Wales v San Marino - Millennium Stadium - 28.03.07

The night didn’t have the best of starts. At the eleventh hour my mate pulled out of attending the game so I went to the match on my own. I arrived at the Millennium Stadium about an hour before kick off to soak up the atmosphere. An error of judgement really, seeing that the only people in the ground were me, the stewards and the San Marino goalkeepers warming up. No not a great attendance again tonight by Euro 2004 standards. A combination of the quality of opposition and it being a Wednesday night fixture probably explains why it wasn’t any higher. I read a message on the Wrexham F.C. fansite ‘Red Passion’ that questioned where all the fans have gone since those hazy days back in 2002-2003. As someone who was unable to get hold of a ticket for the Russia play off I could understand his frustration as last night I sat with a whole row to myself. I do understand it’s hard to get motivated to spend the sort of money needed to buy a ticket and travel from Caernarfon or Milford Haven when there’s so little to shout about. Naturally the lack of people leads to a lack of noise. The atmosphere was perhaps the flattest I’ve seen at the stadium. Hopefully the draw of seeing Koller, Cech and Rosicky will attract the masses for the next home match.

It was a strange game really. San Marino were never going to beat us so even if we’d have knocked ten past them it wouldn’t have given any indication of our position in the group. I hate to be disrespectful to another national side but bloody hell San Marino were awful. Because of the geographic location of the country, San Marino display all the mannerisms and characteristics of the Italians but none of the skill. They’re like Italy’s evil step brother. I’ve never seen a team give away so many needless free kicks. That’s not just fouls, they managed to concede one for a back pass and three for handball. Three for handball?! You wouldn’t see that on a primary school playground in this country. But let’s be fair, it’s a country with a population that couldn’t fill the Millennium Stadium…a bit like Wales then really. As a result of this lack of discipline the referee began to stand out…well he was about twenty two fucking stone! I was up in the heavens of level six of the Millennium Stadium and even at that height I was thinking “I bet he has more than an hour for his lunch break”. It was cruelly funny that the ball kept on hitting him throughout the game because the poor guy was struggling getting out the way in time!

It reflects badly on Wales that we didn’t score more than three. We really lacked a cutting edge tonight. If we’d have finished the way Slovakia did against us we’d have vastly improved our goal difference. We need to be more clinical when it comes to finishing. Against the big two of the group we may only have a couple of chances on goal. You can look back at two pivotal moments of the campaign where if Bellamy would’ve been more lethal things may have been different. His one on one with Petr Cech back in September and the only clear cut chance we had on Saturday. I’m not having a go at Bellamy it’s just an observation. At times our play bordered on arrogance, our showboating and general cuteness in front of goal was not appreciated by the Welsh fans. It’s great to see it when it’s pulled off but when it doesn’t, like every occasion last night, it’s just embarrassing. We should be showing San Marino the same respect that we show the bigger nations. The corners were really bad (All fifty two of them) For a team of short arses it’d be nice to think we’d work out some tidy set pieces but we never looked like scoring. James Collins looked our best hope at these times but he understandably looked rusty (No hair pun intended). I worry that some of these balls will be food and drink to the defences of Germany and the Czech Republic and we'll be hit on the counter attack. Free kicks weren’t too great either, though it was good to see the responsibility shared out between Giggs, Koumas and Bale.

Bale once again looked good going forward. At times he left gaps behind him but it’d be wrong to try to stifle that sort of creativity by criticizing him. As his talent grows it might be a case of him being pushed into a left midfield role, I for one wouldn’t be against that. Koumas had a great time ghosting past the San Marino players, whether he’ll be given the space to do that against the Czechs I don’t know. He picked up yet another yellow card leaving him with his record dangerously close to missing the Germany game. Easter didn’t really have a chance to get stuck in, I don’t know where it leaves his international career after being taken off at half time. Good to see David Cotterill get involved. There’s definitely something about him, if he can break into the Wigan team we will reap the benefits. I still don’t think Toshack knows who his best eleven are. I think the right back position is a problem. I feel Ricketts is struggling out of position and Duffy has all of a sudden fallen out of contention. With Delaney a long way of full fitness I’d have liked to have seen Rob Edwards brought in for the role, his omission from the squad was baffling.

