A fine tradition continued

A couple of months ago on this blog, I described what I termed "The Reading Way". Summing it up succinctly, I put it that each club has their own way of doing things and going about their business. Part of the Reading way was to put their fans through the wringer and to induce despair wherever possible.

As a result for all the last day heartbreak whether it was in regard to relegation battle failures (Derby '08) or play off final calamities ('95 or '01), Reading fans had developed a kind of self defence mechanism of refusing to believe that success was around the corner as the Reading way is to promise you that success but then have it snatched away at the very end.

This phenomenon is well explained here over at the wonderful Tilehurst End blog, examining the differences in the hopes that different generations of Reading fans had for the game yesterday. Broadly speaking, those fans who had been to Wembley or Cardiff before were much more pessimistic about our chances than those who hadn't. Once bitten and all that.

However, I'm sure even those fans that suffered the twin heartbreaks of Bolton and Walsall, were drawn into believing that maybe, just maybe, the mother of all play-off final comebacks was on when Matt Mills smashed home his header to make it 3-2 with 25 minutes to play yesterday afternoon.

However once again, the Reading way was in evidence. Even the most pessimistic of fans was drawn into the tantalising story arc that we were about to put away all those horrible play-off memories in the most glorious way possible. The optimists and the pessimists, the new fans and the old, the wet-behind-the-ears and the grizzled-seen-it-all-'super'fan' were united in this searing new found belief that the comeback was on.

But the Reading way was reasserted, the hope was taken away. Perhaps it was the moment Jem Karacan's deflected shot cannoned off the post and Noel Hunt couldn't stick away the rebound. Perhaps it was the slow reassertion of themselves on the game by Swansea after Darren Pratley came on. It was certainly the ball hitting the back of the net for that fourth Swansea goal. Whatever time it was, the faintest of faintest hopes that Reading generated in those 20 minutes after the break, was snatched away, leaving the game to be filed under 'Play-off misery'; the right post of the West stand Wembley goal was destined to join Tony Rougier's head and Stuart Lovell's right boot in the Reading FC play-off final hall of infamy.

The fairest result was the one which the game ended; we were second best for 70 minutes and made to look very average by a team that were simply better than us both on the day and throughout the season. We were even lucky to finish with 10 men after Zurab Khishanishvilli's foolish trip on Nathan Dyer for the first penalty wasn't punished with a second yellow card. No blame on the referee can be used here. We were done for pace on countless occasions and our inspirations during the second half of the season (Shane Long and Jimmy Kebe) couldn't make their quality show after being successfully shackled by the Swansea backline.

This wasn't the same kind of heartbreak experienced in 1995 or 2001 where we were the better team throughout the season than our opponents and cruel misfortunes of fate snatched away glory. This was a heartbreak built on hope rather than expectation; the hope of an exceptional second half of the season and an exhilarating period of 20 minutes at the start of the second half at Wembley and the hope that a team with whom we, the fans, have a connection with (as so many of the 18 players involved yesterday have developed at the club before our eyes) would get a shot at the Premier League and wouldn't be broken up in the style of so many play-off losers before have.

Perhaps it is our fault for being tempted into believing that the impossible might be made possible.

However, I wouldn't have it any other way. These disappointments are what makes a club and what makes a fan base. The hunger and the drive to avoid feeling that low again. The defeat in Cardiff was followed the next season by promotion; losing out on a play-off place at the end of the 2004/05 season (and seeing a promoted Wigan side celebrate at the same time) arguably made the 106 team in 2006. Taking that feeling and channelling it into something positive; make it happen next year boys and then it's another element to add to the unique 'Reading way'.

On footballing elation

Happiness can come in many different forms and can have different lengths in how long it lasts. Find a fiver? Soon you’ll be cursing yourself for spending it on a couple of pints. Eat a delicious meal? After the last bite, it’s over. The most intense and natural form of happiness, the orgasm? Over before you know it, though the high remains for a while after.

Football is similar but the feeling tends to last longer. A win on the Saturday tends to make your weekend whilst a midweek win makes you go into work happy. The equivalent of the orgasm, in terms of intensity, is promotion; a huge outpouring of emotion in one fleeting moment (no innuendo) that continues to linger throughout the Summer.

