The team of the half-season.

1. Ben Foster: One of the few success stories in what has been a poor season for Birmingham. Written off at Old Trafford, Foster has made a string of impressive saves but has also added some much needed calmness to his game. His performance against Chelsea at St Andrews was the standout goalkeeping one.

2. Bacary Sagna: After a dip last season, the Frenchman has regained his debut season form for Arsenal. One of the few defensive bright spots for the Gunners.

3. Patrice Evra: It is a measure of Evra's consistency and his abilty to get forward that he has disgusied United's lack of a left wing threat for a couple of seasons now. Started slowly but now back to his best.

4. Gary Cahill: Bolton have arguably been the team of the season so far with Owen Coyle a decent bet for manager of the year. It is their passing game that has impressed the most but that has been built on the solidity provided by Cahill at the back.

5. Nemanja Vidic: Made captain at Old Trafford at the start of the season, the Serb has responded by leading his team to the top of the table. He has resumed his powerful partnership with Rio Ferdinand and has guided the likes of Chris Smalling through.

6. Nani: Often a candidate for most fustrating player the Portugeese is now one for most improved. A constant stream of goals and assists. His new found defensive responsabilty should also be noted.

7. Alex Song: So often known as Arsenal's only enforcer, Song has shown just how adept he is with the ball at his feet. Five goals this season equals his tally for the previous five.

8. Rafael Van der Vaart: Goals, assists and genuine class. The Dutchman has a strong chance of being footballer of the year next May. His intelligence in front of goal and his cleverness at finding space have added a new dimension to Spurs.

9. Samir Nasri: Despite the claims of the excellent Gareth Bale it is the little Frenchman that gets the vote. Double figures in goals and his role for Arsenal in the absence of Fabregas was vital.

10. Andy Carroll: Alot wondered if the giant Geordie could score at the highest level and so far he has emphatically shown he can. An obvious danger in the air, he proved against Liverpool he can also be deadly on the ground.

11. Carlos Tevez: Forget the transfer talk, the Argentinan has yet again been the focal point for Man City. He has maintained his level of performance from last season and is vital if City are to maintain a title challenge.

Alternate team : Hart, Rafael, Cathcart, Gallas, Baines, Varney, Modric, T.Cahill, Bale, Elmander, Berbatov.

City star ready for next season.

Cork City striker Graham Cummins has said that there can be no excuses next year as the club battle to regain its Premier League status but that he also expects the competition to be tough.

“It depends on what type of squad the manager puts together before the start of the season, other clubs like Waterford and Shelburne have strengthened so it will be tough but there are no excuses for us, last year was all about stability and learning as a team. Next year we will have a good pre-season and we will hopefully be able to really push for it” he said.

The City star had a fantastic season last year finishing as the division one top scorer and earning a string of rave reviews for his performances on his own up front. He puts his great season down to a combination of things.

“The coaching staff helped me a lot. I felt a lot stronger and fitter last season. The season I had with Waterford in 2009 really pushed me along as well. Being upfront on your own is a lot of responsibility and that helped me in a way. You are not dropping deep or out to the wings, you are staying up top and trying to be a threat. I think I have become more mature as a player and because of that I was able to focus on the role”

He sees room for improvement in his game however.

“I was happy with the amount of goals I scored but I kind of hit a wall towards the end. I didn’t score in my last five games and I’d like to get more towards the end of the season”

His performances for City were recognised by him be selected in the First Division team of the year and winning the division’s player of the year award last season. He was also selected for the Republic Of Ireland under 23 squad for game against Estonia last September.

“That was probably a personal highlight. I really enjoyed the set-up there. Training in the morning. All your meals ready for you. It was a good environment to learn and help you grow as a player. A great experience”

He believes City can kick on next year and earn promotion back to their rightful place in the Premier League.

“Everything about the place is geared towards it” he explained. “ The stadium and training ground are great and the management give you everything you need outside of that like gym membership, it’s a very professional set-up”

The striker who scored eighteen goals last season is happy at the club and sees his immediate future there having agreed a two-year contract earlier this year.

“Yeah, it is a two-year deal and I’m enjoying my time here, I don’t see anything happening to change that at the moment, a lot of the lads have signed on again from last year so that can only help us” he said.

The lure of England must be strong however for a player who has attracted interest after his sterling performances last season.