In conclusion, it was a game that didn’t tell us much. Basically to qualify for Euro 2008 we need to go on the greatest run in the history of Welsh football. It would have been nice to see a few more goals. But as Toshack said in the post match interview “A win’s a win”.

Defending Microstates

Without wanting to sound like Alan Hanson (shudder) , the defensive game of football: Tackling, blocking, forcing striker errors, goal line clearances or successfully distributing the ball into the midfield or attack is better than scoring.

My goal tally for last year was given at "about 5", a memorable "1", hey i've got to write about it: 18 yards out say, right foot flick over a defender, only to turn him, eye still on the ball to stick my left foot on the volley into the top corner 'of a hockey goal' - where were the scouts that night? Satisfying, granted. The stat for preventing goals isnt measured - but it's what keeps bringing me back, what I keep "grazing my knee up on the astroturf" for, making that block you know annoys the goal hungry attackers, or bearing down on the shot to add that bit of pressure then watch as the shot is ballooned over or skewed wide.

Make them play it away, make them pass it back or off to somebody else, make them make a decision, and if i am beaten (ok, i'm not exactly pacey!) - i'm amongst the first to congratulate. Oh and Richard I see you're a new reader to the blog, if you ever fancy dusting down your boots your more than welcome for weekly Wednesday night 7-a-side football (sure you were a bit of a player back in the day?)...

So anyway, San Marino: a European Microstate with only The Vatican City smaller in area size. A country with the fifth smallest population in the world (ahead of The Vatican City, and three desert islands in the South Pacific; Tuvalu, Nauru and Palau). Their Football Association, football squad, coaching staff (and coach driver!) are literally a chunk of their population.

If Wales lose or draw tonight, i don't think i'll be able to take it. If you do the Taff Dave, i'll do the Conwy, in a proper North South Divide! We'll do a podcast of it or something... Though i've got decent tickets for Old Trafford on Saturday... maybe i can be entertained by Rooney, who as Shearer says today on the BBC "Andorra is the perfect game for Rooney to rediscover the goal trail", taskmaster Shearer eh, Andorra... who else is in their group - Brigadoon?

Geezers Need Excitement

You may be aware that Wales defeated England, let me repeat that, "Wales defeated England" in a fast and open game. After jeering our English friends (well taken lads!), the losing of my voice and the sinking of several ales, a bit of a scuffle ensued, bit of beer flying, followed by the glass - yes that's the feeling of a glass hitting me on the back of the head - landlord vaults the bar! By now we were very pissed in that "we can take on the world" mood, and errrr, we just watched as the trouble was herded out onto the street.

Did anybody watch "The Championship" on ITV the other weekend? My post glass round the head and recovery hangover was turning on to see the MK Dons late winner v Wrexham - the ball didn't cross the line, the linesman didnt signal goal, the referee didn't signal goal. A great double save from Ingham, yet the person responsible for "pressing the button to play music when a goal is scored", pressed the button, 'then' the goal was given by the linesman! Let's keep "playing music when there is a score" for sports such as Ice Hockey and the likes - not league 2 (div 4) football.

I did enjoy 'the' local derby match of the other weekend though, as Conwy Utd entertained Llandudno Junction. Conwy running out 2-1 winners, creeping up the league, 5 games in-hand, oh no, i sound like a proper fan.

