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Jon's Blog
July 2006 Archive
Mon 31st Jul Liverpool Should Play
If a stadium is found out of range of Hezbollah's rockets Liverpool should play there. When it was Chelsea during the intifada how the media loved being nasty and horrible. Now it is their favourite Liverpool how they will bleat? The situation inside most of Israel is far more stable now than then. Then again Liverpool gets away with everything. It got away, over the rest of us, the pre-meditated murder of Juventus fans at Heysel with a whole extra year ban - the rest suffered almost as much. The media go on about what lovely friendly people yet the two Liverpool grounds are two of the most dangerous for away fans to visit. Of course maybe it is time to make Israel deal with its neighbours, it is as European as the camel but for now Liverpool should play.
Mon 31st Jul Gatlin Removes Doubt
Any doubt an enhanced Testosterone reading might leave is wiped away when someone comes up with some ludicrous story involving a disaffected masseur.
We have been reassured for a while how beautifully Monty Panesar bowls and now we finally have a match winning performance - I like to see achievement in sports as anyone who read about the playing career of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane will know perception is not always reality, even with supposedly expert eyes guiding you - in baseball the numbers tell you more than a 100 scouts and it is the same in cricket. Indeed he looked good. There is also the possibility he will be better against Australian batsmen than Pakistani. The only caveat left and it applies to Harmison who was the Man of the Match is that are both dependent on pacy bouncy wickets to be fully effective?
Indeed England got almost everything from this match: great catching: great keeping: runs from all bar Trescothick and Jones. Mahmood showed in baseball terms he has great raw stuff but is obviously a work in progress. Jones could be replaced but unless a 4th seamer comes along with real strength behind Flintoff, Harmison and Hoggard maybe pressure off at 8 with Flintoff at 7 will work. The other keepers all have first class averages of a similar ilk so whilst we might get someone in better current form it is unlikely to be an upgrade. Read I would not have dropped but has not impressed when I have seen him this year with the gloves. Trescothick must also now be considered under pressure if England go back to five batsmen.
Another testosterone failure who says he has no idea why his level/balance was wrong. The trouble is as we know 99% of those who fail tests deny and almost all are guilty. However with Testosterone being a naturally occurring substance there can always be doubt at the back of the mind. Journalists and WADA head Dick "dick" Pound can be as sanctimonious as they like but the case of Diane Modahl showed testing for testosterone is not infallible.
Ok Landis said it was not so only they always do. I never get why doping is so hard to admit and seen so negatively that no one, bar David Millar, says "It's a fair cop, Guv". As Linford Christie once said, prophetically as it turned out, that athletes caught with the needle in their arm would deny it. You see people "cheat" to get ahead at work all the time so lets drop the sanctimony and maybe athletes will be more honest and open which might actually help demystify doping.
Fri 28th Jul Say It Is Not So, Floyd?
Actually Landis has said he did not take anything but at the end of the day even he will not be surprised if no one believes him. Just shows the result of le Tour is not over until the drug tests are in. This is a sport in deep trouble.
Fri 28th Jul Carrick 18 million?
Based on quoted figures for a suspect defensive midfielder for 19 million one could have added Nolan, Mido, Bellamy and until he signed a new contract Barton for this money. All would be useful squad players. Indeed 3 are attacking players and hence more valuable and Barton although with holes has more scope than Carrick who is at best an ordinary footballer.
Fri 28th Jul Beckham Gets Friend at Madrid, Not so Good Football Wise?
David Beckham by some reports will be glad to have Ruud at Madrid as a friend. However if you look at it is hardly good for him. He no longer consistently gets deep enough for pull backs and by line crosses and it is hard to see how he can hit long balls over the top for the paceless Ruud. Indeed if you assume no other reasons it is possible to argue the arrival of RvN and the loss of Yorke and Cole neutered Beckham as an attacking force and assists machine for United, they went nearly a whole season without a goal from a corner.
Fri 28th Jul Harmison is the Gravy?
