A Come and Get Me Tweet

Over the past few months there has been one person who has interested me more so than others on my Twitter feed; professional footballer, Leon Knight.  This is because Knight has been voicing, quite publically, his views on his previous employers (and there are plenty of them) in light of his state of limbo that he found himself in after getting sacked from Rushden and Diamonds.

This is a really interesting case, as Knight has not played for Rushden for almost two years now, yet the Blue Square Premier club are still holding onto his registration rights despite sacking him and terminating his contract.  Therefore, if another English club wanted to sign the player they would have to pay Rushden a compensation package of £30,000 for his services.

This clause has warded potential suitors away from signing him, so Knight has been forced to play his football outside of his home nation with clubs such as Greek side Thrasivolous, and Scottish teams Hamilton and Queen of the South.

[caption id="attachment_239" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Anywhere but home: Leon Knight playing his trade at Hamilton"][/caption]

If you look at his past you’ll see his resume littered with clubs he has only stayed with for one season – the reasoning for the majority of these clubs is some form of fallout with the manager, squad or board. So from the outside, an average fan like you and me would think one thing – troublemaker.  However, Knight has really used social networking to get critics and fans on his side.

• He has used the Rushden registration case to gain sympathy from fans, showing that he is a footballer (who did have a potentially great future ahead of him) that just wants to play but is being restricted.


• He has blasted the Rushden board publically, showing that won’t shy away from potential media backlash.


• He has continually praised the majority of his previous clubs, showing that he is a team player and does love the game.


• He responds to fans a lot of the time, answering questions that most players would dare to answer in respect to the backlash any answer could receive, showing that he wants to please the fans whenever possible.

After reading his tweets for a month or so now, I probably share the same view as a lot of other fans who have done the same – I feel sorry for the guy!  He obviously wants to play, he’s has had his problems in the past, but the relationship he has with the fans and the desire he shows for the game is obvious to see.  Essentially, Leon Knight has transformed his come and get me plea to a universal come and get me tweet.

From troublemaker to sorrow figure through one medium, Leon Knight, you are a very intelligent man.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean this sarcastically either.  I genuinely think Knight has orchestrated a fantastic PR campaign and it was all down to one social medium and word of mouth – something that some PR agents would spend unspeakable amounts of money doing.

But social mediums like Twitter can often cause controversy too.  Leon Knight may not be a globally known footballer, however you can argue that case with Darren Bent.  When you have a global following, the media spotlight is a lot brighter, and that spotlight was shined in Bent’s direction after his Twitter outburst in 2009.

[caption id="attachment_238" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Controversy: Darren Bent put his eventual transfer to Sunderland at risk due to social networking."][/caption]

It came in light of the striker’s transfer from Tottenham to Sunderland in the Summer transfer window last season.  After Sunderland fans discovered the striker was an passionate tweeter, they were encouraged to sign up to the site and persuade him to join the club.  This sparked such replies in the realms of “Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***” and “Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy” (sic).

Bent later apologised for the rant, saying that he was acting out of frustration to his proposed transfer to Sunderland and did not mean to cause any offence to Daniel Levy.  After clinching his transfer to Sunderland, his Twitter account was removed so he could focus on the job at hand, and what a job he did in the North-East.  Since then, an account has been reactivated for the England striker, and he seems to be staying out of trouble for the meantime.

When you compare the Leon Knight and Darren Bent cases, they don’t seem to dissimilar.  A player wanting to leave the shackles of a club he does not want to be at, to show their fans that they have ambitions elsewhere.  But, if Knight was at a more high profile club than Rushden and Diamonds, the story could be a lot different for him.

In an age where social networking and technology are taking over our lives, it is no surprise that players choose to use these tools.  It gives them another output into the world and a closer connection to their fans, however it does open the floodgates for any negative media feedback and rarely will they pick up on any positive feedback, as is the way of the British media.

Incidentally, you can follow Leon Knight at http://www.twitter.com/LeonKnight82 - it’s a very good and interesting read.

