English Football League / David Artell / 12 March 2008 /

Morecambe's star defender David Artell on offers from abroad, swapping shirts and Chelsea's never-ending entourage

As our midweek game was on Wednesday night this week and not the usual Tuesday, it gave us a chance to have a quick glance at the league table and to see exactly where we would end up if we won. I don't religiously look at the table as you normally get told by someone but it's always handy to know exactly what you need to do. Knowing that you could move up a few places or go above someone is always an added incentive. With a few games in hand we are looking to catch up with the likes of Wycombe who are firmly in the play-off positions.

Talking of Wycombe and for me it's no surprise to see them in the promotion hunt as they have an extremely experienced former player as their manager. Paul Lambert won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund and is one of the few British players to go abroad and be a success. Having obtained his coaching badges in Germany he obviously brings a different perspective on the English game from his time there. I've never actually played abroad (apart from Wales!) although I have had the opportunity to do so. Last summer I was offered the chance to go and play in Denmark's Superliga but with my wife pregnant then, it just wasn't the right time. This, plus the fact that the season ended in December, meant that it would be very difficult to come back to England and get a contract half way through the English season. The offer of a free apartment and car was tempting but this was tempered by the fact that it's very cold in Denmark!

I would never rule out playing abroad in the future as learning as many different styles of play can only be good for your game and if the offer to play in Denmark was made when I was younger and single then I would probably have gone for it. At Morecambe we've signed two players this year from Royal Antwerp who play in Belgium's top division and they enjoyed their time abroad. Both Damien Allen and Henry McStay said that in Belgium the emphasis is more on your technique and this is an obvious benefit when returning to play in England where the emphasis on your technique is not as important as say your ability to tackle or your stamina.

Coming back home to England and last week was a fantastic one for the underdogs in the FA Cup. Barnsley followed up their brilliant win at Anfield by turning over Chelsea. I have a friend who works at the hotel where Chelsea stopped on the Friday night and he said that the number of staff they brought with them was enough for an audience at a pop concert! They brought masseurs and dieticians and a chef who didn't cook anything, simply supervised the hotels chefs!

They also asked the hotel if they could take 100 towels to the game with them (that's over five per player!) and sent them back in a taxi after the game. All the preparation they did could not make up for the magic of the FA Cup though but they did seem very gracious in their defeat. Brian Howard had Wayne Bridge's shirt and Bridge had put a nice little message on it which is always nice to see. I'm not sure Wayne Bridge had Brian Howard's shirt with a little message on though! We don't get that many chances to swap shirts at Morecambe but if we did we would have to buy a replacement, but I suppose getting Drogba's or Anelka's shirt is worth £40 of anyone's money.

With last week upsets there's only one Premiership team left in the competition so there could be a Championship side playing in Europe next season. Although Portsmouth are strong favourites I can see one of the teams from the other semi-final lifting the FA Cup. Either side is a good bet at 5.6 (Cardiff) and 8.2 (Barnsley) but I'll stick my neck out and say that Barnsley will go all the way to glory.

David Artell plays for Morecambe FC: https://www.morecambefc.com/

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