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oxshottphil

Listed below are comments made by oxshottphil between Thursday, 13th August 2009 and Saturday, 19th September 2009.

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Ferguson talk must please Man City 7:09pm on 19 Sep 2009 Ferguson took the time to have another cheap shot at Carlos Tevez in the build up to this game. Win or lose on Saturday, Hughes is correct. MUFC are weaker than last year. Ronaldo and Tevez have not been replaced. Scholes and Giggs have grown older. Van De Sar is one step closer to retirement, without an obvious solution being put in place. Not so great from, supposedly, the best manager in the Premiership.
Capello can plot World Cup glory 1:07pm on 10 Sep 2009 I think last night was the first time in ages I've watched England play an important match and could relax. It all seemed so easy, so under control, so inevitable. Just as well Lampard and Gerrard cannot play together, or the score would have been 10-0.

Seriously though, watching Capello on the touch line was quite revealing. At times he was really animated, stressed and gesticulating violently, indicating that all was still not as he would have wanted or had instructed. He knows the serious work starts now, if England are to have any chance of overcoming the current super powers of world football when they meet in South Africa.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are changes prior to the start of the tournament. James, Ferdinand, Hargreaves and Joe Cole will all come into the reckoning, if fit. Walcott will be there too. That is half a team, more or less, and a change in personnel will almost inevitably mean a change in tactics. As things stand at the moment, I have as much chance of making it to South Africa as Michael Owen. He is looking more and more like yesterday's man and I agree with you, Phil, that Beckham is not even an automatic choice for the squad. Nor should he be. The future is speed and thrust on the right in the form of Lennon or Walcott. Beckham will only make it based on sentiment, which is not Capello's strong suit.
Bilic barbs inspire Capello 2:51pm on 09 Sep 2009 We (England) will qualify for SA2010, irrespective of what happens tonight. We (England) will do well to reach the qtr finals once there. That should be regarded as success, not failure. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Capello has nothing to prove and has already done enough to justify both his appointment and continued tenure in the role of manager.

Just thinking back to Sven, England progressed to tournament finals and could easily have won Euro2004. Had they managed to get past Portugal at the semi-final stage, they could have and probably would have beaten Greece in the final. Arise Sir Sven and with it the freedom of the country. As it is, he has to make do with some Nottingham night-spots. Ah well - nobody could ever accuse him of not scoring!
Bilic barbs inspire Capello 11:08am on 09 Sep 2009 Johnson and Lennon are the likely starters down the right. They have probabaly earned this right. They are both relatively young and have impact in the final third. Unfortunately, they are not well endowed defensively and have not been together long enough to have developed any sense of working in tandem. Bilic knows this and so does Capello. Bilic must feel he can get in behind them and will hope to exploit the inability of any keeper currently at our disposal to dominate his area and field crosses confidently. Hopefully, Capello will look to counter this without Terry and whoever being dragged out of their central position to provide cover down the flank. This is the key tactical area as far as Bilic is concerned and any success is likely to be generated in that area. England need to dictate the play, keep possession and give Croatia limited opportunites to exploit any apparent weaknesses. England are at home, Croatia are missing key personnel, it should be a no-brainer for an England win - much the same as Murray v Cilic.(Hang on, he's Scottish)
Real deals put La Roja in the shade 11:47am on 08 Sep 2009 If you want to get coal from the mine, you have to use pit ponies. Thoroughbreds alone cannot manage it - somebody should tell Perez because he clearly hasn't got the message and the mine hasn't been producing for some time.
Defoe makes case for England start 2:01pm on 07 Sep 2009 Post 140 - footballandethics

Good name - not sure the two mix. I can assure you I am a football watching man. I even use two eyes to do it!!

My post made no direct comparison between Heskey and Defoe. In fact, my post did not even advocate using, or state a preference between, Heskey and Defoe. It expressed bemusement as to why certain players, Heskey in this case, are automatic selections without apparently achieving much. Since you clearly prefer the dynamisn of Defoe to the plodding Heskey, guess we can at least agree on that much.