U21 Spotlight: Marvin Sordell

Watford, thus far, have managed to set a very impressive record with their goalscoring ways.  All 21 goals scored by Watford have been by English players, and with them sitting in an unexpected 4th place, they'll hope the goals keep coming.  Marvin Sordell has played a big part in this record, scoring 5 of the goals (plus another goal in the League Cup), just one goal behind top scorer Danny Graham.

The Hornets are starting to develop a name for themselves with developing young talent.  It was at Watford where Ashley Young, before he moved to Aston Villa in 2007 for a club record fee, started to showcase what he has to offer.  More recently such talents like Scott Loach, first-team England U21 goalkeeper, and Sordell are still playing their trade at Vicarage Road.  And we can't forget where David James started his career before he made a name for himself with Liverpool.

Sordell's career, however, started at neighbouring London club Fulham where he played as a schoolboy.  Then he moved onto Watford and signed up for a two-year scholarship in 2007.  In 2008, he was loaned out to non-league side Wealdstone for a work experience placement (yes, even professional footballers have these).  He scored 2 goals during his short stint there where he made 5 appearances.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Instant impact: Sordell didn't hang around to showcase his talents for Watford"][/caption]

After impressing during his scholarship, Sordell signed a professional contract with the Hornets in 2009.  He made his professional debut only 2 games into the new season, replacing experienced striker Nathan Ellington in a 2-0 away defeat against Sheffield United.  Only 10 days later he managed his first senior goal too, forcing an eventual 2-1 loss to Leeds in the League Cup to extra time.

Manager Malky Mackay saw the player as a prospect, so during the January 2010 transfer window he was sent out on loan to League One Tranmere Rovers to gain more first-team experience.  The loan deal was initially for one-month but was later extended.  In total, Sordell managed 1 goal for the Merseyside team in 8 appearances.

As the tail-end of the 2009/10 season approached, Mackay opted to put his faith in Sordell and give the youngster some playing time, despite Watford having a potentially nervy end to the season.  He repaid the manager's faith by scoring a fantastic goal against Coventry, tipping off a 4-0 victory to regain the air of confidence in the squad.

[caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Eye for goal: Sordell has managed 5 league goals already this season (Getty Images)."][/caption]

Fast forward to the 2010/11 season and Sordell has proved his worth.  As mentioned above, the young striker has managed 5 league goals in 10 games (achieving the desired 1 in 2 ratio so far) and they don't seem to be stopping quite yet.

As a reward for this fine form, in late September, Marvin was offered a new contract to hold him down at Vicarage Road.  A fine plan by the team as he seems to be following in the footsteps of previous youth successes.  It's not just the board and backroom staff who have noticed his talents either - Sordell was also nominated for Championship Player of the Month for September.

However, in signing a new contract with the club, he has shown good values and a level head in terms of the future.  Sordell was quoted in saying "...there is a long way to go before I can feel established...I can't afford to get carried away just because I have scored a few goals".  For a young player to have such modesty is a great thing to see, and will no doubt help him along his development.

[caption id="attachment_226" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Pace: Sordell uses his pace to his advantage in the final third."][/caption]

With the future of English football being heavily under the public eye in light of the disappointing World Cup campaign, players like Sordell are many years away from achieving such accolades, but will no doubt be one of the many players under the watchful eye of whoever will be England manager come the 2014 World Cup.  The first step for the player will be U21 caps, and if his form continues, Stuart Pearce would be a fool to pass up his talents.

The Premier League Injury Minefield

Just under two months into the 2010/11 Premier League season and the unexpected, serious injuries that are already mounting up are starting to create the simile of Football Pitch to Minefield.

Of course, there have been horrific injuries in previous seasons - Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey spring to mind from previous seasons - but for this many injuries to be racked up in only two months of play is something that needs to be looked at.

There have been views and opinions that certain teams have been opting for these type of tactics against the teams which could out-play them on the field, but not based on facts, just purely opinions. However, it's quite easy to see how these type of opinions can be crafted in the minds of opposing fans.

