North London- It's only 930 miles long!

Rivalries in football always make life much more interesting. Who doesn't look for their team's derbies when the fixture list first comes up?

For certain those members of the Glasgow fraternity will always look for the Old Firm matches. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately if you happen to be a policeman in Glasgow or a member of the SPL's disciplinary committee, Old Firm matches are a regular occurrence with 4 league games every season and the possibility of a cup game- or three- to look forward to.

Local derbies are always exciting in build up but not always so on the pitch, a la the first Manchester derby of this season, as the two teams nervously circle each other determined no to lose. It's amazing how quickly a teams usual attacking instincts go out of the window when it comes to derby days. This week we saw, quite frankly, the oddest ever North London derby played over two nights, during two matches, in cities roughly 930 miles away.

On Tuesday night Arsenal, away from home, were forced to abandon their usual glorious marauding style of play as they spent most of the first half of this Champions League derby inside their own half. So much were they on the back foot that, for the first time since 2002, a team managed no shots in a Champions League match. A ridiculous stat from a side that, despite the absence of Theo Walcott, included the likes of Robin Van Persie, Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, and that's before we get to the subs of Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner. To simply read such a stat would probably lead you to believe that for once in his life Arsene Wenger had dropped his usual stubbornness and inability to change game plan and had realised that his best chance of progressing on Tuesday was to sit back and defend and see out the game, possibly hitting the opposition on the break. The truth is completely different, the truth is that Arsenal were forced to play only in their own half and because of their love of playing pretty football, no matter where on the pitch, Arsenal gifted the home side their opening goal, and the goal that changed the tie.

In the second half of this derby Spurs played the part of the team that have to forget the way they usually play in favour of defending for their lives as the away side came back at them. Spurs have no doubt been a sigh of relief in the often mundane world of football since Harry Redknapp took over and with the likes of Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric at his disposal it is no surprise that Spurs prefer the 'we'll score more than you' approach to football. Mid week though Tottenham hung on to their lead as if it was their lives at steak. Whilst they were on the back foot for most of the game the team from White Hart Lane still managed a few shots, two even actually on goal, unlike their North London rivals- this probably had something to do with keeping 10 men on the pitch (a decision that was clearly ridiculous but did not cost Arsenal the match). Spurs of course were not trying to play on the back foot, they would have love to have been attacking the oppositions goal at every possibly moment but the sheer pressure exerted on their midfield and defence did not allow them out of their own half often enough.

As with all derbies there was some real controversy and both sides had chances at the end to clinch the tie or throw it away. Arsenal really should have given away a penalty before they eventually did in the second half, when Laurent Koscielny should have received his second yellow card for two actual yellow card offences. On the other hand Robin Van Persie clearly should not have been sent off. Van Persie's initial yellow card was his own fault but his second was harsh to the nth degree, though I don't buy his claims he couldn't hear the whistle or suggestion he didn't know he was offside, but we'd all had taken that shot- ironically Arsenal's only one. Spurs had little of the controversy but still could have thrown it all away were it not for a William Gallas clearance off the line and Heurelho Gomes' save right at the end following a brilliant move. It could have also been so different if it hadn't been for Bendtner's awful first touch.

Despite all this it is quite ironic that on the nights it was Arsenal who scored and not Spurs but that is the beauty of games played over two legs, it creates compelling 2nd legs. Fortunately for all of us none of the Champions League ties this week were anywhere near finished when it came to the 2nd legs and excitement could be found everywhere and even the most drab of games, including ones that featured sides from North London abandoning exciting football, were exciting because we did not know which way they would go.

If you didn't know I have of course been referring to two completely separate matches. One between Arsenal and Barcelona played in the Camp Nou which featured Barcelona prove why they really are the best football team on the planet as they penned the Gunners into their own half for most of the match and Arsenal couldn't cope, the immense pressure they were under really being shown as Fabregas gifted his boyhood team their first goal and Koscielny giving away a penalty when extra time was still a possibility. The second match was at White Hart Lane and features Spurs and, Serie A leaders, A.C Milan. Milan, 1-0 down from the first leg, did most of the attacking in the game and forced Spurs to play on the counter attack, arguably their favoured way of playing, for much of the match but failed to find away past the resolute defending of Michael Dawson and William Gallas. Yes the difference in class between Barcelona and Milan is hugely recognisable but the difference between going out of the Champions League, like Arsenal, and going through to the quarter finals, like Spurs, was simply being resolute and not losing.

