Why we shouldn't expect to Basque in glory come Sunday evening

Now look here, I haven't had a sudden attack of the negatives, I've merely spent my Saturday morning at work contemplating the post-internationals injury list and the implications for the trip to San Mamés.

With key players such as Xavi, Messi and the recently impressive Eidur Gudjohnsen (one day I might spell his name right) all looking unlikely to play against Athletic on Sunday it is the blog's opinion that for once culés should keep their expectations in check with regards to the level of performance demanded from the side.

3 points is still a wholely reasonable objective for our trip to Euskadi, we have the players available to carve out a result. However this season when we have been impressive it is because Xavi has been orchestrating things from the middle of the park and Messi has been terrorising defences and thus creating space for the likes of Eto'o and Andrés Iniesta. Without these two key figures it is inevitable that the rhythm and performance of the side will be reduced. Pep will probably be forced to move Iniesta into the midfield and play a second string player, either Bojan or Hleb, on the right instead of Leo Messi. The return of Alves at right back will help our attacking options but the style of play seen against Atlético at the Camp Nou won't be repeated, in this match or many others.

If on Sunday evening we have seen Barça go to one of La Liga's most intimidating arenas and win three points we should regard it as a success, even if we've seen a laboured performance and the winner bounces in off Eric Abidal's backside. Matches after international breaks are notrious for the amount of upsets big sides suffer against sides like Athletic who have quality in the squad but few players representing their national teams. After Sunday we can worry about the aesthetics again but the priority in San Mamés is to put points on the board and keep up the momentum as we look to move towards the top of the table. Let's hope for a win, but don't be surprised if we're not treated to the beautiful game we so often associate with our club.

Visca el Barça i Visca la Penya.

6-1, 442, 19/10

As I type away, possibly speaking to myself as I don't know if anybody else reads my ramblings, it is raining in Calpe (Comunitat Valenciana) on this the 9th October, the day of Valencia. The fiesta means a day off work, but the rain means there is naff all to do and the power has already cut out once which upsets my satellite TV receiver, which will in all likelihood now proceed to keep turning itself on and off until I unplug it for several hours, rendering me without any viewing options aside from Spanish terrestrial television. Which doesn't count. Unless you happen to like South American soaps and non-stop news bulletins about the economy.

Today's blog has a lot of numbers in the title. This is an editorial device used to trick people into reading this drivel in the hope that they will want to know what the numbers refer to. If you've got this far, well done!

To kick off, everybody in Barcelona is still very happy about last Saturday's 6-1 mauling of Atletico de Madrid. Even this blog had been drawn in by the pre-match hype surrounding "title challengers" and "Messi v Aguero" only for all the pretense to be unveiled as a sham within about 8 minutes, by which time Barça were 3-0 up and the game was over....aside from the other 4 goals. The 90 minutes at Camp Nou on Saturday contained some of FCB's most sumptuous football, hitting the high notes throughout and entertaining in the extreme. Football doesn't get much better than that from a purely aesthetic point of view. Obviously games which provide slightly more competition can be equally entertaining but for the sheer spectacle provided by Barça's attacking play, we may already have seen the peak of La Liga's 08/09 season.

Friendly neighbour

Special thanks must go to our friendly neighbours at Montjuic who travelled to Madrid, the home of the axis of evil, and returned to Catalunya with a point - having more significantly relieved Real Madrid of two. More neighbourly love will be in the offering when La Liga returns from an enforced break; the Madrid derby takes centre stage in Jornada 7 and Barça will be hoping that they will be the beneficiaries of a potentially tricky game for the scum at Atleti's place.

This month sees the PUB play a starring role in FourFourTwo (442) magazine as part of an article about incomprehensible people who support foreign teams and have failed to be convinced by the Premier League's media machine. It is entirely possible that Richard Scudamore has dispatched death squads to hunt down such vile traitors and naysayers who have turned thair backs on the greatest league in the world (copyright Sky Sports) so if the Penya is a few members short at the next meeting we will know why. This publicity will hopefully bring the Penya to the attention of many UK Barça fans who were previously unaware of our existance and the forum has already gained some more posters through the article.

19/10 - the 19th October is Barça's next game, away at Athletic Club de Bilbao at the famous Catedral of San Mames. Our Basque cousins usually give us a fairly feisty welcome and the game is often very tight so another 6-1 is not to be expected. Returning from Euskadi with 3 points is of course the main objective but until Barça's players are returned by their countries we will have little idea what team we can put out. News so far is that Leo Messi has limped out of a training session with the albiceleste in Buenos Aires but he isn't thought to have a serious injury. It remains to be seen if Argentina will risk Messi in their game against Uruguay but given their track record of not giving a shit if they cripple the lad or not we can't expect any cotton wool treatment from the South Americans towards our star player. Other Barça players face the prospect of taking on world football superpowers such as Chad, Madagascar, Estonia and England.