Play-offs (and knock-out football as a whole) however are something altogether different; one off games are where beyond happiness occurs (and indeed, beyond sadness). This is the realm of elation and despair; where the pressure is so intense that the sense of relief at the end of it magnifies the emotion felt at the result by 100 times.

When Reading won promotion to the Premier League in 2005/06, it was such a foregone conclusion that there was no pressure when the eventual promotion and winning of the league was confirmed. Sure, the outpouring of emotion at the length of time supporting the club was finally rewarded with top flight football, but this was different, the happiness had already been coming out of every pore as the knowledge that promotion was assured sank in more and more. This was happiness and joy but not the height of emotion, for me anyway.

Promotion or a cup won (or indeed lost) is thus far more emotional and draining than a league being won or relegation occurring, provided these aren’t last day of the season events, the relegation at Derby proving this.

The last time, as a Reading fan, I felt like this depth of emotion was in the aftermath of the 2001/02 season when we played Brentford in, what was essentially, a play-off to see who would get the second automatic promotion spot to Division One; that was elation as the referee blew the final whistle and Reading fans poured onto the pitch of the Madejski Stadium after watching the game on a purpose built big screen.

Tonight was elation as it had the key ingredients of it being a one-off game and the prize being so huge as Wembley is still a wonderful reward by itself. Even being away from home, in a half empty Student’s Union, didn’t dampen the feeling.

What makes the feeling even more intense is  therelatively short period between the play-off semi final and the final, compared to the winning of promotion and playing in the higher tier the next season. Thus, my current feeling oscillates between wondering how ecstatic I’ll be should we triumph but dreading the feeling should we lose. Only time will tell but 12 days is too bloody long nonetheless.

Emphatically Wrong

For the last three months, I’ve been getting large amounts of stick from (in no particular order) my other half, my housemate, my cousin, various other mates for writing off the rest of Reading’s season way back in February.

The jist of my argument was that we were too one-dimensional and reliant on Shane Long, Jobi McAnuff and Jimmy Kebe with the rest of the team lacking creativity and being a bit too workmanlike to sustain a promotion challenge. Cue us going on an unbelievable run at the end of the season, with one defeat in 15 games catapulting us into the play offs.

Despite this, I still had the feeling that we weren’t quite good enough and that we were going to be found out at some stage by teams who would double mark our wingers and stop the service to Long thus neutering our attacking threat. Perhaps it was some sort of self-defence mechanism to not be allowed to believe that we had a chance to get promotion through the play-offs. After all, four times bitten, very much shy by now.

After tonight, one can’t help but think that this view was completely wrong. Tonight was the perfect away performance; this generation of Reading fans equivalent of THAT away day at Prenton Park where Tranmere were blown away three goals to nothing by Nogan, Lovell et al in the glorious 1994-95 season.

Spectacularly solid at the back, barring some scares, and devastatingly effective on the counter attack, one could not have asked for more from this team. Cardiff looked to collapse under the pressure of their own fans and their play-off history whilst this Reading team rose magnificently to the occasion; even with a full back at right wing and three of our four first team wingers absent.

From back to front, there were standout performances aplenty. Adam Federici dealt with everything that came at him, although most of it was indeed, straight at him. Zurab Khishanishvilli and Matt Mills, particularly the latter, had the dangerous Cardiff front pair in their pockets all game long. Jem Karacan and Mikele Leigertwood harried, hassled and if you will be hard pressed to find a blade of grass on that pitch not covered by one of them. Jobi McAnuff and Shaun Cummings, were exactly what they needed to be; willing to help out their full backs and providing a threat on the break, capped off by McAnuff’s superb coup de grace. And what to say about Shane Long? The man has simply been a revelation this year and his first goal showed the new class and composure he has found in front of goal and his penalty showed his guts and bottle. As in the first leg, he single handily terrorised the Cardiff defence, particularly the experienced Kevin McNaughton.

But the most important component is the manager. Pulling a play-off position out of a shoestring budget has been nothing more than a miracle but let’s not focus on the politics of it all. The team spirit imbued in this team is exceptional, has could be seen at full time whistle. Like in 2005/06, this is a team that generally cares about one another and this makes them more than the sum of their parts. The combination of academy graduates and experienced pros have gelled well together and the lack of a genuine superstar probably helps too. It is this spirit and probably lack of fear from the younger players that gave the team the edge over the frightened-looking Cardiff team.

