United start well

Dundee United demolished premiership new boys, Everton, with a rousing 5-0 home victory. As united manager, Andy Grant, predicted, Everton went to spoil the game by packing out the defence. His tactics perfectly matched evertons and a nervy game turned into a stroll in the park.

Most pleasing for the gaffer was that 3 of the 5 goals came from defenders. He said 'Its good to see that the pressure of converting chances has been distributed throughout the team. Ralph also did himself a favour by putting away an early and a late goal.'

Todays test will now be followed up with a tricky away tie at Middlesborough. Last seasons premiership runners up will be keen to avenge the close run contest of last season and will look to build on that relative success and take the big step up.

United are aslo hungry for success having suffered their worst season in 8 seasons under Grants control. The board of directors have indicated that another season of finishing in the lower reaches of the league will result in the sack for Grant.

Everton Fans In Uproar Over Kelletts Use Of Youngsters

Fans at Goodison Park are incensed after seeing Everton trounced in the opening day fixture by Dundee Utd 5-0. What made it worse for the Everton faithful was that the manager had decided to play 3 players recently promoted from the youth team, while more experienced players sat out the game on the bench.
A fans spokesman was heard to comment "After promotion last season, I was expecting a bit of a fight, but it appears Kellett has already given up hope of staying in the top flight already."
When he gave his after match interview, Everton manager Richard Kellett explained his tactics "We were always going to struggle against Dundee Utd as we will in many matches this season, and I saw this as an ideal opportunity to give Kroldrup, Hibbert and Wilson a taste of what the game is like at this level. Yes it is a huge step up from what they are used to, but I am sure we will benefit as a club in the long run. What I want to see is a return to the glory years for Everton football club, and these three lads should form the backbone of the team for many years to come, anyone who isn't happy with my decision can come to my office and we will see about getting them another team"
With that Kellett got into a car with the three youth players in question and headed off into the night for a few cokes and crisps at the youth club.

SOUTHWICK HITS OUT AT DOUBTERS AS NORWICH GO TOP

Norwich City manager Andrew Southwick has sent out a defiant message to the other managers, by claiming his side's suprise perfect start is no fluke, and they
will continue to prove the doubters wrong.

Southwick's side struggled to pick up the points last
year, earning just nine points all season.

However the drop down to division two hasn't done them too much harm, with the Canaries already equalling the entire amount of wins they picked up in Division one.

With pundits continuously writing his side off, with
many pre-season predictions saying it would be a
second relegation in a row, Southwick has hit back at
the critics who he labelled "little know it alls."

"I said before last season had even ended that we
would return to division one within one season," said
Southwick.

"Last season we had a bad start and never really
recovered. Certain players put in bad performances,
injuries took their toll, and the lack of quality in
the squad really showed.

"When it was obvious we were fighting a losing battle
to stay up, the heart went from the team.

"However during the summer we've worked hard to bring in some quality players in key positions. We now have the players to make their mark on a game.

"We are now without doubt the best team in division
two. Others may disagree but thats not a problem to
me, I expect nothing else of the little know it alls.

"Only one manager has predicted a Norwich victory in
the prediction league, I'm delighted to have won the
AC milan manager some points there.

"The rest should wake up and realise the Norwich
revival is here."

Norwich's promotion credentials will be put to the
test when they face favourites York City next, however
Southwick has no fears whatsover about the game.

"There are much harder opponents in the game than York City. Norwich are one of them."


The history of Bradford City Part 2

In part 2 of our look into the history of Bradford City we take a look at season 2.
The league structure of pbemff changed in season 2 from three divisions of ten teams to two divisions of sixteen teams. Bradford had been consigned to division 1 having failed to qualify for the premiership and faced an uphill battle in a much larger and harder division than the previous season. With the board and manager not yet having a clear plan for the future the season was again about consolidation and trying to see where the club could go. Boss David Ellam did manage to bring in two high profile players, Brazilian defender JVR_Junior and Italian midfield maestro Franesco Totti while holding on to star strikers Beni Carbone and Ashley Ward.

The team still struggled but made an improvement on season 1, ending 12th in the league and having two good cup runs. Carbone failed to quite match his form of the previous season but Ward again top scored for Bradford with an impressive 26 goals from 33 first team outings to add to his 22 goals from 28 games the season before.

With finances still tight though and an ageing squad things would continue to be a struggle for Ellam though the pressure surrounding his management had been lifted thanks to the team exceding the low expectations set for the season.

Deja Vu?

