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At midday on Saturday Emmet Ryan sat down with Paul Fennessy and David Neary to watch and tweet all six Rocky movies. With spoilers throughout, here’s what he learned.

Racial politics and the Muhammad Ali-Apollo Creed dynamic

The timing of Rocky and its chief inspiration, Muhammad Ali’s victory over journeyman Chuck Wepner, made the presentation of African American characters a core issue through the first three movies. Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers, is heavily influenced by Ali. Through his dialogue and gesticulations, Creed reflected the heavyweight champion of the day.

Exceptional care is taken in ensuring that Creed is not presented as a villain in any way in the first film. He is an adversary but one presented as deserving of his status. The majority of African American roles in the film are in positions of respect and authority, not a common sight at the time. Sylvester Stallone and John G. Avildsen wanted the audience to root for Rocky but not against Creed.

In Rocky II, where Creed must adopt the role of villain in the fight in order to force a re-match, great care is taken to make this a sympathetic decision*. Even in Rocky III, where Mr. T’s Clubber Lang is unquestionably a bad guy, Apollo and his trainer Duke become out and out good guys. It is Apollo who brings Rocky back to the top.

*In II Creed get agitated by the letters he receives criticising him for his performance in the first bout with Balboa. Heaven knows how badly he would have coped in the era of Twitter and Facebook.

There were a couple of nice touches to the Ali-Joe Frazier rivalry of the time. Smokin’ Joe has a cameo at the start of the championship bout but the really smart move came between the 14th and 15th rounds in the first championship fight. Rocky demands Mickey cut the swelling on his eye so he can see and go out for the final round. In the Thrilla in Manila, Frazier retired in the corner at the end of the 14th, his trainers fearing that his inability to see would be too great a risk for one more round.

Weathers it must be added does an exceptional job making Creed more than just an Ali clone. Ali was the most recognisable sportsman on the planet at the time but despite that large shadow Weathers gave Creed his own voice.

About the Boxing

If only the pugilism was as good as the subtle touches around the fights. Dave Neary described Rocky as not a boxing movie but as a drama with a little boxing in it. What little there is isn’t great. Likewise Creed-Balboa II is light on plausible fighting long before the famous double knock-down ending. The real turn for the worse comes in Rocky III.

The first fight in the film is against fictional wrestler Thunder Lips, played by Hulk Hogan. The two subsequent bouts with Clubber Lang contain moves even the WWE would disallow. In simple terms, you can’t throw a man into the corner or lift him up in boxing. Realism is not what I want but plausible drama in a fight would be nice. Instead Rocky IV features Balboa delivering a move on Ivan Drago that looked suspiciously like a spine-buster. Even Rocky V, which featured a real boxer in Tommy Morrison as Tommy Gunn, had diabolical fighting.

Morrison was a reasonably accomplished heavyweight in the real world, winning the then lightly regarded WBO* title. Unfortunately his acting in the ring was as limited as his ability to deliver dialogue. Morrison seems to have decided that Dolph Lundgren and Mr. T were too realistic when throwing Rocky into the corner and thusly proceeds to have the most implausible fight of the series against Union Kane.

*The Klitschko brothers have essentially given credibility to the WBO strap at the top weight. This may be a down era for the heavyweight division as a whole but the WBO has never been healthier at this level.

They finally got the mixture right in the last film. Antonio Tarver, playing heavyweight champion Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon, and Stallone deliver the most realistic bout of the series. The opening round and a half goes exactly as a match between men 30 years apart in age should, with Dixon dominating Rocky. The punching, defence, and movement look authentic. Tarver doesn’t look like he’s trying to act boxing, he looks like he’s boxing.

The smartest move comes when Dixon breaks his hand throwing a punch. By injuring Dixon in a plausible way (just ask Joe Calzaghe) they made a contest of the fight. The Sin City style black and white shots with red blood showing weren’t great but otherwise it was well edited into looking like a convincing fight.

The downward spiral

The Balboathon was inspired by a conversation I had with Paul Fennessy. I have long considered Rocky V to be one of the worst films ever made, he thought IV was worse. Then it turned out he hadn’t seen Rocky Balboa. Halfway there, we decided to go all out.

Rocky is a classic. It’s victory over Network, Taxi Driver, and All the President’s Men for best picture may chafe with some but it’s a wonderful piece of film-making with engaging story-telling. Rocky II is a less coherent drama, possibly related to the switch in director from Avildsen to Stallone, but it’s still a decent film rounding out the story.

As with the fight scenes, the decline begins with Rocky III. The first two movies were chiefly dramas. This was an action movie, with every moment of dialogue keyed on bringing us to the next fight or training scene. Oh yes, the training scene. There is a masters thesis on homoeroticism in cinema based purely on this montage.

This shift to action movie took a much bolder turn in Rocky IV. While prescient for its time, Apollo is initially enraged with Ivan Drago purely because he’s Russian, this is a film trying to pad the clock early. This sequence exists purely to fit in a song. Apologists for Rocky IV tend to be those who forget the movie and only remember it’s signature moments. Shouting Drago and telling everyone they can change does not salvage a movie made up almost entirely of montages, even if montages are awesome.

Stallone’s effort to radically shift back towards drama with Rocky V however was an abject failure. This was a film where no-one involved seemed to care. The fundamental idea had merit, Rocky must struggle with losing everything. This thrown together mess, featuring a Don King knock-off that surely inspired Lucius Sweet even more than King himself, is boring above all else. No-one ever gives you a reason to care about them. Not Tommy Gunn, Rocky’s protege who betrays him. Not Rocky Jr, who has troubles with school and with Rocky. Not even Adrian, who has her whole world fall apart, does anything to make us care. The lone redeeming feature is the 90s remix of the Rocky theme. The less said about this line the better. Rocky IV may have been pointless but it had moments of fun, Rocky V was unforgivably dull.

Redemption has a polished tint

“This is the first acting Stallone’s done in like 7 hours,” said Dave. That was as much a compliment to Rocky Balboa as it was an indictment of the previous three instalments.

Over the 12 hours watching this saga, we live-tweeted with the hashtag Balboathon and many of you joined in. The frustration over Rocky V was felt and expressed from far beyond my living room. Fans of Rocky, both the original film and the series, hate V because of what it did to the story. A beautiful tale had lost its way. Rocky Balboa ensured it finished on the right track.

