Tag: Football Reflective

Safe Standing is Football’s Oxymoron

Safe Standing is Football’s Oxymoron

Until three o’clock yesterday afternoon, I would have described myself as a proponent of safe standing areas in football stadia. The arguments for have mounting evidence as teams in Germany, and now Celtic, demonstrate its effectiveness. Then a turnstile failure at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium gave an example of why the risk with standing areas is greater than any benefit.

On the face of it, safe standing is sold as a modern take on an old fashioned way to view football matches. Those that want the system will explain how each person is allotted a seat number which relates to the folded away chair. This ensures order and crowd control. Within the standing areas barriers prevent surges, eliminating forced migration of fans into areas when things get a little raucous.

They rightly point out that in today’s top flight, many fans stand anyway. In doing so they are at greater risk than if they were inside a properly policed safe standing area.

In a perfect world, the arguments for safe standing cannot be denied. 70% of Premier League clubs would back its return, Tottenham Hotspur are even including the feature in the design of their new stadium. It’s also believed Manchester City would incorporate such a section within their North Stand when it’s remodelled to add an extra tier.

But this isn’t a perfect world. The supporters of safe standing never consider the potential pitfalls. At the Etihad on Saturday a power loss showed how errors can align to create potential nightmare scenarios.

It should be noted, there were no major problems at the ground but the blueprint for disaster was written.

As turnstiles became inoperative, queues quickly filled the concourse outside the back of the South Stand and the streets beyond. With some fans being delayed for up to fifteen minutes, there was clearly pressure on staff to appease the frustration.

So they opened the large exits walls beside the turnstiles and allowed fans to flock in, en masse. From a slightly elevated position on chairs, staff made the call for fans to have passes on display. But with such a determined flow, and at least several people wide, it would have been difficult to say with any degree of certainty that every ticket and seasoncard was seen. As with any system, it is the introduction of the human element that leads to problems.

Had Saturday not been against Everton but a Manchester Derby, and the fans were rushing into a safe standing area, the outcome could have been very different. There would have been more fans than available spaces. Unlike with a seat – where if you don’t have one, you can’t sit on someone’s knee – with safe standing the uncounted extras would have squeezed in next to their mates.

Human nature would have led many fans to share their space. But the fans would have kept coming, the available space decreasing. Unlike an all-seater stadium, where overcrowding is immediately apparent, the safe standing area would encourage a stealth swell.

All these elements to align like this would only happen once in a blue moon, but to have the potential for it to occur once is one time too many.

Tragedies like Hillsborough should have taught us to safe guard against a repeat. To ignore the Taylor Report and legislation in the 1989 Football Spectators Act demanding all-seater stadiums, would be a step back. A step in the direction of needless danger.

Events at Manchester City on Saturday display only one perfect storm template. There are countless others and it’s the ones that can’t be imagined that will slip through the net.

In hindsight, the safest thing City staff could have done was to deny access until each supporter could be counted through one at a time. It would have led to mass disappointment and thousands of refunds but wouldn’t have courted with danger.

Because the match day experience in England is now so sanitised, the staff working the grounds, many of them too young to recall the tight-packed days experienced in places like Maine Road’s Kippax, don’t appreciate how close they are to catastrophe.

Without better training and education, highlighting the unique hazards packed sporting events face, errors in judgement would prove fatal if the safeguards of the Taylor Report are removed.

Formula One isn’t looking at ways to make the cars more dangerous because the current safety measures are proving effective, so why is football looking at ways to drive without a seat belt and helmet?

The words “safe” and “standing” should never be placed together and spoken aloud in the Premier League. Failure to heed the warnings of the past will see the future tainted with further failings.

Big Sam Had to Go

Big Sam Had to Go

In a reign reminiscent in length to Steve Coppell for Manchester City, and marred with the lack of integrity usually associated with UEFA officials, Sam Allardyce has left his post as England manager. Already opinion is divided but taking a moment to reflect reveals why he had to go.

Big Sam has always been outspoken. It was his brash nature that led many (including this writer) to believe he would never be seen as hireable for the role of England manager. But a desperate FA went for a gamble when faced with a limited pool of options. That risk has backfired and Sam’s mouth is once again the big trouble behind the problem.

A man so worldly cannot cry naivety. Quite what motivated him to seek money on the side after landing his dream job is a question only he can answer or understand. To the rest of us, seeking £400,000 on top of a £3m-a-year salary looks like greed.

The crux of the issue goes beyond the immorality of financial gluttony. It’s about respect and representation. As England manager he is expected to be the face of English football. To denounce rules they have implemented, before suggesting it’s possible to circumvent them, is tantamount to treason.

Some will say he was caught in the moment, still on a natural high after being given a prize he never reasonably expected. But he’s not a 19-year-old lad on his first big night out.

He’s a 67-year-old professional that should have removed himself from the situation.

Why he was even there is a side issue in comparison to the way he allowed himself to become embroiled in this scandal. The Telegraph will be criticised for upsetting the national team so soon into Sam’s tenure but had the England manager acted properly, there’d have been no story to expose.

In an age where corruption and scandal after ubiquitous in football, the FA can’t be seen to stand by a manager that at best looks like an out of touch relic when it comes to social interaction, or worst, a man willing to talk inappropriately and highlight the flaws in the laws they set.

