Tronstad Joins Developing Terriers

Sondre Tronstad

Huddersfield have signed youngster Sondre Tronstad from IK Start. They paid the Norwegian club a nominal compensation fee for the midfielder, who can be added to a growing list of promising young talent at the John Smith’s stadium. Tronstad, who has represented Norway at youth level, has signed a two and a half year contract with the West Yorkshire club.

Boss Mark Robins said of the transfer:

"Sondre is only 18 years old and we believe can develop further with us.

"He has a real desire to learn and do well and we're excited about working with him over the coming weeks and months."

An average squad age of 24, Huddersfield have a clear policy for developing youth, and taking a chance on hungry, unproven players. The club seems to be learning lessons about the importance of financial sustainability, from fifteen years ago.

Barry Rubery

In 1998, with the backing of local businessman Barry Rubery, the club invested serious sums of money in an effort to get into the Premier League. After three attempts, it did not work out and due to financial problems, the club suffered two quick relegations into the Football League’s basement division. Since then however, they have gradually recovered. Thanks largely to the work of manager Peter Jackson, Huddersfield managed to get into the third tier and consolidate, after coming out of administration. In 2012, the club finally achieved promotion back into the second tier under Simon Grayson, after an eleven year wait.

Alex Smithies

Chairman Dean Hoyle, having been a lifelong supporter of Huddersfield, is keen to ensure they spend sensibly in the transfer market, and do not make the same mistake twice. A fine example of the club’s self-sufficiency is 23-year-old goalkeeper Alex Smithies, who had been involved with the youth setup since 2000, and is now their first choice between the sticks. Smithies is one of six members of Huddersfield’s first team squad who came through the academy. The squad has a total value of less than £5 million, funded alone by the recent £8 million sale of Jordan Rhodes.

Robins has not exactly been forced to wheel and deal entirely with free agents and loans, but the club have gone about their business shrewdly. It might seem a relatively expensive buy on the face of it, but £1.3 million signing of Bradford’s Nahki Wells is a very well calculated risk. It proves that Dean Hoyle is willing to invest in the squad when the right player becomes available, but not without long-term planning. Wells has a fantastic goalscoring record in the lower leagues, and he is only twenty-three. If things have gone well in two years’ time, not only will the club have benefitted from his performances, a host of Premier League clubs could be prepared to pay several times the amount of money Huddersfield initially paid. His value can potentially increase tenfold, given the constant inflation of prices in football, and the fact that strikers are a highly-valued commodity. Of course there is a possibility that Wells picks up a long-term injury, or does not progress for another reason, and that is the risk. But on balance, it is one well worth taking.

Oliver Norwood

Huddersfield have developed a knack of picking up young players, who have shown potential but perhaps had not been entrusted at other clubs. Noticeably, a large proportion of their players had previously represented their country at youth level. This is a wise strategy from the club. It allows them to pick up players with defined talent relatively cheaply, due to the fact that they had not been developed to their full potential, in the first few years of their professional career. We have seen the likes of Oliver Norwood and James Vaughan not quite make the grade at Manchester United and Everton respectively, but they have played the best football of their career so far at Huddersfield.

Adam Hammill

Terriers fans are enjoying an attractive brand of football at the John Smith’s stadium. Mark Robins has introduced a flexible tactical system of 3-5-2, which is growing in popularity, after the success of Hull and Watford using that formation last season. Adam Hammill had been signed by Mark Robins, they are re-united after their time together at Barnsley. Hammill, a natural winger who had not been given much of a chance at Wolves, has impressed in his wing-back role. Despite often having extra defensive responsibility with no full-back playing behind him, he is the second highest assister in the Championship so far, creating nine goals.

The one thing Huddersfield need now, is a sense of stability. Including caretaker bosses, the club have had nine different managers in the last six years, although it would be unfair to argue that the lack of stability is a reflection on Hoyle’s approach as a chairman. Only two of them – Lee Clark and Simon Grayson - have been full-time managers sacked by the board. More time to consolidate under one manager, currently Mark Robins, is one thing that would need to change for the club to progress further. If that can change, Huddersfield Town have a bright future ahead.

Tangerine Dream Over - Blackpool's Season So Far

It seems a very long time ago that Blackpool were enjoying a strong start to their Championship campaign. They are currently fourteenth in the table, which would not be disastrous in other circumstances, given the loss of key players this summer. However, with nine defeats from their last ten games, their current form is atrocious, and if things continue they could get sucked into a relegation battle.

The Tangerines were top of the table in mid-September, having won five of their first six matches. There were two factors behind this. Firstly, the form of Thomas Ince, manager Paul’s son. He scored three goals in August, and narrow wins against Reading and Watford came from the wonderkid’s dazzling solo efforts. Ince has an explosion of pace that will strike fear into defences, and it was his powerful running, which took some of the workload off lone striker Ricardo Fuller.

Gary MacKenzie

The other factor was Blackpool’s defence. Despite losing first team defenders Stephen Crainey, Alex Baptiste and Neal Eardley during the summer, the back line re-organized itself surprisingly quickly. Paul Ince brought in Gary MacKenzie permanently, who spent a few weeks on loan towards the end of last season. Him and Kirk Broadfoot formed a settled partnership very quickly, as Blackpool kept a number of clean sheets in their first few home games.

Results gradually began to slide from September onwards, as Blackpool went on a run of five games without a win. It is no coincidence that this happened at roughly the same time as Paul Ince was accused of violent conduct. In Blackpool’s 2-1 win at Bournemouth, he admitted to violently shoving the fourth official in the tunnel.

