England 2012 Euros squad thoughts

Posted on May 17, 2012 by sweetengland

Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager at the beginning of May. He was not everyone’s 1^st choice but not many people would be that disappointed because he is a good manager and has been able to get some of the regulation candidates into strong mid table teams. He also has a huge amount of experience and knowledge of European football. His first order of business was to pick the squad that the country hopes can bring them at the very least a last four place. Lets see who he picked.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart, Robert Green, John Ruddy

These players are fine as long as Hart stays fit. Hart is a fantastic goalkeeper and has had a wonderful season. I think he will be England’s number one for the next decade. However if he gets injured then I am not confident in the other two. Yes Green has got some international experience but he has not been playing top flight football for a year. Ruddy has got even less experience even if he has had a good season in the Premier League. Hart please stay fit.

Defenders

Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Joleon Lescott.

This is a good set of defenders. Yes it is a shame that there wasn’t a place for Ferdinand. I do understand this decision though. If you remember at the World Cup when the opposition strikers exposed a weakness they kept running past a slow Carragher. This has already happen to Ferdinand this season for United. So we can’t have that happened again on an international stage.

Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world and Baines is a good back up. Johnson is the only natural right back so he could do with staying fit.

Terry has the police charge hanging over his head but hopefully he can put it to the back of his mind because he is unquestionable our best center back. Cahill is getting there but isn’t there yet. I do feel Cahill should partner Terry with Lescott as back up. Jones can almost play anywhere in the defence or midfield so he will be used as a utility player.

Midfielders

Gareth Barry, Scott Parker, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Stewart Downing, Ashley Young, Theo Walcott, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Parker has injury concerns and if he stays fit he should start because I think he has really developed as a player on the domestic and international stage. He is the best holding midfield we have. Barry is an incredibly experienced cover player and could easily come in if Parker isn’t fit.

Young will start on the left. Ferguson has made Young into a formidable winger. How and who England should play in the other two midfield positions has been a point of debate for many years. The best two players are Lampard and Gerrard but they both prefer to play in the attacking central position and it is thought that they cant play together in an England shirt. In spite of what I have said I would still play both of them. Gerrard has been made captain so will defiantly start and with the season that Lampard has had and the fact that this could be Lampard last major tournament he will be leaving everything on the pitch. Both of them are very capable of the moments of magic that England might need. Gerrard can play on the right so play him there and play Lampard in the center.

Walcott is a hit and miss player so could be a great impact player. Downing has not had a great season so I think should be a just in case player. Oxlade-Chamberlain should just learn as much as he can and gain as much experience as possible because he is unlikely to play a big role this year but could have a big role in years to come.

Strikers

Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe

Rooney is suspended for the first two matches but after that they will start and play Rooney just behind the other striker. When Rooney is playing I think that the other striker should be Welback as they have developed a partnership at United.

While Rooney is suspended Wellback should play the support role and Carroll in the recent good form he has been in should start up front. If Carroll doesn’t perform in the first game then Defoe should start the second game. Both Defoe and Carroll have shown that they can be super subs as well. This will help once Rooney is back.

Standby

Jack Butland, Phil Jagielka, Jordan Henderson, Adam Johnson, Daniel Sturridge

All of these players will be ready if the chance comes for them to jump into the main squad due to injuries.

I am not 100% confident with Hodgson’s choices as I feel that he has picked a lot of Liverpool players and they have had a terrible year. Hodgson also did not do well when he managed Liverpool in 2010 only lasting 6 months. I also feel that Peter Couch should be included after having a good season and having a proven record for England. Sturridge should also be in the squad over instead of Downing as Sturridge can up front, as well as support player or even a winger. I was also surprised that Micah Richards didn’t get a call over maybe Lescott or Jones. I would also had impact Adam Johnson over Oxlade-Chamberlain.

It is a shame that Ben Foster is having an international break and that Kyle Walker, Jack Wilshere and Darren Bent are injured.

Even though Hodgson has picked a squad that I don’t agree with he still has my backing and I hope he proves me wrong and comes back with the title. Good luck England.

Williams win in a fiery blaze

Posted on May 17, 2012 by sweetengland

On the 12^th and 13^th May the Formula 1 circuit arrives in Europe. The Catalunya Circuit near Barcelona in Spain is a regular in F1 and it is often thought of as a tough place to overtake but hopefully with KERS and DRS there will be more overtaking this year. There have been four different winners so far this season could we have a fifth. Lets see what happen.