Two matches, two cities 930 miles away, 2 different results, no winners but only one North London derby!

Going, Going... Still here?

It doesn't seem like a lot of time has passed since I walked past a bookmakers and thought "Rooney 2/1 to still be at United come next season? What great odds". This exclamation isn't a fabrication and nor was it with hindsight it was done the day the Rooney said he would be leaving United. Such was my conviction he would stay I claimed to any who would listen that I'd have bet money if I was a betting man.

Of course the reason it doesn't seem like too long ago since all this happened is because it really isn't that long ago at all. Back on the 20th October United were struggling to beat Turkish champions Bursapor in the shadow of Wayne Rooney's claims that he wouldn't be signing a new contract at the club and the main reason was because the club was going no where fast.

Fast forward to November 25th and Rooney was finally apologising to the fans, not just a month and five days since his statement but also a month after he'd signed his new contract.

Of course when the dust settled and all had been said it turned out that the boy Wayne hadn't been speaking from his head or even his heart. No it was the work of an evil genius, his agent. Rooney, so we now are told, had wanted in his heart of hearts to stay at United forever, fathered by the great Sir Alex. His agent on the other hand had wanted some more money, and so Wayne signed a new contract worth somewhere between £160,000 pound a week and £200,000 a week.

I know, I'm either way out of date or, as usual, I'm blabbering on before I get to my real point. It's of course the latter, so here goes. Fast forward again to the 12th of December but stay firmly in Manchester and yet another hero of the strikers fraternity was handing in a transfer request and causing an almighty kerfuffle at Manchester City.

This time it was Carlos Tevez kicking up a fuss. Not only was he not signing a new contract but Tevez handed in his transfer request and it seemed he not only wanted to go but go in January and if not sold then he'd retire. And why exactly? Well, and here's where you have to swim through mountains of utter tosh, firstly we were told he was missing his kids and wanted a trip back to Argentina and would either take a transfer away from Manchester or retirement from football. Then it seemed Carlos wasn't happy with not being in the Champions League having been promised that the club would be there this season. At this point the club hit back, presumably annoyed that Tevez now looked to be wanting a move away from Eastlands for footballing reasons and not family ones, they said that there must be dark forces at work, yes of course, it must be Tevez's agent, the now infamous Kia Joorabchian. Tevez came back saying Kia had persuaded him to stay in the summer when he wanted, which must be why Tevez changed his mind about only once he'd had a meeting with the club's owners minus Mr Joorabchian.

So what have we learnt so far then? Wayne wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself a standing ovation when he finally came back from injury. Then Carlos wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself the biggest cheer of the night against Everton- although that had something to do with City's lacklustre performance.

But the whole situation had led us to learn something more about Tevez than Rooney, for it seems to me that Tevez was making trouble for himself, and not for the first time.

Please don't see this as me attacking Tevez the player, even as a City player. The Argentinian is without doubt one of the most talented players in the Premier League at the moment. His work rate is second to none and earned him plaudits at West Ham, where it took him several months to score, at Manchester United, where fans wanted Fergie to sign him up and instantly at City, where fans apparently wanted Fergie to sign him up. His goal scoring record since being at City is brilliant and they are very much a lesser team without him but then perhaps all these facts are why his actions are so baffling.

Tevez started in England with West Ham in 2006 and did not learn much English whilst with the 'Hammers', which was understandable as no one expected him to stay there long and who knew where he'd move on to. Once at Old Trafford though surely Tevez and his agent would hope he'd be there a long time and set about learning English so he could understand his colleagues better and just get on with normal life better. On leaving Old Trafford to move across the city Tevez took a final swipe at Fergie saying that the boss hadn't spoken to him in months, a fair complaint you might think but surely not when Carlos can barely speak or understand English at the best of times never mind when someone with a thick Govan accent is talking. Then onto City where he has continued to not speak or understand English all too well, which is amazing considering one of the other reasons for his wanting to leave just over a week ago was that his relationship with certain executives, Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, had broken down to an unfixable degree. What kind of relationship any player needs to have with a club's executives is highly questionably of course.