Aside from Lords last year England's chief weapon in the run up to the Ashes had begun to fall away. Now finally Harmison was back as the unplayable bowler of 2 years ago. Whilst the fear must be he is wicket dependent of all the things England will need this winter the no 1 is Harmison at his best. Flintoff, a front line spinner, another bat are secondary to 1 dominating bowler.
Indeed Panesar's bowling and Jones keeping were huge pluses as well as KP catching 3 and running 1 out. Three areas of weakness had 1 good day, lets hope it signals something not a false dawn.
Thur 27th Jul Why Pick Him If You Won't Bowl Him?
Although I am not as sold on Monty Panesar as most I have to say it makes no sense to me if England pick him then allow Collingwood to bowl 3 overs of his dreck first. Of course Monty came on and got a wicket but that is not the issue or proof either way. Collingwood with 4 front line bowlers should only bowl to rest bowlers. Paneser may have 17 wickets at 40 a piece going in and a strike rate of 95 but if England think him worthy of selection they should bowl him as such. Not pick him as 1 of 4 and treat him like an occasional bowler.
Weds 26th Jul Italy Backs Down
Wow, amazing Italian authorities threaten to get tough, 3 teams to Serie C and 1 to Serie B, well the one to B was right. I'd said previously it was a waste of time and a cosmetic exercise but this really removes any veneer that cheating and referee tampering is even a crime in Italian football. This almost reluctant lets be seen to do something, but not really. No doubt the individuals involved will be back sooner rather than later. I said 3 years time no would notice now that could be as little as a year. Euro fudge.
Weds 26th Jul Ashley Cole 2.5 million Surely?
I know I covered it below but if Chelsea cannot get a left back as good as Ashley Cole for a fifth the price I'll eat my hat (mercifully I don't own one). I'd argue that Toure, Clichy, Flamini and Gilberto Silva can all play left back nearly as well as Ashley - Clichy and Flamini are better footballers and the other two can defend set pieces better. For Chelsea a team that puts a high price, rightly so, on its set pieces Cole is a liability. What kind of upgrade on Bridge is Cole? Left backs just do not make that much of a difference.
Chelsea had a shocker last year in Del Horno and actually improved for his loss and 10 men v Barcelona. Yet did it cost them points, no. Does anyone think it really cost them v Barcelona given that Chelsea were utterly flattered to get a draw in the Camp Nou. Yes they have the money but why add a lot to Arsenal whilst adding nothing to themselves? 20 million or the thick end would allow Arsenal to add players in positions that would make them far stronger. It makes no sense. No matter how good no left back is worth the money.
What is really bizarre about this is apparently Chelsea forsook a few million to make sure Duff went to a club with no possibility to challenge them. Yet they would allow Arsenal the money to buy a better player whilst robbing them of a left back which is neither here or there to their chances over a season.
Weds 26th Jul Australia Shows Class
The Australians no doubt anxious that England will not last 2 days in a test have offered to allow Flintoff etc to play grade cricket to get fit. Contrast this with the cretinous petty actions of Graveney/Fletcher and the England A team against Pakistan. Australia want to beat us fair and square. We could not beat Pakistan even with gamesmanship. Lower than Australia - that is low.
Tue 25th Jul Football for Girls
One of the greatest footballers of all time Michel Platini is up to be head of UEFA. Now I agree with cracking down on fouls but Mr Platini would turn the game into a non contact sport for men in dresses. A whinging self important girl's blouse who like the cretin centre half who thinks nothing is a yellow card wants to remake football as a sport for his reincarnation. One cannot help wonder at the degree of narcissism this implies.
Tue 25th Jul Yorkshire Proves Nowt
Good news after years and years of inexplicable absence Yorkshire finally played an Asian cricketer from Yorkshire. Yorkshire naturally claimed "When Adil made his debut it proved any lingering critics wrong" this is, of course, poppycock. As with footballers prove critics wrong statements really mean "yes you were right, but We have improved". When Yorkshire have Asian representatives on committees, management and more than 1 local player who has played 1 game they can say that.