The last odyssey of the Italian Stallion is filled with beautiful little touches. Paulie’s frustration as Rocky mourns Adrian is typical of the character as he questions what Rocky is doing living in the past. The pain within Rocky is drawn out slowly. I loved how they used Tarver. Unlike Morrison’s Gunn, Dixon does not carry the story but the character is crucial to telling it. Even the decision to use High Hopes by Sinatra in lieu of Gonna Fly Now as Rocky’s entrance music makes perfect sense.

At its core however the character of Rocky is what makes this final chapter. Stallone really gives his all in this performance. The pain, both the character’s over Adrian’s death and Stallone’s over how his opus lost its way, gets laid out and dealt with.

We never stopped loving Rocky. This was the series that delivered the most inspiring piece of music ever written, Eye of the Tiger, and Hearts on Fire. It spawned a thousand homages. With Rocky Balboa, Rocky had the final bell he deserved.

Follow Emmet Ryan on Twitter.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « Apollo Creed - boxing - muhammad ali - Rocky - Rocky Balboa - smokin joe frazier »
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Ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United’s meeting on Sunday, Henry Bridge looks for a deeper meaning in the returns of Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry.

This Sunday sees the return of two old foes at the Emirates stadium, as Arsenal take on Manchester United and Thierry Henry could potentially line up against Paul Scholes. Two players who were, in most fans’ memories, consigned to the dustbin of history only a month ago (though Henry has been playing for New York Red Bulls for the last couple of seasons) may now grace, and potentially star in, one of the biggest fixtures of the English domestic season.

Needless to say, two such unanticipated comebacks have set fans and journalists talking on what it means. Is it reflective of lower standards in the EPL these days? Or some acts of desperation on the part of two clubs desperately trying to stay relevant in the post-Abu Dhabi world? Or was it simply the case that these are two great players who may have quit the top level prematurely?

Scholes’s comeback is perhaps less of a surprise, in some ways; his retirement was prompted, in part, by his realisation that he was no longer fit enough to cope with rigours of a full campaign. This was painfully obvious at times last season, none more so than Manchester United’s cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City. But Scholes’s game was never primarily based on pace and stamina, and given the injury crisis United seem to have found themselves in, not to mention the bereftness of creativity and imagination they have shown at times this season, it makes some sense to bring Scholes out of hibernation for a few cameos against the likes of Bolton or Wigan, if it allows Alex Ferguson to ease the likes of Tom Cleverly back from injury more slowly. Of course, in a perfect world, some of United’s victorious FA Youth Cup squad from last season would be ready to make the step up themselves, but United’s Carling Cup exit to Crystal Palace suggests those younger players aren’t quite yet ready for that step.

Ferguson, too, has always been reluctant to buy in the January transfer window, feeling both that it offers poor value for money, and also risks unsettling his team mid-season. In any case, it is surely bad management to go and make some big name signings to ease a short-term injury crisis? Especially when one considers the relative financial constraints Manchester United face these days.

Henry’s case is more interesting, and is not really a comeback as such: he has been playing for New York Red Bulls since leaving Barcelona. As such, maybe it is fairer to compare his return to Arsenal with Landon Donovan’s stints at Everton. Nevertheless, it is fair to say he has been off the radar of all but the most grudging Irish fans for a while now. It is harder to see immediately what Henry will bring to Arsenal’s team, and one suspects he has been brought in as much for the mental fillip he will give the place, as for any onfield tactical considerations. He showed against Leeds he still has an eye for goal, but if Arsene Wenger really brought in Henry to give him more options in his forward line, why has Park Ju-Young seemingly been permanently banished to the bench, after just a handful of Carling Cup appearances? Given the trophy drought at Arsenal (although my boss, who is a Newcastle fan, refutes the existence of any such drought) which is sure to continue for at least one more season, one cannot help feeling that a grand gesture, a fairytale, such as Henry can provide simply by turning up and hopefully scoring a goal or two, is the best Arsenal fans can hope for. Call it the Kenny Dalglish effect, if you will.

It has been suggested, too, that the fact these two players can think about making a comeback in the EPL proves what many have been saying since the Manchester clubs exited the Champions League, namely that the standard at the top level in England has dropped precipitously. Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, Swansea were quickly on hand to demonstrate that the standard remains as competitive and lively as ever, showing that this will be no easy Indian summer for Scholes and Henry. The early signs are that both still have a little to offer at this level. It offers one more dimension to what looks like an intriguing set of fixtures this weekend.

Follow Henry Bridge on Twitter.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Henry Bridge
Tags: « arsenal - english premier league - epl - Football - Manchester United »
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We don’t do video tributes often but when we do, we go the whole hog. With Muhammad Ali turning 70 on Tuesday, Emmet Ryan has delved through YouTube to tell the story of the ‘Greatest of All Time’*. With full fights, interviews, and documentaries, here’s everything you need to know about Ali’s lengthy career in the ring

Olympic champion

Muhammad Ali first hit the world scene in the Light Heavyweight competition at the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome. Still known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, the 18 year old took on Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland. Ali won gold but would later claim he threw the medal in the Ohio river after being denied service at a whites’ only restaurant. We’ll get back to that later but first here are some highlights from that final in Rome.

Henry’s hammer

The Olympic champion amassed a 19-0 record at the start of his professional career, en route to a world title shot against Sonny Liston. In his last fight before that first tilt with Liston, Cassius Clay was given a fright by Henry Cooper. In the fourth Cooper floored his wise-cracking opponent with a punch that would become knowns as Henry’s Hammer but Clay got off his feet to stop the Briton on cuts in the next round.

World champion and a controversial follow up

In his last fight with the moniker Cassius Clay, Ali won the World Heavyweight title. The 1964 clash with Sonny Liston can be seen in full here and was named Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. Here’s the climax to that initial contest.

The next year Ali met Liston in a much awaited rematch. The famous phantom punch that ended the fight remains a source of controversy to this day.

Exile, return, and the long road to reclaiming the title

Unbeaten through 1967, Ali was kept out of the ring for three years due to his refusal to participate in the Vietnam war. After winning his first two fights upon his return, Ali would take on Joe Frazier in a bid to reclaim his crown. The first fight in their three bout trilogy would go the way of Smokin’ Joe. Here’s the opening bout from their three fight war.

