FA Cup Final - Key Men

With the Fa Cup final a matter of hours away, The Late Flag takes a look at the men who could tip the balance in the FA's showpiece rip-off Wembley Final.

Man Utd


Christiano ‘Winker’ Ronaldo

After Germany 2006 no one could possibly have predicted that in the week's build up to the FA Cup Final we would all be writing about one man - Mr Ronaldo. This season he has been immense in a team hungry for success. Whether it has been his jinking runs, step over ballerina dance or maybe the way he has perfected the art of swerving the ball, he has definitely been worth his weight in gold. His 23 goals in all competitions this season have been the catalyst to Man Utd’s achievements in a year where they were desperately trying to claw the gap between them and Chelsea.

Michael Carrick

I was wondering who to pick between the central pair of Carrick and Scholes until I thought everyone will be writing about the little ginger Manc. For the past few seasons Paul ‘Goals’ Scholes has been lacking in the final third but this season he has performed well because of his central pairing with Michael ‘Im worth £18m now’ Carrick. Many people including myself questioned whether Ferguson had lost his marbles paying so much for an average player. However his passing and creative ability have given the Mancs something to start building their attacks from, which they lacked in previous seasons.

Wayne Rooney

23 goals in all competitions is a decent record for a striker but Rooney isn’t all about the goals, his awareness on the pitch has been able to help him create assists for other team members to finish off. Scoring goals in the Final is all his manager will be bothered about this weekend and Man Utd’s FA Cup could well depend on the capability of Rooney creating something from nothing and scoring a goal worthy of winning the cup alone. It might be one of those games where for 89 minutes it’s a boring 0-0 game and the managers wish that Paul Daniels was on the bench to conjure up something.

Ryan ‘only 9 times’ Giggs

I couldn’t help myself, I tried not to mention the feat of 9 titles but to be fair this man has deserved every major trophy in England maybe even the World. At times Beckham was the main man on the block, but where he was able to hit a ball 40 yards Giggs would run with the ball for 40 yards. His pace and trickery are still something to watch out for and if Jose thinks the Welshman is past it, then I’d think again. Chelsea have had problems at both full back positions this season and expect Giggs (if he gets the nod) to take full advantage of the situation.

Prediction:

Chelsea 2 vs 1 Man Utd
Expect a tight affair where the game could be decided by a moment of brilliance.

Chelsea

Petr Cech

It’s impossible to overstate this guy’s importance. In the era of Cech, the phrase “no goalkeeper in the World would have saved that shot” should now be resigned to the past. Quite simply, Cech could save anything. Obviously he’s not infallible, and will occasionally concede the odd goal, but some of the saves we’ve seen from this man in the last two or three years have been World-class. I don’t think there’s a category above that, but there should be, purely for Cech. If he has a blinder tomorrow, Man Utd won’t score. Barring penalties, that’ll mean a Chelsea victory.

Ashley Cole

Extremely disappointing going forward for Chelsea this season, Cole has undoubtedly improved as a defender. After a shaky start positioning-wise, Cole seems to have matured in a blue shirt, and his roving forward-runs have been curtailed in favour of a more safety-first approach. This will surely work in Chelsea’s favour as he faces Ronaldo tomorrow. If anyone can claim to have the measure of United’s talisman, it may well be Ashley Cole. Blessed with enough pace not to let Ronaldo’s acceleration burn him away, Cole also seems to be aware – almost before Ronaldo is – of exactly where the Portuguese is going. Expect that to be to the floor, hard, within the first few minutes, Ashley likes to make his mark on a player early in a big game.

Joe Cole

Lots of candidates within the Chelsea midfield for someone who can have a huge bearing on the result tomorrow, but bearing in mind we don’t know whether Essien will be playing at the back, Joe Cole gets my vote. The only player in Chelsea’s squad with the real ability to make something out of nothing, Joe Cole on top form is as good a creative midfielder as there is in the Premiership. Pace, skill, delivery, vision – Cole has it all, combined with a great eye for goal. My tip for first goalscorer tomorrow, Cole will be charged with the task of creating opportunities for Drogba, whilst the rest of the Chelsea midfield muddy-up the waters for the likes of Scholes. If anyone in red will be tracking his forward runs from midfield it’s likely to be Michael Carrick, and Kaka will tell you that always gives you a chance. Cole will see lots of the ball tomorrow, Chelsea creating anything of note will rely largely on how well he uses it.