I'd been to watch Llandudno v Llangefni a couple of weeks ago (top of the table clash), impressed by Chris Johnson, Llandudno centre back, though I did a double take as he ran out in the tangerine Conwy Utd strip! Llandudno with a slim chance of promotion to the Welsh Premier this season, currently 4th in the direct North Wales feeder league i.e. The Championship of N.Wales. He'd drop a league to play for Conwy United?! The matter was cleared up chatting to the Conwy bench (I was in school with most of them); if Llandudno don't have a game, some of their players have contracts making them eligible for Conwy Utd; keeping match fitness - totally legal under the FAW rules at that level! The Dudno manager and coaching staff stood amongst us, scouting. Slightly scary that I know the faces and names of the players in these lower Welsh leagues.

Speaking of lower Welsh league players, got to mention Matt Christie who plays football with us on "Wednesday nights", for being spotted by Glan Conwy FC coach, and getting his first couple of games under his belt - it was only because their coach saw him skin past me "once" that he was offered to sign for them, obviously :) Fair play Matt, great to see you on the back page of the Weekly News this week as Glan Conwy won their Semi Final in Mid-Wales to get to the FAW Trophy Final! Great achievement! See you Wednesday night to try and frustrate you some more, at least I know the calibre of player i'm up against now, FAW Trophy finalist and League 1 in the Welsh Pyramid... gives me hope of playing for "Kinmel Aztecs" - Div 4 of the Clwyd League, the bottom of the entire FAW pile... technically it would take them 7 seasons to get to Welsh Premier if they won every league consecutively, I love stuff like that. I should update Wikipedia with this stuff - does anybody care though? Probably not.

Weekend just gone then. Wales v Ireland, Euro Qualifier... not the best. Wrexhams Steve Evans held his own, but i never realised just how slow he was compared to the rest. I kept a keen eye on him throughout, "what a tackle" on Duff, he's all heart and perhaps over-aggressive & over-committed (3 red cards this season too) yet kept Keane quiet. A "my thoughts on defending" post later in the week I think...

The weekend sport did have an upside; Wrexham winning away 0-1, and Steve McNumpty and his team of world footballing 'names' and talents couldnt beat (or even score past) Israel; a team with such luminary figures as "Spungin", "Ziv (so want to pronounce that as Viz)", "Tamuz"...

Euro 2008: Wales Squad for Rep of Ireland and San Marino

John Toshack has announced his squad to face the Republic of Ireland and San Marino for the make or break matches at the end of the month. Let’s be honest, even if we win both games it’s unlikely we can mount a realistic challenge against the resources of talent of the Germans and Czechs. Both countries have started well and have built up formidable goal differences. We’ve got some nightmare games to play besides from the big two. Cyprus are lethal at home just ask the Irish and Germans. Then there’s the away game against the Slovakians. That said I’d love to have a bloody good go at taking all of them the distance. We have games in hand on everyone in Group D now it’s up to us to utilise them. If you look at the facts concerning our three games so far it’s not as bad as you might think. We went down to a last minute goal against the Czechs, we were hammered in a freak game against the Slovaks (6 shots on target, 5 goals) and we comfortably beat the Cypriots. I don’t think we’re credible contenders I just reckon us Welsh football fans should get behind them for these two games.

No amazing surprises with the squad. Want away Shrewsbury Town midfielder David Edwards is the only uncapped player included. There was no sign of Derby’s David Jones joining up. He holds dual nationality (Welsh/English) and he’s been keenly monitored by the Welsh F.A for some time. In interviews he’s referred to international football as being a ‘distraction’ and he refuses to make a decision on a country, I can’t see old Tosh being impressed with that attitude. Watch this space! I was sorry to see that John Oster has again been left out of the squad. Oster has yet to play for Wales under John Toshack, I’m not entirely sure whether there’s a particular reason for this. I know he’s had his personal problems in the past but he’s practically a regular in the Premiership. Defender Rob Edwards is another player I feel is unlucky to miss out. I know he featured in the 5-1 Slovakian drubbing but he’s been an integral part of a Wolves team unbeaten this year and pushing for promotion.

