Ahead of tonight’s Europa League stroll against Ajax, there have been some confusing numbers coming out of Old Trafford as they released their fourth quarter financial stats. The good news for United fans - the red devils’ reveal revenue increase. The bad news - United’s bank balance saw £100 million drop off it in the last 6 months. Hmm.

Without getting bogged down in the financial nitty gritty of it all (those interested can check it out here) what has this meant on the pitch? Well tonight United are rumored be lining up with Tom Cleverly and Paul Pogba at the heart of their midfield, with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes the possible back ups. That represents wild extremes of youth and experience in United’s central midfield. Where is the top quality creative central midfielder in his physical prime?

A growing concern of the last 5/6 years has been how to replace the creativity of Paul Scholes in our central midfield, something that for all his foresight and knowledge of the game, Sir Alex Ferguson has failed to do.

United have been linked with the type of world class player befitting of the club time after time but have not splashed the cash on this crucial area of the pitch in a long time. So what's the deal? Does Ferguson have supreme faith in the likes of Carrick (75% fan approval), Anderson (91%) and Fletcher (94%) to topple Barcelona (the ultimate goal)? Are his hands tied by financial constraints from above? Are his fingers still burning from the Veron debacle? Or does Fergie not even see it as a problem position? His summer splurge on Young, Jones and De Gea suggests not, but lest we forget his protracted pursuits of Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri in recent years.

Even if the rumours of fiscal constraint are keeping United from paying top whack for a world class midfield general, why did world class players like Van der Vaart and Ozil pass by at affordable sums?

United’s miserable Champions League campaign has highlighted the weakness of the team compared to three years ago. There is a lot of hype surrounding Pogba and Cleverly but that’s all it is at the moment. United fans only need to look to Arsenal to see what happens when money is not invested in quality. Giggs and Scholes’ indian summers can’t last forever and will Carrick, Fletcher of Anderson ever be world class. Is it time for Fergie to stop papering over the cracks and spend some serious money on his central midfield?

Do you have faith that Pogba and Cleverly will make the step up? If not, who do you want to see brought in?

Carlos Tevez is a complicated beast to say the very least. Prodigiously talented, the prolific South American seems to regard his hugely lucrative job with a curious contempt that has manifested itself in a number of bizarre and controversial episodes dotting his career. His most recent spat in a long string of incidents with his club has seen him spend 3 months AWOL in Argentina, following his refusal to warm up when asked in a Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

As a result, the disagreeable striker has the worst Bantr fan approval level of any first team regular in the Premier League at just 11%, an extraordinary effort for someone who just last season captained Manchester City to their first trophy for 35 years, won the Premier League Golden Boot and led them to a first Champions League qualification.

He has however, finally stumped up that painful little ‘S’ word a full 147 days after after his show of petulance in Munich. The cynic in me wonders if it has something to do with the fact that no one was willing to stump up the transfer fee that the 28 year old’s talent demands, but is a false economy due to the ego that comes free with it.

Manager Roberto Mancini has maintained a stance that if an apology was made, Tevez would be welcomed back into the fold, however this looks to be an extremely foolish thing to do.

City have had fantastic success implementing a policy of constant rotation of three genuinely top drawer strikers. Aguero, Dzeko and Balotelli all offer different types of threat and the management of their playing time has avoided burnout, meaning that all three have scored well - Aguero 19, Dzeko 16, Balotelli 12. 

In reality a fourth striker has not been needed; they top the league’s scoring charts having rattled in 64 goals so far. The fact is, that if he were to return, Tevez would most likely be fourth choice striker due to the strong form of the other three. Fortunately Tevez’s probable response to such a situation would be to keep his head down, his mouth shut, take any opportunities that come his way with the upmost professionalism, declare his undying love for English culture, whilst accepting that if the other three continue to play as they have, he will have to settle for a bit par...Ah. Hang on...

It is worth noting that Mancini, Tevez aside, has managed to keep a squad littered with superstars happy all season long. Lest we forget, that happy and functional squad includes the Premier League’s finest loose canon - Mario Balotelli who’s high jinks i’m sure you need no reminder of. To labour a metaphor, why throw an egotistical Argentinean time bomb into that volatile mix when you don’t have to.

