Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/234240
46 2013 in review maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2013 'Tis the season to be sacked Mark Strijbosch A rather grim headline for a Christmas Carol, but life in the Premier League seems tough as ever for our line of managers in the unemployment line. Last weekend saw Andre Villas Boas join that line after he was sacked following a run of heavy defeats. Curiously perhaps Spurs are only five points off their target for that all important Champions League place. The 36 year old manager leaves many curious as he never quite stepped up from his success at Porto in a spell which saw his team land the Europa League. He has since been sacked by two London club, failing to win over Chelsea fans and Spurs fans along the way. But whats the worry for him? He allegedly received £12 million in com- pensation from Chelsea and is set to bag a further £4 million from Tottenham. £16 million for two jobs in which he failed in, I wonder if I am in the wrong industry! The sacking season kicked off as Paolo Di Canio was finally put out of his misery after he nose dived Sunderland into the ground following a run of comical events and press conferences at the club. The Italian has failed to land a job since but is adamant he needed more time to bed his 16 new signings in... that figure again a tad on the high side. From one stand up comedian to another, Ian Holloway resigned from Palace after the Eagles failed to fly and Fulham's Martin Jol soon followed and given by his stagnating Fulham squad whose average age is 29 years old and counting. Steve Clark's sacking from West Brom summarised life in the top flight. His sacking brought the average life span as a top flight manager to just 379 days, a shockingly low figure especially when compared to the compensation packages offered. Following Sir Alex Ferguson's resig- nation last season Wenger is now the longest serving boss with no less than 17 years under his belt at Arsenal. In that time rivals Tottenham have had 12 managers, and then people wonder why the club is making no progress. Dragon's Den Cardiff's situation last Friday also shocked everyone. The popular Malky Mackay who guided them to Premier League promotion last season has been told to "resign or get sacked" following a disagreement with the Malaysian businessman owner Vincent Tan who is unhappy with the current form and style of play from his team. Please keep in mind that Cardiff are a shallow team who will need time to settle in a very tough league, and in the opinion of many 15th place in December is acceptable however with Mackay spending £45 million on transfers his ultimatum has arrived abruptly. The shocking statistic is that there have been 10 Premier League sackings over the past year alone and that figure will increase by the end of May. ASMK through the Year 2013 ASMK is in its 28th year and is one of the Islands major Motorsport organisations for cars and motorcycle Off-road Circuit racing. The tracks are located at Ta' Qali National Park and though this place is limited in footprint area ASMK Officers have managed to construct and maintain the tracks mainly for Autocross, Motocross, Trials, Moto Enduro races and also car Demolition site too. Year 2013 is a year to be remembered in the ASMK history books as in January ASM changed the name to ASMK where the letter K stands for Karozzi. The 20th February 2013 is another remarkable day to ASMK when Frans Deguara (President) and Johann Pace (Secretary) signed contract obo ASMK with the Ministry of Sport, Ministry for Lands and KMS with regards to a new motorsport complex location situated a few meters away from the present location. ASMK is granted to continue organizing its events in the present location until the new location is built through a Govt / Private partnership scheme. Following the General Elections last March an ASMK delegation paid courtesy visit with Parliamentary Secretary Dr. Stefan Buontempo MP where such matters like the new track locations issue, ASMK candidature with FIM, youth in motorsport, safety of bikers and other matters related to both parties and the sport in general were discussed in detail. Following these meetings ASMK delegation also had a number of meeting at KMS offices in Cottonera Sport Complex. In the meantime, ASMK is strengthening its FIM-Europe membership application with FIM. ASMK Officers have attended meetings in Latvia and Lithuania re this matter and Maltese motorcycling sport in general and has built strong relations with a number of FIM, FIM-Europe and European Motorcycling Sport Federations. Locally, ASMK Officers and Section committees are continuously kept busy with the Association's foreign affiliation and organising local Motorsport at Ta Qali and other locations following all Mepa and other permits required. ASMK National Autocross Championship consisting of fifteen (15) race competition dates held between October and the following May is a main attraction to many circuit motorsport lovers of all ages as it is the only sport held on the Island where car racing starts with up to six cars abreast both for the qualifying Heats and for the Class A and B Final 9 Laps races. The degree of driving on soft ter- Does it work? Despite all the managerial changes made I can only remember two which have been a success, and that does not include Di Canio's replacement as Sunderland are still rooted to the bottom. Chelsea's overhauls have so far seemed fruitless and pointless while it is statistically proven that changes in results only happen during the first month of a new boss. After that everything settles and its back to the norm for the club. Were those nine points so valuable that some £12 million must be paid in