It would be nice to see Black and Asian people as more than players in many sports. Indeed considering the high number of Black footballers who have now retired we see an almost complete lack of managers and coaches in the premiership and lower leagues. Yes there are some but do not tell me this is enough to mean anything.
When I heard on Weds that Hoylake would likely be won in -17 (-18 actually) I was straight on Betfair and shocked to find the best turkey shoot player ever available at 6s. It all goes to show one negative is over reacted by the Bookies and public. That Tiger was grieving is beyond doubt but was that really going to break his focus? Was it really why he was double the price of last year? (I thought 3s then ridiculous on a course where the engraver could have had his name in before the tournament started). In the end grief did not stop Tiger and DiMarco (another turkey shoot player) coming 1 and 2. Another reason of course was Tiger failed at Winged Foot but frankly these days he usually fails at those long tight par 70s where he is forced to use the Driver on tight fairways - US Open wins at Bethpage and Pebble Beach.
Credit to DiMarco who has twice been 2nd to Tiger coming at him as best he could. Indeed Tiger chipped in to beat him last time and he can be considered unlucky as head to head he outplayed the great one. He is not someone who wilts in the white heat of a major.
Sun 23rd Jul Landis's Amazing Triumph
Floyd Landis will barring disaster win the Tour de France today and it will be an amazing triumph. He will beat a man who he and his team allowed to gain half an hour so they would not have to defend the yellow jersey. Landis himself lost 9 minutes on one day where he appeared to be a broken man only to gain most of it back on his own the next day. In the end the cheats who they caught were not missed. Indeed nor was Lance and his loaded teams' dominance. If this is what happens without a dominant player with a dominant team then roll on next year and more of the same. We can never who and who is not cheating but we can still enjoy the sport.
Sat 22nd Jul Duff a True Newcastle Player
Damien Duff leaves for Newcastle having halved his value in 3 years. That is actually pretty good business by Chelsea standards. Anyway Newcastle get another player who plays a third of the season in form, a third out of form and a third injured - that is being generous. In the right type of team and football Duff is a good player but another player who will not give Newcastle the full season of effort they require to challenge for a champions league place.
Fri 21st Jul Materazzi Ban Makes No Sense
So Materazzi gets as many games as Wayne Rooney who was convicted of stamping on someone's nuts. Zidane's assault gets 3 matches like any slapping or handbags. Materazzi is the victim of PC Euro fudge where there is no value system just a knee jerk appearence of justice that actually punishes innocent and guilty dependent on a perception of public mood, laughable and just typical of UEFA and FIFA. Zidane is an undisciplined child and FIFA have somehow accepted that he was in some ways right to behave like an animal.
Fri 21st Jul Selling Out is Worse than Cocaine
So another footballer got done with cocaine in his system and the farce of calling such drugs performance enhancing carries on. Then he sells a story to the press grovelling like a dog. I have known and know many people who take drugs and have no problem with their personal choice - however poor. Indeed I do not even see why the FA tests for this, their clubs may be a different issue - after all it is allegedly nothing the Tory leader has not done. In the end Newton's real crime is selling a story to a newspaper. Personally I regard that as lower than almost any non crime and lower than many crimes.
If we were serious about protecting our kids we would enforce drink and tobacco
laws. Unlike the US we have generous early starts and fail to even try to enforce them.
That is why I find the role model argument so ridiculous. After all despite the
War on Drugs
prices and availability are historically low, what futility. Blaming footballers
especially nobodies like Newton for fouling our kids up is reactionary nonsense.
In the end only one player has properly failed a test and been unable to account
for it and that was Rio Ferdinand - many morons actually think Rio was not as guilty
as say Mutu or Newton when in fact his failing to take a test is up there with
Ben Johnson in drug law. Regardless many regard Rio as merely a
dumb
prick
for doing so. So lets be charitable and say for 50+ failures there has not been 1
instance of performance enhancement. Indeed sports people setting out to cheat are
increasingly caught not by tests but by police action - BALCO, finding used blood
doping equipment and the current Spanish investigation.
Thurs 20th Jul Good Team Man, Or an Excuse for Failure?