Ali in Ireland

Without a world title, albeit the NABF champion, Ali was lured to fight in Croke Park in 1972 to fight Alvin ‘Blue’ Lewis. In his only fight in Ireland Ali stopped Lewis by TKO in the 11th. Here’s the full fight.

Ali’s presence in Ireland was no small occasion for the Emerald Isle and he took part in a memorable interview with Cathal O’Shannon and here’s that RTE interview in full.

Norton and Frazier eventually conquered

After winning 10 fights straight, Ali suffered his second career loss when he battled Ken Norton in 1973 where he surrendered the NABF crown in a split decision loss. With time not on his side, revenge needed to be swift. Ali and Norton would square off again 6 months later with Ali this time taking the split decision win.

Now firmly back on the road to a shot at the title, Ali met Frazier for a second time. Four years after his first fight with Frazier, Ali won an undisputed decision and set up a title shot.

Rumble in the Jungle

This fight is so famous that it was Taylor Hackford directed an Oscar winning documentary about it and it forms the climax of Michael Mann’s 2001 biopic of Ali. The Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman also proved to be the fight that brought Don King to prominence. Kinshasa in what was then Zaire and now the Democratic Republic of Congo proved the venue for a bout that still fascinates today.

Thrilla in Manila

This was a turning point in Ali’s career. A third meeting with Frazier saw Ali secure the edge in their trilogy but neither man was the same after this fight. A brutal war in the ring, Ali would eventually outlast Smokin’ Joe.

Spinks, decline, and Holmes

A third career loss came in Ali’s 1978 title defence against Leon Spinks, another Fight of the Year winner. By reclaiming the title in their re-match 7 months later Ali became the first man to win the championship on three different occasions.

Having initially retired after that re-match with Spinks, Ali stepped back into the ring for a poorly judged fight with new champion Larry Holmes. In 1980, a solid 20 years after Ali had made his name in Rome, time caught up with the three-time champion. Rather than show the full fight, I’ve linked to ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on the contest.

A loss in 1981 to Trevor Berbick would eventually force Ali to hang up his gloves permanently. Despite ending on a sour note, Ali amassed a phenomenal body of work over his career. There was just one issue that needed amending.

About that gold medal

Despite battling Parkinson’s, Muhammad Ali stepped into the limelight at the 1996 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee held a ceremony to provide Ali with a replacement for the medal he discarded nearly 40 years earlier. The real shining moment for the Greatest was at the opening ceremony when he surprised everyone by being the final torch bearer and lighting the Olympic Cauldron, the flame to start the games.

*I’m going to get killed for this but having discussed this with Greg Bowler amongst others over the years, it’s hard to stand over saying Ali was the greatest heavyweight ever. Not least because  era comparisons can’t account for the radical differences in physique and the evolution of the sport. Jack Johnson would have been killed by Joe Louis, who would in turn have been mauled by Ali and he would surely have been destroyed by Lennox Lewis. Indeed Lewis may have been king in a weak era but he redefined attacking Boxing in such a way as to find it hard to look past him when having a serious debate on the matter.

Follow Emmet Ryan on Twitter.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « boxing - ken norton - larry holmes - muhammad ali - olympics - smokin joe frazier - sonny liston »
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In his first column for Action81.com, Peter Kavanagh bemoans the increase in abuse directed at Rugby referees.

There must be one hell of a view from just behind where I like to stand on the Anglesea Terrace in the RDS. I say this because week-in, week-out, the same guy screams for an offside decision at every single ruck, regardless of where on the field the action is. That he can unequivocally state that opposing players are half a metre offside while play is 70 metres away from us and at such an angle that I can’t tell if the player I’m focussing on is Devin Toner or just much closer to me than anyone else. That he invariably stands behind me each home game is nothing more than an annoyance, albeit an annoyance of admirable consistency.

Shouting for decisions from the sidelines has, for fans, become part and parcel of the professional game. In truth, my only issue with Offside Man is that he clearly hasn’t a clue about the rule and continues to scream for imaginary offsides while Eoin Reddan stands with ball in hand, looking for options. What I do have a serious issue with, however, is the growing acceptance of outright abuse directed towards the officials in every single game. I wasn’t in Cardiff for Leinster’s latest victory in the RaboDirect Pro12, so I dutifully tuned in to TG4 and flicked on the Twitter machine, as Vincent Browne would put it, to see what those at the game thought of such relevant factors such as atmosphere, weather, temperature and how frustrated Brian O’Driscoll looks to be carrying water for a living. What I got, much to my disappointment, was constant complaints about the overall standard of refereeing in the Celtic League, embodied in the match referee. The level of abuse against Marius Mitrea and his team was bordering on the hysterical. Mr Mitrea didn’t have a fantastic game, but when abuse flies from all corners and even gets to a personal level, that becomes irrelevant.

The growing acceptance of blaming referees for one’s own team’s inadequacies has become a serious issue in Rugby Union. Long a habit football fans revelled in, and even managers and pundits happily partook of, it was deemed ungentlemanly in the amateur game and seemed absent from the first few heady days of professionalism. If you need convincing of the epidemic of referee-blaming in round-ball sports, just watch the Sunday Game or any Sky Sports broadcast of football and wait for the losing manager to offer his two cents. Certainly, sometimes a referee’s decision late in a game can absolutely turn a result on its head and affect a game beyond remedy. Anyone from County Louth can easily attest to that fact. But in the vast majority of cases, when a manager or pundit attaches blame to the officials, the incidents in question are usually indicators of a malaise in the team’s performance and are not the gamebreaking calamities they’re made out to be. In a high-risk game like football management, it’s inevitably going to be a case of ‘blame anyone’. Likewise the pundits, many of whom yearn for a return to the game. They can’t be seen to criticise a coach, player or chairman/county board, so both barrels are fired at the referee. Long may we have the happy occurrence of a pundit who just doesn’t care, a la Giles or even, God help us, Spillane.