That is appalling behaviour for a football manager. On the incident, Ince admitted to using the ‘f’ word, yet denied using the ‘c’ word, saying: “everyone who knows me will vouch that the ‘c’ word is a word I do not use nor accept”. Quite frankly, whether he used the ‘c’ word or not is irrelevant. It hardly makes a difference that, whilst physically and verbally abusing someone, he didn’t go as far as to use the ‘c’ word. Although some Blackpool fans were opposed to the severity of his punishment, the FA had every right to take action and later impose a five match stadium ban.

Blackpool won their first match on his return to the touchline, a 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. However, after this result things soon went pear-shaped. In a period of ten games, Blackpool lost nine and drew one.

A large part of this was the lack of discipline on the field. Blackpool have picked up nine red cards this season, more than any other Championship side. Paul Ince seems to have lost control of his players, and the incident in the tunnel regarding the assault of a fourth official, has clearly set a poor example. Eventually, this will create a culture of ill-discipline at Blackpool. The club will gain a bad reputation, and players will start to pick up sendings off and suspensions. No club needs that.

Tom Ince

Another problem is the contract situation of Tom Ince. His deal expires this summer, and quite worryingly, he has not been sold thus far in the January window. It is a growing possibility that Ince, and his agent, will leave the club for free this summer. That way, a bigger club who may want to sign Ince, will not have to pay a transfer fee to gain his services. Therefore, they will be prepared to offer him a bigger wage - and his agent a bigger fee. While this might suit Tom Ince and his agent, it would be criminally harsh on Blackpool Football Club, who have put so much work into making him into the player he is today.

It seems the sensible decision for the club to make would be to sack Paul Ince, given the above factors. Yet the Blackpool board are not blameless, and you might question the lack of investment in the club.

Karl Oyston

Chairman Karl Oyston’s father, Owen, is the club’s majority shareholder. According to the Sunday Times’ Rich List, he currently has a net wealth of £105M. And yet, since relegation from the Premier League, the club has made a net profit of £12M from transfer fees, largely due to the big money sales of Charlie Adam and Matt Phillips.

As a fan, you would not necessarily demand that all of their money be sunk into the club, in a short-termist attempt to get back into the Premier League. However, when they have sold such valuable assets for considerable sums, it is only fair to the fans that some of it is re-invested. That has not been the case.

To replace £7M Charlie Adam in 2011, the club spent £750K on Spanish midfielder Gerardo Bruna from Liverpool’s reserves. However, the fact that he had only made two appearances, suggests this may not have been a transfer of Ian Holloway’s choosing. Even the summer afterwards, when it became clear that Bruna was not going to sufficiently replace Adam, no money was invested. Isaiah Osbourne signed for £200K, yet at the same time, the club lost Keith Southern to Huddersfield, albeit Southern had suffered from severe fitness problems. The board were more than prepared for the squad to lower itself in quality.

Matt Phillips

The club lost £5M winger Matt Phillips last summer, plus three first team defenders. The solution was to sign four strikers, when in fact the squad had not lost any. £500k was spent on Steve Davies from Barnsley, Bobby Grant on an undisclosed fee from Rochdale, while Nathan Tyson and Michael Chopra arrived on free transfers.

There are two issues here. On the one hand, very little of the money that came into the club through player sales was not directly re-invested, and questions must be asked of the Oyston’s here. Arguably, they were too content for the club to fall behind due to lack of investment, and simply sit midtable in the Championship, rather than strive to progress. On the other, poor decisions were made with the funds that the Oysten’s did make available. Regarding Blackpool’s transfer dealings this summer, Paul Ince was to blame.

Stephen Crainey

He failed to convince defenders Stephen Crainey, Alex Baptiste and Neal Eardley to extend their contracts. Each of them left on free transfers, yet neither of them left for a much more lucrative offer, going to Wigan, Bolton and Birmingham respectively. They had all spent three months working under Paul Ince, so there is a possibility that they had decided they did not want to play for him.

Questions must also be asked of how he handled the contract situation of Tom Ince. With his contract running out summer 2014, surely a pragmatic approach would be to try and force through a sale, to make sure the club do not lose him for nothing. When a key player’s contract will expire next summer, what usually happens is the player and the club have talks over their future, and reach a conclusion that best suits everyone. Paul Ince had not been able to manage that situation properly.

Paul Ince

Ince has shown he is not cut out for management in the modern game. Granted, he guided Macclesfield to survival in League Two in 2007, and did quite well in his first spell at MK Dons. Yet since then, his career has been something of a calamity. He failed at Blackburn, for which he cited a lack of investment as a reason. Not only was he aware of the club’s financial situation when he took the job, he also spent £10 million in his only transfer window, and had a squad which finished seventh under Mark Hughes the season before. It is a ridiculous argument. At Notts County, he left after they lost nine games in a row. Surely as a manager, your job is to make sure after a defeat, the team does not lose confidence and does not make the same mistakes again. To lose nine times in a row is unforgivable, and this brings us onto Blackpool’s current form. Nine defeats from ten games is not good enough.

As much as fans, we like to see a board have patience with the manager, to remain patient with Paul Ince would be a red herring. He creates disciplinary problems, he cannot command the respect of his players, and has abused a match official. Quite simply, he needs to leave Bloomfield Road.

The Yeovil View

Before Saturday's match against Yeovil Town, I interviewed Andrew Foot, who has been a season ticket holder at Yeovil for 15 years. You can have a look at Andrew’s blog http://www.backoftheblackthorn.blogspot.co.uk/ and follow him on Twitter @BlackthornStand. He discusses Yeovil’s survival hopes on a low budget, the job Gary Johnson has done, and offers his take on Yeovil’s controversial goal in the cup game back in August...