“Of course playing in England is an ambition for most lads, if a good opportunity came you would have to look at it. It would mean more stability for you in your career. But I was over in Sunderland before for two weeks and being on trial is not easy. You have to be sure. I think a lot of players used to go over when they were fifteen or sixteen and then come back. You are better off playing in the League of Ireland and then if a chance comes up maybe look at it”

He cites the likes of former city stars Kevin Doyle and Roy ‘O Donovan as examples of players who spent their youth playing in Ireland before plying their trade across the water. Former city player Kevin Long- who last week extended his loan deal from Burnley to Accrington Stanley- is another example.

“Kevin Doyle opened the gate I suppose, he was such a success that teams started looking at the league for other players. The likes of Roy ‘O Donovan at Coventry is doing well and Kevin Long has a good deal at Burnley so it shows there is a lot of quality in the league”

The recession of course has cast it shadow across all spectres of sport in the country but soccer is affected more than most. Drogheda United announced last week that they need to raise €185,000 by the 28th of January if they are to meet the likes of Cork in next seasons First Division. This kind of instability only adds to the pressure for players to find work. Cummins is currently doing some Christmas work and admits it is hard to combine his soccer career and to find stable employment.

“I finished college last year and am just picking drink orders for Christmas. It is hard. The clubs here now can be unreliable with their financial difficulties. You hear a lot about GAA players maybe going abroad for work and it may happen with soccer players too. It’s hard to combine the two. You need time off, usually every Friday and employers aren’t going to be too keen on that”

For now his sights are firmly set on next season. Improving on such a good season last year won’t be easy. Is his target to score more goals than he did last season?

“Well you want to improve as a player. I’d obviously like to score more goals than I did last season but if you offered me scoring less goals and us winning the league next year than I would definitely take that. It all about getting into the Premier League”

The Douglas man is gunning for the season to start then. If he can repeat, or improve upon his stellar form last year than City have a great chance to return to where they believe they belong.

Lessons for Roy to take on the road.

IF ONE was to compare the origins of the managerial careers of Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane, then Ferguson – with East Sterling and St Mirren – took the road less travelled.

Keane is still the voyager but he has trodden down more familiar paths and is struggling to find his way.

He is young enough to overcome these struggles. But he would do well to examine the early years that shaped Ferguson and heed some lessons.

By his own admission, Fergie has mellowed with age. His wild anger in his early days as a manger became more subdued and surgical as time passed. He motivated players by putting an arm around some and by slaughtering others.

He speaks in his autobiography of the Aberdeen player John Hewitt, “I knew if I looked at John at a team talk he would fold up. I never involved him in a team talk because I knew it could destroy him. He was really scared of me” So he encouraged him. Conversely he checked the ego of others when he needed to.

That is the bedrock of successful management. Yet the suspicion remains that Keane has yet to embrace it. He seems to have a default way of motivating his players and it is an earful. Jonathan Walters said after leaving Ipswich for Stoke that “Even now I speak to the lads at Ipswich and when they get beat, well, we know what’s been said before we even speak to anyone. We guess, ‘Aye, this is what’s been said this week’ and we ring all the lads and that’s what happened. It’s eggshells all the time.”

If it is a constant hammering than the message is lost. Keane’s anger is a broad sword to the Ferguson scalpel. Players today will just shrug their shoulders and call their agent. He needs to accept that attitudes have changed.

Here he is at a disadvantage. His enormous profile as a player and his fascinating character ensured much ink when he took the plunge into management. Ferguson was a failed player who took on East Stirling when he started. Keane landed with a sleeping giant in Sunderland and now has arguably another one in Ipswich.

He can compensate for this however with his magnetic personality. Every press conference of his is jammed with razor-sharp quips. When he speaks, he speaks honestly and possesses a ability for withering one-liners. He can use this to help his players. Ferguson religiously defends his players in public no matter the indiscretion. Keane’s constant transfer talk and public rebukes can only make his players nervous. He should use his ability on the camera to infuse his players with confidence.

Keane has already lasted longer than Ferguson did at his first club. Ferguson was fired at his second. Only with his third did the road become clear and lessons learned along make it an easier path.

Should Keane learn from his mistakes and from his mentor then his road as a manger will be easier to travel and it may make all the difference.

Wenger needs a dose of reality.

It is turning into another winter of discontent for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. Not only did they suffer a derby day humiliation to Spurs last Saturday but their progress in the champions league was shuddered by a meek display and loss to Braga in midweek. They recovered today to beat Aston Villa but only after another scare and performance that fitted them perfectly: full of invention and naivety.

