Norway 0 - 1 England

Norway 'Stay' 1 - 0 down to England

Stay was the Norwegian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest and Stay was the word coming from Egil Olsen in the Norwegian dugout. England went one goal to the good thanks to a sublime Ashley Young finish and Norway stayed put for the remaining 80 minutes.

Roy Hodgson’s men lined up quite defensively with Andy Carroll playing as the sole striker. Carroll's aerial prowess was ever-present as it took just four minutes for Carroll to get overexcited heading wide of the mark. Gerrard was rock solid in the centre of the park for the opening 20 minutes, but began to give away possession cheaply as the half wore on. At the stroke of half-time it was a routine substitution that saw Gerrard give way to Gareth Barry.

Barry, whose fitness had come into question, lasted little more than 25 minutes. Barry was replaced by Jordan Henderson after complaining of strain to the groin.

Young subbed for someone younger

The other substitution of note was Young leaving the field to be replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain who made his fiery debut. Oxlade-Chamberlain made some exciting runs but without an end product. It was Young, who perhaps didn’t have the pace of Oxlade-Chamberlain but did have the experience to finish. This was the difference between the two players.

Young’s goal came about from a good old fashioned long ball over the top. Young ran to the edge of the penalty area and placed the ball onto his right foot ready to score. Young had us all fooled including the Norwegian defence. He skipped past his man and dribbled the ball into the box, his finish was struck left footed and into the far corner. This made it 6 goals for Young and 1 – 0 to England. The game looked set to be a rout from here on out, but no man in a changed blue England strip could double the tally.

Robert Green, who hadn’t played for England since his famous day against the USA, will grow in confidence after springing together a few good saves and earning England a clean sheet. Rob Green will certainly come up against stiffer opposition should he pick up a cap in Euro 12. As for the opposition, the best routine of the night to come out of Norway came from Tooji and his backing dancers.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOdRFtwTzb8 

England: Green, Jones (^Kelly), Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Parker (^Walcott), Gerrard (^Barry (^Henderson)), Milner, Young (^Oxlade-Chamberlain), Downing (^Pacman Johnson), Carroll

Norway: Jarstein, Hogli (^Ruud), Demidov, Hangeland, Riise, Tettey (^Jenssen), Elyounoussi, Henriksen (^Berisha), G Pedersen (^Grindheim), Braaten (^Huseklepp), Moa

Goals

England: Young

Man of the Match: Tooji

He didn't play, but then again, neither did the Norwegians.

QPR 'Stars' Sign New Contracts

Why QPR can’t become a successful club

Take note of the absence of a question mark from this headline. This is a statement of fact as opposed to any inquisitive journey. But before we look at the lack of QPR ambition, to fully understand the extent of the damage we must first look at how successful clubs operate.

Where better to start than with the Premier League champions? Manchester City enjoyed their best season since the Rolling Stones were number 1, Mark Hughes was in nappies and anyone saying Mancini would have been greeted with, “bless you.” And in this fantastic season you’ll have fond memories of the hardworking midfield general Owen Hargreaves.

No? Don’t remember Owen Hargreaves?

He came on as sub when Man City were 4-1 up against Villa. No? Still nothing? Well, that’s sort of my point. Owen Hargreaves had a silently quiet season and it’s no surprise that you couldn’t recall his efforts. Again, it’s unsurprising that after managing just one league appearance in a City shirt that he would be released come the end of the season.

Moving swiftly onto the red half of Manchester and their injury-prone star. The quick-witted readers will see the Michael Owen reference coming a mile off. Michael Owen’s goal scoring record at Manchester United was phenomenal: 18 starts, 17 goals. Come the end of the 2011/2012 season and Michael Owen is released.

Michael Owen released from Manchester United

The reason for Michael Owen’s release was the injuries and resulting lack of fitness. Manchester United couldn’t rely on Michael Owen to crop up with the goods and his release was hardly a surprise. Last season United released Owen Hargreaves and Manchester City snapped him thinking they’d got a bargain. But just as Owen Hargreaves was released the season before, his lack of first team action cited a déjà-vu and Hargreaves became a free agent. Both these clubs recognised the necessity to live without legends in exchange for men who could play 90 minutes.

