Post by QPR Report on Mar 7, 2009 0:24:47 GMT
From The Times
Simon Jordan: ‘People want glamour but all we get is a bloke with a rattle’
The Coca-Cola Championship is the fourth most popular league in Europe but it is still a world apart from the Premiership
(Peter Ford/Action Images)
Not all doom and gloom: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Kaveh Solhekol
Comparing the Barclays Premier League to the Coca-Cola Championship is like comparing a Savile Row suit to something you can pick up in Tesco. “The quality of football in the Championship has not improved for years,” Simon Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, said. “It’s parasite football — you play off the mistakes of other people. It’s a bite, b*****k and bark division. You press in midfield, win the first header, you win the second ball and you win your battles. If you don’t win your battles, you’ll get ridden over.”
It has not been a good start to the year for the Championship. The top two teams won this week but, before Tuesday, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City had won only three of their 18 league matches this year. Automatic promotion to the Premier League is one of football’s ultimate prizes, but this season teams are staggering towards the finish line before they have reached the final bend. “There are no outstanding teams in this division,” Jordan said. “We played Wolves on Tuesday and they needed a lucky penalty to beat us. We’re struggling and out of form, so that’s saying something.”
Jordan saw Palace reach the promised land when they were promoted to the top flight in 2004. Championship clubs can expect to make about £1million a year from television revenue. That rises to between £30million and £50million in the Premier League. “If you put more money into the Championship, you would bring the two leagues closer together,” Jordan said. “We need to change the branding. Sky market the Championship as the working-man’s league and the Premier League gets all the glamour. They get pretty girls in rah-rah skirts and we get a bloke with a rattle. The glamour needs to filter down. People want glamour, so why can’t we give them glamour?”
Watching Burnley beat Blackpool 1-0 on a cold night in March is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the Championship is proud that more than nine million supporters attended games last season, making it the fourth most popular league in Europe. “That’s all well and good, but I’m not where I want to be,” Jordan said. “I don’t feel like a second-class citizen, but I feel like an also-ran.”
Platini: give English football back to English
Uefa president determined to implement a plan to limit clubs' spending on players, no matter how long it takes
Michel Platini uses Kaká bid to push for wage cap
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Michael Platini defends call to limit spending
We should bow before Wenger, not deride him
Arsenal fans have been treated to beautiful football and they now owe the manager some patience, says Patrick Barclay
Arsene Wenger on wrong end of fan’s ire
Arsenal bank on Emmanuel Adebayor to add extra edge
Arsène Wenger: we are as good as golden generation
60-second interview: Paul Merson
What’s the most expensive thing I've bought? A £50,000 straight forecast on the horses. It didn’t come in.
60-second interview: John Aldridge
60-second interview: Jay DeMerit
60-second interview: Simon Jordan
Related Links
Ebanks-Blake gives Wolves renewed hope
Sheffield United cash in on rare good fortune
Plymouth's Gallagher stuns nervous Wolves
Marcus Hahnemann spent two seasons playing for Reading in the Premier League and the American goalkeeper is desperate to return to the big time. Reading are third in the Championship but have won only three times this year.
“The Championship is more competitive than the Premier League and more unpredictable,” Hahnemann said. “Anyone can beat anyone and you get crazy results. You can’t play like Arsenal in this division because the pitches aren’t good enough and it’s a lot more physical. In the Premier League I couldn’t come out for a lot of corners because the quality of the delivery was just perfect. In the Championship someone chips the ball in and we all battle for it.”
The Football League has signed a £264 million television deal with Sky and the BBC, which will bring live coverage of Championship matches to terrestrial television next season. The Premier League may get all the attention, but the Championship has clubs with glorious pasts (Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Wolves) and with bright futures (Swansea City, Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers).
The BBC has an excellent record when it comes to broadcasting sport and many Championship chairmen hope that the corporation’s light touch will improve the image of their league. Presenters and pundits such as Adrian Chiles and Lee Dixon will hopefully sprinkle some magic dust on the Premier League’s poor relation when the BBC shows ten live matches and a weekly highlights programme, but public perceptions about the quality of football in the Championship will change only if promoted clubs start to do better in the Premier League.
