Last Seasons Nightmare Continues For York City

Fans of York traveled in the hundreds to a Yorkshire derby against Guiseley last night. Numbering around the 800 mark the Minstermen faithful were hoping that a win against the team propping up the league might kick start their season. Unfortunately it was the absolute opposite, York were humiliated 6-1 by a team yet to register a win, even a floodlight failure couldn't save them from a thumping. Surprisingly York did take the lead after Matt Frys header but after conceding two goals in three minutes City crumbled.

York were tipped to be strong contenders for finishing at least in the playoff but at the moment they would be lucky to avoid relegation. They currently sit twentieth with twelve points from fourteen games and things show no sign of getting better.

Chairman Jason McGill has given manager Jackie McNamara one game to turn the clubs fortunes around with a positive result against Braintree on Saturday. The club released a statement today stating "It has been decided that, if the team fails to gain a positive result at Braintree Town on Saturday, the York City manager will tender his resignation,"

This has been deemed not good enough for most fans, with one fan deciding it was nessacry to walk onto the pitch to voice his frustrations. McNamara lead the club to relegation last year and after some very poor signings in the summer the club is now becoming the whipping boys of the league. It seems obvious that McNamara needs to be the bigger man and just leave the club whilst there's still plenty of time to turn the season around.

Former manager Gary Mills seems to be the fans favorite to return the the club but he would need to be coaxed back after his sacking. Whoever comes in needs to try and work with the sub par squad currently at Bootham Crescent and try and build a squad capable of getting the club back into the Football League.

Big Sam Steps Down After Undercover Scandal

Everything was looking rosy for Big Sam, he finally had his dream job as England manager and he started with a win (a less then convincing win, but a win nonetheless). But as everything seems to when England are involved it's all come crashing down.

I think I speak for most when I say I didn't think England's reputation could get worse after their dismal display in France this summer but 'man of the people' Sam Allardyce has managed to bring The Three Lions down another step with a new scandal.

During an undercover operation by Telegraph reporters Allardyce was caught negotiating a deal worth £400,000 to help businessmen bypass FA and FIFA rules regarding 3rd party ownership. Looking and sounding like a northern Del Boy the England manager sat and discussed how getting the agent involved could make mass sums of money for just 'A couple of hours work'.

We were all hoping that Big Sam was going to reign over England for years, bringing his no nonsense style of management to give some players the wake up call they need. But being caught red handed trying to help people avoid rules from the FA that he represents was always going to cause him an issue too big for just a slap on the wrist.

Is this the end of Sam Allardyce's management career? Is there anyway to bounce back from being a dodgy character making dodgy deals with people that he's only just met? The answer to this remains to be seen, his management ability hasn't been brought into question and he could still do a good job if the opportunity came up but his reputation has been damaged beyond repair.

The question following this, is where do England and the FA go from here? They finally listened to the fans and appointed the man they wanted but look at the result. Steve Bruce is now available after leaving Hull and could step straight into the role he was interviewed for. Its far to early in the career for Eddie Howe and the likelihood of persuading Arsene Wenger away from Arsenal right now is very minimal.

Its disappointing that we didn't get to see more of Allardyce at the helm of the England squad but having got himself into this mess he only has himself to blame for losing the job he wanted so badly.

The Pogba Rooney Discussion

After Manchester United thrashed Premier League champions Leicester yesterday my various social media timelines were filled with things like 'Where are the Pogba haters now???' and 'Thats what 89 million gets you!'

The two people that need to be discussed involve a beginning and an end, Paul Pogbas beginning and finally finding his feet and Wayne Rooney's end at Manchester United.

Lets start at the top. Pogba looked sharp yesterday grabbing a goal and playing a part in the build up for Juan Matas goal. He provided nothing of too much note in the second half but the game was already tied up by then so that's pretty irrelevant.

But for £89 million, an amount that seems ludicrous for a player that left the club for so little, you expect him to hit the ground running. Its not like he's a hyped up youth player with little experience, he had been an integral part of Juventus's domination of Serie A over the last few years and is a fully fledged France international with 40 caps. He has shown glimpses of his promise in the early stages of the season but yesterday was the day we saw the player that everyone has been raving about. He looked solid on the ball and his passing was hitting the high standards he has set for himself. Its still very early days in the season and I think we all know Pogba will be bossing midfields up and down the country over the next few months. The price tag will always be a burden but if he plays as well as we have seen over the last couple of years that will be quickly forgotten.

