have mixed feelings. It was a hard game - we had to defend well in the second half. We don't have that winning mentality at the moment.
 

"We dropped deeper and created our own problems in the second half. Even though we created chances late on - but we couldn't put one away.”

Crawley boss Richie Barker said “We created better chances in the second half, but our final ball in the final third let us down.

"We've got players who've got quality in the final third, and unfortunately it just vacated them today.”

The draw with Crawley puts Shrewsbury in 13^th place and they take on Bristol City at Ashton Gate tonight before hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday in what is an eagerly anticipated fixture for supporters and players.

Town Maintain Unbeaten Home Record

Shrewsbury Town maintained their unbeaten start at home drawing 1-1 with bottom club Coventry City in what proved to be a tight contest at the Greenhous Meadow.

Coventry became the first team to score a goal against Town at the Meadow in the league this season and that goal came early on in the game with a 4^th minute strike from Callum Wilson. Wilson managed to take the ball round goalkeeper Chris Weale  and slot in comfortably to give the visitors the lead. This goal led to a series of attacks from the Sky Blues as they gathered plenty of momentum, putting Shrewsbury under intense pressure. Chris Weale performed well, making significant saves from Leon Clarke and Franck Moussa. Clarke had been a doubt to play prior to the match due to a calf injury but was deemed fit enough to feature.

Goal scorer Tom Bradshaw

Coventry went in to the break 1-0 up, managing to keep their lead but failing to increase the deficit for Shrewsbury despite creating several opportunities.

Graham Turner’s half-time team talk worked effectively as, just three minutes in to the second half, Town were level. Tom Bradshaw scored the equaliser, finishing neatly from an excellent cross provided by debutant Curtis Main, who has just joined on loan from Middlesbrough. Bradshaw has now scored in three consecutive matches.

In the end both teams had to settle for a point and the result means Shrewsbury drop to 14^th in the League One table whilst Coventry remain bottom of the league on -2 points.

Graham Turner said “I think Coventry are a good side - but we gave them the start we didn't want to. We had a bright opening few minutes but were poor in the first half. In the second half, it is pleasing to have put in such a good performance and to get the draw.

"We came alive in the second half - and had the best chance of the match to win it. Overall we have done OK - I am pleased.”

Coventry manager Stephen Pressley said “I thought we were exceptional in the first half, we scored early and had numerous chances to add to that.

"I felt we deserved to win the game, but coming here and getting a draw in the grand scheme of things isn't a bad result.”

Town’s next fixture in League One is an away trip to Crawley Town, who are just one point above them in the table and will provide a tough challenge for Turner’s men. Shrewsbury will be looking to claim their second win of the season, and their first away from home.

Why the 2013-14 Premier League season will be better than ever.

Just one week remains until the Premier League starts again and it’s fair to say that football fans have never been more impatient ahead of the forthcoming campaign. With so many reasons to be excited, it’s understandable.

David Moyes

Firstly, there have been managerial changes at five clubs. For the first time in 26 years, Sir Alex Ferguson will not be taking his usual seat in the Manchester United dug-out as he takes out his new role as a director after retiring. David Moyes will replace the most successful manager in the history of football in what will be the toughest challenge the Scot has ever faced in his managerial career. As a successor to the great Sir Alex, there is a huge amount of expectation upon Moyes and he has to deliver. In 11 years at Everton, with restricted financial backing, Moyes has impressed and is highly regarded for how much he got out of his teams.  Again, it appears that United are keen on stability and the appointment of Moyes symbolises this approach. Whether Manchester United will have the patience that they did with Sir Alex Ferguson or not is an interesting matter and a lot of football fans are curious to see the club’s reaction if Moyes doesn’t deliver instant success.

The Special One

Jose Mourinho, also known as ‘The Special One’, returns for a second spell in charge of Chelsea. Mourinho won the Premier League twice in two seasons in his first stint as manager before leaving for Inter Milan. Typical of Mourinho, he didn’t stay at Inter very long and signed for Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2010. Despite winning La Liga with a record points total and the Copa Del Rey, he failed to deliver the ultimate prize for Madrid- the Champions League. During last season, there was a lot of speculation about Mourinho’s future and on several occasions, he admitted a return to England was his desire.

Manuel Pellegrini

Manchester City will begin a new era with Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini at the helm. Roberto Mancini was sacked at the end of last season after the team’s FA Cup final defeat to Wigan Athletic, who were later relegated. Mancini guided City to their first ever Premier League title and Champions League qualification as well as the FA Cup in 2011. Last season City massively under performed. Failing to get through the group stages of the Champions League for the second consecutive season, City were just not the force that had won them the title back in May 2012.