Qualifying

In Q1 the Williams driver of Senna got caught out in turn 12 on his last lap. He spun the car into the grave trap and went out in Q1. The rest of the English team drivers got through.

In Q2 there was not much going on until the last 2 minutes when the places were change every time a car crossed the line. Hamilton was safe and Button looked like he was going to just get in. This was until Maldonado had a monster lap and went top pushing Button out to 11^th. Both the Lotus drivers got through to Q3.

In Q3 all the drivers waited till very late to come out for the fight for pole. Hamilton had provisional pole when Maldonado briefly took it off him before Hamilton took it back. The two Lotus drivers of Grosjean and Raikkonen were 4^th and 5^th respectfully. However Hamilton was given a team grid penalty for not having enough fuel in the car to get back to the pits and still have enough for a fuel sample this means he will start from the back of the gird. Pushing everybody up one place.

Race

So Maldonado was on Pole with the Lotus’s occupying the 2^nd row. Alonso overtook Maldondo into the 1^st corner and Hamilton was up to 20^th. Raikkonen overtook Grosjean with Grosjean dropping another place into turn 3. Button was also up to 8^th. Hamilton continued to climb up order and was up to 18^th by the end of lap 2 and chasing Senna whom he overtook on the next lap. Things then settled down for a few laps.

The 1^st pit stop for tyres was on lap 7 so the order will be out of sync. Hamilton was flying and with others pit stopping he was up to 6^thby lap 11 but still needing to stop. On lap 11 and 12 the Lotus’s and Maldonado pitted and then Rosberg and Grosjean got past Senna with a little contact into turn 1.

At the same place a lap later Schumacher went straight into the back of Senna retiring both them. Hamilton pitted on lap 15 and had a jump literally. He came back out in 14^th. On lap 20 Mal is 2^nd, Rai is 3^rd, Gro 4^th, But 7^th, Ham 12^th and Senna out.

The 2^nd pits stop started around lap 24 and Maldonado had a go at the undercut but Alonso stayed out. Button then flat spotted one of his tyres causing him to come in for a tyre change, coming back out in 10^th. Maldonado then took the lead while Alonso was in the pits. Grosjean came out in 5^th after his 2nd stop and Raikkonen was still 3^rd. Hamilton then moves up a couple of places due to Massa and Vettel getting drive through penalties for no slowing through yellow flags. Hamilton was up to 5^th but had only stopped once.

He came in on lap 37 coming back out in 12^th and would need to keep those tyres till the end of the race. Button pitted on lap 40 and on the same lap Hamilton pasted the two Torro Rosso’s getting into 10^th and then 9^th with Perez retiring. Button came out at the end of a small train, but he got past all of them in a lap to get into 9^th. Maldonado came in on Lap 43 and had a slightly long stop. Button and Hamilton went up a place when Vettel pitted.

With 20 Laps left Rai 1^st Mal 2^nd, Gro 4^th, Ham 7^th and But 8^th. A lap later Maldonado passed Raikkonen after being held up by him for a couple of laps. Raikkonen pits on lap 48 coming out in 4^th behind still needing to stop Grosjean. Maldonado then had Alonso all over the back of him. Raikkonen now on fresher tyres and after Grosjean pitting he was closing down the front two by over a second a lap. On lap 59 Vettel overtook a struggling Button and then got past Hamilton 2 laps from the end.

Maldonado held on for the win and Williams 1^st win for 8 years. The Lotus’s of Raikkonen and Grosjean were 3^rd and 4^th respectively and the McLarens of Hamilton and Button 8^th and 9^th also respectively.

So in the Championship Hamilton is 3^rd on 53 pts 8 behind Alonso and Vettel. Raikkonen is 4^th 4 pts back on 49. Button is a further 4 pts behind on 45 in 6^th. Grosjean is 8^th on 35 pts. Maldonado jumps up to 9^th on 29 pts with the other Williams of Senna in 13^th on 14pts.

In the Constructors Championsip McLaren are 2^nd 11 pts behind Red Bull. Lotus are 14 pts behind on 84 in 3^rdand 21 pts ahead of Ferrari. Williams are 5^th on 43 pts, which is the same as Mercedes and only 2 pts ahead of Sauber.

