Sparky’s Column

A week of Tweeting and Drumming

 

Bani Yas extremely torrid start to the season continued with Jorvan Vieira being shown the door, two draws in sevens games is obviously not good enough for a team that finished as last seasons runners up. The circumstances under which he worked were difficult to say the least. It started with Andre Senghor going awol pre season and things went downhill from that point. The Brazilian rarely had a full squad available but the death of Thayab Awana had the single biggest impact. The only comparison I can make is with Hanover 96 after the death of Robert Enke. The clubs form post tragedy was awful and they finished just above the relegation zone. Bani Yas will be desperate to arrest the slide and that's why the change has come sooner rather than later

 

Andre Senghor as mentioned went missing pre season and this week Puch was absent for Al Wasl. The club have been quick to quash rumours that the player disappeared by stating it was a misunderstanding and the incident has been put to bed. This is of marked contrast to Bani Yas, Vieira heavily criticised his player for failing to return. I personally think this is a smart move by Al Wasl to move on quickly and switch the focus to on field activities. 

 

Match days see twitter buzzing updates as the drama unfolds. My favourite tweeter is @al_wasl, its an unofficial account that gives a fans eye view of the club. I loved the retweet of Yanni's drummer pictured in an Al Wasl Shirt at the Dubai gig on Friday. The account is refreshingly honest and gets a response from as far as Diego's homeland. They are definitely worth a follow if you want to know about the ins and outs of exciting times at Al Wasl.

 

There is  a massive game this Wednesday as Al Wasl slug it out with Al Jazira, the two most talked about teams in the UAE. They are level on points and it is a test of both clubs championship credentials. They met in the Etisalat Cup but the league is the true test as both teams will be at full strength. Officially its 1-1 between to two men in meetings as player and coach. This Wednesday is a chance for Franky Vacauteren to get some sort of revenge for the semi final defeat in the 1986 World Cup. It's taken 25 years but better late than never.