Brian Flynn's 180 minute trial

FAW Chief Executive Jonathon Ford announced today that the hunt was starting for the new Welsh manager.

“We really do need to do well in these next two games, but we cannot just sit and wait for the results to determine what we do thereafter."

Well he's right in a way. The results of the next two games should not determine anything. Brian Flynn, as caretaker manager will have had a matter of weeks to take on a team with low morale and serious long-term injury concerns to key players. Jonathon Ford has effectively given him a two game trial. Two defeats and we look elsewhere.

This is absurd. Since when has two games been enough to make a claim for a management job? If Flynn loses these next two games (and Wales will be outsiders to claim even a point), then will the next manager also be given a two game trial? Of course he won't. He will be given until the end of the tournament at least, and more than likely will be guaranteed the chance to work until the end of the qualifiers for the World Cup 2014.

What sort of message does that send to Brian Flynn, the man in the caretaker position, who I believe should be offered the job outright?  It says to Flynn that the FAW are giving him a chance, but unless his teams grab a couple of good results against all the odds that a proper manager will be given the opportunity to develop the team properly.

The Independent reports that Flynn is "far from being the front runner for the Wales job on a permanent basis." , which is news to me, and also to bookmakers across the country who have the former Wrexham manager as evens favourite. Flynn is the only sensible option. Most of the national squad are his players from the youth setup and they have an obvious loyalty and faith in his philosophy. The FAW are not rich, and this tournament will play in smaller stadia affecting future finances. The idea that recognised international coaches with a good pedigree are going to take on this particular poisoned chalice for 50 grand a year is a nonsense.

After years of downbeat misery and constant internal arguing with Toshack at the helm, Welsh football needs a man who will rejuvinate the squad; a man who is popular but respected. Chris Coleman fills those requirements to a certain respect, but Brian Flynn is the outstanding candidate, and he deserves more than a two game roll of the dice.

Ipswich 2-0 Cardiff City

Cooper, Burley, Mills, Wark, Beattie, Hunter, Muhren, Thijssen, Mariner, Gates, Brazil. 

That classic Ipswich side will always stay with me. Kids these days will never be able to recite their own team's regular eleven, let alone a team from miles away that weren't even League Champions. But that Ipswich team from 78-81 were class. I'm sure I've amalgamated a couple of Bobby Robson's sides there. Wasn't there a young Terry Butcher involved? Did Ally Brazil play in the same team as Muhren? I don't really want to know. The Ipswich team of my memory is cultured, skillfull and refined, and full of everything I love about football.

So yesterday's trip to Portman Road was something of a pilgramage. I'd never been there before as Cardiff's only visits combined with my patchy boycotting of the club while Sam Hammam was involved, and my move to Gwynedd in 2002. I'd targetted this game as my long away trip this season and I'm not sure there is a ground further away in hours than this one. 

I expected Ipswich to be pleasant and I wasn't disappointed.  This is an easy-going place and the amble to the ground in warm sun had more of the feel of a cricket match. I don't think they sell Stone Island in Suffolk. Ipswich makes Norwich seem like Galatasaray.

There's a statue of Bobby Robson outside the ground. Fair enough I suppose. Ipswich was the one place where Robson wasn't villified before England's 1990 World Cup performance became bathed in an angelic light thanks to a succession of tournament failures this Century. Personally, I have a grudge against him. Annoyingly, I can't remember why, but I think he once complained about releasing Gary Speed for an "unimportant" Wales game while his England players went away with his best wishes.

The away fans at Portman Road are seated in the Upper tier of the Cobbold Stand. I guess there were about 600-700 in there, with more in the Family Section in the Lower Tier.

Yes. A Family Section! Ipswich are one of very few clubs that understand that away fans with kids dont want to expose them to Scott Thomas swearing at the ref than home fans do. I couldn't see the kids enclosure but I am assuming that the little ones (and OAPs) might even be able to sit down and see some of the game. The lack of a family area at away grounds needs addressing urgently, and I know that Cardiff City recognise that.