With David Moyes taking charge at Old Trafford, a vacancy became available at Everton. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was appointed as Moyes' successor at Goodison Park and the Spaniard has consistently been praised during his time at Wigan, regardless of their relegation to the Championship last season and their many battles with the drop in previous years. Martinez has a lot to prove this season with a much stronger squad at his disposal.

Stoke City will also have a fresh start after Tony Pulis was sacked as their manager. The Welshman took Stoke to the Barclays Premier League in 2008 and enjoyed a successful time, establishing the 
Potters as a top flight team. Stoke comfortably survived their first four seasons and even went on a spectacular FA Cup run in 2011 reaching the final at Wembley only to lose 1-0 to Manchester City. As a reward for their achievements in the cup, Stoke were eligible for a place in the Europa League the following season. After a poor second half to last year’s campaign, the club decided to part company with Pulis. Mark Hughes was appointed as his replacement, and many are looking forward to see if the style of Stoke’s play will change as this is a notable aspect that many teams have heavily criticised in the past.

In this year’s Premier League, there will be more coverage than ever. BT Sport will provide serious competition for Sky Sports in terms of footballing content and broadcasting live matches with former F1 presenter Jake Humphrey as frontman. BT Sport will show Liverpool vs. Stoke on the first day of the season and Sky Sports will broadcast David Moyes’ first game in charge of Man United as the champions face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. This will be a 5pm kick off on the Saturday. BBC’s Match of the Day will show highlights of all the Premier League games as usual and will also be available on iPlayer so there are no excuses to miss the action.

Luis Suarez

And of course, there’s the excitement of the transfer window. Will Gareth Bale still be at Tottenham come the end of August and will Liverpool’s ‘Mr Controversial’, Luis Suarez, have to face his beloved English media for another season? We may be lucky enough to have Cristiano Ronaldo back in England after the Real Madrid attacker denied reports that he has signed a new deal with the club. Man United striker Wayne Rooney has been the centre of speculation too with Chelsea expressing genuine interest in the England striker whilst Barcelona have apparently made an offer for Brazilian international David Luiz.

Furthermore, the Premier League will be utilising a Hawk-Eye technology system where seven cameras will be positioned in each goal and 14 around the stadium to determine whether the ball has crossed the line or not. The referee’s watch will vibrate if the ball does go over the line. This should hopefully prevent the controversies seen in recent seasons but may take away some of the drama created from human error.

Ian Holloway

In addition to this, the Premier League will welcome three new clubs from the Championship with Cardiff City joining the top flight as champions after many years of battling for promotion. Hull City return to the Premier League after three seasons away and manager Steve Bruce will be delighted to be back in the big time. Joining those two teams are Play-Off winners Crystal Palace. Undoubtedly, Ian Holloway, who has to be one of the most charismatic managers in the game, will provide excellent entertainment for all supporters.

Altogether, this should be an incredible Premier League season. After Manchester City’s dramatic title win in 2012, last season was comparatively flat but this year’s campaign has the makings for one of the best seasons ever. Chelsea are the bookmaker’s favourites to win the league followed by Manchester City and Manchester United.

Make sure you’re ready for an exhilarating season of football. Don’t miss a minute of it!

Rosberg victorious in emphatic British GP

Nico Rosberg took full advantage of Sebastian Vettel’s technical failure and held off the resurgent Mark Webber to claim his second victory of the 2013 season in what proved to be an entertaining and controversial British Grand Prix.



The first tyre explosion comes from Lewis Hamilton's car.

It was Rosberg’s team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, who was on pole position after displaying blistering pace in qualifying to finish four tenths ahead of Rosberg in second place. Sebastian Vettel could only manage third in his Red Bull ahead of Australian Mark Webber, who announced that this would be his final season in Formula One last Thursday. Paul Di Resta performed superbly at his home Grand Prix qualifying in 5^th position only to be demoted to the back of the grid due to his car being under the minimum weight requirement. This promoted Jenson Button in to the top 10 after another disappointing session left him in 11^th place. Fernando Alonso struggled for Ferrari in 10^th position but Di Resta’s penalty moved the Spaniard up to 9^th behind Kimi Raikonnen in 8^th.