Cry Me a River Perikitos, and Messi v Kun

The disgraceful actions of Barça's banned hooligan element marred an otherwise excellent victory in the last ever away match against Espanyol within the city of Barcelona. The club with more chips than your average McDonald's, all sported on the shoulder and all against Barça, showed little ambition, little knowledge of how to arrange security at a top flight football game and next to no class in the aftermath of an eventful Catalan derbi.

Were it not for those thoughtful fellows from the Boixos Nois one Medina Cantalejo would have stolen all the headlines in the aftermath of the game. A man who is supposed to be one of Spain's best referees (the competition is slim) managed to bungle his way through 90 minutes pleasing nobody but himself until he contrived to award FCB a last gasp penalty for a debatable foul on Samuel Eto'o as the Cameroonian burst through on goal. The first half was only notable for Barça's complete dominance, Medina Cantalejo harshly sending off Nene of Espanyol and Medina Cantalejo allowing Espanyol's opener despite a blatant foul on Victor Valdes by the Perikos' king of gamesmanship Luis Garcia. The man from L'Hospitalet should still have done far better in dealing with the ball which Pique had scooped up in the air but his catch/tip over was impeded.

The 2nd half of El Derbi was when it got really interesting. The Boixos Nois started throwing flares at the Espanyol fans below and a few Perikos saw this as an excuse to invade the pitch. Medina, viewing this as a risk to the players' safety, stopped the game for around 8 minutes and on resumption Barça were soon level through a fortunate goal from Henry after his first touch went away from him but Kameni in the blanquiblau goal could only palm the ball against his own defender and the rebound dropped kindly for Thierry who gratefully bagged a rare goal in the blaugrana shirt. It was no more than Barça deserved after incessant pressure and plenty of chances. What came next will go down in folklore for both clubs, for differing reasons. With the TV channels and the fans unsure of how much time was left to be played the match ran on and on, according to La Sexta the match was in the 92nd minute when the 4th official raised the board to show 3 minutes of injury time. 2 minutes later and Samuel Etoo was released into the box by Leo Messi. Pareja lunged for the ball. Samu fell under the challenge. PENALTY! It looked like a stonewaller on the TV in real time but replays showed that Pareja had possibly got a slight touch of the ball before felling Etoo. No matter, Barça had the penalty and a chance to kick Espanyol out of Barcelona in style...they move to the nearby town of Cornella next season. Messi showed no remorse and coolly slotted the penalty to give Barça a famous win in the last derbi at the historic Montjuic stadium.

Post match reactions from Espanyol were hysterical. The perikos' neurotic president Daniel Sanchez Llibre was apoplectic with rage and proceeded to squeal about the league being "prostituted" and the referee arriving with the sole intention of screwing his football club. "Dani" forgets of course that Espanyol aren't important enough for anybody to think of screwing them but the Perikos think they're on a higher plane after recent success in the Copa del Rei and the UEFA Cup. Success, of course, in a relative sense. The Monday after the game saw rumours of Espanyol reporting Barça's victorious players to the police for having the audacity to celebrate the winning goal in front of the travelling fans. Espanyol intrepreted this as inciting the half dozen or so fans who threw flares to partake in that disgraceful act, despite the fact that the flares had already been thrown. This blog believes that those players had every right to celebrate in front of the 600 or so Cules who behaved themselves and enjoy a special moment in beating the local upstarts.

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Wednesday night was all about the man above. Let's be frank here, Barça were shocking for large parts of the game in Donetsk but the sheer class of Lionel Messi was enough to turn around the game for FCB. The winner was of high quality from a player who continues to stake his claim to the title of "best player in the world". This is not to be confused, as in the UK media, for the award for "most photogenic player in the world" which Cristiano "pay me more" Ronaldo owns. Shakhtar had, for much of the game, given an uncomfortable lesson to other less ambitious teams in how to get a result against Barça. The Ukranian side was well organised, physical and savvy in defence. Barça got out of jail thanks to a goalkeeping error and a superb combination between Iniesta dn Messi to secure a result which was ill-deserved. Against Atleti on Saturday the boys in Blaugrana will have to step it up considerably and Pep must almost certainly rethink his selections, specifically with regards to Keita & Yaya in the same midfield and a certain sulky, lazy Frenchman who is currently to be seen plodding about up front in FC Barcelona's No. 14 shirt. Unless Henry improves, in PUB blog's opinion he has no place in a Barça side. In Ukraine Henry's only contribution was ensuring that the far more valuable Samuel Eto'o had to play out of position which limited his effectiveness. Bojan and Pedro look better options than the expensive purchase from Arsenal right now and that should be a concern for all Barça fans.