The game was odd, but not without precedent in that Cardiff had superior players and played the better football but always looked vulnerable to defeat.  The sides swapped ends after the toss and usually this is because the away team doesn't want to allow the home team to have everything their own way. Maybe Ipswich liked to attack their "end" in the second half, except that they didn't seem to have an "end". Portman Road is the quietest ground I've been to in years.

The City following was largely composed of the "seen-it-all"
weary traveller crowd and they were pretty subdued after a nightmare trip from Cardiff with closures on thd M4. Personally, my ridiculous nervous disposition means that any chanting and singing would induce retching, so I try to save it until absolutely necessary.

Cardiff were pretty much in control early on, until Connor Wickham went through on goal and it looked for all the World like Gabor Gyepes brought him down and would watch the resulting penalty on his way down the tunnel. A well-positioned ref indicated that Gyepes had played the ball, but television replays make me think we were very lucky.

New signing Andy Keogh was being asked to play wide left in a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 system and while the midfield were able to compete well in this formation, he struggled to fit in. Shame to hear the fans on his back already though. He needs time to settle and, and a left midfielder he is not.

Darcy Blake did well enough first half to prompt me to suggest that he could possibly fill the Wales deep-midfield berth. (Does the term "berth" ever get used in any other walk of life apart from caravans & boats?"). However, Blake faded badly as the game went on & he finished with his socks rolled down. He was also guilty of trying to play too much football
when he should just have been feeding McPhail & Whittingham alongside. If we had'nt made two half-time substitutions he would have been replaced I'm sure.

In the end it was those two changes that killed us. Rae came on for McPhail and in a stroke our midfield became more prosaic. I don't mind Gavin Rae in certain circumstances but I don't think it strikes terror in the opposition to see him trundling towards Bothroyd's flick-ons as an attacking midfielder.

In defence the fragile McNaughton was replaced by 18 year old Adam Mathews, which didn't give great cause for concern. Well at least not for 15 minutes until he placed a header into his own goal as he tried to glance away a deep cross. Stupid, but it happens. 

Now you would think that a teenage player would be consoled by his team-mates after a mistake like that. But no, he took a right hammering from
his more experienced colleagues. My eagle-eyed neighbour is sure that his Captain Mark Hudson simply screamed the word "Twat!" at him. I'm no human resource expert, but I'm not sure that technique is given it's own chapter in any leadership manual. 

And the game was over then. City imploded in a spirit of self-pity and futility. Apart from a Whittingham header late on, they offered no reaction. Hudson, Gyepes and even Dave Jones blamed Mathews for the second goal, but I think our defenders were deflecting blame after another uninspiring performance. I don't agree with Jones publically berating the kid either. All the team made mistakes today, not just the 18 year old substitute. 

And finally a word about the players' reaction. Only two of them bothered to show any sort of recognition to the travelling fans. Darcy Blake was one. I don't usually care about this sort of thing, but I know that lots do. Yesterday was a shit of a trip for lots of people. This wasn't a nice little weekend booze-up in a pretty City, it was a long drive across the country to a ground that most people had visited several times before. If the team is happy to jig about taking plaudits for a happy win, they should also bloody well face up to those loyal supporters who don't have the luxury of a chartered flight. 

Denmark 0-1 Wales

You know I wasn't surprised. I backed Wales to win this one. I just think that any team with Aaron Ramsey in it can win the game. I know we're not supposed to out too much pressure on the lad, but hey I'm a fan. I jus love watching the kid play.

I usually enjoy listening to Ian Walsh's summaries but he had a bit of a poor night tonight. "I mustn't harp on, but Ramsey looks tired". But he did harp on. All through the second half.

I was also surprised by some of their tactical remarks. I assumed from the start that Bellamy would play deeper, but it seemed to surprise Walshy and even Ian Gwyn Hughes. And the half-tie switch of Ricketts for Edwards with Bale pushing on is a sign of things to come. Bale is struggling for confidence since he missed that penalty in Russia, and his defensive qualities are not great.