So, ahead of the final? Despite myself, after tonight, I’m starting to believe that this team is the real deal. The grit and talent shown tonight says to me that this team has a chance in 12 days time but, come what may, this team has exceeded all expectations this season and it is testament to what McDermott has built that our season is still alive.

Questions remain despite the fine

As the players, staff and fans of Queens Park Rangers rightfully celebrate their Championship victory, the club have also confirmed that the FA has fined them £875,000. This is as a result of the news the FA confirmed earlier today that the club have been found guilty of two of the seven charges aimed at QPR and their Chairman Gianni Paladini.

Thankfully, the Chairmen of both Swansea City and Cardiff City have both confirmed that they have no intention of appealing the decision which will allow the Championship play offs to go ahead as planned with no appeals process delaying the games.

This confirmation hints that the FA have made the correct decision as both clubs feel it is not worth pursuing the matter.

Two pertinent questions remain however. Number one, why did the FA release this information on the morning of the last day of the Championship, 45 minutes before kick off? Something dramatic must have happened between Friday afternoon (when the decision was meant to be announced but was delayed) and Saturday morning for the information to be released at this time. What or who forced the information out at this time?

And secondly, at what point will the FA announce what rules QPR have been found guilty of breaking? Will these be swept under the carpet on a day to break bad news?

The importance of this is not to be underestimated as the regulations that the club broke (explored here last week http://www.footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/2011/5/1/what-to-do-with-a-problem-like-faurlin.html) have either been broken before by other clubs in the past and so have precedent when it comes to judgement or the charge of covering up the third-party ownership when it came to registering Faurlin which can be seen as the most important, has never been broken before so the ramifications are huge for the future.

The fact that the punishment QPR have received is a fine hints to me that the charges they have been found guilty of is related to third party ownership as this is the same punishment West Ham received for the Tevez & Mascherano affair.

Should this prove not to be the case, when the announcement of which charges QPR have been found guilty of comes around, the ramifications for the future is huge as it may lead to claims alleged at the FA of hypocrisy should precedent for rule breaking not being followed.

We probably haven't heard the end of this.


 
In other news, a story explored in this column a couple of weeks ago regarding Birmingham City and the possibility of their place in Europe being taken away from them has been resolved.

The issue came from an independent audit all Premier League clubs must take part in as a result of the Portsmouth situation last year. Birmingham's auditor stated concerns about the ownership structure of the club and the club's recent share activities.

The most recent one of these activities was a share release with a deadline of this month that was meant to raise £17.3 million. The share release appears to have made £3.63 million, dropping the club's owner, Carson Yeung, stake in the club from 24.9% to 23.3%. Yeung put in an extra £4 million earlier this week but this would still appear to leave a £10 million hole in the finances aimed to be raised from the share release. Yeung also revealing the club's debt stands at £27.7m.

The issue appears to have been resolved with the club being granted its licence to play in the Europe League but this observer wonders how a club's ownership structure can appear clearer after the club's owners % of the shares has dropped.


 
And finally, news from the south of Wales where Cardiff City and Swansea City are set to change the way in which Welsh clubs are governed.

Historically, Welsh clubs have been dealt with the FA of Wales when it came to both on field and off field regulation but this looks set to change with the two Championship sides looking to submit themselves to the powers of the FA.

The issue comes from the Welsh clubs playing in English competitions but falling under different disciplinary procedures and different regulations from their English club counterparts. This produces situations (such as earlier this year when a post-match incident occurred in the tunnel between Cardiff and Reading) where English clubs are disciplined faster due to the different processes of the FA and the FAW, thus punishing clubs in different manners.

The actual shape of the reform is yet to be confirmed but it looks as if a peculiar discrepancy in the discipline process in British football looks set to be rectified.


 
This post also appeared on the Football Friends website at http://www.footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/

When does extraordinary in sport become ordinary?

At what point in sport does the extraordinary become merely ordinary in sport? Can it be pinpointed? What are the factors that determine it? How can a seemingly impossible record at one point in time, been seen as the benchmark for average (relatively speaking) not longer than thirty years later? Are there any records in sport that will be forever extraordinary and beyond being broken?