Didier Drogba

A defender’s worst nightmare. Just as comfortable holding the ball up for arriving midfielders as he is at taking on an entire back-four alone, Drogba can do just about anything you’d ask from a striker. Provided he stays on his feet long enough, he can cause United serious problems tomorrow. Great in the air or on the ground, his pace and physical presence could be decisive tomorrow. Questions remain about the consistency of his finishing, but the man really is a big-game player. If Chelsea do well tomorrow, expect Sunday’s headlines to be full of Drogba, they tend to play well as long as he does.

Prediction:

1-0 Chelsea. (Joe Cole)

I expect this one to be very tight, especially in midfield. But with United’s defence not fully fit I expect Drogba to be a real handful. Chelsea’s injury crisis will worry them, but a wounded Chelsea can be the most dangerous kind. They’ll be out for Premier League revenge tomorrow, and I think they might just get it.

Fool's Gold

With figures for this weekend’s FA Cup Final tickets reaching four figure sums on the black market, fans of Chelsea and Man Utd will have to dig deep into their saving funds if they are wanting to enjoy the atmosphere of the first cup final at the New Wembley.

It is clear that £2.50 for a cup of coffee and £4.50 for a meat pie seems to be on the expensive side even with it being in money-grabbing London. However, I believe that they have done it for a perfectly good reason. The FA obviously looked at who was playing and which family members would turn up, looking at the likes of Fat Frank Lampard who would easily go through 5 pies at half time, meaning the FA are well on their way to recouping the money they blew on Wembley in the first place. Wayne Rooney is another one who looks like he could chomp down on a few pies at half time. All we need now is for Fat Sam to be there next season maybe playing against the Worlds fattest man and the FA will be loaded, and can finally pay off Sven.

And we thought the FA wasted our money building the New Wembley……..

Crazy Start to the Silly Season

A Few Premiership Managers Keep Their Jobs

The Late Flag was going to bring you a piece on which manager was likely to get the boot first, either this summer or next season, until Paul Jewell took matters into his own hands and quit whilst we were too busy working to write about it, the selfish b*****d. But that seemed ok, because it threw up even more questions – who’d get the Wigan job? And how would they get rid of Heskey?

Within about 5 minutes though, the job went to Chris Hutchings, a man remarkable only for the fact that no-one had heard of him before he got the Bradford job, and 12 games later never heard of him again. Since he was Jewell’s assistant at Wigan for years (apparently), we’re also fairly sure he quite rates Heskey, so both sides of the Wigan story dried up far too quickly for our liking.

Then Man City came along, and everything went crazy. Stuart u-21 'manager' Pearce was sacked just hours after Jewell’s departure from Wigan, certainly convincing me (if no-one else) that the rather lardy scouser was moving to Manchester. So I got ready to write an article on that, taking an overview of Jewell's time in charge of Wigan, and trying to examine whether his methods could transform Man City into a UEFA Cup team…then Dave Whelan announced to the world that Jewell wanted a break from football. The selfish b*****d. In fact, having inspired – and then aborted – 2 potentially Pulitzer-winning articles, Paul Jewell was my least favourite man of yesterday, going right in ahead of that tw*t on the bus with his mobile on speakerphone.

But this morning’s papers brightened me right up. Literally everyone in the world has been linked to the Man City job today, from Louis Van Gaal and Claudio Ranieri to Paul Simpson and Tony Blair. Only one of those is made up.

Apparently the calibre of appointee will depend on the success of a takeover bid by human rights violator and generally corrupt tosser, ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra. If he gets in, expect his blood-money to entice a big-name European coach. If not, expect a bloody good laugh as the likes of Simpson, Hoddle, Reid, Royle, O’Leary, Coleman and Souness scrap it out to get Man City relegated. Yesterday’s management news was anything but dull, and the summertime goings-on at Eastlands are all set to be every bit as entertaining, one way or another.

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Fat Sam Joins Fat Fred at St James'

I really don't want to go too far here, for fear of invoking the wrath of my co-contributor. But I can't believe this man gets a job at Newcastle. He's never been in charge of any money! Ok, so he signed Anelka for £9m, but Souness had made a couple of reasonably big-money signings at Blackburn, and still wasted £18m on Luque and Boumsong as soon as he had The Big Fat Cheque Book from St James'. This should surely be a job given to someone who's shown he won't pour good money after bad, and will resist the urge to spend for spending's sake. Van Gaal would have been perfect.

