The Season Ahead: Millwall

After a brilliant ninth placed finish at the first time of asking on our return to the second tier, how can we follow this up? A tough season ahead with trouble finding goals after the sale of Steve Morison, or much of the same, or even perhaps a higher finish?

Throughout summer I've been rather pessimistic of our chances this season, and I still hold a certain anxiety over where the goals will come from, and having attended today's pre-season friendly (Alan Dunne's testimonial) against local rivals Charlton Athletic I'm still in two minds even though we scored four.

The game wasn't brilliant, Charlton went ahead in the first 4 minutes when a poor ground cross went through Darren Purse's legs after a failed clearance under no pressure and fell for Bradley Wright-Philips. 0-1. Very soon after Millwall were awarded a corner, from which Marquis drew a smart save from Rob Elliott resulting in another corner. Just after the corner, Millwall got a free kick about 25 yards out, which James Henry converted, albeit with a sleight bit of fortune as it was almost straight at Elliott just below the bar, but the keeper was wrong footed and so didn't get there in time. 1-1.

Almost instantly Bradley Wright-Philips again picked up the ball, this time 40 yards out and run at the Millwall defence. He cut inside Purse with ease after the big centre back wrong footed himself and ended up falling to the ground, and although the finish was good I think David Forde's positioning was poor for this goal, which gave Wright-Philips a large gap to aim at. 1-2. Very soon after this, after some brilliant build up play, a ball was put in from the left by Tony Craig, which was chested down by Darius Henderson (who looked decent today, good passing, good reading of the play and good tracking back. Also executed more knock downs than I can remember Morison doing throughout the whole of last season! He may not have that pace, but I think we can rely on him for at least 10 goals a season, and hopefully plenty of assists) in to the path of the new number 9 John Marquis, who volleyed left footed in to the far corner. 2-2.

A minute later he doubled his tally for the day with a great header in to the top corner from a Scott Barron cross from open play, although Charlton equalised to make it 3-3 soon after with a cross from their left which Johnnie Jackson looped over Forde with a smart header, although I feel the marking wasn't great and again it was a sloppy goal to concede.

The best goal perhaps came last. Hamer Bouazza, only on the field for a matter of minutes, scored a sublime free kick from 20 yards out, even past a man on the line. The game finished 4-3.

It was a good pre season game, and a good way to celebrate Dunne's testimonial, but the performance wasn't great and will have to improve next weekend to get a result at the Madejski.
Although I'm all for players being fans of the club I really don't believe Purse to be good enough, he seems clumsy and a League 1 player at best, I hope he can prove me wrong. Marquis, in my opinion, didn't have a great game, but perhaps its the sign of a good player to bag two goals when not performing brilliantly, although this was against lower league opposition and he may not have scored both against a better team. Forde wasn't great but this is his first pre-season so hopefully he will recover his recent form for the Reading game.
Also, although I am a fan of Barron, he wasn't great today. I believe him to be too lightweight, for either LB or LM, and I'd prefer to see Craig at LB with Bouazza at LM but again, hopefully Barron can prove me wrong. The rest of the squad had a decent game, with Racon showing why Jackett has put his faith in him with some neat passing and movement, and good energy shown. Henderson, as mentioned, seems to have a good footballing brain with cross-field balls when the play is tight on one flank, intelligent knock downs for others and good tracking back. I don't suppose he will be prolific but hopefully reliable.

We could do with Townsend, although Sky Sports have reported this as unlikely (here) although I personally would think it more beneficial for him to ply his trade in the Championship with us as he did successfully last term for one more season, then he may be ready for the step up to Spurs' first team.
We could also do with another striker, we currently only have three in Henerson, McQoid (who excites me in the skill he shows pre-game and sometimes in game, although I've not seen much of him), and Marquis. A couple of injuries would really hurt us in this department, with only Bouazza who could really fill in as a striker.  That brings me on to the need for another left midfielder (obviously Townsend would fill this role if we could get him).

I'm looking forward to the season ahead although I am always conscious of the possibility of 'doing a Swindon' in selling out goal scorers and then getting relegated from finishing near the top the previous season. I don't think this will happen though (I hope not anyway) as we do tend to get goals from various sources, Henry, Trotter, Bouazza, Dunne etc. although I would like to see Jackett get one or two extra players soon.
Come on you Lions, lets gate crash the Premier League!

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Mario Balotelli

Mario Balotelli has already, at the young age of 20, an impressive CV. Having been successful at Inter Milan after a short spell at Lumezzane, he was bought by the new owners of Manchester City. He has talent, that much is given, but is he too immature for his stature?

Recently in the headlines is the story of how Balotelli, in a pre-season friendly in the US against LA Galaxy, chose to attempt a trick shot, almost a Maradonna turn, instead of simply slotting home. He missed, and was instantly substituted off for James Milner. The video of this is below. I personally find it incredibly disrespectful to attempt this in a game. Granted it is only pre-season, and against a somewhat lesser team, but nevertheless you should not set out to humiliate teams. The opposition players and fans were disgusted, although I think justice has been done in that he himself was humiliated, but even after being taken off he still has an argument with his manager. Does he not know when to stop? He needs to refocus and look at what stage he is playing at. If it was school play ground football, this would be accepted. For supposedly one of the best teams in the world against another high profile team, it is not.

Many say it is just due to his age, but I don't feel this is a reason or a valid justification. I've never seen such an obnoxious player on the pitch, with such over confidence. I remember a while ago when he was quoted as saying he was equal to Lionel Messi, which is of course nonsense. While I am mentioning Messi - did he ever display such ignorance? No, he did not, he is down to earth and is a respectable footballer.

This is not the first time Balotelli has been involved in controversy. At the end of last season when his Manchester City team won the FA Cup, he said on live television "My whole season has been s**t, can I say this?". No, Mario, you cannot. This is a completely stupid thing to say when you know it is a rude word, and the broadcast is live.

Even when playing for Inter Milan he had more than his fair share of controversy, I personally remember him being substituted from the Champions League semi-final, and subsequently throwing his shirt to the ground amid boos from his fans. His relationship with fans wasn't helped further by his appearance on an Italian TV show, wearing the jersey of massive rivals AC Milan, with whom Inter share the San Siro.

Not only does Balotelli risk being a laughing stock with football fans across the world, but he also risks wasting the genuine potential he seems to possess. I cannot possibly see him being as good as Messi as he claims, but he does have some skill, which coupled with his pace and shooting ability would make him a formidable opponent to many defenders.

He also risks losing the trust of his team mates and manager. It is clear that his relationship with Roberto Mancini is strained after several apparent bust ups between the two, but his team mates are also showing their frustration, with Nigel De Jong today criticising Balotelli for his decisions. I feel though that Balotelli is risking more than  relationships with fans and current players/managers; that he is risking future positive moves in his career. He already has this undesirable reputation of bust ups and controversy that I'm sure the majority of clubs who would normally look at signing him might think twice about it, especially after he couldn't get along with Jose Mourinho, whom many believe to be the best manager in the world.

Balotelli has unquestionable potential, but until he realises that his stupidity is preventing him from being truly successful he will not progress. When, and if, he realises this, he may finally decide to think before he performs such antics, and become a more popular figure, but until then he will still be the butt of many a joke from fans across the world. For instance, type Mario Balotelli in facebook, and see quite how many groups and pages there are mocking him (especially for his amusing defeat to a bib in pre-match training, see here).