Wenger has, in typical style defended his players. He refutes the claim they have a soft centre. The closest he came to criticism was admitting that they are "not cautious enough". Are they naive? "You can call it naivety – but it's a harsh word," he said.

It can be a harsh word but its applicable, to the manager. Wenger must be applauded for his philosophy on the game. On the pitch and off of it. But one always gets the impression that he believes he should win. That by adhering to a strict fiscal policy and by the purity of Arsenals play, success is a right.

Of course it isn't. Staying on the track doesn't mean Schumacher won't shunt you off of it.

Wenger's reasoning behind signing and developing young players is sound, as he explained last year: "Briefly, these are the basics. I thought: ‘We are building a stadium, so I will get young players in early so I do not find myself exposed on the transfer market without the money to compete with the others. I build a team, and we compensate by creating a style of play, by creating a culture at the club because the boy comes in at 16 or 17 and when they go out they have a supplement of soul, of love for the club, because they have been educated together".

It is a Utopian mantra. But the lack of experience and Wenger's lack of ruthlessness in weeding out his under-performers is costing him the only currency that matters to fans: silverware.

It has been six years since Arsenal won a trophy. A Patrick Veira penalty sealed the F.A cup against Manchester United in 2004. Veira was the fulcrum for Arsenal. Inculcated in the Arsenal way by the likes of Tony Adams he drove them to the heights of invincibility. He was then jettisoned. Too old. For Veira read Campbell, or Pires or Theirry Henry.

The value of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville to United goes far beyond what they do on the pitch. They establish a culture. They point the way. A young player or a new signing look at these legends and began to understand and embed themselves in a culture.

Should Wenger have kept some or all of the above? Was Henry really in serious decline? Sometimes their is a human factor to consider when it comes to a transfer. On paper the Juventus offer for Veira made perfect sense. Physically he was in decline, and Arsenal made a profit. But a voice in the dressing room was lost. The chain back to Adams and Dixon was broken.

The eulogies for Wenger when he retires will be long and deserved. He has brought football of poetic beauty to Arsenal. He has built them a stadium. He made them briefly, invincible. But his philosophy must change to once again win, the major trophies.

The Arsene way needs tweaking.

Show me numbers.

On January tenth next year, FIFA, in conjunction for the first time with France Football will announce the winner of the Ballon d’Or. There are twenty three nominees in total and as is usually the case with awards of this nature some argument can be made about the validity of certain names on the list. No-one doubts, for example that Miroslav Klose enjoyed a stellar World cup, especially in comparison with Wayne Rooney but the Manchester United man scored thirty-four goals in total last year. Set alongside Klose’s meagre return of six for Bayern Munich this simple stat could tell us perhaps Rooney is more worthy of a nomination that the German.

Is it time then to base the greatest of individual awards on statistics? Should it be broken into four categories for goalkeeper, defender, midfield and attacker? How could it work? Well UEFA already compensate when deciding their Golden Boot winner. Goals from the supposed tougher leagues count for more than the weaker ones. Couldn’t a system such as this be used to decide the best? For attackers and midfielders: goals, assists and pass completion would form the basis for the award. With additional points for intercepts and successful tackles. The basis for defenders would be the opposite with intercepts and tackles forming the crux.

Lies. Damned Lies and statistics. The genius of this ubiquitous statement is that it can be applied to anything. Most surely football. There was a certain masochistic glee from Jose Mourinho last season when pondering the statistic that Barcelona-a team his Inter had just knocked out of the Champions league at the semi-final stage-completed five hundred and forty eight passes to Inter’s sixty seven.

Barca managed to win the game but lost the tie on aggregate. Mourinho called it his greatest loss. Based on my stat award idea then, in this game, the superb discipline of Estabian Cambiassio would be worth less than Sergio Busquets merely prompting Barca forward. Static sports such as Baseball and NFL are made for stats. The fluidity and ever changing nature of football make it difficult to grind it into mere numbers. It must also be noted that FIFA in particular cannot be relied upon to get rankings right as anyone who follows their world rankings could testify.

The stats of course cannot tell the whole story. But they can tell a hell of a lot. We do not need stats to realise that Paul Scholes rarely gives the ball away or that Michael Essien covers a lot of ground but it does help crystallize the enormity of what the modern greats can achieve. If awards like the Ballon d’Or could not conceivably be based on stats, then more of them are needed in ink and on television to better appreciate the interceptions of Michael Carrick or the blocks of Vincent Kompany. there are a number of good websites that help in this but they are still mostly for the die-hards.

