ARE THEY FALLING UNITED?
Like regionalized sweepstakes? Enjoying oddly disorganized group stages and flawed tiebreaks? Do you have a thing for point deductions that will lead to unexpected consequences? Then you’ll love the Conti Cup (or the Women’s League Cup if you prefer). And it’s been a bit of a ridiculous few days for a somewhat ridiculous competition. First the background. Last week, Aston Villa defeated Sunderland 7-0 in the last match of the group, topping Group A and advancing to the quarter-finals. Second-placed Sunderland were eliminated, their points-per-game record (more on that later) not being good enough, so Manchester United and Tottenham reached the last eight as the two best runners-up in five groups. Ok, everything is fine, nothing to see here.
Then on Monday Villa were awarded three points for fielding an ineligible player – Swiss defender Noelle Maritz, who had previously played for Arsenal – in the draw against Sunderland. An independent tribunal ruled that the points should be awarded to the Black Cats and the 7-0 score should be struck off the record. It’s very simple so far. But the Conti Cup’s unique format meant the decision took Sunderland into the quarter-finals as group winners, but kept second-placed Villa in the competition… at the expense of United, who were busy minding their own business. . Although United’s second-place record was better than Sunderland’s, they were inferior to Villa’s goal difference.
Are you still with us? “We are very disappointed with this result and do not understand the logic of it,” United grumbled in a statement, hardly reasonable. “We think this undermines the integrity of the competition and the women’s game.” To be fair, the integrity of the competition was already pretty poor. Points per game makes sense as a tiebreaker between roughly equal pools, but the competition is ridiculously lopsided due to the groups being chosen on a regional basis; United’s four group mates, for example, are in the WSL’s current top nine, while Villa are teams only from the Championship and so have managed to amass a goal difference of +16 despite having a 7-0 lead wiped from the record. United find themselves kicked out of the competition without playing, at the same stage as Chelsea, who have parachuted into the competition thanks to their participation in the Women’s Major Cup.
Even Villa’s transgression has a strange, confusing quality. The words “ineligible player” usually suggest some form of minor administrative oversight. But Maritz, who joined from Arsenal in early January, had not only received a few forgotten substitute minutes for Arsenal in the tournament; He was on the pitch for every minute possible. And Villa brought him on at half-time in the final game of a group game they had already destroyed. While leading 3-0. You can read all of this in two ways: Maritz’s appearance had no material impact, so Villa finished in the last eight on merit; or their oversight was so stupid that they actually deserved to be kicked out of the competition. What’s clear is that the entire episode exposes fundamental flaws in what should be, if not a full-blown blue ribbon tournament, then at least something better than the current outlandish concept. Either way, this seems extremely unfair to poor old Manchester United. Last hitter? If Villa had been kicked out and their record wiped clean, it still might not have saved Marc Skinner’s team; Durham would be second in Group A… and their points per game record would be superior.
LIVE ON MAJOR WEBSITE
A big evening full of ultra hot MBM action. Join John Ashdown for Mali 3-1 Burkina Faso in the Afcon last 16 clash from 17:00 GMT; Meanwhile, Sarah Rendell manages Paris FC 1-2 Chelsea in the Women’s Major Cup at 17:45 GMT. There are also five Premier League matches on offer: Scott Murray is at Nottingham Forest 1-1 Arsenal, while Rob Smyth will do the rest on our watch.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“These events have no connection with the real Iraqi media, which is known for its honorable positions. We condemn the blatant and disgusting behavior towards the coach and confirm that we have decided not to deal with these media personnel who seek to create chaos in the future. “We will pursue legal methods to restore the coach’s reputation and appeal to the relevant authorities to explain what happened” – The Iraqi Football Federation complains about hacks that disrupted coach Jesús Casas’ post-match press conference following their dramatic Asian Cup last 16 defeat against Jordan. At the post-match press conference it was said that angry pirates were seen shouting at Casas and more than a dozen of them rushed out, pointing at the Spanish coach. The AFC also gave them life bans for their behavior.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Maidstone and Ipswich are ‘separated by 98 places in the pyramid’ (yesterday’s Football Daily). Isn’t it really a pyramid, with a polygonal base and flat triangular faces with pointed tips at the top? It looks much more like a ladder or a greasy pole” – Steve Allen.
While I sympathize with Jaidon Anthony (yesterday’s Road to Wembley, full email edition), I think he put the referee in an impossible situation with the mandatory yellow card in tribute to his late mother. Beyond the details of the statement on the T-shirt, Anthony was four years old when this law changed in 2004; Without addressing him specifically, it is surprising that football or footballers have not yet developed a method of paying tribute to someone who has not received an automatic caution. “Also, never mind the point where officials feel they have to penalize it, I have always been completely baffled by the logical process that leads to players associating scoring goals with taking off their jerseys” – Ed Taylor.
We appointed Darren [Moore] Huddersfield said it suited him as he pushed him through the door marked Do One (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). I wonder on what other basis a football club would appoint a manager? Surely it’s just because they were once a great player, right? Ah… Picture of Wayne Rooney here please” – John Myles.
Send a letter to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of the non-prize letter of the day is… Steve Allen.
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