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Saturday, 10pm Catalan time, sees a clash which is being billed as a battle between two of world footballs brightest young stars, both Argentinian, both billed as "the next Maradona" (who isn't?) and both absolutely breath taking on their day.

The blog is extremely envious of Atleti because El Kun is a brilliant player and one who would fill the left-hand slot of Barça's attacking trident to perfection. Atleti have traditionally been far more capable of getting results at Camp Nou than pretty much any team aside from Valencia and Saturday will be a stern test of Pep Guardiola's developing side. Cules should bear in mind that we are still in a somewhat transitional phase but PUB blog sees positive signs, in attack at least, that this side will come good in the end. At the time of writing we have strung together 5 wins in a row without ever hitting top gear, even when we were hitting 6 in Gijon. If Pep can settle on his best XI and play that side as much as possible then we have a fighting chance in all competitions this season but it's clear thus far that the Catalan hasn't yet quite decided on his ideal starting lineup and as a consequence performances aren't hitting the heights and in defence we look shakey. The priority must be deciding upon a regular CB partnership which will be Puyol +1 other. Until that happens the miscommunications and mistakes in defence will continue and if that isn't resolved soon it will impede the side's progress.

Despite these concerns PUB blog believes that onwards and upwards is Barça's destination in the short to medium term and we have every confidence in Pep and the team. A win tomorrow would certainly go a long way to allaying any lingering concerns.

As ever, ahead of all the weekend action which sees cules become perikos for 90 minutes on Sunday it's Visca el Barça i Visca la Penya!

Barça kick off (without Messi)

After last season's woes condemned FCB to a 3rd place finish we are forced to run the gauntlet of Champions League qualification and play Polish side Wisla Krakow for a place in the competition proper. One thing that won't help Barça out is a Sepp Blatter-lead ruse which has seen Leo Messi stolen from the Camp Nou and illegally handed to the Argentine Olympic football squad to take part in up to 6 games in 14 days in a bid by the young genius' home nation to ensure that their brightest hope for the future has as short a career as possible. Is it any wonder that Messi seems to become ever more injury prone when the Albiceleste continue to deny him a full pre-season with which to prepare his body for the challenges ahead?

Pre-season has seen a glut of goals for the "new Barça" under the stylish stewardship of Pep Guardiola. The Catalan's reign seems to have heralded a harder working, faster passing, more committed team which promises much ahead of the new campaign. Pre-seasons can often be deceptive especially when the opposition falls some way short of the standard set by the likes of reial madrid, Valencia, Vila-real etc but the sheer diversity which we seem to have found in attack makes this cule and many other Penya members very optimistic that we can reign in Spain once again.

Speaking of the Penya, our fine attendance record looks set to improve even further in 2008/09. Away games seem to be becoming the flavour of the day with the majority of members now very familiar with the seductive streets of Catalonia's capital city. We are all set to be represented at the first five games of the season including both legs of the CL qualifier, the Joan Gamper trophy match and a league away game. Not bad for a bunch of guys who were taunted with songs of "Have you ever been to Spain? Have you f**k!" by a group of ignorant Manchester United fans back in May ahead of the CL semi-final 2nd leg.

Three points need to be made before rounding off this edition of the PUB blog; firstly that Ramon Calderon is a moron with even more egg on his face than usual after a summer of trying to tempt Cristiano Ronaldo to Scum Central failed miserably just as his pursuits of Kaka and Cesc Fabregas have in the past. The man has won two league titles by accident and it is only this fact which saves him from being totally discredited as a viable occupant of the Bernabeu hot seat. Mind you, as the old mantra goes, if you can't be good (and Ramon is really, really bad) be lucky (and he is very, very lucky). Secondly, this season will see myself and Jason blogging on a far more regular basis. Unfortunately unless I win the Euromillions some time soon I have to do things like going to work and doing my own supermarket shopping and typing away on a keyboard after all that is far too much effort sometimes! Finally, I'd like to send out heartfelt congratulations to Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez who return to the Camp Nou as European champions. Let's hope they can do likewise for Barça this season.

