Friday Ramble: Crisis Management
The FFF have finally got rid of Corinne Diacre, plus I answer your questions from *last* week.
Most will say it has taken too long, but yesterday the FFF announced they had fired Corinne Diacre as women’s national team coach, less than 24 hours after said coach released a defiant statement saying she wouldn’t resign - on International Women’s Day. Says a lot.
It’s taken some time but the FFF has done the right thing, but from speaking to people in France, there’s still a lot of issues which need sorting out within the organisation, but I hope it’s enough at least to see Wendie Renard, Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto return, because a World Cup without them won’t be as good, frankly.
While the FFF were in crisis management, the Lionesses had swayed the government into making a pledge to finally ensure all girls in the UK have equal access to playing football at school.
There’s many - including myself - still sceptical as to whether it will happen as they say given this government has almost zero trust from the UK public, but it’s a positive start and a potential huge legacy of the Euro 2022 success. There are caveats too and some teachers have already spoken out to say not a lot will change, and you can read my thoughts on it here from earlier this week if you’re interested.
I was also in crisis management this week. You may have noticed there was no Friday Ramble last week, no interview ahead of the Continental Cup final and nothing on Monday either, because my laptop decided to die a slow death last Thursday night.
After a repair shop trip it’s back to life, but only after a mild panic of how I was going to keep updating Substack. This job is all about crisis management sometimes!
Anyway, happier stories. I was in the team hotel with Sheffield United the weekend before last - in London, so it was busy - and a young boy and girl came up to me and asked how to get into working in football as a coach. Not to let them down and break the news I just look after the media, I pointed them in the direction of one of our coaches stood next to me who gave them a pep talk and said hopefully he’ll see them on the touchline one day. It’s nice to inspire, isn’t it?
Busy-ish week until now where I’m currently snowed in because apparently it snows in the middle of March now. That’s meant relying on Zoom calls again. I spoke to Jack Sullivan earlier this week for an upcoming interview, he was really open and honest about his time running West Ham’s women’s team and yesterday I spoke to Manchester City’s Mary Fowler - that will be out later today.
I’ve been helping the company who look after England’s matchday programmes put some bits together on Brazil and hooking them up with a few agents and the CBF, so hopefully you’ll see a few cool interviews/features from the Brazilian side at Wembley on April 6th.
I’ve also been invited to go and do a talk at Liverpool John Moores University at the end of the month. I’m not a big public speaker, the only one I’ve really done was at the Finnish Embassy before the Euros last year, but I don’t like turning down challenges and opportunities and I know when I was at Uni it was invaluable to hear from other people already in the industry when they came in to talk. I’ve also been asked to talk at a really cool event overseas later in the year - more on that soon!
I’d also like to say well done to the NWSL who continue to be the best when it comes to dealing with the media. In England, bar a few clubs, it can still be a real pain to arrange anything with WSL clubs, but I emailed a few NWSL clubs just last night and already one has responded offering me their new head coach, one has said they’ll accommodate whatever I want and another has asked to set up a call to discuss this new site. It can be that easy.
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Answering your Questions
(A week late!)
ross - do you think that the NWSL implementing VAR this season is a reflection of that leagues ability to change it’s rules and adjust the league to the times faster & better than the WSL is capable of reacting when changes are very obviously required? and do you think that is a potential problem for the WSL?
beyond VAR - which is debated everywhere - frozen WSL pitches that are not a respectable standard, for instance.. rather than go ahead & raise the required standards division wide and put the onus on the clubs to invest in their facilities or move to better facilities if they’d like to remain in the top division, there are government funded focus groups with “experts” being created to “discuss” what the next steps ought to be made for the future of “women’s game”. like, just fix the league standard first mate?
It’s frustrating as a fan of both leagues that the WSL seems to have so much bureaucracy surrounding every decision that could lead to improvements league wide at a time when the game is moving so much faster than the decision makers could do.
I think bureaucracy around every little thing is typically an English way of doing things - sadly!
I think the VAR and pitch/stadium issues roll into one. I think the NWSL and the USA in general has always been a bit ahead of curve in women’s football in general, but here I think there’s issues around stadium sharing. A lot of clubs share grounds with non-league grounds who would then potentially benefit from any goal line technology or VAR.
But, the reality is most WSL grounds aren’t ready for VAR or anywhere near set up for it. I do think a lot more investment is needed in this area, and I’d love each team to have their own designated ground built for them, but that will take years and a lot of money which possibly isn’t there for a lot of clubs right now.
Grumpy Dad - Do you see the Championship as a two-horse race now between Bristol and London City? The other teams who did have a chance (Birmingham, Charlton) can’t seem to find any consistency.
Admittedly, this looked like a different question a week ago before we beat London City Lionesses, which was a superb win for us!
I would have said a two-horse race before that to be fair, but still favoured Bristol given their three-point advantage and the fact I just feel they have more quality and depth, especially since adding Grace Clinton and Rachel Furness in January.
It may now potentially be a one-horse race, but it’s never over until it’s over and all that.