And there lies the crux of the argument, City simply don’t need to welcome Tevez back, whereas it was very much in their interest in the past to indulge him when the toys careened out of his pram. Spitting his dummy out has been a feature of his time in the England, however City have always bent over backwards to accommodate him, why? Quite simply he was their best player, talisman and they needed him. Between 2009-11 when he rifled in 52 goals in 81 games he was central to City’s success and they looked substandard without him. Now they have several players of his ability playing with a smile on their face, why re-indulge one with a permanent frown and risk upsetting the good thing Bob Mancini has going on at the Etihad?

Do you want to see him welcomed back into the fold at City? What effect will it have on team morale? Is there an argument that world class players are worth indulging regardless of their attitude?

Sling your two penneths in the comments below.

In the last month, Andre Villas Boas’ approval rating with the Stamford Bridge faithful has plummeted as his team have faltered in the league. Last nights explosive tie with Napoli saw further concerns raised over the unity within the Chelsea squad. So what is worrying fans more, the poor results on the pitch or AVB’s failure to control his charges off it? Either way, pressure on the beleaguered Villas-Boas is mounting.

After admitting that some players have ‘lost faith’ in his project last week, AVB was keen to stress a united front and appeared all smiles with Didier Drogba - someone who, it could be argued, is an absolute veteran in the apple cart upsetting stakes. However in his team selection, the body language on the bench and his post match remarks, it seems the cracks are beginning to grow deeper and deeper. The question remains - has he lost the dressing room completely?

After the surprising inclusion of Jose Bosingwa at left back, the line before the match was that Ashley Cole was injured, hence his bench start. However not only did he manage 79 minutes with seemingly no ill effect, but AVB’s post match interview hinted at being dropped for other reasons as he said,

‘Normally through the players that they (Cole and Lampard) are and the experience that they have, they felt that they could have upped the team, which is perfectly understandable.’

‘Of course they are disappointed but these are decisions that they have to accept.’

The easy answer with Cole would have been to repeat that he wasn’t fully fit, surely? Or was this punishment for open dissent from Cole? 

Any body language experts care to dissect the above pic taken as Cole was about to be subbed on after 12 minutes, due to Bosingwa’s hamstring twang? Ominously for AVB, the England ace seemingly refused to even face him as he attempted to brief him; things hardly look chummy do they?

Would a starting line up of Cole at LB, Cahill/Ivanovich at CB and Bosingwa at RB not have been a more solid foundation for The Blues? David Luiz’s second half brain fart, which left his side and his manager in a whole heap of trouble, suggests it might well have been.

Secondly the midfield personnel raised some eyebrows. The formation made sense, their 4-2-3-1 looked to nullify Napoli’s adventurous 3-4-3 and offer a platform to counter, based around the focal point of Drogba - par for a European away tie. But playing Malouda (58% Bantr fan approval) on the left and benching Lampard (100% Bantr fan approval)? Surely the French wingers shoddy form and open desire to be elsewhere, Mata’s versatility and the fact that Ramires and Meireles were stationed deeply meant that Lampard’s thrust and experience through the middle could have been facilitated? Or is it a case of being dropped for his thinly veiled lack of confidence in the young boss?

Interestingly Chelsea fans on Bantr wanted to see a much more attacking line-up, look at the disparity between the Fans Team selection and AVB’s. To borrow a line from Arsenal fans does ‘Andre know’ or would he have been better off with an attacking 4-3-3 as suggested by our users?

As I noted yesterday, this group of malcontent stars have ushered a World Cup winning manager, with 30 years of top level management under his belt, out of the door. What hope does a relative novice have of dealing with the Chelsea ego’s?

So the question remains: Has he completely lost the dressing room and if so, is it utterly futile to attempt to continue in the face of this fact?

Your thoughts and comments are more than welcome as per.

After a 15 million euro transfer and just 8 months at The Bridge, Andre Villas-Boas is in danger of becoming Roman Abramovic’s most expensive mistake since Andriy Shevchenko. Well erm, and Adrian Mutu and Juan Sebastion Veron. Oh and Torres.

Anyway I digress. Despite Villas-Boas’ belief that he won’t be sacked should Chelsea crash out of the Champions League at the hands of Napoli in the next few weeks, few would argue that his is on anything but thin ice. Unfortunately for him, his current Bantr fan approval level sits at a worrying 73%, the fifth lowest in the entire Premier League, despite sitting pretty on 98% just a month ago. Precedent tells us that Roman Abramovich’s trigger finger gets awfully twitchy whenever his side look in danger of missing the top four and unrest in the terraces at Stamford Bridge will not help his cause.