You’re bottom of the table, five points from safety, having lost your last four league games. Given that your club runs on a low budget, is this anything less than what you expected?

I think all supporters knew from day one that life would be tough for us in this league. We have such small resources it’s always going to be tough to compete. We’ve put up a good fight and there have been some really encouraging performances, but our budget has stopped us bringing in a player or two with that extra bit of Championship quality. I think we were all prepared for that to be the case.

It’s the January transfer window. If you were in the board’s shoes, would you invest more in the squad now, and risk taking a higher wage bill down to League One?

It’s a difficult one because there’s such a gap in finances between us and most of the clubs in this division. If we could put an extra 10% or so on our wage bill and attract someone who would keep us up then yes, it’d be worth it. After all we may never be here again. In reality, though, we’d have to find so much money we’d be putting the financial stability of the club at risk. I’d rather have a financially healthy League One side than a Championship side going in to administration.

Controversial goal

After the cup game this season, your club has been criticized by sections of our fans for the lack of sportsmanship, in scoring a goal when we had a player down injured. What were your thoughts?

At the time I thought we were wrong in scoring the goal. Given time to think about it and view the incident again, though, I think we had every right to score. Dan Burn went down in an attempt to waste time and I like the fact we took a stand against that. I was disappointed we let the goal in when it would have been the braver thing to say no, we had every right to score that. The whole incident left a bitter taste though, and hopefully both sides can forget about it, both on and off the pitch.

Gary Johnson must be seen as a club legend, having guided you to three promotions in his two spells in charge. How important is it to have a manager the fans connect with?

The club have often fallen a bit short when it comes to communication so  having someone like Gary Johnson in charge is a God send. He says the right things at the right time and knows how to get the supporters on side even when results aren’t great. There is a real ‘we’re in this together’ feeling when he’s in charge and I think that has helped make our recent success that bit more enjoyable.

Gary Johnson

Out of everyone you’ve seen play at Huish Park, which players stand out in your mind?

Coming up through the leagues as we have, we’ve seen an array of players at Huish Park. Probably the best I’ve seen for Yeovil was Steven Caulker, although Andros Townsend and Leon Best were very good too. Against us, for some reason I hate seeing Grant Holt on the opposition team sheet. He’s hardly cultured but one of those good old fashioned strikers. This season, Shane Duffy stands out for me, while Chris Martin was very impressive against us.

In the West Country, do you feel people have the same passion for football as in other parts of the UK?

Very much so, but in a different way I think. Lots of clubs have derbies through their season and that’s where a lot of the passion comes out. Yorkshire sides seem to have one every other week. We are the only league side in Somerset, so we don’t really have that, but we are very passionate about our club and football in general. I think because we are out of the way geographically we have something of an island mentality.

How good was Dan Burn last season?

He was massive in every sense of the word. I thought he might be a bit awkward when he first came in; he looked like the sort who’s head 20 crosses away then trip over a ball on the floor and score an own goal. He grew in experience so quickly, though, and will always be remembered as a huge part of our promotion winning side. His winner at Wembley may not have been pretty but it was a massive moment that none of us there will ever forget. I hope he goes on to play to his full potential.

You’ve got a very young squad. If you do go down, do you think the experience of playing in the Championship will make the players hungry to come back up, or could it damage morale?

With the greatest respect in the world, a lot of the players we have now wouldn’t be close to the Championship if we hadn’t been promoted. We’ve had to be clever with our signings due to the lack of finances so for most of these players it’s a chance they may not have ever expected. I think they are all enjoying it without taking it for granted and if we do go down, I feel we have the squad to maybe challenge again. It may not come to that, though.

Your prediction for Saturday…

I’m not one for predicting scores really but we know how tough every away match is at this level. We need to start getting wins soon or we will leave ourselves too much to do, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be happy with a point.

Malaga 0-0 Valencia: Entertaining Goalless at La Rosaleda

Honours were even at La Rosaleda, as Malaga and Valencia took a point apiece. A 0-0 draw was a very unfair reflection on the game itself, an exciting contest with plenty of chances. Both goalkeepers deserve great credit for keeping it goalless, in a game that would have much more fittingly finished 3-3.

It was meeting of two teams who are somewhat underachieving in La Liga. Malaga, who finished sixth last season under Manuel Pellegrini, were down to fourteenth prior to kick-off, having lost back-to-back games since the Christmas break. Valencia, meanwhile, might have been buoyed by recent takeover news, with a reported €50 million available to spend during this transfer window. With good news off the pitch, they needed to improve things on it. Los Ches are down eighth, having recently lost to Celta Vigo, and they had already lost more matches than last season.

It was an open first half of football. In the first few minutes, both teams struggled to keep hold of the ball. Malaga looked to knock the ball around at the back, before launching an attacking run from their fullbacks. Antunes drove forward from left back, and from his cross, Garcia Samu forced a double save from Diego Alves in the Valencia goal. More of him anon.

Soon after, it was Valencia who had a half-chance, as Pablo Piatti took a snap shot on the turn, straight from the keeper’s goal-kick. From that point onwards, Valencia began to have more possession, and stamp their authority on the game. However, their final ball left much to be desired. Pizzi’s side relied on hopeful, at times aimless balls towards their strikers, rather than placed passes, meaning forward men Alcacer and Piatti were forced to work hard to create space for themselves.

