SPONSORSHIP’S GONE FOR A BURTON
So it’s goodbye Capital One Cup, and hello EFL Cup. True, this is the second round of the competition so strictly speaking we should have greeted it a couple of weeks back when it actually kicked off, but the Fiver was a bit distracted at the time by, you know, stuff. And so, hello EFL Cup! Of course, it is only in this second round that the EFL Cup admits teams that aren’t in the EFL. This is, it must be said, a drawback of the new branding, but then there were teams involved last year that weren’t in the capital, so it isn’t an entirely unfamiliar one. (Partly as a way of denying to ourselves that our beloved game had once again allowed itself to become romantically entangled with a credit card company the Fiver always imagined the competition’s previous title was intended in the Jeeves & Wooster, loud exclamation of approval sense, and that each year the winning team would eventually be declared the Capital One by Lord Emsworth, “a man who,” as his creator PG Wodehouse wrote, “when he started saying ‘Capital’ found it hard to stop”.)
News of Capital One’s canning of their League Cup sponsorship broke in May 2015, 15 lengthy months ago. Back in April the Football League’s commercial director admitted to Campaign magazine that he was actively seeking a replacement – interested companies, if there were any, were being quoted a price of around £6m a year – and that “the money from the sponsor goes back to our clubs to support their participation in the competition and from that perspective there is pressure to deliver to make sure it stays healthy and thrives”. Since when he has presumably been a bit distracted by, you know, stuff, and we’re hardly in a position to criticise him for that. One of the consequences of the absence of a title sponsor and their cash could be that clubs become a little less enthusiastic about the early rounds of the competition, though in some cases this would be very close to impossible. Everton, for example, accidentally reached the semi-final last season, the only time they have progressed beyond the fourth round since 1988, though given that Ashley Williams, Yannick Bolasie and Romelu Lukaku are all likely to start this evening and Ronald Koeman has promised to take the competition “very seriously” Yeovil perhaps shouldn’t get too excited about the prospect of an upset.
Indeed, the pre-match huff and puff suggests that the top-flight sides are very keen on making sure the EFL Cup ends up in an EPL trophy cabinet. Jürgen Klopp says he “won’t make seven or eight changes” against Burton because Liverpool “have to show we want to be in this competition”. Chelsea’s Antonio Conte might tweak his side a bit but is out to give Bristol Rovers a good stuffing because “losing always leaves sad things in you”. Tony Pulis says West Brom “won’t be making a lot of changes” for the visit to Northampton, though only “because we haven’t got a lot of changes to make”. Stoke’s assistant manager, Mark Bowen, says “cups are massively important to us – we’ll be all guns blazing” against Stevenage.
Alan Pardew intends “to have a look at one or two who haven’t had a game” when Blackpool come to visit but at the same time will “definitely play a very, very strong side”. That’s two verys. Watford’s Craig Cathcart says his side “will take the Gillingham game very seriously”, will be “100% focused to try to get through” but that also, and with slightly less conviction, “the manager will probably be looking at what he’s going to do”. Mike Phelan says Hull “may make changes, we may not” but that “everyone has to go to Exeter. They will all travel. It is important because we are in a groove that we all get there and carry on this momentum of togetherness”. As Exeter will surely discover, to play a team with momentum is tough, to play a side with togetherness is difficult, but to face opponents on a momentum of togetherness is the most daunting prospect of all. “We’ve got nothing to lose so I think we should just make the most of it,” says Paul Tisdale, their manager. “You just don’t know what’s possible.” It is an approach that will be heartily cheered – not least, you’d have thought, in the EFL Commercial Dept.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It is a bit eerie, you know?” – a chilled to the bone Ian Callaghan reacts having been sat at a table in a Liverpool hotel where you can have a pint beside a terrifying moving hologram of Bill Shankly that looks like it has murder on its mind and may also have been designed using Sega Mega Drive graphics.
FIVER LETTERS
“For me, the most surprising thing about Sarah Rothwell finding a picture of Fiver towers on Yahoo (yesterday’s letters) was that someone was still using Yahoo. Then I thought there is probably a strong correlation between Yahoo users and us long-term Fiver readers, given our mutual determination to remain loyal to something despite the overwhelming evidence that we should have moved on by now” – Nick Brookes.