I expect Shearer will have another pop at bellamy's finishing, but at the moment I will forgive the man anything. I'm not sure Ramsey will be able to forget the chance that Bellamy had to put him through for an open goal on his debut.

I worry about how many times James Collins is left to distribute the ball. he inevitably goes for the 80 yard pass and loses posession. I was glad to see Ramsey dropping deep and picking it up. He overshadowed Collison in this respect. As a deep lying midfielder you would like to see Collison taking more responsibility.

Overall it was the most enjoyable Wales performance for many a game. We look very likely to create chances, and our defence is brave if not impenetrable. Once Denmark went behind, they looked like they could score when they needed to. That's pretty much the story for all our games at the moment. Our attitude is generally very good, but once our opposition get hungry, we struggle to cope.

Still, the result is great for confidence. Amd also for all those snipers who prefer to sit at home instead of wearing the red shirt. Face it lads, we don't need you. And isn't that hard to take?

Bangor City 0-2 Rhyl

Footage of this game and the incidents I describe can be seen at the Sgorio website.

I was greeted by a queue of people snaking round onto Farrar Road as I turned up with my camera to this one last night. I snuck through to the press entrance and took my place in front of the Farrar Road stand which Bangor usually attack. Rhyl must have won the toss because they made Bangor swap, and 500 people began the trek round the ground to stand behind the Rhyl goal.

I was on my way too until I noticed the arrival of about 30 Rhyl fans, some of whom began chanting as they entered the ground. They stood on the Farrar End and let rip with a number of tunes regarding their opponents. "I'd rather be a smackhead than a Blue". There were a couple fo songs about in-breeding too, and generally lariness aimed at the large gang of Bangor teenagers who decided to loiter and provoke.

There was only one steward to start with, and he was joined by a couple of others when the game started. The Bangor group edged closer to the Rhyl fans, and insults were freely traded. I nevcer thought I would see a cut-throat sign at a Welsh premier game , but there it was, coming from one of the young Rhyl lads, one of a few wearing Stone Island labels.

To be fair, I never thought it was going to kick off. These were very young kids and there were plenty of sensible heads around to calm things down. And the fuss did start to die down until Rhyl's second goal mid way through the first half.

Then I saw a crowd surge. You don't get many crowds at Welsh Premier games, let alone surges. There were punches thrown and it all got a bit nasty. The stewards bravely stepped in and re-inforcements were called. As the Bangor fans were moved away from the area, further scuffles broke out.

I took a number of pictures from pitch-side, though I'm not sure its in anyone's best interests that I publish them here. From what I could see it appeared that one of the older Bangor lads was trying to grab a flag from one of the Rhyl boys. Rhyl piled in and at one stage somebody was being kicked on the floor by half a dozen lads.

It got pretty messy. It was certainly the worst disorder I've ever seen at a Welsh Premier game, and probably the worst I've seen inside any ground for a few years. Isolated scores were being settled across the terrace and stewards had a tough time.

After that flurry, it was all over when the teams changed ends for the second half. By now the stewards were in the right place and about a dozen police were placed inside the ground.

Bangor will be in trouble for this I'm sure. Despite the extra security they had in place, when it came to the crunch, there were only a few flourescent jackets in amongst the Rhyl fans. I feel sorry for the club. The officials do try their best, but these people are volunteers and shouldn't be having to deal with social disorder issues.

If anybody from the club wants to see my photographs, please get in touch and maybe you can identify and ban a few of the people involved.

On the pitch it was one-sided. Bangor simply had nothing to threaten the Rhyl goal, and the game was effectively over after half an hour.

inflatable igoals review

This is an igoal. It's inaflatable.

If you run a junior football team, it's more than likely that you will have spent hours on a muddy field in the rain trying to fit together 45 bits of plastic tubing to set up the gols for your kids team. It means that you have to arrive at least 45 mins before everyone else and you pray that all the bits are there.