Yet in the midst of Valencia’s dominance, Malaga came closest to breaking the deadlock. Valencia’s Jeremy Mathieu, recently converted from full-back to centre-half, gave away a free-kick with an untidy challenge. Versatile midfielder Duda took the free-kick, and forced a save from Alves. 33-year-old Duda has not started many matches this season, preferred as an impact sub due to fitness concerns. However, he was Malaga’s most creative player in the first half, and showed some technical ability.

But Valencia continued to have most of the play, and looked particularly threatening down the right hand side, with Piatti and Jonas interchanging. Pablo Piatti forced a corner, with a threatening run inside from the right, and it required a well-timed interception from Camacho to avert danger. A free-kick from Parejo was pushed away by Cabellero, who needed his reflexes to save again from Jonas, though he was partly fortunate the shot was hit straight at him. Just as Duda was Malaga's main technician, Jonas was that for Valencia. He put in a dangerous cross to the back post for Parejo, before a very late flag from the assistant. And shortly afterwards, Jonas was at the centre of attention again, this time in less positive circumstances, briefly picking up a head injury after colliding with Ignacio Camacho.

Roque Santa Cruz, who will be no stranger to Manchester City and Blackburn fans, missed a good chance. It was a fabulous ball over the top from Antunes, fine movement from Roque Santa Cruz, but he side-footed it wide. Left-back Antunes seemed to provide a lot in an attacking sense, but was sometimes caught out of position at the back, and required defensive cover from Camacho.

They were able to create a number of chances in the first half, but Malaga still struggled to keep hold of the ball, with a number of misplaced passes. They improved at the beginning of the second half. Applying a lot of pressure, the hosts had a number of set piece opportunities, with Duda’s delivery looking dangerous. Valencia had to do their share of defending.

Ten minutes into the second period though, it was some acute football from Valencia which set up the best chance of the match. A diagonal ball to the right found Alcacer out wide, who played it short to the inward running Jonas, who fed Parejo. The midfielder was now one-on-one, but Malaga's Willy Caballero dived at his feet to smother the ball. In the process, he picked up a knock to the head, and had to have some brief treatment.

To his credit, the goalkeeper recovered remarkably quickly. He made an excellent reflex save from star man Jonas, who skied it at the second attempt. With saves like that from Caballero, it may not be too late for the 32-year-old to get his first cap for Argentina.

After a succession of Malaga corners, Valencia had another chance. Parejo threaded the ball through, and Jonas dinked it wide. Whereas in the first half the visitors had possession but were not always productive enough, they now looked a frequent threat whenever they got into Malaga’s half.

Valencia had the ball in the net for the first time, only to see their goal chalked off. The impressive Piatti’s free-kick was touched in by Ricardo Costa, but it was rightly ruled out for offside.

That incident did not put Valencia off, as they continued to probe patiently as the coach, Juan Antonio Pizzi, smelt blood. He put on Sofiane Feghouli for Daniel Parejo. This was a very attacking move, taking off an established central midfielder for another winger to boost numbers in the advanced areas.

However, this decision worked against Valencia to some extent. They lost some of the solidity in midfield which allowed them to get hold of and keep the ball in the first place, so it was now Malaga who came to the fore.

They were denied by an arguably world-class save from Diego Alves. It was slightly reminiscent of Gordon Bank’s stop from Pele in 1970, only this time it was a Brazilian who was the saviour, rather than the man denied. The save, from Pablo Perez, was made all the more impressive after a period of play when Alves had had little to deal with - he ensured that Caballero wasn’t the only South American keeper to excel.

A looping ball over the top from Duda, found Santa Cruz. The Paraguayan hit a fierce first time shot, straight at the invincible Alves. On the whole, Santa Cruz did well up front for Malaga, he provided a physical presence and worked hard to make it uncomfortable for Valencia’s centre-backs at times.

Teenage winger Juanmi came on for the hosts, Malaga looked to stretch play and force a goal, as it looked like it would be them who were to finish the match the strongest. In truth, the last five minutes were very end to end. Tackles were flying in, both teams were trying to get the ball forward and neither were willing to accept the draw.

Both teams should take credit for their attitude and positive play this evening. Given that neither side look like they will have much to aim for in the second half of the season, and the fact that it finished 0-0, you might have guessed that this fizzled out into a drab affair. It could not have been further from the truth. Both Malaga and Valencia played some entertaining football, and the fans got their money’s worth in this clash of southern Spain.

However, this result changes little in the context of the league table. Malaga move up one place to thirteenth, but the teams around them are yet to play this weekend. Valencia remain in eighth, and are still much closer to midtable than an outside European place.

Gabriel's Weekend Predictions: Gameweek Twenty-Six

Premier League

The weekend’s big Premier League game comes on Sunday afternoon. A Chelsea team chasing the title, play a Man United side looking to restore pride in their season. There are a number of what you’d expect to be easy money bets as well. Manchester City and Liverpool look to continue their unstoppable home form against Cardiff and Aston Villa respectively, while league leaders Arsenal host a Fulham side recovering from a 4-1 loss to Sunderland. The Black Cats play Southampton, who have their first game without Nicola Cortese as chairman, Pepe Mel has his first game in charge of West Brom against Everton, and a match between West Ham and Newcastle sees Allardyce and Pardew face their former clubs.

Cortese

Sunderland vs. Southampton

Nicola Cortese has stepped down as Southampton chairman, without offering much of an explanation. Mauricio Pochettino has recently said in a press conference that he still intends to stay, but you do now wonder how longer his tenure is going to last, and this process could unsettle the players. Sunderland are showing great promise of survival after a 4-1 win away to Fulham, with Adam Johnson netting a hat-trick. They only had 41% possession, but were a lot more clinical, which is a massive positive for Gus Poyet. After a confidence boosting result like that, Sunderland will have their tails up, whereas the uncertainty regarding Southampton’s future won't help them on the pitch. 2-1.