Andrew Strauss has come out to defend little Geraint Jones from the charge of not being good enough, 72 runs last 8 test innings. As mentioned earlier Jones is not delivering at 7 in the order. He apparently is a good team man.... In baseball, which I also follow, when someone's numbers stink they call them veteren leaders, good clubhouse guys, team players but it still means they are not good enough.
Given Flintoff is only 85% of a no 6 in world cricket, based on his record not his publicity, this is a serious problem for England. They were able to beat the Australians because they got enough runs and could rotate and use 4 different seamers suited to differing conditions of pitch and ball. Without more runs from 6 and 7, or even the loss of Flintoff to injury, this advantage is gone. Then, or if 6 and 7 do not start getting more runs, England have to consider playing an extra bat and relying on dreck from Pietersen and Collingwood to fill extra overs. A further problem without Simon Jones, and exacerbated by an unfit Flintoff, England really showed a lack of anyone who could consistently reverse the ball late in the innings against Sri Lanka and Pakistan which was the massive advantage over Australia in the seam department. People should start worrying about this winter.
Thurs 20th Jul Madrid Never Learn, Chelsea?
It seems the Galacticos have added yet more massive names, well Cannavaro (32) and Emerson (30). Their fans might argue they are at least defensive minded players. They are also probably still good players, one 2nd best at world cup, then again less than a year ago Lampard was no 2 in the world in not 1 but 2 surveys. It is also not so bad to sign ageing centre halves and midfielders rather than creative players who need athleticism more like Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham.
Nonetheless with Chelsea, Ballack and Shevchenko, it is a dangerous game. You may be signing players with no resale value 3 years down the line who may have learned to coast and look good at the team's expense - think about themselves and their marketing not the team, lost their hunger and sometimes playing to be right for their countries 2 years down the line - Newcastle's little player I could not possibly comment. 29 appears to be the start of a difficult age in football now.
Of course the worst and most over priced signings may not even be the 29 million Sheva if Chelsea and any sum of money over 10 million is paid for the little whinger Ashley Cole. Three reasons for this a) Cole is not that good: going forward he has little quality other than a decoy: defensively in open play we saw in the world cup how often Cole (Joe) and even Rooney had to cover for him: At set pieces he is so useless he is on post duty: Mourinho made a cogent case for tall full backs and will now scrap that for what? To add another Englishman at any cost like SWP? To deny other clubs a poor player? makes little sense b) Even if you are the biggest Ashley Cole fan in the world and genuinely believe he is the best left back in the world the upgrade from 10th best full back to best is trivial compared to similar upgrades in attack, goal keeper, centre half or central midfield. Even if money is no object spending so much on a full back would be madness and make a mockery of any kind of business sense claimed by Kenyon and co c) The little creep is a first rate whinger running to the press at the first sign of trouble, a real little sh1t, even his wedding was up for sale - I guess 70K a week no longer buys you what it used to.
Weds 19th Jul English Clubs Cop a Break
The fact that English clubs look like losing the race to buy ageing foreigners off Juve and other Italian clubs must surely come as a relief to their fans. After all whilst some impressed off a 4 week lay off in the world cup we only have to recall their insipid performances at Highbury in the Champions League to know what a long season in the harder and higher paced premiership would mean. Whilst Chelsea grabbing Ballack and Shevchenko may feel they can afford to chance a Madrid style on the pitch folly most of our other clubs cannot. They should count their blessings at missing out on such ageing stars as Thuram, Vieira, Cannavaro et al.
Tues 18th Jul England Stuck on Plateau
Another chance to win in the 4th innings bowling for England and another failure. 2 seam bowlers who are half fit played because the coach, like Eriksson, would rather believe in names than fitness. A spinner who cannot run through a team and at best can tie an end up all day. Whatever happens young spinners should learn wrist spin as frankly it allows you to spin the ball more and it does seem finger spinning and dear old Monty will never be much more than they are now.
Mon 17th Jul Ron Roon Too Much Too Little Too Late?