The F1 season continues to surprise us and to give great to watch racing. We’ve had 5 races with 5 winners from 5 different teams. Who know who’s going to win next. Next up is the glamour zone of Monaco.

After the race in the midst of all the celebration there was a huge fire in a packed Williams garage. Mechanics from many of the F1 teams go involved in getting the fire out before the emergency services got there. There was smoke bellowing out from the garages and down the pit lane. The fire was out in about 3 minutes. Over 30 people were treated for smoke inhalation and 1 person had bad body burns and was hospitalized for several days. It was shocking scene that we hope never happens again. We are obviously glad everyone is ok.

What did you think of the race?

TPC Sawgrass 17th Moments

Posted on May 13, 2012 by sweetengland

The 17th at the TPC Sawgrass is one of the most memorable holes in the world of golf. This course holds the Players Championship ever year which is thought of to be 5th major of the year. The 17th hole has had some incredible moments in it history. The great, good, bad, ugly and even wingy have played a role in this hole. It can change even the best in the worlds round. Here is a video about the most memorable moments in the holes history.

O’Sullivan wins 4th Championship

Posted on May 13, 2012 by sweetengland

The 75^th World Snooker Championship took place between the 21^st April and the 7^th May. This tournaments is always held at the world famous Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. It is regard as the biggest tournament of the year and has a prize of £1,152,500 with the winner being in line for £250,000. Lets see what happened.

1^st Round

The 1^st round is decided by the best of 19 frames. The big story to come out of the 1^st round was 19^th ranked Stephen Hendry getting a 147 break on route to a 10-4 win over Stuart Bingham who is 8 places ahead of him in the rankings. Liang Wenbo took reign champion John Higgins to the final frame before Higgins fought through to win the match. Ding Junhui was also taken to the final frame in his match against Ryan Day but could not get the win and lost the match.

World Number One Mark Selby shockingly got pushed aside by Barry Hawkins. Williams, Carter, Robertson, O’Sullivan and Trump all got through their 1^st round matches safely.

Allen, Murphy and Dott were not in good form and were all beaten by players lower than them in the rankings. Mark Allen did accuse Yupeng of a push shot and the replays showed it was a push and Yupeng was criticized for not admitting to it at the time but nothing happened because the ref didn’t see it.

1^st round results:

Carter 10-2 Davis Williams 10-6 Chuang

Hawkins 10-3 Selby Trump 10-7 Dale

Day 10-9 Junhui Perry 10-1 Dott

Higginson 10-6 Lee O’Sullivan 10-4 Ebdon

Maguire 10-5 Brecel Stevens 10-3 Fu

Jones 10-8 Murphy Hendry 10-4 Bingham

Roberston 10-4 Doherty Gilbert 10-8 Gould

Yupeng 10-6 Allen Higgins 10-9 Wenbo

2^nd Round

The 2^nd round is decided by the best of 25 frames. Stephen Hendry became the 1^st man to get into 19 World Championship Quarter Finals when he convincingly beat Higgins 13-4. The other of last years finalist Judd Trump was also beaten in when Alisitar Carter had an amazing finish coming from 9-12 down to win in the last frame 13-12. This was a very tight match and was great to watch.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was looking good as he got past world number two Mark Williams without many problems. With Robertson and Maguire winning their matches there was only 3 top 10 ranked players left in the draw.

2^nd Round results

Jones 13-10 Higginson O’Sullivan 13-6 Williams

Carter 13-12 Trump Stevens 13-11 Hawkins

Maguire 13-7 Perry Hendry 13-4 Higgins

Day 13-7 Yupeng Robertson 13-9 Gilbert

Quarter Finals

The Quarter Finals was also fought over the best of 25 frames. For the 2^nd time this week the main talking point was about Stephen Hendry. He lost heavily to Stephen Maguire 13-2 and straight after the defeat he announced his shock immediate retirement from professional snooker saying he wasn’t happy with his standard over snooker in recent years and wanted to concentrate on off table commitments.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson had a tight match until the end when O’Sullivan up’d his game and took out the last top 5 ranked player left winning 13-10. Matthew Stevens had an impressive 11 frame win streak over Ryan Day beating him 13-5.

Quarter Final results:

Carter 13-11 Jones O’Sullivan 13-10 Robertson

Stevens 13-5 Day Maguire 13-2 Hendry

Semi Finals

The Semi Finals was decided by the best of 33 frames. Ronnie O’Sullivan hit 3 centuries breaks as well as 2 breaks in the 90s. He wasn’t far away from a maximum break when he got a break of the 130 in the final frame to beat Matthew Stevens 17-10.

