Scotland vs Canada (Friendly)

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Scotland vs Canada (Friendly) On Wednesday Scotland and Canada kick off the international break with a friendly. In recent times neither side have had particularly good fortunes on the international stage. Scotland have won just one of their last fiver international fixtures, that coming against minnows Malta. On the other side of the field Canada have won two of their last five although these have been against much weaker opposition than Scotland are used to facing.

Their FIFA rankings shows quite clearly who is the favourite in the game as Scotland find themselves in 67th position on the rankings where as Canada are a poor 117 meaning that it would definitely be a huge surprise for Canada to get anything from the game. If i were to pick out a goalscorer it would have to be Leigh Griffiths who last year looked almost unstoppable for Celtic but the recent rise of Moussa Dembele has seen him a bit overlooked this year. Regardless his talent remains and he’s definitely a man capable of bagging a goal or two for Scotland.

I can’t see Canada scoring many due to Scotland’s very respectable defence and so I would definitely go for Scotland to win and/or to keep a clean sheet. As for goals in the game I don’t see there being loads. A reasonable punt would be for a 2-0 victory to Scotland, nothing outstanding but a comfortable win for the boys in blue. Although if you wanted a slightly safer bet then for there to be under 3 goals would also be a good shout.

Selection: Scotland clean sheet 4/6 and Scotlan win 4/11

Liverpool versus Tottenham Hotspur, Saturday, February 11

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Liverpool versus Tottenham Hotspur, Saturday, February 11 Remarkably, Liverpool have won just one game, in all competitions, in 2017 and their last four home matches in the Premier League have yielded just seven points, with the 1-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield on New Year’s Eve a fading memory. The Reds’ title hopes vanished following a 2-0 defeat by Hull City at the KCOM Stadium and, having already been knocked out of the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, Jurgen Klopp’s side have just a Champions League place to play for.

Indeed, Saturday’s match could prove crucial in terms of qualifying for the Champions League and, after another wretched display against the Tigers, Liverpool have plenty to think about. Tottenham haven’t exactly set the world on fire in recent weeks, but head to Anfield undefeated in their last nine games and, if confidence counts for anything, look a decent bet at the 3.6 with BetVictor to compound the Reds’ misery and retain second place in the Premier League.

Selection: Tottenham Hotspur to win (3.6 with BetVictor)

A look at the job of chairman

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In the game of football, the role of the club Chairman or Chairwoman is an interesting one. They are certainly not all alike. Usually the job of the Chairman/woman is to try to earn as much income for the club as possible to either generate a profit or at least not make a loss.

Retained earnings can later be used to provide the funds to make significant player purchases from other clubs in order to bolster the player ranks as some of the older players prove that perhaps their best playing days are behind them.

The case for Chairmen/women for non-league football clubs is no doubt not that much different except that there is far less opportunity to generate income for the club, which makes it challenging to purchase players of a calibre to elevate the club out of non-league status.

Some leaders in football leave a lasting impression though. Matthew Harding left such an impression with Chelsea football fans when he ensured he managed club affairs in a transparent manner.

Over at Cardiff City, Mehmet Dalman the Chairman, recently apologised for the way he behaved in his dealings with the previous manager of the club, Malky Mackay. Fans are loyal to their clubs so this kind of openness creates more of a sense of forgiveness.

Manchester United on the other hand are seeing things a little differently with the current challenge of bringing down their debt which still stands in the hundred of millions of pounds.

David Moyes is overhauling much at United presently, so it is difficult to see how things will shake up in the medium term, but maybe Moyes will make the tough decisions needed to take United fiscally back in the first direction. Results on the pitch are not as strong either with a top 3 finish looking unlikely.

 

 

Death of a footballing legend

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One day in 1960, Bela Guttman sat in a chair in the barbers to get a hair cut. Guttman was a successful football coach at the time who had become a man of the people when he led Benfica, the Portuguese football club, into the European Cup.

Despite this success, the coach wanted more. He was pondering how to make his club better and mulling over his options. Sat in the next chair across was the coach of the Sao Paulo football club from Brazil whose club regularly toured around for away matches.

The coach shared a secret – coach to coach – about a young man who the top clubs were chasing and no one had successfully managed to recruit to their own team yet. His name was Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, who in some circles was known more simply as the Black Panther.

The player had been kicking balls around in the youth team in what later become the capital of Mozambique, Maputo. He was the son of a white father and a black mother from a local community in Mozambique.

The swarthy mother had already spurned substantial offers from clubs such as Juventus offering to snatch up the young player in exchange for a lucrative multi-year deal. Bela Guttman liked what he heard and decided to make an offer of his own.

Some time later, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira came to play at Benfica football club where his record of 733 goals spread over 745 matches impressed everyone who loved the game and came to watch the panther play.

At the end of his playing career, the legendary footballer maintained his connection with Benfica by becoming their Ambassador.

At his death recently, Portugal declared a three day period of mourning for the nation. The funeral was held in Lisbon where thousands came out, including both Portugese and fans from around the world, who all came together to celebrate the legacy of the man Portugal came to call their own.

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy playing football inside a bubble? Well now you can

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First there was the crazy inflatable ball, filled with some water, that you roll around inside typically down a hill, called Zorbing. Now, there is a new form of indoor bubble football from Bubble Sports Scotland that is developing a wave of interest from social channels like YouTube.

The basis of the game is not so different to regular football except that all the players are inside their own large inflatable ball. The ball does act as a protection against fouls and injuries that can occur on the pitch which is good news.

Players try to run around the indoor pitch inside their inflated balls, often bouncing around the pitch more than they are running around it, in order to try to score a goal. This is easier said than done because, remember, we said that all players have their own protective bubble. So the goal-keepers are similarly protected and their inflated ball covers most of the open goal making it damn hard to score with Bubble Sports!

The initial spark of interest to make this a business first came up for co-owner Jak Carlin when he saw bubble football being played on a clip on social tube channel, YouTube. He and his business partner tried to find something similar somewhere in Edinburgh, and then around Scotland, but couldn’t find this being offered anywhere.

Trying to buy the equipment proven expensive as it wasn’t something locally sourced. Instead, the founders located the inflatable bubbles over in China and imported them. His partner came in with extra funding to pay for the initial purchases. They played their first game and posted a video on YouTube. Many comments and over 10,000 views later, the team has a small hit on their hands.