One cannot help feeling the two weeks delay in putting any Ronaldo Rooney non conflict to rest is to coincide with a Daily Mail deadline for Rooney's autobiography. After all who would not want to read about his lengthy career in football culminating in his lifting the Carling Cup.
Mon 17th Jul KP Talent with a Genius for Getting Out
Kevin Pietersen is, for me, the most talented batsman England have and have had in quite a while. One shot I 'loved' was the wristy flick in last year's one day final for Hants - no one else hits it off the square if managing to get it to leg, KP was caught on the boundary. Love him while he is in - it is a thrilling ride.
Mon 17th Jul Take the wickets, Just not too quickly
You just wonder if Pakistan will be in such an all fired hurry to remove the last 3 English wickets tomorrow. England for their part should not 'over' attack early so they are not forced to defend late - after all it may look great to have a 7 man cordon but some of those positions will get less chance of a chance than 3rd man and will save considerably less runs.
Sun 16th Jul Rooney Takes Resposibility, Sort Of
Little Wayne finally takes some responsibility acknowledging, however hapless a rube he was, he got sent off and he hurt the team. He also acknowledges all those quotes he, his acolytes and Manchester United allowed to be unloaded on Ronaldo were false. Indeed he comes out quite well in the Mail today the only problem it is 2 weeks too late. Ronaldo has seen United are not the PR and financial machine they once were and they left him out to dry when one or two words from his team mate would have killed it dead - he was of course saving them for his serialised Autobiography.
Sun 16th Jul Ellis Penny Pinching Pound Stupid
Doug Ellis may have reason to tighten his belt but when that extends beyond just not spending money on players and asking the manager to use the youth team and what he has got it gets ridiculous. If money is tight sell a player after all for the price of even a poor player's wages, and Villa have lots of them, you can afford multiple coffee, physios, masseurs and coaches. Villa fans meanwhile should face facts their team is not the kind of revenue generator to challenge more than intermittently for a UEFA place.
Sun 16th Jul The Bowling Blows
England's attack whilst it makes break throughs as well as any seems to rapidly become ordinary once batsmen are established. OK one could argue without Flintoff and Jones we have no one who can reverse swing it. However Jones has been absent enough he should not be mentioned until fit and Flintoff was bowling all winter and against Sri Lanka. Our attack is further compromised by having a spinner who cannot get anyone out often enough. Indeed Panesar seems no more effective than Giles or Udal and a complete mule in the field - Kevin Pietersen just showed him up with a wicket!
Sat 15th Jul Bell fails to take Responsibility
One hopes that Ian Bell will take more responsibility next time he is in sight of a 100. By taking singles he failed to take the pressure off his late order partners. One cannot help feel he was helped by when he came in here, his prior 40 average was padded out with 2 tests against Bangladesh unlike Kevin Pietersen. This innings tells us nothing about whether he will once again be the rabbit against Australia if we are reduced to playing him.
Fri 14th Jul Catches dropped at Lords
So Pakistan joined England in dropping lots of catches. I doubt it will lead to the long winded wailing and gnashing of teeth England went through. Cook and Collingwood will not care. Indeed there may even be something in Lords, its slope and sighting and why catches are dropped. Either way for all the long tomes of critique few said anything constructive. Since catches are not dropped deliberately and England train as professionally as one can apparently we have to accept it as part of cricket.
Thur 13th Jul Strauss 90% of a good Captain
Whether England go on to win the first test no one can argue that the Captain
has failed. He has given his side the best chance to win by simple use of the
word bat
when winning the toss. Of all the other stuff people go on about
most of it is tosh. Whilst I do not have the numbers batting first is what teams
should almost always do. The kind of wickets that favour batting 2nd are
few and far between and worrying about overhead condition on the 1st morning
in a 5 day game makes no sense. Now it is down to talent and whether England
have enough.
Weds 12th Jul Consistent England
So England have their reward for consistent mediocrity. They are now 5th in the world. After all if you never make the semis then 5th is all you can expect. It is funny I went the opposite way to the rankings and now believe England are barely top 10.