Visca el Barça, Visca la Penya i Visca Catalunya!

Out with the old.......

As I bid adieu to Messrs. Deco, Eto'o, Ronaldhino, Rijkaard et al, I am salivating at the prospect of a new era at Barca. Another 'dream team' per chance ?

One of Barca's proudest sons, Pep Guardiola, waits in the wings, ready to make a grand entrance onto the Camp Nou stage. A young man full of ideas, enthusiasm and drive. A man of presence. A Barca man. A man that understands. A man of the people and for the people.

As he begins to play conductor for the blaugrana, what instruments will make up his orchestra?

Many of the Spanish daily's are reporting on the mouthwatering prospect of Kaka swapping the stripes of Milan for those of Barca, with a fading Ronaldhino heading in the opposite direction. Surely the transfer business of the decade if it were to happen. The thought of seeing Kaka and Messi in the same team is a marriage made in football heaven.

Other names are being banded around like confetti - Alves, Keita, Ribery, Pique, Adebayor to name just a few. Clearly, the 'pull' of playing for one of the best and most attractive football teams in the world has not lost any of it's shine.

So what is Pep about to take on.........

Well, in truth, Barca's season was all but over a few months ago, but the clawing back of 7 out of 9 points lead that Franco's team held, gave all cules brief cause for optimism. In much the same way as someone with a long illness appears to make a recovery, albeit brief, before plunging into a downward spiral once more. And sadly too many sub standard performances have seen the death of Rijkaard and his team.

It is necesary to take a few moments to doff one's cap and pay our last respects to Frank, a man of dignity, of honesty, but ultimately not a man of any substance. How else do you explain the frequent disappearing acts of some of the more established names. No 'hairdryer' treatment for them.

It is indeed a great shame, that the all conquering 2006 vintage has lost the bubbles and is now flat as a pancake. Adieu Frank and thanks for the memories.

Let us hope that Pep can get the party started once more.

Visca!

The end of an era.......

Regular visitors to the PUB forum will be aware that the now legendary BCN Sports Bar appears to have closed it's doors for the last time. Whilst it's sudden demise is shrouded in mystery, a la Scooby Doo, the fact remains that the 'home away from home' of the PUB is no more.

Whilst not a visitor myself, I have been kept entertained via the forum with numerous tales of great times that were had there, under the watchful eye of honorary PUB members Carlos and Virginia. It is therefore appropriate to raise a glass to them both and wish them well. 'Look to the future now' as Noddy once sang.

Which brings me conveniently to matters pertaining to the manager of this glorious football club of ours. Baffling team selections, constantly outwitted tactically and a propensity to transport me back to the heady days of my youth..................I can almost see Mike Reid now 'ger ger ger ger GO......runaround'. In far too many important games recently the blaugrana have looked liked a leaderless group of headless chickens, Rijkaard content to warm himself in his Recaro pitchside.

Tant se val d'on venim - it doesn't matter where we come from. What does matter is that when we travel hundreds of miles and spend our hard earned, we want to see a well drilled, well performing, expertly managed group of players.

Where is the passion, the fire, the leadership that we cules expect, nay demand. Instead we get a Sven clone, who is happy to let games pass by without a 'Plan B' for when things go awry. And how.

Franco's team must be amongst the worst to wear the all white shirt, yet they maintain a healthy 7 point lead over us. That is just not acceptable. Rijkaard tends to eulogise on the quality of the team, the mentality, the maturity. This has been missing on too many occasions this year. Only Celtic away springs to mind as a game this season where we have played to anything like our true potential, Messi the only consistent performer in my opinion.

The chase for silverware, stage 1 of 3, starts tomorrow in a must win Copa del Rey semi final 2nd leg at the Mestalla. The wolves can be kept at bay for a few days with a decent result here. It will not gloss over the cracks though, and with us fast approaching the business end of La Liga, it is imperative that Senor Frank gets his preparation spot on.

That said, I don't think I'm alone in thinking the writing is already on the wall, scrawled high in permanent marker - 'FRANK OUT'.

It remains to be seen if the Rijkaard era is coming to an end, Laporta still insisting that the dutchman 'represents the acceptable face of Barca'. Depending on who you believe, Wenger, Mourinho, Benitez, Laudrup et al are all waiting in the wings, the portuguese being the most likely candidate to pick at the bones of a dramatically underperforming blaugrana team.

Can we forego our attacking traditions, our 'total' football style, for the long ball game favoured by Jose. Would the likelihood of silverware seduce us into buying into the Mourinho school of ethics?