I'm predicting a troubled time for Allardyce and the Toon, the man himself has spoken of the need for time to implement his regime, and that's a commodity woefully lacking on Tyneside. Patience is not a virtue that is prevalent with the Toon faithful - scrappy football and mixed results will see pressure coming his way sooner rather than later. Allardyce never had pressure at Bolton, and his continued ability to finish a promising season woefully - Bolton have won just twice in 2007 and had to battle for a UEFA Cup spot they were nailed-on for at Christmas - may well disappoint the Geordie faithful. Quite possibly resulting in a sacking of the ex-Sunderland captain in around 2 years time.

And were this to be the case, surely it would be a failure too far for the already under-pressure chairman. Quite simply, Shepherd lives or dies by this appointment.

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Transfer Latest

Unbelievably, it seems Steve Sidwell is ACTUALLY going to Chelsea, despite The Late Flag having been convinced this was some sort of elaborate wind-up. He'll most likely be used as a deputy to the likes of Mikel and Essien during the African Cup of Nations, which just means another good English prospect will be warming the Chelsea bench for 80% of the season.

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Brazilian under-20 midfielder Lucas Leiva from Gremio for £8m. A primarily defensive midfielder with a surprising eye for goal, he has been tipped by Rafa Benitez to make a big impact after settling on Merseyside. Having been told similar things about Bruno Cheyrou and Antonio Nunez in the past, this correspondent remains slightly sceptical, although this lad did win the "golden shoe" last year, awarded to the best young player in Brazil. So keep an eye out for him once he's grown used to the pace of the English game.

Mark Viduka is still refusing to reveal where he'll be playing next season, although the smart money is apparently on Portsmouth. His reaction to the Middlesbrough 'crowd' on Sunday seemed to say "see you later losers" despite Gareth Southgate being prepared to suck, if it'll keep him on Teeside. So I heard.

Another "contract-rebel" ("Give me another £10,000 a week or I'm f**king off", contract-tw*t would be more appropriate) is Man City's Sylvain Distin. Believed to be a target for Aston Villa, Distin has clearly gotten sick of playing for City Nil, and has refused all efforts to keep him at the club. We probably would too, if we had to train with Joey Barton.

And the main man in demand following the relegation issues being decided is Charlton's Darren Bent. Villa, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and West Ham are all believed to be interested - but he's likely to cost in the region of £12m. That should put off everybody except West Ham and Spurs, and even then he's only likely to be wearing white next season if Berbatov f**ks off to Man U. Bent to West Ham for my money, although if I were Charlton I'd certainly be trying to pass off Marcus as Darren.

Wigan Turn To 'The Hutch'

The man who took over Bradford after Paul Jewell left, Chris Hutchings will officially take the reins at Wigan on Tuesday with the complete financial backing of owner Dave Whelan, which has been estimated to be in the region of £20million.

Jewell quit on Monday after 6 years in charge which has saw Wigan go through the English divisions like Fat Frank eating chips (very, very quickly). Jewell claimed that the stress of top-level management was having an effect on his health, just like those chips eh, Frank? (Can I have more Sir?)
Jewell reccomended his number 2 ‘The Hutch’ to Whelan as his replacement and he will be introduced to the media this morning, knowing that several senior players are likely to be moving on as the transformation period begins for the team that managed to survive the drop by only 1 goal.

Howard Homeward Bound?

On the eve of the playoff 2nd leg match between Derby and Southampton Geordie hitman Steve Howard is desperate to fire Derby into the Premiership and ever closer to playing at the home where so many of his heroes have played St James’ Park.

However after scoring twice during the first leg giving Derby the advantage in the tie Howard could easily be distracted by the attention he has been receiving this season after notching up 19 league goals. The £1million man has put to bed any early season doubts that troubled Derby fans after his big money move by leading the line in a similar to Alan Shearer. Obviously the 31 year olds best years could be behind him but prepare for lower Premiership clubs to battle out for his signature if Derby don’t make the grade at this attempt. Howard wont have too many seasons left if he wants to walk out in front of 52,000 Geordie’s but this could be his year.