Could it be happening again? Could last season be repeating itself? Well,
in Derby County's case, it could well be. In their championship winning
season last year, Derby started worryingly with a defeat at rivals Cardiff
City, only to go on and win the league and remaining undefeated in all
other league matches. This season, Derby again started with a defeat at
Cardiff, but since then they have hit back with two wins. The first was a
comfortable win against early strugglers Everton, who sit bottom of the
Prem after two matches, and then in the IWC, a win against Leeds Utd.
Whilst both wins were against weaker opposition, Manager Graham Frith took
satisfaction from each one, and feel that with the recent arrivals of
Zanetti and Dehu in defence, along with Ze Roberto in the midfield, County
are looking much stronger. "All we need now is another top class striker to
accompany DiCanio, and we will be all set to give favourites Dundee Utd a
run for their money" the manager is quoted as saying. Can Derby go on to
win the Prem for a second season? Only time will tell.

The history of Bradford City Part 3

Season 3 started with a lot more confidence than previous seasons. Club record scorer Ashley Ward signed a contract extension while Ian Taylor and local boy Danny Cadamarteri were brought in to replce the outgoing Beni Carbone. In midfield City's purse strings stretched to bringing in Wally Baseggio while manager David Ellam managed to keep hold of most of the back line.

City's cup form left a lot to be desired but in new the league format of 4 divisions of 8 teams, City were pushing hard for a first ever promotion. With three teams being promoted the race for the promotion spots went right down to the last weekend with City in pole position. While they were struggling to score goals it was on a solid defence that the success was based, with Gary Walsh again influential between the sticks behind the ever impressive Myers, Wetherall and Emanuel.

Unfortunately the Bantams fell at the last hurdle and missed out on 3rd place on goal difference and only 2 points behind champions Fulham.

Overall it was a fairly succesful season for a club whose resources had been stretched to the fullest and it left everyone surrounding the club with positive hopes and aspirations for the next season. Hopefully the players and management could take heart from the positives to come out of this season and carry it on in season 4.



ARSENAL DRAW A BLANK

Arsenals new season got off to a decent start yesterday at highbury.Arsenals seasons season started with a home tie against big rivals boro who have a very good record against the north London club.
Arsenal set of with a very defensive formation with the intent to get them self a draw and a point on the the board and decided to employ the long ball tactic. with a very depleted defense arsenal where looking venerable and boro came out intending to exploit that with a very attacking formation and tactic.
The game end with a stale mate which is what was the best Steve could have hoped for with those types of tactics but boro will come away a fair bit disappointed that arsenal didn't try and make a game of it.

Arsenal are up against tough opposition again next Sunday with a away trip to Bradford who have been on the rise of late. maybe we will see a lot more of this defensive football at highbury this season as youth is blooded and sacrifice the attacking football we have come to expect from arscotts boys in the past


Goma Could Be A Gonner

Rumours are rife at Everton that veteran defender Alain Goma could be on his way from Goodison Park after Richard Kelletts comments to the press after the recent defeat to Dundee Utd.
It is understood that Kellett is after making a quick deal to get the unsettled defender out of Goodison Park.
Goma (37) who was due to retire at the end of last season is said to be unsettled at the break up of the Everton promotion winning team of last season, and had this to say "Le directeur parle des bollocks s'il pense que nous pouvons survivre dans la division supérieure jouant jeune boys.We avons eu un peloton arrangé la saison passée et a été disposé à combattre dur cette saison, et il introduit des enfants dans le côté, à comment allons nous avons supposé suceed avec ce tactic.I am avons convaincu les jeunes garçons avons une prise au-dessus du vieil homme, et quelque chose de drôle continue." What that all means we haven't a clue, but it looks like Goma could have played his last game for Everton after this outburst.
Rumours around the ground are that he could be heading to the French league to see out the rest of his career at Monaco


City leave Skid marks in Bolton

Dry cleaners in Bolton are reporting a massive increase in trade following the 0-0 draw away at York City. It would appear that many of the Bolton players, supporters and even the management shat themselves at the thought of playing York.

The York manager refused to comment about the brown staines across the away team dug-out, changing room and away terrace, but the head of North Yorkshire police was very upset after the travelling Bolton fans protested outside the ground after travelling all the way to watch their team not even attempt to play football. He described it as, "disgraceful" and commented that should such things happen again, he will be contacting the Bolton council to ask them to remove the licence of holding sporting contests at their stadium.

Everyone is waiting to see whether Bolton shit themselves again in their Inter-Wing Cup tie.


The history of Bradford City Part 1

To celebrate their meteoric rise from near bankrupcy to the heady heights of the Premiership, we celebrate the past history of the club, preview the future and review the early stages of this historic season 9 currently in progress. But of course we shall begin at the beginning, that being season 1.