Rugby, however, was always that happy island between soccer’s enjoyment and grace and cricket’s decorum. It had all the pace and passion of hurling, with the respect afforded to officials lending it an air of propriety. It wasn’t, seemingly, to last. Look, for example at Brendan Venter, whose erstwhile Saracens side couldn’t score – couldn’t even cross the 10m line – in over 30 phases. That, of course, was down to Leinster committing offences and the officials being too incompetent to see it. Dr Venter, thankfully, has been the exception to the rule among coaches. The fans however seem to feel a need to attribute any failing in their team to the officials. It’s getting monotonous.

I rounded off my weekend by watching the Denver Broncos play the Pittsburgh Steelers with the season on the line. Ben Roethlisberger threw a lateral pass that was slapped out of his receiver’s hands. As the ball went backwards, it should have been a live ball, giving Denver a chance to recover the football. An official made a mistake and whistled the play dead as an incomplete pass. It was a balls-up of gargantuan proportions by the officiating crew. When the Broncos were told that the error couldn’t be rectified, they played on. The coaches coached on. Back in the studio the pundits pegged it as an error and said that Denver needed to get on with the game and not dwell on that one play. Most importantly of all, the fans just cheered on. It put me in mind of a Heineken Cup tie from October 2009. London Irish had just beaten Leinster 12-9. Referee Romain Poite had an appalling game, even by his standards, and was booed off the pitch. Some of the abuse hurled at the hapless Frenchman was of such a personal nature it was galling. Yet not once did anyone ask why Leinster, with possession 25 metres out in injury time and only trailing by three points, decided to opt for a box kick off the base of a ruck into replacement Ryan Lamb’s hands for a mark and an easy boot out of play to end the game. It seemed that night that everyone else was spitting vitriol at the referee and his touch judges, while I was asking myself why we hadn’t taken an obvious overlap for the win or a drop-goal for the draw. It seems that it’s all too easy, and acceptable, these days to offset a hard beat by a better team by questioning a referee’s sexuality, nationality or parentage.

Nigel Owens reminded Treviso’s Tobias Botes that the game we love and that he has the good fortune to play for a living is not soccer and that appealing by players for non-existent penalties is not part and parcel of the game. If M. Owens has a weekend off any time soon, perhaps he’d like to set the record straight with Offside Man and his pals.

Follow Peter Kavanagh on Twitter.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Peter Kavanagh
Tags: « munster - Rabo Pro 12 - referee - rugby - treviso »
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The New Year is here and Henry Bridge has a few resolutions for Football in 2012. As is the norm, most of these will be difficult to keep.

1. Spurs to win the Premier League
Not a Spurs fan, but since the Premier League began 19 seasons ago, only four teams have won it (and Blackburn only once). Basically, the Premier League trophy has become the exclusive property of a handful of big teams, with £1 billion seemingly the going price to buy membership of this exclusive club (ask Man City’s accountants for the exact figure). Therefore, it would be a good thing for football if Spurs were somehow to emerge victorious of this season’s frontrunners. Granted, they compete in a different league financially to Wigan, or even Newcastle, but they don’t spend the eye-watering sums splashed out by some of their rivals, they have built their squad up steadily over a few years, and last of all, they also play some decent football at times. It might not be quite the panacea the game needs, but a title for Spurs would be a small victory for some of football’s better values.

2. Liverpool to appoint some competent PR people
Anyone who could do it better than Kenny Dalglish,which is to say, anyone. The Suarez case has, largely thanks to Liverpool’s handling of it, become blown all out of proportion. The nagging feeling persists that a lot of this fuss, hype and frankly unfunny photoshopped pictures of Suarez wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask could have been avoided with a simple apology, rather than a defence that changed more often than Lady Gaga’s costume. But of course, it was all a conspiracy, you see, the details of which are so mysterious, despicable and diabolical that we cannot say anything about them.

3. Someone gag Sepp Blatter.
No further explanation required.

4. Lionel Messi to sign for Bray Wanderers
Messi won it all in 2011: La Liga, Champions League, World Club Cup, World Player of the Year, so doubtless he is looking for a fresh challenge at this time. And who better to provide it than the Wanderers, as they seek to build on last season’s impressive 6th place finish by pushing for a Setanta Cup spot, and maybe go on a cup run too? Like Barcelona, Bray is by the sea, so Messi should have little trouble adjusting to the move. Pat Devlin and the boys can offer him an unbeatable package, including a free car – just choose the one he likes most in the Superquinn car park, and the boys will look after the rest – his own weight in chips each month, and a free pint in the Martello after the game, followed by free into the nightclub afterwards. But only if they win.

5. UEFA to increase Europa League prize money, on a par with Champions League
The old UEFA Cup used to be exciting, and avidly followed by fans, and it was even known for clubs to actually want to win it, and even compete in it. The same cannot really be said for the Europa League, the Cinderella of football competitions, despised by the Big Ugly Sisters (Harry Redknapp and Alex Ferguson). But looking at the teams in it this year (Ajax? Man U? Porto? Schalke?) it’s a shame, as by most criteria, it has the potential to be an exciting competition once again, if only people could be persuaded to take it seriously. So, it’s time Prince Platini waved his golden wand and restored some glamour to the competition, in the guise of wads of cash. Taken from the Champions League pot, preferably. Money runs football these days, so let’s fill the trough and wait for the pigs to get stuck in!

6. Ireland to win Euro 2012
The last European Championships in 2008 was a feast of fine flowing attacking football, with skilful play, goals and tiki-taka galore, and Euro 2012 promises to be no different. With so many exciting attack-minded teams in the mix, as proper football fans, we of course hope to see skilful attacking play reap its own reward, and the trophy go to a team committed to entertainment. In short, we want Ireland to win. A little inconsistent, you say, to proclaim oneself a lover of good football first, and to also back Ireland for the title? Don’t worry, we will be boosting our True Football Fan credentials by cheering for whoever England’s more technically accomplished opponents may happen to be.

7. Supporters’ Representatives to be appointed to all football club boards and governing bodies
It’s only fair, we are the fans, we pay the bills (in my case, to Mr McNamara, proprietor and owner of McNamara’s, his eponymous establishment), we should have a say! In return, club directors, UEFA and FIFA will be allowed to choose one of their number to phone up You’re on Sky Sports each week. Can’t say fairer than that.