Of course, some achievements in sport will remain extraordinary for the foreseeable future and beyond that, probably until the very end of time itself. Bradman’s batting average, Jack Nicklaus’ record number of golf majors, Just Fontaine’s 13 goals in a World Cup Finals and Rocky Marciano’s undefeated 49-bouts in his career as heavyweight champion of the world. These records are so exceptional it would take a rare combination of genius talent, longevity and luck to beat them.

However, the only reason, for example, that Nicklaus’ record remains is because of the implosion of an extraordinary talent in the shape of Tiger Woods. Woods was on course to smash the 18 golf major titles of Nicklaus but for the damage done to his game after the revelations about his personal life which essentially heightens Nicklaus’ achievement even more for having both the skill and the mentality to achieve what he achieved.

However, that said, who would have thought pervious beacons of human sporting achievement would have been broken? Like the 10 second barrier in the 100 metre sprint. Likewise Roger Bannister’s four minute mile, widely perceived at the time to be beyond the capabilities of the human body. Juan Manuel Fangio’s five Formula One World Championships. Roy Emerson’s record number of tennis Grand Slams. Fred Trueman’s number of Test wickets. All of these landmarks have been broken by, or will be broken by, many different people many times, despite being the benchmarks for excellence in the past.

So does this mean that the original record was that outstanding or merely ordinary? Probably a combination of the two, outstanding in the context of the era in which it was set but it has since been overtaken by a new benchmark for excellence due to a number of factors.

The most primary of these factors is quite obvious as advancements in science and medicine have made their mark on sport over the last thirty years. This has allowed sportsmen and women to reach a higher level of performance for a longer period of time, allowing them to have a longer career and more opportunities to win things.

Despite the increased need to be truly extraordinary to beat opponents who have access to the same benefits of science, the statistics still say speak for themselves at the end of careers and this is compared to performances in the sport in the past. More (or less depending on the sport) equals better, the standard of opposition is not measured in the history books hence the hypothetical arguments such as how good would George Best have been in the modern era of increased protection for talented players or the vice versa of how would Lionel Messi cope in the conditions Best played in. The easiest way to judge and compare the quality of sportsmen and women in a historical context is through statistics as the previously mentioned situations are merely hypothetical. Stats are all we have got.

Perhaps the areas of sport which can be quantified lend themselves to this kind of judgement far easier as comparisons are ready made for the comparer. What about on field sporting achievements? The 30 yard screamer into the top corner of the goal? The six hit back down the ground over the bowler’s head? The perfect try (I don’t know what this would look like, as has been established this blog is not a follower of rugby)? The hole-in-one on a par three?

I would argue this comes down to the regularity of their occurrence and the perceived quality attached to their execution. For example, the 30-yard screamer in football is relatively rare and the better a player is the better the chance he or she can execute the technique consistently and intentionally, therefore more excellence is attached to it. Compare that to a six in cricket which can be achieved by any player with a bit of strength and a good eye and is an increasingly common feature in cricket through Twenty20, ergo, not so extraordinary anymore.

It is through these prisms we perceive what is and what is not exceptional in sport and these prisms are constantly shifting due to factors as wide ranging as scientific and medical advancements to the relative amount of occurrences  of the achievement to own personal value judgements and favouritism based on knowledge of the context in which they are set and/or emotional attachment.

How to solve a problem like Faurlin

Yesterday, or last Saturday if you are one of their fans, Queens Park Rangers won promotion back to the Premier League, ending an absence of 15 years or so. Or will they?

As you may have heard, it's been in the news a little bit over the last week or so, QPR have a FA hearing hanging over them regarding their midfield Alejandro Faurlin and alleged third party ownership. Overall, there are seven regulations the club are charged with breaching, including "providing false information when the player was registered" and making payments to an unauthorised agent.

At the time Faurlin was registered, the Football League had no rules regarding third-party ownership so they passed the case on to the FA who did have regulations in place following the Carlos Tevez affair. Faurlin was registered with the FA, however, the Association allowed QPR to buy out the third-party ownership in January of this year to allow Faurlin to continue to play legally while the case was pending.