My Name Goes Here - If Arsenal don’t win a trophy again this season, is Jonas going to be on the hot seat? And what do you make of the players that have joined under him? It’s still early days but most seem a bit underwhelming…
Again, a question that looked quite different a week ago! Damn laptop! But I’ll answer anyway because I do think he’d have been ok. I thought given last season was his first some of their football was impressive and he took the title right until the final day. To lose your two best forwards is tough for any team and coach to deal with, and I do still think there’s a good chance they could drop out of the Champions League spots, the games against their rivals will be crucial, and if that does happen their decision will be interesting, but I think it’s too soon to say make a change.
Ona Express - WSL
- How many points does it take to stay up this season? Which of the bottom five teams will manage to get out of trouble sooner rather than later?
I think anyone around West Ham’s mark now will feel fairly safe, certainly Everton’s tally of 19. Teams around the bottom generally don’t pick up too many and given Leicester City have 6 from 13, I think if they got above 15/16 points they’ve done well. They do also play Brighton on the final day!
- Which team will be the biggest upset (standing wise) at the end of the season? (1 positive, 1 negative)
Ooo. I said above I think Arsenal could struggle to wriggle back into the top three with their lack of forwards now, so that would be a surprise, and I guess positively Aston Villa. I expected them to push to around mid-table with their recruitment this season but fifth so far is outstanding, if they can hold off Everton they’ve done very well.
Transfer market
- Which winter signing will have the most impact for their respective team until the end of the season? (1 WSL & 1 Championship)
I think as I mentioned above with Villa, both Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth are having a big influence in that midfield and they look stronger than even the first half of the season. To throw a long-term option out there, I’ll say Jayde Riviere and Kathrine Kuhl too, but not so much this season.
In the Championship, again like I said above, I think Bristol City did so well to get both Grace Clinton and Rachel Furness because both are WSL players in my opinion. Clinton had WSL interest so for Bristol to pick her up is a coup and Furness has always been a big performer when needed.
WoSo in England
- What are your initial thoughts on the focus group to develop a business model for both the Championship and WSL? Do you think there is a big chance the leagues from tier 3 downwards are at risk to be left behind even more than they are now?
I think it’s positive because we are not where we want to be yet, on and off the pitch, there’s a lot to work on where the league is concerned, especially with facilities and what not. I do think both leagues need expanding too, soon, and I’ll be writing about that next week.
And I hope not, and I don’t think so because teams at the top in Tier 3 are really investing and I don’t think the gap between FA WNL and the Championship is too big right now. Look at what Southampton have done coming up this season, they’ve charged straight to the top end of the table with a model they already had in place.
Adam Bateman - With Aston Villa under the exceptional Carla Ward doing ever so very well this season, is of time to think of them as Champions League potentials, could they push Arsenal or Man City all the way this season? I really like what Carla is doing there, and she definitely won the January window.
I praised them above, but I think it’s too early for UWCL. If they finish 5th, they’ve done very well and Carla would admit that herself.
Also on a separate note......at the bottom.....do we think Beth England is now regretting moving to Spurs? If they get relegated, of which there is a very good chance of that happening, surely she won't be staying with them in the Championship...will she? Do they have relegation clauses/"get out of jail free cards" in women's contracts....
I don’t think so. She went there to aid herself when it comes to England and the World Cup, which she’s doing by scoring goals. I think Tottenham will be fine, there’s enough quality there to see them through against the teams below them, but they do need to start picking up results soon. Some players do have relegation clauses in their contracts, but given Tottenham looked pretty safe at one point, I’d be surprised if they even considered it for Beth’s contract.
Also one other question, hypothetically here, if Manchester United keep a clean sheet on Sunday, would that be enough for Sarina to see some sense, and call up Millie Turner for the Copa Finalissima & Australia games? If not, just what in earth would it take? If we were to win the league, would Millie Turner still not be picked for the World Cup squad? I would love to know what Sarina has against Millie Turner...perhaps one day a journalist who has access to her at a press conference might ask her this...because right now her stance against picking her makes no sense, why is Wubben-Moy getting call ups ahead of her.....that is bizarre...
I’ve always said a lot it’s very hard to break into a squad that’s winning and playing well, which England are right now. I’m sure she’s on the radar, but Millie Bright and Leah Williamson is the starting partnership for England, they perform well together for England and there’s plenty of depth back there too. I do think Millie would be next in line, but I also think she had a slow start to the season, which may have cost her when Wiegman made a few changes post-Euros. Now, she’s back in good form, but once you get to March any head coach will have largely made their mind up of their squad for the summer because they want a stable, settled squad as soon as possible to work with, rather than making constant changes and bringing in brand new players to a group just before a major tournament, that’s just the way international football is. A lot of people think it should be dictated solely around club form but it isn’t and never will be. It’s an element, yes, but only one of many.
FYI, Wiegman gets asked about individuals all the time, if we asked about every individual we’d never get anything else done. Also, there’s very few coaches who dislike questions about individual players as much as Wiegman, she wants to talk about the team/squad as a whole.
What you missed
Quieter week than planned due to said laptop issues, but I really enjoyed interviewing Lluis Cortes for this week’s Big Interview. He was fascinating on both the current war in Ukraine and his own experiences of it, plus giving a really interesting insight into the stresses and strains of managing the top club in Europe.
The Big Interview: Lluis Cortes
The Lionesses have done their bit, now it’s over to the government