Arsenal vs. Fulham

Burn

Fulham went some way to erase the aforementioned 4-1 defeat from memory, when they thrashed Norwich 3-0 in the FA Cup midweek. Their problems are clearly in defence, having conceded forty-six goals this season, eleven more than any other team. They have recalled centre-back Dan Burn from Birmingham, who played in the match against Norwich. He could be given some game time instead of ex-Gunner Phillippe Senderos, who has looked suspect in recent weeks. Arsenal hung on for a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Monday, as they stayed top of the table despite a late surge from Villa. A long injury list does not make things ideal for the Gunners, but the final ten minutes should be more comfortable in this match than the one on Monday night. 2-0.

Crystal Palace vs. Stoke

Pulis

Tony Pulis faces his old club, in the first of two home games against midtable opposition. His side put in a spirited first half performance against Tottenham, but failed to test Hugo Lloris. Scoring goals has been Palace’s main problem since the start of the season. They could have better luck against a Stoke side who have conceded fourteen goals, in the four league games they have had to play without the injured Asmir Begovic. The Potters were beaten 5-3 by Liverpool, with Jack Butland struggling on his Premier League debut, although Thomas Sorensen might return for this match. 1-1.

Man City vs. Cardiff

The Etihad

Calling a Manchester City home game this season, is becoming more about guessing the extent to which City win, rather than whether or not they will. The Citizens still have a 100% home record. That looks unlikely to change, if 6-0 and 5-0 cup home wins over West Ham and Blackburn respectively, are anything to go by. Cardiff lost 2-0 to West Ham in Solskjaer’s first league game, despite 63% possession and nineteen shots. They could have probably done with the Norwegian on the pitch, rather than in the dugout. Man City are averaging almost four goals per home game, and Cardiff’s relegation battle could come down to goal difference, so this may be a damage limitation job for the visitors. 3-0.

Norwich vs. Hull

Jelavic

Norwich are in poor form, without a win in eight in all competitions. They are still just three points above the drop zone, with Chris Hughton’s job recently coming under scrutiny. Last season, the team was looking very well organized but this time around there seems to be less structure to the defence. Perhaps they could take a leaf out of Hull’s book. Outside the top seven, only Southampton have conceded less goals than the Tigers, who have benefitted from the signing of Curtis Davies this summer. Steve Bruce has delved into the transfer market again, this time to sign Nikica Jelavic from Everton, for a reported £6.5 million. Jelavic has not produced a consistent goal threat since his first few months at Goodison Park, when he signed in January 2012, so this could be better business for Everton long-term. With Norwich struggling for confidence though, Hull might be able to pick up a rare away win. 0-1.

West Ham vs. Newcastle

Tomkins

A classic-Allardyce, defensive performance of rear-guard action saw West Ham take a 2-0 win at Cardiff last week. The one negative from that match was the sending off of James Tomkins, on his first start after injury, and his suspension will not help matters. Their back line could struggle against Newcastle, even if the Magpies have lost their last four matches. Pardew’s side have a few players of real quality, in Loic Remy, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa, who are all capable of producing a piece of magic. A share of the spoils is on the cards as both managers face their former club. 1-1.

Holt

Liverpool vs. Aston Villa

The award for most bizarre January signing this season, goes to Grant Holt of Aston Villa. He has scored only two goals for Wigan in the Championship, his gangling stature will not suit Villa’s quick-paced, counter-attacking style of play, and they were hardly short of a target man. They have tall forwards Benteke, Kozak and Helenius in their squad, so you cannot understand the rationale behind that loan signing. Liverpool are almost as good a bet at home as Manchester City, having failed to win at Anfield only once this season. Luis Suarez up against an inexperienced Aston Villa defence, should make for a very comfortable afternoon for the Reds. 3-0.

Swansea vs. Tottenham

Eriksen

Swansea have still not won in the league since early December. A lack of energy and guile in the final third can be the only explanation for this, for a side who have had the most possession against Man City, Man United and Chelsea in recent weeks. Tottenham have taken a more gung-ho approach under Tim Sherwood, and so far it is reaping the rewards, with four league wins from his first five. His arrival seems to have brought the best out of Christian Eriksen, who has scored three goals in those five games. He has relished playing on the left of midfield, and cutting inside unchartered. It is difficult to see past another win for Spurs.

Chelsea vs. Man Utd

Hazard

Two defensive minded managers. Jose’s Chelsea have kept six clean sheets from their previous seven, after they won at the KC last time out. It was a patient performance, in terms of the way they broke Hull down, with Eden Hazard continuing to be Chelsea’s best performer. Yet the Belgian is far from their only attacking threat, as the Blues have so much quality in the advanced midfield areas. If he’s fit, Phil Jones might play in midfield and be asked to stay tight to Hazard, but then you’ve got to think about Oscar and Willian, who have both shown they can produce pieces of brilliance. David Moyes will be desperate to avoid defeat, after victory over Swansea ended a run of three consecutive losses. The reverse fixture back in August was a very dull affair, and ended in a goalless draw. This could be a similarly disappointing game, but Chelsea are the more likely to win it. 1-0.

West Brom vs. Everton

Pepe Mel

Pepe Mel has his first game in charge of West Brom, in his first job outside Spain from his entire footballing career. The long-term impact he will have on West Brom is very much an unknown, but in the short-term, a new manager coming in normally produces an improvement in results. If there is one Spanish manager he will aspire to, it is Roberto Martinez, who continues to thrive at Everton. The Toffees took a routine 2-0 win over Norwich last time out, their fifth victory in seven matches. This game sees two teams who have drawn more games than anyone else in the Premier League, so a point apiece is the logical forecast. 1-1.