This raises the question of how QPR managed to register Faurlin as a player with the FA despite knowing that there was a third party involved in the player's ownership, hence the charge levelled at QPR and Gianni Paladini (the club Chairman) of providing false information to the FA both at the time of Faurlin's signing and his contract extension in October 2010.

There is no precedent for the FA to follow when passing judgement on this case though similar previous incidents can provide context. For example, late last season, Hartlepool were deducted three points and fined £10,000 for fielding an illegible player, Gary Liddle, in a 2-0 win against Brighton, presumably being deducted that number of points due to the victory gained with Liddle in the team. Similarly, earlier this season, Hereford and Torquay were fined three points and one point respectively for both fielding illegible players in the same game, which Hereford won (again, hence the number of points deducted).

These cases show previous punishments for players being registered incorrectly; that the points accrued with the illegible player being deducted, entirely reasonable in the above contexts. As Faurlin has played in 80 games for QPR, if these precedents are followed, the FA would have to deduct all of QPR's points gained, with Faurlin in the team, up until the third party ownership was bought out by QPR in January.

But, fielding an illegible player is not the only rule that has been broken by QPR; the issue of third-party ownership is also in play. The most obvious precedent for this is the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano signings to West Ham United in 2006. The Premier League's decision in 2007, verified and scrutinised by an independent panel, to not dock West Ham points hints that a points deduction for QPR is unlikely. However, a later tribunal related to this case ruled that West Ham would have to pay £5.5 million in compensation to Sheffield United (who were relegated in the season Tevez played for West Ham) as the Hammers were liable for the loss (financial and footballing) suffered by the Blades.

If this is applied to QPR, this could open up a huge can of worms as the 2^nd to 7^th clubs in the Championship could claim that Faurlin's illegibility gave QPR an unfair advantage in finishing first in the league, thus denying other clubs an automatic promotion place or a play off place and the financial loss that comes from this.

Finally, the issue of concealing the true nature of Faurlin's registration to the FA (by hiding his third-party ownership) is a case without precedent for the FA to follow so it will be very interesting to see how this rule breach is judged.

The FA have also shot themselves in the foot by deferring the judgement so late in the season, with the hearing to begin on Tuesday and a verdict being delivered three days later. If the hearing had taken place as soon as possible after the rule breach was noted, as in the cases of Hartlepool, Hereford and Torquay, the ramifications would not be quite so huge as the outcomes of the season (promotion and relegation) would not have been decided already. Furthermore, should a points deduction not occur, the FA will face accusations of 'bottling it' and allowing clubs to break rules with only a fine (a certainty to be imposed in this situation at the very least) to punish them, which is below a slap on the wrist for modern mega-rich football clubs.

For my money, I have a funny feeling the FA are only going to hit QPR with a heavy fine and, possibly, a five point deduction which will look a bit threatening until you realise it basically has no impact on the outcome of where the title or promotion ends up.

The fact that the case involves Neil Warnock, a man who heavily criticised the FA for their handling of the Tevez affair back when he was Sheffield United manager, only adds an extra layer of intrigue to the whole story. Very much a case of watch this space.


 
This post also appeared on the website of Football Friends Magazine www. footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/

The Reading Way

Every football club has a way of doing things in a distinct style that is very specific to their club; many claim they do things with class, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United to name three though class is certainly not something that can be associated with big clubs these days, particularly the way these three intimidate referees, moan in post match interviews and general disrespect for both their opponents and the game itself. Even Barcelona, "mes que un club" and all that, are hardly beacons of all things sporting with play acting being one accusation that sticks.

Coming back from that tangent, where was I? Ah, yes, football clubs have an ingrained style of doing things. Man United, in the Premier League era at least, have a certain panache, on the field at least, when they are playing well, often with dazzling wingplay. Arsenal, under Wenger, have their unique passing style that, when it works, is undoubtedly the easiest style on the eye in English football. Chelsea, in the Abramovich era at least, often ground out results through steel and resolve, with honourable exceptions coming from the early Mourinho era.

These are all general observations from afar. The fans of these clubs will often have their own opinions after seeing their team play so often, particularly with lower league teams who don't get the same media coverage as the top teams. They know what supporting their club is really like.