So Tevez has never learnt English in his four and a bit years in the country, seems to pick a fight with everyone and anyone- something he did even before hitting these shores by wearing a United top during a Corinthians training session- and has a history of being with clubs no longer than 3 years. It seems to me that the great Carlos adventure may have been slowed down by his retraction of his transfer request but the English leg may be coming to an end. For City's sake I hope I'm wrong, in fact for the Premier League's sake I hope I'm wrong.

Cut down but still Big Sam

I know it's been a while, I know you barely care because you're most likely not even reading this, never the less I shall continue on.

So it's been a while. Football's still the same and nothing big is going on so I've not really been needed.

After all FIFA and Blatter messed up, that's still the same. United beat Arsenal at home and Wenger blamed something other than his team's average performance, no change there then. Benitez is happily going about his business ruining yet another side, I'm seeing a recurring theme here. Oh yes and of course, successful managers are getting sacked whilst those failing are still in jobs, hold on, that's not supposed to be the way.

I was halfway to changing my outlook on this blog, turning it from an all out column about one subject to a blog that featured several short musings from the week in football. Then suddenly Chris Hughton, Newcastle's Championship winning manager, was sacked. "Ahh mayhem at Newcastle" I thought, "could there be a better thing to write about?", indeed it did get better. First they replaced Hughton with Alan Pardew, handing him a 5 and a half year deal and then Pardew went and claimed Newcastle were one of the 5 biggest teams in the country. I can't exactly recall at which point my snigger turned into full out laughter but I think it was between Pardew being named as manager and hearing him call Newcastle one of the 5 biggest teams in the country- I wonder where he thinks they rank in terms of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton?

So there I was, laughing at Pardew whilst feeling sorry for Hughton and considering the new layout to my blog, when suddenly, from nowhere, I was stunned into silence by football and it's latest piece of news. How daft is that? I've been a football fan for about 18 years, surely nothing should surprise me that much any more. But Sam Allardyce being sacked?!? What the hell?!?!

Now I'm sure if you're reading this there's a good chance you may not like 'Big Sam', after all he seems to be the 'Marmite Man' of football, you either love him or hate him. His brand of football isn't always the most aesthetically pleasing in the world and he has a self confidence perhaps more suited to a manager who has won everything the game has to offer, like a Mourinho or Ferguson, so you can see why people may not like him. But, and I know we're going over old ground here, good football doesn't always win you prizes and being confident in your own ability often does.

Surely, love or hate him, you can't argue that 'Big Sam' is a man who knows how to be successful in the Premier League. I'm of course not talking about the kind of success that wins you the league, I'm talking of the relative success that teams such as Bolton, Blackburn and dare I say it, Newcastle would wish to achieve. At Bolton Sam finished in the top 8, not once but four times in a row, an amazing achievement for a team on such limited resources. He then moved on, wanting to win silverware. He believed he could do at Newcastle and started building a decent squad around him and found himself in mid table. This time he was sacked, with the increasingly intelligent Mike Ashley believing mid-table and 'unattractive' football was not enough for him. Brilliantly his team ended up mid-table that season followed by relegation the season after.

But, as usual, I digress, it is now his time at Blackburn, and now his sacking, which is most pertinent and bewildering at the same time. Only last season's top eight have gained more points than Blackburn during his reign at Ewood Park, if that doesn't put into some perspective how good he was during his time there I don't know what will. Perhaps that he finished 10th last season or kept Rovers up in his first season when all looked lost under Paul Ince will. The very fact that the man from Dudley has been linked not once but twice to the England job tells you how highly thought of in footballing circles, in fact only last week Fabio Capello named Sam along side Harry Redknapp as the two men who could replace him when he leaves the post of England manager in 2012.

So 'Big Sam' is a highly rated manager with lots of experience who brings relative success to sides without spending excessive amounts of money and is now out of a job because Blackburn's new owners demand attractive football. Apparently they want Diego Maradonna to take over as manager- a man who is known to act insane, has no real experience at club football and who's Argentinian side played lovely football at the World Cup but found themselves knocked out in the quarter finals despite having the world's greatest player in their ranks amongst other brilliance players. Sounds like a good swap to me.