Hamilton made an excellent start to the race building up a sufficient 2 second gap between himself and Sebastian Vettel, who had passed Rosberg at the start of the race. Webber didn’t make a great start and suffered damage to his car after a collision with the Lotus of Romain Grosjean but this didn’t escalate in to any serious problems. Suddenly, on lap 8, Hamilton’s hopes of winning his home Grand Prix for the second time were dashed when his left rear tyre exploded unexpectedly, forcing him in to the pits, leaving the Brit in last place. The Silverstone atmosphere was crushed as Sebastian Vettel eased in to the lead- a sight many British fans did not want to see. Rosberg could only maintain a reasonable gap as he tried to sustain pressure on the three time world champion. 

Hamilton, however, was only the first of four drivers to fall victim to tyre issues with Felipe Massa, John Eric-Vergne and Sergio Perez all experiencing exploding tyres and, interestingly, it was always the left rear tyre. Due to a high quantity of debris on the track in the aftermath of the separate incidents involving Hamilton and Vergne, the safety car was deployed on lap 14 providing an opportunity for many drivers to pit. At the end of lap 21, the safety car came in. Vettel made a quick getaway as it left the track creating an adequate gap from Rosberg. Unfortunately for the British fans, it seemed as if this was going to be a routine victory for Vettel. Lewis Hamilton displayed a fighting spirit though. The former McLaren driver was making progress through the grid, enjoying some intense battles with Paul Di Resta and Esteban Gutierrez.

Having come to terms with the fact that Sebastian Vettel was likely to enjoy a comfortable win, the British fans were subdued. They continued to passionately cheer on Hamilton, Button, Di Resta and Chilton but they  resigned to accepting it wasn’t going to be their day. Submissive, the supporters needed something to lift their increasingly fading spirits.

Vettel leaves his car.

With 10 laps to go, that ‘something’ arrived. As Sebastian Vettel approached club corner, his car began to slow down and as he came through on to the final straight, the German pulled up near the pit wall and stopped. For the first time this season, Vettel was forced to retire because of a gearbox failure. Loud cheers spread throughout the stands at the circuit, with fans enjoying what seemed to be a spectacular moment for them. Filled with renewed optimism, the atmosphere had been fully revived. Vettel’s loss was Rosberg’s gain as the Mercedes driver soared in to the lead. The next 10 laps proved to be incredible as Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton went all out to salvage as many points as possible. Webber was flying through the grid, passing Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikonnen and Lewis Hamilton on his way to second place. Showing true Australian courage, Webber wasn’t finished there. Having won here twice already, the Red Bull driver was targeting a third victory in what would be his final British Grand Prix. Considered by some as an honorary Brit- Webber lives in the county of Buckinghamshire very near to Silverstone- he was well supported by the crowd towards the end with every move being cheered. Although Webber was dramatically closing in on the leader, he just didn’t have enough laps to get close enough in order to make that crucial move.



Rosberg celebrates his victory.

Rosberg crossed the line at the end of lap 52 to secure a magnificent victory ahead of Webber and the impressive Fernando Alonso, who managed to take third place. Lewis Hamilton recovered from his early incident to finish in a creditable fourth place.

Pirelli have since been under intense scrutiny, with several of the drivers criticising the quality of the tyres in the aftermath of these serious problems. In regards to the German Grand Prix, there are fears that teams could boycott the event if similar problems occur. Pirelli have announced that kevlar belts will be used on the rear tyres and they will be taking the yellow marked soft tyres and white marked medium tyres.  Nuremberg will host the German Grand Prix which takes place this Sunday and, if it goes ahead, it should be a thriller.

Full Results

1)      Nico Rosberg- Mercedes AMG Petronas

2)      Mark Webber- Red Bull Racing

3)      Fernando Alonso- Scuderia Ferrari

4)      Lewis Hamilton-  Mercedes AMG Petronas

5)      Kimi Raikkonen- Lotus Renault

6)      Felipe Massa- Scuderia Ferrari

7)      Adrian Sutil- Force India

8)      Daniel Ricciardo- Scuderia Toro Rosso

9)      Paul Di Resta- Force India

10)   Nico Hulkenberg- Sauber

11)   Pastor Maldonado- Williams

12)   Valtteri Bottas- Williams

13)   Jenson Button- Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

14)   Esteban Gutierrez-Sauber

15)   Charles Pic- Caterham

16)   Jules Bianchi- Marussia

17)   Max Chilton-Marussia

18)   Giedo van der Garde- Caterham

Retired:

 Sebastian Vettel- Red Bull Racing

 Romain Grosjean- Lotus Renault

Sergio Perez- Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Jean- Eric Vergne- Scuderia Toro Rosso