[caption id="attachment_172" align="aligncenter" width="402" caption="Out of action: Zamora makes up part of the list of casualties in the Premier League this season."][/caption]

One typical example is Wolves and mainly their captain; Karl Henry. Henry has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons recently. Initially for turning the tables on Newcastle bad boy Joey Barton, hounding him continually throughout the game and catching a few badly timed tackles on the Newcastle midfielder.  This was almost considered ironic to some fans though, considering Barton's previous incidents and off-field behaviour (some of which is covered in another blog of ours, which can be found here).

However, the height of this media attention was reached a week later in Wolves' clash against Fulham. Henry was involved in a tackle on Fulham's Bobby Zamora that left him with a broken fibula, being put on the sidelines for 4 months. After reviewing the tackle, opinions were split. Henry did play the ball, but his trailing leg caught Zamora and led to the devastating injury to the striker.  The injury was unfortunate news for the England camp too, with the 29-year old reaching the best form of his career and recently earning his first cap.  Fingers crossed for Bobby that the injury doesn't affect this form too drastically.

[caption id="attachment_171" align="aligncenter" width="466" caption="Brutal: Henry's brutal tackle on Wigan's Jordi Gomez (Press Association)."][/caption]

Fast forward to last week's game against Wigan. Wolves lost the game 2-0 but focus was yet again put onto Henry with a horrendous tackle on Wigan's Jordi Gomez, leading to a direct red card, after just 11 minutes.  In the second half, poetic justice was served, with Gomez scoring a fantastic free-kick just after the hour mark to give Wigan the lead.  Post-match, Henry admitted the tackle was bad and unnecessary, apologising to his Wolves team-mates for the tackle, in my opinion he knows inside that he needs to clean his act up.

Another player who has taken the media spotlight for the wrong reasons is Manchester City and Holland midfielder Nigel de Jong.  Even before the season had started, de Jong was highlighted for his aggressive on field behaviour.  The 2010 World Cup final featured 13 yellow cards, the most ever in a World Cup final, and 46 fouls in total.  De Jong was involved in one of the more dangerous fouls.  A high foot caught Xabi Alonso square in the chest, almost replicating the famous Cantona Crystal Palace "karate kick".

[caption id="attachment_174" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Dangerous: de Jong's high foot caught Alonso in a shocking World Cup final (Getty Images)."][/caption]

However, we can't just spotlight de Jong from that game, a lot of the Dutch team implemented "dirty" tactics in the game and other questionable tactics throughout the competition, leading to the disapproval of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff.  But de Jong was yet again brought to the public eye for his antics.  Newcastle were at the brunt of the tackles yet again.  This time new boy Hatem Ben Arfa felt the wrath of the Dutchman.

Only joining the North-East club on transfer deadline day, merely just over a month ago, Ben Arfa had outlined his desire to play for Newcastle and in the Premier League.  It's devastating to see a young player with such a bright future, in form, having their career brought to a standstill due to a needless injury.  The nature of the tackle was similar to that of Henry's on Zamora, a trailing leg doing most of the damage.  De Jong did catch the ball but went through the player in the process, thus not earning a red card, or even a booking, for his efforts.

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="466" caption="Hampered progress: Ben Arfa had to be stretchered off the field at the City of Manchester Stadium"][/caption]

There have already been repercussions for de Jong's actions on the international stage too.  Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has dropped the player from the next round of European Championship Qualification matches due to his actions on the field stating that the challenge was "wild and unnecessary".  This decision seems to be a popular one with the Dutch fans too, a top newspaper in Holland conducted a poll to see what the fans thought of van Marwijk's decision - a whopping 90% backed the coach in his decision to leave de Jong out of the squad.  However, fellow tough tackler and international team mate Mark van Bommel simply claimed "Nigel should not change his game, we need him as he is. But maybe he should occasionally go into a tackle slightly differently."