Well we'd had enough, and when my mate Cags spotted these in a garden on Anglesey, he made enquiries. We got sponsorship from Greenwood Forest Park and I order a goal on Saturday, which arrived this morning. I decided to use JJB as we weren't sure what we were getting and thought that returns might be a little easier. The goal was £179, with a free football and some vouchers.

I'm not exagerrating when I say that I opened the bag and had set up the goal within 5 minutes.
All you do is find the valve, stick in the pump provided, and pump it up. It even has the nets already attached. We have the large size goals 12ft x 6ft, which means we can use them in matches.

It took a good 50 or 60 pumps and I don't think that I've inflated it to 100% yet. We're going to try it out on Saturday, and if it's successful we'll order the other next week. But so far so good.

They look fine, and they're certainly sturdy enough. they may be a little less rebound that off the plastic goals, but there's not much off them anyway. And if you peg it down properly, I reckon it's ideal for junior matches.

Arsenal 4-4 Spurs Fanzone

This clip from the North London derby fanzone coverage is priceless.

Don't ask me for a tip

I'm having a stinking run on the spread betting. If you need to know which way a game will go, just ask me what I predict. the outcome will be the exact opposite.

In my bid to live beyond 50, I am spending a lot of time on the old exercise bike which as you know is very very boring and can only be suffered in front of a live football match. I've taken advantage of the free Setanta offer and I spend an hour most days in front a small tv, watching the second half of an obscure live game.

Live games are also pretty boring , so I have to bet to maintain an interest. This means that I am gambling way outside my sphere of knowledge on games that could go either way. Except with my backing, they are guaranteed to throw up a surprise.

It was the rugby last night. I bought sporting index's 15-18 minute spread on the time of the first try. It was Stradey's last game and I was sure it would be a let down until the players settled down after all the hype. What happens? Some lard arsed Bristolian centre falls flat on his arse and Stoddard strolls over unopposed after 3 minutes. It is the only time Llanelli (Scarlets my arse - Parc y Scarlets? What sort of Welsh is that? Oh I know, Llanelli Welsh.) come close to scoring for the rest of the half.

And tonigth it was Blackburn v Middlesbrough, possibly the most unattractive fixture in the football calendar. I would have much preferred to have stuck with Aberystwyth v TNS on S4C, which was a cracking game, but had no sporting index coverage of course.

With the spread at 0.2-0.4 for a Blackburn win, I sold at £20, expecting a 0-0 pile of turge. I was right about the pile of turge and I nearly feel off my bike when Boro scored.

From then on, there was 20 minutes of no hope and Bob Hope for Blackburn. That is until Gareth Southgate made The World's Worst Substitution. Off went Tuncay and on came Marvin Emnes a £3m signing from Heerenveen.

Emnes had an undistingushed 15 minutes on the pitch, during which time he committed 2 fouls, was offside three times and touched the ball not once. Then in the 93rd minute he thrust his arse in the face of Brett Emerton for no discernible reason and gave away the free kick that let to Blackburn's unforeseeable equaliser. Except in my house, where it was inevitable, robbing me as it did of £20. Grrrrr!

Daily Mail are a bunch of lazy thieving bastards

Thanks to Rhys for pointing out the Daily Mail's publication of my Twll Tin Bob Sais story. Obviously , it's not scoop of the century, but you'd think they might have got their own photo to accompany the piece. On their pic, you can even see the Sky+ graphic where I rewound and paused the action for my photo. See where it says -2|| in the bottom left corner?

Still at least I know that of the three people who read this blog, one of them is a Daily Mail researcher. Hello there, how are you, Little Hitler? A byline would have been nice.

Gareth Bale and his sticky patch

It's been a tough few weeks for the boy wonder. His Spurs side have had a terrible start to the season, and his form has been poor. He's playing without confidence, and Ramos doesn't seem to play a system that suits him.