For example, Reading often get given the tag of playing good football under Alan Pardew/ Steve Coppell/ Brendan Rodgers/ Brian McDermott and being a 'well-run' club with a good Chairman who supports the club financially but does not make them dependant on his cash. From a personal point of view, slight bollocks. Our football is nothing special, at times it is enthralling stuff full of passing and clever players on the wing (think Salako, Little, Kebe etc.) but at other times it has an element of hoofball to it, in keeping with the general standard of football in the second tier. The club is relatively well run with the Chairman putting his hand in his pocket when the club needs it.

But for me, the 'Reading way' is putting their fans through the wringer when it comes to the end of the season. For example, in the 15 seasons I've been supporting Reading, on 11 of those occasions, there has been something to play for on the final day of the season, whether it be the possibility of securing promotion, a play off place, a spot in the UEFA cup, setting a Football League record for points in a season (not quite so important) or avoiding relegation. There has very rarely been an occasion when there has not been something riding on the last game of a Reading season.

Furthermore, success or failure is never completed the easy way, aside from the truly exceptional championship winning year of 2005/06, heartbreak or heat attacks have been the order of the day. Promotion in 2001/02 only followed after a truly terrifying run (in context of course) of nine draws in the last ten games, blowing a huge points lead over Brentford in the process, culminating in a last day trip to Griffin Park where only a late Jamie Cureton goal secured a place in the then Nationwide Division One.

The season before that, after finishing third in Division Two with a team scoring goals for fun, a play off-semi final win against Wigan beckoned. A victory which only came about through a late, late Nicky Forster goal secured a final against Walsall which we contrived to lose only after a clearance from Barry Hunter rebounded off the head of a prone Tony Rougier in to the net from a full 15 yards. What followed on the motorway home, surrounded by coaches full of Walsall fans, still opens up wounds these days.

Relegation from the Premier League in 2007/08? Confirmed despite a 4-0 win at Derby, who promptly celebrated as if they had won the League, Cup and Britain's Got Talent all in one.

2004/05 and 2008/09 saw terrific starts to the season, only for the club's form to come down like the proverbial Christmas decorations in the New Year, leading to the bummiest of bum fights between us and West Ham for the final play off place in 2005 (which they won, both the play off spot and the final itself) and the Andre-Bikey 'inspired' collapse in the play off semis against Burnley in 2009.

So if you want to know the real Reading way, it's knocking a good ten years off your life expectancy through coronaries and infections from bitten fingernails. Which is why my hopes for our play off campaign this season are as high as a straight-edge Catholic priest. As they say, it's the hope that gets you, not the disappointment.

The Managerial Boogieman

Aura in sport performance is a funny old thing. It is rare. It has to be built over time (but how it’s lost is another matter). It comes from the sheer identity a team or person forges for themselves in sport, not the absolute certainty that they will win, but the style in which they will achieve victory. For example, in my era, sportspeople or teams with said aura would be the Australian cricket team, Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher and the developing aura of Usain Bolt. All winners down to the core, all with their own distinct image; remorseless, graceful, ruthless and likeable in that respective order.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes in sport management, aura is a completely different thing. It is different as a manager or a coach does not have the ability to hit the winning run or pass the chequered flag; the vast majority of the job is done before and after the proceedings on the pitch/track/court/track. It is about fostering a winning mentality and spreading it to every corner of the team you manage, in whatever sport. It is about creating a persona that transmits itself to the minds of not only your team, who take strength from it, but to your opponents’ minds who are weakened by it. It is about being an equally good psychologist and strategist. It is about having almost a mythical, otherworldly status about you.

For my money, only one current manager or coach or team director in sport can lay claim to that type of aura. Personally, I would discount coaches in individual sports as so much of the talent comes from the player, the coach is a polisher. Innovators in Formula 1 such as Ross Brawn have fine technical minds and wonderful skills when it comes to building winning machines, but perhaps lack man management of talent. No contemporary cricket coach can be considered (though Andy Flower looks like a possibility for the future) as cricket is a separate entity in that so much rests on the role of a captain in the sport. No team dominates rugby (union or league) enough to have a coach lauded as a genius, besides, I don’t follow rugby to the extent to be able to comment with enough knowledge.