The Championship

Sheffield Wednesday will aim to build on their recent thrashing of Leeds by being the first team to win at Turf Moor this season, while Burnley’s promotion rivals Leicester and QPR, play mid-table outfits Leeds and Huddersfield. Two teams in poor form go head-to-head, as Barnsley host Blackpool, there’s a clash of play-off hopefuls as Derby take on Brighton, as Ian Holloway sits in the Millwall dugout for the first time, his new side take on away specialists Ipswich.

McCormack

Leeds vs. Leicester

Leeds, who have lost their last four, play a Leicester side who have won their last five and seem to be pulling away at the top. Going on form, it’s a no-brainer away win, yet this Championship can make a fool out of anyone. It was not too long ago that Leeds strung together six straight home wins. They have shown they can make Elland Road a fortress, while you can never rule out Ross McCormack, who remains the league’s top scorer. The problem with Leicester could be complacency. After beating promotion rivals Derby 4-1 with such a strong performance, there may be a tendency to switch off. The Foxes are a counterattacking team, but they will not get too many opportunities to do that against the Whites, who try to pack the midfield. After the 6-0 humiliation at Sheffield Wednesday last week, Leeds have got to put in a performance for their fans. This might just be it. 1-0.

Barnsley vs. Blackpool

Ince

It is unlikely that team morale will be much lower than in these two camps at the moment, as Barnsley and Blackpool have gone a combined total of sixteen games without a win. Barnsley are bottom of the Championship, five points adrift of safety, and were recently knocked out of the FA Cup by League One Coventry. Over a nine game period, no team in the Football League is in worse form than Blackpool, the Tangerines have taken just one point since the end of November. It potentially makes for a game lacking in passion, vitality and spark, with a goalless draw seeming plausible. If you’re a fan of either of these clubs, you have my sympathy. 0-0.

Bartley

Birmingham vs. Yeovil

Birmingham’s ten game unbeaten run came to an end at Brighton last week. A key part of that run was the centre-back partnership of Dan Burn and Kyle Bartley, but Bartley is currently injured, while Dan Burn may not return on loan from Fulham, having impressed for them in the cup. Yeovil went down to a fourth straight league defeat at home to Burnley last week, and they are struggling desperately to score goals. The strikers currently contracted to Yeovil have produced a combined total of just two goals since the start of the season. One of those came from an aging James Hayter, suffering from fitness problems, and one of them from Keiffer Moore, who has not yet started for the Glovers. This is a better opportunity than Birmingham will ever get to take three points at home, for the first time since October 1^st. 2-0.

Deeney

Bournemouth vs. Watford

After these teams met at Vicarage Road back in August, few would have guessed that they would be just one place apart at this stage. Watford won 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Troy Deeney, in a flurry of second half goals, as the Hornets seemed set to repeat their promotion challenge under Zola. On the other hand, Bournemouth’s defensive naivety made them look in for a relegation battle, in their first season in the Championship. Neither has happened. Watford changed their manager after a long, poor run of form, while Bournemouth have now lost just two of their last eight in all competitions, and are nine points from the drop. The Cherries face losing top scorer Lewis Grabban to Brighton though, which puts the pressure on Tokelo Rantie to start firing, after his big money move this summer. 1-1.

Ings

Burnley vs. Sheff Wed

Back-to-back league wins keeps Burnley on top in the promotion race. Danny Ings’s wonderful season continues with four goals in his last three, amid reported interest from Liverpool. Strangely, Burnley have not won a game by more than one goal since the end of October, which is a testament to how well their defence has done under pressure. It will come under pressure again, when faced with a Sheffield Wednesday side who thrashed rivals Leeds 6-0 the week before, and are in sumptuous form. The Owls might only be nineteenth on paper, but they are looking like a completely different team under Stuart Gray. 1-1.

Derby vs. Brighton

Garcia

Although Derby have a five point lead over Brighton, the timing and location of this match falls in favour of the visitors. The Seagulls have lost just one of their last eight, while Derby have lost their last three after a 4-1 defeat to Leicester. Furthermore, Brighton have taken more points on the road this season than Derby have at home. Oscar Garcia’s side have won three of their last four matches 1-0, but they are looking to bolster their strikeforce by signing Lewis Grabban from Bournemouth, after Ashley Barnes left for Turf Moor. This will be a testing encounter for the Rams, who need a win to stay in touch with the automatic promotion race. 1-1.

Maynard

Doncaster vs. Wigan

Doncaster fell to a seventh defeat in eight after a 1-0 loss at Blackburn last week, and Paul Dickov needs to turn their fortunes around swiftly. They have had a total of just twenty shots on target from those eight league games since the win over QPR, despite having had a lot of possession, particularly in the games against Leeds, Ipswich and Millwall. The answer could be that they need to be more creative going forward. It will be difficult to do so against Wigan, who have one of the best defensive records in the league and are now unbeaten in eight. The Latics have taken Nicky Maynard on loan from Cardiff to improve their attacking options, and given Doncaster’s woeful form, they will be feeling confident of an away win. 0-2.

Middlesbrough vs. Charlton

Kermorgant

Middlesbrough are one of the Championship’s form teams, having won four of their last five games, and keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories. Without having much possession generally, they are becoming a well-drilled side under Aitor Karanka, while often posing a threat from long range. Charlton have drawn five of their last seven in all forms, and their blushes were somewhat spared in the FA Cup against Oxford, coming from two goals down to force a replay. No team outside the drop zone has scored less goals than Charlton, with top scorer Yann Kermorgant having been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks. Boro could be onto another clean sheet, as they look to climb into the top half for the first time this season. Play-off contenders? 2-0.