I've been wondering about his best position for a while now. Even Welsh fans have been wondering whether Sam Ricketts is a safer option in a defensive formation with Bale in a more advanced position. Bale's best attributes are attacking. He has fantastic pace, a great touch and his delivery is usually spot on. Add to that his great dead ball accuracy and he is an asset to any team.

But he scares me a bit at the back. He pushes on and can leave gaps. He has been giving the ball away recently and relying on his pace to recover. Unfortunately, there isn't much chance of that if you lose it on 18 yards, and yesterday he earned a red card against Stoke. It was a very bad mistake ; one which cost his side three points and maybe his manager's job.

But it''s been coming. He played poorly for Wales against Lichtenstein and Germany. He hasn't been the same since he missed that penalty in Moscow. I wonder if that has knocked his confidence.

He has also started cheating, which is a bad sign. I've noticed it for Spurs. He goes down very easily, usually with his arms raised in protest. Last season he would have carried on and tried to create something. Now he is playing for free kicks. In Dusseldorf he even stayed down in injured for a while after inventing a collision. I hope this isn't something that he is being coached to do.
Actually , I hope it is. I would hate to see him become that type of player through choice.

Either way, Spurs need him back on form and so do Wales. Luckily, we've got more time than they have.

Close but no cigar

Bloody hell it's hard being a Welsh football fan. Ever since Joe Jordan made me cry in 1977, 31 years of utter misery has been interspersed with boredom and half a dozen evenings of bliss.
This week's action has been the normal progression from pessimism, pride,fleeting hope and ultimately defeat. Plus ca change. Sometimes I think it's better when we are hopeless.

In a way, last night's under 21 defeat was more difficult to take. We were disadvantaged in so many different ways. Once again, the difference in age showed. The developmentof young players between the ages of 17 and 21 is massive. Wales just ran out of steam against their stronger opponents. But not before the football Gods tempted us with too many hints of success.

Aaron Ramsey is magnificent. But what a shame that Owain Fon Williams was responsible for both goals. He was the one kid who wanted to win the most. He seems like such a nice lad. Maybe too nice for professional football.

just a word of admiration here for Stuart Pearce. He was generous in victory and honest and accurate in his assessment of the game. Fair play Psycho.

And then to Germany. The game panned out like so many others. Wales defend bravely, threaten slightly, it all looks to be going well, and then a sucker punch. Right in the guts.

James Collins had his best game for Wales after a year out. Craig Morgan and Ashley Williams did well too considering they play for Peterborough and Swansea. Gunter and Bale struggled again. Maybe teams have snuffed out that threat now.

I am liking our captain more and more. Craig Bellamy now gives the best interviews on television. He is passionate, to the point and honest. Add an Owain Glyndwr tattoo to those qualities, and you have a great mix. Obviously Alan Shearer didn't think so on BBC 3's coverage. but I'm backing Bellamy every time in that conflict.

The thing is, at the end of the day we lost again. In 2005 the Welsh rugby team started showing great promise, but they too lost the big games. Then something happened. They became a winning team. Last minute kicks started to go over, decisions went their way.

The Welsh football team needs to cross that barrier. We are too pleased with ourselves for losing bravely. Brian Flynn was grinning at the end of last night's match. We need to become winners. Once we do, I'm sure this will be the best decade for Welsh football in our lifetime. But for now it's more pain and misery.

Twll Din Bob Sais

Setanta might want to consider employing a Welsh speaker for Wales games.

In their pre-match build-up before the Under 21 play-off at Villa Park, they lingered on this happy bunch of Welsh supporters.

The camera focused on this flag for a good 10-15 seconds. I don't think it would have done if they had known what i means........

ARSEHOLES TO THE ENGLISH!

Wales 2-0 Liechtenstein

I was really looking forward to this game after our performance in Russia and the Under 21's performance the previous evening. A shame then that not many people shared my enthusiasm, and it looked like the crowd was lower than the Under 21's attendance.

I was pitchside once again, and it's surprising how disconcerting it can be when the atmnosphere is poor. You can here isolated shouts, people chattering distractedly, and those horns....oh God those horns.

