Putting The Foot Into Football!

“People were talking about bubbles bursting but my simple answer to a bubble bursting is to blow another bubble,” Hull boss Phil Brown said this week.

As a Exeter City fan I’ve have my fingers crossed that we will be able to do the same. Our bubble is currently coming along quite nicely, on the back of a 3-1 away win at Port Vale and a six game unbeaten streak we sit in 5th place in League Two and could even go top with a win at Barnet on Saturday. The garden is looking incredibly rosy from an Exeter perspective and when that bubble does burst I hope it’s just a case of blowing another one, as it’s currently an amazing time to be a City fan.

All this positive talk about Hull and Exeter’s rosy outlook inspired me to wonder how little we hear of the positive side of football. TV critic Charlie Brooker once wrote how positive things “are far duller to read and write about than the rubbish, the stupid, the grotesque, the gowdy” and it seems the press are always keen to put the foot into football.

It’s frequently hammered home that everything you once loved about the sport in the so-called ‘golden years’ has evaporated and you’re just left with a horrible mess and  nostalgic dreams of the ‘good old days’. Whether the blame is laid at the door of inflated ticket prices, foreigners, money-grabbing players, chairmen, the Big 4’ or just Mike Ashley it seems to make little difference.

Maybe listening to Alan Green has rotted my brain but it’s time we heard more about the brighter side of football, because plenty of supporters are having the time of their lives following their teams. For these fans those ‘golden years’ everyone nostalgically harps back to weren’t so much ‘golden’ – more a ‘muddy-puddle-brown’.

Would Hull fans swap their current heady days for those nostalgic weeks in 1998 when they were rooted to 92nd position in the Football League? Ditto Swansea fans in the upper realms of the Championship. Are they reminiscing about that classic Division Three relegation dogfight with Exeter in 2003? Try telling them football has gone to the dogs.

The so called ‘downfall’ of football  the media bleats on about couldn’t be further from the truth in terms of my football viewing experience. Supporting Exeter City isn’t rubbish, stupid or even grotesque.

I’m not going to belittle you by suggesting that following a small club is the bee’s knees. We don’t own St James Park and haven’t paid a significant fee for a player since 2003. Just as our better players start to achieve something resembling hero status a bigger club will inevitably snap them up (two of our best players have left for the Championship in the past 12 months). We have been millions in debt and days from folding and our history of financial issues reads like an A-Z of football club mismanagement: Creditors Voluntary Agreement, Administration, Inland Revenue disputes and threats of liquidation,

We’ve clinched last minute deals to save the club’s future, had countless trips to Court, and that’s without mentioning our notorious ex-chairmen…. As our fans spillled onto the pitch, many in tears, following our relegation in 2003 it looked as if we’d seen the last ever competitive match by an Exeter City team with the club facing an extremely bleak future.

But here we are sitting in 5th position in League Two, financially stable and on the crest of a real wave. To fans of most clubs our situation wouldn’t seem remotely exciting, wonderful or amazing.

But it really is. Where do I start? I’ve already written plenty on the positives at Exeter City but in the best part of 150 words:

We can relate to our players who appreciate us and who are not only approachable but also friendly and most importantly love our club. We are a community club with a focus on youth and are financially sustainable. We have an ambitious young manager who plays football the right way, a talented squad who fit that same bill. We can afford to watch our side home and away without inducing our own credit-crunch. Our games kick off at 3pm on Saturdays and 7:45pm on Tuesdays, the way football was meant to be. We can stand on the terracing with our friends and move around as we please and our support feel likes it really makes a difference. Our club is run by the fans for the fans, and we aren’t treated like customers. There’s no scandal, no idiots about to sack out manager. Most importantly we have a club to be proud of.

I could go on…(and probably will at some point)

Maybe fans of other teams on the Fanzone (and any City fan) will post below (and the bloggers to focus their articles) on just why supporting their club is great, even if that thought process might be a bit of a struggle for some.

Maybe then people will realise that being a football fan for some supporters is probably as much fun you could have without being locked in a room with Joe Kinnear, a microphone and a swear-box!