8. Goal line technology to be introduced
Goal line technology – the favourite tub of every pundit, from bar stool to TV studio, whenever he feels like thumping something. Why hasn’t it been brought in already, he demands? Conveniently ignoring the fact that an instant (or semi-instant) and accurate system simply hasn’t yet been developed. Well, I for one would like the loudmouth in the lounge to finally have his way, and see the technology introduced. And in its first week, in front of the watching eyes of the world, award a goal because the defender’s foot crossed the line, or something. Let’s see all those crying pundits explain themselves then.

9. New scheme introduced where all EPL managers referee one game a season
Managers, you may have noticed from post-match interviews, often have strong views on the performance of referees, not to mention plenty of suggestions for how said performance could be improved. Clearly, these are people who are not only knowledgeable about refereeing, but care deeply about refereeing standards too. It is only fair that they be given the chance, nay, they be compelled to give an annual exhibition for fans of how this difficult matter of arbitration should be done.

10. Similarly, post match interviews for referees too.
On a related note… many fans are left grumbling that their team lost because of a refereeing decision they do not understand. This often reflects on the fan’s supposed knowledge of the game far more than the referee, but surely it would help understanding and bridge the gap between officials and everyone else if they were invited to explain their decisions in a post-match interview?

Furthermore, it is fundamentally unfair that referees be exposed to the very public criticisms of every manager, without getting the chance to fight back. Enough is enough. I want to hear Howard Webb give a frank assessment of Liverpool’s home record this season. I want to hear Chris Foy’s opinion on why Chelsea are struggling, or Martin Atkinson on why QPR might go down.

11. Gate moneys to be split 50-50 between clubs
This used to happen in Football League games in England up until the early 80s, based on the seemingly quaint principle that you can’t have a football match with less than two teams. It got slowly booted into touch by the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United, and the English game since then has seen a steady concentration of power, and subsequent decline in competition. For the sake of the game, and fans everywhere, this principle needs to be restored, if only because it looks like the only way Wigan will ever leave Old Trafford with anything.

12. Dimitar Berbatov to be cross-bred with Park Ji-Sung
Thus hopefully creating a new breed of super-footballer, combining effortless, languid touch, exquisite skill, endless workrate and inexhaustible stamina. Once this New Generation Superfootballer emerges from Alex Ferguson’s secret lab located somewhere underneath Carrington, with a distant glint in its eye, ready to effortlessly and industriously sweep all before it, we can all be amazed and awestruck, and of course begin to look forward to a Bulgaria – Korea World Cup final in the near future.

Follow Henry Bridge on Twitter.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Henry Bridge
Tags: « champions league - english premier league - epl - europa league - Football - uefa »
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In a special feature, Emmet Ryan looks at the development of Donegal’s 45-45 defence and the challenges awaiting the Ulster champions in the 2012 season.

Finding what fits
Donegal endured some lean years in Ulster prior to the radical change in strategy deployed by Jim McGuinness over the 2011 season. With such a barren stretch, albeit one with a 2009 All Ireland quarter final, a total overhaul was required.

The end result was more radical than anyone could have imagined but it was rooted in the basics. Donegal turned to their core strengths and looked to install a system that suited them. Michael Murphy is a unique attacking force but he’s also excellent at defending. Karl Lacey isn’t bad at it either, indeed Donegal have an awful lot of players who are good at defending. When backs who can tackle and forwards who can track back abound, building from that is a sensible starting point.

Catenaccio of the Gaels
Under McGuinness, Donegal dominate the terms on how and when the ball crosses either 45 line. As a result, in my regular column, I have dubbed the strategy the 45-45. Donegal’s defence ensures opponents rarely enter scoring territory in a favourable position. Their patient approach going forward means that while scoring opportunities are not plentiful, there’s little fear of a quick counter attack.

If the other team hasn’t got the ball, it’s going to be difficult for them to score. That part has been nailed down pretty well by Donegal. Their defence is however more nuanced than that. They also make sure that if they other guy must have the ball on occasion, he’s going to have to work awfully hard to do anything with it.

I don’t know if McGuinness was a fan of Hector Herrera’s Internazionale teams of the 1960s but he’s certainly on their wavelength. The Catenaccio style of Football (the Association kind) played by that Inter team was rooted in the same defence-first principles applied by Donegal.

While 45-45 requires players to operate at a high tempo, it allows Donegal to slow the game down as they see fit and control the pace until an opportunity presents itself. Many analysts, myself included, initially drew comparisons with Tyrone and Dublin but the only true similarity between these styles and Donegal’s is recognition of the value of defence. The way in which Donegal impose their game is quite different and more suited to the assets available to the county.

One beautiful half

Croke Park on the 28th of August was the location for the most dominant half of Football delivered by any team in this year’s Championship. This was no moral victory because no good really comes from them. For 35 minutes the nation’s eyes were opened to just how far Donegal had come. In just one half of a game, after so much pain, Donegal’s Footballers made a statement that they truly are All Ireland contenders.

Donegal saw everything coming. Recognising the calibre of backs at Dublin’s disposal, they played a more controlled game going forward. Dublin’s attack meanwhile could find no answer to the 45-45. Bernard Brogan was isolated but un-threatening. Even Dublin’s long range shooting game was taken out of the equation. Tackles were made higher and wider up the field than usual, notably limiting Stephen Cluxton to two difficult frees that he missed. Even Dublin’s short-kick out strategy had no effect on Donegal’s mindset. The quick short balls were useless when the player receiving was greeted with a bank of green and gold jerseys. Dublin simply had no answer during that opening period.

Conquering the 45-45
No strategy is without flaws. Perfection should be the objective of every manager but evolution ensures no-one will ever truly find it on a Football pitch.

Donegal came close to it in the All Ireland Semi Final yet that moment came in a game they lost. The cracks started to appear at the beginning of the second half, when the Ulster champions looked to be in the ascendency. The 45-45 relies heavily on the half backs receiving defenisve support from midfield and the half forward line. As Donegal pressed forward the swarm of bodies got stretched.

Dublin’s midfield and forwards were able to press forward more, having been afforded more space to operate. By conventional standards the Dubs were still smothered but there was enough air to make the difference in a low-scoring contest.

Dublin overcame the 45-45 but it would be excessive to say they conquered the system; at least not in a way that will be useful to anyone facing Donegal in Ulster next summer. It’s no surprise that an outfit which was rebuilt from a defensive base was the first to win against McGuinness’ system in a big game.

