In the cash-rich world of modern football, there is plenty of room for cynicism; Sport360 has it for you in abundance every Monday. This week we take a closer look at Bradford City’s continued fairytale FA Cup and how Tim Sherwood has revived both questionable fashion trends and Aston Villa’s Premier League fortunes.
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– FA Cup: Giroud fires Arsenal, Bradford stun Sunderland
– #CWC15: World Cup Stick Cricket is here!
KILLING OF ‘GIANTS’
Bradford continued their fairytale FA Cup run with 2-0 win over another top division behemoth: Sunderland. Okay, so it may not have been quite as satisfying as beating Chelsea away but it was still another Premier League scalp, not bad going for the League One side.
Great headlines for Bradford City this morning pic.twitter.com/vJdCH9OtOh
— Ian Abrahams (Moose) (@BroadcastMoose) February 16, 2015
Sunderland took 4,000 fans with them to Bradford to watch their team get ripped apart by Phil Parkinson’s side and they couldn’t resist serenading their manager Gus Poyet with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”. And who could blame them for demanding that he be axed? Just days after generously handing QPR their first away win of the Premier League campaign at the 12th time of asking, Sunderland were painful to watch in Yorkshire, helped in part by Bradford’s abominable excuse of a pitch. Off The Bar enjoys a Sunday League game as much as the next chap, but has played on surfaces much better than the Bantams’ allotment.
“It’s going to be tough after what Bradford did because they did something incredible. And we are already talking about their pitch, which everyone knows is one of the worst in the country. So that is going to make the game different. It won’t be a passing game. Maybe we’ll have to play a little more direct. Maybe I’m going to ask the groundsman at our training ground to mash one of the pitches and train on it the week before,” was Poyet’s take on the surface ahead of the game, a classic instance of getting your excuses in early. Bradford’s pitch is admittedly horrible and manager Parkinson admits as much but Sunderland are neither Barcelona nor Bayern Munich.
Mannone on Bradford’s pitch after conceding: pic.twitter.com/HGsuRzKXMB
— Ben (@TurnCruyff) February 15, 2015
With two Premier League sides beaten, the remaining top-flight fans and managers must be quaking in their boots at the thought of drawing Bradford in the quarter-finals. Bantams striker Jon Stead has now scored in five consecutive FA Cup rounds and the sight of him absolutely battering Per Mertesacker is one we would give our meagre lifesavings to witness. Bring it on, we can’t wait.
THE SHERWOOD EFFECT
Aston Villa were limp and lifeless for large periods of Paul Lambert’s reign, sleepwalking into the relegation places with fans wondering where their next goal would come from. On Sunday, it all changed as Villa scored twice – I repeat, Villa scored twice – against fellow strugglers Leicester in their FA Cup tie. People not closely following the Villans of late may wonder what brought about a change in fortunes. The answer is as simple as the man himself: Tim Sherwood. To the untrained eye, gilet-clad Sherwood is the backslapping lad in the pub telling people winning football is never about tactics but putting an arm around the players – see Adebayor, E . for details – but in reality ‘Tactics Tim’ is a fairly decent manager, winning 14 of his 28 games at White Hart Lane. And anyone who can get 13 goals out of Adebayor while he isn’t trying to win himself a contract renewal deserves Off The Bar’s respect.
BANTER: The Aston Villa ‘Tim Sherwood’ Gilet is now on sale at their club shop. pic.twitter.com/WOyWkteWJq
— BBC Sporf (@BBCSporf) February 16, 2015
Perhaps forgetting they were no longer managed by Lambert, Villa were horrendous in the first half, seemingly unable to complete five-yard passes. That was until Sherwood gave his new side a taste of his managerial medicine during half-time and there was a resurrection of sorts. Leandro Bacuna, on the verge of being hauled off, curled in a 30-yard peach of a strike for his first goal of the season before Scott Sinclair, playing actual football for the first time in two years after underwhelming spells at Manchester City and West Brom, profited from Mark Schwarzer’s error to give Villa a healthy two-goal lead.
“He came in there and made a few points to the lads, little bits and pieces for everyone really, and I thought the boys delivered that in the second half and were very good,” cheered Scott Marshall, placed in temporary charge for the tie. Move over Tony Pulis and his magic cap, the West Midlands is now all about Sherwood and the genie in his gilet.
BITS AND BOBS FROM ELSEWHERE
When Liverpool travel to south London to take on Crystal Palace, it doesn’t usually end well for them, so it was easy to see why Reds fans weren’t particularly keen on Saturday’s Cup tie at Selhurst Park. Alan Pardew’s finest hour as a player came when he scored in the 1990 FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool so there was an added narrative for pedants to sink their teeth into. When Joe Ledley floated a seemingly harmless ball into the Liverpool area, Martin Skrtel was hopelessly caught napping and Fraizer Campbell scored from the rebound after Simon Mignolet had clawed out Dwight Gayle’s initial effort. What followed next however, was better than the goal as Campbell and Gayle produced a synchronised dance routine that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a TV talent show. Not to be outdone, however, Daniel Sturridge produced his own dance rendition and Mario Balotelli was even in the mood to contribute to the greater good. A 2-1 win means the good times seem to be back at Anfield and Steven Gerrard’s nationwide farewell tour still in full swing.
When your two subs, Lallana and Balotelli, combine for the winning goal. http://t.co/fdj3jRbfaJ
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) February 10, 2015
Elsewhere, Brown Ideye scored a brace in West Brom’s 4-0 win over West Ham and Morgan Amalfitano spectacularly lost his cool in a show of petulance that was amusing for all but the Hammers’ faithful. West Ham flouted FIFA rules in the previous round against Bristol City, fielding an ineligible Diafra Sakho, and were ordered to pay Dh400k (£71k) for their wrongdoing. Bristol City had insisted their Premier League opponents be kicked out of the Cup and on reflection, Sam Allardyce and Co probably should have accepted expulsion rather than face the ignominy of elimination at the hands of the Ideye-inspired Baggoes.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND
“As soon as I saw him standing up there on the touchline, with that big smile of his, I knew we were in trouble,” said Derby manager Steve McClaren, who signed Yakubu Aiyegbeni at Middlesbrough almost 10 years ago. Back in English football with Reading, Yakubu greedily bit the hand that once fed him, scoring with a characteristically assured finish to break McClaren and Derby hearts.
Ah, Steve McClaren is still acclimatising to conditions at #nffc. Apparently he wants to sign Yakubu & Beckford. Good luck.
— Michael Wade (@michaelwade_) August 15, 2011
