Big Name Bottlers

Yesterday, not even three weeks since the FA cup final brought our domestic competition to a close for another year, the fixtures for the upcoming season were published. This always gives the media something to get their teeth into during an otherwise fairly dull period for the sport, but for all of the coverage the event is given, the one thing that strikes me is how little there actually is to report. At the end of the day, it's just a list of who's playing who, where and when and as such, the whole thing seems to peter out as soon as the opening day fixtures have been over-analysed.

Much more fun for the individual supporter can be taken from ignoring the news-stories and plunging into the ins and outs of your own team's fate. I spent most of yesterday morning carefully plotting all of Bournemouth's away games onto my calendar, working out which ones I might be able to get to and which ones are already write-offs (Hereford on a Tuesday night. Gutted!). One thing that quickly became apparent was that this year's League 2 is just about the most boring division I can ever remember us playing in. There were very few fixtures that stood out as being 'must-see' games, although I'm hoping that will change as the season progresses.

If its exciting fixtures you're after this year, you need look no further than those that have been thrown up for the teams in League 1. The 'natural' League 1 sides such as Walsall, Carlisle and Huddersfield have suddenly found themselves surrounded by a throng of former Premier League outfits such as Charlton, Norwich, Leeds and Southampton. In fact there are seven ex-Premier league sides (if you include MK Dons) as well as some stiff competition from well organised teams such as Millwall, Tranmere and the newly minted Brighton. No doubt Charlton and Southampton fans will think their fixture lists are nothing short of disastrous, but if they want to get out of this division, it will be their attitude towards the smaller clubs that makes all the difference.

For the Saints, life will be even tougher, given that they'll be starting 10 points behind everyone else, and just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, it now appears that Kevin Keegan could be in line to take over the managerial role in their time of crisis. The so-called 'Messiah' would probably go down well with the Southampton faithful, who no doubt have fond memories of his period at the club as a player. But what exactly are Keegan's credentials?

His CV shows a blistering start with Newcastle, getting them promoted into the top flight and running Man Utd close to the title in the 1995-96 season. But after his career defining on screen breakdown that very same year, he only managed to hang on for another half a season, before packing it all in. Promotion with an Al-Fayed enhanced Fulham team followed before he quit again (I see a theme developing here), this time to inexplicably take charge of the national team. The pressures he so clearly showed he couldn't handle at Newcastle were obviously ten-fold on the international scene and before long Keegan bottled it again, quitting after a defeat to Germany in the last game at the old Wembley stadium. A quiet, ineffective stint at Man City and a farcical resurrection as Newcastle boss for five minutes both ended with a resignation rather than any determination to improve. Given Southampton's dire financial position right now, and Keegan's tendency to spend his way to the top (or middle) of the table, they hardly seem like a match made in heaven. Their season could well be defined by the manager they employ to get them out of their current plight, but even the most over-optimistic Saints fan might want to think about looking to managers with experience at this level, rather than big name bottlers like Keegan.

Everyone loves a rant, so fill your boots here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXpUdBlRZe8

Just to update on a couple of previous posts:

Asian world cup qualification became somewhat clearer this week. My prediction that Saudi Arabia would sneak the final automatic qualification spot went up the spout when they could only draw 0-0 with Korea DPR, handing them the place instead, and their first shot at the World Cup finals since their famous run in the 1966 competition. The Saudis will now have to fight it out with Bahrain in a play-off before the winner takes on New Zealand (who, I should mention, have been dreadful in the Confederations Cup and are surely not worthy of a World Cup berth) to determine the final team to make it. Uzbekistan and Iran will have to wait another four years for their next chance, with both having dropped out of the running yesterday.

Meanwhile, the £80 million spent on Ronaldo has all of a sudden become the norm. The Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy is reporting that Inter are prepared to sell Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but only if someone will stump up the now obligatory £80m. If I was a Saints fan, I'd be keeping Keegan well away from the club cheque book!