Which leaves football and its long lineage of managers with aura going back through Shankly, Busby, Clough, Paisley to name but four in the English game. Personally, the only manager that has the aura is one Jose Mario dos Santos Felix Mourinho. He has the ability to give any team a winning mentality, seemingly in any language and any country, taking Bela Guttman’s advice at not staying at a club for more than three years to heart. If he rocked up at Northampton Town he would probably turn them into winners. He creates a kind of boogieman image for himself where he diverts all attention, from fans or the media or other managers, on to himself, leaving his team to get on with playing the game, almost like a Ferguson-esque siege mentality taken to its extreme. He takes on all-comers and beats them to confirm his authority, as was confirmed at Real Madrid earlier this year.

Unprecedented success is only part of the aura making but Mourinho’s list of achievements is quite incredible, especially for one only a decade into a coaching career. League titles in Portugal, England and Italy, cups in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, two Champions Leagues, the incredible 150 match unbeaten home record (stretching across nine years and four clubs) and countless manager of the year awards. Probably the one thing lacking on his CV is building a club in the same Wenger as and rebuilding teams in the long term that Ferguson has.

Other managers are up there such as Ferguson or Wenger or Guardiola or Hiddink as they are all winners too but each has their own respective weakness. Wenger? Too flawed with regard to his obsession with youth and failure to recognise his team’s flaws, second to none as a club builder though. Ferguson? All the success in the world, master of rebuilding teams but lacks the otherworldy-ness of Mourinho (perhaps he lacks the mystique as he is not foreign to be honest). Guardiola? Enviously successful but works in an environment that he knows and is his comfort zone. Hiddink? World traveller with success in most countries though more focused on national teams than day-to-day work at club level.

For me, Mourinho is one of the few people in the world, not just in sport, who has an aura to him, as if he doesn’t belong to this world, when I see him talking on TV and I reckon I genuinely would go a bit weak at the knees if I saw him in the flesh. He is the managerial boogieman with the mystical aura.

United@ 9pm Sunday- BBC2- 9 out of 10

Sport holds a position like no other cultural entity in the Western world as it is, at the very same time, the most important and least important activity ever to be conceived. The cynics point out that it is a trivial, banal pursuit, played by usually hugely overpaid ‘stars’ which subjugates and distracts the lower classes in the great class struggle (copyright the Extreme Left). The sportlovers say that is sport has the quality to bring people and communities together in a way nothing else can. They are both absolutely right; a lovely paradox.

Unite comes down on the side of the sport romantics, albeit at a time when sport was less corrupted by money and much simpler to love. The drama centres around Manchester United and the Munich Air Crash in February 1958 and the effect the tragedy had on the city of Manchester, the narrative being told through the eyes of a young Bobby Charlton at the start of his career and the assistant manager of United; Jimmy Murphy, a man history should certainly not forget. The story follows the rise of the Busby Babes in the middle of the 1950s, the tragic accident that tore the team (and nearly the club apart) on the frozen runway at Munich Airport and the miraculous rebuilding of the club in the aftermath of the accident to reach the 1958 FA cup final.

Whilst starting off slowly, this is essential to the overall plot. By showing the emergence of the legendary Babes, through their togetherness as a team and their connection with the people of the city they live in, this adds to the effect of the disaster later on. We see the antics of Charlton, Duncan Edwards and all of the other magnificent young footballers Murphy assembled as they destroy other football teams with boyish smiles on their faces, their post-match evenings out at dancehalls (where Charlton is too shy to ask a girl to dance with him; something of a contrast to the exploits of today’s brand of Manchester United footballer) and the charmingly quaint fact that many of the Babes all live together with a landlady.

As the deep connections between the young team and the city becomes more and more established; one knows the ending of the story will be a heartbreaker but the impact is nonetheless just as hard hitting. The expertly directed and produced scene of the crash is wonderfully put together with a fantastic, eerie, maudlin soundtrack as the clock ticks towards the time of the disaster.

The real stand out performance is David Tennant as Jimmy Murphy, providing the full set of emotions from the inspirational, dressing room orator at the beginning of the emergence of the Busby Babes, to the stiff upper lip in front of the survivors of the crash at a Munich hospital, to his emotional breakdown in the stairwell of said hospital, through to his pride and love for the rag-tag team of survivors, amateurs and loaned professionals he puts together for the last part of the season.

