Why It Matters - Carling Cup

So it's not the most popular competition around the varying tournaments on-going in world football, but it is an important one for the two competing teams in this Sunday's cup final. Liverpool have been to bigger occasions that this and obviously have a long standing history all over Europe, but this still remains important and for several reasons. Cardiff City's reasons for this being a huge occasion as more obvious, the Championship side are living the cup dream, and not many would have picked them out to be among the finalists when the competition got underway in the early months of the season. It could also be a route into Europe for the Welsh side, which would be a great boost for the fans and club who have Premiership ambitions. Whether they leave Wembley with the trophy or not this weekend they could still be playing in the Europa League next year. 

Will Wembley hold the same fortune as Cardiff did?

It's been a baron run of years for Liverpool supporters who's last trip to Wembley in 1996 was spoilt by Eric Cantona's goal for the big rivals Manchester United. Since that, the cup finals have moved to Cardiff and back again to a brand new, £750m stadium. Despite success and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium becoming a happy hunting ground for Stevie G and co. it's the first adventure to Wembley for 16 years. That alone will make it a special occasion for LFC fans who can experience their team playing at a brand new Wembley. It will also shake the hoodoo about having never been to the new Wembley, the longer it goes on, the bigger the issue becomes. 


Aside of the supporters, it's massive for the players and more so, Kenny Dalglish. Since Dalglish took over at Manchester United last January, the team has gradually improved and become more consistent. Even if it is consistently drawing 1-1 at home!! If you compare his team now, to where we were when Kenny took over, it's a stark contrast (nowhere in the league, out of the Carling Cup and on the verge of going out of the FA Cup). He has spent big money on the likes of Suarez, Carroll, Henderson and Charlie Adam and the new owners will want to see some return on that investment. While the fans may have more patience with King Kenny, but having outlaid over £100m during their tenure, I'm sure Mr Henry would be wanting some silverware ASAP. 

Dalglish lifts the League Cup as a player, with Alan Hansen enjoying a drink in the background.

For other clubs competing in other major competitions, I can fully understand them playing a youthful side in the Carling Cup and ridiculing the competition. You can't expect to be competitive with your full side on all fronts if you're fielding teams in European competition, the Premiership and the FA Cup. However, when the season started Liverpool must have been targeting this competition as a very winnable one, and one of the seasons goals. The competition for top 4 places has intensified with the emergence of Spurs as a big player, Man City's millions and the constant threat of Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal. Combine that with the fact Liverpool never had any European football to play this season, the two domestic cups were realistic targets. However, the fans who do put the Carling Cup down and 'don't care' are the fans of the teams who have other battles to fight, but if you're team was in the same situation as Liverpool find themselves in now, I'm sure you'd feel the same way as LFC fans do right now. 

The loyal one (right).

As much as Liverpool would like to be competing in the Champions League at the moment, the harsh facts are, we are not. Therefore, realistically this is a big game for Liverpool's fans, manager, staff and players. 

Capello left no option by FA.

Capello's tenure as England's manager is over.

So Fabio Capello calls it a day, and I for one can't blame him, but everyone seems to think England's problems are solved, the mystery around England's failure to succeed is going to be solved by Harry Redknapp! Not for one minute will a different manager make a difference that will lead us to World Cup glory or even European glory for that matter.

I wasn't a huge fan of Capello during his spell as England manager, and neither was I a 'hater' either, I think he came in for some unfair criticism during his tenure at the helm of the national side, but whatever you opinion on Fabio, you can't disagree with him walking away from the post in the circumstances.

The removal of John Terry as captain of the Three Lions has caused argument in pubs and workplaces up and down the country, and whether you are pro-Terry or are glad to see the armband taken from him is one argument, that is however a completely irrelevant issue in this instance. Personally I think he's lucky to even be in the squad, never mind the captain, but like I said, that's another issue completely. But the facts are he was the England captain, and I agree with Capello, he should be innocent until proven guilty.

The real issue here, is once again with the FA. How can they make a decision which impacts directly upon one man and decisions he is going to have to live with without consulting him? Capello wasn't even party to the discussions to remove Terry of the armband, and that left Capello with various problems after the FA made a decision for him. Capello has been completely undermined by the hierarchy at the FA and I back the bloke for saying he's can't continue in the roll, and handing in his resignation.

Since the captaincy was removed from John Terry, courtesy of the FA, Capello (and whoever takes over) has had scenarios facing him that were always going to be tough to resolve in a positive manner. Do you pick Terry in the squad? Whether he is captain or not, does that really make a difference to how he is perceived by the public or his team mates? What does stripping him of the captaincy say about the FA's belief in the outcome of the pending trial? I know they said it has nothing to do with it, but that's not what your average Joe is going to feel after the decision. Can Capello lead a side in which he demands authority, yet can't even be involved in the decision about HIS captain? How can he command any authority over his players when he is being strung like a puppet from the idiots at FA HQ?

Terry in his latest spell as captain.