This brings us awkwardly to QPR. Queens Park Rangers had a less than successful first stint back in the Premier League. They departed company with manager Neil Warnock, put up with Joey Barton and relied on Stoke City to win on the final day of the season to guarantee survival. And so to build on their roaring success of 2011/2012 Queens Park Rangers offer new contracts to a selection of senior players, amongst them Clint Hill, Akos Buzsaky and Kieron Dyer.

Kieron Dyer signs new contract

But as we all know Kieron Dyer made just one league appearance this term. So why would he be offered a new contract? Because QPR are living in hope that Dyer shall regain fitness and recapture his form that earned him his England call-up. Is this going to happen? It’s difficult to say but certainly hard to see. Take a man who has played less games in 5 years than Oxlade-Chamberlain or Michael Owen and it’s big ask to see a turn-a-round now.

So as Manchester City release their 31 year old and Manchester United release their 32 year old, QPR hold onto their 33 year old in the hope (and nothing more than hope) that magic shall happen. Looking to the transfer window and the names City and United attract, it shall be interesting to see who shall be brought in by Mark Hughes.

Why QPR can’t become a successful club? Because to win football matches you need 11 fit players and not a Windows version of Football Manger 2006.

Sailing the Premiership

Football Twitter for Pre-Season

That's right, the start of the Premier League season is ages away. So following my last post, West Ham United will have to wait a little while to join the likes of Reading and Southampton with the Premier League big boys. Meanwhile, the heavys at Sailing the Premiership have got itchy feet of their own regarding their ambitions.

I started out as mere Goal.com live match commentator. Then Keith McLeish asked me to come on board Sailing the Premiership.

But who are Sailing the Premiership?

That's a very good question, my interrupting sub-heading friend. Sailing the Premiership is a live account for the best of the Premier League action - free to access anywhere in the world and no dodgy links in site or in sight. Why settle for live text commentary, when you can have some of Britain's top football commentators streamed straight to your PC?

But just like West Ham United, you'll have to wait for the Sailing the Premiership launch party. Do not fret, however, as our Twitter team (which I am a regular particpant) is ready to build you up to the 2012/2013 Premier League season. Follow us @STPremiership

STPremiership Twitter

My Blog here shall remain active whilst I divide my time between this and Sailing The Premiership (who have Twitter) and I'll be ready for when the pilot comes around. I'll keep you posted with who shall be appearing on the show and I'm pumped to join up with Keith McLeish again.

Back to the present and we've got Huddersfield vs Sheffield United in the League One final this Saturday. Let me know if you want the match report for the game. Leave a comment below... or alternatively did I mention we've got Twitter? @stpremiership

West Ham 2 – 1 Blackpool

West Ham have become the 20^th team to join the Barclays Premier League for the 2012/2013 season.

It was not too much of a surprise to see 2 of the relegated sides in a closely fought playoff final. Similarly it was not too much of a surprise to see West Ham returning to the top flight once again. For 4 of the last 5 years, the team who finished 3rd in Championship has gone onto win the playoffs and Sam Allardyce’s men have made it 5 from 6.

West Ham started of as the brighter of the two teams with Nolan feeding a through-ball to Cole within the first minute. Although this proved unsuccessful in the opening stages, the Nolan-Cole-Connection would prove vital in dying embers.

Blackpool played an attacking 4-2-1-3 formation with Stephen Dobbie in the hole. Dobbie was a constant pest and struck from close range less than five minutes played. Rob Green did turn it onto the post as Dobbie grew in confidence as the game progressed. Dobbit could’ve even been considered greedy not finding a pass after leaving 2 West Ham defenders for dead.