Jaws dropped when Hull City beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September last year, but most promoted teams have had little to shout about once they have reached the top flight. Seven of the 12 clubs who have been promoted since 2004 were relegated the next season and it remains to be seen whether the present top three, Wolves, Birmingham and Reading — if they go up — fare any better next season. “It’s simple,” Jordan said. “If you’re promoted, you buy 15 players and hope for the best.”
Chris Coleman is one of the eight Championship managers who has worked in the top flight. The Coventry City manager spent four seasons at Fulham looking over his shoulder and worrying about relegation, but getting Coventry back into the Premier League is why he goes to work every morning. “You want to compete against the best,” he said. “You want to be up against managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger — that’s who you want to compete against. You want to play Arsenal, United and Chelsea every week because you want to see how good you are and the Premier League is the best league in the world.”
Reasons to be cheerful: four British players who prove that second-tier football is not all bad
Victor Moses (Crystal Palace)
Palace fans have not forgiven Tottenham Hotspur for convincing John Bostock to move to White Hart Lane last summer, but at least they have Moses. The 18-year-old winger is one of the hottest prospects in the Coca-Cola Championship and Palace tied him down to a four-year contract after he was linked with Chelsea and Arsenal last year.
Predominantly right-footed, Moses can play on either wing and his eye-catching performances last season, when Palace reached the play-offs semi-finals, were recognised when he was called up to play for England in the European Under-19 Championship.
Marvin Elliott (Bristol City)
He was 19 when he played for Millwall against Manchester United in the 2004 FA Cup Final and marked Ryan Giggs. Millwall lost 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium, but Giggs did not score and Elliott has developed into one of the best midfield players outside the Barclays Premier League.
Platini: give English football back to English
Uefa president determined to implement a plan to limit clubs' spending on players, no matter how long it takes
Michel Platini uses Kaká bid to push for wage cap
Manchester City riches accused of destroying football
Michael Platini defends call to limit spending
We should bow before Wenger, not deride him
Arsenal fans have been treated to beautiful football and they now owe the manager some patience, says Patrick Barclay
Arsene Wenger on wrong end of fan’s ire
Arsenal bank on Emmanuel Adebayor to add extra edge
Arsène Wenger: we are as good as golden generation
60-second interview: Paul Merson
What’s the most expensive thing I've bought? A £50,000 straight forecast on the horses. It didn’t come in.
60-second interview: John Aldridge
60-second interview: Jay DeMerit
60-second interview: Simon Jordan
Related Links
Ebanks-Blake gives Wolves renewed hope
Sheffield United cash in on rare good fortune
Plymouth's Gallagher stuns nervous Wolves
Strong and dynamic, he defends diligently and has the appetite and confidence to run games. Elliott was linked with Portsmouth in January and City turned down an offer of just under £2 million for him. “Whenever we have to turn another club down, we will turn them down,” Gary Johnson, the club’s manager, said.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
The former Manchester United forward has been at Molineux for a little more than a year, but he has already scored 34 times in 55 appearances for the Championship leaders. His scoring record at Plymouth Argyle convinced Wolves to activate a buyout cause in his contract by offering £1.5 million for him in January last year and he has repaid Mick McCarthy, the club’s manager, by becoming the top scorer in the Championship this season.
Ebanks-Blake’s 22 goals include a 31-minute hat-trick in the 3-3 home draw with Norwich City last month and have led to the 22-year-old being linked with moves to Everton and Wigan Athletic.
Joe Ledley (Cardiff City)
Stoke City offered £6 million for the midfield player last year and Wigan Athletic and West Ham United have also expressed an interest, but Ledley has set his sights on making it to the Premier League with his home-town club. Only 22, he has played for Wales 25 times and he takes his responsibilities so seriously that he spends almost as much time defending as attacking.
“The Stoke business cropped up and Cardiff turned down their offer,” John Toshack, the Wales manager, said.