Craig Bellamy's interviews are full value these days. I like him more and more. You don't get the ususal platitudes and he tells it the way it is. "The pitch isn't the best", he said. "It's a rugby pitch". He also told us how difficult it is to play in front of a low crowd and a poor atmosphere.

I think he's right in that respect. I think the Welsh public are currently letting their team down. I understand it totally. I didn't make the effort for the Azerbaijan game because the truth is that watching a Wales international these days is a chore.

I'm not sure why we stick at this low tempo game, when the Uhder 21's showed that our strength lies in our aggressive, high speed forcefulness. More often than not, our centre halves are looking to distribute the ball. With all due respect to Morgan and Williams, Beckenbauer and Hansen they are not. Our system is the reason that James Collins has so often looked uncomfortable when he plays. If you close down our wing backs like Liechtenstein did, then you make our big defenders play a footballing game which is anethama to them.

Ramsey should travel to Germany. Edwards is a decent young footballer, but Ramsey is now ready. We pose a threat via Bellamy and Koumas, but add Ramsey to that combination and suddenly we are a lot more threatening. He has to play sooner rather than later. The Under 21's game is a lost cause now. Take him to Moenchengladbach.

Wales football internationals are becoming little more than a day out for the kids. This has to change somehow. I don't have the answer I'm afraid. Many people will point to the great occasion on Friday at Ninian Park, and even back to the last truly enjoyable Wales game; Wales v Belarus at the same venue.

But Ninian will be no more pretty soon, and we have seen how the Liberty Stadium fails to match up. The Kop is closed at Wrexham, so it looks like the Mill Stad is our only viable option. I just wish we could fill the bloody thing. Banning those horns might help. I'm serious about that. Deadly serious.

It was public opinion which got smoking banned at public events, so let's get rid of those tooters. I think I'll start a petition.


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Wales (under 21) 2-3 England (Under 21)

I was far too emotionally involved in this game.It was an under 21 game game after all. A practise match in effect. Not much more than youth football.

But I had been working on some interview clips during the week for Sgorio's website . There are videos of a few of the players on the site and one in particular stood out. The Welsh keeper Owain Fon Williams gave the best interview I've seen for a long time. It's in Welsh and he basically said that he dreamed of beating the English. He spoke like we feel. Look at the image of Owain belting out the anthem on the images below. We have a new Dai Davies in the making.

I realy wanted them to win but I feared the worst. The odds were against us from the start. Despite UEFA's soundbites, everything is against the small nation. Firstly, despite creating a shock by winning our group,we were forced into a playoff, designed to give teams like France another chance. We pipped Romania to the group win, and we are then assigned a referee from...Romania. And finally,despite the fact that we need about nine of our Under 21 players for our senior team, the fixtures are arranged to clash with important senior fixtures. Wrexham can cancel a game because they lose 3 players to international fixtures, but the Under 21 team is forced to face England with a second string.

But bloody hell they did us proud. In front of a raucous sellout crowd, they attacked from the start. Shaun McDonald stood out for me, and Aaron Ramsey is simply imperious. He must feature in Toshack's team soon. He will be the best Welsh player since Ian Rush.

England seemed to think it would be easy. Arrogant, spoilt, but talented Premiership players were a little disrespectful I thought. I liked Stephen Taylor though. He has to be a future English captain.

Ablongahor was frighteningly quick. But he did something in the first half which I'm not sure is right. as he chased a through-ball going through to Owain Fon in the Welsh goal, he put two fingers his mouth and whistled like a shepherd. It's intended to put the keeper off, but I think it probably warrants a yellow card for ungentlemanly conduct.

The ref was lenient throughout. From my position pitchside I couldn't see too much, but the crowd seemed indignant a lot of the time. I watched it on television when got back, and I could see no foul in the build up to England's third goal, despite Rob Phillips assertions on Radio Wales.