Of course this shouldn't all be about Allardyce it should also be about Hughton and the stupidity of the owners of not just Blackburn but of Newcastle as well.

Newcastle's reason for getting rid of their manager was his lack of experience, which might be all well and good if he hadn't just won the Championship at a a canter last season and had taken Newcastle into the top 10 this season. Amongst this seasons victories he had seen his side beat Arsenal and Chelsea and best of all destroy local rivals Sunderland. Hughton seemed to have built a rapport with his team of 'misfits' including the ever lovely Joey Barton and the headline grabbing Andy Carroll. I wouldn't like to comment on Pardew's ability to manage the team but surely there was no need to risk the harmony at the club and current good form just to turn to a manager, who though, experienced, has hardly brought success, even in relative terms, to his previous clubs.

Here's hoping these two managers are back in jobs soon, although in 'Big Sam's' case he's certainly too good for the West Ham job is rumours are to be believed. And, as some one who has nothing against either Newcastle or Blackburn, here's hoping their owner's risky strategies pay off.

Breaking the Molde

"And Solskjaer has won it!"

Five words, and other than a slightly complicated Norwegian surname, they are a very simple 5 words. And yet they invoke real emotion, sat here typing them has given me goosebumps- yes I'm a little weird like that.

But these 5 words, said by Clive Tyldesley back in 1999, create memories for so many- some good (like me) and some bad. And for me the 5 words, and the emotion that engulfs me following them, bring me back to the days when football first really mattered to me.

I had been a football fan, along with any sport, for as long as I could possibly remember and yet until the treble season I can't recall getting so emotionally attached. It was perhaps Dennis Irwin's sending off in the match against Liverpool in the same season that got me so riled first. I, along with my cousins, felt it necessary to call the F.A and complain about the Irishman's sending off- it may also suggest where my utter hatred for Liverpool comes from, that and being from Manchester.

Of course I digress, as usual. It was Tyldesley who said those words but it was of course United's baby faced assassin, their super sub, 20Legend and whatever else you want to call Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The Norwegian was a brilliant player, a goalscorer of the highest regard, and someone who played the game smiling- which is not something we see too often these days. Of course Gunnar is best known for that goal in Barcelona on a night that the gods of football had clearly pre-written the script for and his second most well known attribute was to score late goals. I remember sitting at a friends house for his birthday watching Match of the Day as he scored 4 goals in the last 10 minutes of a match vs Nottingham Forest. It wasnt' important, as United already lead 4-1, but it's what Ole did- score goals!

It was a shame that Ole had to retire from injury in 2007 having been unable to recover from a knee injury, but by that point his place in the hearts of all Manchester United fans was obvious. Having joined in 1996 for a paultry £1.5 million pounds he scored within 6 minutes of his debut against Blackburn Rovers. You may be thinking that £1.5 million may have been a lot at this time but remember 'Alan Shearer is 10 times dearer', or words to that effect. It was befitting that his last league game came against Blackburn and just like old times, he scored.

But Solskjaer has now moved on from United, having spent a succesful term at the helm of the Red Devil's reserve team, to join his first team- Molde- as manager.. In his first 4 games as manager the team were truly playing in the image of their boss as they scored late goals in the games to either win or draw, a start to the season that ended with the reserves winning the Lancashire Senior Cup.

With Ole now becoming manager of a first team he will inevitably join the ever growing list of names to be Sir Alex's successor- many of these names are already ex-United players. And who of us would bet against Ole being the man to win the race, as either the next manager or the one after that. Solskjaer is a true United hero, he knows the club- as player and coach, and is a nice, media friendly guy. His reputation for goals also fits in with the Old Trafford ethos of football.

The big question surrounds wether or not he can handle the pressure of football management and the added pressure of possibly being lined up to replace the most succesful manager in United's history.

If Solskjaer winning the Champions League as manager of United is akin to his goal in that 99' final, then his first step into football management maybee the moment Peter Schmeichel joined his teammates for the first significant corner on that night.

"And Solskjaer has won it!"?...

Only time will tell!

Yid's Army

Football is a game, a game I want to win- or so a friend once told me, it was something along those lines anyway.