Regardless of how his side fares against a talented Napoli team, we have identified five areas that Andre Villas-Boas needs to address if his tenure is going to be anything other than another expensive footnote in the clubs colourful financial records.

The Specter of Mourinho

The lazy comparisons were inevitable - a young, stylish and cocksure Portuguese manager with a recent history of all conquering success with Porto - however Villas-Boas has not been indulged in nearly the same way as the original Portugeezer was, neither by the press or crucially, by his own players.

Every Chelsea boss since the self proclaimed ‘Special One’ has struggled to impose their own image on a core group of players with a one track mind as to how Chelsea should play. Those who have seen the most success have been those who quickly abandoned any fancy ideas (Ancelotti’s diamond for example) and reverted to Jose’s way - a brutally effective style of 4-3-3 involving the battering ram efforts of Drogba up front and a powerful midfield designed to let Frank Lampard move and score freely.

However, the pillars of power in the squad responsible for the success of that style of play are now crumbling. The aging legs but defiant minds of Jose’s untouchables - Terry, Lampard, Malouda and Drogba et al - are beginning to cause a stink and don’t see themselves as part of the problem. The revelations last week that Mourinho is in daily contact with some of the Chelsea old guard highlights the problem Villas-Boas is facing. As has been proved, this squad, despite the injection of new faces, is seemingly not capable of evolution. I’d argue its high time for revolution at The Bridge.

Player Power

As I hinted at above, the old guard at Chelsea are a bothersome lot. So central to their clubs recent success, its clear they feel a sense of entitlement (John Terry in 2007 included the option to become manager when he retired in his contract demands). Other stark examples of this include World Cup winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari being famously shown the door when the assembled ego’s in the Chelsea dressing room decided he was not for them and Frank Lampard continually displayed a face like slapped backside when substituted or benched this season, despite his continued regression as a playing force.

This core group deserve respect for what they have achieved, yet top level football doesn’t deal in nostalgia. The fact is the personnel and style that brought success to the club in the past are now failing and are in need of a shake up. If Andre Villas-Boas is to ever make his mark as a Chelsea manager he needs to either crack the whip and get his men into line as a united unit behind him, or move on the bad eggs. It might seem preposterous to Blues fans, but Frank Lampard’s diminishing returns on the field, mean he needs to accept his future as a squad player where the team isn't built around him or leave. Despite his highly commendable self belief, surely even he can see that it is time to a side around the technique, pace and guile of Juan Mata?

Those unsure about this policy and believe Mourinho’s class of 2006 still have something to offer need only look at Sir Alex Ferguson and his continued success. There have been splutterings of disbelief time after time as he, without remorse, swung the axe on world class players who had got too big for their boots. Ince, Hughes, Stam, Beckham, Van Nistelrooy, Keane, Tevez and Ronaldo have all written their names in the history books of Manchester United, but when they became bigger than the team they were gone. United’s bulging trophy cabinet is testament to the value of acting without sentiment in a cycle of steady evolution. The problem for Mr Villas-Boas however is that Frank Lampard is one of just two Chelsea players enjoying unequivocal  100% fan support and he doesn’t have the reserves of fan trust enjoyed by the likes of Ferguson. Your call Andre...

p.s. Paulo Ferreira is still at the club. Who the hell keeps renewing this mans contract?

How do you solve a problem like Fernando?

Villas-Boas has one possible reason to be cheerful, that he didn’t pay £50 million for Senor Torres. Schadenfreude will be little comfort to the beleaguered Iberian boss however, as unusually, goals have been one of their problems. League leaders Manchester City have powered in 20 more than them as they struggle along with the misfiring Torres, the fading Drogba and the precocious Daniel Sturridge - a man who has seemingly been learning from the example set by senior players and is more than happy to publicly get the hump with his manager over his role as a wide forward. A happy and firing Torres is a genuine world class problem for defenses, however his form since joining for a British transfer record has not just been indifferent, it has been actively appalling as he contrives to miss chance after gilt edged chance and offer little elsewhere around the park.

