Making A Stand

WHY is the Premier League so against having terraces? Everyone knows a standing section is great for atmosphere - and that is what fans want.

I would be delighted to go and stand on the terraces and cheer my team on because I rarely use my seat when I am at a game.

The fear is that there will be a repeat of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, but what Premier League bigwigs need to consider in their calculations is that metal fences are no longer present in the English game.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Football grounds are safer and more comfortable than they were 20 years ago." Though this is true, football is not about comfort, it is about entertainment and togetherness - the fans as one, being the twelfth man.

The Premier League's main argument for having all-seater stadia is so that more women and children will be encouraged to attend the games. Well, hold on a minute. No one suggested getting rid of the family stands. We want more people to get involved. All we want is a section of terraces for those who want to stand and bring back the atmospheres that football had decades ago.

The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), who are leading the campaign to bring back the terraces to the top two divisions in England, are using the German Bundesliga as their prime example as to why standing areas should be reintroduced to the English league.

German stadium expert Professor Gunter Pilz said: "You can't sing and make a good atmosphere when you are sitting." He also believes that the chances of another disaster like Hillsborough is very unlikely. "We have never had safety problems with standing in Germany."

There are plenty of stadiums in the lower tiers of English football that still have terraced areas, and there are no health and safety issues whatsoever. There might not be as many fans, but even so this is evidence enough for the Premier League to reintroduce standing areas for supporters who want it.

Football is for everyone, not just for prawn sandwich eaters who take flasks and blankets.

Look at the German example. The Bundesliga is becoming bigger and better than ever and fans are enjoying the atmosphere. Maybe the Premier League should take a leaf out of their book and stop worrying about health and safety and start worrying about the decay of fans' enjoyment.

It is time to give something back to the supporters.

Feather-Light Bantams' Weak Punch

BRADFORD City, always remembered for the fire that tragically claimed the lives of 56 people on May 11 1985, on a day that the Bantams were supposed to be celebrating promotion from Division Three as champions.

But, that is not the focus here.

Bradford play their home games at Valley Parade, their home since they were founded in 1903 and a crowd of 11,000 watched the first game against Gainsborough Trinity on September 5 1903.

Since beating Newcastle United in the FA Cup final replay 1-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of a Jimmy Speirs goal in 1911, the club has failed to win a major honour. The highlights of a desolate existence are two promotions to the English top flight, first in 1908 where City had a 14-year spell, and then in 1999 after a 77-year exile.

Sadly, it was a short stay of just two years for Bradford, who finished 17th in their first season, at the expense of Wimbledon, having beaten Liverpool at Valley Parade in front of more than 18,000 people thanks to a David Wetherall goal just twelve minutes into the tie. The Dons were beaten 2-0 by Southampton at the Dell to compound them to relegation from the top flight.

However, the following season would prove to be a torrid term for the Bantams who finished bottom of the pile with 26 points, their misery made even worse by a 6-1 thrashing in the Yorkshire derby at Elland Road on the penultimate game of the season. An Ashley Ward goal was the only saving grace for already relegated City as Mark Viduka, Ian Harte, Eirik Bakke, Alan Smith, Harry Kewell and Lee Bowyer all netted for United.

Bradford continued to slip down the Division One table through the seasons, and in 2004 they were relegated to the third tier of English football, 15 points from safety, along with Walsall and Wimbledon, who finished bottom with 29 points.

The following season, City finished six points outside the Play-Offs in a mediocre season in the newly reformed Coca-Cola League One, before a second consecutive 11th place finish saw no progress for the Bantams.

But, the next campaign would bring about one of the darkest hours in the club's history. A 3-0 defeat at already relegated Chesterfield on the penultimate game of the season condemned Bradford to the fourth tier of English football, finishing four points from safety after a 2-2 draw with Milwall on the final day of the season.

David Wetherall, who took the reigns after Colin Todd was sacked, was too shown the door at Valley Parade before fans favourite Stuart McCall was given the managerial job to try and lift the club out of its slump.

But two successive mid-table finishes saw the dismissal of McCall and the introduction of Peter Taylor midway through McCall's third season at the helm.

The Bantams are now hovering precariously above the relegation zone, with fear of dropping out of the football league. That would be a great shame for one of England's, perhaps not historic clubs, but certainly a club with such character.

It is always a sorry state of affairs to see a club topple like Bradford have done. They are not the first, and they will not be the last. But hopefully, like MK Dons and rivals Leeds, they will find their feet once more and push their way up through the football league - under the charge of interim manager Peter Jackson, or anyone else for that matter.

The Future's Bright

LOOKING at the Npower League One table, it is hard not to feel a sense of joy for Brighton and Hove Albion, unless you are a die hard Crystal Palace fan, of course. But it just goes to show what can be gained by giving a young manager the chance to make an impact.

Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez, or 'Gus' as he is better known to us, made his name in England when Ruud Gullit snapped up the Uruguayan in 1997 on a free transfer from Real Zaragoza, where the mercurial midfielder had netted 63 goals in 239 league appearances.