I have to admit Toshack has left me totally confused with his choice of goalkeepers. He’s gone for Danny Coyne, Darren Ward and Paul Jones. Ward definitely deserves included and should be our first choice to start against the Irish. Coyne has done well to reclaim his number one jersey at Burnley after being injured for such a lengthy period and I’m sure most Wales fans wouldn’t mind another look at him. I can see why Tosh has picked those two but how on Earth has Paul Jones made the squad. Legendary comedian Bill Hicks believed that in the event of a nuclear holocaust the only two things to survive would be cockroaches and Rolling Stone Keith Richards. I now believe you could add Paul Jones to that list. Jones is forty in April and he hasn’t played any first team football since October. He’s not even second choice at Q.P.R any more and they won’t be renewing his contract at the end of the season. The average Wales fan assumed that his ill fated 50th cap against Slovakia was his last and that the whole affair signalled the end of his involvement with the national team especially after he was dropped for the Cyprus game. I know the chances of him playing are next to nothing and he’s only there to make the numbers but why not take a younger keeper for the experience. If I was Lewis Price I’d be gutted, especially after taking over from Jones for the Cyprus match and doing a good job. I imagine Jason Brown of Blackburn is also feeling a tad annoyed, he’s sat on the bench for two of the Euro 2008 qualifiers and kept a clean sheet against Liechtenstein in the November friendly but Jones has had the nod ahead of him. Don't get me wrong I like Jones a hell of a lot, he was such an important player for Wales at a really exciting time during the Euro 2004 qualifiers. If our current team shows half the pride in wearing a Wales shirt as he did throughout his career we’d be alright. All I’m saying is let’s give someone else a chance.

And talking of young Welsh keepers… Predictably after writing a blog all about his achievements Wayne Hennessey conceded three against Barnet on the weekend ending his fine unbeaten run. Typical.


Wales Squad to face Rep of Ireland and San Marino

Goalkeepers: Danny Coyne (Burnley), Paul Jones (QPR), Darren Ward (Sunderland).

Defenders: Gareth Bale (Southampton), Danny Collins (Sunderland,) James Collins (West Ham United), Richard Duffy (Portsmouth (loan Swansea City)), Steve Evans (Wrexham), Danny Gabbidon (West Ham United,) Craig Morgan (Peterborough United), Lewin Nyatanga (Derby County (loan Barnsley)), Sam Ricketts (Hull City).

Midfielders: Andrew Crofts (Gillingham), Arron Davies (Yeovil Town), Simon Davies (Fulham), David Edwards (Shrewsbury Town), Carl Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Jason Koumas (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Ledley (Cardiff City), Carl Robinson (Toronto).

Forwards: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), David Cotterill (Wigan Athletic), Jermaine Easter (Wycombe Wanderers), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Chris Llewelyn (Wrexham), Paul Parry (Cardiff City).

Tart Tart

A CD on heavy rotation in my car stereo at the moment is a very cheap straight out of a bargain bin; compilation album. A collection of 15 Happy Mondays tracks, album tracks and b-sides of theirs, no singles.

Anyhow, an album track from their 1987 debut album "Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)" is on this CD, refreshed my memory of just how good the band are/were, and I have to say this track is completely up amongst my best songs ever(!), it's the track "Tart Tart" - please if you have the album or this track, go put it on, and enjoy the 4 minutes and 25 seconds - if you havent got it, get it! In fact, i've changed my MySpace song to "Tart Tart" - go listen up very loud on some quality speakers! Get past Ryders out-of-tune voice, which fits "perfectly" anyway, listen and understand - tells a great story...

The track and album was produced by John Cale, "THE" John Cale. The John Cale i've seen take offence at Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) for smoking in his company - John Cale of course an ex-heroin addict... Anyhow "Tart Tart" is one of the first glimpses of Shaun Ryders lyrical ability, documenting the producer Martin Hannetts abrupt split from the Factory Records label:

He made his shock announcement
And backed off, backed down, backed off
And then he got up off the floor
He said "Im wealthy enough, not to do this no more"
And he made it all known, with his hands held up, palm out

"In eight lines he captured the whole fucking thing" - Anthony H Wilson.