There were a couple of even bigger breaks in the other Semi Final. Alistair Carter got a 134 break but Stephen Maguire got a huge 142. However Carter got the better of Maguire and came out onto 17-12.

Semi Finals:

O’Sullivan 17- 10 Stevens Carter 17-12 Maguire

Final

The Final was decided by the best of 35 frames. These two face off against each other for the 2^nd in the Final of the World Championship. Back in 2008 O’Sullivan beat Carter 18-8. Could O’Sullivan get his 4^th World Championship win. He started off well getting the opening 2 frames. He they got up to a 7-4 lead and then up to 10-6 before complete control getting up to 14-7 ahead. Surely O’Sullivan wouldn’t let a 7 frame lead slip. Carter then won 3 frames on the trot getting back to 14-10. O’Sullivan then won 4 of the next 5 frames to win. He claimed the title 18-11 and in doing so winning his 4^th World Championship. Well done Ronnie.

What did you think of the tournament?

May Sport Preview

Posted on May 11, 2012 by sweetengland

May is here and that can only mean one thing. Summer is round the corner. As some sports domestic seasons come to a close other sports season are in full throttle and thriving. May is a busy month for English Sport. Lets see what’s on.

Formula 1

Formula 1 returns after a 3 weeks break in May. On the 12^th and 13^th May F1 arrives in Barcelona for the Spanish GP at the Catalunya circuit. Two weeks later on the 26^th and 27^th we have debatably the biggest race of the season when F1 hits Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The English teams have all looked good so far this season but with the grid so tight at the moment the teams will be trying to get themselves further up the grid.

Lotus had a great outing last time out in Bahrain and will be looking to go one better and be on the top step in May. McLaren will want to put Bahrain behind them and get back onto the podium and back into the title fight before then get to far off the pace. Williams have had a hugely improved season so far in comparison to last year. However they have shown a lot more potential than the few points they have accumulated show. They will want to make sure they start to get the points the potential has been showing.

There is also a mid season test at Mugello during the 1^st week of May and all the teams will be testing out new parts and strategies.

Boxing

This month we have the return of Carl Froch onto home soil. He will be facing Lucian Bute on the 26^th May in Froch’s hometown of Nottingham. This fight is for Bute’s IBF Super Middlesweight title after the IBF made Froch the number One contender to Bute’s Championship.

Froch will be looking to pick himself up after losing to Andre Ward in the Super Six Final back in later 2011. Froch held his own that night but unfortunately came up against someone that I believe is going to dominate the Super Middleweight class for some years to come.

Froch’s needs to win this fight if his career is going to continue much longer. He is 34 and if he was to have back to back losses people might say it’s time for him to hang up his gloves. This means he has to cause Bute to have his 1^st professional defeat. Bute’s record is very impressive. 30 wins with 24 KO and 0 losses. Froch’s record is 28 wins with 20 KO and 2 losses. I hate to admit it but my money would be on Bute but I really hope Im wrong.

Golf

The Golf season continues this month and we have got a couple of big tournaments. Everyone will be getting ready for a big summer of golf ahead. There are 4 tournaments on the European tour. The 1^st is the Spanish Open at the Real Golf Club in Sevilla, Spain on the 3^rd to the 6^th May. There are 32 Englishmen in the field going for the win and trying to take the title off Aiken. Simon Dyson and Robert Rock are the 2 big boys chasing the €333,000 top prize.

The Tour then moves over the border to Portugal for Madeira Islands Open from the 10^th to the 13^th May at the Santo de Serra course. The field is not as prestigious and this is a chance for the lower ranked players to get some money and points with less of a challenge. There are 40 English players in the field after the €112,500. Hoey was last year’s winner.

We then move onto the Volvo World Matchplay Championship. This at the Finca Cortesin course in Spain. Last year’s winner Ian Poulter is amongst a great field of players going for the top prize out of the €2,750,000 prize fund. You can expect all of the top English players to be in the field.

The Last tournament of the month is the BMW PGA Championship at the world renowned Wentworth Club in Surrey England from the 24^th to the 27^th May. This tournament has the highest Prize fund of European tour with a huge €4,500,000 to be split. This does mean that all of the top players on the European tour will be there. With the likes of Donald, Westwood and Rose going for the title. An incredible 56 Englishmen will be teeing up on the 1^st day dreaming of the win.