Bradford City started out in season 1 being in the old Division 3. Little financial backing meant things started hard for manager David Ellam. Not only was he raised in the local rival city of Huddersfield but he came to Bradford with little reputation to his name. Ellam was immediately under extreme pressure to sell his star players and try and balance the books but he managed to hold on to most of City's prized assetts including Ward and Carbone who went on to become the clubs top scorers that season.

But with resources limited, so were the chances of making inroads into the transfer market and City ended with an average season, finishing in 8th place in Division 3 and leaving Ellam and the City board with a lot of thinking to do to avoid the wooden spoon and possible expulsion from the league. The board gave their full backing to Ellam in the hope that the rookie manager would come good with more experience.


ARSENALS MAKE POOR START!

Arsenal have made the worse start to a season since arscott took over at highbury but after only 2 games i don't see NE nead to panic just yet. our first game ran out a 0-0 draw and the second a 4-2 defeat to a very impressive Bradford side. from the off it seemed arscott had got his tactics spot on and countered every thing Bradford had to throw at them. but Bradford then managed to steal a goal and the forced the gunners to attack back and leave them selfs very weak at the back with two inexperienced defenders making us very vulnerable. we soon let in a second but then gave our selfs hope with a goal but we were soon finished off by two Bradford strikes. a goal late on made the score line a bit less embarrassing but it shows how tough arsenal will find this season while playing players from the academy.
the gunners are next in action in the iwc where the once found glory against another team trying to rebuild with youths in athletico Madrid. arsenal will be hoping to get off to a winning start in this very tough grp and give there season a kick start so we can start having some hope of staying in the top division in Britain.
most of the deals made in close season will be completed very soon and we can then start to settle in and work as hard as possible to get results. the line up is now very young compared to previous season and arsenal fans can be very optimistic about the future of this great club.


Aberdeen Short On Vittek

" Aberdeen today issued an apology to their fans for giving premature news
of a signing. Striker R_Vittek was advertised as being an Aberdeen player
before the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed. Inevitably the deal
fell through at the last minute due to contractual problems leaving the reds
with red faces. The psv striker will now stay at psv.

Stu Watson - It was unfortunate that this has happened and we apologise to
fans and staff alike. The Vittek deal fell through for reasons out of our
hands but we assure the fans that we will still be actively pursuing other
strike targets."


The history of Bradford City Part 4

Season 4 started brightly for Bradford with a victory over Derby County in the first match but that was about as good as it was to get for the best part of the season. Following the previous seasons close shave with promotion it seemed that manager David Ellam had spent his load and could give no more to the club. After 8 league games city had been knocked out of the league cup in the early stages and had only managed to scrape 6 league points. With players and fans confidence at an all time low and with Ellam admitting he had taken the club as far as he could, Ellam parted company with the Bantams who were left to try and attract a new manager.

With City in poor shape financially and with a squad ageing and showing little class, the Bradford board were hoping for no more than a journeyman manager but they struck gold from a surprising corner. Former PBEMFF FA founder, chairman, director and commish Matt Birch had left his post at the start of season 4 to pursue a managerial career at Ajax. He came with a high profile after major league successes abroad before taking up the position with the FA. His first season with Ajax was half way through and though on the field success was fairly starved, off the field Ajax were transforming into a major force for the future. A fantastic youth setup was in place and a future Bradford star was emerging in Stanley Menzo. However the Ajax fans were a fickle bunch and demanded success now and Birch's tenure at the club was hanging in the balance. Birch decided to hand in his resignation at Ajax before receiving the boot and took over his beloved hometown club Bradford.

City chairman Julian Rhodes could not believe his luck in landing one of the worlds great managers and especially considering the massive pay cut Birch took just so that the club could afford him. And while the Bradford board had hoped to get one promotion out of Birch in the next 5 years, Birch came in with a 8 season promise to take the Bantams to the premiership. While the fans and board scoffed at the promise, the hope was that Birch could inspire the club to a mere half of those promises as for a club in such dire financial trouble, administration and non league football looked on the cards.

With less than half the season left, Birch swept the broom through the City squad, bringing in some younger players and ridding the club of some of the old guard and cutting the chaff away. City only managed another 6 points from the last 6 league matches but it was a slight improvement in form, especially considering the fresh blood being promoted to the first team. However the highlight that got the club buzzing was the progression in the league cup. Birch guided the team all the way to the Semi Finals where they met high flying Arsenal and only lost out to a heart breaking stoppage time winner. Birch's promise of premiership football after 8 seasons no longer seemed impossible. City were on the up.