Tony Cascarino’s Column: Views on Newcastle, Portsmouth, Hull, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Millwall & Man City

We have a break from the thrills and spills of the Premier League this week with another round of World Cup qualifiers. Now a lot has been made of Fabio Capello’s decision to exclude Michael Owen again from the squad but for me it’s hardly surprising.

First and foremost the form of Newcastle at the moment has affected Owen’s chances of making the squad. He may have scored the odd goal but I believe Michael needs to be playing 3 full months of top flight football to be considered for the England squad as at the moment, he’s not ready. On the other hand both Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips deserve their recalls.

For me, Crouch had to come back in as he has begun to score goals and is forming an excellent partnership with Jermain Defoe down at Portsmouth. Those two have gelled well and it will help Capello if he wants to build an understanding between his international strike-force. Crouch is a similar style player to Emile Heskey so well worth having back-up in the squad though in my opinion, Peter is the better player.

I have been saying for some time that England need pace on the wings as one-paced widemen hasn’t worked. Therefore, Wright-Phillips deserves his opportunity as he is a like for like replacement for flavour of the month Theo Walcott. Since the lad went back to Manchester City, he has regained the confidence of playing week in, week out and has for me been their best player.

Talking of confidence Hull must be full of it after their back to back wins in North London. The question is how far can the Tigers go this season? I see no reason why they can’t finish above mid-table as their team spirit is excellent and their summer transfer policy is paying off big time. Phil Brown has been incredibly bold in his line-ups this season and has made use of the 10 or 11 signings the club made. For me, this is an example of a whole club pulling in same direction from the players, the fans and the backroom staff and the board. All of them are working their socks off to make a success of their Premier League season.

Though most of Hull’s success has been down to sheer hard work, special praise must go to both the manager and the chairman as they’ve shown just how well they’ve worked in tandem without the confusion caused by using a Director of Football. Brown chooses the players he wants and as long as the club has the budget then they attempt to bring those targets in which is how it should be. Despite their recent run of wins I think this is a great time for Phil’s side to have a 2-week break. That may sound strange seeing as confidence will be sky-high but the manager can now bring his players back down to earth and concentrate them fully on a visit from West Ham.

Hull’s current situation reminds me of my Millwall days when in the late 80’s we reached the top division. The players were loving every minute of it that season visiting the big boys and we couldn’t wait for each game. However, the problem for Hull and the one we faced is when the bigger clubs come calling and player’s heads get turned. I’m afraid the club may face that situation in the not too distant future.

The latest team to lose to the Tigers are facing a complete contrast in fortunes to Hull such as a complete loss of confidence, a club pulling in different directions and a strange transfer policy. Now don’t get me wrong, Tottenham signed some very good players in the summer but it would seem now that the club recruited players for the sake of signing them rather than to fit into the team structure as Hull did.

Whereas the Tigers are pulling in the same direction, it would seem that’s not the same case as White Hart Lane. The board have made mistakes, the manager has made mistakes and the players are performing poorly. Even experienced stars like Jonathan Woodgate are not doing the business which is not good when you consider he was a former Real Madrid player. David Bentley looks a shadow of his former Blackburn self whilst the new players are still finding their feet at the club. The most worrying aspect at the moment is the team looks 2nd best in the majority of their games and need to start winning sooner rather than later.

North London rivals Arsenal are not having it all their own way in the Premier League this season and it’s not too surprising. I’ve felt in the last few years that the team is far too lightweight. The likes of Fabregas, Walcott and Denilson may all be technically brilliant but they are not imposing enough physically. They are generally a small side albeit with pace to burn, but when it comes to facing sides not afraid to put in the hard graft and tackles like Sunderland did, they tend to struggle. If you think about the best Gunners sides of recent years they had ability but also the stature. The likes of Vieira, Gilberto and Henry were all big and athletic. For me, they miss those type of players.

When you are talking of missing players you have to stand in awe of Chelsea at the moment. At the weekend they were without the likes of Deco, Alex, Drogba, Essien and Carvalho but still comfortably beat one of the best sides in the Premier League. I actually think their performance was scary for the rest of the title chasers as no other side could cope with losing that amount of top class talent and still perform like that. Just consider how United perform without Ronaldo and what Liverpool would be like without Carragher, Gerrard and Torres.

Chelsea also gave a Premier League debut to Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic who looked like he’d played in the first team regularly. However, for me a lot of that is due to his centre-half partner and England captain John Terry. I think JT is a great player to play alongside as he is an excellent talker and organiser plus he inspires those around him. In that respect he makes his defensive partner’s job much easier. You only have to look at the partners he has had and I think he makes them play a lot better than if they didn’t have him alongside them. William Gallas, Alex and Carvalho will all tell you that he is great to play next to I’m sure.

Newcastle caretaker boss Joe Kinnear has received plenty of stick this week after his infamous press conference but I felt his attitude was like a breath of fresh air. How many times have you seen press conferences with managers saying little to nothing? To be fair to Joe he was trying to create a siege mentality at the club and it certainly seemed to work as Newcastle did well to battle back from two goals down at Goodison. The team surprised me as I didn’t think they had any fighting spirit left once Keegan left the club but Joe’s message of ‘I don’t care what you think of me’ seems to have worked. After all, it’s only a short term appointment so he has nothing to lose.

Liverpool put another dent into the Man City dreams of challenging the top four this season when they took all 3 points at Eastlands. For me, City are likely to finish 6th behind the usual top four and Aston Villa. They are a decent side with some frightenly skilful players and will win a lot of games but they also need time to gel. Watching the game at the weekend only convinced me further than Micah Richards is far more suited to right-back than centre-half. When he plays in the middle he tends to get dragged out of position and struggles against big forwards who tend to get ahead of him aerially. Don’t get me wrong he is a good player but his strengths are more suited to playing at full-back.

Rafa Benitez’ team are a strange side this season, they haven’t played that well in games but have picked up great results. The Reds seem to be getting their luck at the right times and with someone like Fernando Torres in the side they always have a player who can bail them out of trouble. Despite this, I cannot see them sustaining these results and feel 3rd will be their likely final position. The one thing I have been impressed with though is their collective spirit that hasn’t been as evident in past seasons but I still cannot see them challenging the likes of Chelsea who look head and shoulders above everyone else at the moment.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Tony Morris from Harrow for scooping the £100,000 Premier 10 jackpot last week. Anyone who predicted results like Bolton and Middlesbrough’s away wins deserves to win the cash. The lucky Spurs fan may well be chancing his arm on our Footy 15 game this week which has a jackpot of £300,000 to be won. Well worth a punt for just £1 to play, especially with the likes of England and Wales certain home bankers. Enjoy the internationals.

Be lucky

Tony

Read John Barnes Latest Column: Click here to read>>

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There is a £300,000 jackpot to be won on Footy 15 this week. Simply pay £1 to predict home win, away win or draw for the 15 internationals to be in with the chance of scooping the huge prize. Click here to play>>

There is a £20,000 jackpot to be won on Premier 10 this week. Simply pay £1 to predict home win, away win or draw for the 10 internationals to be in with the chance of winning the cash. Click here to play>>

Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Hull, Liverpool, Man City, Millwall, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Spurs, Tony Cascarino

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