The US PGA tour also has 4 tournaments in May with the big one being the Players Championship on the 10^th to the 13^th May at one of the most famous courses in golf TPC Sawgrass. Everyone in golf knows about the amazing and tough 17^th. There are 13 Englishmen on the US PGA tour all going for glory over in the US. Good luck to them.

Tennis

WTA

There are five tournaments on the WTA tour this month. We are into the Clay season and have moved to the European leg of the season. There are three Premier events and one international event before the 2^nd Grand Slam of the season starts. The French Open has 108 players going into the main draw. Keathavong is the only English women in the main draw at the moment. Watson, Robson and Broady will have to qualify.

ATP

There are also five tournaments on the ATP tour this month. It starts with two Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome then a couple of smaller tournaments before the French Open. There are no English men in the main draw. However, Ward, Baker and Goodall are all high enough in the rankings to enter the qualifying draw.

Cricket

In May the England Cricket team plays two of their three tests in the test series against the West Indies. The 1^st test starts on the 17^th and the 2^nd on the 25^th May. England are still 1^st in the test rankings but only just and will be hoping that they can get a bit further away from 2^nd place South Africa with a convincing series victory over the 7^th place West Indies. If they are to do this then they will need to start off well and try to win these 1^st two tests.

What are you looking forward to this month?

May Rugby Preview

Posted on May 6, 2012 by sweetengland

In May the domestic Rugby season comes to a close. There is only one league match left and then it is the playoff Semi Finals and the Final. By the end of May we will have crowned the 2012 Champions.

The last league matches are being played on the 5^th May. There is still a lot to getsorted. The final playoff place is not confirmed yet. Leicester Tigers are already in the playoffs and face Bath. Harlequins have a hard game away at Sale Sharks and if they win they finish the season top of the league.

Saracens will want to finish strong and beat a good Exeter Chiefs team at home. If they do then Northampton Saints will be confirmed at the last team in the playoffs regardless of whether they beat Worcester Warriors or not. London Irish face Gloucester at home with the winner likely to be the team that finishes 7^th.

The biggest match of them all will be the match that will decide the team who gets regulation. London Wasps will face Newcastle Falcons at Adams Park. The Falcons need to win and get a bonus point to stay in the Premiership next year.

In all likelihood the four playoff teams will be Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Northampton Saints. The positions aren’t sorted yet so we don’t know who will play who. The team who finishes 1^st plays 4^th and 2^nd plays 3^rd. With 1^st and 2^nd playing at home. These matches with be played on the 12^th May with the winners going on to Final. The 2 winning teams will be then have 2 weeks to get ready for the title decider. The Final will played at Twickenham on the 26^th May.

Who do you think will win the 2012 Aviva Premiership?

Chelsea win 2012 FA Cup

Posted on May 5, 2012 by sweetengland

On Saturday the 5^th May the 2012 FA Cup would be decided. Chelsea and Liverpool would face up for the biggest trophy in domestic football. These 2 have history in knockout football but they have never faced each other at the final of FA Cup. Let see what happened.

Starting Line ups. Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Spearing, Suarez, Bellamy.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Bosingwa, Terry, Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Mata, Drogba, Kalou.

Both teams had left big players on the bench that could change the game late on. The match started very slowly with there not much going on. Each team was feeling the other out and they weren’t willing to make an early mistake. However after 10 minutes the 1^st mistake came.

Spearing gave the ball away to Mata who then feed Ramires and he got to the ball when Enrique tried to pass back but fluffed it. Ramires then fired the ball into the back of the net. Reina should have saved the shot as a top classed goalie should never let a goal in at the near post.

Chelsea then took control of the game and started to play around Liverpool. Unbelievable Suarez had a shot from the half way line and missed by a country mile and then some. Chelsea were pushing up and going for a 2^nd goal. They were restricted to long range shots and couldn’t muster up a clear cut chance. As the 1^st half drew to a close Liverpool finally turned up and started to get a bit more of the ball but never really challenge Cech. Chelsea lead 1-0 at half time.

The 2^nd half started a lot better than the 1^st half did with both teams pushing and the game was much more open. On the 51^st minute Chelsea doubled their lead. The man for the big occasions Drogba, received a great ball from Lampard, turned and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. This gave Drogba his 8^th goal in 8 appearances in Cup finals. 2-0 to Chelsea.

