Mails: Your club’s biggest ‘sliding doors’ moment?

Mails: Your club’s biggest ‘sliding doors’ moment?

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com

More sliding doors moments for Arsenal
Will’s email about Sliding Doors moments is a fascinating one, and although I’m an Arsenal fan I have another couple I’d like to add to the list.

On Wednesday 14th April 1999, I was a 10-year-old boy watching the Gunners on TV, in an FA Cup semi final replay against Manchester United. In the final minute, Phil Neville committed a foul which handed Arsenal a penalty. Dennis Bergkamp promptly missed it, Ryan Giggs did his thing and United went on to win the treble. A last minute penalty save! What a different world it would’ve been had that have gone in. No greatest goal ever, no treble and perhaps, no league title for United either – defeat would’ve had an impact and maybe Arsenal would’ve gone on to record back to back doubles. It is impossible to say.

Similarly, a few years later at Old Trafford, an injury time penalty was awarded to the home side in another ferocious game between United and Arsenal. Ruud Van Nistlerooy stepped up and, such was his hatred for Arsenal and adrenaline for the moment, tried to break the ball he hit it so hard. It crashed off the bar, bright yellow Arsenal shirts surrounded and mocked him and the Gunners held on for a 0-0 draw. But what if that had gone in? This was the sixth game of an unbeaten season of course; that goal would’ve meant an end to the “run” by the end of September. If that goes in, there’s no ‘Invincibles’ – which is an achievement you could say Arsene Wenger is still living off to this very day.

Later that season, the night before my 15th birthday this time, Wayne Bridge scored a goal at Highbury that saw Chelsea knock Arsenal out of the Champions League. They bottled the next round against a Monaco side who’d knocked Real Madrid out and Jose Mourinho’s Porto ended up winning the whole thing. In my mind, this was almost as bigger opportunity for Arsenal to win the Champions League as losing to Barcelona in 2006 was. Instead we went out of Europe and the FA cup within a week and had to count on Thierry Henry literally breathe life back into Highbury against Liverpool on Easter Monday.

Football… You just never know.

It’s bloody brilliant.
Joe, AFC, East Sussex

…for Tottenham
Remember when Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand went to Amsterdam. The plan was to scout the Ajax centre forward Luis Suarez. Would he be an upgrade on Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe? Of course not, can’t play upfront on his own, too similar to Rafa Van Der Vaart. “Not needed at Tottenham, ‘Arry” said Tim.

But imagine if Tim had come home and said “‘Arry, we need Luis”. Luis Suarez supported by Bale, Van Der Vaart and Lennon (??) in front of a midfield controlled by Modric and Jenas (???). Surely Spurs would have won the league. ‘Arry would have been England manager instead of Woy. England would have qualified for the 2012 Euros and been knocked out in the group stages (no matter how many parallel universes some things never change).

And Suarez would now be diving for Real Madrid.
NPR (THFC) (you can but dream)

…for Mourinho
Ironically (now Jose’s at United) I often wonder what would have happened to Mourinho had Scholesy’s 2nd goal against Porto 13 years ago (yesterday) in the Champions league, not been incorrectly called offside. United go 2 up in a game that was a bit of a war of attrition and probably going through with Porto not going on to lift the trophy. Does Jose’s march to greatness (hmmm) grind to a halt (who would be in charge at United now?), is it just delayed for a year or does it continue unabated anyway due to his planet sized ego….
Carl (4749 days later I really should have moved on) Oldfield MUFC Southport

…for Middlesbrough
The mail from Will about Sliding door moments got me thinking about Boro, and just what might have been. Obviously a team like Boro are unlikely to press themselves on English football in any significant way – the continued hope of occasional success is really all we can look to. However there are a couple of moments that make me think “what if”.

Firstly, there’s the whole “three points” debacle that saw us relegated. Obviously I side with the club here, that we were told by the FA that the game against Blackburn could be postponed and re-arranged and all the appropriate boxes had been ticked that would allow us to do so. As we all know, this wasn’t the case – we didn’t turn up (literally, not in the way we haven’t this season) and were docked 3 points, subsequently relegated with Juninho inconsolable on the Elland Road turf. I wonder what the next few years would have been like if we had kept Juninho, Ravanelli, Emerson and co. and purchased some actual defenders. The irony of all this is that if we had played that game and lost 10-0, we would have been safe.

Many years later, a young Stewart Downing was high on the list of a number of suitors. Regular rumours of clubs enquiring about his availability surfaced, including Man U, Liverpool and notably Spurs. The story goes that we were offered a player plus £5m from Spurs in order to part with our prized asset. That player? One Gareth Bale. Hindisght is 20/20, but what a signing that could have been.

Looking forward to hear some of these stories from other teams!
Matt (Now watching Juninho highlight reels on Youtube), Middlesbrough

 

…for Gillingham
Football “Sliding Doors” moments? It’s May 1999. Manchester City are in the Division 2 (now League 1) playoff final against Gillingham, and the media are leading with the story that all the Citizens need to do is turn up to win. It’s a cagey affair, bursting into life in the last ten minutes of normal time when “little Gillingham” go 2 goals up. City pull one back on the stroke of 90 minutes, when for some unfathomable reason Mark Halsey decides to add on five minutes of injury time. Football being football, City equalise in the ninety-fifth minute and go on to win on penalties.