So what was Rafa Benitez’s secret that has evaded everyone else? Feeding him chorizo nibbles and tickling his belly? Whispering sweet nothings about his girlish good looks? Letting him and Stevie G have sleepovers and midnight feasts at the weekend? Is the Spaniard’s form irrefutable proof that Gerrard is a better player than Lampard? Who knows?

The situation needs addressing sooner rather than later as El Nino’s decline is in danger of becoming terminal. His current 19 game drought is a far cry from his Liverpool heyday where he bagged an astonishing 65 goals in 102 appearances. Some better service from the wings might help - Malouda has been abject, Kalou ever erratic and Sturridge, led by his central desires, has an inclination to greediness in the final third. With a Bantr fan approval rating of 85% it seems Chelsea fans are willing to be patient with the faltering No.9 for the time being but that can't last forever.

It’s time for AVB to earn his corn and manage Torres into some kind of form, it would certainly shield him from the mute Russian owner’s penetrating gaze for a time and help brush over the fact that his own big money striking punt from the summer, Romelu Lukaku, hasn't exactly set the world alight either.

Defence - A Central Issue

Remember when Chelsea conceded 15 goals in an entire Premier League campaign?  The worrying stat for AVB is that Chelsea have already shipped over double that amount this term. Mourinho’s side’s were built on a rock solid foundation that often meant scoring one goal was enough; blessed with John Terry in his chest beating prime and the perfect foil in Ricardo Carvalho, Chelsea could afford it when Drogba had the occasional off day up front.

This year has seen Alex slung on the scrap heap as faith has been placed in, and invariably not repaid by the comical stylings of David Luiz. Their defensive dilemmas have been compounded by Branislav Ivanovic’s regression and the fact that John Terry’s chronic lack of mobility is beginning to be shown up by not just the best teams, but by quite a few of the average ones as well.

The acquisition of Gary Cahill on paper looks to address Terry’s lack of pace and Luiz’s miserable concentration, however the uncomfortable truth is that Cahill marshaled by far and away the worst defence in the league for half a season this year. AVB will hope for the sake of his Chelsea future that those statistics reflect the players around him at The Reebok, rather than his ability to defend at the top level. His early Bantr approval of 94% is strong but does hint at some reservations from the Stamford Bridge faithful.

Whether its Terry, Ivanovic or Luiz that he partners in the long term, the success of Cahill’s move could be central to Villas-Boas’ future in west London.

Defining A Clear Tactical Vision

As suggested earlier, Chelsea, in the last six years haven’t strayed far from the muscular 4-3-3 instated by Mourinho as they have bullied teams into submission. Whilst bringing success, Roman Abramovich has grander designs of winning and doing so with style - something that eventually toppled Jose from his perch. As long as Chelsea hold onto the diminishing, route one dynamism of their old guard, the flowing attacking play that AVB was brought in to provide will struggle to flourish.

Their signings in the last year mean that game plan isn’t out of reach. In Luiz and Cahill they have two ball playing centre halves and Mata, Ramires and Sturridge are all well versed in the arts of fluid, interchangeable forward play. If Torres can be convinced that he is a world class front man again then there is no reason why this squad, with the inclusion of another wide man of genuine quality, can't play the exciting football Abramovich so craves. They have the nucleus of a young exciting team stuck in stylistic limbo as the cultures and tactics of two generations overlap creating something of a identity crisis. Turn the football into something a little more refined and exciting and perhaps Abramovich might take lost points with a little better humour? Perhaps.

What do you think? Is it time to move on from Mourinho or are Lampard and co. still central to Chelsea’s success? Your thoughts, contributions and blind fury are always welcome on the comments below.

London, England – 9 February 2012

Bantr (http://www.bantr.tv/), the website that makes live football interactive, today announces it has integrated with the Telegraph's Fantasy Football Live Match Centre.

Bantr, which launched at the start of the 2011/12 season, has created a streamlined offering where the match is central to the experience. The Telegraph wanted a way to increase engagement with Fantasy Football players during match time – the interactive Bantr match centre offers exactly this. Fans are now able to check-in to live games, discuss the action and vote on key match incidents in real time, all via the Telegraph website.

