The writing blog of David Stringer
Over the weekend, an article I’ve written for BornOffside was published. Branching out from my normal area of lower league football, I wrote some all encompassing thoughts about the use of statistics in football.
You can read what I had to say by clicking here for Speaking Statiscally
The latest Lower League Week has now gone live at Born Offside.
In it, I discuss Michael Appleton’s record at Portsmouth, Tranmere beginning to struggle at the top of League One, Bury and Scunthorpe pulling away from the bottom leaving Hartlepool (who’ve just appointed a new manager) behind; belatedly praise Walsall for their good start to the season, chuckle at Rotherham’s heavy defeat, look at Bradford’s record in penalty shoot-outs and listen to Edgar Davids saying a naughty word. It’s a mixed bag of a column.
Click here to read The Lower League Week: Doing a Great Job in Difficult Circumstances
I’ve written an article over at Born Offside this morning. MK Dons were drawn against AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the FA Cup, and, having both won first round replays, the tie will now go ahead at the start of December.
If you’re a football fan you may know why this is a big deal. In 2002 the owners of Wimbledon, in the second tier of Englishfootball, not happy with the decent but not amazing crowd figures, pushed to be allowed to relocate to Milton Keynes, one of the largest towns in the country not to have a professional team.
Unlike in America, ‘franchising’ teams in this way is generally looked down upon, with many Wimbledon fans and neutrals considering their team to have been stolen away.
With the move all but confirmed, Wimbledon fans set up a new side, AFC Wimbledon, with Milton Keynes Dons being born from the carcass of the former club. AFC have been steadily climbing their way through the football pyramid, and now, for the first time, the teams will meet in the FA Cup.
I’ve wrote about the history, recent form of both sides, fans’ feelings, and the implications for both clubs’ seasons and the wider awareness of the conflict.
A new edition of The Lower League Week has just gone up at BornOffside.net.
In it, I cover Tranmere starting to struggle, Sheffield United hitting form, Paolo di Canio whinging, Chesterfield take two months to appoint a manager, Scunthorpe taking less than a day, own goals, a red card, dangerous milk, and a really quite horrific injury.
Click here for The Lower League Week – Starting to get Serious
The latest Lower League Week is now up at Born Offside.
Port Vale and Portsmouth are both on the verge of takeovers, and I’ve been slightly mystified by reports that Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton is the favourite for the Burnley vacancy.
Swindon have replaced their chairman (with a knight who was ambassador to Afghanistan – pretty imperial), Oxford insist on being inconsistent, Hartlepool have parted ways with manager Neale Cooper, and York’s Matty Blair managed to get himself injured by a training ground mannequin.
All that and more can be found in The Lower League Week: Owners and Managers
Seriously. I mean, just take a look at how cool and laid back he looks, even when he’s not leading European teams to continental glory:
There is a sort of reason for the above. Davids has just been named as the Joint Head Coach of Barnet, currently sitting 92nd in the English league structure, whcih I’ve written about for BornOffside in the Lower League Fortnight.
I’ve also covered Peter Ridsdale’s tax dodging, Bournemouth’s surprise managerial appointment, Portsmouth’s secret boardroom history, more accusations of racism (yey, navel gazing!) London Orient, transfer embargoes, and Tranmere’s confusingly good start to the season.
Come this way to read The Manager in the Coloured Glasses
Having not found the time to write a Lower League Week last midweek, a Lower League Fortnight went up at Born Offside yesterday morning.
There seems to have been a lot of managerial sackings, resignations and appointments over the last fortnight, so they dominate the column.
Plus there’s been racial abuse at a football stadium, so for people who can’t get enough of that kind of thing (there seems to be a lot working in Fleet Street) you can read about Hartlepool fans yelling at Marvin Morgan.
Wednesday afternoon the latest edition of the Lower League Week went up… shortly before the announcement of Terry Brown’s departure from Wimbledon, and Mark Robins’ appointment at Coventry. If a week is a long time in politics, an afternoon is apparently a long time in lower division football.
I write about Steve Evans’ latest ban (the Rotherham manager probably has a worse disciplinary record than most midfield enforcers); Tranmere and Andy Robinson’s great start to the season, Coventry’s stadium negotiations, some of the impact of Financial Fair Play, and a transfer from League On to the Conference being delayed because it’s classed as an international transfer.
There wasn’t a clear theme to this week’s edition, so it’s subtitled The ‘I Couldn’t Think of a Title’ Edition.
Since the horrors of Hillsborough and the rebranding of English football under the Premier League logo, the culture of the game has changed dramatically. Football has moved away from the gritty, working man’s game it once was, with players being required to be hyper-drilled athletes, smooth and inoffensive in front of the cameras, in case they accidentally say something that could affect one of the club’s sponsors. This has resulted in an interesting contradiction – there’s never been more ways to interact with players, and learn about their lives, but the truth is often hidden away behind a glass-sheet of superficial perfection.
While of course the game itself is the main draw, getting inside the head of the players we admire, understanding how they push themselves to the levels they do, and what their lives away from the pitch are like, are also more than a little intriguing.
Around two years ago, a footballer began sharing stories of his playing career in a weekly column in The Guardian. To avoid repurcussions, not to mention offending his team-mates and family, this column was published anonymously, under the name of The Secret Footballer.
Last month saw the publication of the player’s autobiography, I Am The Secret Footballer.
A little late, as this post went up on Born Offside on Thursday night.
This week’s Lower League Week focuses on Port Vale, whose financial woes have deepened, with prospective owner Keith Ryder no longer returning the administrator’s calls.
Harry Redknapp returned to football with Bournemouth, di Canio refused to stop talking, Preston have put together a decent run of results, an Oldham player made his international debut against Brazil, and Martin Allen took Gillingham to Barnet, who decided against appointing him manager in May.
Click here for the column in which I ask Where in the World is Keith Ryder?
SciFiFootball 