So yes, England were the better team, and I expect them to win the return game at Villa Park. But I've written off Brian Flynn's boys before now and been wrong every time. There is class and spirit throughout the team. Simon Church was particularly impressive, along with Jack Collison. Whatever the result on Tuesday, it's been a great ride with this group of players and the future looks dazzlingly bright.



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It's not about the winning

As you know, my Under 9's team has had a difficult start to the season. 4 games, 0 goals scored 21 goals against. And there wasn't a 0-0 draw amongst those.

But you know, it isn't about the winning. it's about fun. As long as they have fun that's great. No, it's not the result that counts. Nope. No way. Never.

As long as they develop a passing game, and they improve , well it's worth it. And it's important to give everybody a game whatever the situation. Football-for-all, that's my motto. I am a football egalitarian. It's about the game , not the competition. Football at this age is uncompetitive and so it should be.

WE WON!!!! WE WON A BLOODY GAME!!!!

We played a match tonight and we bloody well won it! Yesssss! get in there !!!!
And you know what? At 3-2 up with five minutes to go, I brought my best player back on and put him at sweeper. So sue me. we won!!!

I'll feel very guilty about his post in the morning but for now it's champagne and caviar.

Wrexham 3-1 York

I went to the Racecourse tonight to test out my new lens before the internationals. And it's a good job I did. Memo to self: monopod needed by Friday.

I was also interested to see how Dean Saunders would do on his first home game. I've always liked Deano, and I think him and Wrexham are well matched. Both the club and the manager have a history of playing attractive football, and I think he'll be very successful.

He got a good welcome from the 5,100 crowd which I thought was pretty impressive. Espoecially when I saw signs advertising entrance for £17 above the away end. Some mistake surely. Do people pay £17 to watch a Conference game? There were still about 200 travelling York fans which also surprised me. It was a pity to see the Kop closed and empty though. It seemed to take the soul out of the ground.

The standard was pretty poor really. And a dull first half saw the teams evenly matched. Wrexham's loan signing Joe Allen is a class act, and I remember him starring for the Victory Shield team when they won the Championship a few years ago. If that's the calibre of player that Saunders can attract then Wrexham should be ok.

But time isn't on Deano's side. He's going to take some time to form a team of his own, so for now they need every point they can get. And they were a bit lucky to get any tonight.

York took the upper hand in the second half and should have gone ahead from a penalty. Gavin Ward did really well with a double save. I was impressed with him all night. I was only sitting a few feet away from him and he didn't stop talking to his defence throughout.

Once Wrexham scored from classy Joe Allen the win was pretty much inevitable. One thing that did impress me was the Wrexham celebrations. those players meant it, and I always think it's a good sign when a team celebrates wildly together.

I had my camera focused on Saunders for most of the latter stages. He was getting more and more edgy, and got frustrated once or twice with the referee, but nothing serious. I've got no idea what he must have said after Wrexham's 3rd goal to get himself sent off on his first game.
Welcome to management Deano.

No scores in the paper for youth football

There was plenty of publicity given recently to the English FA's decision to make football non-competitive for U9 teams. Part of this development was the order given that results for these age groups should no longer be published in newspapers.

This has been the case in Wales for some time. The English youth policy is famously backward , and Wales' progressive coaching system was rearded years ago with JIRA approval from UEFA.
Football here is non-competitive until the Under 12 age group. And so it should be.

You would think then, that the local FA's and leagues would all be behind this policy. Think again. Our local League in Caernarfon insists that we provide teamsheets and scores for precisely this purpose. And in Thursday's Caernarfon Herald , you could happily read that Felinheli Under 9's lost 7-0.

Sour grapes you might think. Not at all. We win sometimes too, and I would stll object strongly to publication. The point is that we believe in football for all as prescribed by the FAW, (and therefore the NWCFA and its Leagues).

The minute you start attaching any significance to match scores, you pressurise team managers to select teams according to ability. Some teams already do that I know, to the detriment of late developers who are put off football early on.