“Thanks to Sarah Rothwell (yesterday’s clipping from a German rag), I now know how to say ‘Hot volleyball player’ in German” – Alex Cowell.
“Apropos nothing in particular: ‘We’re not sure which is worse: the absolute predictability of the whole thing, or its howling tediousness.’ You’re just baiting us” – Woody Philips.
“It’s become really tedious to point out how often writers construct words like ‘tediousness’ where the actual root noun, ‘tedium,’ would do” – Christopher Smith (and no other tedious readers).
“I saw the strapline ‘Adam Clayton’s baubles’ (yesterday’s Fiver) and thought I’d be enjoying a critics’ appraisal of the cover artwork from U2’s seminal Achtung Baby. Oh well” – Aidan Flanagan.
“What am I to make of Boro’s decision to start Relegation’s Brad Guzan over World Cup-winning, Euro-winning, Big Cup-winning, La Liga-winning, and Man United-bench-sitting Victor Valdes? Bold team selection, crafty team-building strategy, or Karanka being Karanka? Doesn’t matter. I’m so much more interested in this than Mou v. Pep. Is it only the second week of the season? Sigh” – Mike Willner.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you’ve nothing better to do you can also tweet The Fiver. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is… Aidan Flanagan.
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BITS AND BOBS
Is POJT about to become EBLJT again? Sam Allardyce is sort of, maybe, thinking about bringing him back into the England fold. “Maybe if I get the opportunity I might have to give him a ring but until then, we’ll wait and see” Allardyce hummed and hawed. “I don’t know what the political side of that might mean, if there is a political side,” he added, knowing full well that there is.
Queen’s Celtic fans have raised over 100k for Medical Aid Palestine in response to a fine for flying Palestinian flags at Celtic Park while police in Israel have warned them against displaying them at tonight’s Big Cup qualifier against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Bunrley striker Andre Gray has been charged with misconduct by the FA for homophobic posts on social media aberration Twitter in 2012.
Jonny Evans can forget about interest from Arsenal, warns Tony Pulis, who insists the defender is going nowhere in this transfer window.
Stoke are keen on Phil Jones, but have to deal with the fact that neither Jones nor José Mourinho are keen on them or the deal. “[Jones] did well as a youngster, got the big move, but it hasn’t worked out for him there,” said Stoke assistant manager Mark Bowen, showering Jones with praise.
Jürgen Klopp is getting Mamadou Sakho a return ticket marked Do One (for a bit), with the defender set for a loan move to improve his marking and his merking.
Pep Guardiola is happy for Po’ Joe Hart to hang around at Manchester City, despite the imminent arrival of Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo. “I can’t deny what everybody knows” crooned Pep on the signing of Bravo, but added: “I have an excellent relationship with Joe. We spoke about football.” Presumably, how little of it Po’ Joe is going to be playing.
And Javier Hernández will be out for two weeks after taking an express trip down his stairs. “Hernández sustained a fracture of his right middle hand when he fell down the stairs of his home last night,” confirmed a Leverkusen suit, playing fast and loose with the laws of anatomy.
STILL WANT MORE?
Unless your name is Jürgen Klopp, you might like this lavish transfer window interactive.
Cesc Fàbregas’s ability to put a pass on a postage stamp from 60 yards is all very well but if his legs move like swaying trees he isn’t an obvious pick in Antonio Conte’s high-tempo set-up, reckons Dominic Fifield, kind of.
Five outsiders Sam Allardyce should consider for his first England squad, and not a Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise or Patrick Swayze in sight.
Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Win! Chances are, if you’ve read this far down in the Fiver you probably don’t have 14 friends spare to join you in an executive box to watch Arsenal Legends v Milan Glorie on Saturday 3 September at the Emirates. But if you’re one of those rare Fiver readers who does have a social circle you may want to enter this competition.
Oh Monsieur Fiver, with all these competitions you are really spoiling us! Six pairs of tickets for Chelsea v Burnley up for grabs right here.
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