Not to be outshone by Dobbie’s dribbling skill, Blackpool wideman Matt Phillips showed off dribbling finesse and finished with Blackpool’s first shot on target. Moments later, West Ham full-back, Demel, misjudged the bounce of the ball and Matt Phillips pounced on the mistake. M Phillips turned Winston Reid on the spot to get his shot away which fizzed past Robert Green’s goal when we all expected better.

West Ham had to wait just under the 20 minute mark for their first shot on target which came courtesy of a Matt Taylor effort that Gilks was more than equal to. West Ham favoured the left hand flank for the majority of the game and used Taylor to pump a long ball forward to find Vaz Te. It was one touch football from there with Cole and O’Neill interlinking and returning to Vaz Te to strike wide on Gilks’ right hand post.

West Ham’s first half efforts did not finish in vain. On the 35^th minute Carlton Cole struck. Matt Taylor ran for 70 yards after taking the ball off of Ince, his beautifully floated ball went over the head of Ian Evatt and Carlton Cole finished from 10 yards.

At half-time it was West Ham 1 – 0 Blackpool.

West Ham vs Blackpool

The second half didn’t take long to get started. Matt Phillips’ huge ball over the top to Ince was inch perfect. Ince’s first touch of the half found the back of net in a very similar situation to the West Ham goal of the first half.

With the scores level Blackpool came into their own and even centre-back Baptiste got in on the action attempting to chip Rob Green. His effort wasn’t a poor one and it required a goal-line clearance.

For the opening quarter-hour of the second half, Blackpool were in the ascendancy and it took a while for Gilks’ to be called into action. Gilks’ was eventually awakened by Cole as his turn and shot stung his hands a little.

Demel was forced to leave the pitch on 56 minutes and was replaced by Faubert. Although this decision was forced it brought about a tighter marking for Blackpool’s wingers. Faubert remained tight on Ince and he fizzled out of the match.

With Ince occupied and Kevin Phillips not performing to his highest standards, it fell to Dobbie. Literally. Eardley’s cross bobbled nicely to an unsuspecting Dobbie, but Dobbie couldn’t convert. Within moments, a corner kick bobbled nicely to an unsuspecting Matt Phillips, his effort was on target and it was another goal line clearance.

With the game looking in Blackpool’s favour, they chose to bring on Sylvestre at the expense of Kevin Phillips. Sylvestre’s passing looked exceptional as Blackpool completed a 20 pass move that concluded with Dobbie firing to the bottom left corner. Rob Green reminded us why he was selected for England as he pushed the effort round the post.

Speaking of posts, with just 10 minutes left to play, Kevin Nolan hit the woodwork. An attack from the left hand side resulted in a floated ball that Nolan smashed on the volley. Gilks’ was lucky to get a fingertip to it, but a fingertip was enough to turn it onto the crossbar.

Dobbie could’ve had a hattrick! An okay freekick isn’t enough to win playoff finals and an okay freekick it was. Plenty of swerve and Rob Green did scramble to get it, but it was on the floor and never had real pace.

And just as the game looked a ‘dead cert’ to get into injury time a penetrating attack from the left flank brought about a rare Nolan cross which got to Cole who had to battle with Crainey and Gilks to turn the ball into Ricardo Vaz Te’s path who smashed home the winner.

West Ham Playoff Winners 2012

It was 12 goals for the season for the West Ham number 12 and more than enough to see Blackpool out for just 3 more minutes. Ian Holloway immediately made a double substitution and even ran for the ball to take a throw-in a few seconds quicker. Holloway’s efforts were futile as the Hammers march on with the aim to start Sailing the Premiership next season.

In a day where the Champions of Europe is decided, we experience the first ever £1m non-league signing. Added to that, Sir Trevor Brooking watches West Ham return to the Premiership, it truly is a joy to be watching football in 2012.

Vaz Te may be the number 12 who scores 12 in 2012, but next season the only Hammers player you can expect to score as many as his shirt number is Robert Green… and even that’s optimistic.