The rhythm section of Paul Ryder and Gary Whelan (with Shauns guidance), took the sounds coming from Detroit and Chicago in the mid 1980's and formed a new music. "To me this is just dance music", "Then why is nobody dancing?". This album was followed up with their album "Bummed", featuring the groundbreaking "Wrote For Luck", produced by Hannett himself, who had by then changed the way we hear music, and continued to do so...

I could write another post gushing about "Wrote For Luck" too... the remix of the track making a certain Paul Oakenfold a dance-hold name. Another time maybe. Put "Tart Tart" on, i've tried not to say the word all post, but i'm going to.. it's... genius!

Henn-mania

Welsh talent has featured quite prominently in collecting football awards over the last few days. Jason Koumas deservedly picked up the ‘Championship Player of the Year Award’ at the ‘Football League Awards’ in London on Sunday. Close to winning that gong for himself, Gareth Bale had to settle for the award for the ‘Football League Young Player of the Year’. Cardiff City’s Chris Gunter was deemed the ‘Championship Apprentice of the Year’, an award Lewin Nyatanga won last season. I’m sure it won’t do his growing confidence any harm. His team mate Joe Ledley received the ‘Goal of the Year’ award for one he scored back in August against Barnsley. Not a bad haul overall and with Ryan Giggs playing his 700th game for Manchester United last weekend it was generally a good week of achievements for Welsh football.

The story that captured both my attention and imagination this weekend was that of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. If you haven’t heard of him yet you might do soon if his record continues. Wolves stopper Hennessey is in the middle of a successful loan period at Stockport County. Since January he’s kept nine clean sheets totalling at 810 minutes of football helping Stockport to nine wins in a row. This record breaking run has lifted them from 15th place to 6th in League Two catapulting them into a promotion race and has earned him the ‘League Two Player of the Month Award’ for February. Obviously Hennessey can’t take all the credit for this run but you’d have to admit it looks favourably on him that the run coincided with his arrival at the club. What makes his achievement even more incredible is that these nine games are the only professional matches he’s ever played. After six clean sheets Hennessey revealed in an interview that the Stockport fans had affectionately started singing ‘Wales Number One’ during matches. After nine games without conceding you could suggest those fans were closer to the mark with a chant which originally may have been sung in jest. He’s already broken into the Under 19 and Under 21 squads, I read somewhere on the net this weekend that he apparently scored a 40 yard free kick against Turkey Under 19s. A writer in Western Mail this week said he’s already savouring the prospect of him and Lewis Price battling it out for the Welsh No 1 jersey. So at 6ft4 Wayne Hennessey could be destined to be the biggest thing to come out of Beaumaris since…well...ever.

As an Everton supporter I have come to learn not to get too carried away when a player shows signs of early promise. In the late nineties when Everton were annually involved in relegation dogfights they were forced to rush the development of their younger talent. Michael Ball, Francis Jeffers, Michael Branch, Danny Cadamarteri and Jon O’Connor, all thrown in at the deep end, had initial success when bursting onto the scene and naturally at times of trouble it was hoped these players would be Everton’s ticket back to the big time. Strikers Branch and Cadamarteri both seemed prolific at first but along with O’Connor they moved on then slowly slipping down the football leagues going from club to club. Believers of their own hype, Ball and Jeffers earned big moves away from Everton but the pair never really fulfilled their early potential. Therefore I try to approach any talk of the next big thing with caution. I do however appreciate it’s difficult not to rush things when resources are thin. Wales have been pushing their youngsters through the ranks for years. You can see it in the current Welsh squad, many of our players are eligible for the under 21s and some could even play for the under 19s. But in fairness if they’re good enough and are better than what else is on offer they should play no matter the age. If things continue to go well for Wayne Hennessey he may get his chance at full international level earlier than expected.

