Amphibious Apologies!

Sorry guys! Footie Frog is crazy busy... will start up again soon though, promise!!  FF x

Premier League Preview - One Line Predictions Part II

The second (and final) update whilst on holiday, Footie Frog fans will once again have to settle for the ‘diet’ version of my weekend preview. And, after being remarkably correct last weekend (I’m pretty too, you know,) with 8/10 opinions bang on, I’m going to see if I can keep it up this weekend. Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems, and even what seem to be the most straightforward of predictions can be turned on their head when Premier League lives are on the line… Sunderland could pull off a great upset and beat United, Newcastle could wither under the pressure at Stoke… Middlesbrough could even score a goal or two. Ok not everything can be turned on its head!!

Of course, the weekend’s fixtures for the top of the table are made more interesting by the midweek European results, with Liverpool and Man United failing to get the result they required in the first leg of their respective quarter finals. Only time will tell as to how their confidence will be affected by an unusually uninspiring week in Europe, and whether nerves are getting the better of both teams at the top. Chelsea’s sensational victory at Anfield could now spur them on to a powerful title-challenging run-in, so both United and Liverpool will need to focus on the job in hand, ignoring their royal blue shadow.

Arsenal managed a decent result away at Villarreal, playing some smooth, flowing football in the process, and with their team now nearly entirely recovered (barring Gallas – out for the remainder of the season) Aston Villa will be kicking themselves at their earlier poor form, as Martin O’Neil and crew will know, like the rest of us, that Wenger’s men won’t drop many points before the end of the season. Villa now cannot drop any, and must hope that Liverpool and United both beat the Gooners…

This seems to be a running theme this year. Everyone seems to be just watching the games around them, hoping others do them a favour, rather than concentrating on winning their own games. Every team has been guilty of it, from Newcastle United to Manchester United, and as soon as they take their eye off the ball, something goes wrong. Top to bottom need to concentrate hard on the remaining few games, because let’s be honest, if everyone relied on everyone else, nobody would win anything…


Chelsea v Bolton – Megson’s men will try to set-piece them to death, but in vain, home win.

Liverpool v Blackburn – Midweek misery melts away as backlash beats Blackburn, home win.

Middlesbrough v Hull – Goals haven’t been easy to come by for either of these two, the odd one will win it, which, bizarrely, Boro will get… home win.

Portsmouth v West Brom – Baggies will battle hard and prise a precious point… draw.

Stoke v Newcastle – Pressure too much for the Toon, who can only muster a draw.

Sunderland v Man Utd – No upsets here, as United put Porto in the past. Away win.

Tottenham v West Ham – A very London affair, a very exciting draw.

Wigan v Arsenal – Arsenal scintillating, Wigan scrapping… the former, just… away win.

Aston Villa v Everton – the clash of the pretenders to fourth place, in reality this is a fight for fifth, and Everton are stronger, away win.

Man City v Fulham – City dire in midweek, Fulham poor away, there’ll be zombies on the pitch, but it won’t be a thriller… a sneaked home win.

Cristiano Finally Leaving?

(above, Ronaldo mock-up)

Before Sky Sports News, and many others, Footie Frog has caught wind of something that needs to be brought to the attention of football fans everywhere.
Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid…. back on?

Well maybe, maybe not. We will have to wait until the Summer, obviously. But early indications are that Real Madrid have had secret discussions with the United superstar, and the latter could be prepared to move in a 75 million pound deal.

A saga that has rattled on and on, with promises being broken as quickly as they are made, and truths becoming lies with the same alarming speed, Footie Frog looks at these reports with a skeptical eye, and urges you to do the same.

Reports are that Ronaldo's representatives have held extensive talks with Madrid and, according to several informed sources, the Spanish club were informed in September that Ronaldo had no intention of remaining in Manchester beyond the end of the current season.

No big surprise there, then.

But what has resurfaced is a meeting in December, where one of Real's club's directors, Pedro Trapote, informed the El Mundo newspaper: 

"If you are asking me what we are going to do now, then I would tell you that we have already signed the best player for the summer,"  in a secretly recorded interview. 

Asking for clarification as to whether he meant Ronaldo, he added: 

"The best of the best. It is Cristiano, there is no other. It is better that we do not say anything at the moment, though. It is best to not say anything because there are some clauses that prevent us from announcing it now."

United's official stance has been that Ronaldo is contracted until 2012 and is not for sale. While this stance has not publicly altered, both the Madrid (with Roman Calderon, irritant to Sir Alex no longer in charge) and Ronaldo parties believe they have made a private breakthrough, with claims that the two clubs began talks earlier this season and that United have now accepted Ronaldo's position.

The Portuguese winger’s family have said several things regarding the transfer:
"The mistake last year was to speak about Madrid so much," Ronaldo's godfather, Fernao Sousa, said recently. 

"This year hardly anyone is saying anything and it is certain the transfer will go much better."

Ronaldo's cousin, Luis Felipe, said: 

"He's won everything with United and he needs new challenges with a new team."