Now on to Wayne Rooney, has he finally been found out? Personally I feel he has not been at the top of his game for years. Some United fans will defend him to the death and point out his scoring record for both club and country. Others are very aware and very vocal of how poor he has been. He looks clumsy when he's on the ball and a yard or two off the pace. Ideas of trying to play him in the centre of midfield instead of upfront in some last ditch attempt to save his career are not working. As he sat on he bench at Old Trafford yesterday he watched his team mates dominate a game of football like they haven't done for weeks, coming on in the 83rd minute to make a cameo appearance. Its really down to Mourinho to make the call at club level, which he did yesterday and it seemed to pay off, and Allardyce at national level to realise that the record goal scorer and captain has never really performed at the big stages and maybe its time to look elsewhere. Every players career slows down and maybe Rooney needs to look elsewhere to see out the last few years of his.

21 Years Ago Today York Shocked Manchester United

The life of a York City supporter is a tough one, its a lot more thin then it is thick and this season is looking no different. One of the best moments in the clubs history was a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the fourth round of the 1984/85 FA cup. That game was blown out of the water 21 years ago today at Old Trafford.

The Coca Cola league cup 2nd round had drawn Premier league giants Manchester United against Division Two minnows York City. Manchester United had finished runners up in the previous Premier league season and were looking to retain their crown, They came into this game unbeaten in the last six. Compare this with York who were in a poor run of form with just one win in six and sitting 23rd in the league.

Surely it was a weak Man United team I hear you cry, but you would be wrong Alex Ferguson set out with the intention of having the game tied up after the first leg. He fielded a strong side featuring the likes of Gary Pallister, Dennis Irwin, Lee Sharpe and Brian McClair and not forgetting Phil Neville, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs of the much lauded class of 92.

But York had not traveled to the other side of the Pennines to be walked over, they came to shock the football world and they succeeded. York City ran out 3-0 winners that night thanks to a brace from Paul Barnes and Tony Barras adding the third. York were praised for their hard work and the amount of chances they created. Manchester United clearly underestimated the ability of The Minstermen and that was their ultimate downfall.

Dean Kiely the goalkeeper from that night would go on to play in The Premier League and represent The Republic Of Ireland. Graeme Murty collected four caps for Scotland after leaving York.

It was a massive shock on the night and is still considered to be one of York's greatest victory's in their 94 year history.

Footballs Early Retirees

After Sheffield Wednesday announced that winger Jeremy Helan was to retire from football at the age of 24 to concentrate on religion, The CRF decided to take at a look at a few other footballers that retired early and why.

Hidetoshi Nakata - Aged 29
Considered one of the best players to come out of Asia, Nakata will be best remembered for appearing in some of the best football adverts for Nike during the build up to the Japan/Korea World Cup. He was also a pretty handy footballer spending the majority of his career in Italy playing for a few teams including Roma, Parma and Fiorentina and a brief spell in England for Bolton Wanderers. After racking up 77 caps for Japan he decided enough was enough after the 2006 World Cup stating that he was no longer enjoying playing football. He now plies his trade as a model.

David Bentley - Aged 29
At one point David Bentley looked like her had the world at his feet. After starting his career at Arsenal he moved on to Blackburn and The Gunners big rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Then after spending some time out on loan at Birmingham and West Ham, Bentley went on to be the first English player to play in the Russian Premier League during a spell at FC Rostov. In 2014 after a year without a club Bentley decided that he had fallen out of love with game and after 7 England caps called time on his professional career. He went on to co-own a restaurant in Marbella and invest in a restaurant in London with Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Espen Baardsen - Aged 25
The American born Norwegian goalkeeper decided that he was bored with the game after playing in the Premier League and going to the World Cup. Despite having a promising career and playing over 60 premier league games during his short career he decided that he wanted to go traveling. Now he works in Asset Management and is a regular on Business television network CNBC.

Shane Supple - Aged 22
The republic of Ireland youth international decided that he no longer wanted to play football as he felt he was only doing it to make other people happy. At the age of 22 he left Ipswich town to pursue a career playing Gaelic Football for the Dublin County Team. He has since returned to Football joining Bohemians in 2016 and has so far made 5 appearances.

Peter Knowles - Aged 24
After going out to Kansas to play in a pre-season tournament aimed at increasing the interest in Football in America, Knowles became a Jehovahs Witness. Upon his return to England he was quoted saying "I shall continue playing football for the time being but I have lost my ambition. Though I still do my best on the field I need more time to learn about the Bible and may give up football." After playing his final game for Wolves in the 1969/70 season he walked away from the game. The oddest part was he remained contracted to the club for the next 12 years in the hope that he would one day return and pull on the Wolverhampton Wanders kit again. It wasn't until 1982 that then manager Graham Hawkins accepted that he wasn't coming back.

The Crazy World Of Alan Pardew

Despite guiding Crystal Palace to the FA cup final last season things are not looking bright for Alan Pardew. His Palace team are struggling for consistency and have started the season slowly with just one win in their first four games. Obviously its still early doors in the season but this article is about some of the more, shall we say interesting things that Mr Pardew has said and done in his managerial career so far.