Good luck against Barnet on Saturday Wayne. I’m sure I’ll have jinxed everything for him now.

Reasons To Be Fearful

The internet can be quite therapeutic. Especially when you can use it to exorcise the demons of your childhood. I’ve used Youtube to watch allsorts of things and recently I’ve come across videos of scary images that graced my T.V. screen during my upbringing. Quite frankly it's laughable when I watch them and I feel like a right idiot but I suppose everything is a bit frightening when you're a child. Here are some of the clips I got from the site of things that terrified the life out of me when I was growing up. I’m sure some will strike a chord with anyone born end of the seventies/early eighties.


(1) The “Zuul” scene in ‘Ghostbusters’.

This scene is responsible for giving me an irrational fear of fridges and is the most likely explanation of why I was a skinny fussy eater as a child. Maybe if one of these terror dogs lived in every fridge in Britain it’d be the perfect way to combat child obesity. Every time little fatty goes to grab some Cheese Strings from the refrigerator one of these monsters shouts “Zuul” down his lughole. Problem solved, they even get some excise as they run in fear. Mind you the desensitised kids of today would probably just ‘happy-slap’ the dog while his mates film it on their camera phones…the bastards. I see all these teenagers around Cardiff on their mobiles and they’ve all got better ones than me. What the hell is that about? I work all the hours God sends and what have I got to show for it? A Nokia from three years ago.



(2) BBC Ghostwatch

Don’t know if anybody will remember this one but it left a big impression on me. On Halloween in1992 the BBC decided they would show a fake live documentary as part of the Screen One drama series, it was called ‘Ghostwatch’. It followed a household in London that was being terrorised by an evil spirit called Mr Pipes. The young girls of the family were regularly being scratched and possessed by the ghost and the mother had called in the paranormal investigators to sort it out. The action was shared between a camera crew in the house and the BBC studio. Problem was they did a far too convincing job in selling it. They brought in respected TV presenters such as Michael Parkinson adding weight to the show. They even set up a hoax phone number to call up if you witnessed any activity. This left the thousands of viewers who missed the short disclaimer at the beginning of the show believing they were watching a genuine phenomenon unfolding, Orson Welles ‘War of the Worlds’ style. I’ve got to admit it does look very dated now but as a thirteen year old I was totally suckered in by the hoax. I wasn’t the only one. Various claims were reported in the papers, kids being diagnosed with post traumatic stress and even a teenager even committing suicide. The BBC have never repeated it to this day.



(3) Terrahawks

Who on Gods green Earth thought this was a good idea for a children’s TV show? A bunch of frightening puppets standing round talking bollocks in the scariest voices imaginable. I was petrified of this show. ‘Terrahawks’ was intended to be the most laidback and fun of the Gerry Anderson shows. Looking back I appreciate there’s a lot of humour here that isn’t present in something like ‘Thunderbirds’ but to be fair to my four year old self there’s a lot of monsters here that aren’t present in ‘Thunderbirds’. Watch this and you’ll have trouble sleeping for at least a week.



(4) Thriller

How come he looks scarier now in real life than he does in this video? I know it’s been said a million times but it really is true. I remember being fascinated with Thriller. As a result in later years I got into ‘An American Werewolf in London’ in a big way. As a child the bit that frightened me comes at the end of the video. The bit where Michael Jackson reassures his girlfriend that it was all just a dream, he turns to the camera then he smiles as his eyes turn yellow. That use to freak me out.



(5) Charley Says Adverts

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side you’ve got a sex offender, the other you’ve got a cat speaking in devilish tongues. Fair play the young lad deals with it well although all he gets for his trouble is an apple. If I’d have fought off a child molester I’d have wanted something better than a bloody apple, possibly the latest Now Album. Maybe that bloke wasn’t really a sex offender, maybe he did genuinely want to show the boy his puppies. I reckon Charley was so insecure that he couldn’t stand the thought of his owner looking at another pet. So Charley plays the paedophile card, the devious sod.