Richards

Millwall vs. Ipswich

Ian Holloway takes to the Millwall dugout for the first time, and has a full squad to choose from, with no injury concerns. He is looking to bring in 22-year-old defender Jazz Richards on loan from Swansea, which could be a wise move. In the Football League, only Crewe Alexandra have conceded more goals than the Lions, who are suffering from a concerning lack of pace at the back. Ipswich’s away form has been impressive. Regarding games on their travels, they have not lost since September and have conceded just four from their last six, as Mick McCarthy’s rigid setup has paid off. In some ways, attacking fullback Aaron Cresswell has picked the perfect time to have a dip in form. He has only assisted once in his last nine, but the silver lining of that is he has since had no interest from Premier League clubs this January. 1-1.

Nottm Forest vs. Blackburn

Paterson

Nottingham Forest’s home record had been their main problem during the first half of the season. Since Christmas Day though, they have won three straight games at the City Ground, including a 5-0 win over West Ham in the cup. Jamie Paterson scored a hat-trick in that match, and netted again at Bolton in the league, which suggests he might fulfil Forest’s need for a striker. Blackburn kept Manchester City down to a relatively modest 5-0 victory on Wednesday night. That result provides no reflection on Blackburn at all, over the two games, they matched one of the best squads in the world for a hundred and thirty-five minutes. Still, they spent a lot of time chasing the ball in the second half of that match, which is a factor that could work against them on Saturday. 2-1.

Wells

QPR vs. Huddersfield

QPR’s 3-1 win at Ipswich was a vital one. With Burnley winning, they could easily have fallen behind in the promotion race, but a clinical second half performance gave them three points. That was just the second time QPR have scored more than two goals in a game this season, which seems ridiculous considering how much they have spent. Harry Redknapp will be asking for more of the same, against a Huddersfield side who have only won twice away from home since August. New signing Nahki Wells made the perfect impact on his debut last week, coming off the bench to net a last minute winner against Millwall. That is just the start he will have wanted, after questions as to whether he can handle the step up to Championship level, with a burden of expectation. Still, QPR should grind out a tenth home win of the season. 2-1.

Reading vs. Bolton

Beckford

A 1-0 win at Watford keeps Reading just one point off the play-off places, despite a recent sequence of defeats. In similar circumstances to their win at Huddersfield in December, they did not have much possession, but sat deep and forced their opponents into long range efforts. Though not the most attractive method, that has often proved to be a good way of picking up away points in this league. Bolton have shown they can play well on the road themselves, with a respectable four away wins since the start of October. However, top scorer Jermaine Beckford got the important goal in three of those games, and he faces a three week injury. Beckford aside, Bolton’s strikers have an unconvincing total of four goals between them. Reading will be feeling confident of taking back-to-back wins for just the second time since September. 2-0.

The Bristol Rovers View

Before Birmingham City's match against Bristol Rovers, I interviewed 17-year-old Rovers fan James Allen, who has been a season ticket holder for ten years. You can check out James’s blog, at http://thepiratestale.blogspot.co.uk/ and follow him on Twitter @JamesAllen_17. Here, James talks about the progress of Will Packwood, tackles the issue of the lack of passion in the FA Cup, and remains convinced his side will stay up.

After a couple of midtable finishes, this season looks like it could be more of a struggle for your lot. How do you assess things so far?

At the start of the season I was quietly confident for a playoff push after a very strong middle and end to last season, having made strong loan signings and retaining them for this season. However we've been hugely unlucky with injuries (about 6 ACL's in the past year) and this has crippled our squad such that for a lot of our games the average age of the first 11 has been 21. We've picked up massively over the past 10 games or so which you can see by our form and this is promising for the second half of the season.

You’ve scored just twenty goals this season, only Northampton have scored less. Do you need to bolster the attack in the transfer window?

100%, this has been our issue all season. We have a very solid defensive unit and a lot of central midfield options but what we're desperately lacking is pace, notably in the central forward and wide positions. If anything I'd say a fast, tricky winger is more vital to supply our strikers with chances.

You’d briefly taken Will Packwood on loan from Blues so he can build fitness, and he’s played eight games. How has he looked?

Will Packwood came in to cover for injuries for us and slotted straight into the solid defence I'd spoken about, he looked classy and was surprisingly calm on the ball for a young pro which helped our results immediately. He 100% improved our team and I know nearly all Rovers fans were gutted when he was recalled.

There has been a lot of talk lately about a lack of passion for the FA Cup in the modern game. What are your thoughts?

As the years have gone on it seems the FA Cup has become more and more important for lower league teams and less important for the Premier League. As a Rovers fan the FA Cup is huge for me and the team, it provides a welcome distraction from League 2 and a cup run can hugely boost the club's finance which is becoming crucial in this day and age. The FA Cup allows us to dream, dream that our club could line-up against big Premier League teams like Man United or Arsenal, or even Birmingham away!!

You’ve got a number of youth team graduates in your squad. Do you feel manager John Ward is building for the future, and if so, is this the right approach?

Definitely, all clubs should promote the youth academy as a sustainable way of improving English talent, we've had to rely on youth as a result of so many first team injuries but numerous youth players have risen to the occasion and now are starting every game (Ollie Clarke, Tom Lockyer, Eliot Richards); I'm glad Ward has adopted this approach as, if we can keep our youth and improve them whilst the team improves, it makes for a bright future.