Stats need to be common. Your average twelve year old should be able to tell you Michel Arteta’s pass completion rate or the average amount of Vidic clearances. By highlighting this more. By making stats like this universal, the more mundane arts of football can get the appreciation it deserves.

Kidney searching for a content Autumn.

There is a scene in Friends, the ever-present American sitcom where Chandler, the funny one explains that , to men, kissing is like the warm-up you have to sit through before Pink Floyd comes out. Rugby fans can be forgiven for thinking along the same lines with regards to the Autumn internationals. Lacking the fervour or colour of the Six nations, they are mostly to be endured rather than enjoyed. We gear up for the antipodean invasion hoping to snatch a win against the Aussies or even the Boks, and avoid embarrassment against New Zealand. Argentina serve the grudge course of the Autumn meal while the like of Samoa offer a chance for those stuck carrying tackle bags for the week, to sample some game time.

But this is no ordinary year. The clock is well and truly ticking to New Zealand 2011. Should Ireland ever want to banish to ghosts of France ‘07 then the preparations kick up a couple of notches with this series. Four physical tests in four weeks. Questions answered about key areas of the team.

One of which, as ever, is the front row. Time seems to have finally caught up with John Hayes. His predecessor in red and green, Tony Buckley looks ready to seize the number three shirt and retain it. Mike Ross has impressed this season. No more so than his performance for Leinster against Racing metro but he lacks Buckley’s mobility around the pitch. Tom Court has been steady for Ulster but has not done enough to edge out Cian Healy. Jerry Flannery’s injury problems leaves the contest for the hooker jersey between Connaught’s Sean Cronin and Ulster’s Rory Best. Best is more experienced but has misfired with his darts recently. Cronin has the dynamism and that little bit of devil to be a force at this level.

The centres and second-rows pick themselves barring injury. Two of the back-three look safe, leaving a tussle between Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald for the other wing spot. The back-row is much the same with Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris certain to start against South Africa. Sean O’Brien’s form at seven deserves recognition despite some vintage David Wallace cameos. Denis Leamy adds beef from the bench. Scrum-half is tough to call. Eoin Reddan just shades it on form but it would be no surprise if Declan Kidney thought otherwise and opted for Peter Stringer.

The battle at ten remains delicately poised. But Jonathan Sexton’s pyrotechnics at Wembley against Saracens has probably swung it his way. The argument could be made anyway, that Sexton is the coming force at ten and needs a run of games to bank for next year.

Ireland will target the South Africa game as their best chance of victory against one of the top dogs. The Boks are hurting however from a meek Tri-Nations and have selected their strongest possible squad. It might be a stretch to suggest that perhaps the passage of time has eased the animosity between Argentina and Ireland but we can only hope that the dismal standard of recent games between them can be upped in the next one. There is a crushing inevitability about a loss to the All Blacks. Kidney can only hope it is close and a lot is learned. Three wins is achievable, two should be a minimum. But for the Irish coaching team the warm up act starts here. Its along way to Pink Floyd.

He waits

The British and Irish Lions are playing South Africa in the second test of the test series in Pretoria. The Lions lost the first test narrowly and needed a win to take the series to the final game. Ronan ‘O Gara was on the bench for the first test and some had suggested he play in the second, this is a fictional account of his thoughts on the lead up to and during that second test.


We wait. Another hotel. Another sheet, another cushion. The swirling cycle of air-con humming overhead. They don’t see this. Preening, perfect gear. Snapshots. Quotes. Glory and pain. But never the wait. Should I have hope? He didn’t go so well last week. Everyone talking about the fucking scrum but what about those penalties he missed? Would have swung it our way. It’s not just self-belief. I would have nailed them.

Training going well. Haven’t missed a kick. Putting Roberts and the like into space, making those tackles. I can feel Edwards nostrils glaring just before I try and make the hit. He wants me to miss. He can point and say that’s it. There is your reason Rodge, you cant put him down. How would you be if Spies ran at you? Its that game now. Freaks built for car-crashes. Mine are tired of having to strap me in. My world slows when they approach. Two hands on the ball becomes one when they see me, Gum-shield smile with a glint in the eye. Its O’Gara. Smash him. I go high or low and end with studs on my back. No matter, get up, give me the ball. Lets see if the wrecking ball can run sixty yards.