The FA have created all this mess, starting with the inability to charge Terry before it went to court with clear video evidence, not pressing for the trail to be heard before Euro 2012 (that way we would be able to base decisions such as the captaincy and his inclusion in the squad based on criminal justice) and finally, completely and utterly undermining Capello by stripping Terry of the captaincy without consulting the man they are directly affecting

That said, Capello was on a hiding to nothing from the word go. Everyone complained about WAGs and the furore around that when Sven was in charge, he eradicated that but then ran into trouble about the training camp, minor issues which make no real difference if you win the trophy. What really let Capello down were the players in the major tournaments. There was probably only Ashely Cole that could fly home from South Africa, happy with what he had done in the tournament, despite being part of the 'golden generation' and a squad which included Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, and Terry. Anyone who thinks a change of manager for England is going to resolve all the problems is going to be rudely surprised.

Harry Redknapp - already given the job by the English Public

The tough part for a manager is changing from the day-to-day involvement of running a side, to seeing them 4 or 5 times a year for a week or so at a time. Then being able to command that time to gain a respect from the primadonna's that pull on the Three Lions time after time. Anyone who can bring together that cohort of players would have done an incredible job, and the team needs to start from scratch, something Capello was working towards I believe. Can Harry Redknapp (or anyone else for that matter, and I'd have a few pounds on an outside bet of Rafa Benitez) do what nobody has been able to do before? As much as I'd like him to, I don't think he could. I don't think anyone could. It's time to start with the players, weed out the players who are playing simply on reputation and not performances, forget international experience and get the young lads who are playing well, regardless of what Premiership club they are playing for, in the team. They're only going to get experience one way, and it's a great chance now to have done with Lampard, Ferdinand and Terry for a start, and let's see more of Jack Wilshere, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Martin Kelly and Kyle Walker to name but a few.  

Open Air Pantomime

Scarborough's Open Air Theatre full for the opening by the Queen. 

As news leaks out about the Scarborough Open Air Theatre and having no act's signed up for the 2012 summer season, it comes as no real surprise when you consider the failings from all parties involved. Apollo Leisure, who handle the theatre and Scarborough Borough Council are blaming each other and further blaming the public of Scarborough for not having anything penned in for the coming summer months. 

O2 Academy in Leeds at it's 2,300 capacity.

The failings though, start from the very beginning. £3.5 million was spent refurbishing the old arena, which was more like rebuilding than refurbing. It has a capacity of 6,500 much less than other arenas such as the Manchester Evening News Arena (21,000) or Newcastle's Metro Arena (11,000+), but then comfortably more than O2 Academy in Leeds (2,300), Newcastle (2,000) or Sheffield (2,350). The acts that these O2 arenas can attract are good enough for the OAT and will start to build a good impression of the venue among artists and the public, but for some reason Apollo has no bookings. Maybe they are just looking at the marquee bookings where they can sell 6,500 seats at £50+ a go? Even still, 6,500 seats for a big act isn't enough, they'll go and do stadium or arena tours instead. 



Look at anything that makes the above arenas credible venues for spectators. As a spectator at many venues, mostly sporting, you look for various things when planning your trip and whether it's worth going. 


Transport - is there good access by road, rail, tram, bus? The train station is the other end of Scarborough, there isn't a clear road to the venue, with very little parking available for 6,500. I'm sure there is a bus service that goes along Burniston Road, or to the seafront, but if they had anything about them, they'd put on a shuttle from the train station down to the OAT. 


The Venue - what is the venue like? If it rains or is freezing cold, will I be OK? The OAT is obviously Open Air, it says it in the name, but there in itself lies a problem. While the romantic side of the refurbishment is credible, the fact that we live in England, and in the north of England for that matter, someone somewhere must have put some thought into that, preppy artists who don't want to be cold, spectators who don't want to be cold or wet, was never going to be viable. Would the £3.5 million been better spent building a multi-purpose arena that can be used all year round? Or how about this, a new football stadium for the town, with covered stands that can double up as a music venue like many others around the country? 


The date - if you work, go to college, university, or are busy doing whatever you do during the day, the only time you can attend an event or gig is during the weekend or on week nights. Week nights are immediately limited due to the temperature, and people aren't likely to travel from outside of Scarborough when having to be at work on the next day. Leaving the only real slot on a weekends, when you can do it during the day for a decent temperature and put bums on seats with the maximum potential. That leaves about 20 Saturday's from May-September, still plenty of time, but not the maximum potential. 

FULL HOUSE...Gala Night sells out at Scarborough OAT.

All that said, and in my opinion a sum of £3.5 million that could have been better spent, when they've put on a good act, suited to the public of Scarborough such as Elton John or the 80's concert, it's sold out. 6,500 seats, at a hefty price, SOLD OUT. Which proves that if the right act is booked, they can make the profits envisaged when the expenditure was outlaid at the beginning of this project, despite the short comings of the above. So the fact Apollo have blamed the public of Scarborough is laughable. Apollo have well and truely bodged the job, at the cost of the council tax payer, by not getting their acts together (see what I've done there!) and getting the marketing in the Welcome to Yorkshire calendar. 


It will come as no surprise to me, if the council and Apollo rush, panic and book very average acts for this summer, or just do nothing at all, continuing to blame one another, and everyone but themselves. The facts are we have the arena, so they should get on with booking something credible to the town, who have proved that they can fill the place for the right act.