The test I’m looking forward to is seeing how Donegal match up with Cork in the National League this spring. It’s a far cry from Croke Park in August but that Division 1 match-up could prove most informative. The Rebels beat Dublin en route to an All Ireland title in 2010 by using their physical superiority to target the middle and break the spine of the defence. Dublin have since adapted but Donegal may not need to change the way they play to the same degree.

Having talented individual defenders helps but in previous years Donegal’s backs were more susceptible to one-on-one situations. The centre of the park, traditional habitats of full backs and centre backs, is better fortified under McGuinness’ system, making it more resistant to attacks on the spine.

Where to from here?
If everybody looked the same, we’d get tired of looking at each other. Aesthetes may bemoan the rise of Donegal’s style of play but even Catenaccio was eventually solved by Total Football.

The radical difference in what Donegal have implemented has forced Football people across the island to think more. They are thinking about ways around it, ways through it, and no doubt some are looking for ways to find a fatal weakness.

The challenge for Donegal, and indeed every county, is to continue evolving the way they play. There’s rarely time to stand still on the field and the same goes for planning off of it.

The common theme in the wake of Donegal’s exit from the championship was one that called on Jim McGuinness to add an ‘attacking element’. The task facing the Donegal brain trust however is far more complicated than pushing men forward and shooting better.

As it stands Donegal’s strategy is as good as any county’s. To improve they must find a way to maintain that defensive steel curtain, that dictation of play, while improving scoring opportunities. There are several ways in which they can do this but there is no surefire solution.

Donegal could look for ways to build a more counter-attack based strategy around the 45-45 or they can look to turn the system into a more pressing formation. The latter would require bringing all of the players in the swarm of bodies forward gradually.

There are substantial flaws in both approaches. Counter-attacking alleviates the issues of the swarm being overly stretched but it will be neutered with ease by a well equipped swarm. Pressing strategies drain stamina even more than the current system and are open to counter attacks.

There are no easy answers but as it stands Donegal’s footballers are in an enviable position. They know their core strengths and how to utilise them effectively. To those who complain about aesthetics there is one way to make Donegal change; beat them.

This article first appeared in the 2011 Donegal GAA Yearbook.

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Filed under: Analysis, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « donegal - gaa - Gaelic Football - gaelic games - tactics not passion »
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Tús maith leath na hoibre may be a cliché but it was dominance in the early going that proved decisive for Garrycastle as they claimed their first ever Leinster Senior Football title.

Dolan dominates early

Dessie Dolan’s attacking threat was always going to be vital to Garrycastle and he found ample room to shoot from the left flank early. Dolan scored a free from 45 metres out in the opening minute and create space for long range scores from play from the same side on 4 and 9 minutes while having another opportunity in space go wide on 12 minutes. Brigid’s adapted by rotating defenders, with Ken Kilmurray eventually dropping back from attack to support in crowding out Dolan. With Dolan under more pressure, the Westmeath champions were forced to move the ball laterally. While this slowed the attack somewhat, Garrycastle were able to adapt and find alternative scoring options.

The early success helped Garrycastle evolve from a counter-attacking strategy to one that saw them dictate the tempo in the first half. By controlling possession, the pressure on the rest of their forwards was reduced. After a stuttering start, the extra time to work the ball helped Gary Dolan open his account on 20 minutes.

Brigid’s fail to adapt to heavy ground

After Ken Darcy put Brigid’s on the board on 3 minutes, they failed to score for another 30. This was as much due to their failure to create chances as it was Brigid’s poor finishing.  Brigid’s tried to play a patient game to create high percentage chances but their short passing approach was ill-suited to the heavy ground. Brigid’s were forced to move the ball wide, a change from their preferred approach of keeping the field tight, and Garrycastle had ample time to get men in position to cover back.

The decision to place Sean Murray in a true 6 role, aiding the attack by pressing forward, should have been a boost but the Dublin champions’ approach to moving the ball meant he was a non-factor in attack. With play slowed Garrycastle were able to contain create a wall from 35 metres out, limiting Brigid’s to moving the ball across the field in search of an opening. They were few and far between as the Westmeath champions covered excellently. Instead of looking inspired, the Russell Park outfit’s front line grew frustrated as the half wore on, resulting in hasty inaccurate finishing.

Goal gives Garrycastle breathing room

By this stage of the campaign St Brigid’s slow start is a surprise to no-one and Garrycastle recognised the need to press in attack after the break before the inevitable fightback. Seanie O’Donoghue burrowed into the Brigid’s semi-circle before passing back to Dessie Dolan who recorded his fifth, and final, score of the day on 35 minutes to put Garrycastle 0-7 to 0-2 up. The decisive moment of the match would come four minutes later.

Dessie Dolan started the move on the left side, where else, as he found James Duignan in space around the 21. Duignan advanced towards goal before lobbing in to Gary Dolan who fisted past Shane Supple to put 8 points between the sides. This column has long criticised the myth of a killer blow in Gaelic Football but this major gave the Westmeath champions breathing room at a vital time in the game. With the benches about to come into play, an area where Brigid’s held a significant depth advantage, Garrycastle needed to set the Dublin champions an arduous task.

Switch in attack aids Brigid’s rally

Having failed to get the job done by playing slow and steady, Brigid’s changed the way they moved the ball and it nearly won them the match. With scores needed fast, long passes were used more. Brigid’s also brought play inside off the wings. The narrower approach and quicker distribution saw them record 8 points in a row, 7 of which came during a furious flurry between 41 and 51 minutes. Paddy Andrews led the charge with 4 points in 5 minutes, benefiting from the much smoother transitions being made by Brigid’s going forward.

Defensively Brigid’s played much tighter, forcing Garrycastle wide and creating turnovers. Kilmurray’s role in crowding out attackers was crucial as Brigid’s kept Garrycastle scoreless for 22 minutes, by far their most barren stretch this afternoon.

The verdict

The result may have come down to an injury time free but it was the early gains by Garrycastle that won this game. Brigid’s fell into the biggest hole they have faced all season and left themselves with far too much to do in the closing stages. Despite drawing level with a Gavin McIntyre score on the hour mark, the Russell Park outfit didn’t do enough to choke out their opponents.