The Dutch midfielder even has further history of these rash tackles.  Bolton and USA player Stuart Holden suffered a fractured fibula in the hands of a de Jong tackle in a friendly against the Netherlands around 7 months ago.

But what can be done about it?  Considering that the Ben Arfa tackle didn't even cause referee Martin Atkinson to utter a blow of the whistle, I think it's the actions of managers which can make the difference.  Van Marwijk has set a good, albeit late, example of this with his treatment of de Jong.  Also, consider Joey Barton, a player who has certainly calmed down a lot in recent months.  Some could attribute this to the punishment he's received for his off the field antics, but some could also attribute it to the advice, guidance and counselling of his manager Chris Hughton, coaches and people around him.  Barton is always going to be a tough tackler, but it's clear to see there is a lot more sensibility to his game as of late.

Don't get me wrong, there will always be big crunching tackles, especially in England, but with the correct training and an emphasis on timing - injuries like these could be reduced.  But this is a double edged sword, with career threatening tackles like these becoming more frequent, will players be using it to their advantage?  The last thing we want constant diving or simulation for ninety minutes as there's enough of it in the game as it is.  Only time will tell, hopefully not at the expense of any more in form, promising players.

U21 Spotlight: Neil Taylor

In the first of many, we're setting the spotlight on an up and coming prospect outside of the Premier League.  This week all eyes will be on new Swansea City signing; Neil Taylor.

Taylor was signed from Wrexham in this years Summer transfer window for a fee, only recently settled, of £150,000.  The Swans were in dire need of a left-back after losing previous full-back Federico Bessone from a free transfer to Leeds United and mainly relying on the, near enough, Libero Alan Tate to play in the position last season.

The signing of Taylor was met with mixed feelings by the Swansea fans.  Whether he would make the step up comfortably from Blue Square Premier level to promotion-chasing Championship level was to be seen but he was seen as a good prospect to the future and added another Welsh player into the ranks of the South Wales side.

Taylor started his footballing career at a young age, joining the academy at Manchester City at the age of 9 where he spent six years with the Manchester club.  However, his City career was brought to a halt after suffering an injury which prompted him to move on, where he opted to move closer to home with Wrexham.

[caption id="attachment_150" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Dragon: Taylor returned to his home country to showcase his bright future."][/caption]

He joined the Wrexham academy at age 16 in 2007 and did not take long to sign a professional contract.  Taylor made his debut for the Dragons in a Round 2 League Cup match against Villa, coming on as a substitute in the final 10 minutes.  Unfortunately for him, Villa were 5-0 up at the time.  He made his full debut for Wrexham a month later in a League Two match against Stockport.  From there he became a regular figure in the back 4 for the Wrexham which lead to Brian Flynn calling up Taylor to the Welsh U21 squad.

Following his success with Wrexham, earning 13 caps at U21 level, Swansea City were reported to be interested in the left-back.  The reported interest came at a high when the Welshman declined a new contract offer from the Dragons in April 2010.

[caption id="attachment_151" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="White Is the New Red: Swansea confirmed the signing of Neil Taylor for their 2010/11 campaign."][/caption]

After 75 appearances and 3 goals for Wrexham, the eventual signing was confirmed at the end of June 2010,where the Swans swooped for Taylor with a to be confirmed compensation fee (agreed to be £150,000 plus 10% of any future profit earlier this month) due to the player being under-24 and out of contract with his club.

Neil secured his debut for Swansea coming on as a half-time substitute for Albert Serran.  Since then, Taylor has come in to solve the left-back problem for the South Wales club, making six appearences so far and even with the return to fitness of the regular back four of Tate, Monk, Williams and Rangel - Taylor seems bullish to keep his place in the starting eleven.

There has even been reported Premier League interest for the highly-rated Welshman already, but for the meantime, Taylor will be determined to help the Swans become the first Welsh Premier League team.  However, this reported interest can only be good for the player, and a good sign for the national team with a barrage of promising youth players coming through - most of whom have started their full international careers already.