Maple Lions

The footballing establishment finally catches up with reality:

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley is downbeat over his chances of succeeding Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager.

The Football Association is reported to have interviewed the leading candidates for a second time earlier in the week but Curbishley was not among them.

Well, what is to be expected when one of your rivals is the manager who gets his side to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, gives your squad a right thrashing to advance to the FA Cup semi-finals and is within reach of passing you in the EPL table?

Paul Canniff

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Renovation of England’s national stadium is falling further and further behind schedule, and the FA is scrambling to reschedule and move important matches:

The Football Association has confirmed another delay in the Wembley project after revealing all matches planned for 2006 will be moved to other venues.

Work on the stadium will not be completed in time for an England friendly in August and two Euro 2008 qualifiers in September and October.

The Community Shield on 13 August will be moved - probably to Cardiff.

[…]

Builders Multiplex announced on Friday that it hoped most of the remaining work on the 90,000 seat venue would be completed by the end of the June.

However, the firm said it was entitled to a further extension under the terms of its contract in order to put the finishing touches to the project.

This would extend the completion date until at least the end of September - a year later than the original deadline.

Friday was the official deadline for the handover of the £757million stadium from Multiplex to the FA.

Three deadlines with the Australian builders have already been missed, and when the handover does eventually take place the FA will need at least three months to test and fit out the stadium.

Journalist and blogger Stephen Pollard says the stadium won’t be ready until 2008.  Here’s my question: the greater London area already has several large, world-class sporting facilities, and Arsenal’s 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium is scheduled to open later this year.  And that’s not even counting the Millenium Stadium, Old Trafford and City of Manchester Stadium.  Maybe I’m missing something here, but why does Great Britain need a “national” stadium in the first place?

Damian P.

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So the Beeb tells us the blunt facts:

• The Blues and the Reds face off in the Octagon
• West Ham takes on whoever straggles out of the Boros/Addicks slapfest on April 12

But give credit to the Telly to show us what it all really means in the bigger picture.

Paul Canniff

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Two go in.  One comes out.  Nobody cares.

I hope for a Boro victory only because it might help stem the ceaseless tide of baseless claims of near-godlike powers attributed to Alan Curbishley.

UPDATE

Drawn 0-0, there will be a replay on April 12.  At least tomorrow we learn who the winner will face in the semis. No word yet as to why, at the close of play, Curbs did not subsequently circle the planet fast enough to reverse time and help Darren Bent slide that hook in past Mark Schwarzer.

Paul Canniff 

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The Geordies’ loss to Chelsea yesterday means Alan Shearer will almost certainly end his playing career in Newcastle without a trophy:

Dreams of Shearer ending his playing days with a Stanley Matthews-style happy ending proved unrealistic but Glenn Roeder’s team simply did not have the power to match Jose Mourinho’s double-chasers and they finished the game with 10 men after a harsh red card for Robbie Elliott in the last minute.John Terry scored the only goal in the fourth minute to book the Blues into the last four along with Liverpool, West Ham and either Charlton or Middlesbrough.

Everyone is talking about the manager situation at Newcastle, but I think we should be talking about the chairman situation.  There is simply no excuse for a club of Newcastle’s size and prestige to finish in the bottom half of the table for two consecutive years, and a housecleaning at the top is long overdue.

Damian P.

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In a refreshing change of pace, management eases up on the gaffer and comes out swinging against the high-priced “talent” on the pitch.

Thanks to the lovely and intelligent kulturzampolits at the CRTC, few of us got to see live Liverpool’s turkey shoot at St. Andrew’s. But we all know it’s the easy reach to blame the manager; David Sullivan may be calling this one right.

Paul Canniff

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The quarter-finals have been announced.

It’s going to be an all-Premiership battle in the final stretch, so no newcomers this year upon whom we can wager our four hundred kwatloos. Still, credit is certainly due to the League sides who made it to the fifth round and showed that it’s not just a game for the big boys.

Paul Canniff

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The Fifth Round draw is out.  And Anfield will be the site on February 18 of a potentially ripping Liverpool/Man U match.

Good to see two sides from League One get this far, as Brentford take on Charlton at The Valley and Colchester face the winner of the Toffees/Blues replay.

Paul Canniff 

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