The FA aren’t making an example of Sam Allardyce by confirming mutual termination of his contract, he’s getting off lightly. Had he still been a club manager, organising a trip across the globe after suggesting third party ownership rules can be deceived, he’d be facing serious charges and in the dock.

Instead the punishment for a lack of judgement is one that will scar him forever. His integrity will be questioned, with most settling down to view Big Sam as a tainted character. But the worst loss he will feel is the “dream job” slipping through his fingers after one game because of one ill-advised meeting.

His saving grace will come because of the clarity he offered within the meeting, explaining he would have to ratify any deal with the FA. This shows he wasn’t trying to sneak a big-deal in under the radar. Also, much of what he said is more opinion than inflammatory. Many disagree with the stance taken against third-party ownership. His negative comments about Roy Hodgson and the mental block England players appear to suffer have been echoed around the country.

When the dust settles, many will feel sorry for a man that lost his dream because of a moment of arrogance caught on camera.

The Real Trouble with Touré

The Real Trouble with Touré

It’s not often you get to revisit an old story as if it’s new. Back in October 2014, writing about the birthday gate scandal and all things Yaya (The Trouble with Touré), The Football Reflective concluded it was time to get behind a midfielder that had just provided 24 goals and pushed the team to a league and cup double. The recommendation was given while acknowledging his misdemeanours.

Like all bad offenders, trouble has reared its head once again.

The escalation to a standoff between manager Pep Guardiola and Yaya has been a few weeks in the making. As ever, the Ivorian’s agent, Dimitri Seluk, placed a pivotal part in proceedings. He fanned the flames when he said his client had been “humiliated” following his exclusion from Manchester City’s Champions League squad.

Going as far to claim the Spaniard would owe Touré a personal apology should the club fail to lift the trophy this season.

It was classic goading, that until now, Pep was right to ignore. A manager lives and dies by his big decisions but the world has already seen none will be shied away from during the reshaping of the Etihad outfit. It’s also reasonable to assume that like Joe Hart, Yaya would have been informed he was down the pecking order, and in his personal case, unlikely to feature in the UEFA squad.

Unlike Joe Hart, Touré and his agent lack any semblance of dignity or respect.

It had always been a suspicion that the birthday cake debacle was a rouse to manufacture a move when Yaya’s stock was at its highest. This time the pair needed to play a different game for the maximum financial return.

In the year that will see Paul Pogba’s agent earn more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitri Seluk obviously fancied one last big pay day. The final milking of his own personal cash cow.

By remaining under the radar, appearing to favour the fight for his City place, meant the summer transfer window slammed shut, locking club and player in a £220,000-a-week contract. That is fine, it’s a two-way street. Contracts give security and in a perfect world are honoured by both parties unless a reasonable way to part is offered.

In 2014 City said they were not prepared to sell Yaya, hence, they used that binding contract to their advantage. Part of that choice would have been to assert authority over players, to prove the club couldn’t be dictated to. Back when they took that stance they were prepared to be out of pocket to make the point.

Seluk knows this, and knows last time his planned was foiled.

Rather than face a second defeat, he’s hoping he can create enough of a storm so that City pay off the majority of Touré’s contract, freeing up a move to another club. He could then sell the idea to the next club that Yaya should get an even larger signing on bonus in lieu of a transfer fee.

Any doubts finally have faded away: Yaya Touré and Dimitri Seluk are driven by greed first. Football interests come way down the list (below cakes and call girls).

In a desperate attempt to further incite the club, Seluk has made outlandish claims to The Mirror, calling into question Pep’s ability as coach. Claiming he inherited teams and didn’t improve Bayern Munich. Guardiola’s start to life in the Premier League has offered just a glimpse into the unique talent he possesses.

Pep hasn’t just improved Manchester City in his short time as manager, he’s reinventing the English game before our eyes.

Seluk’s attack comes at the end of Touré’s sick note for a migraine. They can be unpleasant but Pep has taken offence at the midfielder’s lack of courage to pick up a phone and tell him he was under the weather.

For a no-nonsense manager, the hint of silly games is enough to lay the law down fast. Reminding the world what his agent had said about humiliation, Guardiola demanded the team and fans receive an apology for those comments. Until that happens, Touré won’t play again.

It may seem that phase one of Seluk’s plan is complete – but he’d be wrong.

Manchester City can afford to let Yaya rot, albeit at the cost of £220,000-a-week, more than agent and player can afford to watch a whole season of football pass them by when the talent is in severe decline. Yaya was never the most mobile player and he’s no spring chicken. Time is working against him.

The club will back Pep with any decision. For too long bad attitudes in the dressing room have dictated performance on the pitch. No longer will this be the case. City have a General happy to exert authority over all of his troops. They’ll be no Carlos Tevez style climb-down here.
Yaya apologises or he will never pull on a City shirt again.

It’s a sad end to a player that should be remembered as one of City’s all-time greats. But Citizens value character, personality and correct application as high – sometimes higher – than ability. Despite his contribution over the years, Yaya Touré has failed with his traits as a professional.

The real trouble with Yaya isn’t his greed, or his conceited agent, or even his couldn’t care less approach to legacy.

It’s his stupidity.

Stupid to think he can win a war with Pep. Stupid to think he would benefit financially. Stupid to tarnish his legacy with City’s loyal fans.

It will haunt him in years to come, when as an old man, he realises all the cash in the world doesn’t wipe out the debt caused by the irrevocable damage these decisions have done to the game’s lasting memory of Yaya Touré.