Weds 12th Jul Ronaldo No Go???
United have a funny way of saying they want to keep Cristiano Ronaldo. Letting a
jug eared fool
of a team mate cover up his own actions by launching a 2 week
media
vendetta utterly unchecked hardly agrees with those sentiments. Allowing him to
feel so isolated he fired
back about leaving and the pathetic response of Ferguson and Gill. Now they
finally say he is going nowhere. Are they utterly
incompetent? or just trying to get the fee back up? or just so in hock to
a 20 year old scouser they no longer have any say with him? Not good anyway you
look at it.
Weds 12th Jul Italy Trials Irrelevant
Should anyone really care about the up coming possible relegation of some of Italy's top teams? Probably not. For those clubs supporters a couple of years down the line they'll be back. If it bankrupts them they will be back as Fiorentina did under a new company same club deal. Even the people who get life bans you can expect to be back at some point not as far away as we would like. Good news is next year's champions league has a bit less depth for fans of other top European clubs and maybe some players will be available. In the end for all the headlines and joy at a long running speculative boost plus lucrative appearences for the well spoken 4 Italian/Spanish journalists who our news channels use football will go on and in 3 years who will remember or care or notice the difference?
Weds 12th Jul World Cup Froth Flows Over
The news that a supposed bid for Ribery of 26 million by Madrid makes me laugh. One half decent world cup where he cannot be described as having made France a powerhouse and now a ludicrous amount of money bid. So if he was that good how bad were the other 3 forwards? Zidane player of the tournament: Henry won decisive penalty and scored a winning goal: Malouda won the penalty in the final. Poppycock.
Tue 11th Jul Pakistan Warm Up Controversy
One of the problems of English cricket is that it seems to want to copy Australia. Why we
would want to behave like that nation is beyond me. Surely the 'A' game with Pakistan should
have been used to fine tune both sides - England's reserves and border lines and Pakistan. Is
beating another nation so important we are prepared to cheat
? Just because other nations
are 2nd rate is no excuse to join them.
Another farce is touring teams against counties. A few years ago I went to see Australia at Taunton and the ground was filled with people paying good money. Yet despite the windfall Somerset put out a poor team with a totally unfit guest Shoaib Akhtar to provide cafeteria bowling. If counties do not put out a best team let them forfeit their right to a touring game. After all who cares which division of the country championship they are in? Their fans pay for twenty20 and touring sides. They have no excuse on this.
Going on Sky TV has shown cricket up as another game that cannot see beyond the addictive cycle of revenue and its need to continue growing. However if this revenue is coming please stop insulting us by not helping touring teams prepare and giving your core support insulting fixtures. If you are a professional entertainment behave like one.
Tue 11th Jul It Does Not Matter Why
I allow an acquaintance of mine to suck me into pointless debates where no doubt everyone ends up laughing at how annoyed I get. Often these debates are about some media angle rubbish. Two of the most pointless debates about this world cup are why Zidane butted Materazzi and did Wayne Rooney mean to be quite so violent. Both are debates with no answer and hence can run and run. As has been alluded to on here other than to illustrate the lack of leadership at Old Trafford it is a pointless debate. Indeed it seems so many people invested their entire ego in Rooney as to be a smokescreen to hide a) he was not that good b) his overly aggressive behaviour will always be a problem in tournaments being tightly refereed.
We get quotes from everyone as British journalists tried to turn what was originally an open and shut case into a controversy - seriously Sky sports say Lennart Johannson says Rooney was deservedly sent off, a quote obtained by asking him. Not because Lennart felt strongly enough to step in and say something. Ditto Rooney's goal drought only brought up when they had interview footage. It all probably shows up the English media more than most. As more and more teams tired of asinine and pointless questions they increasingly declined to answer in English. This craven media incapable of analysis only looking for spoon fed quotes and to rake controversy is what we hope this website will counter - Doh... 2 more paragraphs on Rooney and Zidane.
