FOOTBALL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16726, 5 December 1914, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

- Manchester City still unbeaten, Chel»ea win their first match i Those were the first thoughts on surveying the results of the First League matches But just as'it is likely that the London club, with all their expensive playBrs so grievously disappointing on the held, will have to struggle desperately to* make any substantial advance, one feels that Manchester City's occupancy ofithe first place in the table is only temporary. For the team is not good enough to remain there. The defence h& excelled, but the forwards have only scrambled to success with luck 04 their side. The rear division men aWrted defeat against Newcastle, but they'were a sndly overworked band,of faithfuls, and could not have succeeded initheir mission had the opposition shot orflinarily well after taking the ball into favourable shooting positions. So loj|g as Manchester City remain unbeaten at the top of the competition itiis not likely that the forwards will be** changed, but this fact does not remove the necessity for change. •"• The Football Association has spent £20,000 in fostering amateur football on* the Continent, and at the moment it «eems to have been a colossal piece for the game in those countries in which they have shown tbe enterprise has been wrecked in th| vortex of war. Here and there, however, we find representatives or these Continental nations who have benefited by the help afforded them. One isi-Nils Middelboe, a young Dane, who has the distinction of captaining Chelsea. Standing 6ft 4in, he is a remarkable footballer, with striking natural talents. He is playing as an amateur an 3 did not cost Chelsea a penny, but now he is keeping Abrams ont of the team, and it was Abrams for whom £IOOO was paid to the Heart of Midlothian Club last May. Chelsea showed slight improvement against Liverpool, but not sufficient to cause one to think

that all was at last well with the side.

There has been serious trouble with the Manchester United players owing to the suspension of " Sandy " Turnbull, who has been with' the club six years, and had a benefit which brought him about £650. The bother began at Burnley on the occasion of a Lancashire Cup tie, Turnbull insulting Mr J. J. Bentley, the old president of the Football League, and now manager of Manchester United. If Turnbull had been in business and had acted in the same way to his employer as he did to Mr Bentley, ho would have been dismissed on tho'spot. As it was, he was suspended for a fortnight, which really meant a fine of £lO, representing two weeks' wages. The other United players threatened to strike if Turnbull's suspension was not removed, but the club refused to be browbeaten in this way, and practically said to the players, "Well, strike!" Meanwhile they had tho reserves in readiness to travel to Sheffield to play tho Wednesday, but tho men evidently thought better of their ridiculous threat of mutiny, and all took part in the match, excepting, of course, Turnbull. Possibly tho players think the trouble is at an end, but the authorities are not likely to take the same view; of what is really a most serious matter. This is not the time for footballers to attempt to dictate or assert rights that cannot be justified. There was one outstanding individual success on Saturday, Fox, the Bradford City inside right, scoring all his side's three goals against Aston Villa. Generally there was a big d"rop in the scoring, but there was an exemption at Sunderland, where Bolton Wanderers accomplished the rare feat for a visitiug side of obtaining three goals and still losing. Similarly at Tottenham, owing to disastrous blunders on defence by the Hotspur, Middlesbrough scored three times and only drew. In this ease there was the further remarkable feat that the visitors held the lead three times.

The Highbury district of London is proving an El Dorado for the Arsenal. Much "gold is flowina; into the club's purse. There were 30.000 spectators of their match with Clapton Orient, representing receipts of over £12.000, and not only have the Arsenal had the best ftates in London, but very few Firs 4 League clubs in the country can equal their average. There is certainly no need for the Arsenal to step paying their players full wages, but the reduction was to be compulsory, and for the general well-being of all the clubs. No better phrase than the hackneyed one that success begets success can be used to describe their good fortune. They are pro-pering in a playing sense, they are at the top of the table, and no team have better prospects of gaining promotion.

There was an echo of last season during the match with the Orient. A year ago tho Arsenal took a two goals lead and then lost it, dropping a point that would have ensured their going up to the First League. Last Saturday they were also two goals in.front, and then, after having one negatived, were in grave danger of losing all their, advantage. It was a most thrilling struggle. grim and earnest, and the fine show of the Orient against opponents who were immeasurably superior lent a piquant interest that the big crowd enjoyed. The Arsenal are finding it most difficult to get away from these rivals on the table. Huddersfield. the "surprise" side in the competition, are hanging on most tenaciously, and the only gain which tlie London club can be said to have made after beating the Orient came about through the unexpected set-back of Bury against Barnsley. Though.only a shadow of their former greatness—only Downs the back and Turned the forward remain of the famous Cup team of a few years ago—the Yorkshire club still retain that special qualification for defeating opponents better than themselves. They continue to play that type of football which is more forceful than clever, and Bury were knocked off their balance. Fortune has been unkind to Fulham Just when the outlook appeared so favourable, their players were battered and injured in the hurly-burly of the game with Derby County three weeks ago. Since then all sorts of experiments have had to be made to fill up the gaps, and in the circumstances the draw at Grimsby was most creditable One of the strangest results of all was the failure of Birmingham on their own ground. On the previous week at Fulham they had given a truly great display. In comparison against Stockport County last week they played like a third-rate side. It was another illustration of the human error creeping into a game we would be pleased to have mechanical.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE. The merits of Watford have won slow recognition, but they continue as the only unbeaten side in the Southern League. The club in past years have cultivated such a bad habit of remaining near the bottom of the tournament that enthusiasts cannot bring themselves to realise that the team are as good as they persist in proving themselves to be. They achieved another fine victory in the match with Bristol Rovers by football that was really admirable. The club have no outstanding performer, but tho level of play all through is • excellent. Watford, however, continue to rank second to Brighton, for the latter made no mistakes in their home game with Portmouth, though one goal served to

give them the maximum points. One of tho most striking results was tho crushing defeat of Swindon at Gillingliam. The previous week with Fleming as a. makeshift, centre forward, they scored four goals; on this occasion with the international in his proper place at inside right, and Donyer back as leader of the attack, thoy lost four. The forwards at Gillingham wero disappointing, bnt the source of the trouble was athalf-back, where the experiment was ' made of converting Wheatcroft.the old j schoolmaster centre forward, into a centre half. But centre half is not a comfortable retreat for a man who is beginning to slow down, and in a position that requires an endless store of energy Wheatcroft soon began to lag. The* result was that not only did the forwards lack adequate _ support, but there was a weak spot in the defence that tho Gillingham men played "on to" most persistently. There is one quaint fact in connection with the Kent Club's record. Leslie, the back, is tho top scorer. This conies about by his being entrusted with the penalty kicks. Ho ha 3 already taken'four of these and scored on each occasion. Crystal Palace must be beginning to despair. Now that Chelsea have broken tho sequence of their reverses they share with Glossop in tho Second League tho unenviable distinction of being tho only club without a win to their credit. Tho cause of tho abject failure of Crystal Palaco is baffling. Supporters of the club have yet to seo a goal registered by the homo side on tho ground, and it is not surprising tho attendances are becoming smaller each week. More than half tho gate of the five thousand last Saturday was made up of naval men, of whom three thousand are being housed in the Palace.