Armchairstato.com: London 2012 - Week 1

Armchairstato.com: London 2012 - Week 1: Well after all the hype, expense and rumour, the Olympics are here and what a week it has been. Before the opening ceremony, with the North...

London 2012 - Week 1

Well after all the hype, expense and rumour, the Olympics are here and what a week it has been. Before the opening ceremony, with the North Korea/South Korea flag fiasco and the printing errors claiming Joe Allen was an English footballer, I really worried that the opening ceremony would be filled with disaster. Maybe for once I was wrong to doubt the nation. Right from the off with the four corners of the kingdom singing their choirs, through the industrial revolution, from the queen 'jumping out of a helicopter' with James Bond to Mr Bean's involvment in Chariots of fire, right up to the very modern and impressive Olympic flame, I was very impressed. After all the fireworks had died and the events got under way, one thing started to become clear. It dawned on me during the men's road race in the cycling. Our nation is despised greatly throughout the world. Other countries seem to have a mentality of it doesn't matter who wins as long as it isn't the British. So that said I was surprised considering the quality of the team that the cyclists couldn't get Mark Cavendish a medal but it made it obvious how hard it was going to be for out team to even get close to the success of Beijing. A week on and we have gained a credible medal in the ladies road cycle race, a slightly disappointing medal from Becky Adlington, a medal in equestrian, a brilliant if some what unlucky bronze from the men in the team gymnastics competition, 3 decent medals from the rowing lakes including a first ever Gold from a British female boat, a somewhat surprise medal from the swimming pool and a first and third in the men's time trial. I might be doing a dis-service but I would of expected a few more medals by now though. As we close week 1 and look forward, we see the entrance of the track cycling, the conclusion of the sailing events, some prospective swimming finals and the track and field athletes set to take to the stage. I do think at this stage that Team GB's medal target does seem a little out of reach but it only takes a few days of sporting excellence to change all that. For example maybe 5 medals from sailing, a woman's football medal, 3 swimming medals, near 10 cycling medals and 5 to 10 athletics medals will only leave the target short by a little.

World Championship Snooker

This weekend sees the start of the World Snooker Championship. Below I shall try to pick through the early rounds of the draw and rate the players chances. John Higgins starts off against Liang Wenbo, a crucible favourite after his debut performances. A tough test for the Scot but one his matchplay should see him overcome. The winner of that will face Stuart Bingham or Stephen Hendry. Hendry had to qualify for this years Championships but now he has, who would bet against him. It won't be easy as Bingham has seen a rise in form but I think Hendry's craft should just see him get through. A tough first round match sees Graeme Dott take on Joe Perry. Both players are capable of long runs in the Worlds and this match is simply to close to call. It has the makings of a last frame decider. Whoever wins that will face the winner of Stephen Maguire or Luca Brecel. The Belgian won't be overawed by the crucible crowd but I think Maguire shuld win this match up. Shaun Murphy takes on Jamie Jones. Admittedly I don't know to much about Jones and he may falter under the crucible atmosphere. I'm picking Murphy to win that match. The winner will take on Stephen Lee or Andrew Higginson. This is hardly going to be a quick fire match but I think Stephen Lee will win this one. Ali Carter takes on Mark Davies. Carter should have enough to win this match as long as he keeps his emotions in check. The winner will face Judd Trump or Dominic Dale. You have to feel sorry for Dale with his luck in first round opponents. Trump will win this match. That is the easier half of the draw in my opinion. Potential quarter finals are; Higgins/Wenbo or Bingham/Hendry v Dott/Perry or Maguire and the other quarter final being Murphy or Lee v Carter or Trump In the bottom half of the draw Mark Williams takes on Liu Chuang. A potentially tricky encounter but I think Williams will come through. The winner of that faces Ronnie O'Sullivan or Peter Ebdon. O'Sullivan can either be brilliant or terrible and we won't know which until that first frame. If he is prepared to fight then I'll pick him to win. Martin Gould takes on David Gilbert. Gould's recent experiences will see him overcome Gilbert I think. The winner will face the winner of arguably the tie of the round in Neil Robertson and Ken Doherty. Which Doherty will turn up. I expect a cracking match and unfortunately for the neutrals, I think Robertson will win this. Ding Junhui opens up with a tough match against Ryan Day. If there is to be a shock in round one then this could be the tie. I think a tough game will be decider again by a frame or two. The winner of that finds Mark Allen or Cao Yupeng waiting. I think the frustrated Irishman will see off his Chinese competitor to set up another intriguing tie. Matthew Stevens faces a tough Marco Fu in the first round. Another match that is to tough to call and either player will just be happy to get through. The winner will face Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins. While Hawkins possesses the game to frustrate most players, in Selby he is against the best all round player. I think Selby will win that one. So the potential quarter finals in the bottom half are; Williams or O'Sullivan/Ebdon v Robertson and Ding Junhui/Day and Allen v Stevens/Fu and Selby Nearly time to sit back and simply enjoy the drama as it unfolds.