“Joe was a little disappointed. He felt ready for the Premier League. Now I hope he gets his chance with Cardiff in their new stadium — that would be tremendous
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article5860457.ece
Simon Jordan: ‘People want glamour but all we get is a bloke with a rattle’
The Coca-Cola Championship is the fourth most popular league in Europe but it is still a world apart from the Premiership
(Peter Ford/Action Images)
Not all doom and gloom: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Kaveh Solhekol
Comparing the Barclays Premier League to the Coca-Cola Championship is like comparing a Savile Row suit to something you can pick up in Tesco. “The quality of football in the Championship has not improved for years,” Simon Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, said. “It’s parasite football — you play off the mistakes of other people. It’s a bite, b*****k and bark division. You press in midfield, win the first header, you win the second ball and you win your battles. If you don’t win your battles, you’ll get ridden over.”
It has not been a good start to the year for the Championship. The top two teams won this week but, before Tuesday, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City had won only three of their 18 league matches this year. Automatic promotion to the Premier League is one of football’s ultimate prizes, but this season teams are staggering towards the finish line before they have reached the final bend. “There are no outstanding teams in this division,” Jordan said. “We played Wolves on Tuesday and they needed a lucky penalty to beat us. We’re struggling and out of form, so that’s saying something.”
Jordan saw Palace reach the promised land when they were promoted to the top flight in 2004. Championship clubs can expect to make about £1million a year from television revenue. That rises to between £30million and £50million in the Premier League. “If you put more money into the Championship, you would bring the two leagues closer together,” Jordan said. “We need to change the branding. Sky market the Championship as the working-man’s league and the Premier League gets all the glamour. They get pretty girls in rah-rah skirts and we get a bloke with a rattle. The glamour needs to filter down. People want glamour, so why can’t we give them glamour?”
Watching Burnley beat Blackpool 1-0 on a cold night in March is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the Championship is proud that more than nine million supporters attended games last season, making it the fourth most popular league in Europe. “That’s all well and good, but I’m not where I want to be,” Jordan said. “I don’t feel like a second-class citizen, but I feel like an also-ran.”
Platini: give English football back to English
Uefa president determined to implement a plan to limit clubs' spending on players, no matter how long it takes
Michel Platini uses Kaká bid to push for wage cap
Manchester City riches accused of destroying football
Michael Platini defends call to limit spending
We should bow before Wenger, not deride him
Arsenal fans have been treated to beautiful football and they now owe the manager some patience, says Patrick Barclay
Arsene Wenger on wrong end of fan’s ire
Arsenal bank on Emmanuel Adebayor to add extra edge
Arsène Wenger: we are as good as golden generation
60-second interview: Paul Merson
What’s the most expensive thing I've bought? A £50,000 straight forecast on the horses. It didn’t come in.
60-second interview: John Aldridge
60-second interview: Jay DeMerit
60-second interview: Simon Jordan
Related Links
Ebanks-Blake gives Wolves renewed hope
Sheffield United cash in on rare good fortune
Plymouth's Gallagher stuns nervous Wolves
Marcus Hahnemann spent two seasons playing for Reading in the Premier League and the American goalkeeper is desperate to return to the big time. Reading are third in the Championship but have won only three times this year.
“The Championship is more competitive than the Premier League and more unpredictable,” Hahnemann said. “Anyone can beat anyone and you get crazy results. You can’t play like Arsenal in this division because the pitches aren’t good enough and it’s a lot more physical. In the Premier League I couldn’t come out for a lot of corners because the quality of the delivery was just perfect. In the Championship someone chips the ball in and we all battle for it.”
The Football League has signed a £264 million television deal with Sky and the BBC, which will bring live coverage of Championship matches to terrestrial television next season. The Premier League may get all the attention, but the Championship has clubs with glorious pasts (Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Wolves) and with bright futures (Swansea City, Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers).
The BBC has an excellent record when it comes to broadcasting sport and many Championship chairmen hope that the corporation’s light touch will improve the image of their league. Presenters and pundits such as Adrian Chiles and Lee Dixon will hopefully sprinkle some magic dust on the Premier League’s poor relation when the BBC shows ten live matches and a weekly highlights programme, but public perceptions about the quality of football in the Championship will change only if promoted clubs start to do better in the Premier League.