compensation? Chelsea were 5th in the league when they sacked AVB and they ended up finishing 6th place, while Sunderland are proving life after Di Canio is equally grim. Two clubs where I do believe it has worked are at Spurs where Redknapp replaced Juando Ramos and inherited a club in the bottom three. He dragged them to the heights of Europe over time. Pochettino has done equally well at Southampton in a short time as he changed the playing philosophy of his club. Managers, like in any business, will effect 15% of the overall performanc- es and results of a team. The rest is determined by company culture and the amount of resources available to the team. When owners introduce a slippery surface it is hard for a winning culture to develop and therefore no new manager can make an impact. My own bet is that even if the likes of Sir Alex takes over at Spurs there will be no short term impact and he himself would get the sack within a season or so. With chairmen often putting short term goals in the forefront of their business plans the pillars of business are being eroded. Creating a winning formula takes years of hard work and one season is no where near enough. Manchester United might currently lie in 8th due to a managerial change however you watch them creep up the table towards May. That is not just due to the hard work of David Moyes but due to the even harder and often unnoticed work of the men on the top ring of the company that have set such a unique formula for success which means that anyone can take charge and carry on where they left off. Clayton Camilleri rain demands high varying driver's skills and different car setups mainly due to the continuously changing track surfaces from wet to dry. Yet, Autocross demonstrates high level and exciting driving tactics. Competition and pressure are high in this regard too. The 2012-13 ASMK Pasta-Poiatti Autocross championship was decided in the 15th event. Patrick Cassar won the Class 'A' championship on his Opel Corsa. Christian Galea is Runner-up on a Fiat Ritmo and Vince Farrugia is 3rd placed on a VW Polo. Mario Scicluna and Ryan Scerri are Class B Champion and Runner-up. The motocross Championship contains 8 championship events throughout the season. The most experienced Class A riders ride 250cc bikes and Class B beginners often start with lighter 125cc bikes. Motocross riders are crossing over to Sicily where they compete in the FMI Motocross championship. This is made possible through the negotiations between ASMK and FMI. Virtu Ferries is supporting the riders in this regards too. Presently ASMK is planning to upgrade the present motocross tracks to higher standards to help the riders improve their talents. This coming year Motocross riders will be competing in the FMI-Sicily National and Regional Championships in Sicily too. After a break of ten years ASMK reintroduced Trials with the support of ace riders and are also running a nursery in this regard. Tuition and some Trials competitions are held at the ASMK tracks in Ta Qali. A number of competitions have been held on other locations following Mepa permits. Trials is a non-speed event but the riders have to overcome various difficult and challenging obstacles on route. Damon Bonello won the Class A and Rowen Bonello won the Class B Trials Championship. Enduro racing is also organised at Ta' Qali and other locations by ASMK management and the participation of riders is high and very promising. During the last 12 months four riders have competed in the FMI Sicily Enduro championships where Andrew Cassar and Nicolai Abela won 2nd and 3rd class wins respectively. Both riders were nominated by ASMK and were awarded Bronze medals in the Maltese Olympic Committee 2013 Awards. ASMK also organises meetings for its members and also a social event to award the various ASMK Championship winners. One of the Highlights in the ASMK calendar of events is the MCCF Day Event held close to Christmas to raise funds towards l-Istrina. This year's great event is the 20th consecutive year with the participation of many of its members in this regard. Many a time, each President of Malta has personally visited the crowd at ASMK tracks at Ta' Qali during the event to exchange Christmas greetings with all present. Following the Christmas and New Year festive season, ASMK will commence with more motorsport events at Ta Qali and other issues with regards to Motorcycling both locally and abroad as from the 12th January 2014. He was the dominant force in the 100th Tour de France and even though Christopher Froome lost 53 seconds to the winner of the final stage and 43 seconds to his nearest rival in the general classification, the Sky team sealed its second successive victory in the Tour de France at the end of the evening spectacle on the streets of Paris. The finish was around 9.40pm in the city of lights and the stars came out to shine: the four at the top of the sprinters classification had a drag race to the line to determine the winner of the 21st stage and it was Marcel Kittel who began the Tour as he started it - with a victory. The German won in Bastia, St-Malo and Tours (stages one, 10 and 12) and he topped off a stunning second appearance by holding off a late challenge from the four-time winner in Paris, Mark Cavendish. Behind the battle of the sprinters, the celebrations had begun. Chris Froome would roll over the finish line arm-inarm with team-mate David Lopez and with Richie Porte by his side. The grin on his face spelled out the relief and satisfaction of becoming the second British champion of the Tour and the first rider born in Africa to take home the yellow jersey. He ended his emphatic campaign with an advantage of 4'20 sec over the best young rider - and King of the Mountains - Nairo Quintana.