It isn't a level playing field. There are often large squads of players at these games, and we play a second game for those who didnt play in the first. We treat these games with equal importance.
Every game is a friendly.

But not according to the Gwyrfai Junior League who threaten to fine clubs opposed to this outdated nonsense. If football is officially uncompetitive then scores are irrelevent. To publish them becomes farcical and should be stopped.

Bangor City 1-0 Connahs Quay

I've spent worse afternoons at the football. I was about to say, "but not many", unfortunately that wouldn't be true. My football watching life has been a turgid potpourri of mediocrity and tedium. Yesterday's recipe included lots of cold water.

My early morning had been spent watching Y Felinheli Under 7's play against Penrhosgarnedd at Treborth. That was wet too. My middle son Ifan was playing his second ever game, and he even kicked the ball once. There's progress for you.

I decided to visit Farrar Road in the afternoon, using my newly acquired Welsh Premiership photography accreditation. After my initial forays into photography, I've decided to step things up. I bought a new super duper telephoto from ebay and I'll be taking pics at the Wales internationals, so I used the biggest game of the day in North West Wales to get in some practise.

As the saying goes, "upgrade your ability before you upgrade your gear". Today's images were taking with my cheap old Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens while I await delivery of the next step up, a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM Lens. (The things I write for search engine optimisation). You can see that the Tamron struggled in the low light.

So there I was in my lime green bib ready for some action. I waited....and waited. This really was a dull game, enjoyed only by Bangor's most fervent supporters. The type of people who stand out in the open end, even when there are perfectly good roofs on two of the stands.

I got soaked crouched at the side of the touchline. It was an interesting aspect, even though a cameraman doesn't actually see any of the best bits. As Sion Edwards breaks clear down the left one, you have to make an instant decision. Does my camera follow his tricky feet, or do I focus on Les Davies charging up the middle for my money shot?

I usually try to get the centre forward in the hope that I capture the exact moment when ball meets head, eyes focused and drops of water elegantly showering his forehead. So far, I only know what has happened by the sound of the crowd groaning as the ball has somehow cleared the stand. My camera catches Big Les's disappointment. I have thousands of pictures of Les looking disappointed.

Connah's Quay were organised. No matter how miserable and boring a game is, I always come away with a nugget that keeps me interested enough to go again. This time I was fascinated by the way that the whole defence would shout "don't foul, don't foul" whenever Bangor attacked.

They had obviously identified Bangor's set-piece as a danger and were disciplined enough not to give away many free kicks. It was good to see intelligence rather than machismo in a Welsh premier game.

The Seb Coe Article

Did Seb Coe really say that?

Mystery surrounds an apparent remark made by Olympic Chief Seb Coe yesterday. One eagle-eyed Londoner saw the following report on pahe 5 of thelondonpage.

SEB COE : F*** THE SCOTS AND THE WELSH.

Part of the report about the 2012 olympic team is "When asked last night about the opposition from the Welsh and the Scots , Coe replied bluntly :" F*** them ! "
A few other readers sent me links, but it seems that the Ministry for Truth has been in touch with reporters, and the story is now missing. Is anybody able to find a reference to this on the web and post a link?

Ex-Felin lad moves to Bangor City

Interesting to read that Bangor City signed former Felinheli player Kevin Lloyd from Llangefni Town. I watched Kevin regularly at Felin a few years ago when he played in our first team at Welsh Alliance level when he was just sixteen years old.

Naturally as a youngster his form was patchy at the time, but he had the pace and quality which made him stand out. When Felin were relegated, he went to play at Bontnewydd, and I was surprised to see that he couldn't make the team there.

He's obviously come on a lot since moving to Llangefni, and it's good to see a young lad who is prepared to make the sacrifices that the Welsh Premier demands.

It's good too to see Bangor City giving opportunities to young lads like Kevin Lloyd, Cayo Iwan, and Mel McGuinness. I think the Cofis could take a leaf out of their book. There's plenty of local talent without scouring Merseyside.