Jon Richards, Interactive Sport Product Manager at Telegraph Media Group, commented "Bantr is a great fit for our Fantasy Football audience. Our fantasy managers are highly engaged in the game, visiting the site regularly throughout the week, analysing stats and plotting their transfers for the next set of matches. Bantr now gives them a way to communicate with each other in a unique and exciting social football environment, without the distractions of non-football related activity you might find on other social media sites. If you want to talk football with football fans in a football environment Bantr is definitely the place to do it."

Peter McCormack, CEO of Bantr, commented "Integrating with Telegraph Fantasy Football is a good natural progression in the evolution of Bantr. Bantr has always experienced a high quality of match debate and we're excited to welcome the Telegraph Fantasy Football players to the community. We look forward to building a strong relationship with the team at The Telegraph".

Notes for Editors: Bantr makes live football interactive. Working with Opta, Bantr has built a real time match centre where fans can comment and vote on live action as it happens from picking the team, voting on key match incidents and rating performances.

For all enquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Peter McCormack
CEO, Bantr
Mobile: +44 (0) 7970 417880
Email: press@bantr.tv
Web: http://www.bantr.tv
Twitter: @bantr

 

We were invited by the team at 2Pears to present at Techpitch 4.5 last night. The event gave us an opportunity to present Bantr alongside 7 other startups. Our presentation was to last no longer than 3 minutes with an additiional 3 minutes of questions from a panel of judges.

The night ends with 2 prizes, one for the winner of the audience vote and one for the panel vote. We were very fortunate to win both votes against some tough competition. 

A special note goes out to Bluefields who gave a really great pitch.

London, England – 9th September 2011

Football social network Bantr (http://www.bantr.tv), which launched as a public beta last month, has responded to exceptional user demand by expanding its service to cover Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A leagues. Users can now register as fans of any of the teams from either league, including the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter and AC Milan, as well as checking-in to league games live.

Bantr has also added full support for The Champions League and The Europa Cup, allowing users follow these games live on Bantr. Peter McCormack, CEO of Bantr, commented "We have been inundated with requests from fans in Europe who love what Bantr is bringing to football but were unable to take part as we couldn't support all teams from launch. We've worked flat-out with our data provider Opta to be able to bring two of the best leagues outside of the UK to European football fans well ahead of our original schedule."

Bantr launched into a public beta last month and has already attracted over 5,000 registered fans. The site allows users to check-in to live games, vote on manager decisions and banter with rivals.

Bantr has now set its sights on covering the whole of European football. "Bantr has received huge amounts of positive support from users," commented Peter, "and we want to ensure we can offer the same excellent service fans in all leagues".

Fans wishing to join Bantr can register for the beta now at http://www.bantr.tv/

For all enquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Peter McCormack
CEO, Bantr
Mobile: +44 (0) 778 680 6951
Email: peter@bantr.tv
Web: http://www.bantr.tv/

 

London, England – 3rd August 2011

Bantr (http://www.bantr.tv/), a social network that gives football fans a platform for their passion, today announces it has secured over £200k in seed funding. This has been secured from a small number of private angel investors, most of them dedicated football fans.

Bantr, which launches its preview this weekend, is a place for football fans to come together. The site allows users to discuss their team and football in general with friends and other fans. Bantr's main focus is the match where live pages allow users to check-in to games and get involved in the action. Fans can see and comment on real-time updates & stats, predict the result and vote on who the next substitution should be. Bantr even allows users to filter the conversation, for example to see what those at the ground are saying.

Peter McCormack, CEO of Bantr, commented "Bantr is a social network for football fans, a place to banter with your mates, a place where your football chat won't be mixed with mum's pictures of her dog or your sister talking about Justin Bieber. Bantr is about football, football and more football.

Notes for Editors: Bantr is a social website for football fans. Bantr allows fans to pick their team, check-in to live matches, vote on the action, view live match stats and – of course – banter with friends and rivals.

 

We are now 25 days away from the beta launch of Bantr.tv, a social network for football fans created by football fans. We will be launching the full site registration within the next couple of weeks and are posting updates to our Facebook Page.

The launch game will be the Community Shield where both sides of Manchester will be battling out for early season bragging rights. For this match we will be giving beta users the opportunity to fully test out the features we have been developing and give us direct feedback.

If you have any questions then please email us on hello@bantr.tv.

If you would like an invite to the beta launch please register at www.bantr.tv.