You’re only getting 6,000 fans in, which seems small for one of two clubs in a place the size of Bristol. Do you believe that the rise of football on TV over the last two decades, has discouraged fans from supporting their local team?

I'm sure the rise of football on TV has affected many gates but I'm not sure that’s the prime reason for our 6,000 gates. To be honest a gate of around 6,000 is large considering our league status and recent league positions over the past 5-10 years, numbers have continued to decline as the team has underperformed. However more football on TV has definitely reduced crowds throughout the leagues as people would rather watch Manchester United in their comforts of their home in the champions league than Bristol Rovers against Dagenham on a wet Tuesday night (which I can never understand!!!!)

I’ll let you choose between the heart and the head for this one. Will you stay up?

100% stay up, we're very solid in defence and are starting to score goals; our form over the last 10 games has been very promising. This time last season I wouldn't have been so confident but there's not a doubt in my mind about this question. If we add a pacey winger and goalscorer and retain the rest of the squad I wouldn't be surprised if we played promotion form for the second half of the season.

And your score prediction for Tuesday night…

My head says Birmingham 2-0 but I've got a feeling Bristol Rovers 2-1 away win. You never know!!!

My thanks again to James Allen for his answers.

Progress for the Pilgrims

Plymouth Argyle can be seen as a sleeping giant, as they play in is the biggest city in England never to host top flight football. And in 2011, they could have very easily become the biggest in Europe not to have a professional team in the first place, with the club threatening to go out of business. Argyle look, finally, to be moving forward, after what has been a rotten few years. Here is their story.

Until 2009, Plymouth were very much an established side in the Championship. The Pilgrims had been promoted twice in the space of three years between 2002 and 2004, thanks to the work of Paul Sturrock as manager.

Paul Sturrock

They enjoyed five straight seasons of consolidation, which was impressive given a number of factors. Firstly, they were a lower-profile club, having never won a major trophy, and more used to playing in the bottom two divisions of the Football League. They were something of a selling club, making a large profit from transfer fees over the course of five years. Most notably, the likes of Peter Halmosi and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, were sold for about five times the sum they initially cost. The players also had to deal with fairly frequent changes at the top, with five different managers in this five year period.

Paul Sturrock had been headhunted by Southampton towards the end of the initial promotion season, and left as a club legend. Managers such as Tony Pulis and Ian Holloway came in and did a decent job keeping the club safe, although fans did not appreciate the abrupt manner in which Holloway left for Leicester. Generally, the club was in good health.

Ironically, it was only when Paul Sturrock returned, that things started to go wrong. After the club had achieved two midtable finishes, standards dropped in Sturrock’s first full season back, 08-09, as Plymouth only just stayed up. Following a poor run of results to start the following season, he left, and so began a rapid decline.

Yasuaki Kagami

The club endured relegation under Paul Mariner, who took the manager’s job having briefly been a first team coach. It was around this time that financial problems began to surface, as there was a takeover from Japanese businessman Yasuaki Kagami. Kagami did not fulfil his promise to expand the club’s brand in Japan, and in fact never watched a Plymouth match, and was seemingly involved purely for monetary gain. In 2011, the club failed to pay its tax and faced a winding up order from HMRC, for £300k. Plymouth Argyle failed pay the players and employees for ten straight months that year, making it a quite impressive achievement that the club remained afloat. Peter Ridsdale came in to help the board, acting as an unpaid independent advisor.

Twenty-five players were sold in the 2011 calendar year. Inevitably, the fire-sale led to a second successive relegation, this time under Peter Reid. So, did things finally improve when Plymouth went down to the fourth tier? Well, not at first. Reid was sacked after Plymouth had lost eight successive matches by mid-September, and were bottom of the table with just one point. A third drop in as many years looked on the cards.

Carl Fletcher

Carl Fletcher, at the age of just thirty-one, became Plymouth’s player-manager, and guided the team to survival by two points. Another remarkable achievement, partly because of how the team was cut so far adrift in September, but also with a squad which was thrown together very quickly. There was a turnover of almost fifty players during the 2011-12 campaign.

But indeed, Fletcher was sacked in January the following season. What became a majority of Plymouth fans criticized him for questionable team selection and tactics, with the team on a poor run of form. He was replaced by current manager, John Sheridan, who has done a great job for the Pilgrims so far. Twenty-eight points from his eighteen games in charge, during the second half of the 2012-13 season, saw Plymouth stay up last season.

Argyle Fans' Trust

In that time, the financial problems have healed nicely. This is thanks partly to the work of the Argyle Fans’ Trust, who worked hard to raise money and awareness of the club’s situation, to keep it running. Businessman James Brent completed a takeover of the club in October 2011, and gradually cleared the debt. He made funds available for John Sheridan to strengthen the squad this summer, with a number of new players coming in. Not only this, Brent also put forward plans for a £50 million redevelopment of Home Park to create long-term sustainability. While this might seem like a questionable priority for a club in the fourth tier of English football, it promises a lot for the kind of financial backing Brent can offer the club. 

This season, Plymouth are excelling under John Sheridan, who has done some good work in the

John Sheridan

transfer window. While some Argyle fans were unsure about the signing of defender Neal Trotman, who worked with Sheridan at Chesterfield, he has turned out to be their best defender by all accounts. Sheridan has also worked some magic in the loan market, bringing in Reuben Reid from Yeovil, and Reid has already scored thirteen goals this season. Now unbeaten in six matches, Plymouth Argyle fans can have something to smile about, after five years of doom and gloom. The Pilgrims are on the up - at long last.