The fat lady has begun to warble..........will it be long before she is singing like the proverbial canary..........

The PUB says "Keep the faith"

Last weekend was billed as the Madrid derbi that Atletico were finally to take something from, the most even in years, a match where anything could happen. Afterwards it was being diagnosed as the match where Madrid sealed the league with Barca dead and buried with 18 games still to go. Both statements were/are complete tosh.

In the words of one Atletico fans "it's been the same game for 10 years". It doesn't matter how Atletico go into that fixture, or indeed how they play in that fixture. Another 3 point haul for the club whose President openly supports baseball bat wielding neo-nazi hooligans is an inevitability. The shouts from Madrid players of "the league's in the bag" are premature and symptomatic of the almost total disdain that exists for the opposition nowadays at the Bernabeu, an attitude provoked by their manager who whenever Madrid fail to win, or fail to win convincingly enough, seeks to place the blame on anybody but himself.

The 7 points that seperate the two teams at the top of La Liga look far more than they are because of Madrid's relentless consistency, not because of any overwhelming quality that they posess. It is also enhanced by a FC Barcelona side which has for a time now looked very unlike Barca. However one result, one defeat for Madrid will completely change the perplexion of the contest because WHEN that defeat comes along it will shatter their growing sense of untouchability within the walls of the Bernabeu as well as outside. Barca simply have to find a way to win, win and win again just like they did in 2004 in the second half of Frank Rijkaard's first season. That time our club managed to overturn a Madrid advantage which at one stage amounted to 18 points and ended up with Barca finishing 2 points ahead of the auld enemy.

If the side can stay injury free, if maybe we get a bit of luck with Etoo coming back early from the ANC, if Ronaldinho can find form again then there is no reason why we can't push right to the end of the season to win back the league title. We CAN go to the Bernabeu and win as Barca sides of the past have done against far better Madrid teams, we CAN get the two other results which would see us ahead of that foul club which continues to give free tickets to overtly fascist fans and we CAN do it playing good football. It needs hard work, it needs unity and it needs belief but if those three ingredients are blended together at Can Barca then we can come back and make those players in white running down the tunnel at the Calderon cheering and whooping and shouting "the league's in the bag" with half a season left look very, very silly indeed.

Visca el Barca i Visca la PUB.

Mind the gap!

Firstly an apology. Not from all at FC Barcelona for the disgraceful non-performance in the biggest match of the season, but from me for my failure to post since the Espanyol game. I do however have the excuse of having a proper job other than kicking a football around but never fear people because 2008 will be the year that this blog really takes off...or not, depending on how I feel.

After entertaining PUB members in Valencia with a clinical annihalation of a home side in almost total chaos hopes were high for El Clasico and a chance to close the gap at the top of the league to a single point going into the Christmas break. There were around 20 members of the Penya attending the game against the arch enemy and everybody enjoyed a few trips to the Sports Bar and several meals out as a group as the wait for the game seemed to drag on forever.

The atmosphere around the ground pre-match was strangely muted considering the amount at stake, maybe it was a consequence of the game being an earlier kick off or simply being so close to the Christmas holidays; maybe, however, the fans just had the feeling that it wasn't going to be our day.

The less said about the match the better quite frankly. Barca were the better side before the goal which decided the game and should have been a goal up when Ronnie had time to pick his spot as the ball fell to him in the area but he could only shoot straight at Casillas. Within minutes the people in white were celebrating a goal of real quality which seemed to knock the stuffing out of our side. 0-1

After the goal it was time for a leading player to take the game by the scruff of the neck and haul us back into contention. Messi was out and Ronaldinho may as well have been for all the effect he was having. He beat his man marker (the opposition only need to use the one nowadays) the sum total of two times and made the same amount of runs back to help out his defence. The lack of effort from the Brazillian and far too many others was simply a disgrace when faced with the prospect of out greatest rivals celebrating a victory on Catalan soil. There was simply no urgency and no passion.

The second half came and went with few if any chances for FC Barcelona whilst on the counter attack we were threatened regularly by the opposition and the scoreline could have ended up looking embarassing. Post match in Sports Bar was one of the worst atmospheres I have experienced with Carlos the barman describing it as "like a funeral". Enough said.

Barca now have no choice but, as Etoo says, to "win, win and keep on winning". Anything else and the league will be over by Easter and we'll be pinning all our hopes on the cup competitions. No news on any winter transfers yet but FCB did progress through to the round of 16 in the Copa del Rei where they play Sevilla.

If you are interested in joining the Penya then we are still running our special offer on membership. See below for details.