Jaws dropped when Hull City beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in September last year, but most promoted teams have had little to shout about once they have reached the top flight. Seven of the 12 clubs who have been promoted since 2004 were relegated the next season and it remains to be seen whether the present top three, Wolves, Birmingham and Reading — if they go up — fare any better next season. “It’s simple,” Jordan said. “If you’re promoted, you buy 15 players and hope for the best.”
Chris Coleman is one of the eight Championship managers who has worked in the top flight. The Coventry City manager spent four seasons at Fulham looking over his shoulder and worrying about relegation, but getting Coventry back into the Premier League is why he goes to work every morning. “You want to compete against the best,” he said. “You want to be up against managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger — that’s who you want to compete against. You want to play Arsenal, United and Chelsea every week because you want to see how good you are and the Premier League is the best league in the world.”
Reasons to be cheerful: four British players who prove that second-tier football is not all bad
Victor Moses (Crystal Palace)
Palace fans have not forgiven Tottenham Hotspur for convincing John Bostock to move to White Hart Lane last summer, but at least they have Moses. The 18-year-old winger is one of the hottest prospects in the Coca-Cola Championship and Palace tied him down to a four-year contract after he was linked with Chelsea and Arsenal last year.
Predominantly right-footed, Moses can play on either wing and his eye-catching performances last season, when Palace reached the play-offs semi-finals, were recognised when he was called up to play for England in the European Under-19 Championship.
Marvin Elliott (Bristol City)
He was 19 when he played for Millwall against Manchester United in the 2004 FA Cup Final and marked Ryan Giggs. Millwall lost 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium, but Giggs did not score and Elliott has developed into one of the best midfield players outside the Barclays Premier League.
Platini: give English football back to English
Uefa president determined to implement a plan to limit clubs' spending on players, no matter how long it takes
Michel Platini uses Kaká bid to push for wage cap
Manchester City riches accused of destroying football
Michael Platini defends call to limit spending
We should bow before Wenger, not deride him
Arsenal fans have been treated to beautiful football and they now owe the manager some patience, says Patrick Barclay
Arsene Wenger on wrong end of fan’s ire
Arsenal bank on Emmanuel Adebayor to add extra edge
Arsène Wenger: we are as good as golden generation
60-second interview: Paul Merson
What’s the most expensive thing I've bought? A £50,000 straight forecast on the horses. It didn’t come in.
60-second interview: John Aldridge
60-second interview: Jay DeMerit
60-second interview: Simon Jordan
Related Links
Ebanks-Blake gives Wolves renewed hope
Sheffield United cash in on rare good fortune
Plymouth's Gallagher stuns nervous Wolves
Strong and dynamic, he defends diligently and has the appetite and confidence to run games. Elliott was linked with Portsmouth in January and City turned down an offer of just under £2 million for him. “Whenever we have to turn another club down, we will turn them down,” Gary Johnson, the club’s manager, said.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
The former Manchester United forward has been at Molineux for a little more than a year, but he has already scored 34 times in 55 appearances for the Championship leaders. His scoring record at Plymouth Argyle convinced Wolves to activate a buyout cause in his contract by offering £1.5 million for him in January last year and he has repaid Mick McCarthy, the club’s manager, by becoming the top scorer in the Championship this season.
Ebanks-Blake’s 22 goals include a 31-minute hat-trick in the 3-3 home draw with Norwich City last month and have led to the 22-year-old being linked with moves to Everton and Wigan Athletic.
Joe Ledley (Cardiff City)
Stoke City offered £6 million for the midfield player last year and Wigan Athletic and West Ham United have also expressed an interest, but Ledley has set his sights on making it to the Premier League with his home-town club. Only 22, he has played for Wales 25 times and he takes his responsibilities so seriously that he spends almost as much time defending as attacking.
“The Stoke business cropped up and Cardiff turned down their offer,” John Toshack, the Wales manager, said.
“Joe was a little disappointed. He felt ready for the Premier League. Now I hope he gets his chance with Cardiff in their new stadium — that would be tremendous
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article5860457.ece