Of course, had Mark Halsey adjusted his watch correctly, the match would’ve ended at 2-1 after 93 minutes. Gillingham would’ve got a second successive promotion the following year, and after a bit of yo-yoing established themselves as a Premier League club, becoming owned by an oil-rich chairman via a chap with dubious ethics. Aguero would’ve won the league for us, Pep would deign to make us his post-Bayern project, and we’d still sing songs about Swindon fans being close to their families, because we’re petty small-minded sods at heart.

This is exactly what would have happened, no need to think about it in detail.
James Vortkamp-Tong, GFC, Brighton (do Manchester City still use the Citizens nickname?)

Spurs’ run > United’s run
The weekend is almost here folks. The best time of the week for any football fan, especially after your team has been unceremoniously dumped out of Europe by a team beaten 5-2 at home by Genk last night.

Anyway, I digress. The weekend is exciting, and hardly anything excites me more than some football statistics, and I have Manchester United’s AMAZING unbeaten run in my crosshairs. The hype is strong, but the context is lacking, context I’m hoping will help all you good people on football365 see this AMAZING run for what it is. Another 7 letter A word.

For the sake of my post, I have to compare Utd’s run to Tottenham’s for one of two reasons. 1) Spurs are best team in the land, and 2) because Arsenal and Liverpool have been utter toss over the same period and this would’ve undermined my point.

Now, lets get down to brass tax.

Utd’s record since the 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge

P17, W9, D8, L0. Pts 35 – GD +16

During this time, Utd have only played 3 games against the current top 6 clubs. Three. All at home too. Over a season you play 10 matches, 5 at home and 5 away. We can say straight away that they’ve had a fortunate run.

Tottenham’s record since that 4-0 defeat

P18, W11, D4, L3. Pts 37 – GD +24

During this time, Spurs have played 6 games against the current top 6 clubs. 1 at home, the 2-0 victory over Chelsea, and all 5 away, Arsenal, Chelsea, Utd, Liverpool and City. It’s fair to say during this period that Spurs have had a much harder run and regular difficult fixtures that have disrupted us.

Where’s the hype? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m quite happy to fly under the radar, and I don’t expect to have the backing of poondits like Lawrenson or Merson, but come on. In context, we’ve been excellent, and Utd have muddled along with a much friendlier fixture list.

Anyway, hopefully those reading after the standard Friday liquid lunch haven’t dozed off. Enjoy your weekend folks, and good luck to all clubs in the FA Cup.
Ross THFC

Why is Gerrard a good idea?
Firstly, how embarrassing is it that Mings and Howe won’t shut up about just how appalled they are he was given such a lengthy ban? I genuinely thought he could have been banned for the rest of the season, given the nature of that incident. In one downward stomp, he showed himself to be a cowardly scumbag and I don’t think 5 games is nearly enough for something so deliberate and blatantly dangerous. He should count himself lucky in my opinion. He stamped on the guy’s head/face for f*ck sake, and clearly looked down to take aim – I’m amazed!

I am also curious to understand what people think of Gerard coming into the England frame. I simply do not understand this philosophy of bringing in ex pro’s just because of who they are. He has zero management or coaching experience, from a generation of serial international under achievers. Gary Neville was a great pro, clearly an intelligent guy with a good grasp of tactics e.t.c, yet his influence on Hodgson’s England can’t have been that great, nor at Valencia and like Giggs at Utd with LVG. This idea of an ex pro being great on the pitch therefore will be great off it just doesn’t wash. It has proven to be a load of boll*x to be fair.

Just because someone can drive a car amazingly well, does not mean they should become a part of the pit crew or would be an amazing mechanic when they decide to stop driving. It takes a different mentality, and should be executed with seasoned experts with track records, particularly at this level. I would think this especially important for an international team who are dogsh*t every international tournament they play for the last 20 years. Does having Gerard actually excite or inspire confidence in any England supporters out there?
Rowan
Red Devil Dub

 

Podcasts
Regarding James M (delighted i chose to ignore my hostels offer to show the Barca game) and his question about some good football podcasts.

Here’s but a few:

The Game Podcast from The Times. Features an intelligently hubris Gab Marcotti usually picking arguments with ex-pros.

The Second Captain’s Football Podcast. A lot of people can’t get past Ken Early because they don’t usually get his humour, but he’s brilliant along with the amazing Eoin and Murph. Their remixes of sporting audio bites are magnificent.

The Football Ramble. Apparently people love this, I think it’s pretty good but nothing particularly special.

The Spanish Football Podcast. Come for Sid Lowe and stay for Sid Lowe. Listen to a few episodes and you will become so much more educated in La Liga it will genuinely surprise you and make you want more.