Prediction:
Derby 2 vs 0 Southampton Tuesday Skysports 1 7.45pm

Fat Sam The Right Man For The Toon?

It’s the 14th of May and according to the reliable, honest and hard working staff at the Sun Fat Sam will be confirmed as Newcastle manager today and they were quick to point out that they called it as early as last week.

However, I have spoken to many Newcastle fans whose opinions are mixed on the appointment. Some fans have told me that they will welcome the organisation and teamwork ethic that Fat Sam will bring to the club. To Rich and myself that sounds exactly the same words used to describe the Scottish man of rage Mr Souness himself. Now I’m not saying for a second that Fat Sam is Souness, without a trophy, but if fans are wanting work rate to be a big factor then these are the same reasons Souness was appointed

Fat Sam has done a great job at Bolton, lets not take that away from him and he clearly can spot a bargain, but can he manage to see a talent when the guys price tag is £8m+? Maybe he wont even bother with big name signings as he has never really needed them before.
Dean Ashton has been linked as his first capture, so he can continue his long ball knockdowns. Hey it worked for Shearer and Bellamy, it worked for Phillips and Quinn and it could come back to Newcastle. Long have Newcastle fans been entertained but won nothing maybe this is the time to throw that out the window and end up nicking 1-0 wins.

Cheating Bastards Survive Thanks to Useless Mancs

Get ready for a summer dominated by legal issues. Neil Warnock - should he stay at Sheff Utd - will certainly have something to say about the way West Ham have stayed up, although it will be interesting to see how much of a f**k Wigan and Dave Whelan give about all that now, having survived relegation themselves. Those 'in the know' are suggesting that any legal challenge is bound to fail, since the Premier League can essentially do what they like in terms of handing down punishments, but that's unlikely to deter the Blades from devoting money, effort and lots of media interviews to getting this whole affair sorted out legally. Of course should all of this fail, then they'll probably have royally screwed themselves, wasting time and cash that they should have been using to make sure they come up again.

Where the choices appear to be West Ham getting relegated by a judge, or Sheffield United going bust because they've spent all their money on lawyers at the European Court of 'It's not bloody fair your honour', I don't think the neutral can lose. So in the next few months, when you're sick to death of the continual media coverage of this tussle, just remember - either West Ham are going down after all, or Sheff Utd could be the next Sheff Wed, Leeds, or Forest. Pondering that for a few seconds should bring a smile to most faces.

A quick word to Manchester United here - on behalf of the Premiership I'd like to say thanks a lot, you useless twats. Like any of us believe you couldn't have beaten West Ham if Chelsea were still breathing down your necks. You had the chance to make our summers free from tedious court cases and appeals, but you just couldn't be arsed. Thanks for that, and good luck in the Champions League final. Oh wait...

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Premiership 2006/07 - Winners and Losers

Winners

Manchester United (Champions)
Quite clearly, whether you hate them or hate them even more, you have to admit they've been the best side in the league this year. Handed out a fairly unexpected thrashing to Fulham on the opening day and haven't really looked back. The odd Cristiano Ronaldo diving spree hasn't detracted from the fact that they've done it by and large fairly as well, whilst playing some quality football. So a deserved Championship, but I wont forgive them for letting West Ham win.

Tottenham (5th)
Despite an awful start to the season - where they might as well have not turned up for any away games - Spurs have done well since Christmas, and a win this weekend consolidated 5th place and a UEFA Cup spot. Quite clearly the best team in the league outside of the top 4, they've made sure their league position reflects this, just in case anybody wasn't aware of it. 5th twice in a row is a good achievement for Spurs, especially having sold Michael Carrick in the summer.

Everton (6th)
A funny season for Everton this one, but overall I think they'll be quite pleased. Looked like they'd be challenging the top four in the early weeks of the season, but a fairly disastrous spell around the turn of the year put paid to that. They've recovered well though, and provided they can keep hold of Arteta whilst getting rid of James Beattie, they'll probably be back stronger again next season.

Reading (8th)
An absolutely fantastic first season in the Premiership for Reading. Yes, it might all go tits-up Wigan style next season, but who cares about that at the moment? You have to take your hat off to the likes of Hunt, Doyle, Shorey, Sidwell and Lita for carrying the club to a very respectable league position, and giving Man U a right go in the cup. Since day one against Middlesbrough they showed they'd be up for a fight, but they've surprised many in that quality, rather than dogged effort, has seen them through this year.