Spineless FA

Yesterday saw yet more evidence of the FA and their lack of ability to get the basic decisions correct. This season has seen the Luiz Suarez affair handled all wrong, even if in some quarters the right result was reached. The discrepancies in that scenario were how the whole case was carried out. Then we reached the John Terry affair. That isn't a metaphor for him and another players wife. Of course I'm referring to the Terry vs Anton Ferdinand race row which the FA bravely and conveniently put off until after the Euro's. The thinking behind this I can only assume was to keep a player undeserving of his stature as England captain, in that very position. That fiasco saw the end of Fabio Capello after the FA refused to bow down to his demands and we eventually thought the FA finally had some balls. But we were wrong. They bungled their way around appointing a successor by refusing to name or approach the man they wanted and leaving a prime candidate in the middle of a media frenzy. So just what is the FA's latest show of weakness. Well firstly not handing out a retrospective additional ban for Mario Balotelli's shameful tackle on Alex Song during the match between Arsenal and Manchester City. Anyone with a degree of common sense saw just how much damage such a tackle could have left the young Arsenal star. It was the FA's chance to make an example not of the player but of the challenge. The FA also bottled the decision not to reduce Shaun Derry's red card which he received for his 'foul' on Ashley Young. The fact that Young was offside, that contact was minimal wasn't enough to persuade the FA to reduce the one match ban. Now I am not going to slate the referees. Early in the season I wrote an article not blaming referees but their assistants. The Young decision started from a linesman error. What about the 2 Chelsea goals in the Wigan match. Or the QPR goal that never was. The referees are stuck in the firing line when it is their so called assistants that are causing the problems. These are not marginal calls like the 1966 World Cup final. They are clear to the naked eye. So we go back to the FA. There is not a match in England that is not covered by some form of broadcaster. Therefore there is a camera at nigh on every match. In my view the FA needs to show some balls and introduce a referral system. Each team gets say 1 referral to an official with replay facilities. Whether he is in the stadium or outside in a broadcast truck but you don't physically see the third umpire in cricket yet you see his decisions. As long as you limit the amount of time the referrals take is it really going to slow the game up to much. When you have matches that have 6 or 7 minutes of injury time as it is. So I call the FA for once to show some spine, show us the FA have balls and make our FA an association to be proud of once again. Try test runs in next seasons Carling Cup. One video referral per side with a limit of say a minute to 2 minutes. The equiptment is in place, it only needs a man, a TV screen and a replay or two. Written by Wesley Hillier @armchairstato.blogspot.com

Armchairstato.com: Which managers will be at their clubs next season?...

Armchairstato.com: Which managers will be at their clubs next season?...: Usually all the talk towards the end of a Premier League season is which players are moving where. However this seaason I think it could be ...

Which managers will be at their clubs next season?