Chelsea were in compete control and looked like they would go on and get a 3^rd and maybe even a 4^th. Liverpool had to do something because the game was slipping by them, so they brought on Carroll for Spearing. Chelsea nearly got there 3^rd when Drogba went close.

Then completely against the run of play Liverpool got on the score sheet. Carroll made himself some space in the penalty box and slotted the ball past Cech. Has he finally showed his worth and come good when Liverpool need it most. Game on.

Carroll’s goal seemed to have a massive affect on the Liverpool players. It was like they all got an adrenaline shot. Liverpool were going for it. Liverpool were now a team possessed. They had several chances with Cech having to keep Chelsea in it. Chelsea were on serious defense mode.

Then a moment of magic. Suarez set up a ball for Carroll to head home, which he did until Cech made a fornominal save stopping the ball from going over the line by maybe an inch. Liverpool objected insisting that the ball when over the line but replays confirmed that it hadn’t and showed that the ref made the right call not allowing the goal and that Cech made a great save.

Liverpool pushed and pushed but just couldn’t get the ball in the net. That was it the full time whistle went and Chelsea were the 2012 FA Cup winners.

Chelsea will keep the celebrating under wraps as they have an even bigger match to contest in 2 weeks when they face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

However today was their day and no matter what else happens this season they will have at least one trophy. Well done Chelsea.

What did you think of the final?

England Choose Hodgson

Posted on May 2, 2012 by sweetengland

So England have finally decided whom the next England will be. The FA have hired Roy Hodgson, who has signed a 4 year contract. Fabio Capello resigned from the England job after the John Terry captaincy decision was taken out of his hands with out consulting him.

Over the months since Capello resignation there has been a lot of talk and many rumors as to what is happening and who was going to take the job. The FA seemed to have made a mess of the situation and I’m not sure why they took so long to approach, interview and appointed Capello’s successor. Harry Redknapp had become favorite with the bookies, media, public, managers and players but it looks like he was never in the FA’s thinking.

Redknapp has got a great record in England, which includes trophies and he seems to have the skill of being able to get the best players in the transfer market for little money and normally getting the best out of players. Recently though his team have been under performing. Redknapp has no international experience and has also been in trouble with law. Even if he has been cleared there is still an underlying thinking that Redknapp is a bit of a dodgy character. Whether or not this is true the FA will not want even the possible of that type of man leading the country.

Roy Hodgson has got experience on the continent and on the international scene. He took Switzerland to their 1^st World Cup in 24 years in USA94 getting them to the knockout stages as well as getting them qualified for Euro’s for 1^st time ever in England96. He even got them up to 3^rd in the World at one point. He has also managed UAE and Finland as well as numerous continent clubs with the main one being Inter Milan, twice.

Hodgson does not have the same success in England as Redknapp but its still good. He has tranformed Fulham and West Brom from serious relegation candidates to top ten teams. He took Fulham to their highest ever position of 7^th and the Europa League final. If West Brom finish in their current position of 10^th then they will have their highest position in over 20 years. In 2010 Hodgson was LMA manager of the year due to Fulham’s great European campaign. Subsequently in 2010 Redknapp was Premier League manager of the year.

Hodgson did have a shocking 6 months at Liverpool but then not even the Liverpool legend that is Dalglish is able to sort out the Merseysider’s out. However I do not think that bad patch at Liverpool changes anything. At West Brom and Fulham Hodgson did not have a lot of money to play with and had to make good acquisitions where as Liverpool he had money to spend and it didn’t work. I think this is a sign that he is better at getting the best out of player rather than the best for the money.

I think that Hodgson will be a good manager for England but I’m not sure he has enough time to sort out the team ready for the Euro’s. He has my full backing and I hope he will get the backing of the players. It would be a great success if he could bring back the trophy but I think the public would accept the Final or the Semis and I would accept the Quarters because I do not this we are much better that. However he must get us through the group stage at the very least.

Once the Euro’s are over he will then have all the time he needs to build a team and make us a force to be reckoned with. Making us ready to go to South America for the Brazil 2014 World Cup with a good chance of coming back with the biggest prize in sport. The World Cup. Good Luck Roy.

What do you think of Hodgson’s appointment?