Paulie is under pressure. Hacks waiting in the long grass. What a way to be. You are playing on Saturday. Spending ten years at home, no-one pressuring me but myself. Come Wednesday night, I’ll be back twelve years of age with a knot in my stomach, hoping the name is read out. Twenty-two does not sit easy. Not like ten does.

Jones trained well today. Made his kicks and created space. Even made a couple of breaks. Breaks he made. Beat the tackle, offloaded. I’m hoping Geech still has those pens in his mind. He didn’t bottle it but his technique is wrong. It’s ugly, deformed. He goes straight at the ball. I wince watching him. I line mine up after him. A new source of power. I stab the tip of my right toe into the ground now as I approach, one smooth arm-swing and step and bang. My own gum-shield smile.

We potter around the edge. Gatland calls us in. A group on one side against the other. Short, sharp drills. Ball in hand, I loop one onto Drico’s hand. I hit him with the same one against Argentina in the world cup. He just needs to bend his run an inch and he’s in. Not many can do it. But he can. Not many can fling out the pass like I can. I am purring now, little grubbers, wrap-round’s. They get it and offer nothing. Jones has made his tackles and he figures that is all he needs. Heaslip is carrying, I fade out. Take the gamble and try and stop him, I go low, hold him up before Wally brings him down.

I feel good stepping off. No more could have been done. But their minds are made up. I lay, suspended waiting for the call. Congratulations Ronan you have made it into the test twenty-two. Twenty-two. I hang up and watch the fan go around. I wont ever get my Lions turn.

Game day, guys in the zone. Me trying to blend into the background. Some words for some of the fellas. Nothing for the others. I wish Stephen all the best. I sit and listen to Geech, he can really speak but by the fourth week it starts to sound like what the yanks call a stump speech. Studs clatter, throats gargle. Players embrace. It is going to be a war. And I will be watching.

We start well, Rob goes over early for a try. A brilliant offload from Jones. Burger is in the bin for the boks. Gouging. They, like the All-Blacks don’t sniff at the dark arts at this level. The commitment is ferocious, obscene. The red and green roar, commanding Romans baying for Christian blood. Some moments of class. Du Preez seems to slow the lot down, pop little passes, snipe little runs. We cough up a stupid try. Basic defence from a line-out. Pietersen in for an easy finish. We lead at the break. Geech implores them to keep going. Gatland is leading an inquest into the try and Edwards is just shouting. Paulie is going around to everyone, an arm here, a rollicking there. We could be in Musgrave down by three to Ulster. Nothing changes with him.

The Bok’s begin motoring. Nothing, aside from Du Preez is inventive. There is no grand plan to the world champions. They just run harder and faster than anyone else. Sustain it and they have no answer. Guys are running on empty. Jenkins and Adam Jones are gone because of concussion, Drico follows. He flattens the biggest bok he can find and suffers for it. Some lady boy he is. Edwards starts to look my way. Twenty-two on my back. Your last option. Geech beckons with a nod. My turn?

Twelve minutes, game in the balance. Roberts off for me. Just make your fucking tackles is the Edwards instruction. We are patched up, miss-matches all over field. Forwards in close contact, making yards on backs. Backs hitting props in space. Fourie gets the ball out wide. I fade to meet him. I aim low. Stop him at source. He pumps his legs and batters through me. I feel my right eye squelching against my socket, I turn and look to see him ground it. It takes a minute to confirm but its good. We get a penalty to level. Jones nails it. Ugly but good. My eyesight is reduced to half. Three left and level. This series is there. Give me a chance to win it.

The ball is pumped into our twenty-two. It bobbles towards the try line. I pick it up and evaluate. Tommy is standing right next to me. What the fuck is he doing? A game to be won. I point forward and roar at him to go. Thirty seconds left, one bounce of a ball and we win. I launch it. I am back on my bed watching the fan cut the air, the ball spirals into the sun. This is my turn. It drops towards me in what seems an instant, to Du Preez it takes a lifetime, my good eye sees him seizing it up. He is getting there. No gum-shield. He wants to be sure. By the time I arrive he is in the air. I brush off his legs. He falls. Penalty. I don’t need to see the rest. The script is written. I trudge off. The boys don’t meet my eyes. When they do, try as the might to hide it, they scream, why didn’t you kick it out? I wait. Battered, broken and bowed. It was my turn but it didn’t spin my way.