Garrycastle’s success in frustrating Brigid’s was the tactical story of this game. The Dublin champions came out with a plan ill-suited to the conditions and Garrycastle exploited it well. Their accuracy, outside of Dessie Dolan, was far from top drawer but the Westmeath champions created enough high percentage chances to leave space between them and Brigid’s. Once squad depth came into play, Garrycastle had enough in the tank to stay in with a fighting chance.

Brigid’s have been to the well several times this season and come out on top in tight finishes. Never before had they been faced with such a mountain to climb once they entered the late phase of the game. This time around they need nothing short of perfectly clean defence from the moment their comeback started. Brigid’s came awfully close but left Garrycastle with enough of an opportunity to squeak out a win.

For the newly crowned Leinster champions, the first team from Westmeath ever to claim the crown, everything from this point is gravy. They are in the more favourable side of the All-Ireland draw, with an Athlone derby against St Brigid’s of Kiltoom awaiting them for a shot at a trip to Croke Park on St Patrick’s day. We’ll have a full preview of that game and the semi-final between Crossmaglen Rangers and Dr Crokes after Christmas.

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Programming note: We’ll have a special Tactics not Passion up on Friday analysing the Donegal Senior Football team. That will be the last column before Christmas.

Filed under: Analysis, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « club championships - gaa - gaelic games - garrycastle - Leinster Club Championship - st brigid's - tactics not passion »
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With the rush of fixtures across the water over the festive season, Henry Bridge talks about why this is a great time of year to be a Football fan.

‘Tis the season to be jolly. And what football fan could disagree with those sentiments? Football at Christmas goes back a long way. No surprise really, that as something which started off as an activity to keep the workers of the new industrial cities of late Victorian Britain entertained on their day off, professional football in the UK soon developed the tradition of the hectic Christmas fixture schedule. The tradition of the family going to the game together over the Christmas holidays still lingers on in places, and in fact was responsible for this writer’s first live football experience, a trip, with uncles, parents and grandparents, to Roots Hall to see Southend United against Bolton, some 20 years ago now (and yes, 20 years ago, not only was it an actual league fixture, but Southend were expected to win).

Christmas fixtures have long been popular with fans*, despite the typically cold weather, and many clubs record their highest attendance of the season at the Boxing Day or New Year fixture. Christmas is a time of year when most people are at home, and have free time, and while the relentless pace of modern life, together with the machinations of TV companies, makes it more and more challenging for fans to have the chance to follow their local team in the flesh, Christmas is, still, an exception. And for those who prefer to follow their team from the pub, or sofa, the attractions of Christmas football are obvious. When it’s cold and dark outside, nothing beats sitting down with family or friends, full of food and festive cheer, to watch an exciting game of football.

And there is another element of Christmas football which shouldn’t be understated: the perceived unpredictability of it all. Whether it is centre backs eating too much Christmas pudding, or strikers strung out on sherry, or the winter pitches, who knows? But results such as these have long encouraged the idea, in the fan’s mind, that at Christmas, miracles can happen.

As well, the Christmas programme is an important stage of the season, because of the sheer intensity of the fixtures as much as anything else. In the Premiership, barring postponements, each team will play five games between now and the 4th of January, a period of 18 days. With games coming thick and fast, teams have little time to recover from injuries and rebuild morale, and as in many sports, momentum is crucial. Thus it is easy to see how a season can turn over Christmas, for good or bad, with a run of results. Looking at the fixture list, for example, relegation-threatened West Brom have a winnable set of fixtures; it is quite conceivable that they could be in the top half by FA Cup 3rd round day; equally, they could be bottom. Man United, after an indifferent last couple of months, traditionally do well over Christmas. They could well travel to Eastlands for their cup game on 7th January with a healthy lead over their hosts, Man City. With cold, dark January around the corner, and the season still young enough that no team is out of sight, everything can still be turned round with a good run of results.

FA Cup third round day almost perfectly splits the season into two halves; by that stage, most teams most seasons will have played 19 or 20 of their 38 fixtures (24 out of 46 lower down the leagues); more importantly, they should have played everyone else in the league at least once. Thus it is only then that the league table starts to really take shape, and we can safely start to judge who is in the hunt for Champions League spots, who is in the scrap against relegation. It is an exciting time, when, appropriately enough, hope still springs eternal. When even Bolton fans remind themselves that Christmas is a time of miracles, rebirth, new beginnings, and that something glorious lies just around the corner.

It’s one of the best times to be a football fan, and, for me, football is an integral part of Christmas. Those who cry out for a winter break for players – well, forgive me for being unsympathetic to those poor millionaires, having to work over Christmas. You can have a week or two off any other time of the year, if you must. But not at Christmas. Christmas is special, and so is Christmas football.

Thank you for reading throughout the year, and I would like to wish everyone who reads this a happy Christmas, and hope your team does well over the holidays.

*In England and Scotland, at any rate. I recall some rather sparsely attended Christmas games at a freezing Carlisle grounds, before the domestic switch to summer football in Ireland, not helped by rank idiocies from the fixture list compilers such as Bray v. Cork City on December 27th. Nonetheless, it gave rise to one of my favourite ever terrace chants. As Cork went 2 up against a rather dismal Bray side at one such game in the late 90s, from the Cork end came the traditional chant of ‘Going down, going down, going down’. To be returned by ‘Bishopstown, Bishopstown, Bishopstown’!

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Filed under: Analysis, General by Henry Bridge
Tags: « Christmas - english premier league - epl - Football »
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In a change from our usual programming, Emmet Ryan, Lee Daly of Cardboardshinguards.com, and John Healy look to brighten the mood with a look back at some of the highs from the year in Irish sport. We’re covering a broad range of events, from Cricket to Chess with portions of Football, Boxing, and Rugby and a dash of Gaelic Games too.

Click on the box below to tune in. Also, take note that we are making this open to anyone so if any blogs or websites want to broadcast this on their site they are more than welcome to copy the embed code and post it. After all, it’s Christmas.

The live broadcast starts at 9.35pm on Monday but the event will be recorded so you can listen back any time after it ends (around 10.35pm) if you can’t tune in live.

