No surprises as Roeder and Clark charged by the FA

It wasn’t exactly a shock when the following statement appeared on the FA website this morning:

Norwich City manager Glenn Roeder and assistant manager Lee Clark have both been charged with improper conduct.

The charges relate to the pair’s behaviour towards match officials at the end of Norwich’s match against Bristol City on 29 March.

Roeder and Clark have until 21 April to respond to the charge.

You’re never going to get away with the sort of public criticism handed down on to Andy D’Urso by Roeder following the Bristol City game or for marching on to the pitch to have a go, but as always the FA misses the point.

Yep, fair enough, Roeder and Clark probably don’t have much of a defence - regardless of what the fourth official may or may not have said - but what happens to D’Urso? He’s free to cock up another match somewhere else of course.

Champions League Quarter Final (Second Leg) Predictions

It’s time to turn our attention briefly away from the hustle and bustle of the Championship and the East Anglian Derby, and take a look at the Champions League Quarter-Finals.

I’ve tried to resist but as I can’t help myself I’ve made a few predictions…

Chelsea vs. Fenerbahce. The Turks take a slim lead to Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea’s away goal has given them the platform to proceed. My prediction: Chelsea to go through.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal. After the weekend’s third 1-1 draw between the two sides, Arsenal and Liverpool meet for the third time in a week. The Scousers unquestionably hold the advantage thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s goal at the Emirates, and as much as I want Arsenal to qualify Liverpool seem destined to go through. My prediction: Liverpool to go through. Partly because I think that’s what’ll happen, and partly to try and put the mockers on them.

Barcelona vs. Schalke 04. Barca hold the edge after winning in Germany, and can anyone see them losing at home? I certainly don’t. My prediction: Barcelona to proceed.

Manchester United vs. AS Roma. United are arguably the best team in the world at the moment, and after handing out a lesson in European football to Roma last week few would bet on them throwing it away now. My prediction: Man Utd to proceed.

Looking ahead to 2008/2009

As regular readers(!) will probably know, I write a column for the excellent Vital Norwich site called “Guru’s Goat”. I used to publish the first couple of paragraphs here and then link to the main body of it, but I figured that was probably a little mis-leading as you wouldn’t necessarily know you were being taken ‘off-site’ so I’m going to be a bit more honest about it all now.

In the latest Goat I look at where the Championship will be going next season. Will it be any stronger than this year? Here’s an excerpt:

There are two ways to look at the Championship this season. Either you believe the league is the most competitive (i.e. best) it has been in years, or you think it is the weakest it has been in years. There isn’t an awful lot of middle ground.

Both viewpoints stem from the fact that this season more than any other any team really can beat any other, which is demonstrated by the likelihood that the team finishing in the final play-off position this season will do so with the lowest points total in years, whereas the team occupying the third relegation place will have the highest.

I’d better get it out of the way early on; I think the Championship in general is shocking this season. Very few teams have impressed me and although you would have got incredible odds on the top six being occupied in early April by Bristol City, Stoke, Hull, Watford, West Brom and Wolves - and with just five points separating the top five to boot - that doesn’t mean the league is particularly strong.

Click here to read the full article…