For football bores (much like myself) there are certain annoyances at historical inaccuracies such as the airbrushing out of other important members of the Babes such as Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne (though for the purposes of a 90 minute TV drama this is understandable), the portrayal of Matt Busby as a slightly cold, aloof from the training pitch Scot (though this may have been dramatic licence to build up the importance of Murphy more) and the rather big mistake that Manchester United played Sheffield Wednesday, not Fulham, in the Cup final (though this may…no, that one can’t be explained).

Despite the inaccuracies, this is a wonderful, loving tribute to the exploits of extraordinary men such as Murphy, Charlton, Harry Greig (the United keeper who ignored advice and went back into the fractured hull of the plane to look for survivors), Matt Bubsy (who was twice read the Last Rites before returning to manage United) and others who were involved in one of the tragic events that helped make sport so important to society.

Ruling out new financial regulations

Never in the politics of the governance of football has there been a time when rank hypocrisy has been in evidence. Ok, apart from differing punishments for Torquay and Herford compared to West Ham (regarding Carlos Tevez) for essentially the same crime. And allowing a very rich man with a below par human rights record taking over a club, whilst talking of the Fit and Proper Persons Test. And probably a few other cases too, at least.

Another example has emerged this week regarding Birmingham City and the murky world of football finances. Under new Premier League and FA regulations that were put in place following the fiasco that was the Portsmouth affair, clubs have to undertake external, independent audits of their finances, to be submitted to the Premier League.

By the 1^st March each year, clubs must submit the details of these audits, with notes required from the auditors about possible problems and by the 31^st March, clubs must also submit "future financial information" to highlight any possible funding and stability problems for football clubs in the short-term future. Should a club become a cause for concern, the Premier League can impose sanctions such as a ban on player contracts being improved or extended, the enforced sale of players or a withholding of a licence to play in UEFA competitions, such as the case of Portsmouth in this year's Europa League.

This is where Birmingham City comes in, due to winning the Carling Cup this season. The audits submitted to the Premier League for the club's accounts stated, despite a small profit being made, doubts about the club and its parent company (Birmingham International Holdings) as a "going concern", with the Premier League seeking more information about the ownership structure at the club and the recent share activity.

The holding company released under-written shares (shares that are guaranteed to sell and raise money) back in March which raised £6.8 million and another share release aimed at raising capital occurred recently, which were not underwritten and so not guaranteed to sell. These have so far failed to raise the £17.3 million aimed for and an extension has been made on the offer until May.

However, Carson Yeung, who completed his takeover of the club in 2009, has recently bought a further 8.66% of the shares of the holding company (from an unidentifiable third party due to the company being registered in the Cayman Islands) to take his total to 24.91%. Yeung provided assurances to the Premier League last year about club's financial stability.

The case of for Birmingham City is indeed a bit hazy as any audit that express doubt over a company's ability to function in the future needs to be taken seriously, but here's the rub. Bigger clubs in the Premier League should have far bigger question marks over their financial future but the auditors there do not seem to have raised these concerns.

For example, whilst clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea can cite the whereabouts of their capital, foreign mega-rich owners, this causes problems for the future long-term financial stability of said clubs. If these owners decided to pack up and leave, the resulting loss of income would lead to an inability to pay costs at a club and place the existence of the club at risk. But, these clubs are also the ones which raise most income for the Premier League as they are the biggest worldwide brands in football and thus push up income from TV rights and give the Premier League more clout in Europe by doing well in UEFA competitions, so it would be damaging to them to enforce regulations that combat overreliance on foreign owners.

The new financial regulations of the Premier League should be applauded as they ensure that the ownership of clubs is a little bit more clearer and where investment in clubs comes from. However, it would also appear they only cover a very specific area of the financial affairs of football clubs, their ownership, and not the overdependence clubs have on rich sugar daddies that may very well go spectacularly wrong when the football boom ends.

That said, this blogger can't see Birmingham City being denied a place in the Europe League this season as some compromise will be found to save the PR face of the Premier League or the club's owners will find some accounting way around the regulations.

This post also appeared at http://www.footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/