Filed under: Audio, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « boxing - Chess - cricket - Cricket World Cup - europa league - Football - gaa - heineken cup - Katie Taylor - Peamount United - rugby - shamrock rovers - tipperary - uefa women's champions league »
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This was a game filled with adjustments that saw control of the game change several times. Emmet Ryan analyses St Brigid’s extra time win over Portlaoise to book a place against Garrycastle in the Leinster Club final.

Portlaoise exploit soft centre

After trading blows early, it was Portlaoise who took the initiative by pouring up the middle of St Brigid’s defence at speed. With the Castleknock team focussing on protecting attacks from the wings early, the Town were able to string together some early scoring moves with runs up the centre. Colm Parkinson’s 12th minute goal was the highlight of the early blitz. That score along with points from Parkinson and Hugh Coghlan caught Brigid’s defence cold and but for the work of Shane Supple and Sean Murray the game could have been out of hand.

Murray forced Coghlan to opt for a point on the 10 minute mark when a goal looked on while Supple denied Parkinson a second goal in the 17th minute by anticipating his shot and narrowing his angle. These efforts merely slowed a quick start as they twice moved four points clear in the first half.

Brigid’s find room to cut inside

The Dublin were on the back foot for most of the opening period. In addition to their defensive problems, Brigid’s had significant problems moving the ball for much of the game. Passing was rushed at times, slacked during others, enabling quick turnovers by Portlaoise. When Brigid’s attacks worked it was because they were able to get significant numbers forward at speed.

Paddy Andrews in particular found room to cut in from the flanks. Playing slightly off-centre, Andrews had a tendency to get out wide to work as the finish part of the Russell Park team’s attacks. Brigid’s enjoyed a lot of success moving in towards the centre from out wide to set up close-range efforts. They scored three fisted points in the first half and Andrews was on hand for the crucial rebound from Barry Cahill’s shot as an armada of Brigid’s forwards advanced on the Portlaoise goal.

Kelly profits from Brigid’s defensive adjustment

Brigid’s eventually slowed the Town’s attack in the first half by crowding the middle more in an effort to force Portlaoise’s attackers further out. While initially successful, this move left opportunities for the Laois champions to adjust their approach.

Adrian Kelly scored three long range points in as many minutes by exploiting the additional room to work out wide. All three of his scores came from in front of the posts but they too advantage of Brigid’s commitment to crowding the middle. The first two, from 45 metres and 30 metres, saw Kelly drop back into space while Brigid’s crowded attackers nearer goal. The third was particularly clever. Kelly had possession just inside the 45 and saw five Brigid’s defenders deep inside to cover any advance up the middle. He feinted a move forward before dropping back to the 45, carving out enough space to steady himself and shoot with accuracy.

Brian ‘Bruno’ McCormack also made good use of the extra space with two scores down the stretch. Like Kelly, he saw the space Brigid’s were giving up for long range efforts and was able to get open to score an equalising point (far from the final one on the day) in the 60th minute.

Poor choices hurt Portlaoise

Brigid’s are built to exploit errors and Portlaoise certainly made enough to help the Dublin champions. With Portlaoise on top following Kelly’s flurry of scores, Barry Cahill was fouled just inside opposing territory with no-one in front of him. The subsequent free led directly to a score and two more points would come from wholly unnecessary fouls. One does not expect fouling with the intelligence of a defensive inter-county juggernaut at this level but these were appalling choices by Portlaoise defenders. Crucially the last of these would come on 67 minutes when Andrews was cornered by two Portlaoise defenders to the right of goal. Cahir Healy fouled which was comfortably the best outcome available to Brigid’s, with no angle to shoot or pass available.

Shot selection was also a big concern for Portlaoise. While there was plenty of intelligent play, there were a few rash choices that cost the Laois champions the opportunity to really punish their hosts. Trailing by a point on 59 minutes, Portlaoise worked the ball up into attack. Kieran Lillis was out wide on the right with several options inside but he opted for a shot from a difficult angle, which resulted in a wide. Three minutes into extra time the sides were level and Bruno McCormack got open in front of goal where he was odds-on for a major but Ian Fitzgerald opted for a point. While every score is vital in additional time, the three point deficit would have left Brigid’s with a mountain to climb as players tired.

Murray stands tall in extra time

For the second time this season the tremendous fitness of Sean Murray proved crucial for St Brigid’s. Having redeemed himself after a poor start against Ballymun Kickhams in the Dublin semi-final, Murray built on an impressive showing in regulation today.

Murray started at full back, switched to centre back at half time, and then adopted a freer defensive role for extra time. He provided solid support to the attack throughout but it was his command of the Brigid’s half in added time that proved masterful. Murray never lost  a step of pace as the game wore on, advancing on possession and cutting off attacks as Portlaoise’s moves through the middle slowed. With exhausted bodies around him, Murray intercepted a last minute effort by the Town to equalise, starting a move that would end in Lorcan McCarthy passing to a wide open Philly Ryan who scored Brigid’s second goal to put the game beyond any doubt.

The verdict

This was a game where, despite being level several times, was all about scoring in bunches. The three-minute show by Kelly was the most obvious example as the combatants kept switching tact to try and break each other down.

Portlaoise’s lack of depth definitely affected the team’s energy late in the game. The call to bring on Craig Rogers, who was omitted from the starting line-up due to illness, didn’t aid the platoon of tired bodies in attack in the extra 20 minutes. There was also the questionable decision to bring on Parkinson, who had been substituted in regulation, for Kelly at the start of extra time. It seemed to be an attempt to try and land a knockout blow early in the additional period. Parkinson however had drifted out of the game before he was taken off initially and made no impact in his second stint, eventually being replaced again by Kelly.

The Brigid’s defence was tested more than in any game since their clash with Ballymun but did enough to contain Portlaoise in a high-scoring affair. While Murray was the star, this unit was built for extra time as it the Russell Park outfit yet again stepped up in what is effectively a 20 minute mini-match. Up front the accuracy, or rather lack thereof, of Philly Ryan will hardly have eased worries entering what is likely to be another high scoring game against Garrycastle. As long as Barry Cahill and Paddy Andrews maintain the excellent form they have shown all season however, the attacking engine of Brigid’s will find a way to get scores.

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Filed under: Analysis, General by Emmet Ryan
Tags: « club championships - gaa - Gaelic Football - Leinster Club Championship - Portlaoise - st brigid's - tactics not passion »
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