You should be careful, however, not to mention Greaves in your analysis. I seem to recall he was pushed aside by the Hunt/Hurst partnership in the cause of team solidarity by SAR, so being a natural finisher is not, in itself, enough. Ask Fowler and, to a lesser extend, Ian Wright, neither of whom were given much of a chance to shine for England. Perhaps Defoe is destined to go down the same route, although I would say it is not really appropriate to mention him, as yet, alongside Lineker, Greaves, Fowler and Wright. Hence the comment about lacking pedigree.
Defoe makes case for England start 09:47am on 07 Sep 2009 England's striking options are on a par with England's middle order in another spherical pursuit. You simply have to wonder why certain names are an automatic shoe-in having regard for what they have actually achieved. For Heskey read Collingwood - dependable and popular team man who doesn't trouble the scorers overmuch. For Defoe read Bopara - suddenly promoted to be a "world beater", but without the pedigree. For Rooney read KP - if he fails the whole thing comes off the rails. As for Capello, he has done well with quite limited resources and probably prays every day that his run of good fortune will continue.
A glimpse of life after Freddie 10:23am on 22 Aug 2009 Yesterday, on 606, I made the observation - "One of the bowlers, but preferably all, has to get amongst them from the word go. The wicket seems to be breaking up already and they really are not that special, so it can be done." Thank you Stuart Broad and, to a slightly lesser extent, Graham Swann, for making that a reality.

There will be a result in this match, so for England to lose from here and not regain the Ashes is almost unthinkable. The fact that it can even be contemplated reveals that everything is far from rosy in the garden. If Trott can steady the ship with Strauss this morning, a big enough lead should be established to go on and win. In the process, Trott will probably have secured a middle order role for the next series. With the return of KP, three of the top five will be shoe-ins for the foreseeable future. Pity, therefore, that they are all exiles from SA.

The questions remain, however, as to what to do with Bell, Collingwood, Bopara and, belatedly, Cook. Each has their advocates, but continued failure says more than prognosis of great promise yet to be delivered. In my opinion, Bell's first innings has contributed immensely to the prospect of a victory in this final test. It is such a shame, therefore, that his second has contributed to the lingering doubt that the Aussies can still come back.

As for Collingwood, doggedness is not enough to warrant automatic inclusion and even captaincy of the limited over side. Cook is still young enough to put things right by working on his technique. Bopara seems to be most people's hope for the future, so it is important that he is not exposed at #3 and exercises his swash-buckling, avant garde approach from lower down the order where he will come up against tired bowlers, bit part bowlers, older balls and can make an impact with the bat.

Even the bowling presents selectorial headaches. Broad is clearly part of the way forward, but he is not yet the finished product and cannot be expected to repeat yesterday's performance on a regular basis. Swann has ousted Panesar and is likely to be around for a while. Anderson has his days and has done enough to be persevered with. Two of the five on display, however, are probably about to be committed to history. Harmison was, in case anybody has forgotten, the best bowler in the world, but yesterday it was not obvious he was even at the Oval. Freddie can retire from the test arena with legendary status, which may or may not be thoroughly deserved. So there is a void to fill and it is perhaps the biggest void of all - a strike bowler. Somebody to terrorise the opposition. Somebody to take wickets with the new ball and the second new ball. Somebody to polish off the tail. Those currently waiting in the wings do not meet these criteria,

Who would want to be an England selector at this time. To wake up this morning aware that England stand on the threshold of regaining the Ashes, without comprehending how they have been able to reach such an improbable position, bearing in mind how things looked at 14.00 on Friday.
England batsmen fail again 10:42am on 21 Aug 2009 "recidivists" - steady on man. This is a blog on cricket, not University Challenge.

As for lapsing back into criminal behaviour, this would be true of the English middle order, but for the fact that they are serial offenders who seem incapable of re-habilitataion.
Ramps for The Oval? 09:55am on 13 Aug 2009 Comparing Ramps to, "the summer's other great sporting comebacks with Tom Watson, Michael Schumacher and Lance Armstrong"

More like when I turned out again for the local pub team after a six year absence !

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