Peter Evans

Thank Heavens For Harley

He may be The Times’ Player of the Week for League Two and City’s second top scorer with 3 goals this season from midfield but why has Ryan Harley, Exeter’s signing from Western Super Mare made such a difference to their side?

It can be claimed that the crucial element to any successful midfield is variety. For every Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack you need a Claude Makelele. Most successful centre midfield partnerships have relied on an exotic blend of attacking and defending. Would Makelele’s Chelsea career have flourished playing alongside Nicky Butt for example?

You’d be pushed to say no. That the midfield would be missing an attacking talent but in Exeter City’s case it seemed we missed out this crucial notion. In recent seasons our central midfield selections have consisted of the archetypal clogger/ midfield ‘lynchpin’/ ‘water carrier’.

You know the sort of player. Expect them to tackle a lot (sometimes with limited success), have a good engine and run around a lot. They will tackle a lot and be renowned for copious amounts of shouting and pointing.

And that’s it. Not a creative through ball in site.

The story of Jon Challinor highlights my point. He publicly admitted that his favoured position was in the attacking midfield position. Week after week it would be incredibly frustrating as a fan to watch the huge chasm between our deep lying midfield and the strikers, while our most creative attacking midfielder was stuck out on the flank.

You almost got the feeling that a succession of managers felt that the centre of the park required some bite, some tenacity and to leave the attacking to the strikers and the wingers.

Whilst our full backs, strikers and wingers moved onto pastures new, no one seemed particularly interested in any of our posy of central midfielders. In recent seasons our dynamic duos have included Andy Taylor, Buckle, Ampadu and Cronin. Six essentially defensive minded players and with an aggregate goal tally of 26 goals in over 540 starts for the club!

Then we signed Ryan Harley. A free transfer signing from Western Super Mare following a trial, would hardly seem the sort of credentials for a crucial team player but the ginger wizard has proved invaluable. He’s scored 5 goals for the club but has created many more and in our 1-0 defeat to Shrewsbury managed to hit the crossbar twice in one half and force their keeper into a couple of stunning stops.

Is it coincidence that our promotion from the Blue Square Premier coincided with the addition of a genuine creative central midfielder we lacked for so many seasons?

Just witness his vital goal against Torquay from the Play Off Semi Final 2008 and his classy finish on Saturday (the second on this video) that helped City to a 4-1 win over Macclesfield.

For many moons City fans have wanted someone in midfield with who is just that little bit different. A player to give our midfield a large sprinkling of creativity. Or a huge dollop of flair. Our number 7 isn’t a ‘water-carrier’ or an angry centre midfield ‘general’.

His performances for City are even more impressive is his relative lack of experience. He had only ever played three games at Blue Square Premier level before joining City and one appearance for Bristol City.

Harley seems to command that little bit more time on the ball, has superb vision and is in fact the only City player who’s name I have considered getting on the back of my shirt (the fact that the club shop lacks the official lettering was another issue…).

So far this campaign Harley has been arguably once of our best performers and is helping to bring the best out of one of his midfield partner Matt Gill, who has now scored 4 goals in 4 consecutive games?

Knowing our luck he might well be snapped up come January when another club comes sniffing. But if we can hold onto Harley I can only see a bright future for City’s midfield.

Peter Evans

Photo courtesy of Cheggers

Exeter’s Striker Issue

Football is an unpredictable game. We all know that. But sometimes it’s unfortunately all too predictable.

We all know when an ex-player returns to play against his old club it always seems to end in a goal and Sean Canham’s return to St James Park on Saturday resulted in, not only a goal, but a 94th minute equaliser to deny Exeter all three points.

Ironically Canham has scored more League goals in his three substitute appearances for Notts County than any of our six forwards have managed in nine starts in all competitions.

It’s predictably the forward line where our goal scoring issues have been so far this campaign. After nine games our defence had scored two goals between them. Our midfield had managed five. But our string of 6 strikers could only muster Ben Watson’s smart finish a fortnight ago at home to Accrington.

