International Friendlies – Yes, They Can Work!


The international friendly…managers despise them, fans frown upon them, the very mention of them is enough to turn the air blue.
The international friendly…managers despise them, fans frown upon them, the very mention of them is enough to turn the air blue.
And just like that we’re done with another Premier League season. It seems only yesterday that Manchester United were dropping points at Everton, Spurs were thrashing Inter Milan and Sunderland were dreaming of Europe. Since a very hasty super-injunction has legally prevented any levels of actually insight or analysis in RPO we’ll just make do with a teacher’s review of each club:
West Brom are preparing a £4million raid on Fulham striker Andy Johnson.
In 2007 Hodgson was brought in to save Fulham from relegation. Although his impact wasn’t initially felt Fulham managed a magnificent end of season and avoided the drop by the skin of their teeth. With West Brom the turnaround has been far quicker and more impressive. A defeat against Chelsea aside, West Brom have been excellent so far under Hodgson, culminating in a victory over city rivals Aston Villa. While Fulham barely stayed in the top flight when Hodgson took over, West Brom will not only remain in the Premier League but will end the season in the sort of form which, if extrapolated out over 38 games, would see them challenging for Europa League places.
Wolves duo Adlene Guedioura and Michael Mancienne are available after returning from injury but Stephen Hunt is now out for a month having injured himself in the reserves during the week.
The ‘don’ type figure has managed all over Europe, Finland, Norway and Switzerland and, of course England. Achieving success in the land of Scandinavia and even going onto manage the Finnish national team, meant that Hodgson restored his reputation as a manager, after a pretty unsuccessful spell at Blackburn Rovers.
So, from Aston Villa to Wolverhampton Wanderers, here are my A-Z of teams still looking to book their place amongst the elite next season:
In 1992, the Football League saw two teams leave it, both due to financial reasons. These were Maidstone United and Aldershot F.C.
There are 32 teams left in the competition, five all-Premiership ties mean there will be a host of lower league clubs looking for a financially rewarding cup run.