Being a game, though, football very rarely has anything to do with race; of course there is the incident involving England at the Bernabeu, or Mario Balotelli at Chievo and the underlying racism that surrounds black managers especially in the English game and many other stories of racism appearing in football but that doesn't make football about race. Football also rarely has anything to do with religion, of course there is the 4 times or more a season that Rangers play Celtic but that would be about it.

Being Jewish I can also, quite honestly, tell you that football rarely has anything to do with Jews. There is the odd famous professional Jewish footballer; Yossi Benayoun, Tal Ben Haim, Eyal Berkovic and Avram Grant to name but a few (yes they all happen to also be Israeli), there is the wonderful MJSL but that's about it for us Jews.... oh and Spurs!


The good old 'Yid Army' ey! Named so because lot's of Jews support them- so that'll be Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal as well then, and that's just for starters.

Oh, suddenly thought of what Jews are known for when it comes to football. It's not heading the ball. We close our eyes and shy away from the ball, we also can't tackle or play in particularly physical matches.

And so last night Sporting JLGB (remember them?) played their first pre-season friendly of the summer, against a non-Jewish team or just a team. This was no charity peace match or any rubbish, this was a competitive friendly between two sides getting ready for the excitement of a Sunday League campaign, and boy was it a match!

The match started with Britain's Protection on the offensive but Sporting's defence stood strong and gave as good as they got, new signing Blake Englander probably giving better. But Sporting, looking awesome in their new pink kits, struggled to get the ball under control in the opposition half and thus it kept coming back at a well organised Sporting defence. The defending was resolute and tough but it was eventually broken, a left foot shot from the edge of the area beating the keeper.

It was 2-0 before half time, another shot from the edge of the area, this time brilliantly saved, would fall inside the 6 yard box for the Protection's number 9 to slot home. At half time Sporting marched off anything but dejected, they were well in this game and playing well, and it got better.

The 2nd half was an even scrappier, more aggressive affair from both sides, and with plenty of subs being made it was now JLGB on top. Rafi Bloom was finding himself in more and more space upfront and was starting to show the kind of form that left defenders fearful of him in his Westdene days. The partnership upfront between Bloom and Uri Steinberg looked strong, and with Englander and Saul Davies forming a rock at the back, Sporting will go into their season with a solid base through the middle of the team.

Unusually in a friendly there was a red card brandished as the ref had enough of the foul and abusive language he was receiving from Protection's centre back. The away side were all getting fed up of the ref as they constantly thought they were wrongly being punished but the man in black didn't seem to be doing too much wrong. With time ticking away it seemed that Sporting would not get the goal that they deserved, until, with 10 minutes to go, Bloom got the ball just outside the area, danced his way past two defenders and into the 'box' only to be brought down, he brushed himself off and buried the ball in the top corner from the penalty spot.

The ref blew for full time and everyone had enjoyed the run out, from both sides. Hands were shook and pleasantries swapped as the two sides had taken part in a highly competitive match that had ended with a very fair scoreline, a real reflection of the match.

Religion very rarely comes into football, and as Sporting JLGB and Britain's Protection walked off the pitch, it still didn't.


P.S- Apparently Spurs got into the group stages of the Champions League tonight and I fooled you all into thinking that's what this post was about, oh well!

Weather or Not

Bloody Manchester!

Don't get me wrong, I do love this city (yes honestly), but it's the weather- it's all over the bleeding place.

I get up this morning at half 7 and the weather, though not great, was certainly not horrendous. Arrive at work at 10 with no sign of rain despite the odd cloud, by noon the rain was bouncing off the pavement with much aggression. Of course it wouldn't stop there, oh no, by half 1 the sun was out and it seemed to be heading towards a pleasant afternoon, that was of course before it started chucking it down with rain again at 3. It's just ridiculous.

But of course I digress, as usual, for this is not Sidler on Weather, as exciting a blog as that would be.

The weather in Manchester is such that they say you can get four seasons in just one day and that seems to mirror football in the region, it seems we've had at least two seasons in just one footballing weekend.

First up was the blue team of Manchester. City, who have spent upwards of 100 million pounds on players this season, took on their fourth place rivals of last year Spurs. City were absolutely rained upon. Tottenham's soon to be Champions League players were well onto of their much richer rivals and it seemed that the Mancunians multi-million pound squad were struggling to gel.