Indeed the truly cynical might consider given the profile afforded Rooney and Zidane it works better than winning long term. Certainly Beckham may not have wanted the infamy but on the PR maxim no publicity is bad publicity his '98 sending off worked wonders. The real world cup winners Zidane and Rooney, maybe Ronaldo in a darker way?
I have long harboured the suspicion that Zidane's showing in big games reflected his self absorbtion and lack of care. He has now been sent off twice in world cups settling pointless feuds or just getting himself off. He was suspended earlier in this tournament as well. Anyway his last act on a football field is going to be incredibly sad for those who follow him.
I never saw him in his pomp but for the last 2 or 3 years he has played horribly for Madrid often seeming to demand possession before giving it away. He has won a Champions League final inevitably with the goal. Maybe those are the games you buy this kind of player for, maybe. Maybe it is good news long term for England that Rooney feels his frustrations of being asked to perform a role for the team 'allows' him an excuse to get sent off, maybe. I am not convinced but when he scores the winner in a big game maybe I will be.
In the end club fans may have to face it that increasingly, especially ageing players, will recognise that in terms of world wide recognition 2 good games at the world cup is more than any amount of club games. Buying ageing foreigners like ZZ or Sheva may not be that smart - these players will have half an eye elsewhere every 4 years. Even domestic players does anyone remember the club careers of George Cohen, Bobby Moore or Geoff Hurst?
Watching Rafael Nadal stretch Federer after taking a set pounding showing that spirit most UK sportsmen miss. Personally I felt going in Nadal would do well to win 10 games or indeed a set's worth of games. The first set showed the difference in ability on the surface but he just fought back. It is a spirit so lacking in English sport - he is interested in getting better not just proving unnamed and unimportant critics wrong. In addition he is a nice guy and maybe next year John Inverdale might like to will ask him questions he does not need a degree in English to understand and hence answer.
Sun 9th Jul 3rd place play offs not such a bad idea?
In many sports the 3rd place play off is an absolute waste of time. However in football's world cup it seems it can still sometimes be a worthwhile game. Indeed teams like Turkey and Croatia probably took a lot of pride in winning it. Hosts Germany like Italy 1990 both put rousing 3-1 wins in so it can have something on the line. BTW no 3rd place team my man 'Body' tells me has ever qualified for the following Euros, bad luck Germany.
Indeed one of my favourite early world cup memories was the 1978 3rd place play off which featured teams who were probably better than the finalists - Brazil and Italy. Brazil denied a place by a 2nd group stage where allegedly a piece of chicanery gave the Argentinians a better goal difference. Italy had been beaten by a freak Arie Haan goal and another long strike. 3-1 to Brazil I believe.... Brilliant.
Sat 8th Jul One rule for them, one for us
The decision to suspend the jockeys who have recently been charged but not the trainer, Alan Berry, is beyond inexplicable. Trainers have much more chance to be corrupt than jockeys. Indeed a trainer expecting to maybe lose his license may be motivated to be even more corrupt. Whereas if a jockey does anything corrupt he has to do it in front of punters and TV cameras. Questions have been raised about the propriety, in court by judges, of Messers Oliver Sherwood, David Elsworth and Paul Webber. Michael Stoute had £65,000 taken off him by Customs as he could not explain why he had that cash yet not one suspension.
For me the CPS had better turn up with a credible case as argued below about Kieren Fallon, as so far the investigations have proved very poor and indeed desperate. If they grab a few minnows and Fallon proves innocent but just had his name appended to make some PR for a lengthy and expensive process I hope he sues them for all they are worth. After all British racing in its attitude to trainers could not be anymore bankrupt.
So Michael Vaughan will not play for England this winter. Whilst I believe he was a good captain it is hard to get antsy about the loss of the 35 averaging batsman he had become. Indeed I doubt many rational people expected him back and as the World Cup showed injured superstars are a double edged sword. In the end England need to find a 1-5 in their order who can consistently make scores and get Flintoff and Jones or replacements who can bat to justify batting 2 all rounders 6 and 7 or heaven forbid pick some other players. As it is Flintoff avg 34.15 and Jones 22.4 last 15 games are not good enough for 6 and 7. Bringing in an extra bat would be counter productive as the 5 bowlers is our main advantage over Australia but more production is needed with the bat and Vaughan definitely out may help address that. The real doubt is of course do we have the 5 bats? Yet alone a 6th if we need to drop Flintoff and the keeper to positions more in keeping with their averages.
