How clubs (and football authorities) fall apart (part 93)

By Tony Attwood

This site has covered the collapses of and problems at various clubs, since we first started out.  Not because we want to say, “Nah nah nah nah nah” or words to that effect, but rather to point out that when the AAA call for change at the top of the club, such change can lead to disaster as much as it can to progress.

One of the most obvious cases of late is Newcastle; reborn and alive last season, with endless talk of breaking into the Europa League if not the Champions League itself, and with many fans looking for them to push on.

Only to find results like a 0-6 defeat by Liverpool and a 0-3 defeat by Sunderland just recently and now talk of relegation.

Then out come the stories.  The Telegraph did a piece on dressing-room tensions  – we used to get those tales at Arsenal (where the divisions were between the English players and the rest, and then the French speaking players and the rest.)   As a result the club banned the Telegraph from attending games and press conferences.  Rather like Leeds who used to do this sort of thing when they didn’t like a comment.

The manager, Pardew, went on to talk about, “The main balance we need to get is commitment on the pitch and an organisation to our game, which we didn’t have against Liverpool.  In terms of dealing with outside influences – which we’ve had a lot of this week – we’ve gained from that. We’ve gained a lot of experience from that.  I’ve had my fair share of it from clubs I’ve been at. I understand you get all sorts of accusations thrown at you. You can deny them, but it might add fuel to the flames.”

Which is, it seems to me, a fair comment.The story in question was another one about French speaking players and the rest.    Pardew agreed that communication problems had arisen from the fact that the five players he signed in January did not speak English.   It is something to keep in mind when members of the AAA demand wholesale transfers.  Yes you can bring in good players but if they all are non-English speakers you need time to get them to adjust.

What really didn’t help very much was that Gary Neville, the Sky pundit who is regularly touted as the most insightful pundit on the planet,  said that the presence of a lot of French players threatened to “rip the heart out” of a club like Newcastle.

I seem to remember much the same being said of the early days of Wenger at Arsenal.  Tony Adams is reported to have said, “What does he [Wenger] know about English football?”  and the press were aghast at these Johnny Foreigners all pouring into Arsenal.But problems don’t just beset big clubs.  We should not ignore the fact that Aldershot have gone into administration having been relegated from the Football League.  Their previous incarnation went into administration back in 1992 and they rejoined the League in 2008.

Moving up the leagues again mention must be made to Wolverhampton, who I am sure I once saw playing in the fourth division at Torquay, when I used to attend occasional games there with my dad.

Wolverhampton are reputedly one of the clubs who failed to put relegation clauses in their contracts, so they are going to have a hard time getting rid of everyone who is now surplus to League One requirements, but is on a fairly tasty salary.