Ex-Premiership top goal-scorer Marcus Stewart and last season’s 19-goal hero Richard Logan join Adam Stansfield (one of the worst culprits so far unfortunately), Craig McAllister and Steve Basham in the forward line of shame.

On the positive side, some of our strikers have put in some superb performances. Marcus Stewart was easily man of the match against Accrington while Stansfield’s performance at Bradford last week was described by some as his best game for the club.

Paul Tisdale has tried a three man striker force on most occasions this season, with two players dropping deep to play almost attacking midfield positions out on the flanks and one striker (usually Stansfield) as the central striker.

But Stansfield’s main talents are his ability to chase down the flanks, hustle and scare defenders but not his finishing in front of goal. (11 Goals in 40 starts last season for example in contrast to Logan’s 19 in 32). With the other two strikers playing very deep in the 4-3-3 formation it’s not surprising that 5 of the forwards are yet to open their accounts for the season.

I think that Stewart has long been a midfielder (albeit a very competent one for Yeovil last season) and that’s where I see his future at the club. McAllister and Watson both seem like good impact players while Basham has had little chance to impress this season.

Richard Logan is one hitman who hasn’t yet been given a real chance in the position where I believe he is most dangerous this season – as the central striker. His assist for the second goal on Saturday shows what a danger he can be in the box and he could be the out-and-out goal-scorer to compliment some pace on the wings. (Moxey, Stansfield, Watson)

I think a return to a 4-4-2 formation with Moxey returning in midfield with Harley, Gill and Edwards or Stewart with Logan and Stansfield or Watson as the two strikers offers City the greatest potential for attack in the coming weeks.

I have complete faith in Paul Tisdale (Play Off’s in successive seasons have definitely earned him that) to solve our striker riddle and I’m confident that eventually our goal-scoring crisis will ease and the team who scored almost 100 goals last season will start scoring by the hatful.

But if only that was as predictable as that Sean Canham goal….

Farewell Friend

Like many football fans throughout Britain I watched in amazement on Monday as Fergie smuggled Berbatov into Old Trafford while across Manchester Robinho became the most expensive player in British football history as the transfer window slammed shut.

But it was a far less glamorous deal that really interested Exeter fans as our promising young left back George Friend moved to Wolves on deadline day in an deal thought to be worth around £350k with plenty of additional fees. Wolves were thought to have faced stiff competition from other Premiership and Championship clubs to sign Friend but his transfer news came completely out of the blue for City fans.

Friend is undoubtedly a significant loss for the team. He had made the left back slot his own and put in plenty of impressive performances at the tailend of last season and the beginning of this one. Despite the blow of losing such one of our best players, the club deserves plenty of respect for haggling such a good deal that could eventually equal our record transfer sale.

They didn’t bite the hand off the first interested party leaving us with a measly sum for a player who had been at the club for 10 years, but kept rejecting bids until they finally accepted one which the management believed was a fair amount for such an impressive prospect.

This deal also highlights the importance of the youth systems at clubs such as Exeter. The side that clinched the long-awaited return to the Football League featured three players who came through our youth system; Dan Seaborne, George Friend and Dean Moxey whose corner set up the only goal of the game. In addition there is also Liam Sercombe, a young midfielder who made his Football League debut last weekend, tipped by many to be quite a talent.

Throughout all our financial worries of the last five or six years the club stuck by its youth system, a decision which is now paying dividends and a choice that many other clubs should take into account before scrapping their youth systems when a little strapped for cash.

We may not have paid for any signings since our last spell in the League, (apart from Paul Jones who arrived for a ‘nominal fee’) but we have constantly given chances to young players, either those from our own academy or others that were bought in at a young age and developed at the club. As a fan it’s always that extra bit special to see a home-grown player own coming through and performing so well for your club.

The emphasis on youth development has been a talking point at another ‘City’ this week, on the blue side of Manchester. Man City fans (and in fact chairman Gary Cook) have been quick to reiterate the importance of their very impressive academy, which is producing a plethora of quality footballers, in the club’s exciting future.