Claiming Wilfried Zaha could play for Barcelona
Not the most outrageous thing to say but not the most accurate. I like Zaha and I think he will still come good but after his disastrous spell at Man United and his lack of goals in the Premier League it seems very unlikely that the winger will be making the £50 million move to the Catalan giants that Pardew claims could happen.

2/5 on the Pardew scale


Head-butting David Meyler
Whilst managing Newcastle in 2014 Pardew decided that it would be a wise move to attempt a head-butt at Hull City player David Meyler. Newcastle were 3-1 up at the time and as the ball went out for a throw in right in front of Pardew, Meyler pushed passed him which Pardew decided was worthy of a head-butt response. One of the most ridiculous incidents involving a manager in the Premier league era which led to a record 7 game ban and a £60,000 fine.

5/5 on the Pardew scale

Handbags With Arsene Wenger
In 2006 Marlon Harewood scored an 89th minute winner for West Ham against Arsenal that sent Alan Pardew crazy. After celebrating on the touchline over-zealously in the opinion of Arsene this caused a little pushing match between the two managers, but nothing to exciting. Honestly not to bad for Pardew and he should be allowed to celebrate a last minute winner.

1/5 on the Pardew scale

Pardew Pushes A Linesman
Another what were you thinking moment from Pardew. Whilst managing Newcastle he felt that the ball had gone out of play during a Tottenham attack which caused him to give the linesman Peter Kirkup a shove. He was sent to the stands after the incident and received a two match ban and a fine of £20,000.

5/5 on the Pardew scale

Being Caught On Camera Dropping The C Bomb
Another bit of touchline aggro from Pardew, this time the manager he aimed it at was Manuel Pellegrini. After Pardew had been constantly getting verbal with the officials over pretty much every decision, Pellegrini decided enough was enough and confronted him. There was a little scuffle and an exchange of words before Pardew was caught on camera calling Pellegrini an F-ing old C***. Not the smartest move when you know your game will be watched by millions.

3/5 on the Pardew scale

Pardew The King
Whilst in his first season at West Ham Alan Pardew sat down for an evening meal with a few staff members. After deciding that Fitness Coach Tony Strudwick's meal looked better then his own he decided to take it upon himself to swap plates. After everybody's protest at this odd decision Alan Pardew returned fire with 'When you're are the king, you can do anything'. The ultimate show of arrogance and apparently kept a straight face whilst saying it.

5/5 on the Pardew scale.

World Cup One Timers

After Vanuatu Under 20's secured qualification to the Under 20's World Cup in Korea, for the first time in the countries history. It felt like a good idea to have a look at some other World Cup One Timers and see how they got on.

Angola- 2006 (Germany)
The African nation made their one and only appearance in Germany in 2006. Angola finished third in their group after two credible draws against Mexico and Iran. Losing 1-0 to Portugal is also an achievement as Portugal went on to the semi finals.

Angola 2006

China - 2002 (Korea/Japan)
Despite having the Worlds biggest population China have only ever appeared on Footballs greatest stage once. They were drawn in the same group as Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica, losing all three games and failing to score a single goal.

UAE - 1990 (Italy)
The United Arab Emirates found themselves in a tough group for their only appearance at the World Cup, having to face West Germany and Yugoslavia. They were knocked out after losing all three games but did manager to score against West Germany in a 5-1 defeat.

Iraq - 1986 (Mexico)
Four years before the first Gulf War, Iraq traveled to Mexico for their first and to date only World Cup appearance. They finished bottom of their group losing all three games but only conceding four goals. They only scored the one in a 2-1 defeat to Belgium.

Iraq 1986

Kuwait - 1982 (Spain)
Kuwait's only World Cup appearance came in Spain in 1982. Drawn in England's group they would go on to finish bottom with one point, which came from a 1-1 draw with Czechoslovakia. How did they fair against England I hear you cry, well they only lost 1-0 thanks to a Trevor Francis goal in the 27th minute.

Kuwait V England

Zaire (Now DR Congo) - 1974 (West Germany)
Zaire are the most commonly known one timers as they were the first Sub-Saharan African team to qaulify. Unfortunately they were unable to provide any shocks and left the tournament after conceding fourteen goals and scoring none. They were smashed 9-0 by Yugoslavia and beaten 3-0 and 2-0 by Brazil and Scotland respectively.

Israel - 1970 (Mexico)
Israel's only appearance in the World Cup was a tough one. Drawn in a group with Italy,Sweden and Uruguay it looked like they would get walked allover, but this was not the case. They did finish bottom of the group but with two points after some very credible draws against Italy and Sweden. Their only defeat was by Uruguay who beat them 2-0.

Israel 1970