Poyet had a good track record of success before joining the Stamford Bridge outfit having won the Copa del Rey in 1994, then helping Zaragoza beat Arsenal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in a year later.

His line of honours would not stop there after his move to the capital as he again won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 along with the European Super Cup, before lifting one of the greatest prizes in English football, the FA Cup in 2000.

Unfortunately for Poyet, the arrival of Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea meant that the one-time Copa America winner was surplus to requirements and Tottenham Hotspur gladly snapped up the deadly play maker for £2.2m.

He retired from football in 2004 after his time at White Hart Lane was blighted by injury, with a reoccurring cruciate knee ligament problem that saw much of his time at Stamford Bridge spent on the sidelines.

In 2006, Poyet was reunited with former Chelsea teammate Dennis Wise as his assistant at Swindon Town before the pair moved to Leeds United where Poyet was to make his name as a coach, despite being unable to lead the Elland Road side to the Championship.

The next season, Poyet was appointed as Juande Ramos' number two as he returned to White Hart Lane where he picked up his first trophy as a coach with Spurs beating Chelsea, of all teams, 2-1 in the Carling Cup.

It was in on November 10 2009 that the Uruguayan was made Seagulls manager after Russell Slade made a poor start to the campaign. Poyet helped steer the struggling club clear of relegation, finishing in a respectable 13th place.

And so began his first full season, and what a way to start it with seven consecutive wins, which saw Albion top the league - and the Seagulls are still there, one point clear of second place Bournmouth with three games in hand. A fine job by Poyet.

It shows what is to be gained by giving young managers a chance. We all saw Paul Ince do a fantastic job at MK Dons, leading them to promotion in his first season, and also to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. However, it seemed that the Blackburn Rovers job, as many predicted, was a step too far for a rookie manager and Ince was sacked on December 16 2008.

Another fine example of the value of youth is none other than Eddie Howe, who led Bournmouth to promotion from League Two in his first full season, having saved the Cherries from relegation the previous season - much like Poyet at Brighton.

Now, Howe's managerial skills have been acknowledged by Burnley who are currently battling for the Play-Offs in the Championship - what a year this could be for the 33-year-old.

Surely it will not be long before more managerial gems are unearthed, like Poyet, Ince, Howe and even John Sheridan at League Two leaders Chesterfield.

Young managers should always be given a chance, perhaps not at the top level of English football where the pressure to succeed is far greater, but in the lower leagues where the margin for error is not as extreme and the learning curve is more valuable.

The future is bright for young managers, they need to be given the chance.

Trials and Tribulations

FOLLOWING defeat in the Lancashire Derby on Saturday, Preston North End are staring relegation to Npower League One right in the face having failed to register three points since December 11.

It has been very gloomy days for North End since Iain Hume hit the winner at Deepdale in a 1-0 win against Ipswich 12 games ago, with respectable draws against high flying Queens Park Rangers and more recently Nottingham Forest the scant consolation amidst a run of terrible results.

The Lilywhites set out to avenge the 4-3 defeat suffered at Turf Moor earlier in the season where the Clarets came from 3-1 down to seal victory with three goals in six minutes following Billy Jones' red card for the visitors.

But with just three clean sheets in the league all season, the writing was on the wall for Phil Brown's men who were unable to keep their local rivals at bay.

North End are having the same problem under Brown that they had under Darren Ferguson - inability to defend. The standout result for the season has to be the 6-4 win against Leeds United at Elland Road on September 28.

Although the result was a great attacking display, it showed just how frail they are at the back. One of the more important results that Preston have had all season is a battling 4-3 win over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace on October 23.

It is a team capable of scoring goals, but the desperate need to stiffen up at the back is plain to see, as reinforced by the 4-0 defeat at home to Bristol City earlier this month.

Just two seasons ago North End made it into the Play-Offs, only to lose 2-1 on aggreagate to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. It is amazing just how much the club has fallen into ruin in such a short space of time.

After breaking into the Division One (as it was back in the day) in 2000 following a 95 point haul in Division Two - securing promotion along with Burnley, as chance would have it - the Lilywhites have failed to live up to many peoples' expectations that they would reach the Premier League.

Under the charge of the inspirational David Moyes, Preston made it to the Division One Play-Offs at the first attempt but lost out to Bolton Wanderers in the final after overcoming Birmingham City.

Three points separated Preston from the Play-Offs the following season before Moyes was appointed as Everton manager and a combination of first Kelham O'Hanlon and Craig Brown suffered two mediocre seasons with the Lancashire club.

It was to be Play-Off heartache again for the Lilywhites as Billy Davies led them to fifth place, only to be thwarted by West Ham United in 2005, as the Hammers made an instant return to the Premier League.

Sadly, it was the same old story the following season for poor Preston as this time Leeds United saw them off at the semi-final stage of the Play-Offs, in what would prove to be Davies' last game in charge of the club.

Now the club that boasted the talents of Sir Tom Finney back in the 40s is set to fall into decline after four failed attempts in the Championship Play-Offs, and tougher times are ahead you fear.