Out of the melee of shots that was being rained down on them City found a very useful umbrella. Of course it would be that out of all of the mass amounts the 'Citizens' have spent in the last two years it would be a man who cost them a maximum of £1.5 million before the 'Citeh' era who would prove to be their most valuable asset on the opening weekend of the season and most likely the rest of the season.

City of course are hoping to hail (get it) in a new era, and they will be doing so now without Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland, the latter seemingly on his way to Aston Villa as part of the deal to take James Milner to Eastlands. But, if their opening day fixture is anything to go by, City's main issue will be getting their team to gel quickly and with two more players coming in since the weekend Roberto Mancini has a big job on his hands.

Over at Old Trafford the sun was shining, despite the driving rain, especially on the evergreens in red. The United of Manchester took on their Newcastle counterparts as they began their quest to wrestle the league title back off the hands of Chelsea and they looked good in their match against the newly promoted Magpies. Chelsea had shone on their season debut against another promoted side, West Brom, putting 6 past the team from the Midlands and United needed to respond with an emphatic victory of their own, and they got it.

There was lots to talk about from the 3-0 win, from Joey Barton's 'moustache' to Dimitar Berbatov's impression of a player playing to his potential. But there was one man who stole the headlines and rightly so. There's snow way one could fail to mention Paul Scholes. He was brilliant. So good, in fact, that his Spanish midfield compatriots, Xavi and Iniesta, would have been watching in wonder and amazement. Near everything that came off Scholes' boot flew to its designated place on the pitch. His passing was immaculate and the most incredible thing was the sheer variety of passes; lofted, drilled, short, long, over the top, through the middle. The man was brilliant, no more so than when he set up Ryan Giggs, his forever partner in crime, for the 3rd goal, a goal which stretched Giggs' record of scoring in every season of the Premier League, a record which may well stop sooner rather than later.

Of course the season is only one week old and we cannot take too much from the first week of the season but we at least know that Chelsea look every bit the favourites they ought to be, City, despite their spending, cannot hope to achieve instant success and United will one day be much the worse for not being able to call on Scholes and Giggs. I guess we knew all this already, all which proves I really haven't the foggiest

Englishman Reaches World Cup Final

(The following blog appears on www.blog.kitbag.com, written by the Sidler)


And England have done it! They’ve made the World Cup final. What? Oh! It’s just our referee. Well at least we have the best something when it comes to football. Sorry, little bit of patriotism there and no doubt I’m clutching at straws.

But hang on, lets not take away the wonderful achievement of Howard Webb getting the honour of being the referee in the World Cup final and the first Englishman since Jack Taylor in 1974. Speaking of Jack, the great man has praised Webb and went as far to suggest that “he’s the best referee this country has ever produced”. Furthermore the man who awarded a penalty in the first minute of his world cup final added “He’s ready for this: he’s fit, his man-management is excellent.” Of course you’d find it difficult to argue with Jack, mainly because of his pedigree of refereeing, a little because you have to wonder why you’re arguing with an 80 year old man and lastly because Webb is clearly an excellent ref.

Ironically Webb had one of his worst seasons in the Premier League last year but so is life, he’s still taken charge of both the Champions League final and World Cup final, the first man ever to do so. Of the men he beat to officiate in the biggest game in world football the standard of officiating in the World Cup has generally been quite high. There has of course been the odd controversial moment, IT WAS OVER THE LINE (sorry), and the odd card happy ref, as in the Chile vs Switzerland match many moons ago, but we don’t expect our referees and linesmen to be perfect- well we do, but we know they’re not.


For me, two major issues come out of the tournament as far as refereeing is concerned. The first is obvious- video refereeing. I believe it is a must in some form, even if just for the goal-line, it would not undermine the referee – just help him make the right decision. If sports steeped in ridiculous amounts of old fashioned tradition like cricket and tennis can embrace video technology then so should football. The second issue is not so obvious but is just as important. The free movement of referees between leagues is very important to ensure that officiating is more consistent by allowing more referees to become professional, thus gaining more big match experience.


But here’s to Mr Webb and his team, make England proud by hardly being noticed in the World Cup final- after all, that’s what English football is all about.