May Football Preview

Posted on April 28, 2012 by sweetengland

Now that the summer is all but upon us the football season is coming its climax. There are 2 Premier League matches, 1 Champions League and 1 FA Cup matches left. As soon as the club season finishes the Iternational season starts. There is only 1 week between the Champions League final and the 1^st of England’s Euro 2012 warm up games.

International Friendly

England will be playing the 1^st of their two Euro 2012 warm up games on the 26^th May against Norway. Norway are ranked 24^th in the Fifa world rankings compared to England who are 7^th. This game will be played in Oslo and will give England the opportunity to either test out a few players on the edges of the squad or to field the supposed 1^st team and see how they gel together. If England are to be a serious force and get to the late stages of the Euros then they will have push past a team like Norway.

Premier League

The 1^st major match in May is on the 2^nd and its a match that could decide the last Champions League spot as Chelsea host Newcastle. The same day Bolton have a big game against Tottenham and need to get the win. This is the best time for Bolton to face Spurs as Spurs form is dreadful at the moment winning only 1 from 9.

On the 5^th Newcastle then face Man City at the Sports Direct Stadium. QPR face Stoke and Bolton face West Brom. Then on Monday the 7^th there is a vital 6 pointer between Blackburn and Wigan at Ewood Park. There is a good chance that the winner of this match could stay up and the loser could go down. The next day the we get a preview of the FA Cup when Chelsea visit Liverpool.

On the 13^th the final games of the Premier League season will be played. All of the matches kick off at the same time. All the relegation candidates have tough matches, except Wigan. Wigan face an already relegated Wolves, Blackburn are away at Chelsea, QPR are at Man City and Bolton are at Stoke.

There is a good chance that the Title will already be tied up by this point but if not Man Utd are away at Sunderland and as mentioned City host QPR. The Champions league spots may still be up for grabs as well. We already know Chelsea play Blackburn, where as Newcastle are at Everton and Arsenal at West Brom. The other 2 matches are Norwich at home to Villa and Swansea hosting Liverpool.

Champions League

Chelsea have some how got themselves into the final of the biggest prize in club football. They will be facing Bayern Munich on the 19^th May on Munich’s turf. The venue for the final was picked before the tournament had even started so it’s just lucky for Bayern and unlucky for Chelsea. Both teams will be missing players through injuries and suspensions. Chelsea will have their work cut out as Bayern have got some big players. A lot of those players have been connected with Chelsea in the recent past and near future.

For info on the Semi Finals go to http://www.sweetengland.com/?p=590

The FA Cup

On the 5^th May the FA Cup final is being played between Chelsea and Liverpool. There has been some good rivalry between these two clubs over the last few years. They have faced each other is some very late stages in all of the major competitions. The last time they met in a final was in the League Cup final 2005. Chelsea winning in extra time that day. Neither team has had an easy run to get to the final and have been made to work for it. Liverpool will hope that Chelsea will have their minds elsewhere as they are still fighting for the Champions League spots in the Premiership as well as being in the Champions League final.

For info on the Semi Finals go to http://www.sweetengland.com/?p=570

What are you looking forward to this month?

February Tennis Review

Posted on April 26, 2012 by sweetengland

The month of February was a very busy month for Tennis. The 2012 Fed Cup and Davis Cup both started as well as nine WTA and nine ATP tournaments. So lets see how the English players did.

Women

Fed Cup

The Great Britain team are in Group 1 Europe/Africa sector. If they can win their group and the playoffs then they will have a chance to fight for a promotion to the World groups. In the round robin GB were in Group C with Portugal, Netherlands and Israel.

In their 1^st match they beat Portugal 3-0 with Keothavong and Baltacha winning the singles with Robson and Watson winning the doubles, all in straight sets. The 2^nd match was against the Netherlands. Keothavong lost the opening match in 3 sets to Schoofs. Baltacha leveled up to match beating Krajicek in 2 sets. Then Robson and Watson also won the doubles in straight sets. The last match was against Irsael. GB won all 3 of these matches in 2 sets.

This meant that GB were top of their group and would now face Austria in the Group 1 Europe/African promotional play off. Keothavong beat Mayr-Achleitner and Baltacha beat Paszek in straights meaning that Robson and Watson did not need to play as GB had already won the match.

This win put them into the World Group II playoff. Where they will face Sweden for a place in World Group II next year. This match will be in April. Team GB were impressive in this group this year and will hope that they compete with the better teams next year as they are clearly the best in their current group. Well done team GB.

