Shaka Hislop ‘Bolton can fancy their chances, but QPR may survive’

Two tickets to the Championship have already been booked, but for QPR and Bolton, a nerve-racking day lies ahead. Shaka Hislop looks at who’s likely to still be a Premier League club by about a quarter to five on Sunday

QPR manager Mark Hughes

With Wolves and Blackburn falling through the trapdoor in advance of the last day of the Premier League, this season’s relegation battle lacks the drama of recent years. It won’t feel like that for Bolton and QPR fans however. It’s going to be nerve-racking as the two teams cling on to survival.

QPR face a near impossible task in trying to beat Manchester City, but they’re the ones currently above the drop zone, so they may still lose and stay up. Only a win for Bolton will keep them up. No team looks forward to playing Stoke at the Britannia Stadium, but with nothing to play for in recent weeks, it’s not as ominous for Bolton as it might have been. The Potters have won once in 11 games and that was against Wolves. I wouldn’t have Bolton as guaranteed winners, but I wouldn’t be too despondent if I was Owen Coyle. It’s doable.

For the money QPR have spent, I’m surprised to see them in such trouble heading in to the last round of matches. I thought appointing Mark Hughes was a good move and I really thought he’d be able to steer them clear of trouble.

Bolton have had a tough season. They couldn’t get any momentum going early in the season and the Fabrice Muamba incident has cast a shadow over the last few months of the campaign. The loss of Stuart Holden was also huge. He’s a very important part of the team and losing him once was bad enough, but then losing him again just as he was coming back into the reckoning was worse.

Coyle has been under pressure throughout the season and the terrible end to last season didn’t help him when they started this season so badly. I still think the Bolton board did the right thing by keeping faith with him. It’s certainly paid huge dividends for Wigan who stuck with Roberto Martinez. If you cast your mind back to the start of the Coyle era at Bolton, you’re reminded of how good they were and that explains why the board haven’t sent him packing. They’re a tough club to manage. They don’t attract big names, it’s difficult to fill the stadium and their financial restraint they tend to exercise is good for their long term survival, but it makes it difficult to compete in the short term.

For Blackburn, Steve Kean never impressed me as a manager. He hasn’t been helped by the owners. They were far too hasty in sacking Sam Allardyce and as a result, Kean came in with a lot of question marks surrounding the appointment. There was talk of money being splashed around, but the majority of it hasn’t materialised and it’s accentuated the problems Kean has faced. When the warning signs first came, I think Blackburn needed to act quickly and get rid of Kean. Kean does deserve credit for the revival he coaxed out of the team over Christmas and how he handled the viscous protests, but the writing has been on the wall for some time.

Copyright Notice
Parts of this post may be reproduced, but must be accompanied with an appropriate mention of Shaka Hislop’s Ministry Of Glove and link to http://www.ministryofglove.com

Rising Star: Johannes Hopf (Hammarby)

The Nets Big Thing?

Is a shot in the top flight more difficult to save than in the lower divisions? It’s not the football equivalent of the ‘tree falling in the woods’ philosophical riddle, it’s a question faced by scouts, coaches and managers in leagues all over the world. With outfield players pace, touch and strength can be judged in a more quantifiable way, but assessing a goalkeeper isn’t as straightforward. You may be watching a lower level, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into needing less agility or slower reactions to deal with it.

After seeing Johannes Hopf in action, the internal debate continued with renewed intensity. The second tier of Swedish football doesn’t feature highly on most people’s radars, but Hopf came to my attention recently whilst playing for Hammarby a few weeks ago when a string of high quality saves made the difference between victory and dropping points against Varnamo. Every time I’ve seen Hopf since I’ve been impressed and left with the distinct impression that he is capable of performing at a far higher level. The result wasn’t very flattering when his team took on Landskrona, but individually he was superb and his efforts stopped the scoreline having more rugby-style look to it. You may have your own ideas about the differences between various standards of football, but whatever the level, the core requirements of the goalkeepers remain the same and he performs them with absolute aplomb. This is a goalkeeper really capable of going somewhere.

What was so impressive? Well, it feels like a cliche to say it, but the young Swede strikes me as a very well rounded keeper, adept in virtually all the duties a goalkeeper is likely to encounter. He’s got the agility and athleticism to deal with the shot-stopping aspect of the job. He regularly seems to throw his body at the ball, stretch out one of those long arms of his and save a shot seemingly destined for the back of the net. In this day and age, we should be beyond the point of expressing surprise when someone of height also shows an ability for dexterity and movement, but there’s something about the ease with which Hopf does it that seems remarkable. His reflexes are superb and he’s capable of making breath-taking saves in close combat. In one on one he’s aggressive, stays big to give himself the best chance and shows good adaptability to make the save by whatever means possible. His hands are good and he exerts a real command and calmness on his penalty area. He uses every inch of his 6ft 5 frame to great effect to take control under the high ball and it seems to breed confidence throughout his defence. His awareness is strong. He’s not afraid to play the role of sweeper if the situation requires and likewise, he’s alert to the possibilities of setting up quick counter attacks and at times looks Schemiechel-esque with his throw outs. It’s a mightily impressive box of tricks to have at your disposal.

If that’s not enough by way of gushing praise, another major advantage is his experience. He won’t turn 25 until next summer, but already in his short career he has amassed a good deal of experience and he’s already closing in on having made 200 senior appearances. Again there may be those who question the level at which he’s playing, but there’s a maturity to his game that you rarely see in keepers of a similar age. Moreover, it’s encouraging because he has consistently shown a capacity to rise to the top at each of his clubs and establish himself as first choice (most recently usurping former Arsenal keeper, Rami Shaaban) that almost makes the level irrelevant. At the bare minimum it shows this is a young man capable of learning, developing and consistently improving himself.

Physically, he has the height, but he’s also got a certain bulk that should mean he’ll handle the physicality of the British leagues with little difficulty. Technical strength is also in his favour. His footwork is good and he likes to catch the ball where possible and it’s apparent that his style would be suited to the English game. It’s no surprise to hear a move to the UK has been close in the past, but fell through late on in the horse trading. I’ve been told by a very reliable source that Preston and QPR have also made approaches deemed insufficient by his club and Bayern Munich and AEK Athens are amongst the continental clubs who’ve been taking a long hard look at him. In my opinion, his likely fee and ability to progress would be perfect for Arsene Wenger. Clearly the Frenchman doesn’t like spending big and places an emphasis on improving players, so Hopf would be right up his alley.

Maybe the scouts suffer from the same problems of assessing the standards of various leagues around Europe, but at the very least he deserves a chance at a higher level and a small risk now could potentially pay off many times over. Everyone has to start somewhere and it’s folly to dismiss talent on the grounds of not being at the highest level at that particular moment in thime.

Hopf looks to have the fundamentals plus a lot more, so don’t be surprised if you see him making upwards progress in the very near future.