Their academy has produced Wright Phillips, Richards, Sturridge, Johnson and Ireland amongst others and there are said to be plenty more bright talents waiting to make the breakthrough (including many England youth internationals). The club were today linked with a move for Ronaldo (the more rotund Brazilian one) who hasn’t played for months following another serious injury. Would all supporters really rather see Ronaldo leading the line and picking up a huge wage than the hugely talented Daniel Sturridge being given a chance alongside Robinho et al?

Picture courtesy of Cheggers

Article taken from the Times Online blog

Long Distance Lovers – Football’s armchair fans

Take a quick walk down Exeter high street on any given afternoon and I’m sure you’d encounter a fair few people showing off their “Adebayor 25” or “Ronaldo 7” shirts in tribute to their unhappy idols.

Why not stop and ask the Man United ‘fans’ wandering through the City centre whether they make the 500-mile round trip to the ‘Theatre Of Dreams’ every fortnight? Or enquire whether they’ve even been to Manchester before? And don’t hold your breath. These are the long-distance lovers to whom the Theatre Of Dreams is just that.

Whether Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or any other glamorous side, there are those certain type of supporters who have unfortunately grown up with Sky Sports, Soccer Saturday and their side on the box more often than the Only Fools and Horses Christmas Specials! You know the sort of fan, whose idea of driving their team on involves subscribing to the TV channel and subsiqeuntly helping to fund Frank Lampard’s £135,000 a week paycheque.

These type of fans love telling everyone and anyone just how successful “we” are and revelling in the glory whilst expecting congratulations for their long distance lover’s success. Is it really any wonder that armchair supporters get “looked down on and mocked” and give the other fans of their club a bad name? When these people expect their fellow football fans recognition for their team’s performance.  Their team who plays its home games 250 miles away at a stadium they’ve never seen outside their living room, a stadium filled with thousands of fans experiencing a side of fandom they have never encountered.

Sky make it far too easy for these fans to follow their club from their armchair. Why would they want to get soaking wet and out of pocket to go along to watch their local team when they can watch every game their side plays on Football First?

As I’m sure you do, I know many fans like these, supporters who’s match day viewing is not at Southend, Southport or Sunderland but Soccer Saturday and 6-0-6. Lower league clubs throughout Britain are dying (some literally) for the support of these long-distance lovers from Exeter who spend their Saturday afternoons in front of Jeff Stelling. They are missing out on a lot of the unique and awesome experiences of being a football fan. But in many cases these fans don’t admit that their fandom is any different to those of those fans who travel up and down England and Europe week after week. They class themselves as equals to the die-hards who spend their weekends in the service stations of Britain following their club.

Of course any fan that sees their team in action can tell you nothing rivals the match going experience. That watching the match on television is undoubtedly a watered-down version of the real thing.  From the away games to the atmosphere, attending the football match itself is meant to be the crucial part of being a fan. A notion being bypassed by thousands of supporters every week.

Whether you’re one of the Norwegian Grecian’s who flew over for Saturday’s Exeter match, or a fan that walked round the corner to the ground, you all had that shared experience. You were feeling the atmosphere, the drama and the joy of Exeter’s return to the league whilst the armchair fans waited for Football First. Aren’t these long distance lovers jealous that we can experience our local team’s highs and lows every week in the flesh?

As an Exeter City fan I could take a liking to a Premiership side to liven up Match Of The Day. I could play as Arsenal on Football Manager long into the night. But at the end of the day I have a football team that give me a sense of belonging, that I’ve created bonds with and who’s history I feel I have played an active role in.

Those electric atmospheres, the demoralising defeats at some Non League outpost, the 6.30am bus to Carlisle. These are the sorts of experiences that define football supporters. I expect all bloggers can post all night about tales of epic journeys, unforgettable last minute celebrations and those wet, windy and miserable nights. Without any of these are you really a supporter at all? Aren’t you just a follower? Or a consumer? Or an interested party?

You wouldn’t start a relationship with someone living 250 miles away with the intention of never visiting would you?! You might boast about to your friends, they might give you regular updates of their lives but it wouldn’t be a real relationship at all would it?

Taken from my blog at The Times Online