Very much not a beautiful day!
BBC’s flagship highlights programme could be doomed.
Football fans come in all shapes and sizes, and certainly many shades of opinion about the game and its environs. Forget even club affiliations for a moment. Some prefer the mile-a-minute thud and blunder of ‘route one’ whilst others may swoon at the intricate geometry of the tiki-taka possession game that bores opponents into conceding goals. Some think standing is the authentic way of watching live football, in all weathers with cold tea and Bovril so hot it would strip paint. Others however want the apparent luxury of sitting in a seat with legroom so restricted it would shame the lowest of low-cost airline cabins.
Such examples demonstrate the broad church of opinion that constitute the football community. In my experience however, there’s probably one thing that unites opinion almost without exception. Put in simple terms, it’s that ITV should not be allowed to anywhere near domestic football action – live or highlights. Having them broadcast England games is bad enough, but news that they are likely to bid for the highlights package from the Premier League next year – BBC’s Match of the Day is the current incumbent – causes concern and trepidation throughout football fandom. Continue reading →
The rise and fall of Roger Johnson
Johnson’s career at Wolves hit a downward spiral.
Football has a particular habit of throwing up matches that can highlight an otherwise forgotten situation, or player. Such a game occurred early afternoon on Saturday when Wolverhampton Wanderers entertained Birmingham City in a SkyBet Championship match. It was of course a Midlands derby, bur for one particular player, the significance wet much further than that.
Forgotten centre-back Roger Johnson has played for both clubs and statistically has almost mirrored records for them. He turned out 76 times for the St Andrews club and 69 times for Wolves, netting twice for each club. That however is where the similarity ends. Wherein Johnson’s time with the Blues saw a highlight of his career to date, ironically wearing gold and black has very much been a case of the blues as his prospects have nosedived to the point where it’s difficult to see where his next first team game will be. Continue reading →
Everton banking on Barkley
Ross Barkley – fundamental to Everton’s future
It’s often said that lightening doesn’t strike in the same place, twice. Everton fans will however be hoping that particular maxim will be up for revision shortly. If young starlet Ross Barkley continues his impressive progress and follows former Goodison Park favourite Wayne Rooney into the superstar bracket as an outstanding English talent and stalwart of the England team, a review may be in order. They will also be hoping however that Barkley hangs around on Merseyside longer than Rooney did. Continue reading →
Micah Richards: Past imperfect. Present Possible. Future…?
Micah Richards had the promise to be a star player at City for years to come.
Amongst the furore of the more high profile Deadline Day deals, with Radamel Falcao joining Manchester United and Danny Welbeck shipping out of Old Trafford to join Arsenal, another move involving an England international player may have slipped under the radar, and escaped notice. Whilst Jim White was giving his masterclass performance juggling telephones, social media and outside broadcast reports, Micah Richards was on the move out of the Premier League to join Fiorentina in Serie A.
Seeing a player with a limited future at his existing club, seek new pastures may not be particularly noteworthy, but when Richards followed fellow England international defender Ashley Cole to Serie A, it spoke of a sad situation where a seemingly exciting English prospect has fallen by the wayside.
“Have a word!” Why football should reach out a hand to Paul Gascoigne
The eyes have it! Lineker asking sir Bobby Robson to “have a word” as Gascoigne receives the yellow card,
You didn’t need to be a lip-reader to understand the mouthed words. It was a typically overenthusiastic tackle, not malicious but, in fairness, it probably warranted a yellow card. Thomas Berthold certainly didn’t help matters, and why would he? Rolling around on the ground was very much de rigueur during Italia ’90 when a foul had been committed. The Brazilian referee with the English surname, Jose Roberto Wright, brandished the card and, knowing he wouldn’t play in the World Cup Final if England got there, Paul Gascoigne began to cry. Skipper Gary Lineker looked to the side-line at manager Sir Bobby Robson, or plain Bobby as he was then, and nodding at his tearful teammate asked his manager to, “have a word.”
Wind the clock forward two dozen years, and that same Paul Gascoigne is probably past tears now, having probably shed a million or so in the intervening years. His life, once so full of promise, has turned into the sort of tragic story that seems destined to end in the most tragic way. I’ve seen various opinions of Gascoigne as a player in his pomp. Some have said he was ordinary and over-rated, and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. For me however, he had that ability to run at pace with the ball at his feet and beat a player on either side, creating problems for opponents at the heart of their defence. Enough of any debate about his talents however, that isn’t really the issue now. Were he a more ordinary type of player the story would not be any less sad. The fact that he appeared so mercurial, and with what the late Sir Bobby described as a, “daft as a brush” mentality means however that Gascoigne’s dilemma is being played out in the full glare of publicity.
Gary Thacker 