1st July 2011

Can Money buy football success? Can Man City dominate football?

Can money buy football success?

There are just two colours present in the city of Manchester in the north of England, red and blue. If you’re not ‘a red’ then you’re ‘a blue’.

The colour of red that dominated the city’s football successes in recent decades is being threatened  as a shade of pale blue is creeping in and beginning to emerge as another of the world’s ‘super clubs’.

Scenes of jubilation filled Manchester City’s Centre last month as a 100,000 strong crowd of Manchester City supporters gathered to celebrate the team’s FA Cup victory parade. And Manchester City fans, who unlike their local rivals, Manchester United, cannot stand accused of being supporters from anywhere but Manchester had a lot to celebrate, after all they had been waiting 35 years.

With their huge injection of cash, can Man City dominate football?

As the team toured around the city in an open-air bus, a sea of blue shirts and blue faces ecstatically waved and cheered at their heroes. The biggest cheer was awarded when the team’s captain, Carlos Tevez lifted the FA Cup on the bus.

Steve Evans, a 43-year-old accountant from Manchester had attended the victory parade with his five year old and three year old sons, all three of them grinning under a mask of heavy blue face paint.

“This has to be one of the best moments in my life, after, of course, the birth of my sons and my wedding day. 35 years we have waited to lift a trophy. Life doesn’t come much better than this!” Mr Evans excitedly exclaimed.

These jubilant scenes shed evidence on a topic that has been surrounding premiership football for quite some time – Can money buy football success?

The almost logical suggestion that money can buy success in football in the way it inevitably buys better players to theoretically help win trophies, has been questioned this season with Chelsea’s string of defeats, and despite it being reported in 2008 that Roman Abramovich had spent approximately £600 million on the club since he arrived in 2003, a figure that will be considerably more today, is the fact that Chelsea yet again didn’t make the Champions league final.

Despite finishing second in the Premier League, Chelsea’s failure to lift a trophy this season regardless of the millions being pumped into the club by a Russian billionaire, who ranks 53th on The Forbes Rich List 2011, and has been accused on ‘sucking the identity out of Chelsea’, Manchester City has been dubbed as being the “new Chelsea”.

And the “new Chelsea” has had a fantastic season. Not only did they win the FA Cup, qualify for the Champions League and finish the season in third place, tying with the ‘real’ second-place Chelsea on the same number of points.

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14th June 2011

Paul Gascoigne’s new biography “Glorious: My World, Football and Me”

Paul Gascoigne’s new biography “Glorious: My World, Football and Me” – An unrivalled insight into the world of a legendary footballer.

Since those legendary tears in the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup against Germany, Paul Gascoigne became a household name, arguably moving football from a pastime of the working class into the realms of the middle classes.

Although Gascoigne – like many young stars – seemed unable to cope with his global notoriety, and has led a tultumulous career on and off the pitch.

Revisiting the happier moments of his ‘erratic’ footballing career, the England and Tottenham ace has a new illustrated biography, titled “Glorious: My World, Football and Me”, which is due out on October 13 this year.

Published by Simon & Schuster, who have bought the rights to the biography from Gascoigne, say the book offers unique insight into the legend’s controversial career and personal life.

The book is illustrated with a string of photographs from Gascoigne playing for Tottenham, Newcastle, Lazio and Rangers, and, of course, during his time playing for England, of which he won 57 caps.

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16th May 2011

20 top soccer quotes

20 top soccer quotes from Trion:Z. You can expect Cloughie and ‘daft as a brush’ legend Booby Robson, but there’s some other fine quotes from footballers and managers.

It’s a funny old game, football…!

“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much” - Eric Cantona

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that” - Bill Shankly

“I’m sure sex wouldn’t be so rewarding as this World Cup. It’s not that sex isn’t good but the World Cup is every four years and sex is not” - Ronaldo

“The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona” – Maradona

“Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen; soccer is a gentlemen’s game played by beasts; football is a beastly game played by beasts” – Henry Blaha

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18th March 2011

Five of the most sought-after football memorabilia

Trion: Z looks at five of the most sought-after football memorabilia in existence today.

Football memorabilia is big business.

Not only does it net clubs millions of pounds each year, but its gives fans, even when their team is going through a ‘bad spell’, a sense of enjoyment and pleasure that stems further than the football pitch.

For those ardent football supporters, whose passion for their club spans a lot further than the final whistle, we have located five of the best ever football memorabilia, designed to get your pulse racing…

Pele Signed Boot – Classic Puma King

In 2008 Pele, the football superstar, who is widely acknowledged as being the greatest football player ever, signed the retro Classic Puma King Boots. Naturally, the boots are a highly collectable and sought-after piece of football memorabilia.

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7th March 2011

Five future Premiership football heroes

Trion  Z highlight five Premiership football heroes of tomorrow, ones to watch.

As the likes of Ryan Giggs, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes creep up their 30s, heading into the latter stages of the footballing careers, the up-and-coming and flourishing youngsters of the sport are slinking into the spotlight.

With Liverpool threatening playing their youngest ever player – 16-year-old Raheem Sterling – in their Europa League game against Sparta Prague, Trion Z takes a look at five teenagers that could possibly be the Wayne Rooneys of tomorrow.

Craig Eastmond Arsenal

Although the highly skilled Craig Eastmond is primarily a right-back, the shrewd Arsenal manager exploits this 19-year-old’s intelligence by playing him in a more defensive mid-field position. Wenger is slowly nurturing this talented youngster, who will undoubtedly be a great future asset for Arsenal.

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