Usually all the talk towards the end of a Premier League season is which players are moving where. However this seaason I think it could be one that sees the biggest movement in managers. Arsene Wenger continues to defy what is possible when you concentrate on youth but even the great man knows you need a sprinkle of experience in any successful side. Should Robin van Persie leave this summer and Jose Mourinho leave Real Madrid then Wenger might find that challenge to much to turn down should the Spanish giants come calling. Alex McLeish hasn't won over the Villa Park faithful. Financial constraints, key injuries and the recent news surrounding club captain "Stan" Petrov, have all conspired against him this season. All these things cannot overshadow that Aston Villa are a weekend or two away from being sucked into the relegation dog fight and at the moment other teams down there are in better form. It wouldn't surprise me if McLeish was replaced before next season. Some may think I have launched a season long attack on Steve Kean but nothing could be further from the truth. I just don't like the man. How anyone, even his deluded self can say Blackburn are in a better position than when Sam Allardyce was unceremoniously replaced at Ewood Park. The longer the season has gone on the more it seems it's about him and not the team. Granted a couple of decent results have made an average manager look better than he is but with 7 games to go his team still sit in the relegation zone. Maybe it's incriminating photographs he has of the owners or something but I really hope my Match of the Day viewing is minus Steve Kean next season. Owen Coyle is a popular man and he has galvanised his squad since the Fabrice Muamba ordeal. The biggest surprise to me is that Bolton find themselves in trouble in the first place. I think they will get out of it and Coyle is one manager who will be at the same club next season. Has Roberto Di Matteo really performed wonders in his brief spell in charge? He has won one decisive game, the second leg against Napoli. The FA Cup tie against Birmingham was a match they should of won anyway. I've no doubt they probably will beat Benfica in the Champions League but will they beat Barcelona? I've my doubts as to whether or not they will even beat Tottenham in the FA Cup semi final. Di Matteo might start next season but I don't see him lasting a whole campaign. David Moyes has to be the most under appreciated manager over the last 10 years. Not only does he manage to survive on a limited budget but he also has a good record of bringing players through from lower divisions. He is also a loyal man and unless a really big top 4 or 5 job came up then he will be there again defying the odds at Goodison Park. Martin Jol has enjoyed a decent season. Yes Fulham are flirting down the wrong end of the table but have enough quality not to be sucked into the mire. Keeping hold of the likes of Clint Dempsey and Brede Hangeland will be his toughest test over the summer but I expect Jol to still be at Craven Cottage next season. Kenny Dalgleish's time at Liverpool is up. I was sickened by his orchestration in ridding Anfield of Roy Hodgson and it appears Dalgleish actually isn't any better. His transfer signings have all been unimpressive on the whole and his attitude to the media is disrespectful. He leaves a bad taste in many neutrals mouths and although he will see out the season, he won't be there next year. Roberto Mancini is clearly showing signs of the pressure at Manchester City. He and his team were very public around Christmas saying the title was a foregone conclusion. They didn't count on teams raising their performance against them and in actual fact are lucky to be only 5 points off the top. Mancini is also struggling to keep the dressing room happy with all the egos and the self imploding Mario Balotelli is doing more harm than good at the Etihad. It looks likely for all the outlay pre-season that Manchester City could end the season without a trophy. That's the same team that crowed about winning 4 trophies this season. I don't expect Mancini to be managing in England next season. Sir Alex Ferguson looks like possibly winning his greatest league title. His youngsters have risen to the challenge and have overhauled Man City and don't look like capitulating like their noisy neighbours. Will Ferguson want one final attempt at Champions League glory. Or will he hand over the reigns to a younger man. Could Mourinho or Moyes be ready to fill Sir Alex's shoes. Is the great man ready to give it all up yet. I think we will see one more season from him. Alan Pardew as I have continually maintained deserves recognition for where he has taken Newcastle. An unpopular choice when appointed, he now lives a god like status amongst the St. James Park faithful. They deserve a run in next seasons Europa League and regardless how their season finishes, Pardew will still be their manager next season. Paul Lambert is the first of two highly respected newcomer managers in the league this year. His Norwich team are quite attractive to watch and he has built a real team ethic there. Obviously the second season is the test for newly promoted clubs but Lambert will still be Norwich manager. Mark Hughes doesn't come across as a Championship manager. Queens Park Rangers have home matches against Swansea, Tottenham and Stoke which they have to win. An away match at West Brom is a game where there are points to be played for. They also have away matches against Man United, Man City and Chelsea. If Hughes can achieve 3 or 4 wins and nick a draw here or there they might just be safe. I'd like to think if QPR did go down he would stay and bring them back up. I think Hughes will stay there and rebuild his reputation. Unless the unthinkable happens and the FA offer Tony Pulis the England managers job, he is another who will stay in charge of Stoke next season. Infact I think the only job he would seriously consider leaving the Britannia for is the Welsh National Team. Martin O'Neill is another manager who will start next season at Sunderland. He has worked wonders there since taking over and with a little cash to spend next season could really push for a European position. Brendan Rodgers is another manager who is safe with his job. He has put together an impressive side and keeping hold of them all will be a test. Also the second season syndrome will be interesting but he won't change his ethics and Swansea are another decent team to watch. Harry Redknapp will stay at Tottenham if they secure Champions League football I believe. Why would he want to give up one of the most exciting teams we have seen and swap it for the drudgery of the England managers job. However if Tottenham do lose out then he might be tempted to have a crack at the Euros but I don't think Redknapp is a long term candidate. I expect him to still be Tottenham manager next season. Roy Hodgson is a manager I have respected over many years. He seems to do well wherever he goes and I still maintain he wasn't given a fair crack at Liverpool. He had a want away Fernando Torres and some of his signings have since been sold to improve rival teams. West Brom won't want him to leave and I don't see him doing so. Roberto Martinez has had an aura about him all season that has suggested if Wigan did get relegated he would stick by them. That wasn't a negative approach, just realism as to how much a fight it was going to be this season. It won't be easy with Wigan facing 4 out of the top 6 before now and the end of the season but I think Martinez will stay regardless. Terry Connor is one who will be gone. I don't see anyway for Wolves to survive and the heirarchy must be regretting allowing Mick McCarthy to leave. It will be hard to see Wolves bouncing back but I do think Connor won't be given the chance to try. Written by Wesley Hillier @armchairstato.blogspot.com

Armchairstato.com: US Masters contenders

Armchairstato.com: US Masters contenders: It's the weekend that always makes me think that spring is here. Watching the climax to a great weekends golfing action on the world best go...