WTA

Naomi Brady entered the qualifying rounds for the Open GDF Suez in Paris on the 4^th Feb and won her opening match convincingly in straight sets before coming up against 2^nd seed and 68^th ranked Mattek-Sands in the 2^nd round and lost over 3 sets. Receiving 8 ranking points.

On the 6^th Feb the Pattaya Open in Thailand there were 3 English women in the main draw. Keothavong had one of the best wins in her career by beating 2^nd seed and rank 16^th Cibulkova in 2 sets. However she couldn’t use the momentum and lost in a tight match to Mirza in round 2. Keothavong got 30 ranking points.

Laura Robson and Heather Watson lost in their 1^st round matches. Robson had to retire due to a lower back injury and Watson was beaten in straight sets by 8^th seed King. Emily Webley-Smith entered the qualifying stages but got very heavily beaten by Wang in the 1^st round.

In the Qatar Total Open on the 13^th Keothavong, Robson and Watson were all in the qualifying rounds. But the draw wasn’t nice to the English women. 5^th seed Keothavong was drawn against fellow compatriot Robson who she walk past 6-1 6-1. Watson beat Jans-Ignacik which meant that there was another all English match and the winner would make the main draw. Keothavong won this and progressed.

In the main draw Keothavong had a win over Paszek winning the 2 tie breaks to make the 2^nd round. 4^th seed and 6^th ranked Radwanska then kicked her out convincingly in the 2^nd round but she picked up 70 ranking points and $11,300 for getting this far.

The only English woman in the Cop BBVA Colsanitas in Bogota Colombia was the 1112 ranked Robyn Beddow in the qualifying rounds. She beat Alexandra Riley before losing to 2^nd seed Jarartancheva. She got a huge for her 6 ranking points in the process.

Keothavong entered the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship qualifying rounds but had a tough draw been drawn against her training partner and 4^th seed Barthel who beat her in straight sets.

Broady lost here opening match in the qualifying rounds of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & Memphis International.

Keothavong was seeded 8^th in the BMW Malaysian Open and but was beaten by eventually tournament winner Hsieh in the 1^st round in 2 sets.

Men

Davis Cup

Great Britain played their 1^st match in the Group I Europe/Africa section of the Davis Cup. They got promoted with ease last year from Group II. This year though it will be a lot tougher. The GB team consists of Evans(ranked 380th), Ward(ranked 149^th) Fleming and Hutchins(Doubles ranked 26^th and 27^th). They faced Slovak Republic who’s players are much higher in the ATP tour rankings.

In the 1^st rubber Evans faced 64^th ranked Lacko and some how manage to beat him in straights. The 2^nd rubber was not as good as Ward lost in 4 sets to 98^th ranked Klizan. The doubles rubber went GB’s way in 4 sets after a dodgy 3^rd set. So GB just needed to win 1 more match to progress in the tournament.

Ward couldn’t win his rubber when he played Lacko losing in straights sets. So it was all down to the last rubber. The winner of Evans and Klizan would determine the winner of the match. Evans went 2 sets up before Klizan won the next 2 sets. So the last set possible would decide it all. This set was tense but Evans pulled it out of the bag again for GB and won the set and winning the rubber and the match. Well done that man. Team GB will now go on to face Belgium in the Group I Quarter finals in April.

ATP

At the Zagreb Indoors tournament in Croatia Daniel Evans was the only English player but he had to go through qualifying. In the qualifying rounds he started impressively getting past Dancevic the 3^rd seed in the 1^st round before beating Skugor and Bohli qualify.

In the main draw Evans got beaten by the Spaniard of Garcia-Lopez in 3 sets. He would normally get no points for the loss but because he came through the qualifying rounds he got 12 ranking points.

Daniel Cox was in the qualifying rounds for the SAP Open in San Jose on the 11^th Feb and beat 6^th seed Salamaca in the 1^st round before losing to Gregorc in a very close match.

James Ward was the only Englishmen to enter the qualifying stages of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship & Memphis International. He was seed 8^th but got kicked out straight out by Kendrick in 3 sets.

He was also seed 5^th in the qualifying rounds for the Delray Beach International Tennis Championship but once again he lost in his 1^st match to Monroe.

So some English players played well and have moved up the rankings but others have a lot of work to do. What did you think of the tennis in February?