Thurs 6th Jul Svennis mistake shown in all its glory
Tonight's semi provided proof that starting an effectively 5th defender in Hargreaves against Portugal was unbelievably negative. They have barely scored a goal all tournament for all their quality and surely this called for 442 or Carrick not Hargreaves. We needed to just play for goals. How the same men can make the same mistake twice in 2 years is beyond me.
Weds 5th Jul Better a big game player than a Loser
United fans I know have been very, ludicrously, critical of Ronaldo for seemingly doing very little to help 'baby' Rooney get himself sent off. If you truly believe these critics then surely Ronaldo has his head in the game to a degree Wayne Rooney does not. Surely based on his England performances and his drought since a debut hat trick on Rooney's Champions League performances one must have doubts about 'baby's ability to handle big games. Whereas Ronaldo has performed well in big games and shown he has the calmness to handle a big game. Who should United get rid of?
Whilst David Pleat continues to see the only job of a referee to excuse almost every foul and leave a game 11 v 11 I actually beg to differ on last night's game between Germany and Italy. 3 times, including right on the edge of the box, Italians got clear to be cynically pulled down by the German they had beaten. This surely is the defensive equivalent of diving. Given the height of the Germans and the paucity of chances a significant part of the game to swap 3 open field chances for defendable set pieces. I guess it comes down do you want the best side to win or is the refs job to allow as many people as he reasonably can to stay on the pitch? If nothing else had he been on a yellow Borowski might have spared us his tackle from behind for which he was booked later.
Tues 4th Jul Rooney take responsibility
Lets for the sake of argument take Rooney at his word and disbelieve those tabloid tales that say he was out for blood and in a rage after the game. He nonetheless has to accept that his demeanour, pushing and snarling afterwards was hardly conducive to convincing a referee his first act was just dangerous not violent. What as a lone striker was he doing fighting for the ball in such a manner at that part of the ground? In the end harsh decision or not all his other actions confirm he was not long for the pitch - Sven surely would have subbed him at that point anyway. That it did not cost the team seems accepted. After all his record taken objectively of goals and assists in competitive games hardly makes him worthy of the publicity he gets. Nor the special treatment the manager gave him.
Rooney contributed to his down fall and should be a man and accept the blame. He should also end all these nasty vicious headlines aimed at Christiano Ronaldo - wow the guy winked, that must be worse than spitting.
I hope for reasons of trust in the justice system that the CPS actually has some evidence. You cannot help wondering if the Police have become a branch of the media with journalists always on hand at big celebrity arrests. Certainly after each arrest Fallon's solicitor has successfully mocked the Police and their knowledge of racing. Making it seem that they know less about race riding than most stands' jockeys.
Sun 2nd Jul Dwelling on failure
The saddest part of England's exit from the world cup is how personal most writers appear to be making excuses for the teflon Rooney. Compared to say Lampard who is now 5 competitive games without a goal Rooney despite being a striker is 2 years and got sent off. He is rightly not getting the despicable treatment of Beckham 8 years ago. However on what planet is not getting the ball an excuse to get sent off - even before adding what is he doing so deep as a lone striker wasting his time fighting for a ball!
The saddest part is the ludicrous attacks on Ronaldo, some by Man U fans who have obviously invested too much of their egos in one player. Rooney's wild eyed push on Ronaldo a) means he deserved a sending off anyway b) that he was in such a rage that he probably did stamp c) that Svennis letting him off scot free for his moronic behaviour when substituted the other day was a mistake - as is domestic refs letting him swear at them all game.
The truly saddest aspect is of course the complete lack of any apology or admission of guilt. It does not matter what he intended as whatever people would like referees can not determine motive or intent. Indeed for all they say can two professional footballers ever agree on such things?
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