West Ham: Green, Taylor, Reid, Tomkins, Demel (^Faubert), O’Neill (^McCarthy), Noble, Nolan, Collinson, Cole, Vaz Te

Blackpool: Gilks, Crainey, Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Ferguson, Angel Martinez (^Dicko), Dobbie (^Bednar), Ince, K Phillips (^Sylvestre), M Phillips

Goals

West Ham: Cole, Vaz Te

Blackpool: Ince

Man of the Match: Carlton Cole

Carlton Cole held the ball well and made the most of West Ham’s potent left wing. Getting his name on the scoresheet will put him in Hammer folklore like Bobby Zamora.

Why Children Don't Grow-Up Supporting Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish ...

Mr. Liverpool Football Club, King Kenny, however you want to describe the football manager - Kenny Dalglish truly epitomises what Liverpool football club is all about.

Or at least what they used to be about winning league titles and European Cups like there was no tomorrow. Children would grow up wanting to be just like their heroes. Those children who grew up in the 70's and 80's are in their 40s and 50s now.

I was born in 1991 and that makes me 21. I'm old enough to drive. I'm old enough to vote. I'm old enough to drink. I'm old enough not to be challenged for alcohol. I'm old enough to go into those specific clubs for specifically over 21 year olds (which by the way are definitely employing ladies under that 21 mark).

Strangely, I'm not old enough to have a Liverpool league title in my lifetime. But the television keeps telling me how people grow up supporting Liverpool. There weren't any Liverpool fans in my class!? I remember there being a boy in the year above who was nicknamed Robbie Fowler, but that's because he wore a plaster on his nose.

Still, I'd watch Match Of The Day with my Dad and my four big brothers who'd tell me that Liverpool are a good side who've been winning things for years; "Oh yes," I'd say to them, "Liverpool win loads." As I watch Michael Owen score a hattrick whilst Liverpool still fail to beat Sheffield Wednesday.

"They're the best." I'd say to fit in. Followed by, "They're a top side." Followed by, "Liverpool are a top four side." Followed by, "Liverpool will get into Europe easily." Followed by, "Hang on a minute, I'm sixteen and this is getting a little bit silly now."

Fowler had left, Owen had left and Gerrard was debating moving to a bigger club. Gerrard wanted to move to a bigger club. This wasn't the same Liverpool I knew growing up? TV kept telling me that Liverpool was bigger than sliced bread, but I'd always had sliced bread and I was fed up of that 'n' all. Gerrard never did leave and as he aged so did the club's ability.

Fastforward just a few more years and Kenny Dalglish is appointed as manager back at Liverpool. Suddenly the same clips are showed to me with a grainy picture that makes my Dad pull on his glasses. Finally the glory days are back to Liverpool again. Suddenly I'm 7 years old again, but I still don't have any Liverpool fan numbers in my Blackberry.

Supported clubs in my phone book

Something I do remember growing up is wanting to be Alan Shearer and how Kenny Dalglish masterminded that Blackburn Rovers team to the league title. After Kenny left the team fell to pot, I remembered that too. Everything started to fall into place now, of course Dalglish could bring Liverpool up the league table. Of course he sells that floaty Spaniard even if he is the top goalscorer. King Kenny remembers how to win a league title... with a rock hard centre-forward Geordie! What could possibly go wrong?

Let me tell you what can possibly go wrong. It's 2012 not 1990. Kids growing up are getting pretty fed up of hearing about Liverpool Football Club and the glory days. Did you like listening to your parents bang on about the war? No I guess not, but you sat and you listened because it was the polite thing to do. "And you should have been grateful to." And I bet you were.

But at no point did your Uncle Buck ever say to you, "Kids who grow up today know to run and hide in their Anderson shelters." Because that would make no bloody sense; because the war is over. So don't tell me that kids grow up wanting to support Liverpool Football Club, because they don't. Because it is over!

As I said in the opening paragraph Kenny Dalglish truly epitomises what Liverpool football club is all about and it is about time he stopped drawing games and start drawing his pension.

So dearest press, old people and 'football experts' please stop telling me that kids grow up supporting Liverpool because I experienced growing up more recently that you have and quite simply... you're wrong.