Anyway, as I said, take all of this information with a pinch of salt – nothing in football (and certainly regarding Ronaldo) is ever quite as it seems. Especially when a man as stubborn as Sir Alex is involved. But this just may be too big for him, and if ‘seems’ is anything to go by, the Glazers will be the only people in Manchester relieved to see him elsewhere next term.

The irony of all this of course, would be that Calderon, the man who worked tirelessly to get the icon to come to the ‘Galacticos’, may have at last got his man. Unfortunately it will be the Summer’s new president (presumably Florentino Perez) that will be munching on the fruits of his labour.

Premier League Preview - One Line Predictions

It seems that every week recently has been offering up toe-curlingly exciting clashes - well, exciting if you’re lucky enough to be a neutral. For those fans who find themselves cradling their head in fingers without nails, mumbling about luck, and praying to anyone from Buddha to Allah, Chris Kamara to Footie Frog for three points – THESE LAST 8 MATCHES ARE HELL! Every other match seems to be a ‘6 pointer’, a ‘must-win’, or a ‘mustn’t-lose’. NHS hospitals everywhere are readying their cardiac wards for a huge influx of football fans in what is sure to be a stressful, but exhilarating end to the season.

Unfortunately Footie Frog is on holiday in Spain this week and so will struggle to provide the usual full analyses for this time. I will try my best however to get out what I can, starting with my ‘One Line Predictions’ for this weekend:

Arsenal v Man City: No Brazilians, no Bellamy, no balls flying in for City – home win.

Blackburn v Tottenham: Movement of resurgent Spurs too much for Rovers - away win.

Bolton v Middlesbrough: More woe for Southgate as Bolton trot to victory – home win.

Everton v Wigan: No Zaki and rubbish Rodallega means travel trouble for Wigan – home win.

Fulham v Liverpool: Fortress Fulham to frustrate again – draw.

Hull v Portsmouth: Robot resplendent, Pompey have strike advantage – away win.

Man Utd v Aston Villa: As usual, Villa take it to ‘em, but not hard enough – home win.

Newcastle v Chelsea: Shearer factor works… for a while – away win.

West Brom v Stoke: Outfought, outplayed, out of luck for the Baggies – away win.

West Ham v Sunderland: Sunderland need this one; shame – home win.

The Manager, the Myth, the Legend...

It was all over the press yesterday, but officially confirmed this morning: ‘Super Al’ is back in Toon. His retirement from the game 3 years ago was like a state funeral on Tyneside, but the former Newcastle United captain and record goalscorer Alan Shearer has made the sensational switch from the sofa to the sideline, answering his beloved club’s SOS to manage until the end of the season.

The St. James’ Park legend will replace Joe Kinnear, who is currently convalescing after triple heart bypass surgery, and unsurprisingly it has not been deemed sensible for him to return to the pressure cooker in the North East so soon. With just 8 games left of this campaign, Shearer (who has been quick to emphasise the short duration of his stay) has been charged with the unenviable task of keeping Newcastle in the Premier League. This starts with a tough home game against Chelsea on Saturday, and includes trips to Spurs, Liverpool and Aston Villa. This would present a significant challenge for an experienced manager, let alone a complete novice. In possession of his UEFA 'A' and 'B' coaching badges, Shearer is yet to complete his Pro Licence qualification, and only has a few games experience as aide to Glenn Roeder to call upon. Al does have the complete backing of the LMA, although even without this grand gesture by the powers that be, the duration of his (pointedly) brief tenure falls within the 12 week temporary limit, creating no regulation-breaking possibility.

The eyes of the footballing world will be watching the situation at Newcastle intently, whether out of morbid fascination or because, like Footie Frog, they find the whole state of affairs entrancing. Something magical has just happened at St. James’ Park and, whether it works or not, it is probably the best decision the board (and the man himself) could have made.  

On the face of it, Shearer’s appointment seems to be a typical Ashley whim – an appointment as surprising as Kinnear’s, or ‘King’ Kevin Keegan before him. But unlike those appointments, this one makes sense – neither side can lose. Shearer can’t do any worse than the combined efforts of Messrs Hughton and Cauderwood who were slowly pulling the Toon down with their tactical naivety and general uselessness respectively. If Newcastle do get relegated, Shearer will have been ‘powerless to stop it’ and if, amazingly, he manages to keep them up his already bloated reputation on Tyneside will be burgeoning once again. From Ashley’s point of view, he might have finally got what he was desperately seeking in Keegan – a hero that can exhilarate the crowd and players, and be the defibrillator a dying club needs. 

Whether a morale boost will be enough to win matches for Newcastle, only time will tell. Too often this season they have performed too poorly, winning only once in their last twelve games – unconvincingly overcoming table-propping West Brom a while back. But Shearer claims that the squad has the quality needed to stay up, and that he will use his own experiences to boost the confidence of a team rife with flagging international stars.  The players have apparently responded well in the first training session, and I should expect that to continue, with nobody revelling under the new manager more than a certain Michael Owen. Assured of a starting berth if he is fit, rumour has it that Michael is even willing to extend his contract if Shearer stays long-term. 

Big Al may protest that his appointment is for ‘8 games and 8 games only,’ but Footie Frog knows that if he can save his hometown club from the drop, the Geordies won’t let him say goodbye again.