Portsmouth (9th)
What a difference a year makes. And a different manager, chairman, and squad. Last season Portsmouth were totally s**t, only surviving thanks to the return of the Redknapp and a West Ham-esque (without the cheating) late run of wins. This season they've been firmly in nose-bleed territory, sitting so high in the league table that people up and down the country have been saying "that can't be right...", except it was. Portsmouth really were challenging for 5th at one point. Mostly down to David James and his comedy haircuts, although Sol Campbell and Kanu deserve a lot of credit too. It'll be interesting to see how they build on this next season.

Losers

Chelsea (2nd)
A league cup win, runners-up spot, Champions League semi-final and FA Cup final place probably wouldn't constitute a bad year for most clubs. Unless they'd spent £500m. Infighting, Shevchenko's shooting boots, Ballack's laziness and a bizzare refusal to buy a centre back in January have all contributed to this relative failure, although most of us are too busy laughing at Mourinho to really care why it's happened.

Liverpool (3rd)
Whilst a certain game in Athens will have the final say on how successful Liverpool's season has been, a distant 3rd to Man U and Chelsea is certainly a domestic disappointment. The time it took new players to gel created a problematic early season period, during which Liverpool faced Everton, Man U, Chelsea, Bolton and Arsenal all away from home before Christmas. Defeats in these games left them with no hopes of contesting the title, and whilst a 2nd Champions League win in 3 years would be a remarkable achievement, there's no denying they've disappointed on the home front.

Arsenal (4th)
Cow's. Arse. Banjo. Enough said.

Newcastle United (13th)
Injuries haven't been kind to Newcastle, but once again, neither has their defence. The removal of Boumsong has cut down on the comedy-value, but they still really can't defend like a Premiership team should. Home defeats to Man City, Blackburn, Fulham and Bolton will have hurt Newcastle fans, and ultimately cost Glenn Roeder his job. Not good enough for a side with famously high expectations.

West Ham Utd (15th)
Laughing right now, but a judge may put paid to that this summer. Even if they survive a legal challenge, it's been a shocking year. Some of their much-vaunted young English stars of last season have been found surprisingly wanting in terms of fight and ability, none more so than captain Nigel Reo-Coker. The arrivals of Tevez and Mascherano were supposed to "take this club to the next level", and very nearly did. Backwards. Money to spend in the summer apparently, but judging by Curbishley's January flops, that may not do much good.

Wigan (17th)
Saved themselves on the final day, but for last year's Reading this must be seen as a disappointing year. Proof that selling all your good players and bringing in Emile Heskey is NOT a sound transfer policy, should it have been needed.

Sheffield United (18th)
At 3pm on Sunday, I was convinced I'd be putting the Blades in the Winners section of this post. They've had bottle, spirit, and a good home atmosphere, but ultimately not enough quality to get the points they required. Unfortunate to go down despite West Ham tearing up the rule-book, but the table shows they've been the 3rd worst side this season. Fact.

Charlton (19th)
Looked for a while like they might be staying up, after getting some good early results under Pardew. But the random appointement of Les Reed as successor to the nearly as disastrous Iain Dowie should forever haunt their chairman. Did ANYBODY think Reed would get them out of it?

Watford (20th)
Won lots of friends, but hardly any points. I don't think anybody's surprised at their final showing, although they may have given the world (well, Aston Villa) a gem in Ashley Young. So thanks for that, but f**k off back to the Championship please.

The Rest

Bolton have had a good year, but the loss of Fat Sam Allardyce should hit them hard next season, they may well struggle. Hung onto a UEFA Cup spot nicely though. Blackburn will be disappointed not to have made the UEFA cup, but having brought in Benni McCarthy to replace Craig Bellamy they probably did the business of the season. Not a bad showing from them, but not great either. Same can be said for Aston Villa, a solid first year under Martin O'Neill, things should change next year after he's had a chance to spend some cash.

Middlesbrough and Man City have had unspectacular seasons, small flirtations with relegation but never deep in the mire. They both have managers who were on that Pizza Hut advert, so entertainment or anything at all of interest shouldn't have been expected. Not even as close to relegation as Fulham, who would have been in the losers section except for the fact that they didn't go down, which has to be seen as an achievement for any side as totally s**te as they are.