The Monday Night Club on 5live. Even though it hasn’t been on in a while, it is consistently good, if you cut out some of the less desirable pieces. It may contain Robbie Savage, be warned. But when you get Mark Chapman (who is the best broadcaster in The UK, see The NFL Show with Osi and J Bell) two good journalists and a intelligent ex-pro e.g. Jenas, Nevin it’s fantastic. Also check out the The European Football Show which usually follows.

The Sunday Supplement Podcast. Depends who’s on it, there tends to be too many tabloid writers. They often speak of the drama of the football rather than the impact.

Finally the podcast which is my personal favourite, The World Football Phone-in. Mainly due to the array of fantastic experts that are on it every week. It gives you a real appreciation of football all around the world and it gives you a healthy reminder that football does exist outside of Europe.

Tim Vickery and Sid Lowe are also the two best football writers around IMO, incase you want to do a little reading.
Aaron (I listen to way too many football podcasts) Drogheda

In response to James M, I’d recommend The Blizzard’s podcast. Before, podcasts were the morphine to my heroin addiction but since listening to select choices from the God that is Jonathan Wilson’s magazine, I’ve found myself looking forward more to the side dish than the main course itself.

Although about sport in general rather than football specifically, I’d also check out ‘Flintoff, Savage and the Ping Pong Guy’. Half the time you’re laughing with them, half the time you’re laughing at them, but you’re always laughing. My person highlight from the fledgling series is Savage shouting “I like Mamma Mia!” – an admission delivered with the spontaneity and shame of a 5-year-old admitting he ate all the sweets his mother told him to keep away from.

On a side note, I really don’t get what people love about The Football Ramble. I only listened once so maybe I’m judging unfairly but it seemed to lack both the insight and humour Football Weekly blesses us with.
J, Madrid

Just wanted to give James two football podcasts that I think he would like, considering I also listen to the Football Weekly.

The first is the Football Ramble, which is a bit looser than the other podcasts he mentioned but that allows them to go off on several odd tangents (especially by Pete). They also have email sections where their listeners can write in. These are often the best bits of the show.

The other one I listen to is the Football Fives podcast, hosted by a group of friends who in some capacity write about football (Ryan Keaney, David Hartrick, Chris Nee and some other berk). Each episode has five questions and a theme and aren’t always necessarily about that week (eg the last episode was about Modern Football). They also do quizzes and pick all time 5 a side teams.
Monied Bob

The Second Captains. They are Irish so some of the references may not work internationally but it’s a cracking podcast. Knowledgeable presenters, they have opinions that they support with facts and are happy to debate.

Fantastic regular guests too. Can’t recommend this enough. Figuring out how to play these through the radio in my car for the commute to work has been genuinely life changing. My rage at other road users has all but vanished. You have the option of two free podcasts per week (one for football, one for sport) or subscribe and get a minimum of 6 per week.
Kev (do it)

In response to James M requests for podcasts – Second Captains is always excellent. They gents combine intelligence, humour, football (and sport) chat to great effect. The chemistry between the presenters makes for easy listening. You need to pay for 5 day a week shows but Mondays podcasts are still free.

Enjoy.
Dickie

He gets a bit of a hammering on this site but the 5live podcast with Robbie Savage and Freddie Flintoff is brilliant. The banter is great and it gives a good insight into a sportsman’s mind on a range of topics. Easy listening and a top laugh
Joe

In response to James M request for football podcast recommendations if it’s ‘hilarious’ banter and casual racism you are after then look no further than Dave’s Magic Sponge. I’ve only recently discovered this delightful little gem hosted by a couple of comedians (including the toothy one from Essex) and Jimmy Bullard. Having listened to a couple of tasters and seen the guest list of previous episodes it’s effectively PFM radio.

For each episode, said guest is invited on to talk about the ‘characters’ in the game back in the day and the high jinks and japes that went on. The current episode has Graham Stack (look him up) in the chair and ‘Stacky’ regales us all with tales about Ray Parlour feigning injury so people could pick up a few quid from the bookies, selling ‘hooky’ gear from the back of his motor and knocking fans out on the pitch. A little puerile perhaps but fairly harmless and entertaining stuff which the lads lap up.

Things take a slightly sinister turn when Stacky talks about his time on loan to a club in Belgium that also had a relationship with a soccer school in the Ivory Coast. A number of the youngsters from this school were in the same team and they included a 16 year old Ya Ya Toure. Stacky then tells us that, for ‘bantz’, he and the other Arsenal players on loan used to go to the main square in town and throw 1 Euro coins into the fountain which Ya Ya and chums used to scramble over each other to collect.

Basically they all find it hilarious that people from an incredibly impoverished part of the world are so desperate for money they are willing to climb into a freezing cold fountain to retrieve a paltry one euro coin. However, it turns out it’s all just a bit of fun because look at Ya Ya now, he’s minted ‘innee…etc. etc. hilarious.

So check it out, it’s got swearing ‘n everything.
Alex Mc (Still can’t believe the story made the post edit)