Free Kicks 7 May 2006

Get 'em While They’re Hot
First, we'd like to commend the World Cup Organizing Committee for their work with ticket sales this week. For those of you asleep at the wheel or possibly suffering from a mysterious onset of food-poisoning, the tournament begins in just over a month and the ticket shop on fifaworldcup.com has been offering resale tickets since Monday. The demand is high, but prices free of scalper mark-ups and the odd game becoming available here and there make it well worth the effort.

While our initial reaction was a temptation to brandish a yellow card for the Organizing Committee’s refusal to come through with a press pass for Bookable Offense this summer, they did come through on another front. That’s right, our beloved readers will be treated to reporting from Germany by none other than our own Bryce Campbell. Unfortunately, our finance department was unable to do more than fly him to Berlin, handle his accommodations for the duration of the tournament, and secure tickets for a handful of games. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

All Bad Things Don’t Apparently Won't End Just Yet

That’s what the world learned this Sunday as Arsenal cheated their way into the Champions League again next season. Police investigations into the Tottenham food-poisoning scandal will lead directly to Arsene “Hey, Quick, Put in the Arsenic” Wenger, rest assured. Where are his cries for fair-play now? Surely, a good sport such as himself would insist on a replay of the much-disputed Spurs-Irons injustice this afternoon. Let’s see that call for sportsmanship now.


(This picture forecasts how Wenger and his staff will cope with the guilt on their hands in next season's Champions League.)

On The Bright Side
Glen Roeder completed his miracle revitalization of Newcastle United by guiding them to a 1-0 victory over newly recrowned champions Chelsea at St. James’ Park. Today’s win means the Magpies will be playing European football next season by way of the Intertoto Cup. The chance of qualification for the UEFA Cup is encouraging, especially considering just how poorly the club was playing before Roeder’s appointment as caretaker manager.

This season’s goal was European qualification, and despite the less than prestigious Intertoto being the club's ticket, it is still a remarkable accomplishment. The journey will begin in July instead of August, but the club deserves the opportunity and Roeder deserves the chance to continue his stewardship of the side. Roeder’s future will be decided by a meeting of the EPL chairmen in June, and anything less than his immediate approval would be a shame.

Ruud Goodbye
In a surprising climax to the building tension up at Old Trafford, Ruud van Nistelrooy walked out of the club presumably for good today after learning he would not be starting against Charlton. Sir Alex has a history of severing ties with former favorites, and Louis Saha’s consistent scoring form appears to have inspired this latest tussle. The Dutchman has become less and less in favor with the Red Devil’s manager, and today’s slight was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s (or in this case, the horse’s) back.

Certainly, an inspired van Nistelrooy will be looking to torment opposing sides beginning next month playing for Holland at the World Cup. The next big question becomes whether or not he will be tormenting Manchester United in the colors of another Premiership side in 2006-2007, or if he will ply his trade outside of England for the first time since his arrival in Manchester in 2001. Speculation of his departure has been increasing over the past few months, but it now seems inevitable.

His next club will be an issue of constant speculation until the move is completed, and it is a story that merit’s keeping a close eye on in the coming months. We'll be watching developments surrounding van Nistelrooy's long-awaited transfer to Newcastle as well the rest of the off-season transfer market comings and goings across Europe.

McClaren the Man for the Job?
Finally, this week also saw the appointment of Steve McClaren as the new England manager beginning August 1st. While considered a safe choice by many, I think most fans would agree that his appointment is less than an inspiring one.

One positive mentioned by some pundits is how closely McClaren has worked with out-going Sven Goran Erickson as his number two in charge. England's ulimate success this summer in Germany will determine if the continuity offered by McClaren's tenure will be a positive or not. In his first press conference, the soon-to-be-exMiddlesbrough manager did imply that he would reconsider the captainship of the England side when he takes charge. Whether or not McClaren sticks to his guns could come down to the end of the Three Lions tournament. Success under the Sven-formula might mean four more years of Captain Becks and dips into the secretary pool.

Let's hope McClaren makes headlines for the right reasons.


Coming Soon to Bookable Offense

With the English football season coming to a close today, it's time for our fifth annual EPL End of the Year Awards Spectacular. Keep an eye out for that later this week.

And always, send us your emails at bookableoffense@gmail.com.

Pictures "borrowed" from bbc.com, some dude in Vietnam, 4thegame.com, a website in Burma, and fifaworldcup.com. Thanks, guys.