Jump directly to the content

Wrong about Ferdinand, Zaha farce and plane stupid Rio – it’s Adrian Durham’s Friday opinion

talkSPORT Drive presenter Adrian Durham shares his views on the week's football news. Share your thoughts on his Friday column in our comments section at the bottom (Adrian reads every comment).

 

Ignore Zaha in the Football League Player of the Year awards

Wilfried Zaha scored a stunning goal for the England Under-21s on Thursday night and I would have loved to see him tear San Marino to shreds in the World Cup qualifier this evening.
I don’t want to see him win the Football League Player of the Year award, though.

4

Zaha in action for England U21s v Romania

The League awards have become something of a farce. They are now seemingly contrived to make sure they’re all about the big clubs and have as much connection to the Premier League as possible.
Zaha is a Manchester United player on loan to a Football League club, Crystal Palace. As such, he should not be eligible for the award.
I hope Tom Ince wins it – without him I fear Blackpool would have been relegated this season as a succession of managers have let them down.
That’s far from the end of my dissatisfaction with the awards, however. The biggest shambles is Goal of the Year, for which the League apparently drew up a long list of ten. They then gave the fans the chance to vote for the best five to go on a shortlist from which the eventual winner would be chosen.
Unsurprisingly, and unfairly, the clubs with the biggest fan bases ended up being represented. So that’s Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Cardiff, Millwall (who will take 30,000 to Wembley soon in case you think they don’t have a big fan base). The only anomaly is Crewe. However, that goal was scored by Nick Powell, now at Manchester United. I would imagine there are some at the Football League desperate for a Manchester United player to win that award.
Some stunning goals have been scored by players at smaller clubs – Jacques Maghoma at Burton, Lee Molyneux at Accrington being just two examples. And, of course, real football fans will know what was really the Goal of the Year  - George Boyd’s stunning one-two in the centre circle with a team-mate, culminating in his 45-yard wonder strike against Huddersfield.
But Posh have a small fan base so the best goal won’t win it. Pointless awards in the end then.

 

We're not stupid, Rio

Manchester United are one of the biggest football clubs in the world.
So do you think they’ve designed an intricate pre-planned training programme for Rio Ferdinand’s chronic back problem that includes a 15-hour round trip to Qatar, a night out watching One Direction, going out to play with Harry Styles, and scoffing an Indian takeaway?
Football fans aren’t stupid. Some footballers are.

 

What a waste of time

San Marino v England – what’s the point? This really is the kind of fixture that shouldn’t exist.
San Marino have lost 103 of the 107 games they’ve played and conceded 465 goals in the process. When they came to Wembley last year, England played poorly and couldn’t string any coherent football together.
We still won 5-0, had 86% possession, 53 efforts on or off target, while San Marino had one attempt that didn’t even trouble the goalkeeper.

4

England may get three points, but this is a pointless fixture

This fixture should not be happening, San Marino should have been in a pre-qualifying group to weed out most of the useless minnows. Playing England is simply a waste of everyone’s time.

 

Saints marching in to Three Lions contention

I was so impressed with Southampton when I made my first visit to St Mary’s last week.
In particular, I liked the look of the full-backs Luke Shaw and Nathaniel Clyne. I’d be more than happy for those two to be England regulars long-term.
What impressed me most was their defensive capabilities, coupled with their threat going forward. I watched Clyne maybe 18 months ago and he was vulnerable defensively. He’s been coached well and he’s learnt well.

4

Clyne helped Saints to an impressive 3-1 win against Liverpool

Shaw, meanwhile, is stunning. If you get a chance to watch him I hope he shows you what he can do. He looks comfortable on the ball, finds a simple pass, and can spot a clever run from a team-mate. He is a special player.

 

I was wrong about Ferdinand

I don’t get much wrong, but I got something badly wrong this season.
And for that I owe Peterborough’s Irish Under-21 midfielder Kane Ferdinand (a cousin of Rio, although I’m told they’ve never actually met) a big apology.

4

Kane Ferdinand has come on leaps and bounds at Peterborough

Earlier this season when he got his first international call-up (his dad is Irish) I tweeted that the Irish must be “desperate.” It was meant to reflect his distinctly average performances for Posh, with the question most fans were asking being: “What exactly does Kane Ferdinand do?”
In fairness, however, he was adapting to the huge step up from League Two to the Championship. After my tweet he bossed the midfield in the 5-1 win at Millwall, and on Saturday he scored the winner after a well-timed run into the box at Blackpool.
Sorry Kane. Keep it up.  
 

Topics
cricket exchange